Last weekend was rough. Our area was hit by a huge storm around 6 am on Friday. Trees were broken and/or uprooted. A pair of large trees fell on our shop and the whole area was without power. We set out to borrow a generator from Gina’s dad, Glenn and helped set them up with digital ofter-the-air tv in their travel trailer (their power was out too, but had a nice camper as a backup). We got some supplies from Costco and headed back home. Around 3, DTE got to our yard and started removing the down trees and lines from the pole barn. I figured it was safe to finally enter the metal building to get my chainsaw. I spent the rest of the afternoon cutting up fallen trees on our property. When the trees and lines were finally cleared, I surveyed the damage to the barn and confirmed that it is, indeed, worse than the tree damage from last year. We were saving up to finish the repair from last year, so at least nothing new was harmed, but this time the insurance company will have to fix the whole roof.
We continued to clean and prepare for our parents’ anniversary celebrations. On Saturday I identified that our router was cooked while trying to set up our recently returned Wii. With about an hour before guests started to arrive, I sped off to Best Buy to get an Airport Extreme to replace our old, toasty Linksys WRT54G. The new router had to be set up and there were a few complications getting our server and other services set up. But I was up and running in time to monitor a major change at work from 11pm to about 2am Sunday. Another couple of hours and our network was back to it’s happy self.
On Saturday my parents came over and Sunday Gina’s parents came over to celebrate their wedding anniversaries and father’s day. Our parents’ anniversaries are bookends to Gina’s birthday (on the day before, the other after) which is on June 18th… exactly one month before my birthday. We feasted on all kind of grilled goodness: fancy chipotle burgers, beer-bbq brats, potatoes, salads, and more. We ended Saturday with a bonfire and s’mores and Sunday with a game of cut-throat Uno.
- Duane
Tags: barn, family, shop
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Chris “Cat Killer” Childs, Glenn “Father-in-law” Gehrke, and I raced at
Grattan last weekend. Since both Glenn and I were racing, Gina was the crew chief. She took care of timing, radio communication, setup, fuel and everything in between. Without her help, I’m pretty sure I would have missed at least one of the sessions. We got out there on Friday to get some practice time in. Chris came through with some wheel spacers that allow me to run Hoosiers and I was able to try out the new setup on the last 2 practice sessions. Unfortunately, Chris also realized that his exhaust was beginning to leak and was cooking the steering rack in his Neon. He ordered a new rack and installed it Saturday morning. Later that day, Glenn qualified second and placed first. Chris qualified first and finished first, and I qualified third and finished third. This was my first podium finish ever. The good news was mixed with bad. Even though Chris finished first, he did so without power steering for the last 7 laps. With no other steering racks available in the area, he was forced to retire for the weekend. The next day resulted in a second place finish for Glenn and a second place finish for me as well. (Since Chris was unable to partipate.) The work on my Neon this spring really paid off. I’d also like to think that I’ve improved as a driver. I recorded by fastest time at Grattan to date (1:36.973) but I still have a long way to go. The fastest guys (including Chris) run in the 1:32 range. I think I have a second or two yet to find in my driving, but the car still has a long way to go too. I still need a coilover suspension, wider front tires, a limited slip diff, and an IT-prepped engine.
- Duane
Tags: Chrysler, Dodge, Grattan, ITA, Neon, Plymouth, racing, spec neon
Posted in news | Comments Off on First race of the year: podium finishes for everyone.
The engine in my Neon is weak. To better prepare for the upgrade to ITA (from Spec Neon), I decided to shake some of the cobwebs out. A few weeks ago, I disassembled the top end of the engine to install an underdrive accessory pulley, 95 cam, exhaust header, new o2 sensor, new water pump, new water pump inlet o-ring, new thermostat, new seals and gaskets, and new plugs, plug tubes and wires. During the process of disassembling and re-assembling I learned a lot and made a mistake or two. Biggest mistake: don’t wedge a wrench in your cam gear to keep it from spinning while torquing the attaching bolt. Cam pulleys are much more fragile than they appear. Also, order all of the parts you’ll need ahead of time, preferably from the dealer unless you can get a much better price from a parts store. I spent several days trying to get the right o-ring for the water pump inlet tube from Murray’s that I could have gotten for the same price then next day from the dealership. Finally, start earlier in the year. You’ll never have enough time to do everything you hope to complete. Starting as early as possible helps.
- Duane
Tags: Chrysler, Dodge, ITA, Neon, Plymouth, racing, spec neon
Posted in news | Comments Off on Race car progess: engine is almost done.
Two weekends ago, I completed the teardown on my Neon’s engine (top end only), but managed to be short a few fasteners, gaskets, and sealers. I ordered most of the parts and should have a running engine again by this weekend. A few things left on the panic list are: get belts re-webbed, get alignment and setup done, and fix van so I can tow the darn thing!
Glenn raced at ORP in Indianapolis last weekend. We worked through some lost horsepower issues as well as some brutal weather (cold and very windy). Glenn did well, but we still have some work to do to find that lost horsepower.
Chris Childs, a good friend of ours, is an amazing mechanic with more master certifications than anyone else I know. He worked for a race shop in the area for a long time, but has recently decided to do his own thing. He set up the 2007 T3 SCCA National Champ’s RX-8 (cutting seconds from his already stellar lap times). Chris races an ITA Neon himself and is supporting a T2 350Z team this summer. If you need any performance setup, repairs or upgrades, go see Chris… while you can… his schedule is booking up quickly! (Contact me for more info on Chris.)
- Duane
Tags: Angry Sheep Motorsports, racing
Posted in news | Comments Off on Race car prep, Glenn’s first race of the season, Chris sets off on his own…
You may have noticed a recent spate of cake pictures in the moblog update. It’s not that Duane and I are really hungry and raiding bakeries with our camera. Rather, I’ve decided to practice my cake making and decorating skills. Duane has kindly been documenting my baking experiments. As a result our coworkers have been getting to eat the results, which I think people are happy about. But soon enough it is going to be a conflict of interest if I keep feeding employees of an obesity research lab a lot of cake. So, if you find yourself needing a cake and don’t mind my non-pro status, I would love to bake one for you.
In other delicious news, NIN have released a new free song, and this one has vocals! Visit
nin.com to get your brand spanking new NIN. If you prefer your NIN without Trent’s melodious voice, pick up the free tracks from
Ghosts or catch the podcasts of
This American Life which are also featuring those tracks.
- Gina
Tags: music, NIN, Nine Inch Nails
Posted in news | Comments Off on Have a slice of cake and a free NIN song.
Pictures