25th Annual
Pacific Southwest Zone Show
May 17, 2008, Morro Bay
 Penny in the parking lot of the Inn at Morro Bay. |
Jump to:
- Penny Makes the Run to Morro Bay
- A Cool Oasis and Lots of Money
- Morro Bay is Way Cool!
- It's Show Time
- Only in Class Award
- California Highway 1
Penny Makes the Run to Morro Bay
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| At times, Penny's temperature spikes to 230°F. |
Lynn participated in last year's OCA Pacific Southwest Zone Show at Morro Bay, and he had a great time. For that event, he trailered Penny as he did not sufficiently trust the old girl to drive the 200+ miles to the show and get him back home safely.
Since then, Lynn participated in the AACA Western Division Tour at which Penny delivered over 500 trouble-free miles, counting the travel to and from Santa Rosa. This year Lynn plans to drive Penny to the Morro Bay show. If he is successful, this will be another 500+ mile accomplishment for his pretty Penny.
Unfortunately, business travel prevents Lynn's wife, Jeanne, from joining him. Happily, Lynn's son, Andrew, is available and agrees to ride shotgun for the trip.
As luck would have it, a high-pressure weather system parks itself off the coast of California and inland temperatures soar to over 100°F on Friday, May 16. Of course, Penny doesn't have air conditioning, so Lynn and Andrew's drive to the show is a hot and uncomfortable one.
Of more concern than the hot weather, itself, is the cooling water temperature of Penny. While climbing hills at 60 MPH, the temperature rises to 230°F causing Lynn and Andrew some concern. At the time, Lynn doesn't think that Penny has lost any coolant, but later he finds that she lost about a gallon. Yikes!
Doing some internet research, Lynn discovers that the new, period-correct RC-10 radiator cap that he has on Penny is a non-pressure type. He also reads that a 50/50 water/antifreeze mixture will boil at 225°F at room temperature and sea-level pressure.
More modern vehicles used a pressurized cooling system. With a 15-PSI radiator cap, a 50/50 coolant mixture boils at temperatures above about 260°F, considerably extending the operating range of an engine.
Apparently Penny was quietly boiling off coolant during the times that the temperature spiked. Lynn needs to be way more careful about running Penny at these high temperatures. Loss of another one or two gallons of coolant could have been catastrophic. Habits based on operation of modern automobiles with their extended operating ranges could be disastrous with older cars!
A Cool Oasis and Lots of Money
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| Lynn and Andrew admire the paper money displayed at Joanna's Restaurant in Greenfield. They send some of their own to the owners after their return to Livermore. (Defunct paper money sent, top-to-bottom: 1,000 Cruzeiros from Brazil; 10,000 Australs from Argentina; 1,000 Dinars from Yugoslavia.) |
At about the half-way point on the drive to Morro Bay, Lynn and Andrew stop in Greenfield looking for something to eat. They select Joanna's Restaurant based on a time tested strategy that Lynn has developed. He makes one pass through town taking a quick inventory of establishments. He favors older establishments that show evidence of local patronage—the more local cars parked outside the better. This is one form of a general strategy that Lynn calls cooperative filtering, using the advice of subject matter experts to help inform his decision.
They are not disappointed with the selection. It is a cool and welcome oasis from the heat of the 100-plus temperatures in the car. The owners are welcoming and friendly, and the food is palatable.
One of the first things that strikes their fancy is an extensive framed collection of international paper money on the wall. Lynn chats with the owner and learns that the money has largely been donated by customers to the establishment. Lynn takes a business card and tells the owner that he will look for some unusual bills left over from his international travels when he returns home.
A week later, Lynn slips three defunct bills from Brazil, Argentina and Yugoslavia into an envelope along with some information about Penny and sends it to Joanna's. He wonders if this contribution will find it's way to the wall. Maybe he'll check the next time he's in Greenfield.
The bills that Lynn sends all sport fantastic amounts, with lots of zeros after the one, but they were worth almost nothing in the 1980's when he collected them and likely worth even less today. At that time the economies of these countries were experiencing hyper inflation. Much like the gasoline prices today in the US, the value of the currency changed almost every day.
Some of the scientists that Lynn visited would cash their monthly paychecks and immediately convert the proceeds to US dollars. As they needed cash during the month, they would slowly convert the dollars back as a way to cope with the skyrocketing devaluation of the currency. It was not a pleasant way to live and Lynn hopes he never comes to see these conditions where he lives.
Morro Bay is Way Cool!
