I lived in Ontario for 18 years in the eighties and nineties.I made lots of friends in that time,but my closest friend was Keith Fraser.Keith and I worked together at Independant Tank Cleaners,which was located at Liquid Cargo Lines yard on Southdown Rd in Mississauga.We both share many memories from that period,some good and some not so good,like the time he doused me with a bucket of ice cold water from an overhead catwalk at the wash rack.I didnt speak to him for 3 days,LOL...
But,we had lots of good times together.
He used to bring his son Matthew into Liquid when I worked for my Aunt Becky washing trucks.Matthew always liked to help rinse the trailers off with the water hose.
Keith and I have remained close over the years,he and his wife Shari came to Nova Scotia for my wedding.They have both been to Nova Scotia after that,Keith brought a load down for his employer,Royal Tank Lines,and we have met up in Moncton NB at the Atlantic Nationals Car Show.
In 2013,I worked almost all year at Big Eagle,and made pretty good money.I spent some of it on my 1986 Monte Carlo SS "Hotrod".
When I got home in March of 2014.I said to my wife,Valeria,that I wanted to make a trip to Ontario with the Monte Carlo and surprise Keith.We contacted his son and wife about doing this.We started making our plans.I spent a lot of time on the Monte getting it ready.
I had bought and installed an electric Hydroboost from ABS in California and it worked great,right up until the electric motor stopped working,shortly before our planned trip.They shipped another one out,but it didnt work.So I drove all the way to Ontario and back with no power booster,I just had to push a lot harder on the pedal.
The Monte worked great on the way to Ontario.The first night we stopped in Edmunsdton NB at the La Roma Motel;
We arrived in Barrie the afternoon of Aug 22,app mid afternoon.Boy,was Keith ever surprised,the look on his face made the whole trip worthwhile..He didnt have any idea we were coming.;
We went to a couple of car shows.The first was in Orillia on Friday night at the Home Depot parking lot,it was just a small one.Keith & Shari's son Matt & his friend Tom came along with their Mustang's.
Then on Saturday we went to Creemore for their Copper Kettle Classic car show,there was probably a couple of hundred cars there.Keith's friend Keith Butt came with us in his Firebird;
On Sunday we went to Wasaga Beach,its considered to be the longest freshwater beach in the world,and it attracts lots of people on nice sunny days;
Monday we left for home.We stopped at ProKleen in Concord and had a short visit with Dave and Rob,two of the best Jamicans I ever had the pleasure of working with.Then we went to Kingston and spent the night at my second cousin Jason's place.His Mom & Dad,my first cousin Jim,were there too;
We left Kingston the morning of Aug 26,our next stop was at Hotel Centre Ville in Montmagny Quebec.On the way,my 1 inch cog belt pulley lost all the teeth while playing with a young guy in his import on Hwy 20.But we made it to the hotel,and a mechanic across the street,Tony,heard my car making funny noises.He came to investigate,and helped me put my spare belt on.Good thing I had one,because its not something you would find at NAPA.While loosening the alternator off,the post touched the fuel line and ruined it,so Tony got a piece of 3/8 rubber hose and made up a new fuel line.The next morning we left for Woodstock NB to spend the night with Valeria's friend Mary Lou.On the way,the alternator didnt seem to be charging like it should,so I got a new one at the local NAPA store and put it on.A local garage,Wright's Esso,helped me switch the pulley's.Somewheres along the way I lost my clear glasses,good thing I had my sun glasses.
We left for home the next morning.Just west of Moncton,the Monte started acting up,and died about 30 kilometers from Moncton.I put my spare coil & module in the distributor,but it didnt help.After sitting a while,it started and we continued on our way,but the Monte continued to act up.It would run fine,then misfire and run rough,then run fine again,and it did this most of the way home.We made it back to Nova Scotia,and as we pulled of for gas in Elmsdale,the car died again.I called Mark and he was going to come and tow us home,but after cooling down,the Monte started up again.We made it to the New Minas off ramp and it died again,and it wouldnt start even after cooling off.I used my Hagerty Plus Roadside assistance plan,and Robbie Kelly's truck came and towed us home.
Alltogether,we drove 2600 miles,used a bit over $ 1000.00 worth of fuel,averaged 16 mpg on the highway,and had a mostly trouble free drive.
Heres some more random pictures;
I found the problem I was having on the way home.My MSD Pro Billet distributor had internal electrical issues,likely a bad pick up coil.Not too much I could have done to prevent that from happening.
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