| 6/19/03
The headers are ready, and have been secured. BEAUTIFUL. Really! I
picked them up from Jim McComb’s daughter, Brooke, at her home.
This girl is THE perfect wife: into boating with her husband, two
young kids, a TOTAL gearhead, WELDS (tig and mig), and loves cars!
Her husband is a very lucky man. Oh, did I mention she’s drop
dead gorgeous? I look forward to having her do some welding on the
car in the near future. She is very anxious to help! I also look forward
to having some other parts coated by Rewarder. Randy came by and looked
at the boat headers which arrived yesterday. They are just NOT workable
AT ALL for the muffled system we want to do. So back on ebay they
go. I think I’m just going to cut up the old zoomies, tuck them
into a 5” can, reduce it to 3” to fit the suburban mufflers,
and go that way. Sorta ugly, but I can use what I have, and at least
see how it all works. I will, of course, price some Borlas out, but
I really don’t have ANY money to do something like that at this
point. Had an odd exhaust problem on the work truck. Replaced both
mufflers 6 months ago, and they burned out. Replaced them two weeks
ago, and now the heat riser burned out. Tomorrow I will swap out the
Gremlin VIN tag and be done with the
“74-ization” of the car, and maybe even get it to AAA
to get registered. Ron returns tomorrow to continue with the garage
organization, which really rests solely on MY decision(s) to toss
stuff, now piled again outside on the driveway sideyard. The work
truck is loaded and posed for a dump run, so this is a good time to
add to the pile. The FC sits inside the garage, the Bird still rests
inside, waiting for me to figure out how the distributor wire loom,
just three wires, works. This is the same problem Monster Garage had,
and as mentioned some time ago, I intend to call them and find out
what went where. I will also consult some other Ford experts and see
what I can find. I must say the FC looks awesome. It is totally poised
to run as soon as I bolt the headers back on. I’ll have Ron
get onto the “to do” list iterated a while back: fill
the fuel jugs, bolts the trailer micro, etc. I don’t think I’ll
get it out this weekend, perhaps mid-week or next weekend. If I can
get the muffled system rigged, I could be starting the thing up here
as needed. As noted before, I DO need to get the Cool Suit back to
the maker and see just why it sucks. I’m sure it can work.
6/23/03
Speaking of suck, my Saturday sucked big time. The Gremlin got impounded!!
I took it early up to a client to sign a contract and get a check.
I pulled up next to a CHP and was careful to make my turn up onto
the freeway very slowly. He pulled me over at the next exit! Now I
KNEW I had done NOTHING wrong. He asks for license and registration,
and I can’t find my license. I THOUGHT I had it in my new, just
purchased, Pomona swap meet wallet, but, no. So I give him the number,
it checks out. But of course I have no registration, and the Oregon
plate (off the Condor) does not check out. So he tows it. After all
is done, I find my wallet under the seat as I’m clearing my
belongings out of the car, and he scratches out the no license part.
I ask him why he pulled me over. He said your tire chirped: speed
exhibition. The first thing I told him when he walked up was that
it had a locked rear end, and that settled that. The rest was just
poor timing, I had tried to register it Friday, but could not find
the paperwork which I had so carefully prepared. AAA was closed Saturday.
So I was poised to take it down Monday morning to complete the registration.
It all went well, actually. I went to AAA this morning, paid the fees,
got the paperwork, went to CHP and cleared the car, went to the tow
yard and paid a MERE $182.50 for three days in the impound slammer,
and drove over to AAA and completed the registration. It is now a
legal, registered, titled California smog-exempt car. Done. Just about
$400 extra cost by the time I pay the “infraction” ticket
on the plates. Oh, and they confiscated the Condor plates as evidence.
I will get them back, eventually. All I need to do for driving the
Condor is the carry the ticket with me showing the plates are in police
custody. It could have been way worse, so I have only myself to blame
for the snafu.
Took the FC to the Conejo Nights Cruise off Wendy Drive. Getting the
trailer out of the driveway with the 10 x 30 awning up against it
was incredible. Getting it back in after was even more incredible.
I was so pissed: I tried to start the car at the Cruise, and the starter
just went “click” again. I had just unplugged the charger!