 (photo by Andrew Kissel) |
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| Lynn washes Penny at the Inn at Morro Bay (left). A cleaner Penny is not out-of-place parked with the Packards and Oldsmobiles (right). |
It's not just a comment about the metaphysical state of the town, after about four hours on the road in 100°F temperatures in a car without air conditioning, Morro Bay is cool—literally. Situated on a bay to the Pacific Ocean, the air temperature is in the mid-70's. It is very pleasant. One can stand in the full sun and still feel comfortable.
As in previous years, the hotel has graciously provided an area with a hose and water for washing cars. Lynn wastes no time getting the road dust and insects off of Penny.
As can be expected during a car show weekend, people are strolling through the parking lot, stopping to talk with others about their cars. Several people stop and talk with Lynn and Andrew about Penny. Everyone is mellow, polite and interested to learn more about the interesting cars they find scattered across the lot. Everyone is sharing small stories of their own car adventures and experiences.
This is really a great start to the weekend and the brutal heat of the ride quickly fades from memory.
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| A Packard car club is also using the Inn at Morro Bay as their base for weekend activities. |
What's this? A Packard club will be sharing the hotel with the Olds club this weekend. The Packards are touring and it is a treat to see these beautiful and magnificent cars glide in and out of the parking lot all weekend long.
It's Show Time
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| The two oldest cars at the show. Penny (1938 L-38 owned by Lynn, left), and a 1941 Model 68 convertible (owned by Bob Briggs, center). Several beautiful 1950 Oldmobiles park together (right). |
Starting about 7:00 A.M., participants at the Olds show begin parking their cars in designated spots. Like last year, Penny is the oldest Oldsmobile at the show. Unlike last year, there is one other pre-World-War-II car, a beautiful 1941 Model 68 convertible.
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The judges meet to get their instructions (left). Daniel shares
a park bench with Lynn at the judges meeting (right). |
There were very few flaws in these three cars: 1949 Olds 98 (John D'Attilio, left); 1950 Olds 88 (Keith Berg, center); 1950 Olds 88 (Martin DeAnda, right). | |||
Lynn has signed up to be a judge. Together with Milton Yee, he is assigned to judge Class 4, 1949-1950 cars.
This turns out to be a more difficult class to judge than normal. All the six cars in the class are beauties, but three of them are close to perfect. The top three are separated by only a few points.
After Milton and Lynn turn in their judging sheets, the chief judge is skeptical that the three top cars are so close to perfect and decides to have a look at them for himself. After a close look, the chief judge agrees with Milton and Lynn. They are nearly flawless cars.
Only in Class Award
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| Penny is awarded "Best in Class" for Class 2 (1926-1939). |
Lynn is pleased to receive a Best in Class award for Penny at the banquet that evening. But of course, Penny was the only car in its class.
Andrew tweaks Lynn a little by calling it an Only in Class award, arguing that to really mean something, there should be four or five other cars competing for the award.
Lynn agrees, but what's the owner of a 1938 Oldsmobile supposed to do? Lynn repeatedly suggested to his friend Willy Cooper that he should bring his 1931 Olds business coupe to the show, but Willy declined. There just are not very many pre-WW-II Oldsmobiles that are actively participating in car shows these days. It may partly be due to the fact that there aren't that many pre-WW-II cars left!
California Highway 1
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| Andrew and Lynn return to Livermore via California Highway 1. They stop to enjoy the beautiful northern California coast and watch the elephant seals. They spot a California condor baby in a nest, practicing it's flying. Awesome! |
Hoping to beat the heat, Andrew and Lynn return home by taking California Highway 1 which hugs the coast. This stretch of road has some of the most beautiful views in the world and is one of the reasons that many people visit California. The road is winding and it takes a little more time, but the scenery is breath taking and the traffic is light this early in the year.
There are areas of the beach that are covered by elephant seals. At this time of year only the females and juveniles are on the beach while the huge bull males are out at sea. One female (pictured above) looks up, yawns and scratches herself, then puts her head down and goes back to sleep as Lynn takes a picture from a nearby overlook.
Naturally Penny gets lots of looks, waves and shouts of complements from fellow travelers. This is a kick for Lynn, who always enjoys the attention.
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| Penny develops an annoying little tick before reaching home. Hopefully it's just the need for a valve adjustment. (Listen to the tick, here.) |
On about the last ten miles of the trip home, Lynn notices that Penny has developed an unusually loud valve-lifter tick. This alarms Lynn who hopes that it will be corrected with a simple valve lash adjustment and that it's not something more problematic.
On this trip, Lynn adds about 515 miles to Penny's odometer. She turns in an overall fuel economy of about 14.6 MPG.
The overheating and valve tick prompts Lynn to wonder about his decision to drive, rather than trailer Penny to the show. The heat and the miles have likely been hard on the old girl. Lynn hopes that she is OK.
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Last updated: May 24, 2009