Lunch with the Rolls-Royce Owners Club

Well, Friday the local chapter of the RROC was in town! This was the annual fall color tour orginating down in suburban Detroit (where most members reside) and motoring, at a leisurely pace up to Mackinaw City for a weekend on Mackinaw Island. About fifteen cars were in the tour from 50's vintage Silver Clouds to a late 90's vintage Silver Seraph. While I was not able to participate in the 3 day tour, I was lucky enough to join them for lunch as the lunch stop was in West Branch at the local country club! So, rare event when club comes to me! A short drive into town, in the Rolls, of course and I was lunching with fellow club members. This is the first time I have actually met any of the members. I was a slight bit apprehensive about the members as I am not in their income bracket! Lets just say nobody in this club worries about Social Security or the rising cost of gasoline!

So, with my '80 Silver Wraith II all cleaned-up and presentable, I cruised into the country club parking lot and into the special roped-off area reserved for RROC member cars and parked with the rest of them, right up front, right across the walkway, right were somebody will confront you with a; "Hey, you can't park there!" Screw that! Wheel that baby right in there, and walk up to the club house like you own the place! I am greeted with a smile, and a "Good afternoon, sir!" Doors to the club house are opened for me. I waltz right into the club restaurant, up to the host, quietly announce, "Rolls-Royce Club?" and I am immediately escorted to the two long reserved tables, each seating 16. Very nice! I introduce myself to the chairman of the local chapter, who was sitting at the head of the first table. I received a most warm welcome and was taken around and introduced to each member of the club. And, finally, I got to meet the other club member from West Branch. There are only two, him and me. Small town. Really nice guy. He starts off with, "So, you're the guy with that dark gray Wraith! I keep seeing it in town. I thought it belonged to someone downstate up here for the summer." We chatted about his car, a Silver Cloud II and about maintaining a Rolls in northern Michigan (challenging) while the appetisers were being served. I grabbed the only open seat at the end of the first table, and right next to the club's official technical expert and ordered an iced tea.

Obviously, I spent the next 10 minutes chatting about technical issues I have encountered on my car, like how can a Rolls warp a brake rotor while sitting in the garage? Answer, it's not warped, it's etched! The new brake pads from RR are metallic and require some time to cure. If the car is left in the garage for a winter season with brand new pads, they will corrode the rotor surface, etching it where they were touching. Yes! This is exactly what had happened! When I went to back the car out that spring, the brakes were frozen to the rotors. Car would not move! Uh, some judious application of throttle finally broke the pads loose from the rotors, though I immediately exited the garage, in reverse with tires squeeling at about 20 mile an hour! Woohoo! Solution, lightly turn-down rotors to remove all offending etch marks as these areas now have a slightly different coefficient of friction, causing the car to shutter when brakes are applied, like it has a warped rotor.
Next, what up with my exhaust system? Why do I continue to have a low frequency resonant tone at idle and low speeds? Is it because I do not have the restrictor plates in the exhaust pipes? Answer, maybe, it might change the sound a little, but sounds like to me you have one of those Borla aftermarket exhaust systems with the stainless steel tail pipes! The stainless steel pipes are too hard. RR uses a mild steel tubing for the tail pipes and it makes all the difference! Yes, right again! I do have the Borla Stainless Steel tail pipes. The gentleman offered to send me a couple of retrictor plates to try out to see if it makes a difference.
It was wonderful to just sit for an hour and chat with people that have the same passion (obession) that I have! I love these cars! I followed the members out to the lot after lunch, looked over all the cars, paying special attention to cars that were of similar model to mine, i.e. the Silver Shadow & Silver Shadow II. I definitely think the long wheel base, formal roof line Silver Wraith II is much more attractive! But, that's just me! I listened carefully as each car started-up and motored away, taking note of how they sound versus how mine sounds. They are extremely quiet, but it struck me they seemed overly silenced. That low resonance my car has seemed to add a little character to the car, a bit of edgy authority without being brash. I think I'm liking this Borla system. Others would disagree as it is not factory authentic, but I like it.

All in all, a great day. Met new people, talked about Rolls-Royces (and Bentleys), learned stuff and gained some confidence that I am not that crazy, or if I am, there are others like me!