So I got home, rolled it back out into the garage, and did some checking.
The 24 volt charger is NOT working!!!! This is the second time for
a charging snafu. The first was in 96 on my second trip to St. George
Raceway, Utah. I had won the season match race opener, and was back
in the semis 6 weeks later, KILLING everyone. I was the crowd favorite,
and I was a SURE winner, as on that slick track I was the only car
in the 7.80’s. It didn’t start at the line in the semis.
We found back then that the charging cord was inverted and that the
batteries had NEVER been recharged in three months!! Same deal again
here, except the charger just plain doesn’t work! So Sunday
morning I lit it up in the garage, no problem. The redundant charging
plugs I had put on each battery paid off. I can charge them as a unit
with the 24-volt unit, or individually through to 12-volt plugs. Little
by little we’re getting to the point of making this puppy howl.
6/25/03
The only howl you hear is me! I tried to start the FC today, and NOTHING.
Well, worse than nothing. Low voltage, grinding on the starter, WAY
down on cranking power. All wiring appears proper, the proper voltages
appear at SOME of the right places. I can’t seem to get a good
power reading at the charging plugs on the 12 volt plugs, although
the 24 volt plug read fine. It also reads 24 volts right at the starter.
But it just sounds like the batteries are not up, period. I dropped
by Brad at Valley Battery, and he said do a voltage check while it
cranks. If the batteries only drop a volt, they are good. These are
nearly new batteries. I’ll try testing them here. Ahhhggg!
Saul dropped a surprise on me: he left today with good granite supply
buddy Ashok for Brazil. Good for both of them. Meanwhile, I got a
fat check for Ashok in the mail today, so I’m sure Ashok will
be glad to see me when he returns. Saul has decided to work a deal
with his around-the-corner garage mechanic to replace his Lexus 250
motor, for a little less money than others, but with more service
and options. Also good for him. I got the Benz back to drive (as Saul
being out of the country frees it up). Saul will not start the repair
on his car until he returns, so the Benz will spend some more time
at his place, unless of course I loan him the Gremlin! I had interior
upholstery ace Jose Luis Miranda fix the Gremlin carpet (from the
fire of two months ago) in about two minutes. And Ron and I spent
about an hour plugging the heat hole in the Gremlin shifter today.
Turns out there was a 2” hole in the side of the shifter body,
for really no reason (except to heat the car interior). So I fabricated
an aluminum plate and sealed it up. I was going to attempt to mount
the rubber shifter boot I had been carrying around for 6 months, but
this worked much more cleanly. Ron also found the source of an annoying
squeak, which was the rear window hinge, as I suspected. We’ll
do some silicone spray or something tomorrow. Late morning tomorrow
I am intending to go to the Don Vesco auction preview in Temecula
to view a slice of history. I doubt I can or should buy anything,
but I do want to see how he operated, and view a unique hunk of Land
Speed Racing history. Perhaps I’ll glean a few ideas for my
own garage and operation. One of which will NOT be getting one of
his spare turbine engines!! Saul will have to view pictures and hear
about it from me. In the Garage Mahal, we are continuing tto refine
our bolt and parts storage by gettng more tools out of the drawers
and into upper side-load racks. Man, it is SO good to have these cordless
drills, air nailers, sawzalls, hole hawgs, pin and framing guns all
up at eye level in their individual slots. Shows me at a glance what
I have, if something is absent, and frees up more drawer space for
screws, bolts, fasteners, etc. I had envisioned the garage as a finished
thing. Nope, just a relentless process of continuing refinement and
organization. It is paying off: every time I get a screw, bolt, washer,
etc. And I can FIND the right tool, too!! And, good buddy Rob Anderson
paid a surprise (and happy) visit. It firstly allowed me to give him
some cash I owe him, and a chance to show him the FC electrical strangeness,
the Gremlin improvements, the dually sound system (which he created),
and the home hifi. He is working up a design for some subwoofers for
the Bose array which formerly occupied the speaker cavities in the
house, and which I have dramatically improved for sale. Who knows,
they may end up back in here. Meanwhile, he MIGHT join me tomorrow
for the Vesco viewing. I will probably pull the batteries out of the
FC, just in case, and get the 24-volt charger checked somewhere. The
starter thing has been the Achilles heel here. Finally, I got a note
from the Minnesota Miss who WAS going to buy the Gremlin. Her family
is buying her dad’s farm, and have now no spare dough. More
aaaggghhh! So it looks like Flames on Friday for the Gremlin, and
Conejo Nights for the FC and Gremlin on Saturday. I might take the
FC to Flames as well, particularly if I can get it started. It is
a good attraction, and just might bring some bodies into the Gremlin
arena.
