[DeTomaso] MAP Squadron De-briefing
Jim Gray
grayjim at att.net
Wed May 2 13:04:52 EDT 2012
Tom,
We were honored to have you in the MAP Squadron. I did not know that Cory
Gehling (?) was still doing Pantera work at Collectors Choice.
Jim Gray
----- Original Message ----
From: Tom Shinrock <tmshinro at aol.com>
To: detomaso at realbig.com
Sent: Wed, May 2, 2012 11:07:22 AM
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] MAP Squadron De-briefing
Chuck,
Great write up. Got home without any problems other than severe lack of sleep.
Doing the trip out in 3 ten hour days was surprisingly fun. Doing the trip back
in a 20 hour day and a 12 hour day on just 8 hours of sleep between both days
was torture. Due to forecasted storms for the next week the next day was the
best opportunity to avoid rain so I got up the next morning at 6am and jumped
back into the car and drove another 200 miles to drop it off at Collectors
Choice where it will be repaired from the plywood accident.
It was a pleasure meeting up with everyone in the MAP Squadron who were a great
bunch of guys (and gal). It was an experience that I will never forget.
Tom Shinrock
-----Original Message-----
From: Charles Engles <cengles at cox.net>
To: 'M Grillot' <msjaan at sbcglobal.net>; 'B Hower' <b.hower3400 at yahoo.com>;
JJD1010 <JJD1010 at aol.com>; rrsantilli <rrsantilli at att.net>; alex.engles1
<alex.engles1 at gmail.com>
Cc: bob <bob at radefeld.com>; sdlgibson <sdlgibson at sbcglobal.net>; cmccann1972
<cmccann1972 at gmail.com>; rtaspl <rtaspl at aol.com>; knottsj <knottsj at galstar.com>;
mbradley <mbradley at digitalflak.com>; tmshinro <tmshinro at aol.com>; bob
<bob at knoxtextiles.com>; mgilmore11 <mgilmore11 at mchsi.com>; epmoses3
<epmoses3 at yahoo.com>; grayjim <grayjim at att.net>; jdwd2685
<jdwd2685 at sbcglobal.net>; adin <adin at frontier.net>; uniquengines
<uniquengines at sbcglobal.net>; jpeaden47 <jpeaden47 at yahoo.com>; lizardman462
<lizardman462 at aol.com>; ronfleming <ronfleming at mindspring.com>; ccunnyng
<ccunnyng at ix.netcom.com>
Sent: Tue, May 1, 2012 9:13 pm
Subject: RE: MAP Squadron De-briefing
Dear Guys,
I am still trying to get caught up.
The night before departure we had dinner and Tom asked to use the
garage to add some clutch fluid. His mysterious fluid loss was due to a failed
slave cylinder. I had a spare long throw unit and Todd Reid popped it in and
adjusted the push rod to compensate for the longer throw and Tom was ready for
the departure.
Monday was clear and sunny. The morning schedule went along on
time. The trip south perfectly encountered a rolling rendezvous with Jim Gray
and we pressed onward to the turnpike. Disaster struck before the first toll
booth when a sheet of plywood on the road was kicked up by the preceding
Pantera. It was a low altitude cruise missile that Tom couldn’t avoid. It
damaged his front spoiler and fog light. A side of the shoulder repair with
large zip ties secured things and mercifully no damage was done to the fans,
radiator or headlights. Tom pressed onward without any driveability problems.
We had another perfect rolling rendezvous with Shawn Gibson about a hundred
miles down the road where he joined us with his Pantera on a trailer due to its
freshly installed engine.
In Wichita Falls, Jeff Detrich and Mike DiTucci joined us for a
squadron strength of eight total. We encountered some good roads between
Wichita Falls and Lubbock. Wonderfully undulating and high speed. Just
mesquite and no other real traffic. Lunch in Lubbock at Ruby Tequilla’s
preceded the final push to Roswell.
Jeff’s recently reassembled Pantera was having some shifting
problems which were due to a slightly loose trunion bearing support. The La
Quinta Inn was ready for us. The next morning was clear, sunny and crisp. Jeff
was still having some shifting problems. Then Jim couldn’t start his car.
During the night some Italian gremlin disabled the ignition wire from the switch
to the solenoid. Shawn made temporary repairs and Jim did not turn off his
Pantera from 8 a.m. until 7;30 pm that evening.
We shortly ran into more problems with Jeff’s car in the from of
“overheating” indicated by a temp gauge in the red zone. After a couple of
nervous stops, Mike DiTucci used a temp gun to ascertain that all the real temps
on the engine and cooling system were normal and the temp sender was wonky.
While we were dealing with this Jim Gray and Shaun pressed onward due to rising
engine temps on Jim’s car. We were not to see them again until Las Cruces.
