Hobbies Of Elio Owners

[wheaters]

Goofyone, you could have sent that SU to me, I've rebuilt lots of them over the years as they were once standard fit on almost every British car.

I had one of the last Mk3 Spitfires in the late 1970s. I needed to work on it almost every week! Twin SUs needed a lot of understanding and I learned a huge amount of other skills from owning that car. Not least how to replace UJ couplings; I could remove the rear suspension, replace the UJ and put it all back together in less than an hour. I replaced one on a friend's car prop shaft in a Spanish barn only two weeks ago, using basic hand tools and a local farmer's bench vice. Without that he would have needed a tow truck. From the shaft going bang at the top of a mountain, coasting back down to a small village, finding the barn and getting a coupling from 70 miles away, back on the road in two and a half hours! We don't speak Spanish, either, which made it more of a challenge.

Here's a similar carb fitted to my fun car:

 

[goofyone]

Goofyone, you could have sent that SU to me, I've rebuilt lots of them over the years as they were once standard fit on almost every British car.

I had one of the last Mk3 Spitfires in the late 1970s. I needed to work on it almost every week! Twin SUs needed a lot of understanding and I learned a huge amount of other skills from owning that car. Not least how to replace UJ couplings; I could remove the rear suspension, replace the UJ and put it all back together in less than an hour. I replaced one on a friend's car prop shaft in a Spanish barn only two weeks ago, using basic hand tools and a local farmer's bench vice. Without that he would have needed a tow truck. From the shaft going bang at the top of a mountain, coasting back down to a small village, finding the barn and getting a coupling from 70 miles away, back on the road in two and a half hours! We don't speak Spanish, either, which made it more of a challenge.

Here's a similar carb fitted to my fun car:

Funny you would mention these cars being a lot of work and learning a lot from owning one as that was actually the reason I came to own the Spitfire. This was actually the first car I owned and it has been with me for 20 years now. It was a gift from my father for my 15th birthday intended to teach me what it really takes to make a car run. He paid only $300 for it as even though it was in fairly good overall condition it did not run. It became my task to have it running and looking nice before my 16th birthday as this is when I was legally able to receive my full drivers license and drive on my own. He likely ended up paying more for parts and such than he envisioned however working so much on this car definitely made me appreciate it much more while learning a heck of a lot about cars.

Of course since then there have been many ups and downs and a heck of a lot more maintenance just to keep the thing on the road. There are also a whole host of very funny stories involving various places I ended up visiting and people I have met while being stranded or having to repair the car on the side of the road.

 

[Mark Ambrose]

Motorcycling, camping and flying. I built and flew two experimental airplanes over a 20 year span, hiked the Appalachian Trail with my 2 brothers and rode all over the country on my bike, including a trip into Canada with one of my brothers.

 

[Jeff Porter]

Hmmm, hobbies. Golfed for many years, not financially feasible recently, so gave it up about 2 years ago. Went to a lot of sporting events while living in Denver for 15 years... football, baseball, basketball, hockey. Rode on a bicycle in an event called the B.A.K., Bikers Across Kansas, in 2009 and 2010. It's an 8-day event, riding from Colorado border at around 3500 feet to the Missouri border at around 500 ft. Sounds downhill, but trust me, plenty of uphill. Nowadays, it's a motorcycle (which is JUUUST a bit easier to ride up those long hills). I volunteer for a local radio station and help broadcast high school basketball games for girls and boys varsity teams, from Dec - March. My kids were my main hobby of course, from 1993 - 2011.

 

[Jim H]

Growing up in the San Francisco bay I loved to fish and go out on my boat but since I moved to the desert both are nearly impossible. The Rio Grande river is dry more than half the year and there aren't any fish in it anyway. Sold my boat, fishing poles are too big for any fish in this area, and now just collect dust and all the lines will all have to be replaced. Never liked fishing for large mouth bass. Will have to head east to the Gila Mountains (150 miles) or up north near the Colorado border (350 miles) for any trout fishing. Since my wife and I enjoy jazz and a good glass of wine we travel to jazz festivals and to Pacific coast for fresh seafood.

