The catfish says, "I think there's more water out there than in here!"
Still, I'm getting stir crazy, and I'm evidently not the only one. Earlier in the week, Mom said she'd waxed the RV. I sent her a general itinerary last Sunday, and I've been compiling a list of things I need to bring with me for the trip. Pat's been psyched to take care of the spaz dog. I don't know who's been looking forward to the trip the most!
I am not planning to go in to work this coming week, but I think I'll be busy nonetheless. Both the Camaro and the WRX need significant work; the Camaro's clutch has been weird (engaging when pedal pressed in) and the WRX has a wheel bearing that is gone. I called to schedule the wheel bearing replacement two weeks ago, but the earliest IAG could see me was July 8th. With the Camaro's clutch being worse than the WRX's wheel bearing at that point, I kept driving the WRX, knowing that it was going to end up costing me a hub.
Well, driving to and from Rockville for new biology curriculum training on Thursday, the noises and vibrations were bad enough that I didn't think the car would make it home. I actually opted to drive the Camaro -- bad clutch and all -- on Friday, then called Induktion Motorsports to see if they could do it. The guy who answered the phone, Ed, was like, "Uh, you know we deal with European cars?" and I responded, "Yeah, but I also know that you have a guy who used to work at IAG, plus your former Matco Tools guy, Pat, suggested I try calling you." At that point, he scheduled me for Wednesday this coming week. Hopefully, I didn't destroy too much by continuing to drive it.
Speaking of the new biology curriculum training, I think it's needless to say that I was horribly bored being there. Considering I was a curriculum writer, curriculum reviewer, and even part of the phase I focus group, I knew the curriculum and NGSS and PBL lessons better than 95% of the people in that room. However, upon arriving and looking over the sign in sheet, I saw that many of my old colleagues from Watkins Mill would be there, including current B-CC teacher, Todd. I was so psyched, as were they when they saw me. We all had lunch together, and it was totally like old times. I miss a department that liked to do things just little things together, like talk and do lunch. I miss having people with similar interests to chat with, like Nate and Todd and hockey. It was so good to see them.
Yesterday was rough though. I woke up in tears from a dream that I'd figured out was a dream, where dad was digging out the area where the koi pond is. In the dream, I was walking underneath the cherry tree towards where he was when I suddenly thought, "This has to be a dream," and suddenly, everything shifted, and while it continued, I just knew it was all a dream. And in the middle of the dream, I'd turned around to look at something, and when I turned back, dad was gone. That's when I woke up and just started crying. I must've caused Pat to wake up, because he just handed Hoosier Bear to me and hugged me tight, not saying anything.
As if that wasn't bad enough, yesterday was also the one year anniversary of Jim Feinberg's passing.
It's not a margarita, but Jim also respected others' beverage choices.
So, after going over to the local craft store for some photo albums, I just spent all afternoon putting my extensive postcard collection into said albums. I started off with postcards my dad gave me from his Air Force days, when he was in Colorado and then in Destin, Florida. Then I transitioned to postcards he brought back for me from some business trips to Grand Rapids and Pittsburgh. Following that are postcards from his parents and then from our old neighbors, Ike and Betty Saylor, and a postcard mom sent the rest of us from a trip to Florida she took when showing rabbits. Most of the rest of the cards are categorized by trip, including the family trip to Walt Disney World (including South of the Border, Sea World Orlando and the Kennedy Space Center) and the trip to Toronto (including Corning Glass Center, Buffalo and Niagara). I put over 400 postcards into those albums, and I have this nagging feeling that I have more postcards somewhere, but I don't know where they are.
Hopefully, tomorrow's weather is better, and I can start to get some stuff done on the cars, like oil changes and brake pads and stuff. And I want to go to Hershey some time next week, so I need to look at what day would be best for that, too.
Last weekend, I installed my new turbo inlet hose, and left off with an issue with my power steering. When I got home from work on Monday, I poked around, and sure enough, the fluid was cavitating like no one's business. Looking around on the Internet, I found a video of someone with the same problem who explained a simple fix.
As it turns out, this is KatieO's "Rumblewagon," and the fix was as explained to her and her husband by JJ at IAG. When JJ saw that I'd posted this video, asking if anyone else knew anything about the issue, he responded to call the shop. I called on Tuesday and was told to replace the spring type clamps on the power steering "suction hose" with screw type clamps (not that I didn't want to do that anyway!), and if that didn't do the trick, then do the O-ring.
