TheSamba.com :: View topic - Ypsilanti, Michigan July 31-Aug 3, 2008 Invasion!

Sun Aug 17, 2008 9:23 pm

vwfye wrote: bob... i really like your shirts to be loose too! :shock: just givin' you grief man. so, when is the next invasion?

It looks like you wear about the same size I do. :wink: The next Invasion is 2 years away, and we won't know where until this winter, once all the interested parties are contacted that want the responsibilty of hosting it.

Sun Aug 17, 2008 9:28 pm

i'm finally down to your size! :oops: anyway... if it keeps this hot, i can't wait until winter arrives!!!!!

btw, i've got it on pretty good authority that it won't be in kalifornia.

Sun Aug 17, 2008 9:38 pm

Paypal sent!

Wed Aug 27, 2008 8:19 am

The extra Type 3 Invasion shirts are done! I am picking them up today. SHould have them all in the mail by Friday.

Thanks again for supporting the Ronald McDonald House of Ann Arbor.

Thu Aug 28, 2008 6:57 pm

jaransonT3 wrote: The extra Type 3 Invasion shirts are done! I am picking them up today. SHould have them all in the mail by Friday.

Thanks again for supporting the Ronald McDonald House of Ann Arbor.

Very cool I look forward to them. Plus The Ronald McDonald House is a good cause IMO

Tue Sep 02, 2008 8:28 pm

FASTBACKDON wrote: jaransonT3 wrote: The extra Type 3 Invasion shirts are done! I am picking them up today. SHould have them all in the mail by Friday.

Thanks again for supporting the Ronald McDonald House of Ann Arbor.

Very cool I look forward to them. Plus The Ronald McDonald House is a good cause IMO

I received my 5 shirts today thanks again jaranson

Thu Sep 04, 2008 9:27 pm

I posted this over on vwtype3.org, but wanted to post it here too....

Yup...I had a whole week of Type 3 Invasion stuff to enjoy.

Monday - July 28th

My week started on Monday afternoon when I picked up Brian Fye at the Airport in Sophy. He had flown in early to help get the Lead Sled ready for the Invasion and to help with all the last minute stuff. We spent the evening catching up and check out the Sled and Sophy. Did some planning for the BBQ and other parts of the Invasion.

Tuesday - July 29th

I had to work Tuesday and Wednesday, so Brian spent the afternoon doing a little tweaking on Sophy's carbs to try and get rid of the light throttle stumble that she has had for a long time. Then he started taking apart the rear end on the Sled. The plan was to remove the rear torsion bars so she would nice and low and in preparation for the airbag system that she will eventually get. The Midwest rust caused so difficulties and so Brian waited for me to get home. Together we managed to get both sides out, the torsion bars removed and reassembled. The Sled was a real tail dragger now with the rear suspension sitting on the bump stops and the front at stock height. <G> We couldn't leave it like that so we tackled the front end next. Rather than just reindexing the front torsion bars, we removed them and ground off the fixed-end splines of the torsion bars. Reassembled everything with the retention bolt and it worked great. The torsion bars were now free to rotate in the axle housing, but not come out sideways. Perfect. The front end was sitting on the bump stops too! The Sled now had the perfect stance. My girlfriend, Jill, came down for dinner and we hung out the rest of the evening, sharing stories, posting some pics and stuff on the web and just having a good time.

Wednesday - July 30th

My last day at the office for the week. Brain spent the afternoon grinding some of my crappy welds on the Sled in preparation for the rattle can paint job later that week. When i got home we fiddled around adding some bits of trim to the car and a seat. We spent a bunch of time trying to find some fender bolts in my garage. Turns out they were in the 2nd to last box we looked in.....isn't that the way it always is. I also taped up the windshield in preparation for cutting it down to fit the chopped windshield frame. We made a makeshift blasting tent and tried sandblasting the windshield to trim it down to size. Looks like it was sort of working, but was going to take hours and hours to get it done.

Thursday - July 31st.

Shopping day. First thing in the morning, Brian and I tackled the rear bumper of the Sled. All the individual pieces had been fabricated, but not assembled. We started out drilling and slotting the bumper brackets and the doghouses I had welded to the backside of the bumpers. We did the slots at 90 degrees to each other. This gave us lots of adjustment when it came time to fit the bumper. Next we bolted the two lower outer sections of the bumper to the brackets that were already bolted to the body and then we fit the center section, marked and drilled the holes for the bolts and bolted the whole thing together. Brian and I went out and bought the food and stuff for the pre-Invasion BBQ that night. We also made a stop at Harbor Freight Tools for some diamond cut-off wheels to try on the windshield.

