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Duetto on the Convention Road - 2012

6K views 42 replies 17 participants last post by  rabhalter 
#1 ·
Greetings:

We will be off tomorrow for the Convention Pre Tour. First day will be about 7 hours of driving on Interstate (I-287, I-87, I-84, US-17, I-81) up to the Canadian border. This evening, the wife and I packed our bags and then packed the Duetto.

They don't make them like they use to! Dig this trunk. Just a tad smaller than the '91 because the deck lid drops down a bit quicker, but our three suitcases still fit fine.

I always evaluate possible new 2-seaters as Alfa Spider replacements, but they never have this volume of space for packing. My view is that if you can't go 2-up for a week comfortably, who needs it?

Second photo is from earlier this week, taken at Domenick's. The Webers got a fine tuning for the trip.

- Michael
 

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#4 ·
Michael -
Have a safe trip - See you tomorrow night.
One question....I don't see an ice chest...how do you plan to keep your liquid libations cool? :confused: ;)
 
#5 ·
Hope you post photos from the Pre-convention tour.
As for bringing in beer to Canada.... customs may take it away as there are limits to the amount of drink you are allowed to bring in. They probably won't bother to search the car... but I'd hate to waste good craft beer.
See you on Wednesday night. I start my drive from Long Island on Wednesday morning at 6am!
 
#8 ·
First Day Transit to Starting Point

Greetings:

Today dawned simply beautiful, and it stayed that way all day. Blessed weather. If only I had not forgotten to mow the lawn yesterday; not what I wanted to be doing at 7:30 am.

We assembled our choices in the driveway (1st photo), and decided it would be the Duetto (kathy & I) and the Callaway (Frank). We left at 9:30, with a 7-8 hour drive ahead. 2nd photo is from our first rest stop on Rt 17 in the Catskills.

We took a lunch stop at 1:00 in Syracuse. 3rd photo of Kathy behind the wheel at speed on I81 north of Syracuse.

Both cars ran smoothly, moving along at the limit +, with virtual;y no traffic anywhere, and no construction delays. Seems the Callaway is getting about the same fuel economy as the Duetto. Technology!

We arrived over the border at 5:30, after a stop at the Duty Free Shop. Final photo is of the dinner gathering at our assembly point just over the Canadian border.
 

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#9 · (Edited)
Day one Wrap

Greetings:

We are nestled in our room near Ottawa, after a wonderful day and evening on the Maple Leaf Milli Tour. Wagon Master Gordy set up a casual driving event, where we traveled in small groups and basically were able to follow the leader. No need to resort to milage readings or map references. Just great driving roads and great driving weather.

The first two photos shows the group at a morning and lunch stops. Upon arriving in downtown Ottawa, all the spiders were posed at a huge spider sculpture. An "official" set of shots was taken by a club member who is also a professional photographer. What you see here is my quick version.

Final photo is of the lot at the Ottawa Rowing Club, where we had a fine dinner and some great conversations.

- Michael
 

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#10 ·
Looks great! Wish I was there. How many cars are on the trip?
See you Wednesday.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Maple Leaf Tour Day 2

Greetings:

Another great day on the road... well, almost. We started out from our fine hotel south of Ottawa and took a trour around the capital (Parliment) buildings. They look really neat, but we could not stop for photos due to parking restrictions.

FIrst photo is just outside of downtown, at our re-assembly point. 2nd photo from our rest stop at a Shell service area. We had lunch arranged at Shooters BBQ in Calabogie, and partook of a great berger & fries.

Pulling into the lot, we were alerted that the Callaway's clutch petal was getting mighty hard to depress. A bunch of us gear heads kibitzed, and decided it might just be a "helper spring" that failed. The slave cylinder and its boot looked just fine (3rd photo) No such luck. As we assembled for departure, the clutch refused to release, and it could not be put into gear. Ouch.

I jumped in the Callaway as Kathy was already behind the wheel of the Duetto. I proceeded to attempt one of my bucket list items - driving a stick without a working clutch. Hey, I see it happens a lot at Le Mans! Lots of torque in that V6, so I rolled out in 3rd as the wagon train departed. Worked like a charm. A few tricky moves as we slowed at stop signs and passed through construction zones, but we made it to the hotel here in Bancroft.