Finally, we hit some wonderful New Mexico roads with curves and rises and
descents.
Somewhere east of Las Cruces, the chronically cursed AC system that
was *supposed* to be fixed by the experts, blew yet again rendering Alex happy
that he was wearing khaki shorts rather than jeans…….
We hit I-10 in Las Cruces and enjoyed truck saturated super slab
until we all exited for the mandatory Border Patrol check point. What a bizarre
thing it is. Alex upset the guards. The trick question to pass the check point
was “Where were you born?” Clearly, this fiendishly clever question was
designed to reveal illegal immigrants as well as infiltrating al-Qaida
terrorists. Only our leaders and officials in Washington could have come up
with something this effective against evil doers. We finally pressed onward off
the interstate and hit the very long small town of Globe that seemed to go on
for ten miles. It suddenly stopped and we found ourselves on a wonderful canyon
road that was complicated by filthy windshields and the glare of the setting
sun. We kept going. In short order we were a bit over the 50 mph limit and
about 2/3rds of the way down went zip-zip-zip seven times past a law enforcement
vehicle ascending the canyon. It would appear that he didn’t or couldn’t get
turned around as miraculously we didn’t encounter a roadblock nor helicopters on
our entrance into a dark Phoenix. Bob Knox led us to the resort with his GPS.
We were among the very first there and despite our delays we
arrived before the Houston group due to their trailer tire problems.
The resort was very nice and way better than the old Plaza, the
Orleans or the Reno CircusCircus. The next morning saw the squadron
performing cleanup and repair. Shaun and Jim got the ignition fixed.
The return trip had the squadron split into a northern group and
a southern group. The northern group consisting of our northern members plus
Shaun with his Pantera on a trailer opted for the faster, more boring , but more
efficient I-40 back east. They consisted of Bob Knox, Bob Radefeld, Tom
Shinrock and Shaun. The southern contingent consisted of the Engles brothers,
Jim Gray and Jeff Detrich.
We launched and had a good run back to the east. All was running
well. We made Roswell before sundown and got the news from the northern
brothers about Bob Knox’s tire and wheel problem as well as the transplant from
Shaun’s trailered Pantera. They pressed on and I trust they all arrived home
without further incidents.
We took off Monday morning after careful and anxious study of the
rain and storm forecast along the route. The chances had decreased overnight
and we made good time. The Valentine saved us from a couple of officers, but a
fair number of cops did *not* have their radar on, which made for some worrisome
surprises. The only mishap occurred in the west Texas panhandle when my
driver’s window refused to come up. Quickie repairs didn’t make it budge and it
stayed down for another three hundred miles. Sigh. Jeff peeled off in Wichita
Falls to head back to DFW and we pressed home with brisk speed that somehow
didn’t get the attention of the parked OK Highway Patrol on the shoulder with
his radar OFF. We returned to PRI at 7 p.m. Monday evening with all systems go
except the window and the darn AC that blew near Las Cruces on the way down and
was actually working until the window failure rendered it useless. Clean up
will progress this weekend, most likely.
The trip out is faster and more interesting. The trip home does
seem to be longer and less exciting, but the back roads sure beat the boredom of
the I-40 trips of old to Las Vegas.
Warmest regards, Chuck Engles
From: M Grillot [mailto:msjaan at sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Monday, April 30, 2012 10:30 PM
To: Charles Engles; B Hower; JJD1010 at aol.com; rrsantilli at att.net;
alex.engles1 at gmail.com
Cc: bob at radefeld.com; sdlgibson at sbcglobal.net; cmccann1972 at gmail.com;
rtaspl at aol.com; knottsj at galstar.com; mbradley at digitalflak.com; tmshinro at aol.com;
bob at knoxtextiles.com; mgilmore11 at mchsi.com; epmoses3 at yahoo.com; grayjim at att.net;
jdwd2685 at sbcglobal.net; adin at frontier.net; uniquengines at sbcglobal.net;
jpeaden47 at yahoo.com; lizardman462 at aol.com; ronfleming at mindspring.com;
ccunnyng at ix.netcom.com
Subject: Re: MAP Squadron De-briefing
glad everyone is safe and sound.