I decided to do the O-ring, the clamps and just plain replace the hose. For one, the old hose was pretty stiff, no longer flexible. I'm sure that the power steering problem was caused when some pressure was applied to the hose during the inlet install. Due to its inflexibility and the type of clamp on it, the seal at the power steering pump lost integrity. The new hose with new clamps solved that issue, and the new O-ring was just insurance; the old O-ring was pretty inflexible too.
As an added bonus, I have all new synthetic ATF fluid in the power steering. Yes, I made an awesome mess in the garage.
During the power steering fix, the UPS guy stopped by with a little box from Mishimoto that included a new coupler I'd ordered. That was a pretty easy install, and makes the inlet look better than the cheapy coupler I'd picked up from Autozone.
While I was messing around, I installed another goody that I picked up Friday, and that is the Perrin master cylinder brace. I looked at these previously, but at the time, they weren't legal in Street Prepared, and I didn't have the room to put it in anyway with the external reservoirs that were part of the AST 5200 struts I was using.
A pretty easy install
This was a pretty easy install -- just remove the 10mm bolts holding the fuel line bracket, pop out the clip holding some vacuum lines against the fender, jack the car up for room to get to the fender well, and then bolt it in. Just make sure you have the appropriate allen wrenches for the Perrin-supplied bolts. Oh, and I should note that it helps to have small hands to maneuver around amidst all the hoses. ;)
So, hopefully the weather holds tomorrow so I can go to Hershey for the Susquehanna SCCA event!
So, a few weeks ago, I responded to a post on NASIOC about the need for a hawkeye WRX as a test vehicle. I'd seen it when it was first posted, and it kept getting bumped, so finally, I just sent a private message. Shockingly, almost a month after the initial post, they were unable to get a reliable person to response... until me.
I took the car up on a Thursday night with my friend Casey in his BRZ tagging along to bring me home. We got a mini-tour of the Mishimoto facility, including their dyno and testing shop, and I was told that my car was being used to test fit a front mount intercooler that had been developed for a different year car. They wanted to see if it would fit without modification on the '06-07, and it turns out that it doesn't. :( The drive-by-wire system has a sensor in a place where a hose/fitting needs to be, so the '06-'07 kit will need to be different.
As a thank you for letting them use my car, Mishimoto gave me a new induction hose, and I finally tried to install it this weekend. I should have just included it in the list of things to install when I drop the car off at IAG next...
A shiny new silicone induction hose!
The weather was nice this weekend, so I figured it was as good a time as any to install the induction hose. It didn't seem like that big of a deal when I looked at the Perrin one that was in there. Unhook a few connections, yank it out, shove the new one in, and done, right?
It seemed so easy that one beer would cover it.
Boy, was I wrong. A silicone hose doesn't like to deform, for one. And the induction hose is really jammed into a tight space for two. Oh, and just for good measure, the hose going from the induction hose to the intercooler had a stupid compression-type hose clamp on upside fucking down so that even my hose clamp pliers couldn't get to it. I was extremely unamused by this.
So, starting beer number two, I finally had rotated the offending hose clamp enough with a screwdriver applied on one side that I could get a pair of needle-nosed pliers on it and loosen it. I was able to removed the Perrin hose and I figured the Mishimoto would be an easy insert.
Still wrong.
The beginning of the blood sacrifice
After fighting with the new hose, and having Pat help me, I was no closer to having it properly installed by the time the sun went down. I'd wanted to go to Hershey in the morning to attend the PCA autocross there and get at least a little time under my belt before my first big event of the season (El Toro ProSolo, in Greg McCance's car), but it was not to be. I threw everything in the passenger seat in case it rained or something overnight, and gave up.
The turbo mocks me.
After a good night's sleep and a nice lunch at DuClaw, I was back at it. Before attempt 2.0, however, I reviewed the install video.
The only difference I saw in the video versus what I was doing was the removal of the intercooler. So, I got the 12mm socket out and pulled it off.
It gave me a little more room to work, but my hands are pretty small so it didn't seem to be that big of a deal to me. Still, things seemed to progress a lot more quickly with it out.... well, that and with a few more tools.
