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North/Central NJ Drive this Sat April 21?


Al N.

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Folks-

 

 

 

I have a small window of time on Sat AM to go for a blat. Either early...7-9 or 10:30-noonish.

 

 

 

Optimally, I'd love to use the drive to visit The Trailer Outlet in Flanders (up 206, just south of 80). We could rendezvous in Clinton NJ and take 513 all the way up to Chester then 206 for a little). The Trailer Outlet is open from 8 am to 1 pm on Saturday.

 

 

 

Let me know if you're interested and if either time is better.

 

 

 

-Al

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On Saturday? (Wait, I worked last Saturday too!).

 

 

 

Let's shoot for the later time, 10:30...at the Mc Donald's in Clinton, NJ as a rendezvous. We can have a coffee, then trundle up 513 (a great rural road) to Chester and the trailer place. Then you can split by 1 from Chester and take Route 80 into NY...barring traffic, you should be in by 3 safely.

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Okay, I will be at the McDonalds in Clinton NJ (exit 17 on US 78 West, if you're coming from NY/East) at 10:15 on Sat.

 

 

 

I'll hang around until 10:30 and then shoot up 513 through Long Valley to Chester. Then head North on 206 to visit the Trailer Outlet in Flanders. Should take no more than 1 hour to get there. Poke around for an hour or so, then head home. If anyone is up for driving my favorite loop of Hunterdon County, I'll do part of it on my way home.

 

 

 

You know what my car looks like. Write for my cel if you don't have it already. Al Navarro2007-04-19 19:37:18

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c u in the am. oil change and tyre rotation completed today. got a scare thinking i had burned off all the brake pads and then realized my caliper have a waky pad shape.

 

 

 

i'll call in the AM when I get to 78.

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Hi Al,

 

 

 

Would love to join you guys, but I'll be working on my Birkin that's in pieces. I'd be interested to hear what you find out at the trailer place. I originally had planned on ordering an Aluma trailer like Michael D's, but one of the dealers I talked to didn't seem too interested in ordering it. Then it got put on the back burner...

 

Well, enjoy your ride, the weather's supposed to be great!!

 

 

 

Bruce

 

 

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Bruce-I even had correspondence with the guy who designed Michael D.'s trailer...but my local dealer didn't seem so interested either. Wanted to sell me one of the ones he had as "lots of Porsche guys buy them". I'll look at the standard 8.5 x 12 car trailers, then some in narrower widths...all open as the Pilot can't really hack the weight of an enclosed.

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"all open as the Pilot can't really hack the weight of an enclosed." - I'm in the same boat. I've got a buddy that races 911's that probably has 45k invested in his diesel truck and enclosed trailer. I'm looking at the Colin Chapman version of my buddy's rig!! I'd like to keep the weight of the car and trailer as close to 2000# as I can, so a vehicle with a #3500 capacity can tow it with ease.

 

Let me know how you make out.

 

Thanks, Bruce

 

 

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Alright...so the deal was I was headed over to the rendezvous when I get the windshield full of coolant treatment (over nearly 2 years I've had the car, it's happened 2 other times, at other hose connection points).

 

The good news is that I have tools on me this time. Not a spare clamp, but I was able to use the little clamp that keeps the hoses parallel to the block to hold the connection until I limped in to Clinton. Fortunately, Jon was running a little late and we changed the rendezvous point (hopefully noone was waiting at McDonalds for us!). I was just wrapping up the repair when Jon pulled in.

 

We made it up to Performance Trailer, where our cars made an favorable first impression. A Cobra (don't know if it was original or one of the new ones) had visited in the AM, so it was quite a day for them! The first salesman to come out said "I've got to get the owner."

 

Glenn (the owner) was very accomodating and stayed to walk us around even though his wife was waiting to take him down to the Jersey Shore. We looked at one used trailer, steel utility trailers, and aluminum trailers. The dedicated "car carriers" are more than I need for the Seven, so we really didn't look too closely at them.

 

The good news is that Glenn seemed open to ordering the "Michael D." model when I had mentioned it. I passed on Dean M.'s (the Aluma enginneer) name. Even if we go single axle, Glenn recommends having electric brakes on it though (which I don't think Michael has). I am also going to price out a steel option. If anyone is interested in buying a trailer before 7-7-7, please let me know, as even 3 or 4 additional people in the group buy will help lower the price.

 

Despite my field repair, it was great to get out and meet Jon. SVs look so wide and low in the rear view mirror. Jon's got a yellow helmet that complements his car's paint scheme perfectly. I didn't push the pace at all (not that traffic would have even let us) due to the hose thing.

 

Just getting together with one other Se7en got me even more stoked for the meet in July. Jon and I discussed a few club points — it was good to get another perspective. One last point before I post some pix...to further reinforce the ease of our pace, when we got to the trailer place, I noticed that the adjustable wrench I used for the repair was still sitting on the scuttle, where I had left it! And then when we came out from lunch, we noticed that Jon's keys were sitting on my bootcover, where he had left them.

 

Oh, and I confess that I stalled, twice, at a stoplight. Chalk it up to anxiety about the hose.

 

 

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Hi Al,

I'm definitely interested in picking up a trailer the same as Michael D's, or something similar. I know when I talked to the dealer about the trailer, he was recommending getting brakes on it, too. I didn't think it was going to add that much expense to the deal. Let me know the details when you get them, then I can give you a definite answer.

Thanks again, Bruce

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