 

[Music Man]

Hmmm, hobbies. Golfed for many years, not financially feasible recently, so gave it up about 2 years ago. Went to a lot of sporting events while living in Denver for 15 years... football, baseball, basketball, hockey. Rode on a bicycle in an event called the B.A.K., Bikers Across Kansas, in 2009 and 2010. It's an 8-day event, riding from Colorado border at around 3500 feet to the Missouri border at around 500 ft. Sounds downhill, but trust me, plenty of uphill. Nowadays, it's a motorcycle (which is JUUUST a bit easier to ride up those long hills). I volunteer for a local radio station and help broadcast high school basketball games for girls and boys varsity teams, from Dec - March. Kids were the main hobby of course, from 1993 - 2011.

Hey Jeff, know what you mean by it not being a "down hill ride" from the Colorado line, across Kansas, to the Missouri line; I did the B.A.K. Ride in 2001, across Kansas basically following old Route 66, and that last climb into Dodge City was rough. o_O I must say, of ALL the Century rides, and Charity rides I done, the B.A.K. Ride was the most poorly "sag stop" rides I've ever done.

Was it any better in 2009 & 2010??

 

[Music Man]

Growing up in the San Francisco bay I loved to fish and go our on my boat but since I moved to the desert both are nearly impossible. The Rio Grande river is dry more than half the year and there aren't any fish in it anyway. Sold my boat, fishing poles are too big for any fish in this area, and now just collect dust and all the lines will all have to be replaced. Never liked fishing for large mouth bass. Will have to head east to the Gila Mountains (150 miles) or up north near the Colorado border (350 miles) for any trout fishing. Since my wife and I enjoy jazz and a good glass of wine we travel to jazz festivals and to Pacific coast for fresh seafood.

Hey Jim. Jazz Music? And Fresh Seafood?

When Ya get the new Elio, you and your wife need to pile in and make the trip down to New Orleans, in April for the Jazz Festival down here. Seafood is ALWAYS fresh and the music rocks!! Google, "New Orleans Jazz Festival ."

Think it will be a trip you will want to make.

Maybe it will coincide with when your Elio will be ready to pick up in Shreveport!

I'll go to the Big Easy with you guys.

 

[Jim H]

Music Man: I've been a regular attendee at the Sacramento Jazz Festival over the Memorial Day weekend. Starts at noon on Friday and goes until 5 pm on Monday. Usually have about 125 different jazz groups from all around the world and they play over 1400 sets. My wife can't last the entire three days. Don't expect to have my Elio by next April but will definitely look into coming to the New Orleans jazz festival, especially since we have never been there. What could be better than fresh seafood and hot jazz.

 

[Snick]

Love the topic. My wife claims I have the Oddest hobby Especially when I ask her to help me carry them into the basement!! I collect and restore Pinball machines! The addiction has gotten to the point where I have to store them at other locations but I keep roughly 25 machines in the house for the family and friends. It still puts a smile on my face when my younger daughter brings over a friend and they are Amazed we have an arcade in the house and even more amazing how Few have even seen a pinball machine! Priceless to watch. I personally just enjoy the quite time restoring them and repairing the electronics to bring them back to new again. I told you it was an Odd hobby!!

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I may have worked with you. Is your name Keith?? I had an old product supply R&E boss from Roswell, GA who collected, refurbished, rebuilt these.

 

[UCF'73]

Love the topic. My wife claims I have the Oddest hobby Especially when I ask her to help me carry them into the basement!! I collect and restore Pinball machines! The addiction has gotten to the point where I have to store them at other locations but I keep roughly 25 machines in the house for the family and friends. It still puts a smile on my face when my younger daughter brings over a friend and they are Amazed we have an arcade in the house and even more amazing how Few have even seen a pinball machine! Priceless to watch. I personally just enjoy the quite time restoring them and repairing the electronics to bring them back to new again. I told you it was an Odd hobby!!

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Did you happen so see the episode on Hoarders about the guy with the warehouse full of arcade machines?