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What I did on my Summer Vacation
Summer vacation this year came with a few unexpected surprises, twists and turns. My daughter and I drove out to visit a friend of ours in Kansas. Chris and I grew up together , restoring cars as we got older, and lucky he made a career out of teaching others to restore classic automobiles. This program at McPherson college ( www.Mcpherson.edu) boasts a world class restoration program with sponsors such as Jay Leno and Hagerty Insurance, as well as spots on ESPN and a few classic car programs on Cable.
As I went through their shop and Chris gave me a tour I noticed a Fadal, Bridgeports, lathes of various types, and other metal and wood working equipment. I was impressed with their program, and the quality of workmanship that they do on these cars. Currently they are working on a 1915 Pierce Arrow, 1908 Holsman, 1929 Stutz Blackhawk Phaeton, 1928 Franklin, 1966 Mustang Fastback, 1957 Cadillac, 1953 Studebaker, 1950 Mercury Convertible.
From there we visited a friend of his that had a number of older Mack Trucks from the 1920’s. He had a unrestored 7 ton Mack, and outside his shop he promised the next time we came he would fire up his oil well engine that has a 12″ bore and 18″ stroke for us.
From there My daughter and I traveled with our friend to Colorado Springs. The area was well under control with the fires subsiding, and we met other cars of the Pre 1915 vintage for a car tour. After about 400 miles in four days, on Friday 16 cars set to climb pikes peak in our cars. After 2 1/2 hours up, we found the summit in our 1912 Model T Ford and parked. Proud of ourselves to be able to climb the 19 mile highway with a 7000 vertical change in altitude, we had a lunch, and began our decent. 45 minutes later we were at the bottom safe and sound. Below is a video of the decent in various stages.
What does this have to do with Grinding and Royal Master? Not much. Why Did I write about it? It was fun to walk into others lives for a two week period, see the machines that we make in use in an educational setting, drive a car with parts that I have made in our machine shop up a really big hill, and ...