6/28/03
Flames went well, and met up with Sandy, the fellow whose Cobra was
next to the Gremlin the night the rear window exploded on my head
last year. Talked at length, and found out how he BUILT the car. Phenomenal
tin work. Former cop and wood worker who has discovered metal working.
We went to his house where he is working on a Cobra Coupe kit car.
What a nice kit he bought! Takes HUGE assembly and fabrication, but
for $20K comes with a LOT of stuff. Sandy has refused $93K for his
Cobra roadster!! Sandy may come by to check out my operation here.
The FC batteries, which are Optimas with an Interstate tag, are fine.
So either the starter is bad, or the wiring. I replaced the starter
yesterday with the spare, so that makes one with a gear off, the donut
starter which is acting strangely, and the “good” one.
All three should be good, they are brand new. Double-checked how the
24-volt wiring is supposed to be with genius Rob Anderson, and the
way I’ve had it wired is correct. So I’ll trace everything
again, put it back together, and perhaps it is just the starter. Topped
off one battery with a charge. And, I’ll be making a trip to
IMI/Hi Torque Starters to have Monty repair one, look at the other,
and see if we’re missing some key thing here that is causing
these repeated failures.
We also have a small leak in the lift system. If I leave the car up
on the bottle and turn off the valve, it will drop overnight. Very
small leak, but one which will eat a bottle in two days. Ron Odriozola
is coming in today (Saturday) for more organizing. The garage is getting
better and better. It’s hard to say enough about how much initiative
he has for sorting stuff. I just need to toss (have you not heard
this a few hundred times before?) MORE stuff. Gonna attempt to move
the Condor closer to running, and try connecting the distributor wires
and perhaps crank it over. I MAY pull the trans pan and set a trans
temp sensor in there. So close, so far.
Went to the Vesco estate viewing, took 135 pictures (which I will
post on the site shortly), and arranged for some proxy bids on a dozen
items. I won NOTHING. It was interesting to see literally a part of
racing history, which is really why I trekked 250 miles round trip.
He had a LOT of parts, a lot of junk, and an enormous variety of bike,
car, and turbine engines ranging from a dozen Offenhauser blocks to
a flathead to a zillion motorcycle engines and parts to a turbine.
Don’s brother Rick is selling the property, right down to the
60” TV set. It must have been an incredible task organizing
the hand tools, water tanks, parts washers, wheels and tires, etc.
into groups for this sale. Rick lives in Southern Utah, much closer
to Bonneville, and will likely make a few 300 mph exhibition passes
with the “Turbinator”, although it appears the pursuit
of more records with the world’s fastest wheel-driven car is
over now. Al Teague will likely retain the record if Teague keeps
running his blown Nitro Chrysler streamliner a few more seasons. No
Conejo Cruise tonight, as the Good Guys Nitro Night Races are on today
and tonight and tomorrow at Pomona. Randy is out there with Mike Kirby
and his twin-engined Nostaglia 1 car (7.60 ET). I will talk to Randy
shortly and MIGHT take the Gremlin out there if there is some place
to show it.
6/30/03
Pomona was good, the Supercharged Gas cars were impressive, as were
the rest of the field. Mike lost in round one due to a mysterious
inability of the engines to come up on RPM at the leave. They kicked
in about 50 feet off the line. Very strange. The electric pit bike
proved incredibly useful. A real winner. Saw a slimeball from the
past: Jeff Gaynor, in his Mustang funnycar. A real loser. This is
the guy who screwed Randy for over a thousand bucks on Randy’s
purchase of his (actually Joe Hansen’s) FC, and who also screwed
Joe Hansen for over $10K by bogarding the check Randy made to Hansen.
