Wonder how Tim is going to like driving in FLorida???

Here's a shot of Grimace after a quick run up the road to see the shuttle launch today.... This is about 300 miles worth of love bugs (up and back). Washed the car 5 minutes after snapping the photo.

They sure are a juicy bug and it is a PITA to clean them off. Radiator was caked too.


scrubbed the black paint right off the grille going to have to repaint it...

I stopped for gas halfway and cleaned the windshield it was so bad I could hardly see out.

What... the... hell? And I thought the 24 bees caked on my bumper from driving to Albany last week was a lot.

First time I went to Daytona Beach on my bike I had the unique pleasure of riding thru that
mess.The bugs guts are caustic to hot chrome exhaust pipes as they almost ruined my pipes.
What a nitemare to those things are to clean off.I feel for you guys living with those horny damn bugs.
Jim Gordon

Reason number ∞ I dont want to live in Florida.

oh they weren't even thick today...... Once I got about 20 miles from my house they cleared up. I guess urbanization does have one or two benefits...

Ah yes... lovebug season.

Used to it.

The Tim Swink Car Wash Power Tour!!!!

St. Augustine - gwturbo
Daytona Beach - rh96ss
Stuart - Stingroo
Delray Beach - Sprocket


And again in reverse!

talked to tim today he was in GA. said the trip was going good and was meeting up with fellow wagon guys on way down. was trying to figure out where to put the parts he was gathering along the way.

Tim will be fine if he keeps his head in the car and his mouth shut......

Ok guys finally reporting in. Having a great trip. Left a wedding weekend in NC.

Drove this morning to Charleston SC. Had the extreme pleasure of meeting up with Palamino to purchase some OTA pipes. Roger is a great guy and wish I had the entire day to spend chatting about his wonderful car collection.

GWTurbo came out to dinner with us. Thanks again Glenn you are a wonderful host. The house is always open, would love to have you come visit anytime.

So in typical red-neck fashion I am tooling down the road with Tailpipes strapped to a soft car topper on top of the G-Pa. Possibly will have a set of seats in the mix tomorrow. Looking forward to meeting up with rh96ss tomorrow. Cannot wait to see his wagons and the Impala. One of my favorite color comb's.....and the wheels!!!!

No Love Bugs yet, but we are still 3 hours from our final destination. Washed her yesterday after getting rained on traveling to NC from PA. Toweled off this morning with a little Ardex Hydro Gloss before I started off and she is still presentable tonight. Towels are ready for morning!!! Sprockets hose is ready for evening Love Bugs, I hope!!!!

Pat, I can never keep my mouth shut! Spoke to several wagon folks in route today!!!!

pictures to come..................

rh96ss's wagon is amazing in person. I stood and drooled over it for a good 10-15 minutes in Daytona. lol

Sounds like Tim is washing his way thru the southeast and toweling his way back his home in
Pa.Never a dull/dirty moment with you is there Tim.I know you are keeping track of your gas
mileage so what is the best you have gotten so far?
Take Care
Jim Gordon

Only getting 18-19 mpg. With 4 bodies and 1 weeks worth of luggage on top of the car, makes it tough to hypermile. Not to mention Jacksonville FLA traffic moving at close to 90 MPH..... Gotta go fast to keep from getting ran over.......

Lol Yep. That's the truth. Normally on the way to school every fall/winter/spring, cruise gets set at a nice relaxing 80mph, then goes up to 90 as soon as you cross into Duval county.

Fun fun. There's a reason that I-95 through Florida is consistently ranked as one of the nation's deadliest highways. Be safe, Tim.

I drive like an old man...... Its not like I have a Hot Rod or anything.........

IAN....... I GET IT NOW!!!!! A1A WIND!!!! LOVE IT!!

Tim

Holy crap! If I have to clean more than a few bugs off the whole summer I consider it a mess.

