Had a blast in Daytona last week. A couple of us cheated and took the auto train down. It was pretty cool. For about the same cost as driving we loaded our cars on a train and headed south. It was a little scary handing your key over to some one to load your car but nothing was damaged. They had to climb in the window of John's and Mikey's dad's trucks cause they couldn't figure out how to open the doors when they unloaded them. The ride in the train was a little rougher than we expected but it sure beat sitting in the holiday traffic on 95. The first couple of days we were there was just drinking and hanging out on the beach. I do have to thank my wife for finding a pile of 32 parts in the local paper. Larry's wife also gets a thanks for convincing me to call right away. The guy was two blocks from our hotel and had a nice stash of parts. I got a cherry grill shell, some grill trim, chrome spreader bars, a spare tire spreader bar, a dropped headlight bar, cowl lights, a closed car windshield frame and some more misc parts. All for $600. We didn't get kicked off the beach this year but after driving the modified in the ocean the salt water seized the steerin collar up. We spent Friday night trying to free it up. We started out with ***troglide and Vasoline (I don't want to know why Big Shooter had these!) but had no luck. We found some WD40 and kept soaking it. It freed up enough to drive it to the track Saturday but turning was a *****! Had a blast hanging out with all of the HAMBer's at the track! Gotta thank Walt and Squiggy for setting us up with parking. Here's a pic of them loading Larry's truck onto the train. Clark
Hey man it was great meeting you guys We had a blast..I love the idea of the auto train! Ive delt with steering seizing up and it ****S WD40 baths free'd it up!
Thanks for letting me get a "Clark's eye view" in the 999. I'm ready to sell the '46 and the '52 and just build the modified. If a shopping cart strays far enough from it's herd, they are automatically considered engine stands.
That truck is my new screen saver. I stole it from Boones' Daytona pics. Do you have a good side view of it? Glad you had a good trip.
Mike...the train was fun. We had a cooler full of beverages. Nads has your shirt. Here's Johnny's truck on the beach
whats the cost to use the auto train??? would a 51 merc fit on there ok?? looks like something i would like to try next winter.. im in m*** so similar distance... i know iknow drive there..no way not with a complaining woman and a 4 yr old no thanks
Kentucky..I don't think I have any good side shots of Larry's truck Gl***guy...the train was about $600 roundtrip for two people and a car. Dinner and breakfast are included. If the car is over 65" tall it's more expensive. A merc should fit no problem. They loaded an old Rolls Royce on with our cars. Here's a wagon that I really liked.
We got on the train just south of DC and got off about 30 miles outside of Daytona. The train leaves around 4pm and arrives about 8:30am. It's a little hard to sleep with the train bouncing around. Clark
Sorry to keep asking about the train ride, but this sounds like a very viable solution to having a company haul it for you. What company did you use? Amtrak? How did you make the arrangements? Can you get a cheaper deal if you only do a one-way ticket? Just curious.
That is cools as hell. I took a train once for 2 days after felt like I was drunk stumbling around.....maybe I was.
the auto train on the east coast runs from Sanford Fl to Virgina nonstop from what Im told. the cars have to be running and drivable and the have height limits. AMTRAC is the sorce
Glad to hear that you guys are still welcomed on the train. Saving my vacation time for next year. ~ Rob
What we did is the Amtrak auto train. It's not for shipping cars but for people going to Florida that don't want to drive but want to take their car. I think they only have one route set up right now. It runs from Lorton VA to Sanford FL. Yes you can take it just one way. If you sold a car to someone in FL I guess you could take it down on the train then fly back. Do a search on the Amtrak Auto Train and you'll find their website. I wis they did an East to West trip! Here's the only other pic I have of the train Clark
Hey Clark, thanks for the ride in the buzzing 999, it's like a big old ********, the salty steering was a bit scary though. Thanks for the Ts too. Nice score on the deuce ****, you lucky ***hole. Isn't it nice that these Amish fellows come down and get the deals from our newspapers....sheesh. It was a joy seeing you folks again, next time you gotta come to Orlando with us, we'll show you some *****y loose pantied women....oh forget it, you'rre all married.
I was waiting to see what dip**** did with the sleeping picture of me...****. It was cool meeting everyone, Nads/the guy that can fit more "man"s in one sentence than anyone else in the world and Draglink/one funny som*****, Hotrodwalt/the guy that does it all, and all the rest of the down south crew. You guys are all such nice people, not like the ***holes I'm used to.
Yeh Larry, it's kinda embarrasing the whole "man" ****, funny thing is no one in England ever said "man." I think I got it from going to Mid Florida Tech in '81 during the heyday of bad FM album rock and hanging out with a bunch of dope heads. And yeah Larry, you and Mrs. Larry are some nice down to earth folks, and your truck's the ****.
Larry, it was great meeting to you and thanks again for the poster! And I forgot to tell you that I dig your truck! Mike
Did the auto train twice with wife and kids, it was great.Food on train was good, not like airline stuff.Everybody involved with train {porters} were nice.
Oh,BIG DEAL!!!So you took a ride on a train,went to a car show,went to the beach,and,got some rusty old junk.WHO CARES!?A real man would not even have a running hotrod! Now,more pics of that dumb trip please.
The Jalopy Journal
