As most of you know, Jordan and his car were invited to the Custom Compact Car Show held In Harrisburg PA over the past weekend. He was invited to enter his car in the inside Elite class as one of the top cars in the country. It was such an amazing honor that my Dad (87V6GT) and I (with help from some great vendors/car parts places and a few awesome forum members) did everything we could to get Jordan and his car there. Here are some pics for those interested: 5:30 Friday morning the car is on the tow dolley and ready to go
Here we are in NJ on the Garden State Parkway fueling up:
We seem to have a glow in the dark green Fiero following us:
We got there at 2pm which was surprising that we made such good time all the way from NH. When we arrived it took me only a few minutes to get the car off the dolley, but putting the chin spoiler back on turned into a major event. Finally we had the car ready to go up the ramp to get checked in so we could be allowed to get it inside for the indoor show:
As soon as we pulled into the parking area where you could unload your car if it was towed in, we got swamped by people wanting to check out Jordans car. We ended up answering a whole bunch of questions even before we had it off the tow dolley. Jordan was the center of attention with his car for about 20 minutes or so as we were the only car at the time in the unloading area. He handled it very well and answered most questions all by himself, which was great as it allowed to me focus on getting the car off the dolley and get ready to put the chin spoiler back on. Once your car was ready to go inside, you lined up for the entrance ramp. Each car took it's turn going up the ramp. You then waited in front of the closed gate as three people checked you in. The first was a security person who checked the car to make sure you didn't have weapons or anything like that. Then the Carlisle person would verify that you were in the correct car that they had actually approved to be in the show which was the case with the NCCA judge who would also check the car as well.
Once you were checked out and verified, they would then open the gate up and you were allowed to drive inside. You then had another check point just inside where you had to check in again at the booth inside. This is where you signed in, were told what class you were in, got your goodie bag, paperwork, other instructions and so on. Then they put a sticker on the windshield and showed you where you were placed in the building.
[This message has been edited by Fiero5 (edited 05-18-2004).]
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07:57 AM
PFF
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Fiero5 Member
Posts: 8882 From: Arecibo, PR Registered: Jun 2000
Here we are in our section as other elite cars also arrived
A close up shot of us guys with the car. Check out the awesome show board that was done by Digital Image Works of WRJ VT just in time for the show:
Jordan quietly sat in his chair and played his game boy while waiting for the many people who would ask him questions thru out the show
An interior shot
Jordans class on Thursday at his school made him a good luck card and then all his classmates signed it and even some teachers as well. We displayed it off and on thru out the show on his car
[This message has been edited by Fiero5 (edited 05-18-2004).]
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08:18 AM
Fiero5 Member
Posts: 8882 From: Arecibo, PR Registered: Jun 2000
Other than the pics with Jordan in them, these two pics above are two of my favorite
We received special permission to be allowed to drive his car out of the show building early Sunday morning, so we could head back home late Sunday morning. As the announcements of the trophies and awards were not even started until 1pm, we still have not heard yet who all the winners are. As we don't expect to actually win anything (though you never know ) the honor of being asked to attend was thrill enough. It still would be nice to know who won, especially as we made some new freinds at the show being parked next to many of them. It would be nice to see which of the cars that we got to know the owners actually won any awards. Jordan had his favotites that he liked at the show and is hoping to see if some of them won.
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08:28 AM
Oreif Member
Posts: 16460 From: Schaumburg, IL Registered: Jan 2000
Looks like you had a great time. Looks like there were only around 50 cars or so. I see you received the door tabs in time. How do they look? I also sent you a PM.
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Happiness isn't around the corner... Happiness IS the corner.
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09:11 AM
SplineZ Member
Posts: 952 From: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Registered: Nov 2002
Luminas are FWD. You can pull it on a dolly and pull it across the contry with no problems.
Yup, it towed the Fiero great. It would slow down just a bit climbing some of the hills in VT down I-91 but other than that it worked great. You just have to think ahead and also not tailgate (something I tend to usually do) because if you have to jam on the breaks you also have the Fiero on the dolley behind you going the same speed and that momentum is going to give you a slight push at first as you begin and stop. Once in the clear on the highways I had it on cruise doing 75 to 80 most of the way down and back
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10:41 AM
RichLeBlanc Member
Posts: 94 From: Manchester,NH 03103 Registered: Feb 2001
Plainfield NH, near Lebanon and Hanover NH. Maybe we can hitch up sometime. Still trying to hitch up with Vwaltdog as well who lives near Durham if I remember right?