This species' reputation as a public nuisance is due not to any bite or sting (it is incapable of either), but to its slightly acidic body chemistry. Because airborne lovebugs can exist in enormous numbers near highways, they die en masse on automobile windshields, hoods, and radiator grills when the vehicles travel at high speeds. If left for more than an hour or two, the remains become dried and extremely difficult to remove. Their body chemistry has a nearly neutral 6.5 pH but may become acidic at 4.25 pH if left on the car for a day.[1] In the past, the acidity of the dead adult body, especially the female's egg masses, often resulted in pits and etches in automotive paint and chrome if not quickly removed.[5] However, advances in automotive paints and protective coatings have reduced this threat significantly. Now the greatest concern is excessive clogging of vehicle radiator air passages with the bodies of the adults, with the reduction of the cooling effect on engines, and the obstruction of windshields when the remains of the adults and egg masses are smeared on the glass.

-Wikipedia

Dat why I washed the car as soon as I got home.
My wife's car was caked when I bought it and 3 yrs later it still has stains on it as I could never get them off (they had been sunbaked on for weeks).

thank goodness I have a $40 paint job. I was using scrubbing brush like this on them:

Wow, thats bad. I drove through the everglades a few summers ago, I thought it was bad, but nothing like that. To top it off we ran out of washer fluid about halfway through.

I take it this is a big seller from say April-November?

So far his wagon is Lovebug free, til later tonight.
He left my house with a Bonnie passenger and rear seat, and didn't even ask to wash his car. He did drive my grey wagon.
What other parts can he load on his journey.
Tim, let me know when you are coming back northbound, I will check for that RMS frame brace for your SS.

He won't be lovebug free when he reaches the Treasure Coast. I promise. They're out in force this year. Worse than I think I've ever seen them.

They're so bad this year I've even seen some in my yard. I NEVER see them in the neighborhoods up (down?) here....

They arrived in Boca today with the NW wind....Hardly ever see 'em down here either.
He'll be cussin' alot as on my drive yesterday you could just hear them blap blap blap hitting the car while you drive. Looked like snow flurries in black.

Cadet57 wrote:

I take it this is a big seller from say April-November?

I don't wash my bugs I just smush 'em

Yeah, in my 4 years in Deerfield I never saw them. I got excited and thought they went extinct.

OMGosh....that is plain NASTY!! I'm gonna be so paranoid next year @ Daytona now. Ugg.

Sprocket wrote:

Cadet57 wrote:

I take it this is a big seller from say April-November?

I don't wash my bugs I just smush 'em

That's funny!

brokecello wrote:

OMGosh....that is plain NASTY!! I'm gonna be so paranoid next year @ Daytona now. Ugg.

No worries, they don't come out that early. More of an April/May kinda thing.

Hmmm, no update from Tim, must be outside washing them off!

this is like a where is waldo but with tim. we need pics of the poor wagon all loaded down

No wifi... Restricted to blackberry... A few love bugs to clean in the am.

Tired need sleep. Rob let me drive his car. Very nice!!! 14 year old daughter got to drive the wagon on the beach today. Daytona was great. Boca tomorrow. Need sleep.

brokecello wrote:

OMGosh....that is plain NASTY!! I'm gonna be so paranoid next year @ Daytona now. Ugg.

Yeah, they're never out that early. You'll notice that my car was perfectly clean (chalk notwithstanding ).

BigBlackBeaSSt wrote:

No wifi... Restricted to blackberry... A few love bugs to clean in the am. Need sleep.

Cool we will all get to see the paint and chrome damage they did to Tim's car, at wagonfest in july!

Guys when I was doing the long haul trucking thing years ago I always sprayed the front end
of the truck with PAM cooking spray.All you had to do to clean it was wipe with a towel and
then spray on another coat.Just remembered that trick and it worked very good except when
you parked for a while and then the live bugs would hover around the front end either looking
for something to eat or mate with.
Jim Gordon

^ LOL

True story.

^^^^^^^That's funny

At least they'll all burn off on re-entry.

Met up with Tim and family tonight, along with Flash Gumby and his clan.
Nice to visit and play ooo, what mods do you have game
Some photos taken in a dark Shake-n-Steak parking lot by Tim's girls.