Thursday night was the pre-Invasion BBQ. We got out to Jonce and Dixie's place a little before 5pm. To my surprise, Jim Adney had made a quicker trip there then he expected and was already waiting. He parked his Square out near the road so the rest of the BBQers could find the right house. By the end of the evening we had 11 Type 3s and maybe 25-30 people at the BBQ. Dixie did a great job of running the grill. We had plenty of hot dogs and bratz and stuff. I had a great time catching up with some old friends and making some new ones. We all had plenty to eat and drink and the weather was about perfect. A huge thank you to Jonce and Dixie for hosting the BBQ. You guys are great. We hung out tiil 10 or so and then headed back to the house.

Jim Adney and Keith Park were staying at my place for the Invasion so we had a mini caravan heading back to Dearborn. We spent the rest of the evening checking out the Sled project and catching up. I could have sworn I heard Keith "Skywalker" Park say he could get to like the Sled. <G>

Friday - August 1st

Jim and Keith went off to spend the day over at the Henry Ford Museum. Brian and I had plans to get the Sled in satin black paint before the Invasion. But before we could get started I got a call from Rob Heydt out at the KAO Campground. One of the other Invaders snagged a metal brake line getting their Square off the trailer and need a floor jack to get the car up in the air to fix it. Brian and I made a run out there with my jack and hung out with the Heydt clan for a little bit before heading back to paint the Sled. 6 rattle cans of satin black later, we had the sled all one color for the first time in a long time. We put the trim back on and cleaned her up a little for her unveiling at the Invasion on Saturday.

We got a hold of some of the other Invaders that had arrived in town and made arrangements to meet for dinner in Ann Arbor. We ended up with about a dozen of us at Damon's Grill, a rib and steak restaurant out there. Met some new Invaders and some old friends. Everyone had a good time and good food. Only snafu so far was that the host hotel was a little lacking in the preparation department. Some of the folks had to wait a few hours for their rooms to be ready for check-in.

After leaving the restaurant we swung by my buddy Mike's place and picked up his truck and trailer for bringing the Sled to the Invasion the next morning.

Saturday - August 2nd

Got up early and gave Sophy a bath and then got the Sled on the trailer. We all left a little before 8am for the 25 minute caravan out to the Invasion site. Keith Park and his Notch, Jim Adney and his Square, Brian Fye in Sophy, and me with the Sled on the trailer behind Mike's F150 were the first ones to arrive at the site. Greg and Ryan Sanchez and their really sweet dark green late Fastback pulled in right behind us and helped out with directing people into the park the first part of the morning. We got the Sled off the trailer and the rest of the stuff unloaded as the first Invaders started filtering in.

We had a great first day. The site was beautiful with lots of shade. The weather was nearly perfect, especially for SE Michigan this time of the year, with temps in the low 80s, low humidity, a nice breeze off the lake, and lots of sunshine. We had 40 Type 3s show up and a bunch of Type 3 folks that couldn't make it with their cars. We had all 4 body styles represented and a good mix of early and late cars. We had very dark cars like the Sled, the Pile of Bleached Bones roadster, and the Karmangeddon drag Type 34 Ghia. We had some real cream puff lightside cars like Marion McDonald's Fastback that he bought new and the Yellow Rose, a very late, June of 1973 Squareback with 5300 miles on her. We had show cars and barn finds and major projects. We had it all.

We had some really great tech sessions on brakes and electrical from Jim Adney and the Type 3 front end from Keith Park. The pavilion at the park really made the tech sessions comfortable to attend....plenty of shade and picnic tables to sit at. I think everyone that attended the session learned something new...even those that have been to them at previous Invasions. We even had some impromptu tech sessions out among the Invaders as Brian Fye tweaked on some carbs, we replaced a cooling intake boot, and I am sure there are other things that went on that I didn't hear about.

About 4:30 I put the Sled back on the trailer and took her over to my buddy Mike's place for the night and then headed back to the Invasion site to get the cars lined up for the dinner cruise out to Zukey Lake Tavern in Pinkney, MI. I had planned a nice 33 mile drive through some nice twisty, scenic roads. We ended up with 24 Type 3s on the cruise and a few support vehicles. We had a little trouble staying together as a group with that number of cars...especially during the first part of the cruise which was through town. I thought we had them all gathered up, but got strung out again and eventually separated into two groups at a particularly tricky intersection. Somehow the trailing group of 10 cars ended up in front of the lead group of 14 cars.....never did figure out exactly what happened with that one since they did not pass us. <G> They did make it to the restaurant before us. Good thing too because that was the only near disaster of the weekend.

