Vixen Goes to Cleveland... Day Two

["Dave Stragand" <dave.stragand@xxxx>]

So...

Where was I? Things have been so busy I haven't had a chance to
breathe, As I write this, I'm on a plane to London. Since I can't step
outside for a smoke, and I finally got caught up on some paperwork, I
thought I'd finish up my thoughts on Day Two.

I started the day at 7 am and dragged myself down to the parking lot
where the Vix was sitting. It appeared to have really poured
overnight... my trunk had about 8" of water in it on top of what
remained of the cover, and the inside of the car was soaked. Lucky
there's no carpet or anything that could get damaged by the rain.

Anyway, I kinda loitered in front of DMC Houston until Stephen Wynne
came out. Fuel pump? Not yet... Being brought in from Columbus.

I had tried to break my old pump free by soaking it overnight in fuel
injector cleaner. I started with putting it in a coffee cup from the
room, but it was way too short, so I ended up stealing a draft glass
from the bar. So, it had soaked overnight, and when I hooked it up with
a bit of juice, it started spinning. However, it sounded more like a
coffee pot than a fuel pump; it made a kind of 'perking' noise, but
there was no fuel pressure. Oh well. Have to wait for the new one.

The driving tour: Steve S.???? (forgot your last name, Steve -- sorry)
from Florida gave me a ride while I navigated. You've heard a lot about
the tour, so I won't repeat it here. Thanks to Steve, Dennis, Tamir,
Scott, and Elan for a lot of good times on this leg of the trip.

We got lost, naturally, but we rushed back to town. I was supposed to
meet Stephen Wynne for a fuel pump at 4pm. They still hadn't arrived
yet, so I cleaned up the car a little bit. A major thunderstorm rolled
in. I tell ya, the winds must have been around 50 at least. It was
shredding what was left of my cover. Rain was pouring down in buckets.
I had to keep the water off of the relays and ECUs, so I ended up laying
across the back of the car holding the cover together for a few minutes,
until the lightning made me get back into my other car.

I started to drive away, but didn't get very far. I just couldn't leave
the poor D sitting there like that. Hadn't this poor car been through
enough in her life already? How could I leave her, with no protection
from the elements, in the middle of a thunderstorm, on a dock in some
strange city? The least I could do was stay by her side so she wouldn't
suffer alone.

I wasn't the only one who felt that way. Through the rain, I could make
out a few other owners sitting silently in 'other' cars next to their
D's, riding out the storm.

So eventually I made it back to the hotel, changed clothes, and headed
to dinner. I met nick Pitello and his dad, Gus Schlacter, and so many
other DMLers I won't repeat them all here...and then... John Z. DeLorean
just casually walked in. That's something I never thought I'd see.
Quite a nice guy. We're very lucky that JZD made himself so accessable
to us for the event.

After that, I went to Mike Substelny's house for a bit to see the new
DeLorean documentary, and to pick up an old air compressor for parts
(thanks, Mike!) After that, I stopped back down to the DMC Houston
trailer, but all their lights were off, so I left him alone. No need to
wake them up at 2am for a fuel pump, eh?

More later...

-Dave Stragand
http://www.ProjectVixen.com
VIN #05927