Model A adventure 2023 - episode 5
Saturday morning, after a bit of caffeination, I loaded up and head back toward Roanoke and the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's a straight shot from Salem along US 460 (Orange Ave.), but a large part of the early going is through an older section of the city infested with stoplights, seemingly one every block or two. And, of course, a high percentage of them stopped me with no traffic to let across. Needless stoplight are the bane of my existence…
I'd spotted a Waffle House when I got off the parkway the day before and wanted to stop there for breakfast before resuming my trek. Being Saturday morning, they were slammed, with every booth full and just two adjacent stools at the counter open. I took one of the stools, with a very large 'biker dude' to my left, I'd estimate 350 pounds or more, and we had a nice chat about the car. The wait staff was way behind; I sat there at least ten minutes without being offered coffee and heard one waitress tell a patron she'd be right with him as soon as she washed some silverware, as they were out of it.
There were now two empty stools next to me and these were quickly taken by a man and a woman, with the woman next to me. Wasn't more than a minute before the obviously-annoyed man, yelled over at me, "Hey, buddy, give my wife a little room, will ya?" Sitting on a stool doesn't give one much leeway, so I guess my elbow was intruding on her space by an inch or two. After a few moments, still with no notice from the waitress, I abandoned the idea of breakfast and headed back to the car.
The return to the parkway was a longer ride than I remembered, and I was delayed when I read a sign wrong. It directed me to the Blue Ridge 'Library' and into a dead end. I finally found the right route and resume heading south.
Haven't said much about the wildlife I've seen, which hasn't been considerable, but there nonetheless. A couple of hen turkeys and numerous deer, all does as best I could tell. Usually just a single deer alongside the road, which scampered off as soon as they heard the noisy old car approaching. Did see a doe and a fawn right after getting on the parkway and later, a doe and two fawns, which I believe is unusual.
The car was running quite well most of the day, but if I had been paying attention, I might have known what was coming. I noticed that I was feeling more hot air on my throttle foot than prevously and recall wondering why that might be the case. Also, the car starting to backfire slightly on throttle closure, not loud backfires, just litle pops, and that had not happened before.
At the entrance to the Blue Ridge Music Center near Galax, VA, I pulled over to let the following cars get by and hit a hidden pothole that jarred the car so hard it knocked my cellphone out of the holder suction-cupped to the windshield. I was sure I had damaged something, a wheel or a tire, but luckily, no. A few miles further signs alerted me to a detour off the parkway due to road and bridge construction.
Just before the detour routed traffic off the parkway, I pulled into a scenic overlook area to stretch my legs and take in the scenery. When I started the car to leave, I was startled by extremely loud exhaust noise. Opening the right side of the hood revealed that the exhaust pipe had become disconnected from the exhaust manifold!
The exhaust system on a Model A is just two pieces: the manifold which attaches to the cylinder head and a one-piece exhaust pipe and muffler assembly which goes all the way to the rear of the car. The manifold and the exhaust pipe terminate in small bell-mouths, with a triangular cross-section gland or gasket between them, all squeezed together by a two-piece clamp. The nuts on the clamp had vibrated loose, allowing the exhaust pipe to fall down. Fortunately, the seller had installed longer bolts than really necessary, so that when the joint fell apart, all the clamp pieces remained, even the gland. It was going to be an easy repair... once everything cooled down.
A few loud miles down the parkway, I had to take the detour, which soon took me into the small town of Sparta, NC. As I entered town, I saw a restaurant named Crave where the parking lot was almost completely full. I was intrigued as to why that would be, so I pulled in and parked in the grass at the back of the lot. I discovered that it was the restaurant's 'all you can eat' crab legs day! Time for a decent dinner for a change. There was a long waiting list but a seat at the bar was open and the nice lady there plugged in my nearly-dead cellphone to charge while I ate a great, though messy, meal. Locals advised that there was only one hotel in town and it turned out to be a very good one, perhaps the best I one I stayed at other than the Holiday Inn Express (which cost nearly twice as much).
After my meal, I sat outside on a bench next to a nice Harley rider (his attire proved it without a doubt) and we discussed my exhaust system issue. When I mentioned that I anticipated problems retightening the clamp with a single 9/16" wrench, when I really needed two, one for each end of the bolt, he went to his Harley's saddle bag and pulled out a 9/16" Craftsman wrench to give me. When I offered to leave it for him at the hotel, he told me not to bother; he'd found it on the road and didn't need it back. Please believe me when I tell you angels are everywhere, if you only take the time to recognise them. And sometimes they ride Harleys…
I could have fixed the exhaust that night, but it simply made more sense to stay the night in Sparta and continue on the next day. So that's what I did.