He's off again in the morning to go find some more love bugs.

mtrhead79 wrote:

this is like a where is waldo but with tim. we need pics of the poor wagon all loaded down

It was empty except for snorkeling and beach gear.

He even said he drove it on the beach in Daytona

Sprocket wrote:

mtrhead79 wrote:

this is like a where is waldo but with tim. we need pics of the poor wagon all loaded down

It was empty except for snorkeling and beach gear.

He even said he drove it on the beach in Daytona

He had a luggage carrier on top with a set of stainless OTA pipes strapped on the roof when I saw it. Then he stuffed in a rear seat and a passenger seat when he left me.

He did drive on the beach, I saw the evidence of beach sand all over the engine compartment......

likewise saw the sand. I think all the car parts where back at Del Boca Vista condo they were staying at.

Forget Beverly Hills, Lewisberry has it's share of hillbillies....







and for the record, he DID wash the bugs off his car in my driveway (I feel priv'legd )

According to his personal photographer, he seems to do that a lot....... that, and the world ain't gonna end today.......

But the day is early and still has a lot left to go!Yea like I or any other rational intelligent
individual could possibly believe that today is the day of days to end all time.Lunatics are
everywhere waiting for someone to listen to them rant.
IMHO
Jim Gordon
(DONE RANTING)

Hey Tim should swing back through my town for the SoFaSSt picnic/show tomorrow....

tim i started laughing when i saw the pics of wagon loaded up better check over pass heights ha ha

You know, heres the guy asking about how to save gas in these wagons and he goes and loads up the roof like that....

Cadet57 wrote:

You know, here's the guy asking about how to save gas in these wagons and he goes and loads up the roof like that....

I asked the same question and here was his answer.....

The oldest is in the middle seat and the youngest is in the way back seat. I asked their ages and got 17 and 14...... it's a lot of hours in the car and I like the peace and quiet.....

Having kids 8 years apart...... I understand and I could not agree more.....

If anyone can handle it its Tim but I dont think I would want to travel with 2 kids that age.
I mean at 17 and 14 they already know way more than dad does but I hope I am wrong.
Not personally knowing Tim that well just thru this forum,I get the impression that his
children mat be the exception to the rule and I mean this in the most complimentary way.
Jim Gordon

Tired of travel. Had a relaxing day on a buddies boat in beaufort, SC. Be home tomorrow. Pics soon. What a great bunch.

Tim

Are you referring to yourself and your 2 teenagers or maybe this great bunch?
Jim Gordon

[code]http://vimeo.com/24113171

Monday of last week. Started out in High Point NC and drove to Charleston, SC.


Stopped at Roger's place to pick up the tail pipes (Palimino). Thanks again Roger, it was great to meet you. Keep us posted on your Hot Rod project. Sorry for so few pictures.............



Had to find a place for them.



That evening we met Glen for Dinner..... Thanks Glen!!

Then on to Daytona Beach....... Literally!!!


https://s303.photobucket.com/albums/nn152/97blazerman/2010%20Carlisle%20GM%20Nationals/2011%20Florida%20Trip/?action=view&current=P5170865.mp4

A turd surround by two Beautiful Wagons!!! Rob thanks again. He let me drive the REALLY purdy one!!! Woot!!! I love big brakes!!


Stayed in Boca for a few days.

Met up with Sprocket (Jon) and Flashgumby (Scott) and families!! Had dinner and drooled over his dash other various mods...... I had never seen a 200 MPH buick dash and buick triple pod.

Thanks for the steering wheel. No more peeling SEM on my hands!!!

Left Boca the next morning and drove to Beaufort, SC. Making a MUST stop to see Robert's before getting into South Clackalacky.


"Hey you missed a Love Bug!!"


Finished the trip with a nice day at a buddies place.


Low Country Stew!!!! I does not get any better than this!!!!!

Drove about 3 hours that night (Saturday) and stayed just north of South Of The Border. Was home in central PA for a evening church!!

Thanks all for the great memories and some wonderful wagon stuff!!!

Tim