A real slimy piece of work. Did not take the Gremlin.
7/12/03
A somewhat tumultuous week ended with a couple of moments of REAL
good luck. I took the Gremlin to Flames last night, and no real action,
although a little talk-em-up with some folks. After the event, I stopped
by some new clients to give a bid, at 9 PM. On the way out I casually
asked the fellow if he had an interest in fast cars. They guy AND
girl are BIG fast fans. The short story is he spent a half hour driving
the Gremlin around the neighborhood, winding it out in second gear
several times. She drove it briefly near the house. They LOVED the
car!! So buy it!!!
Went to Nick’s and picked up the Triumph TR-6 roller and all
the interior parts. The paint is the odd blue/purple color. It is
VERY dirty, yet literally a few seconds on it with a buffer and it
looks near new!! Sweet! It needs some areas of rust cleaned up, the
whole thing pressure-washed, a few areas sandblasted, and rather than
dropping a Chevy in it, I may just sell it as-is. I’ll do some
priming of areas, and perhaps install some pieces back in it, mount
the top, etc., and perhaps redo the carpets. I’d really like
to do a V8, but I’m just looking to make a few grand here, and
if I can do that by just turning it over to someone who really wants
the car and NOT spending $6K or more first (ala the Gremlin), I think
I’ll go the simple way. I know, this is SO unlike me.
Took the funnycar out tonight to Conejo Cruise Night, and the truck
was running unusually hot, pushing 235 on the gauge. I think the gauge
is wrong, as it jumps RIGHT to 210, no matter when I start it. I will
check into another sending unit, perhaps a backup gauge, or a heat
gun to test it out. This thing should NOT be heating up at ALL. New
everything, and big. If I have to, I’ll mount a reserve water
tank somewhere, maybe an electric pump, even a second radiator and
fan and gain some additional BTU capacity. Once the intake is changed
to injection, I’m planning on a Vortech, and that will add some
serious heat to the motor, particularly towing, so additional cooling
may be in order here. I am also eventually going to get the truck
over to Lucas to do some kind of tune up or upgrade on the AC system.
There are two piece systems for the bigger Suburbans which use the
same pump, a second evaporator/fan, more freon, and the same heat
exchanger. I may have to go there. Rarely is stock good enough, particularly
when it comes to AC. The Condor is presenting some problems. The starter
just does not function in the car. Works fine on the bench, but just
clicks on the motor. Real frustrating. Talked with Chris at IMI Hi
Torque, and he could only suggest bringing it down, but it most certainly
will do the same for him. There must be some interference or something
into the flywheel. YUK!!! Chris sent me a setup sheet to check engagements,
etc. Anyway, got the FC out to Conejo, and it wouldn’t light.
The batteries pooped out quickly, and a wonderfully interested and
attractive gearhead named Tiffany brought her truck over, jumped the
batteries, charged them for a while, and we eventually got it to light.
She runs a 350 Camaro of her own, has a boyfriend (David) with a SERIOUS
machine shop, and both are interested in getting involved with the
FC, if only to build one to beat me. Whatever, come on down!! Met
some other nice people who may come over to look at the operation
and the garage Mahal. Richard Baida was again VERY helpful and came
over at 9 PM at tonight to assist in getting the trailer back in,
a MAJOR feat. We ended up moving the awning over about 18” to
make more room. Much better. The Powercaster, the 2 HP electric motor
dolly that maneuvers the trailer around, is acting weirdly, and I
think it’s time to take it back to its maker for a refurbishing.
Ditto for the 24 volt Brooks charger, and the 12-volt Schumacher charger.
Left a message with ET3 to see if he wants to fix them, otherwise
I take some trips across the greater LA area to see the sources. Oh,
the good luck stuff, check this out: Baida was here earlier helping
load the FC after unloading the TR6 with me. He thought I strapped
the back of the FC down, I thought he did. I shut the door, and motored
down the road, and noticed something shift when I came to the first
stop sign. I pulled over, and sure enough, the FC had moved forward
about 3’. I didn’t even bother to check out the damage,
I just pulled it back, cinched it down, and went on to discover the
truck heating up. I stopped for water, and it made no difference.