Matco's RTG1MB hook pick was extremely useful in getting the hose onto the turbo
The official install video lists some tools, but I'd add the blunt end hook pick to them, plus hose clamp pliers (for those nasty compression clamps), fingernail cutters (which you should use before you start -- I only broke two nails before I just cut the rest), bandages (my knuckles were torn up this morning, so I had several on to protect myself this afternoon) and beer (as my friend Curt says, it serves as a great anti-septic!).
Even though it was a good 20 degrees cooler today (45 versus yesterday's 65 degree Fahrenheit), I was able to get the hose in place fairly easily (I'd left it inside by a heater vent while at DuClaw), and with the hook pick, it went onto the turbo quickly. Next up was the intercooler hose, which, again, was fairly easy -- this one, moreso than anything else, benefitted from the intercooler being off. Then I made sure all the fittings on the new hose were on, and reattached the intercooler.
Replace all clamps with screw-type clamps when you can.
All I had left to do was find a coupler that would connect the new hose to my Cobb intake, and I'd be done. I ended up just going to the local Autozone and after conferring with one of the guys there (yes, I have an Autozone with competent people that work there!), I settled on a temporary fix.
I'll replace it soon enough!
So, I started the car up, and there were no codes or weird sounds. I drove it around the block, and the power steering felt heavy, so I popped the hood and checked everything again. I didn't seen anything that stood out, but I made doubly sure one of the hoses from the Crawford AOS was properly hooked up, and drove it around the block again. Same problem, and when I parked it this time, I saw a puddle of fluid in the driveway from earlier. Hrm. Not sure where that came from, since I don't think I disconnected anything with the power steering system, but I'll look at it again in the daylight.
So, the Mishimoto site shows the install as a "4 out of 5" on their difficulty scale. I think I'm going to go with a "3 out of 5" on the bandages scale.
It's not that it's a difficult install, per se, it's just that it's a PITA. You're trying to work in an extremely cramped area, and if it's cool out, none of the hoses want to cooperate. Trying to get the hoses to connect to their appropriate areas isn't easy either, between the tight working area and the cold temperatures. If you start with the engine up to operating temperature, and have the new hose at standard room temperature before install, it will go better. Also, take the intercooler off; every little bit of space you can get to work with is good.
Needless to say, my patience with things like this is why I tend to have a shop do work for me, as I said in my ESP interview for SoloMatters. :) I'll be having the ancillary and radiator hoses installed by IAG while I'm at the El Toro ProSolo driving Greg McCance's unicorn. No offense to Fred and Evan, but they get paid to do this, and I don't! :)
Episode VII in this road trip! For previous installments : 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.
I'm not sure which I dislike more -- running in the first run group like I did the previous week at Packwood, or working in the first run group like I would at Toledo. I do know that working grid in the regular competition rounds isn't high on my list either, but I've been doing ProSolos long enough that I could figure it out pretty well. In fact, at NJ, I just sort of started working grid because Howard had taken over start (since the lights were misbehaving at that event). The problem with doing a job well though is that it suddenly becomes expected of you...
Anyway, Pat and I arrived on site around 6:30 so that he could help Learic change her tires. I'd changed tires on the WRX the night before, so for me, it would just be a matter of checking pressures and such before I ran. I went to walk courses and think about some things that Tony Savini had noted the previous evening, and then it was off to grid with Marc Pfannenschmidt for the next hour or so. We were praised for our smooth operation, setting a high precedent for the rest of the heats when we left.
ESP Grid, Saturday morning. Photo by Jen Merideth
While Pat struggled with getting clean runs in the 370Z (Him : "It doesn't handle like an ESP Camaro!" Me : "Duh! I told you it would be like an FS Camaro!!"), I started off with mid 0.6s RTs and decent enough times, except for my first run where I got seriously lost as I turned into the right hand sweeper. On my third run, however, the time was delayed, and as I pulled over to the left side for my last run, I see my running partner hasn't made it off course. In fact, people are starting to walk out on course, and then the SCCA truck rolls out. That can't be good.
