FFW in Epping, NH

[Zero_chance]

Rain in the forecast Hopefully it wont ruin the whole day...

 

[Venom351R]

Hope you guys dont get rained on tomorrow. Either way I'll see you guys on Sunday, Rich, Tom, Charlie I'll catch up w/ you guys at some point

 

[Venom351R]

Good job for those who brought home awards today Great day for a car show/drag racing. There were a lot of really nice cars there and quite a few very fast Mustangs. Still dont know why there were some Camaro's there racing . It was a good FFW over all, was nice to catch up w/ everyone again,

 

[Zero_chance]

For some reason, Sundays open to all brands. I saw a lot of nice cars and a lot of fast ones yesterday but the trip was ultimately a big dissapointment. First I got stuck in traffic on the mass pike which turned a 15 minute leg of the trip into an hour plus leg. Then the $150 hotel I stay at loses power friday night from 830 pm to 4am Saturday morning. Stayed up hoping to get a refund, only to fall asleep around 130am and be woken up by every light turning on at 430 am when the power came back on. Got that behind me the next morning and headed to the dragway for ten am. Things were going great, lot of nice cars, good race action, etc. Then it starts to rain around 330. Me and my girlfriend decide to wait it out in the car. After about twenty minutes we decide just to head home, start the car and a glance at the Cobalt voltmeter reveals Im running at battery voltage. Great. Just replaced the alternator 8 months ago. So now Im 3 hours from home with no tools and no clue about the area. Tried to corral some help from fellow stangers and didnt get much assistance. Finally I ended up calling my parents and having them locate some parts stores. The napa right down the road was a joke and didnt even have a tester so I could verify what I already knew. Not to mention no alternator and no tools. So the next option was a town called Stratham, a little ways down the highway. So there I go, driving to Autozone with bad directions and only running on the battery. I make it there and theres about eight people at eight different registers and the only people I see wearing Autozone shirts are out front smoking. I assumed they were on break. Wrong. They come in about 5minutes later and start waiting on people. Theyre the only ones working. So finally I ask if they test alternators, they do. Kid comes out hooks up the positive and negative cables and then tells me to start the car. I ask him, dont you have to hook up the amp probe? He replies, for what? So at that point, I told him Id do the test and it confirmed what I already knew. Alternator output was 12.9V, amps at 20. Luckily they did have one so I asked if I could use the belt tool which is clearly marked as a loaner tool on the mats at every register. He says its not so I end up buying it. Luckily it had a 13 and 15 mm attachment which covered two of the three bolts. Bought a ten and and 8mm and180 dollars and twenty slow minutes later I was back at 14.5 volts. Done raining by now so we ended up going back to the track for the three rounds of true street comp and then finally started home. Naturally got stuck in more bumper to bumper traffic on the way home, why not. All in all, like I told my girlfriend, experiences like that are why I prefer to stay home. Ultimately I got some bad ass pictures and video, but the negatives of the trip really outweighed the positives. Next year Im gonna stay home, leave early Saturday morning, bring half my tool box and replace damn near every part before I leave.

edit - worded the negatives outweighing the positives wrong. ps - and i got sunburn so now i look like this

 

[Zero_chance]

And what really gets me is, out of the 500 dollars I spent this weekend, the one thing I really wanted was a shifter to complete my 5 speed swap. I planned on getting it right before I left, in case I needed money for other things. Well, other things turned out to be a new alternator. The one I installed 8 months ago has a lifetime warranty so now I have to bring it back to my dealership, have the parts guy call CAP to get me a replacement and then hope I can bring the Duralast one back to Autozone. Its now slightly used but in like new condition. Not my first choice of actions, but Im not eating the cost of an alternator when I just bought one 8 months ago. Should make CAP eat it.

 

[Ozz]

Pics from the show for those interested: Index of /carshows/ffw08

 

[Zero_chance]

Nice shots. I only snapped about forty, half car show, half racers. Got a video of the truck that went 190mph on Saturday though. Dont know if he backed it up to officially break the MPH record though. Anyone else know?

 

[Ozz]

I could've sworn I heard 195.

 

[Zero_chance]

Maybe at some point but I know the first time the truck went down the announcer said it was 190 and if he backed it up hed break the old MPH record of 189.