Restoration Workshop |
| Host | Felix Boston | |
| Players | Jim Ferguson, John Ftacek, J R Howard, Casey Miller, Walter Payne | |
| Players | Jack Reeves, Tom Romberg, John Sullivan, Ron Taylor, Rhett & Kaitlyn Kearns (San Antonio) |
June Restoration Workshop
..as chronicled by Walter Payne
It was one of those sweltering summer mornings. The kind of morning when you walk into the garage and the engine heat from that late night
grocery run to make sure you have plenty of blueberries with that breakfast yogurt, has turned the garage into a sauna. With watery eyes
and breathing ever so slightly labored, you seemingly swim though the thick, stale air to open the door to take out the trash. Once outside,
it's even hotter. And it only 5:45am. Don't get me wrong, I love Summer. Only problem is, it's still late Spring!
Enough chores for the morning, there is a Model A meeting to go to! Following the meeting will be one of my favorite club events, the
Restoration Workshop. I hit the road, hot coffee in hand and grateful for the cool air-conditioning in my modern iron.
Zooming down the toll road in the direction of a beautiful sunrise, I realize I'm about to pass a Model A. How can that be? Glancing
down at the speedometer hovering at about 85, then back up to the shadowy, but unmistakable silhouette of a Model A, I then realize the
A is on a trailer doing about 75.
So I do what any self-respecting car guy would do. I slow down a bit to take a closer look…and a picture. 1928-29, Check. Roadster, Check.
Alabama plates, What?
Could he possibly be going to the meeting? We were just coming out of Austin, so no telling, but he was headed in the right direction.
With my reconnaissance finished and pleased with my moving-target photo skills, I reset the cruise control and made a bee-line for the IHOP.
Once there it was already getting to be a full house with 21 fine folks there by my count. Including guess who? Yep, the roadster with
the Alabama plates. The roadster's owner is a new-ish member by the name of Tom Romberg. He brought his latest acquisition to take it
to the Restoration Workshop being held right after the meeting.
After parading the cars through a few busy parking lots, we caravanned our way from the IHOP to the garage of Felix Boston, our host
for today. Felix has a wonderful front yard and always lets the Model A's park on the lawn, concours style.
The work for the day centered around trying to determine the source of a noise coming from Tom's car, and some general maintenance
issues along with a noise or two coming from Rhett and Katie's car. Though not a club member, Rhett has been to a couple of meetings
seeking advice as a new Model A owner. As I understand it, the newlyweds Rhett and Katie are in the process of moving and will join another
club when they get to where they are going. We wish them all the best and everyone was glad to lend them a hand and impart a little Model
A knowledge along the way.
A heartfelt thanks to our host Felix Boston, and to everyone who pitched-in, gave advice, scratched their head, looked surprised, and just showed up!
Excelsior,
Walter
