Today I... "Redux Edition"

[5th T/A]

Looks like a great time at the strip JT.

We have a local drag strip about twenty miles away that I haven’t been to in years. My buddies and I would go out there almost every Wednesday night during the summer for grudge racing. I miss those days.

[roadking77]

Theres a dragway about 5 miles from my house and I have been there about twice in the last ten years!  My old house was a couple of miles closer and on a good day you could hear the cars running.

[scarebird]

Saw a Jaguar Mk. 9 Saloon today:

[roadking77]

Nice looking jag.

[Jack]

Looks like a Rolls-Royce to me.

[scarebird]

nope - Jag-U-are.

Big thunderhead rolling thru - flightaware.com* has a nice tracking and weather app and watching a couple of SouthWest jets abort and stooge around to the south.   Alaska would have greased it, right Jim?   

Update: Looks like they both diverted to El Paso - poor buggers.

*this is an excellent site for tracking flights, not that airlines lie about arrival times or anything...

[b_hill_86]

Today I took my car for a ride. This is the first drive I’ve taken since replacing my 160° thermostat with a 180°. Always had the 160 since I’ve had the car without knowing what temp it was. In light of installing AC soon I got curious as to the accuracy of the factory gauge and wanted to know how the temp is effected in the future by the AC so I temporarily installed a mechanical temp gauge. That revealed my factory gauge seemed close but was off and my engine was actually only running at around 160° in town and would creep to 170ish on the e way hence the new 180 tstat. Btw, I did check the mechanical gauge in a pot of boiling water and have compared its readings to the crossover temp with infrared thermometer.

NEXT I realized with the new tstat, the engine was actually around 180-190 depending on being on the highway. The factory gauge read 220 and a tick over. Still, verified the crossover temps against the mechanical gauge and they were even. This led me to believe maybe the sending unit was a parts store buy which are notoriously inaccurate. It’s the one that was installed when I bought the car so I ordered one from Lectric Limited which is supposed to be accurate.

So today during my drive, I noted my engine was detonating which hadn’t happened before. I wondered if it was the hotter engine temps but it’s not THAT hot so what gives? I went back home and checked my timing. Something was wrong as it was way off and not making any sense. I thought maybe the distributor moved but it was still tight. RIGHT before I was going to reset the timing I decided to pop the cap off and look at the weights. At I found was the rotor was advanced and stuck as if it was locked out at full mechanical advance. I have no idea why. It’s an aftermarket of some sort with no markings but it was installed when I bought the car over ten years ago and I haven’t had a lick of trouble with it till now. Makes me wonder how long it’s been like this. I did think I heard a bit of difference in idle but I had been playing with the vacuum advance earlier this year so I attributed it to that.

As it happened I have a distributor out of a 77 I got on eBay a few years ago that I robbed the weights and center plate out of to replace the aftermarket crap that was in my no-name dizzy to take care of some erratic idle/timing advance. I wasn’t so sure on the condition of the electronics so I decided to swap the electronics and vacuum can from the no-name into the 77. Got it back together, dizzy dropped back in and fired it for about 10 seconds enough to make sure I had oil pressure and that it ran. It was too late at night to mess with the timing but now it looks like I have plans for tomorrow before work lol.

[737driver]

nope - Jag-U-are.

Big thunderhead rolling thru - flightaware.com* has a nice tracking and weather app and watching a couple of SouthWest jets abort and stooge around to the south.   Alaska would have greased it, right Jim?   

Update: Looks like they both diverted to El Paso - poor buggers.

*this is an excellent site for tracking flights, not that airlines lie about arrival times or anything...

I get the humor!
I’d like to say this though, trying to land in the middle of a thunderstorm is pretty challenging and not really the best of ideas. Of course there is going to be that one time you may try, and later think, that was dumb. Taking that risk is, in fact , one of the dumbest ideas ever. Thinking a pilot is skillful because of lack of judgement is kinda oxymoronic . Yes there exceptions perhaps but only when there is no other option.