Turns out that the brake caliper bracket on the ex-Merideth Mustang had snapped -- not for the first time, either! Fortunately, the damage was minimal, and they had enough parts with them to be able to fix it, just not in time for the co-driver to get runs in. In any event, clouds began to roll in towards the end of our session, and with our group's grid workers slacking at keeping classes together, ESP second drivers barely got two dry runs before the first of several deluges hit.
Very serious bizness.
I was sitting in fourth after the morning runs, with Shawn Alexander in the lead, Dave Heinrich second and Dave Feighner less than a tenth ahead of me. I was only 0.4 back from Shawn. If it could stay dry in the afternoon, I was hoping I could make up the time.
With some timing issues (equipment malfunctions and the like) caused by the downpour, we ended up with no lunch break, so after taking the car over to paddock, it was almost immediately time to go back to work. However, there was a dilemma for another of the DC area ESP drivers... Evidently, something in the rear end of Sam Vassallo's Mustang broke during Adam George's runs. The initial diagnosis was the Watts link. Adam asked about driving the WRX for the afternoon session, but I pointed out that during a ProSolo, once you switch cars, you can't go back to your original vehicle. I didn't want him to be stuck in the WRX if the Mustang was fixable.
Sam went out to get some bolts from the local mom-and-pop hardware store, after Marcus pointed out that the broken bolt Adam removed wasn't the correct bolt.
He didn't buy out the store, but he brought back myriad bolts in the hopes one would work.
Meanwhile, Marc and I were whipping grid into shape in order to bust through classes as quickly as possible in order to avoid getting caught in the Toledo Tsunami II. While we may have come across as a bit irritable, I hope the competitors in groups 1 and 2 understood that we were trying to help them out by getting dry(ish) runs in.
As we turned the reins to grid over, another batch of storm clouds was building to the west. Marc and I had been checking the radar on his phone, and it looked like it could possibly miss the airport (going just barely to the north of us).
Pat vs. EricK. One time co-drivers, now mortal enemies. ;)
I'm sure the competitors of S5 weren't happy they'd been moved to the back of their grid, but with a few competitors working shift A, it was only fair they had time to get ready to run. The unfortunate thing was that the rain hit right when they were going out for their afternoon runs. Pat took one part-run in Learic's car, and came in, fearing he'd do something damaging in the wet on A6s. There was always Sunday morning, right?
The rain stopped before ESP was ready to go, though there were plenty of wet spots still on course. It was doubtful that any of us first drivers would improve, though the second drivers may have a chance, depending on when grid decided to send them this time.
Too. Many. Mustangs. Where all my F-bodies at??
As Dave and I pulled to the line, I realized that, yes, the course was going to be too damp for improvement. The airport doesn't drain particularly well since it's so flat. So, these runs were going to be for fun.
In the end, while waiting in impound, Dave and I talked about the few things we were able to learn in the dry areas on course, especially the finish slaloms. It was funny that we both were trying to do the same thing -- recon in the dry sections -- and despite vastly different cars, we were able to conclude the same thing; we weren't driving fast enough in several areas.
The rain was at least good for some striking photos. This one was taken by Craig Wilcox.
Some of the second drivers were able to improve, primarily due to getting a clean run on one side or another, but the top four remained the same going into Sunday's runs. Upon release from impound, I changed to the street tires -- I did not want to be caught in the rain Saturday night nor Sunday morning on the A6s -- then we headed over to Smokey Bones to hang out with some Ohio peeps for dinner before calling it a night, despite their best attempts to get us to go karting.
My phone is tethered to my pocket so that it doesn't magically disappear during dinner. Blurry photo by Sean O'Gorman.
Who's idea was it to start Sunday morning ProSolo runs an hour earlier than Saturday? It's like they hate night owls like myself. ;) Still, Pat and I got on site around 6:45, and I walked each course again. It's not like I didn't know what I needed to do, but walking helps me remember where I need to place the car.
The forecast was for no precipitation until later in the afternoon, and the early groups showed that the Saturday deluges had evidently wiped the slow off the course. Some of the ladies class competitors were dropping 1-2 seconds out there, and while that raised my spirits regarding ESP, it also scared me. I could drop 1.5s, but what about everyone else?
I watched and monitored Pat's progress while changing back to my A6s in paddock. His first two runs were fast, and put him momentarily into the S5 lead, but Joe Barbato dropped the hammer on his last two runs while Pat red lit and went slower. Still he held on to the second spot, 0.349 back from Barbato, in a car he'd never driven before.