Upon "Opening her up", Dr. Frank and I, along with a host of support staff, discovered that the clutch pivot "lollipop" had vibrated out of its bolted-in position, causing the clutch fork arm to jam against the transaxle housing. WIth a bit of left-hand magic ( and a borrowed small vice-grip pliers) , I got it screwed back in securely. If that was all there was to do, we'd be OK. Unfortunately, my huffing and puffing trying to free the struck clutch early on resulted in me blowing out the slave cylinder's seal. There is a chance the local auto parts store can match one up when the open at 8 tomorrow morning. Otherwise, its back to 3rd gear starts for tomorrow's leg. Either way, we will be motoring to a repair shop just north of the Conventions hotel, where a new slave cyl will be fitted.

- Michael
 

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#14 · (Edited)
Greetings:

The sun rose with the Callaway up on jack stands, where it had sat overnight. First order of business (after an EggAmuffin) was a visit to CarQuest, which was literally directly next to the hotel. They had a box assortment of O-Rings. The clerk picked out one that matched the diameter of the piston, and I grabbed one that was just a bit fatter.

Back at the car, my choice turned out to be too fat to get into the bore, while the clerk's choice fit snug. But would it hold hydraulic fluid under pressure?

After I assembled the piston, spring, actuator rod and boot onto the car, Dr. Frank took Sam's big syringe and drew a pint of fluid out of the system using vacuum. I pumped the clutch a few times for good measure. After the bubbles seemed to cease, we tightened up the bleed skew and the pedal felt good.

It took a few miles and an ounce of fluid to fully firm up - I believe it was seeping out when the clutch pedal was held down continuously. We scrambled to put the car back down and get positioned for the 9:00am departure. My thanks to Frank, Les, Sam, David, et al for the advice, tools and assistance.

Kathy and I drove in the Callaway and Frank took charge of the Duetto. All the tour cars stopped along a lakeside for a break and a photo shoot. We took lunch in Dorset, and a group of us ate at the Trading Bay Dining Company.

With the Callaway clutch operational, we swapped rides again, so Frank could head off with several other cars to the convention for the BOD meeting tomorrow. Last shot is of the Callaway crossing the lovely steel bridge across the river next to the restaurant. Except for those directors and executive members, the remainder of the tour participants are now in Huntsville for the night. Tomorrow is the last day of the tour, and we eventually get to the convention site in Mississauga, west of Toronto.
 

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#15 · (Edited)
Well this is the silent driver of the Cintos Pre-Tour
Made it down to Toronto! Arrived at 6:30 ( it is hot here )
Car preformed beautifully no hint of a clutch problem and the brake fluid reservoir is full.
Some stop and go traffic- AC on cool.
Great car !
 
#17 ·
Its nice to hear everyone on this tour arrived to the hotel safely. Rest up and be ready for the days ahead. Its going to be great.

Anthony
Toronto Chapter President
 
#18 ·
Convention Attained

Greetings:

Yet another wonderful day on the road in Ontario. First shot is from dinner at the Cottage Grill last night in downtown Huntsville. Effectively our "farewell dinner" we gave Gord and Sue a round of applause for their fantastic work bringing us along this great road tour.

Next shot is from our morning break. Great coffee Kiosk with yummy muffins and tarts.

Our next goal was the "Big Chute", where boats are portaged over a 17 meter elevation change aboard a massive elevator. The rail-mounted carriage is driven by four massive cable drives of the type used in mine shafts. Note that the carriage rides on four tracks, whose geometry keeps the carriage level as it comes out of the water, rides over the hill and back into the water on the other side. Neat.

We also took lunch in the local restaurant. I had a spectacular order of Fish and Chips.

Final shot is of our departure from Big Chute. From there we ran an an assortment of fast and moderate roads back down west and south to the convention site. While it was quite hot, the route took us around Toronto so we avoided all the commuter traffic and metro blahs.

Safe and sound. Tomorrow, Wine Tour!!! Tour Bus!! No Driving!!!

- Michael & Kathy
 

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#19 ·
Mike & Kathy,

Your description of convention drives always amazes me -- and I' hope we'll meet at one of them again, some day soon (preferably with our 2600s).
 
#21 ·
Greetings:

First day at the convention for us was spent on the Wine Trail bus tour, while other more adventurous types headed to the track for time trials and laps. I had originally planned on running the Callaway at the track, but had decided weeks ago that I would rather bring the Duetto and keep the beast at bay until it could be better sorted out.

First photo is from dinner last night at Giorgio's in Streetsville. The veal was fabulous!

On today's tour, we first visited Niagara Falls, getting a gentle misting from the falls to ward off the sun. Next up was the Butterfly Conservatory, which has 4,000 live butterflys flittering about a lush tropical arboretum.