Thing is , it is one of the worst decision a pilot could make. Too many crashes have proved that. The onset of a thunderstorm is the worst because of wind shear. Delta airlines proved it 36 years ago this month in Dallas.
 Personally I don’t want to be that guy who tries to land into a storm and puts 175 people in jeopardy, so I could care less about “on time” performance. Speaking of which, we can’t lie about on time performance, Those times are recorded without our input and we can’t change them or manipulate them ( at least not within the last 20 years). Those time are recorded by sensors and sent digitally to our dispatch and operations. If anyone tries to fudge the numbers the FAA would not be too happy about it.
Jim

[VA79ta]

Ordered another remaned power steering gear box. There was too much slop in the one I had bought years ago and the car is starting to feel like it wants to steer itself. Hopefully this is the last repair before the sale.

[scarebird]

I get the humor!

The cell seemed to hover a mile north of KABQ; I am not as versed in wind shear as you are but was wondering if that was a bad spot for it - doe the tower have a better radar for this sort of thing?  10 minutes later a pair of AA's scooted in a little hotter than normal - perhaps it cleared?

Judgement is a good trait in a pilot.

[RamblerRacer]

Forgive me again please.
Seemed like it was well received last time.

Today I am posting the details of my race day last Saturday.
Have not been online at all the last couple of days.

So here it goes.

​Yesterday produced mixed results.
Headed out with my cousin in the toter.



It was hot as H&LL with a DA around 2600' to start out the day.
Had a good opening time-shot with a 11.276 which I kind of expected, thinking it would run a .28 with the DA we had.
I thought I dialed down enough for qualifying which is what we call the bogie race; a mix of reaction time and running against a dial in the second time-trial.
I did not and wasted a .000 light with a11.258 on a 11.26 dial >>>OUCH.
Not many cars and the gap between time trials was much shorter >>> trans was still probably at 125 or so and I think it makes a difference.
Something else to pay attention to when going rounds and the gaps shortens.



First round I was 0.017 and ran 11.248 on a 11.25 dial >>>> this is how we have fun right?
Took way to much stripe and learned something from the loss I think.

End of the points for that day unless I got into the Consi race and won it for an extra points.
So I did.
I got through to 2nd round by giving it a short pedal when I could see my opponent was not getting there and was able to tighten it up better at the stripe.
Wish I had done that in the 1st round of Pro, but like I said I learned from my mistake earlier in the day.
My 0.020 light was good for a bye into the third round.
Drove the finish line again well to go to the final.
I ran a basically stock Mustang and the driver went -.044 red resulting in a bit of cash and the extra 100 points so a +200 points for the day.





(x2) more tries at it for the season.
I'm around top 4 in the second half and they take the top 4 from both halves to the bracket finals and take about 12 or 14 overall from points.
I am also in pretty good shape overall so I am hopeful to keep it going and get there.

JT​

[RamblerRacer]

I also worked on the nose of the TA a bit.
Getting closer to spraying the front of the car

JT

[737driver]

I get the humor!

The cell seemed to hover a mile north of KABQ; I am not as versed in wind shear as you are but was wondering if that was a bad spot for it - doe the tower have a better radar for this sort of thing?  10 minutes later a pair of AA's scooted in a little hotter than normal - perhaps it cleared?

Judgement is a good trait in a pilot.

The tower doesn’t have windshear or weather radar necessary, Most big airports do have windshear meters around the airport to give a warning . Weather patterns really depend on several factors ( temperatures, pressure, winds) but also can be affected by surrounding  area terrain and  water. A good example is Denver , right on the front range ( flat land butted up against high mountains).
Jim

[MalteseFalcon]

Today (well, yesterday) I made a deal on a 1972 Trans Am.  It was originally a Cameo White on Blue 4-speed 455 HO. The current owner is a real Pontiac guy, and he had rescued it from a person who I honestly think wished he had a Camaro. It has a Chevy stroker engine in it with a Weiand supercharger sticking the carb through the (enlarged) shaker hole; they dyed much of the original blue interior black and removed quite a bit of it; installed a ratchet shifter and anti-hop bars, pinned the deck lid (?) took off the wheel spoilers (??) and removed the white "Pontiac" lettering from the rear panel and filled the holes.  As a final insult, it was painted yellow with big black Camaro SS stripes back in about 1977. The enamel paint was laid on thick and there are a couple of spots on the front fenders where the paint seems to have been containing some rust bubbles for years. So I must be crazy, right?