Zukey Lake Tavern (ZLT) does not take reservations, but had promised to try and hold a room for our group of 35-40. Well the first group got there almost an hour and a half later than I thought we would. ZLT had given up on us and started reconfiguring the room for regular customers. Can't say that I blame them. I was so busy trying to keep the cruise together that it never occurred to me to call ahead and let them know we were running late. ZLT's staff did a great job of scrambling to accommodate us once they knew we were still coming. The lead group of us finally got there about 15 minutes after the trailing group. We only waited about 5 minutes to be seated. We overflowed the banquet room with 45 of us. Again the ZLT staff managed to find a table for a satellite group. The food was great, the staff was excellent, and the company of 45 fellow Type 3 enthusiasts was the best. I handed out the "Ironman Invader" t-handle shifters that I started before the 06 Invasion to Keith Park, Jim Adney, Brain Fye, and myself. I also have a right-hand drive one for Dave Hall. I made the handles to recognize the individuals that had been to the first 3 Invasion. Turns out we all made it back for the 4th one too, except Dave who had some medical problems that prevented him from making the trip over this time. We missed you Dave, and your handle will be in the post shortly.

The dinner broke up around 10pm and everyone headed back for some much needed rest after a great day of Type 3 fellowship.

Sunday - August 3rd

Sunday was another glorious day for the Invasion. Weather was again perfect. The group from my house got out to the park a little before 9am. Things got moving much slower today as folks slowly trickled in from their overnight accommodations. We had about 30 cars or so show up for Sunday including one additional Type 3 Fastback that wasn't there on Saturday and a Type 3 powered Trike...putting our final count at 41-1/2 Type 3s for the weekend. Just a 1/2 of a Type 3 short of the Myrtle Creek total.

We had a perfect example of why the Invasions are so great today. I got a call from Scott St. Arnaud early Sunday morning. Seems his 70 Square would not start over at the host hotel after they fiddled with it some trying to get it running better. He is just from across town (50 miles or so) and was asking about a towing service to get the car home. We talked him into towing it over to the Invasion site...only 12 miles or so. Figured if the Type 3 gurus couldn't get it running, I could grab Mike's trailer and get it home for them for less than the tow across town would have been. They got it there and after Jim's excellent Fuel Injection Tech Session; Jim, Russ Wolfe and others started checking it out. After trying a couple of different FI Testers and such they narrowed the problem down to a loose wire connection in the FI harness. It would intermittently make contact. Jim soldered the joint and Scott was able to drive his car home at the end of the day.

I handed out the few fun awards that we did. Congratulations to all the winners.

Oldest Type 3 - Matt Taberski's 1963 Notch
Youngest Type 3 - Lance McDonald's Yellow Rose - Late June 1973 Squareback
Most Miles Driven - Marion McDonald and his 71 Fastback all the way from Georgia - 735 miles
Artist's Choice - Rob & Amanda Heydt's Pile of Bleached Bones
Favorite Late Model - Ed Woenker's Colorado Metallic 1972 Notchback
Favorite Early Model - Doug Narczewski's 1966 Type 34 Ghia

We even managed to remember to get a group shot of all the people there on Sunday. Something that we often forget to do.

Sunday was also the wrap-up of the charity silent auction. We had a really nice selection of stuff and even a few bidding wars on some items. Many of the Invaders brought stuff along with them and added it to the auction. I had people mailing me things for the auction. We even had a local VW engine builder, Primo Petrucci of Petrucci Racing Engines, that found out about the Invasion the day before come down on Sunday morning with a box full of brand new goodies for the auction. I would like to thank everyone the contributed items to the auction and those that bid on and won the items. In the end we raised $747.75 for the Ann Arbor Ronald McDonald House with the auction alone. Just awesome. All told we will be making a donation of over $1200 to the AA RMH! A new record for the Invasion. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

The rest of the afternoon was pretty quiet. We got the park cleaned up and just about everyone on their way by 2pm or so. A few diehards lingered a little longer at the park just hanging out and talking Type 3s and past and future Invasions. Jim, Keith, Brian, Jill and I were the last to leave the park around 4pm or so. We stopped for dinner at a local diner and had a bit of discussion about the success of this Invasion and what to do with the next one. We want to get some feedback from the Invaders and will be sending out a little survey shortly. We also have a couple of ideas for the 2010 Invasion site that we will be kicking around over the next couple of months.