It wasn't too long until it was my turn again.
Sunday's grid looks a lot like Saturday afternoon grid.
Pat went to turn on the camera, and it was dead. I was sad, but it meant I would definitely set my fastest times, since I couldn't record them. And, yes, first runs were fast, as expected, though I definitely left something on the table as I realized I'd left the AC/defrost on for my first run. :o I dropped another 0.5s on my first left side run, but my right side runs were killing me. I needed to step it up. I managed to barely nick the 30s on my last right, with a 30.9, and my subsequent 30.2 on the left was at that time only eclipsed by Dave Heinrich. It was good enough for third at that point, but with second drivers coming up, I wasn't hopeful to stay there.
Sure enough, Dave's son, Josh, came out of nowhere to grab second spot, only 0.1 off his dad, and running an impressive 30.2 on the right. Adam finally capitalized on the warm tires that Sam gave him and took fourth, a mere 0.006 behind Feighner. I would stay in the final trophy position, just a smidge over 0.7s back from the lead, knowing I left at least that much time on the table, and consoling myself with the fact that I was driving by myself on seriously old tires while everyone who finished ahead of me had been on stickers for the weekend.
I put the car in paddock, my name in for the bonus challenge and then started gridding up the Ladies Challenge to try to beat the rain. I didn't get lucky enough to be drawn for the bonus two weeks in a row (though Sam Krauss was drawn and could have driven my car, but he'd already left). The third epic flood (or was it the fourth? or fifth?) hit during the first round of the Super Challenge, making things very interesting, especially for matchups of R-comp vs. R-comp or R-comp vs. slick.
Voted least desirable umbrella girls for the event. ;) Alex says he only had one dry shirt, hence running shirtless here. Yes, he cleared it with the Chief of Safety.
The final came down to an ST car and an F125 on rain tires. The STC car, driven by Jason Frank, took the win.
Final round matchup
Pat had graciously changed my tires and loaded up my car during the Challenges, so all I had to do after we collected our trophies (and those of some friends who'd left already) was say our goodbyes. He'd ridden out with Adam, Sam and Mike Kline, so they left about an hour before me. Once I got on the road, I realized I was dead tired -- working in the rain probably didn't help -- and I only got as far as Youngstown before I grabbed a hotel for the night.
The rest of the trip was pretty easy. I stopped in Hancock to explore that part of the C&O Canal for a while, then rolled up to the house in the late afternoon. And sadly, the trip was over, marking what is the for me, essentially the end of summer.
Looking down the Potomac River
Abandoned structure near Lock 52. Probably the lock master's home.
This is part V of an extended version of the yearly road trip writeup. You may wish to visit Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Evanston in the morning is a bit chilly, but I was still a little worried about the weird vibration from the night before. As I was checking out, I asked the hotel clerk if it was going to be a problem for me to be removing a wheel from and possibly working on my car in the hotel parking lot. Her response was, "This is Wyoming. You can pretty much do what you want here." With that blessing, I jacked the car up and pulled the passenger front wheel.
No missing weights, no loose endlinks, nothing I could see to account for the vibration. There were a lot of nasty bugs stuck on the inside of the wheel, but I didn't think they could affect the balance that much. But, on the off chance there was something I couldn't see, I took it to a DIY car wash, where I promptly managed to cut my knuckles on the front license plate and bleed all over. Nice. I considered it a blood sacrifice to make it to Toledo safely, and then got on the road.
There was no drama on the trek towards Green River, so when I saw the sign for Fossil Butte National Monument, I decided to jump off I-80 and head towards Kemmerer. It turns out that it's a lot further from the interstate than I thought, but that was okay, as I had plenty of time to get to Toledo before Wednesday night.
Random railroad crossing
Wish I'd been able to capture a train too.
I went through a cloud of locusts right after I washed the car. This one was still moving 10 minutes later. Ugh.
The colors of the rocks at Fossil Butte are amazing. Maybe they aren't as dramatic as the Yellow Mounds in the Badlands or the Painted Desert, but it's still a sight to see.
The visitor center has an incredible diversity of fossils from the beds -- plants, animals, seeds, embryos! Everything. If you can't visualize what that ecosystem looked like from their collection, you have no imagination.