The coach took us down to Niagara on the Lake for a few hours of wandering, shopping, and lunch. We found a nice Greek/Canadian restaurant and were joined by Bob and Carol from Calgary.

Two wineries were visited, both of which were really pushing ice wines. Sorry, no sale at $60 for 350ml.... But we did by some nice red at Peller Estates. Photo of the group from the Jackson Triggs Winery.

Back in Missassauga, we attended the welcoming reception, then a few of us motored off to dinner at Saucy in Streetsville. Last photo catches the chariots carrying the dinner crowd.

Tomorrow should be a day of rest, although we need to prep the Duetto for the concourse on Saturday, and get the Callaway's clutch slave replaced at Pinarello Motori, Gord's suggested Alfa specialist.

- Michael
 

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#22 ·
Friday at the Convention - R&R and BBQ

Bright and early, Gord, Farnk and I headed to Pino's (Pinarello Motori) to adress the patched clutch slave cylinder seal on the GTV-6. Pino had a new unit and quickly fitted it and a new hose, then bled out the line with a neat auto-fill and extract system. Instant firm pedal.

Back at the hotel Kathy and I washed and waxed the Duetto to prepare her for tomorow's Concorso d'Eleganza event.

With the parking lot filling up with convention attendees, very pleasant evening weather enveloped the hotel grounds. An elegant "BBQ" dinner, complete with cloth covered tables, silverware and a live band, was served up outside on the grassy lawn. Great food and conversation!

The attached photos can't possibly represent the sights and sounds. It was certainly a gathering that will be remembered for many years. The first photo shows the spectacular Alfa Romeo TZ3 Stradale, which greeted hotel visitors at the front entrance. The Callaway is attempting to make a familia connection just behind, but the Zagato seemed to be ignoring its presence.

- Michael
 

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#23 · (Edited)
Concourse d'Elegance

Greetings:

Saturday was another sparkling, bright blue-sky day here in Toronto. The events of note were the Concourse and the Banquet. Photos below to emphasize the excitement and color.

Sunday is the drive back to CT. It has been a great convention, and we are both looking forward to the San Francisco Wine Country next year.

Kathy & Michael
 

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#25 ·
Hoe safe and sound with the Duetto

Greetings:

All Done! Back home in CT with the Duetto. Allow me to proclaim "proud Papa", as that beauty was torn down to the last nut and reassembled personally over a 5 year period, with just a few technical details handled by others. Driving for 1500 miles in 8 days at speed is a great way to validate the build. Unfortunately, AROC was unimpressed. They dissed me at the convention Concourse. I must satisfy myself by bragging that I have a great driver which looks fantastic ( to me, the guy who did the work and paid the $$$) in spite of having the wrong color cam cover (or whatever), and comfortable carpet mats vs rubber ones (but with the proper snaps) - oh, and I have headrests and a steering wheel with a leather wrap so I can fondle it for hours at a time without getting sweaty. Oops. Probably a bunch of other stuff wrong that others get right and so they deservedly get the awards.

- Michael
 

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#28 · (Edited)
if i had to restore a duetto, it would be exactly like yours. white / red is the classiest color combo in my opinion.
I spoke to the original purchaser of the Duetto, and he stated that he had ordered white over black, and when this combination arrived, he was initially disappointed. Within a week he had changed his mind and felt it was wonderful.

I need to get an opinion from the crowd: when a judge asked me Sunday if the Duetto was still wearing the original factory paint "because if it was, it would be worth 10 points", should I have taken that as a compliment on how evenly and extensively the paint had been applied, or should I have assumed he was incompetent. After 45 years, how could any paint look like new urethane with clear coat? Or perhaps it was simply a case of language, and he meant to ask me if it was the original factory COLOR (it is). Either way, I lost any confidence in the judging staff after that question.

- Michael
 
#27 ·
Welcome home Michael and Kathy! With respect to carpet mats, that's what I have in my '69. But I am sure you have the original air in the tires. See you at the Second Sunday at Leo's.
 
#30 ·
Michael, Never take concours events seriously; judging is not an exact science. I have a friend who one year took Best-in-Show at a major event on Long Island. The following year, at the same event, he was sixth in his class.
 
#33 ·
Michael, Never take concours events seriously; judging is not an exact science.
Not to worry, I don't need external validation from strangers. Barreling down NY 17 at 75 for a few hours is validation enough! But, on that note, perhaps I should feel free now to put on that lovely red serpent graphic that I have always wanted on the hood - can't do any additional damage, and will help me find it in the parking lot among all the other white duettos!

- Michael
 
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