Monday - August 4th

Back to work for me. Bummer. Was a long day at the office for me since I was still in Invasion mode from the weekend. Jim and Keith headed home this morning. Brian's flight wasn't until Tuesday afternoon so he fiddled around with Sophy's carbs some more and got her running really sweet. Thanks, man. Jill came down and met us for dinner Monday night. Nice relaxing evening following a wonderful, but hectic weekend.

Tuesday - August 5th

Brain and I met for lunch and then I gave him the nickel tour of the Research Lab at Ford before taking him to the airport to catch his flight home. Of course we took Sophy in order to end the week like it began....in a Type 3!

Just a couple of more thoughts from me and then I will stop typing since this is long enough already. I had an absolutely wonderful time hosting this Invasion and look forward to helping with the next one and all future ones. The Type 3 folks that made it to out to the Invasion were great. We had no issues that I had to deal with. Everyone acted in the spirit of the event, was respectful of the facilities, cars, and each other, and was very understanding of any minor logistic issues we had. I expected nothing less of the Type 3 community and you all proved me right. Thank you to everyone involved. A special thanks to Jonce and Dixie Fancher for hosting the BBQ on Thursday night. I also want to specifically thank Jim, Keith and Brian for making the Invasion an invasion for me. My one concern with hosting the Invasion was that I would miss out on the "journey" part of the Invasion that has always been a huge part of the Invasions for me. Having the guys stay at the house with me and drive out to Invasion site each day and to be able to BS late into the night about our beloved cars really added to the experience for me. Thanks. A very special thank you to my wonderful girlfriend Jill for all your love and support and understanding of my Type 3 addiction and all the help over the weekend. And one last special thanks to Brian Fye for starting this whole wonderful thing we call the Type 3 Invasion and for taking a week out of your busy life to come out early and help get things ready for the Invasion, get the Lead Sled ready for her debut, and for finally getting Sophy running just right.

So until 2010....

Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:04 pm

I had the honor of representing our wonderful Type 3 community today when I presented the Ann Arbor Ronald McDonald House with a check from the Type 3 Invasion in the amount of $1230.75!

Thank you again to all those who donated items for the charity auction and/or participated in the Invasion this year. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:07 pm

=D> =D> =D> \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ =D> =D> =D>

Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:09 pm

vwfye wrote: =D> =D> =D> \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ =D> =D> =D>

x2

Thu Sep 25, 2008 8:00 am

John and all the Invaders....

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYyyyyyyyyyyyy...........

Thu Sep 25, 2008 4:51 pm

Cool.

Thu Sep 25, 2008 8:08 pm

John, Brian, it's my (our gang's) pleasure to help RMH by attending the Invasion and buying some shirts. We all had a great time, and many frienships renewed, sorry for not recognizing you right away Dave (Raider SS) but it had been 4 years. :wink: Also many new friendships started (right Griff?). I was a little disappointed Roland didn't make it, as I was looking forward to seeing him again (it's been 2 years , the MI Vintage Festival). From what I could tell, everyone that attended had a great time though. 8) And you have to admit, not seeing a bug in all those t-3s was pretty cool. :D

Fri Sep 26, 2008 5:59 pm

Hey Bob......4 years is a long time between visits......no problem-o! :wink:
And not for nothing, you also had alot going on at this Invasion with all your cars there. That was pretty cool you showing up with all those T3's! :D

Sat Sep 27, 2008 7:58 am

Definitely, 4 years between visits IS a long time. :wink:
Yeah, trying to keep our small group of 4 cars together was a challenge. Fortunately we didn't have any real car related problems (other than vapor lock on mine at the rest area on the way home). I was worried about my wife's car, and the "Pile", due to neither of them making any long sustained runs (my wife's had, but that was before the FI conversion), but both performed flawlessly. I guess all that extra prep work paid off on getting the right parts for her car, as it hadn't gone anywhere (except to the gas station about a mile away) before going to the Invasion. Rob's car got driven locally thru the summer (during some of the hottest days), and his only problem, was on the 4th of July when a brass fuel inlet tube fell out of the carb, complete with the hose, (but they are 10 year old ICTs from CB Performance), but since then no real problems to speak of. I guess if I had ran mine more with the carbs, I might have found the problem, but I only had the carbs on the car for 3 or 4 days before we left for the Invasion. Up until then, I was still chasing an FI gremlin, which I think I might have fixed, since it's been running ok. Other than 1 day last week when it wouldn't start (bad non-Bosch condenser), it's been behaving.