Maybe not. Remember, the current owner is a real Pontiac guy, who has had quite a few of the early Trans Ams, and he bought this car years ago intending to restore it himself, and has been gathering parts that will come with the car. So it comes with a perfect hood, a set of clean front fenders, a set of near-perfect doors, a set of generously cut out rear quarters, the correct thick steering wheel, extra patch panels, a '72 shaker, the correct '72 Trans Am air cleaner, and a bunch of other necessary parts for the restoration. The floors appear to be good. Most importantly, it comes with a 1971 455 HO block, which has a set of 96 heads on it; and a set of 1971 455 HO heads in good rebuildable shape. And the Chevy race engine runs, so the car is mobile, which is really convenient while I'm doing other things with it, and helpful because it's getting the bottom bunk with my WS6 / W72 in the top bunk. There isn't a part of the car that won't need to be replaced, repaired, rebuilt, re-finished or restored, but with virtually an entire clean body, I feel a lot more confident buying it. And they only made 1,289 Trans Ams in 1972, of which only 458 were 4-speeds, so I think this car is worth saving.

Try not to laugh at the pictures. The poor T/A has been through a lot. There were several moments when we were going over the car when I said, "Why would anyone ...?" and the seller would say, "I don't know!"

[FormTA]

What a great project! I bet he was glad to sell it to a fellow Pontiac lover.

[roadking77]

Maltese, Great Find! and rescue    That poor thing needs to have its dignity brought back. Its been living a lie way too long now.

[5th T/A]

Congrats Maltese on the acquisition of a super rare 72 TA. I am glad you rescued this car and saved it from who knows what fate. This car deserves to be brought back to what it started life as.

[Jack]

Nice 72 congrats.

[ryeguy2006a]

Very cool project there.

[MalteseFalcon]

Thanks guys! I can't wait until it looks a lot more like this again!

[737driver]

Great Project! Looking forward to your progress!
Jim

[roadking77]

After many months of looking, and the last couple of weeks of serious search, I got a new to me truck today.  2013 F150.  Funny thing is I had made up my mind I wanted something different than I have now. Wanted to get a silverado, just because and kinda wanted black. I ended up with a white ford, guess I couldnt have gone any further off the rails. The new truck is replacing my current work truck which I bought new. 2006 F150.  Bought almost the exact same truck, just 2 more doors. Will post pics tuesday when I pick it up.

[Jack]

Congrats Kerry, looking forward to seeing some pics.

[5th T/A]

Kerry Congratulations on the new truck! I am sure it will serve you well.

Humans tend to be creatures of habit, if something is good we stick with it. About four years ago I replaced my daily driver (white Hyundai Sonata) with 280,000 miles on it with another white Hyundai Sonata.

[roadking77]

My current truck is a 06 f150. White fx4 package xlt. At the time it was highly optioned, about the only thing it didnt have was leather seats. Bought it brand new. Pushing 300k miles. My budget for a new truck was in the 2012-2014 range. I have been looking since last spring and for the last 2 months have said 'this is the weekend i will get a truck'.  Finally pulled the plug friday and set out on the adventure. There are some trucks that fit the bill, but they are far and few in between. Almost bought the first one I looked at, an xlt red f150. Really nice truck. But had a hard time buying the first one with several more on the list to look at. Literally about half of the ones on my list when I got to the dealer they said it was sold last night or this morning. Decent trucks sell that fast around here.  Almost bought a black one, but there was a grey in philly I wanted to look at first. It was supposed to be a cream puff but actually had a lot of issues. On a last minute whim i did a search and a white fx4 xlt, fully loaded popped up. Thats the one I ended up with.

[737driver]

This wasn’t something I did today but something I did a about two weeks ago. I got a tattoo done. I served in the Marines for 5 years. If you have ever met a Marine you may have heard the phrase “Once a Marine, always a Marine”. No former or ex Marines. The motto is Semper Fidelis , which means always faithful.
Just over two weeks ago 12 Marines , 1 Navy Corpsman and one Army Staff Sergeant were killed in a humanitarian mission to evacuate people from Afghanistan. Our military did their very best in that effort, but to be honest, it was done under the worst leadership. I really do not want to start any political debate beyond that statement, So I’ll  just leave it at that.
I was pretty upset about the the Marines, their Corpsman and the Soldier who died, to say the least.
I decided it was about time to get a tattoo, so I did. I chose the Eagle , Globe and Anchor which is the symbol of the United States Marines. Under it , I  had the phrase “until then..”  scripted to mean always, forever , eternally .