Bowfin
Mioplosus labracoides, a predatory fish
Gar
Paddlefish with Knightia (the small fish)
Seeds
Knightia meeting a grisly end
Hummelichelys guttata with teeth marks in its shell
Echmatemys with teeth marks
Protohippus
Chisternon undatum, extinct
Soft-shelled Apalone heteroglypta (with Knightia)
This Axestemys byssinus was larger than me! It's another soft-shelled turtle
Stingray
I didn't take a lot of plant photos, but this frond (and a matching on on the other side of the case) was almost as tall as me!
A horsetail/rush, with several juvenile Knightia
Two different layers; these fish died many years apart
This guy was much more personable than the one at the Badlands.
Heading back towards the highway, I considered hiking the Historic Quarry Trail (2.5 miles roundtrip), but then decided that it might take longer than I wanted. So, it was back on the road, to US30, which I stayed on through Kemmerer and towards Green River until I saw a sign for "Granger Station". I didn't know what it was, but it was only 1/4mi off the road, so I detoured into the tiny town (less than 150 inhabitants) of Granger. The first historic marker I saw took me to a pioneer community graveyard.
Most of the graves here are unmarked and unknown. The last burial was in 1942, and it is mostly infants and children, but that is sadly typical of pioneer cemeteries.
The other historical site in Granger is the Granger Station, first established in 1850 as a wayside for those traveling the Oregon Trail, then later used as a Pony Express Station and as a train station. The railroad coming to town is what allowed Granger to incorporate as a town in 1914.
The main structure is about the same size as the Pony Express station in Gothenburg.
This additional portion may have been stables or something else in the past, but has long since gone into disrepair.
My curiosity got the better of me; I lifted up the boards and found a cobwebby well underneath of them.
The doors were nailed shut, but you could see through the windows the building was empty.
The railroad still passes through Granger to this day.
Another claim to fame is that Mark Twain once stopped at this very station, which I discovered after I'd left.
From Granger, I headed back towards Green River and then I decided to check out the Flaming Gorge. This is another one that I really wish had said how far from the interstate it was, since it was even further. With few paved roads as options across Wyoming, this would mean that I wouldn't get very much past Rock Springs within the first several hours of leaving Evanston! But some of the views were worth it.
It looks barren, but it's teeming with its own diverse lifeforms.
There are also tons of fossils throughout the Green River formations.
Once you get into the northern reaches of Utah, there are signs along the road saying which epoch or age you are at (like the Jurassic or Cambrian age).
Around Sheep Creek Bay, you start to see some of the layers for which Flaming Gorge is named.
Sheep Creek Bay of the Flaming Gorge Reservoir
The road to the overlook
Swett Homestead from the Greendale overlook
I didn't see any. :(
Swett Homestead
Carter Creek Bridge from the Cedar Springs overlook
Carter Creek Bridge
Flaming Gorge Dam from the Visitor Center
They are very, very worried about invasive aquatic species in the Western states. This is from Lake Meade, after just 3-4 days in the water.
Flaming Gorge Dam
A real cowboy, herding cows towards a pond. He seemed amused by me taking a picture of him
Yellow rocks overlooking the Clay Basin
Clay Basin
Eventually, I made my way back to I-80 at Rock Springs, then pushed on towards Cheyenne and Nebraska. I knew my time away from the interstate was going to hurt me, but I was seeing such awesome stuff and meeting interesting people, so I didn't so much care. It was funny at Fossil Butte that one of the women at the Visitor Center saw my Washington Capitals hat and exclaimed how much her son would love to know that a Caps fan had stopped by tiny Kemmerer. Then I told her I was a season ticket holder, and she was extremely amused. But, I guess Caps fans don't venture outside DC too often, or if they do, they don't advertise their hockey affiliation. ;)
I tried finding a hotel in Sidney, Nebraska (home of Cabela's) to no avail, so I ended up driving another 90 long minutes to North Platte. The vibration had stayed away for most all of the day until I'd gotten into Nebraska, and it was still only in right hand sweeping turns at speed. If I was just changing lanes, it wouldn't happen, and if I slowed down to 60-70mph, it didn't happen. I was still perplexed, but I'd hopefully be in Toledo the next evening and PURE Tuning could look at it and hopefully fix it.
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