Discussion Forum - Northstar Chevelle Club

bowtie · Secretary

RE: Car Craft 2011

Chris R · 2K+ Club

Copy and pasting so others can see this.

Alright. We should probably start figuring out who is parking with us so we can get an idea on how much space should be saved.

John D.

Craig S

Stan

Bryan

Scott P.

Loren

Terry D.

Bob Lemeire

Jeff S.

Dave S w/ Jamies El Camino.

Chris P.

Terry Didion

Andy seagrams72 (friday only)

I dont want to speak up for....

Steve M.

Username 68chevelle

Jon H

Plus requests for:

Tom B. Gearlube.

Guy with a 67 on team Chevelle whom asked if we might have room. I mentioned we will be figuring out how many are already coming and ill be getting back to him.

Terrys friends from Chicago? Ill have to call Terry and see if they are coming.

I am doing my best to remember everyone. Post here and let me know if I forgot about you and ill add you to the list.

-- Edited by Chris R on Wednesday 20th of July 2011 05:48:59 PM

-- Edited by Chris R on Wednesday 20th of July 2011 05:50:33 PM

-- Edited by Chris R on Wednesday 20th of July 2011 06:03:02 PM

-- Edited by Chris R on Thursday 21st of July 2011 12:04:48 AM

-- Edited by Chris R on Thursday 21st of July 2011 10:30:48 PM

Scott Parkhurst · Super Poster

We'll be there for sure, floating back and forth while running the RSE stuff. I know it'll be a pain for you guys, but if we know there's a spot for us to come back to, that'd be really cool.

John D · 2K+ Club

So it's looking like at least 9 or 10 confirmed spots, and 2 or 3 floaters...

Pushrod & I will be taking care of... ahem... "reservations" , and checking that no-one was a dink during the wee hours and moved our stuff .

Remember everyone, we're obligated to give up "saved spots" at 10am. If you're not a part of the "Dawn Patrol" please get there before 10.

I'll print up a few signs with "Competing at RSE" or something for the guys doing that, so we can put a chair out.

I'd like to offer this for consideration:

If we have enough spots on the street for guests, not-Chevelles or non-members it's fine to park on the street (at the north end) in our area. If a member arrives with a Chevelle, the guest or non - whatever gets bumped to the grass behind "Chevelle Row". (We need to make a presence with Chevelles. Seeing an un-interrupted row of them 150+ feet long is the impact we need.)

Lost in the 60s · President

John D wrote:
Due to lack of prep time, temps, clean-up, and hauling space I've decided to "do breakfast" only on Friday morning.

If it's going to be 80 degrees and humid, I've got concerns about sanitation and keeping things cool/fresh.
Just get a 12 volt refrigerator and run a lead to the smugglers box to power it....

bowtie · Secretary

Initially, we can also "park wide" to help spread things out. Last year, our space was not encroached upon, but every year it gets a little more tight. #1 thing is to hit both ends so nobody "slides them in a little".

seagrams72 · Active Member

I may be able to help Friday morning save a spot or two, not meeting up with anyone until later that afternon. Playing it by ear the rest of the weekend since a few other friends are going up as well.

OscarZ · Treasurer

If anyone has space in their cooler and is willing I would greatly appreciate having a bunch of plain bottled water to drink Saturday. I can reimburse+ for your assistance. It sucks not having a car there for many reasons but I think transporting the cooler and chairs is what I'll miss most. I realized that this will be the first year of Car Craft that I won't have a car entered since it began however many years ago.

SShink · 3K+ Club

OscarZ wrote:
If anyone has space in their cooler and is willing I would greatly appreciate having a bunch of plain bottled water to drink Saturday. I can reimburse+ for your assistance. It sucks not having a car there for many reasons but I think transporting the cooler and chairs is what I'll miss most. I realized that this will be the first year of Car Craft that I won't have a car entered since it began however many years ago.

Mike, I will have an extra chair you can use. I'll also have some extra water. The amount will depend on which cooler I bring. No reimbursement req'd.

OscarZ · Treasurer

Thanks Stan!

67ss · 1K+ Club

Mike stop by and throw what ever you want in the back of the chevelle I'll bring it down and you can just grab it when you get there.