[FormTA]

Congratulations on the new truck Kerry! I too am looking for a new truck but I think I need to wait until next year. There is nothing out there, at least in my area. I think I want a new or a year old 2500 RAM. I need something bigger than my 2012 1500 RAM Quad cab. I have a new 24' enclosed trailer that I plan to haul out 4-5 snowmobiles 4 hours away. Loaded it maxes put my current truck.

Anyway, post those pictures Kerry!

[5th T/A]

737driver,

My thoughts and prayers go out to all our military recently killed or injured in Afghanistan.  There is no way we can adequately honor them. For their families and friends life will never be the same. Thank You for your tribute to those and service to our country!

My father was part of the 4rth Marine Division during World War II. He fought in Saipan, Tinian & Iwo Jima. He was the recipient of three purple hearts and two Bronze stars. He didn’t want to discuss the war at all other than to say he saw some horrible things and lost a lot of good comrades. He was an extremely proud Marine and American his entire life. He taught me and my five siblings how fortunate we were to grow up in our great country and we should never take our freedom for granted.

[Jack]

This wasn’t something I did today but something I did a about two weeks ago. I got a tattoo done. I served in the Marines for 5 years. If you have ever met a Marine you may have heard the phrase “Once a Marine, always a Marine”. No former or ex Marines. The motto is Semper Fidelis , which means always faithful.
Just over two weeks ago 12 Marines , 1 Navy Corpsman and one Army Staff Sergeant were killed in a humanitarian mission to evacuate people from Afghanistan. Our military did their very best in that effort, but to be honest, it was done under the worst leadership. I really do not want to start any political debate beyond that statement, So I’ll  just leave it at that.

I agree 100% and thank you for serving and protecting those of us that did not have the privilege to serve.

[roadking77]

x2 what has been said.
Jim,  My dad was a Marine and shared the same sentiments. Once a Marine always a Marine. I would joke that I didnt have to join the Marines because I was raised by one!

[79GoldnTan]

Agreed! My father 94 years young and still going was drill sergeant,  to say he raised us RIGHT is an understatement.  Thank you

[737driver]

Thank you for the great replies and thank you for the appreciation!
Jim

[roadking77]

2021-09-10_05-30-10 by Kerry Grubb, on Flickr
Pic of my old truck,

and the new one
2021-09-10_05-28-24 by Kerry Grubb, on Flickr
2021-09-10_05-28-42 by Kerry Grubb, on Flickr
2021-09-10_05-29-12 by Kerry Grubb, on Flickr
2021-09-10_05-29-25 by Kerry Grubb, on Flickr

[FormTA]

That is a nice truck!

[roadking77]

Thanks Luke, As I get older I feel like I should reward myself with something nice to drive around in. However this one is about too nice for a work truck! Now I need to find a beat up mess to haul lumber and tools around 

[Jack]

Very nice Kerry, what are you doing with your old truck?

[roadking77]

4 sale.

[5th T/A]

Kerry,

Congratulations again, the new truck looks very clean. I see what you mean, almost too nice. Honestly the old truck looks pretty decent, if no major problems it should sell for a decent price.

[Jack]

Other than mileage, does the old truck have any major issues? Have you considered offering it here on TAC?

[roadking77]

My old truck is an 06 f150 fx4. I bought it new and although it has worked construction its whole life its in really good shape. No rust and has been garage kept always. Dr. seat is typically wore out as most fords do. Honestly the truck runs really great, but it failed emmissions. My garage said the motor is tired and at pushing 300k I understand why. He gave me an estimate of 2k to redo the motor to get it back into proper compression but at 15 yrs old I didnt see the sense in putting the money into it. I figure better a down payment towards a new truck. I was gonna try to get 5k for it, figure if someone has to put 3k into it, for 8k would be a good truck to knock around in. From what I see on the used market anything under 10k is pure junk!