As I’m driving, I came to peace about whatever the certain damage
would cost, and decided to just let Nick handle it. Charge me, do
it, call me when it’s done. So I continued on, unloaded at Conejo,
and amazingly, NO damage! Oh, one header pipe got slightly doinked
when the car went backward and the header hit the wheel well, stopping
the car. No biggie. Very lucky. I moved the truck and trailer onto
a dirt area and moved it back at the end of the evening to load the
car, whereupon I found the 175-pound step-up transformer (you remember
this whole ridiculous thing costing over a $1000, which ended up not
being used at all?), lying on the floor, crunched on one corner, having
hit the right ramp which was inside on the floor. No damage to the
ramp or floor, but the tranformer case is hurt. I wanted to take the
thing down, now it’s down. Had that happened with the car in
the trailer, it would have been THOUSANDS to replace the right side,
top, windshield and side Lexan, tin, and God knows what else. That
would have gone through the car like an anvil through a barrel of
lettuce. Some very nice folks did the heavy lifting, and it is strapped
down at the back of the trailer, awaiting being moved out. It was
a full moon, and not all went well.
I drove off leaving two pit chairs and the fire extinguisher laying
on the ground in the parking lot!!. Ouch!!
7/13/03
Randy went over this morning hoping to find them, and nothing there.
Oh well.
It does NOT look good at this point for going to Sacramento this weekend,
as I have yet to make a 7.50 ET pass locally. It is EXTREMELY hot
right now (over a 100), and I frankly just don’t feel like brutalizing
myself. I’d LOVE to go, but it just looks a little silly. Stranger
things have happened, but no promises as of now. Some of the nice
folks may come over today (NOPE), and who knows, maybe we’ll
shoot out to LACR on Wednesday night for a few passes. The plan for
today is shuffling some stuff around, pressure-washing the TR6, and
setting a few parts in place to see what goes where.
I may get the paint buffed, too.
Did the above, and got several panels buffed. Astonishing difference!
I’ll shoot some pix in a few days, once I’ve done some
more cleaning and buffing and assembling, and get something posted
on Ebay for some initial feedback. I’ll have some pix on the
website soon, perhaps by the time you are reading this. On a completely
different subject, I stopped by John Minasian’s. He has a 60
International truck (with a Studebaker V-8), a 30 Austin with many
spares, a 79 Chevy Caprice, 65 Plymouth Valiant Signet with 273”
V8 (all of 25 miles on the fresh motor), and a 57 Pontiac Chieftan.
Oh, and a 73 Mercedes 280C coupe. He should off everything but the
Pontiac and the Chevy, and concentrate on making the Poncho beautiful.
Oh, and he has a 70 GMC pickup with a fairly fresh 95 Chevy engine
and trans. And you thought I was overloaded on cars? We’re gonna
get this stuff on Ebay and get him unloaded. Got a surprising and
hopeful phone call from a fellow named Larson today. He was the guy
who came out in the orange 633 Beemer about three or four months ago
looking for a car for his girlfriend, and found the Gremlin too powerful.
He is back, and I’ve quoted him two weeks to put in a 700-R4
overdrive trans and a 350 small block, all for the same price. Here’s
hoping the little toy has found a loving home.
7/15/03
Not going to Sacramento. Too damn HOT!! Plus, we still haven’t
made enough successful test passes. The hard starting the other night
has me worried. I have to check both chargers and see what in the
heck is happening there. And, I still haven’t been to Hi Torque
with the other two BRAND new starters which are goofy. I can’t
be sure how the tune up is at the moment, and I think some track time
is warranted. I‘ll wait for a break in the hot spell to run
out to LACR or Famoso, and also give myself some opportunity to get
a little ahead on the money. The TR-6 needs to be sold quickly, both
for room and money, and a couple of jobs completed within budget to
give me a few precious coins with which to race. So, per usual, still
lots of talking and little walking. Certainly not from a lack of trying.
There are still lots of things to do to polish up the operation, per
the many previous updates. But all of those said, the car is ready,
and the operation is sufficiently ready to at least get to a local
track and get the numbers happening. Perhaps Randy and I will make
our mutual re-debut next season.
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