<VV> It don't get no better / well maybe sort of

[Louis Armer]

Good evening all, Yesterday I left all of you with the warm and fuzzy 
good feelings of our Corvair outing and now as Paul Harvey used to 
say "The rest of the story":
      I had left the Canton, GA Chevy dealership after saying my 
good-byes to the Choo Choo crew and was cruising down I-575
toward the exit that would take me to my younger brother's home for 
an afternoon visit and cocktail hour ;-) I had called him on the cell 
phone to let him know I was on my way and would be at his place 
before 3:30 pm. I was less than 5 miles from his home when I heard 
that nauseating  "plink" from the engine area of daBrier and all of a 
sudden the engine revved up to about 4000 rpms. Previously I had 
noticed the rumbling from a replacement axle that some may remember 
was replaced by Dan Terry in his driveway
last year when he was supposed to have driven daBrier to the Walter 
Mitty / Road Atlanta Vintage races in May of 2009. Just a day before 
Ironically wise Prez Dan Terry said "I would be a bit concerned about 
the noisy axle for that trip." Yes I had procrastinated for a number 
of reasons including physical health reasons and not having enough 
time to prepare Darth Vair before the Cedar Rapids convention. Now I 
knew it had to be done and when I finished the trip it would be the 
#1 priority on my Corvair to do list. When I arrived in Blairsville I 
was even concerned enough that we inspected it with the wheel jacked 
up and the axle turning under power. The unanimous decision was I 
should replace it when I got home from the trip. The more demanding 
part of the trip was over and most all the rest of the trip would be 
cruising 4 lane roads so I was not overly concerned.
      Concern was an understatement when I got out of daBrier and 
observed the obvious as the tire had been closely shaved by the wheel 
well lip. The tire was a bit worse for wear but was intact and looked 
almost as good as the 3 other less than 1000 mile tires I had 
purchased brand new from Bill Elliott less than 2 years ago. Actually 
Bill had given them to me and asked that I do something nice for 
CORSA which I did by running the Car Corral for 4 days at the Walter 
Mitty. Well, the next step was "HELP" and I first called Dan Terry as 
I was close to his house but he was already committed to a family get 
together so next I called Tony Kruzich hoping he may have arrived 
home but since his trip was 65+ miles longer than mine or Dan's trip 
he had not yet arrived home and I didn't have his cell phone #.
     Sooo I was on my own to solve my problem. Next was a call to my 
brother to let him know the situation and then a call to my wife, 
Liz, to see if she could locate an 800 # for Hagerty's Insurance. 
YES, I had done my homework the day before the trip and talked with 
Hagerty's reps and renewed my annual policy and ADDED 50 mile tow 
insurance to the policy. I had listened to Dan's advice, sort of, and 
bought the insurance. :-)
      It took awhile to resolve the tow question since it was a 
weekend, my policy was brand new, Al in Arizona didn't have the new 
imfo in his computer, I initially forgot that I had my Insurance card 
in the glove compartment and the Insurance offices are closed on the 
weekend. Al was finally able to access the correct Imfo, confirm that 
I did indeed have the coverage, contact the nearest Hagerty
approved wrecker service and arrange for the flat bed tow of less 
than 50 miles (whew) to my driveway. My wrecker driver, Kim, was  a 
40ish 5'4" female driver who was great and knew her business. She had 
driven dump trucks for her brothers before getting into the
3rd generation family owned tow service called Ingram's. When she 
pulled up to load daBrier she informed me that today is the day to 
tow old cars as she had towed a 1941 Nash that morning. We were soon 
loaded and off for home in the cold AC of the wrecker cab and I was 
drinking from the cold bottle of water that her dispatcher had her 
bring for me. We were in my driveway in about 45 minutes ( 6:15 pm ) 
and I thought what could have been in the 2 lane mountain roads or on 
the dreaded I-285 arc around northern Atlanta or my being without 
such excellent service from my Hagerty's Insurance and Ingram's 
Wrecker Service. I had the replacement axle installed before 9:30 
that night. "It don't get no better .........well maybe sort of !!! ;-)
Chuck Armer
Travels with daBrier

CORSA Member
Corvanatics Member
Corvair Atlanta Director
1965 Corsa Coupe
1964 Greenbrier
http://darthvair.com
SECC Member
1965 Corsa Autocross car 1/2 owner
http://www.wtbrt.com/