Coronado Trail Run 2013

[Bob Broberg SPF667 460BB]

Got home today from the Coronado Trail Run. You guys who have not taken this route owe it to yourself to do it at least once. I drove a total of 650 miles and burned 34 gallons of fuel. Leaving from the famous Idaho exit gas station Saturday morning, our first stop was Apache Gold Chevron Station. Next was to be at a Circle K/Shell station in Clifton but we ran across a cobra on the side of the road.
Mike Brassfield tried to join us but his motor failed him and he had to retreat between Safford and Clifton. Hope all is well. Seemed like an electrical issue.
525 SHARP turns on a nicely paved road in the 50 miles between Clifton and Hannigan Meadows. My hands on the wheel could be described as a “death grip.” By the time we lunched at the Lodge I had to peal my fingers off the Moto Lita and eat with my elbows.
Great weather until the return trip after breakfast in Show Low. We got wet and frozen almost to Payson
Still, we lived. Another great trip by the SBD boys. That’s Scotty, Bob and Dan. I always associated SBD with a different gaseous condition. In all we had 3 cobras, 2 Panteras, 2 Lotus and a Viper. All but the Viper stayed at the same motel in Springerville. Americas Best is a nice, reasonably priced place with a convenient store and fuel right in the parking lot. Too much Scotch and cigars before dinner (beer for me) led us to an early bed and hangovers Sunday morning. Great stories. Thanks to Dan and Adriana to let me overnight at their place Friday to save me 55 miles and 1 hour driving Saturday morning. They even fed me $300 Vodka! Whew! Ask Dan about his new rifle or should I say cannon.

AZ Bob

[Danr55]

SBD? Well, that would be appropriate if it was Noisey.. nothing silent about any of us. It was a great drive and a wonderful, if a bit damp in spots, weekend. The commoradary Saturday evening was great. I don't know that the Pantera club is used to the talking cicle but they seemed to enjoy it. We even found Los Dos Molinos in Springerville and had great food on Saturday night. Good Scotch, good friends, good food, what more can an old man ask for? More of all of it.
I spoke with Loraine Brassfield Sunday morning and they got towed from Safford to Superior and Karl and his trusty trailer picked them up and brought them the rest of the way back, so they got home safe. Still didn't know what was up with the car. We discussed it at breakfast and decided it sounds like the MSD box went south.

[Karl Bebout]

Sounds like a great trip and I'm sorry I missed it. Yesterday, Mesa Mike found a loose ground wire for the MSD box and then reported that his car was running fine after taking care of that little problem. I was glad to be able to bail Mike and Lorraine out. He's towed me several times, albeit much shorter distances, but so helpful, none the less. Mesa Dave let me borrow his truck since I trust it a lot more than my old beater. Its diesel and much bigger brakes are nice to have going up through the mountains. Really sorry to have missed eating at the original Los Dos Molinos. I've been to both their stores in Mesa and on South Central many times and I really like their adovada. It is one place I don't have to ask for hotter hot sauce. Next time.

[Dale]

Christine and I, traveling this time under the guise of the old world snake family Viperidae, had a nice time on the Coronado Trail cruise. Kind of wish we'd kept a tighter formation on the Clifton to Hannagan Meadow run so we could all play together on the twisties, but we had fun with Chris and a couple of motorcycles.

Sounds like we missed some good times in Springerville. Hannagan Meadow was delightful. Felt badly that Mike & Loraine weren't able to join us. Quaint lodging, good food, got to meet & dine with several very interesting people, and the moonlight hike was indescribable. We didn't leave the lodge until 10:30 am. Had intermittent rain and one big downpour all the way to Pinetop, but it cleared as we headed south on AZ-73 and US-60 through Apache land and the Salt River Canyon. We made it home by 5:30 pm; 560 miles at 18.3 mpg (Amazing mileage for a mountain run. I obviously didn't push the snake very hard this trip.)

We're already looking forward to the next Coronado Trail run.

[Danr55]

Just for everyone's information....I got a nice email from the manager of the motel. Raj says thanks for staying there again and wanted us to know that he is looking forward to us coming back. So there.. we're not as bad as some would think us!

[Scotchman]

We're so bad we're good ! Raj is probably the nicest motel manager on the planet. He wouldn't let me pay him for a ride to and from dinner.

[Danr55]

I knew the car sounded funny coming home. Pulled the valve cover today and this fell on my foot.

[Bob Broberg SPF667 460BB]

Holy Smokes! That can't be good. Rods and valves bent? Piston tops beat? Jeff will know. I thought you recently rebuilt that motor.

AZ Bob

[Karl Bebout]

" I thought you recently rebuilt that motor." Maybe that's the problem???

[Danr55]

Thanks Karl!

[RedSnake351]

Dam, Dan, those Chinese-made parts just don't hold up as well, do they?
Ralph

[Danr55]

You.may be right. These.are.from The Peoples Republic of Kalifornia. They may be Chinese made.

[mikiec]

You got 3 weeks to get it fixed.

[Karl Bebout]

I'd always run aluminum roller rockers but this last time, I went with the Comp Cams stainless steel double rollers, figuring their strength wouldn't degrade as much as aluminum. I'm sure they were probably made in China, but without going with Harlan Sharp's at megga bucks, I don't know who's aren't.

[Car Nut]

That rocker doesn't look very robust in the area it broke. You might want to compare it to some others on line. What brand are those things?

Biting my tounge.

[Danr55]

Car nut, those are from Precision Oil Pumps.

[mikiec]

Oil pumps, I thought those were in the bottom of the motor.

[Car Nut]

Perhaps that's the problem.