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  2024 - A Father's Day to Remember

  Jun 17, 2024

  Well, I made it to the Father's Day car show at Nay Aug Park in Scranton, Pennsylvania.  This is the show I missed last year due to the issues I was having with Holley tech support.  I almost didn't make it this year because the AC compressor failed about two weeks prior to the show.  Luckily, I got everything back together and working just in time.

  The weather was perfect and the people couldn't have been nicer.  I had a prepaid display space this year.  It let me cut to the fast lane to be parked.  It's worth it too because even though the gates open at 8:30 AM, the prepaid people are admitted upon arrival so I was placed about 45 minutes before the others are allowed to come in.  I got a really good spot under the shade of a tree.  In front of me was the food concession and to the right was the porta-johns.  Perfect.

  The GTO looked great and showed well, with many positive comments and good questions about what I had done to it.  No trophys though.  Thank goodness the people who stopped to speak with me were very appreciative of the car and my efforts with it.

  When the show wrapped up around 3 pm, I made ready to leave.  Since the AC was working now, the ride was nice right up to when I remembered that I only had one beer left at home.  So I took a back road to cut around Clarks Summit to get to the beer store quicker. 

  As I came over a rise in the road, I had to slow down for a deer that was along the shoulder.  When I double-tapped the brakes to signal the car behind me, my engine just quit.  It happened so fast I didn't realize it until I felt the power steering got very, very stiff.  After I pulled over, I noticed the fuel injection monitor was showing all indicators in bright red, saying "no data."  Crap.  I hate all things electrical.

  I checked everything that I could think of including my auxilary power panel that has the fuse for the EFI.  No leaks, loose wires or blown fuses.  No help for it, I was going to have to call for the "Tow of Shame".  I decided to use the roadside assistance option from Hagerty Insurance with whom I have the GTO insured.  After a phone call and few texts, I was told it wold be about 90 minutes to 2 hours.  After all, it was Sunday and Father's Day.  Joy.  Did I tell you that I hate all things electrical?

  However, in less than ten minutes I got a call that Chris, the tow operator, would be at my location in about fifteen minutes!  Awesome.  The roll-back truck showed up and the driver couldn't have been nicer.  Though he complained (and rightly so) about the people not slowing down or moving over as they came by while he worked, he treated the GTO as if it was his own.  Working quickly, he had it secured and we were on our way in about ten minutes.  Being only about three miles away, I had him deliver the car directly to our house.  He expertly maneuvered the truck to line up with our garage door opening, so all he had to do was tilt the bed and winch the car down and into the garage!  

  That was it. No forms or other paperwork.  Just a nice tip for the driver for taking such good care of the GTO.  The next day, I investigated the problem and discovered a blown in-line fuse buried in the EFI wiring harness that I missed.  So it was a fuse after all, just not one that was labeled or obvious.  And, since I didn't have any spares of that type of fuse, I would have needed the tow anyway.  I took care of that today and the car runs great.  It's puzzling that I was unable to recreate the conditions that would cause it to happen again.  So, I just carry a few more of the appropriate fuses in addition to the old style glass tube type for the factory fuse panel.

  Ultimately, the show was fun but a bit more of an adventure than I was looking for.  And Jan was nice enough to go to the beer store while I was arranging the tow so I could "cool off" immediately upon arrival home.  Did I tell you that I hate all things electrical?

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  Pat Craig says (Jun 20, 2024):

  What a interesting (read not good) day you had. I wonder if the deer was a communist subversive trying yo ruin a decadent American's day. At least the good news is that if you had to get a Tow that thr gentleman was treating the car the way it deserved. Moving over is a pet peave of mine. If you can't pull over at least slow down. No one plans to kill someone but yet it can happen in an instant. OK enough of the Joe Safety stuff. At least you got beer at the end 🍺