69chvldrvr · Member

Please add my name to the list for Car Craft parking.

Chris R · 2K+ Club

69chvldrvr wrote:
Please add my name to the list for Car Craft parking.

Added you to the list.

Chris R · 2K+ Club

Just got off the phone with Terry Didion. He is also coming with the 70. Asked him about the guys from Chicago. One of the guys has the true 70 LS6 convert (but brought the 56 2 door post last year) and a few other guys. The guys from Chicago are planning to attend again this year.

Terry also mention that the guy with the LS6 convert/56 Chevy has since moved back here so he is local now and Terry says he plans to join the club. Im not sure if its this weekend but Terry says the only thing that held him back was that he lived to far away.

seagrams72 · Active Member

Chris, please add me to the list for Friday. If you could, send me any further details as far as meeting places and times, I did get the map like the other members. Hoping to get an early start this year.

-- Edited by seagrams72 on Wednesday 20th of July 2011 10:13:22 PM

Chris R · 2K+ Club

seagrams72 wrote:
Chris, please add me to the list for Friday. If you could, send me any further details as far as meeting places and times, I did get the map like the other members. Hoping to get an early start this year.

-- Edited by seagrams72 on Wednesday 20th of July 2011 10:13:22 PM

Done. Just for friday only then?

seagrams72 · Active Member

Chris R wrote:
seagrams72 wrote:
Chris, please add me to the list for Friday. If you could, send me any further details as far as meeting places and times, I did get the map like the other members. Hoping to get an early start this year.

-- Edited by seagrams72 on Wednesday 20th of July 2011 10:13:22 PM
Done. Just for friday only then?

Thanks, more than likely.

John D · 2K+ Club

This is getting very . 13 confirmed, 3 - 4 member possibles, and 3 - 4 guests!!

Jon H · 1K+ Club

Looking at Saturday right now. If the weather turns sour maybe Friday instead.

dashboard · 2K+ Club

I’m going down to do my onsite registration at 1230 today.

67ss · 1K+ Club

Went and pickup my stuff over lunch. Goodie bag gets cheaper every year.

P.S They did not ask me for insurance info. But would still bring it just in case.

dashboard · 2K+ Club

Just got back from registering, went fairly smooth but if you’re coming from the south the intersection of University and Snelling is a bottle neck with lite rail construction.

I checked, our signs and cones were still there.

Anyone know if we can set up a charcoal grill to do some burgs and dogs?

I did need to show both drivers license and proof of insurance, go figure I must have been in a different line.

69SSConv · Active Member

I registered at about 1:30, took about 2 minutes, did not ask me for insurance (good thing, I forgot it?). Just as refresher, the sticker needs to go, bottom left of front windshield?

Chris R · 2K+ Club

69SSConv wrote:
I registered at about 1:30, took about 2 minutes, did not ask me for insurance (good thing, I forgot it?). Just as refresher, the sticker needs to go, bottom left of front windshield?

Thats where most people put it. Really, it only needs to be in sight of the people at the gate letting you into the show.

seagrams72 · Active Member

Picked up registration, no line, no need for insurance. Bottom left like Chris said, im going to have to start peeling them off soon though from the last few years

Cindy · Contributor

Will be there on Friday with Vert! Probably pull in when the gates open around 8 AM, just not up for that early AM stuff anymore!

Thanks Cindy - Greenfield, MN (west suburbs)

SShink · 3K+ Club

Picked up my registration a little after 5 o'clock. The worst part was working my way north on Snelling just south of University as Kevin said. It goes to 1 lane, so if you come from the south heading north, stay out of the far left lane because that's the one that closes.

The guy at the table said to put the sticker on the lower left driver side of the windshield. I don't care for stickers on my car, so I usually stick mine to a clear baggie and then use clear tape to put it on, then I can take it off when it's all over.

No insurance proof asked for or needed.

I'm just glad that going into St. Paul in the morning should be early enough that the traffic shouldn't be as bad as it was this afternoon. I just have to remember to leave the fairgrounds by 4:30 p.m. or you're going to sit on Snelling for quite awhile...

