Hayward Swap Meet & Car Show
Feb. 25, 2007
 Penny spends a wet and cold morning on the California State University East Bay campus in Hayward. |
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It's A Cold, Wet Day In Hayward
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One of only three cars that showed up for the show, Penny has a constant stream of interested visitors.
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Lynn's sees a notice in the local paper for a Hayward Swap Meet & Car Show (flyer from the BAHCC website), sponsored by the Bay Area Horseless Carriage Club. He's been itching to take Penny to another show so he marks his calendar for this event.
Unfortunately the weather was very uncooperative and the morning is wet and cold (low 40s °F — well that's low for the San Francisco Bay Area, anyway).
Lynn gets up at 5 AM and drives Penny the 25 miles or so to the event. He's never been to this event before and he wants to arrive early to make sure he gets a good spot at the show. He didn't need to worry as he was the first car to arrive for display.
Lynn avoids the Interstate highway and drives Penny on local streets to the event, being held on the campus of CSU East Bay, formerly called Cal State Hayward. Lynn has only driven Penny a short distance between two exits of I-580 in Livermore. He's not confident that Penny can happily keep up with other traffic that seems to average about 70 MPH around here.
Lynn is pleased with Penny's performance in the rain and dark. The windshield wipers, new halogen lights, turn signals, heater and defroster all operate well and the car gives not hint of trouble on it's longest drive away from home to date. All Lynn's efforts to improve the drivability of Penny seem to be working.
After parking Penny at the event, Lynn is unhappy to see the iridescent thin-film interference patterns of oil on water streaming out from under the car. The rear main oil seal on Penny is apparently bad and she leaks way more oil than Lynn is comfortable with. Lynn has already bought a new seal, but installing it is a big job (involving at least separation of the transmission and removing the oil pan from the engine). This repair will have to wait for another day (or weekend) in the indefinite future.
After a while, the rain washes the oil away (and toward the San Francisco Bay, unfortunately) and there is no telltale evidence to highlight this defect in Penny that Lynn has yet to correct.
The Other Cars At The Show
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Other cars on display; an early ~1905 Cadillac (left) and a 1960s Checker (right).
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The event is separated into three distinct areas, swap meet vendors, cars for sale and cars for display. Later two more cars join Penny in the display area, a small number compared to the more than about ten cars at the event that were there for sale. As the "for display" and "for sale" areas were next to each other, many visitors didn't recognize the distinction. Lynn is asked numerous times how much he wants for Penny and he repeatedly states that she is not for sale.
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There were several interesting early 1950s cars for sale; a Plymouth (left), a Chevy (center)
and a Ford with fake bullet holes (right).
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Lynn pays special attention to the mounting of the spotlights on the Chevy, looking for hints
on how to install the GM spotlight (right) that he has bought for Penny on ebay.
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Many visitors say kind things to Lynn about Penny so the day is definitely good for Lynn's ego. He also has multiple interesting discussions with individuals. He's told of a place locally that can install an overdrive in Penny (will vastly improve her performance on the Interstate), and receives information about local Oldsmobile clubs and their meets.
Lynn is strongly encouraged to participate in the Pacific Southwest Zone (of the Oldsmobile Club of America) Show on June 2-3 in Morro Bay. Lynn thinks it will be fun to trailer Penny the ~350 miles to southern California to participate in the event and invites his wife to join him for that weekend.
My Way Or The Highway
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In spite of the fact that the driven gear for the speedometer in Penny has the correct 21 teeth
for a standard transmission, Lynn needed to install a 0.80 reduction adapter to get a correct reading.
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Lynn's had enough of the cold and rain by about 9 AM so he decides to leave the show. While he had not intended it, he finds himself driving toward the Hayward on-ramp to Interstate-580 for the drive back to Livermore. Lynn has growing confidence in the car and decides to try using the superhighway for the trip home. He recalls the advice of his friend Lynn James who thought Penny should be good on the highway and that other cars will go around her if she is traveling a little slow.
Lynn finds that he can push Penny along at about 60 MPH and not feel that he's traveling at too slow a rate compared with other cars. Over the 25 mile ride home, Lynn finds that he's most comfortable with the sound of the car at about 55 MPH. So it appears that Penny is ready to travel on Interstate highways. Lynn definitely plans to explore putting an overdrive in the car. With the ~20% reduction in engine speed from an overdrive, Penny should be able to happily cruise at ~70 MPH.
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with your comments or questionsCopyright © 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 Lynn Kissel
Last updated: May 24, 2009