Short Shift Sayonara

For a year or five, I had vowed to remove the ill-behaved short shift kit in the Targa and put it back to stock. However, at the end of each season, it would become a winter project, and then in the spring it would get driven and become a sometime-this-summer project, and then it would be fall which is perfect driving weather for the Targa, and then it......you get the idea. Well finally, this winter, largely because I wanted someone else to drive it, I spent the couple of hours needed to get the job done.

It is not a difficult job other than reinstalling the two springs in the shift mechanism. This requires some gloves, some patience and some eye protection. My technique is to push the dowel pin a portion of the way through, and then to use a thin screwdriver at the other side to "catch" the other end of the spring. You can then tap the dowel through, and as it straightens the spring, it will also displace the screwdriver. The spring is under tension, so best to keep yourself protected, as well as any painted surfaces that you care about in the vicinity.

Once complete, I went out for a drive, and the stock shifting felt great. I'm not sure why it was ever removed....

Targarific

This was scheduled to be the last of the Breakfast runs circling parts or eastern pennsylvania. Weather was just about perfect, and the crew always jumps to take advantage not knowing how many driveable weekend days are left in the season. The Targa had been suffering from battery maladies, and a broken gas cap cable. With the run as motivation, late on Saturday night I replaced the cable with the new one which had been sitting patiently for a couple of months. I then pulled the battery that had been on the trickle charger and stuck it in the car. Seemed strong, and I went to bed. 

The Targa is thankfully quieter than the Coupe, so I did not have to worry about waking the neighbors in the dark of Sunday morning. I headed out to my normal gas stop and got some Sunoco Ultra. I adjusted the mixture on the Zenith carbs a bit as they seemed to be running rich. The car felt great once it warmed up and the now popping Zenith carbs settled down. I need to rebuild these carbs this winter. There was a glorious sunrise as I drove out to the rendezvous site, and it had all the hallmarks of a glorious day.

All of the regulars were at the meet point, and we promptly took off into the countryside at speeds that may have exceeded posted limits at times ;-) Unlike the Coupe, the Targa is a stock 2.2, and it had to be kept on the boil in order to stay up with the squadron. And stay up with them it did ! The Targa also has the stock steering wheel and more body roll. While you might think that this would detract from a performance run like this, it was actually great fun to drive the car at its limits, and slide around on the stock seats while chasing the thoroughbreds.

Breakfast was good as usual and I got a great idea for altering the horrible new PA antique plates. The crew discussed the possibility of another run, perhaps thanksgiving weekend. We can't resist one last run... 

Bridges and Breakfast

On a beautiful June morning, the early 911 guys had a run through parts of northern bucks and southern northampton counties. It started in Quakertown early (pun intended), so it was my kind of drive. The details are covered in the Early Early Birds post. The ride was great fun, spirited at times, and adventurous at others including an unpaved road not far from the house !! The car ran great, but is producing a little smoke on acceleration indicating the time to do the head and valves is drawing near.....