Also, I just heard from Mike at the show about the trophy winners. Here is the e-mail conversation:
quote
Hey Mike. Thanks for getting back to me. Though I am saddened to hear that Jordan did not win, due to the quality and cost that all the other cars had in them at this show I am certainly not surprised. It was such an honor just to be invited and even with not winning any award the fact that we were able to go and be considered one of the elite cars in the country was thrill enough. I have CC'd this e-mail to Jordans teacher so she can tell Jordan and his class this so they can all finally know as well. As for the other show, yes, we are going to that show as well. If you recall our conversation Sunday morning, if Jordan was to have actually and amazingly won a trophy, you were going to hold it for us and we would have picked up there at the Kit Car show this coming weekend.
Thanks again Mike. We had a blast. Maybe we will see you again next year, as I am sure Jordan will continue to work on his amazing car and have it at even a higher level than what it was even at this year. As we all know the old saying with fixing up cars, "they are never done" )
Sincerely,
Steve & Jordan Kelley
<mikek@carsatcarlisle.com> writes: Hi Steve,
I know that a Grand Am won the "Best Pontiac" trophy and we didn't have any left over...Jordan was a hit among many attendees and the staff, though! We really enjoyed having you guys there with the car. His classmates have good reason to be proud of him! Thanks for attending and I hope we'll see you again in the future. FYI: the Mid-Atlantic Fiero club attends our Import-Kit/Replicar event in very large numbers (over 100 Fieros). Perhaps you'll consider it in the future. Talk to you later!
Mike Kelsch Event Manager Carlisle Productions, Inc. 1000 Bryn Mawr Rd. Carlisle, PA 17013 (717) 243-7855 ext.113 mikek@carsatcarlisle.com
-----Original Message----- From: Steve Kelley [mailto:steve.kelley@dresden.us] Sent: Monday, May 17, 2004 10:58 AM To: mikek@carsatcarlisle.com Subject: Trophies??
Hi again. Are the Elite winners posted anywhere yet? Do you know if by some incredible slim chance Jordans Fiero actually won anything? Thanks again. We had a blast and I bet Jordan is having fun at school telling all his freinds about the great show. BTW: Check this link out: https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/041649.html
Thanks to everyone who posted nice things so far. Yes, please lets keep this one clean as we want Jordans grade school to be able to come and view this thread often when they can. Please.
OK, it's time to thank a whole bunch of people/businesses for helping us not only get there and get Jordans Fiero in the incredible condition it was in but to do so in such a small amount of time that we had and get the parts to us just in time for the show. Many parts/items arrived last minute which was due to their extra efforts to actually do what they had to, to get them to us in time. We are also creating in the computer some very nice thank you cards that will go out to all of these great people/companies soon with a nice pic of Jordans Fiero at the show on them.
In no special order we would like to thank the following: The Fiero Store Rodney Dickman Oreif Joe Torma (Animated Concepts) DecalBoyz.com BaddFiero Modern Image Digital Image Works Holley AutoZone VIP Advanced Auto and especially Dave Bill Pep Boys Kevin Hooker (Hooks Welding) Plas-ma Performance 007Doug (Doug Kinney - Fierowarehouse.com) BRUNSPERFORMANCE Tom Derr Fieros4Ever Bob Parker (Kick Hill) Cliff Pennock (for this great site) SkiTime (for help on neon placement and other helpfull ideas) Judy Wilson (my boss) for allowing me the day off from work to take my son Mr. Mellows (Principal) and Ms. Carlson (teacher) at Jordans school for allowing Jordan the day off from school to go Marian Kelley (LVMY88 - Jordans Mom) for not only also allowing us to go but for also helping to get last minute items like the carbon Fiber trim and the Fast & Furious shirts Any forum member that has been positive and/or offered help and encouragement as we helped Jordan create his unique show car. And finally, last but certainly not least, A HUGE thank you to Russell Kelley (87V6GT - Jordans Grandfather) for all the hard work and tireless effort he put into his grandsons Fiero within a week or so of the show
I may have a few more to add just in case I sadly missed someone.
Huge thank yous go out to everyone from the Kelleys
[This message has been edited by Fiero5 (edited 05-20-2004).]
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11:23 AM
Fiero5 Member
Posts: 8882 From: Arecibo, PR Registered: Jun 2000
Steve, correct me if I am wrong, but what is going on with your strut tower brace? It doesn't appear to fit right. Im glad you and your son had a good time at the show, maybe next year he will win something.