The goodie bag is defnitely lighter this year...

bowtie · Secretary

How much lighter can it get?

SShink · 3K+ Club

bowtie wrote:
How much lighter can it get?

The heaviest thing in it was the CC license plate and even that is 'generic' as in they didn't even go to the trouble of printing the year of the event so they can use them next year! The only thing denoting the year is the long windshield sticker, the participant window sticker, and a little plaque like you get at all the local shows...

Our cat acted like the bag was full of catnip or something. Must have been the strange 'overseas' odors still coming off of it from where it was made...

John D · 2K+ Club

And how about the "Made in China" sticker on the back of the plate!

I'm hittin' the rack - Pushrod & I will be on Como about 3am - The "Chuckwagon" will fire up around 5am.

Breakfast Burrito's with Sausage, cheese, onion, bell pepper, salsa, OJ, and of course my special percolator "take rust off bumpers" campfire coffee.

Jon H · 1K+ Club

For those trying to avoid Snelling and Univesity, you can use 35W to 280 to como or 35E to Larp. or 36 and then south on Snelling. Snelling and University is bad all day every day.

Who is going on Friday?

John D · 2K+ Club

See two posts up...

SShink · 3K+ Club

Jon H wrote:
For those trying to avoid Snelling and Univesity, you can use 35W to 280 to como or 35E to Larp. or 36 and then south on Snelling. Snelling and University is bad all day every day.

Who is going on Friday?

Friday for sure. Sat. we'll have to keep an eye on the weather... last I saw was 40% chance of T Storms. Arrrrrgh!

Chris R · 2K+ Club

Jon nailed it. I HIGHLY recommend taking 280 and getting off on the Como exit.

Derek69SS · Founding Member

You guys in line yet? Countdown says 46 minutes...

dashboard · 2K+ Club

Surly must have lost my mind, on my way at 0309.

OscarZ · Treasurer

dashboard wrote:
Surly must have lost my mind, on my way at 0309.

Guessing that "Surly" might not be a typo at this time of the morning!

SShink · 3K+ Club

Leaving at 0630!

SShink · 3K+ Club

Had a great day! Thanks to the Dawn Patrol (John D., Pushrod, and Kevin)! It was great rolling in around 7 a.m., waiting in the queue line and then finding our spots waiting for us. I'm sure you guys will sleep great tonight!

Had some good conversations catching up with everyone, and we had a great turnout of 13 cars and probably 20-25 people at different times during the day.

Just as we were leaving, Scott was getting ready to go do the real street eliminator, but we were on our way out the gate, so I missed it. Scott, we need an update on how it went!

Not sure about Saturday yet. We'll get up and see what's happening in the morning. If it looks clear for a few hours, I will probably get there by 8 o'clock or earlier. If not, may bag it for the day and go Sunday instead since it looks a little drier.

The meeting for Sat. is on hold until we see how it looks tomorrow.

Here's some pics:

Jon H · 1K+ Club

Friday was a great day despite the humidity.

Thank you to all you did the set up and donated tents, tables, etc. for everyone to share. It ws great to walk and enjoy the cars and then have a home base to come back to with friendly faces, Bonnie & I had a great time.

bowtie · Secretary

I had a good time too!

It was nice seeing a couple new faces and cars, I liked having the big area for everyone to gather around-that's a big plus to where we are for sure!

I spent a huge chunk of the afternoon walking around and talking to poeple I knew. Lost track of the time and it's suddenly after 3! Met a few potential members, and we had 2 that joined today too.

Most of the pics I took while walking around today were OK. I'll post all my pics after the weekend unless we're rained out or something. I have to get up in about 4-1/2 hours.

Scott Parkhurst · Super Poster

We also had a great time! Today we just wanted to get a feel for things, so we took at look at the autocross and decided to make a few runs and try a few settings.

We'll have to run in the 50 second range to be competitive. I am still getting used to the course and ran a 52.1 already. I think we can do it.

The dyno pull is first thing in the AM. We have a full nitrous bottle and are ready to go.