From: Charles Engles <cengles at cox.net>
To: B Hower <b.hower3400 at yahoo.com>; JJD1010 at aol.com; rrsantilli at att.net;
alex.engles1 at gmail.com
Cc: bob at radefeld.com; sdlgibson at sbcglobal.net; cmccann1972 at gmail.com;
rtaspl at aol.com; knottsj at galstar.com; mbradley at digitalflak.com; tmshinro at aol.com;
bob at knoxtextiles.com; mgilmore11 at mchsi.com; epmoses3 at yahoo.com; grayjim at att.net;
jdwd2685 at sbcglobal.net; adin at frontier.net; uniquengines at sbcglobal.net;
jpeaden47 at yahoo.com; lizardman462 at aol.com; ronfleming at mindspring.com;
ccunnyng at ix.netcom.com; msjaan at sbcglobal.net
Sent: Mon, April 30, 2012 10:24:20 PM
Subject: RE: MAP Squadron De-briefing
Dear Guys,
Just back, Alex Engles, Jim Gray and I made it home to OKC with
running cars and the only mishap on the return leg was an acute driver’s window
failure that is suspected to be a bad window motor. We shall see. Further
details when I get dug out at home and the office. No tickets. Pantera one
made about 19 mpg and Pantera two made 20 mpg. Purdy good, all in all.
Warmest regards, Chuck Engles
From: B Hower [mailto:b.hower3400 at yahoo.com]
Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2012 4:20 PM
To: JJD1010 at aol.com; rrsantilli at att.net; alex.engles1 at gmail.com; Charles Engles
Cc: bob at radefeld.com; sdlgibson at sbcglobal.net; cmccann1972 at gmail.com;
rtaspl at aol.com; knottsj at galstar.com; mbradley at digitalflak.com; tmshinro at aol.com;
bob at knoxtextiles.com; mgilmore11 at mchsi.com; epmoses3 at yahoo.com; grayjim at att.net;
jdwd2685 at sbcglobal.net; adin at frontier.net; uniquengines at sbcglobal.net;
jpeaden47 at yahoo.com; lizardman462 at aol.com; ronfleming at mindspring.com;
ccunnyng at ix.netcom.com; msjaan at sbcglobal.net
Subject: RE: MAP Squadron Phone numbers
Guys,
I just left ( Hooters ) Topeka about 1:30. Tom and Bob were pulling out toward
OKC then.
Tom pulled into Hooters about 12:15. I sure wish I had my car on the road with
them.
Bud #3400
--- On Sun, 4/22/12, Charles Engles <cengles at cox.net> wrote:
From: Charles Engles <cengles at cox.net>
Subject: RE: MAP Squadron Phone numbers
To: JJD1010 at aol.com, rrsantilli at att.net, alex.engles1 at gmail.com
Cc: b.hower3400 at yahoo.com, bob at radefeld.com, sdlgibson at sbcglobal.net,
cmccann1972 at gmail.com, rtaspl at aol.com, knottsj at galstar.com,
mbradley at digitalflak.com, tmshinro at aol.com, bob at knoxtextiles.com,
mgilmore11 at mchsi.com, epmoses3 at yahoo.com, grayjim at att.net,
jdwd2685 at sbcglobal.net, adin at frontier.net, uniquengines at sbcglobal.net,
jpeaden47 at yahoo.com, lizardman462 at aol.com, ronfleming at mindspring.com,
ccunnyng at ix.netcom.com, msjaan at sbcglobal.net
Date: Sunday, April 22, 2012, 3:10 PM
Dear Squadron,
Good news: Alex flew in as planned. Both Panteras are ready and Alex
brought two little hand held radios. Ray loaned me his Valentine One radar
detector.
Bad news: The vintage CB radios carefully aged in a closet for
about twenty years light up with power, but don’t seem to actually broadcast and
receive. No time to go to Jim’s CB wizard. Sigh.
No word from the Northern Guys about their arrival in OKC.
Warmest regards, Chuck Engles
From: JJD1010 at aol.com [mailto:JJD1010 at aol.com]
Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2012 12:10 PM
To: cengles at cox.net; rrsantilli at att.net; alex.engles1 at gmail.com; jjd1010 at aol.com
Cc: b.hower3400 at yahoo.com; bob at radefeld.com; sdlgibson at sbcglobal.net;
cmccann1972 at gmail.com; rtaspl at aol.com; knottsj at galstar.com;
mbradley at digitalflak.com; tmshinro at aol.com; bob at knoxtextiles.com;
mgilmore11 at mchsi.com; epmoses3 at yahoo.com; grayjim at att.net;
jdwd2685 at sbcglobal.net; adin at frontier.net; uniquengines at sbcglobal.net;
jpeaden47 at yahoo.com; lizardman462 at aol.com; ronfleming at mindspring.com;
ccunnyng at ix.netcom.com; msjaan at sbcglobal.net
Subject: Re: MAP Squadron Phone numbers
Subj: MAP Squadron Phone Numbers
Shaun Gibson 580-591-2923
Alex Engles 405-245-6633
Jeff Detrich 972-333-3368
Mike DiTucci (my co-driver) 817-455-1440
Jim Gray 580-467-0088
Chuck Engles CB Radio only
Bob Knox 419-633-2222
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