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11:42 AM
Fiero5 Member
Posts: 8882 From: Arecibo, PR Registered: Jun 2000
That was the only strut tower brace that we could find that would fit in any way. If someone knows of a better one that will fit and look better please let us know. Thanks
I just bought a strut tower brace for my car from Darrell Morse Motorsports. His phone number is 763-441-5679. It fits really good and looks nice! I dont have the pics on this computer but call him, maybe he has some pics he can send?
PS, Jordans car looks great.....good job!
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12:21 PM
PFF
System Bot
Fiero5 Member
Posts: 8882 From: Arecibo, PR Registered: Jun 2000
I just bought a strut tower brace for my car from Darrell Morse Motorsports. His phone number is 763-441-5679. It fits really good and looks nice! I dont have the pics on this computer but call him, maybe he has some pics he can send?
PS, Jordans car looks great.....good job!
Cool! Is that for a V6 or a 4 cyl? I know the V6 plenum sits lower in the bay than the air cleaner for the 4 and so a V6 strut bar usually won't fit as the deck lid sections will bump into it. That is why we had to turn this one made by Ractive sideways.
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12:32 PM
Fiero5 Member
Posts: 8882 From: Arecibo, PR Registered: Jun 2000
Actually, Steve, the traffic was not a concern that Harrisburg mentioned. I don't have it confirmed, but our local news reported "300 arrests" during the weekend in the city of Harrisburg. They didn't confirm whether the "arrests" were actually show related or if they were actually minor traffic infractions. They also didn't mention how many "arrests" they have on a normal weekend or a typical Farm Show event weekend, so we really have nothing to compare it to. It seems like more of a personal vendetta to me. The city had mentioned to the Farm Show commission that the show wasn't welcome before it even happened. We knew we'd be scrutinized and since they couldn't fault the show, I guess they needed to fault the attendees. It's sad when you take measures to eliminate alcohol and make a more family-based event and people still find a problem with it. Hopefully as some of these younger enthusiasts make it into positions of political power, there will be more acceptance of the "tuner" generation. I know that Jordan will make a positive impact in that respect. See you this weekend!
Mike
-----Original Message----- From: Steve Kelley [mailto:steve.kelley@dresden.us] Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2004 12:12 PM To: mikek@carsatcarlisle.com Subject: Re: Trophies??
Heh heh, you mean you had a few other things going on besides talking to just us? LOL BTW: I hear grumblings that Harrisburg has since asked to not have the show back their next year because of problems similar to what Carlisle complained about the year before. Have you heard anything that is actualy factual on this? I do know that I saw thousands of cars lined up waiting to get in Saturday morning which I bet was a traffic nightmare for the locals. I bet that didn't go over well?
Thanks again Steve
<mikek@carsatcarlisle.com> writes: >I do remember that conversation now! How quickly things escape me after >this weekend! See you there! > >Mike
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12:49 PM
avengador1 Member
Posts: 35468 From: Orlando, Florida Registered: Oct 2001
Looks pretty good, im glad to see you got it in a pretty big show. It doesn't look out of place from the other cars there. Could you pm me about the diamond plated floor stuff, if thats what its called? I'm just wondering where you got it and if it was precut. The basic details.
------------------ 1986 Fiero SE
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07:33 PM
jscott1 Member
Posts: 21676 From: Houston, TX , USA Registered: Dec 2001
Congratulations on being able to attend an indoor show, especially in the invited elite class. The car looks better all the time. Nice touches were added recently. Keep up the good work.
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Poor car. Looks like they are having fun though. I'd be impressed if it had a different engine, but if you are going to compete against rice burners in car shows I don't suppose it matters.
Beautiful car! You should at least win something for the best maintained car for it's age. From the looks of those Ricers they are all pretty much brand new with bolt-in kits and yours (Jordans) looks like it's the most custom one there. Did you even see a car there that was more than 10yrs old and looked as nice?
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02:24 AM
May 20th, 2004
Fiero5 Member
Posts: 8882 From: Arecibo, PR Registered: Jun 2000
Well done guys! The car looks fantastic! I agree with tony78ta, you should of received something given the age of the vehicle. I doubt many of the other cars there will be anywhere near the shape of Jordans car in 16-20 years.
I have been looking for the gas door cover that would fit for a week or so now just like the one you have on yours, can you share some info. on it?
Jordan and I got it at Pep Boys in Manchester NH. They had a full line of gas door assembly's of a variety of different sizes. I believe the one we purchased stated that it was for a Chevy S-10.