The speed/stop deal is tricky, but my car is really good at these things. I've done a few of them. When we rolled up, they told us the overall lead was at 4.4 seconds. We still had the 'autocross' settings on the shocks/tires. We have a 'dragstrip' setup we like to run when going the speed stops. But we figured we'd try it anyway, just to get a feel for it. After 4 or 5 tries in the 4.6 range, I tied the 4.4 time. A couple more tries, and I hit a 4.3. I now have the overall lead in this portion of the challenge. I doubt it will stand up for the whole weekend, but we'll put the dragstrip setup in the suspension and try to do better tomorrow. We're feeling pretty good about that.

Jon H · 1K+ Club

08:30, It just turned from daylight to midnight at my house and the rain dumping pretty good, hope it is a little brighter at the fairgrouds but by the look of the radar I don't think so.

Derek69SS · Founding Member

Awesome to hear it Scott! What does the competition look like?

Lost in the 60s · President

Jon H wrote:
08:30, It just turned from daylight to midnight at my house and the rain dumping pretty good, hope it is a little brighter at the fairgrouds but by the look of the radar I don't think so.
I'm 13 miles straight East and we didn't get enough rain to wet the ground. Been Sunny for over an hour now. Better get down there....

Jon H · 1K+ Club

MURPHY'S LAW: If you have a convertible and the top is down, you will at the farthest end of the fairgrounds when it starts to rain.

Thank you to all that put my top up.

-- Edited by Jon H on Saturday 23rd of July 2011 05:13:27 PM

John D · 2K+ Club

Not a problem Jon - I've got your chair as well. Do you want me to bring it to the Fairgrounds tomorrow (swing by & pick it up) or hang on to it and figure out a day?

Scott Parkhurst · Super Poster

Derek69SS wrote:
Awesome to hear it Scott! What does the competition look like?

There are 4 other guys gunning for it. Schwartz is one of them, with a newly-built '66 Chevy II I saw him running last week in Joliet.

There are 2 other Novas (69-70) and a '69 Camaro convertible as well.

Right now (Sat. eve) I'm pretty sure we are in the lead. We did the dyno pulls first thing this morning. Camaro guy made 540, Schwartz made 525, one other Nova guy made 541, and the last Nova guy made 330 or so.

We added the 150 shot of nitrous and made 580 horses and 594 ft-lbs! So we're comfortably ahead there.

We went back to the Speed/Stop and were informed the 4.3 we did yesterday was actually a 4.41. So, with a little adjusting on the shocks to emulate our dragstrip setup, I laid down a solid 4.3 no one could argue with.

So we're leading in 2 events.

The Camaro convert delivered a 47 second autocross lap, and one of the Novas pulled a 48. I improved to a 50.6. Schwartz and the other Nova are right at the same place I am- so I'm not completely sure if we're in 3rd, 4th, or 5th there.

But, with 2 challenge leads, I think we're in good shape. It would take an autocross win, and at least a second in another event to challenge our score. The other competitors are all duking it out and there's no clear second place performer. Their scores are cancelling each other out and if this continues, we will win.

Cross your fingers- we might just pull this off...we all find out tomorrow at 2pm!

SShink · 3K+ Club

Jon H wrote:
08:30, It just turned from daylight to midnight at my house and the rain dumping pretty good, hope it is a little brighter at the fairgrouds but by the look of the radar I don't think so.

Yeah Jon, the morning storms were a little challenging. Scott finished off his dyno run then the wind kicked in and blue over the club canopy with a close call as it headed towards Jamie's Elky but was stopped in time. We hunkered down under my canopy, lowered the north side of it and hung on while the wind blew. That storm passed, then the rain hit and we waited it out. After the second storm, which dropped the temp at least 15 degrees, it cleared off and the humidity dropped to a very comfortable level.

As was mentioned, another late afternoon rain burst moved through. I was in the super slow cruise to the exit, and it started raining. That must have been when Jon was away from his vert. I had to roll up the windows and without AC it was stuffy and hot in side the car! Then I thought it would be o.k. to go south on Snelling, which wasn't a good idea either. It took me 1.5 hours to get home from the time I pulled out of our spot! Darn light rail construction anyway!

Scott Parkhurst · Super Poster

We came in and went out on the 280 as was advised here. Smooth as silk.