24 July 2006 - Julz in her Vette

Finally got Julz in her new-old Vette tonight. We took Thane to my cousin's church to ride horses and pet some animals, then I went for a short ride. Over the weekend I spent a lot of time finishing up the engine on the car. I'm ready to fire it up for the first time! I just need to get it mounted into the car. I'll be buying a new alternator, distributor, and water pump tomorrow. Below are a few new pics. The engine is actually complete with all the dress-up items on it now, but didn't get a pic. I also replaced the old orange bolts you see with new raw bolts (silver in color). The dress-up kit is all matte black with Chevy Orange script, which looks sweet!

09 July 2006 - Busy, busy, busy!

Well, that’s all that can be said about the last couple of weeks. The 24Hrs of Summer Solstice did not go as planned, and I was pretty disappointed to say the least. I was initially going to fill-in for a team that was short a few riders in the corporate class, then it was changed to riding with my close friends in the 5-man, but when I arrived I was placed back on the other team. I was actually going to cancel and stay home to work on the car until I was told I was riding on the 5-man team! Well, the start of the race was going great until just about 2 miles in when my chain somehow wedged in-between the granny and middle ring! It took loosening the ring bolts to get it out! I went from sitting comfortably in 2nd on the leader’s wheel to find myself having to pass what seemed to be the entire field! I still somehow managed to keep the team in 14th place after the opening lap…I guess it was the anger from the chain issue, not once but twice during that lap! Returning to camp I removed the granny ring and adjusted the set-screws, but when I placed my cranks back on the retaining bolt of the Shimano cranks failed. No one had a replacement, and the on-site Shimano mechanics stated to borrow one to draw the cranks tight before removing the bolt and tightening the crank arm. They said ride it and it will be fine. Well, my warm-up was great but on the first climb just 3 mins into lap #2 the crank arm came off sending my Achilles into the splined shaft! Man it hurt! I had to pedal back to camp to find the next rider pedaling with 1 leg. We ended up losing about 11mins, with the total from my mechanicals now close to 15mins! I was getting pissed!!! I then borrowed a teammate’s part and went out for another lap burning up the course. My anger must’ve been pretty obvious as not many from this point forward delayed at my warnings to pass, some even dove off the trail into the trees to get out of my way, and I only had to physically run over 1 guy who tried to speed up to keep me from passing until he went over the bars on a tricky downhill. Being within about 2 feet of his rear wheel my only option was to run him over! Ha! It was great! When the darkness set-in my dominance of the trail became even more prevalent as I blasted through the trees calling out passes left and right while some yelled at me “you’re crazy”…yes, I was! By dawn I had pulled time out of all of the leaders jumping the team up to 5th place, while passing by some of my fellow CMR team members’, Bernie and Mark, team “Moe’s Smokin’ Tires.” Then on my last “planned” double lap to finish the race I again suffered a mechanical. The 1st of the 2 laps was going great until about the ½ way mark when my chain started to skip. I went through each gear on the cassette to where eventually each of them was slipping. I had to bail after moving the team into 4th place and taking almost another 2mins out of 3rd. Coming into the timing tent I yelled for a team mate hoping someone was prepared for the chance of a mechanical…they were…so I handed off the racing chip and ended my strike. I was easily set on overtaking 3rd to place the team on the podium, but in the end I had to concede. If it weren’t for my mechanicals I could’ve most likely had the team vying for 1st, but it wasn’t meant to be. 4th place was the final standing for the team, Unruly Racing. This was the 1st time being on a team that I have not come out of the event with a winner’s jersey…I was upset. Oh, well. On the home front, my car has not been touched in 2 weeks! That will now change. For the Independence holiday Julz, Thane, and I traveled to my parents’ new home in SC for some R&R on the lake, but I also put in a lot of hard work! They needed a dock built for the boat, so I constructed the frame for the fixed portion of the dock. The heat was horrible, although the temp was only in the low 90’s the humidity was high. The Gatorade was, but wasn’t “in me” as it was exiting my skin as fast as I could drink it…kinda like their commercial as it shows it going in in the various colored flavors and sweating out in those colors…Haha! Julz and I still found time to get in wakeboarding and slalom skiing each day, along with a cruise at night to enjoy the cool clear evenings while the parents watched Thane. Now back home I need to hook up with some friends to acquire an engine stand to borrow to assemble my car’s engine. Hopefully I’ll have it started this weekend! My goal is to have it running within a couple of months. I’ll be calling a favor of a few friends to help me get it ready to be cranked over the first time after it is assembled. I’ll also have to get caught up on the Tour ‘de France, as I’ve not had a chance to read or watch any of it yet!

17 June 2006 - Cycling slump

I had acquired a fever Wed from Thane. He got over his pretty quick, but mine lasted until yesterday morning. With not being on the bike for over 3 days I went out last night. The legs felt like cement blocks, but the ride pace and time was pretty avg. Tonight I plan to go hit the road hard to put out some power and to simulate a race scenario. Yup, I'll be racing with my good friends back home on the A-bikes team for the 24 Hours of Summer Solstice in Bolton, Ontario Canada at Albion Hills. I can't recall the last time we raced together and didn't take 1st in our class, or 1st overall for that matter! This is going to be a blast! Julie, Thane, and I along with the dogs, will be leaving after work Friday to drive up. We'll get a hotel in Buffalo, NY or just over into Ontario, then drive the remainder Saturday morning. We will be racing as an Expert 5 Man team under A-bikes.com for Robert Parent (friend/owner).

17 June 2004 - Family and car update

Today I woke early as Nathaniel got an early start. Yesterday he had a reaction to some antibiotics he was given for an ear infection. Julz took him in again and I then went and got the new scripts. Today he is getting better and had a nice long afternoon nap. So upon waking I went outside to get a headstart prior to the flaming sun in the forecast, estimated to be knocking on 100 degrees today! I started with washing the car and truck. Then I pulled out the heads and intake for the Vette to finish the painting. They turned out pretty good despite my improvised setting and minimal cleaning elements. I'm still trying to get the front bumper brace out of the car. I have 1 bolt loose, but it is still difficult to move. I need to find a nice long cheater bar. I need to get it out to scrub it down to remove any rust and re-paint it before re-installing it. Once I get an engine stand from a new friend to borrow I will be able to assemble the engine and paint the block as well. I have a lead on a slightly used 650 carb and my bell housing is being repaired by a co-worker (had a small hole that he is welding up). I've recently joined a forum site for C3 Vettes. The people there are awesome, especially "jackson"! He's supplying me with some awesome information on what I have as well as some important resources. Here's what I know as of now: Given the info I have, it's a near certainty the 4 bolt main motor is based on a 350 build and will have 360 cubic inches. The engine is numbered 3970010 which is a 350 4-bolt 1969-1980 Corvette/Camaro engine. It has double hump 461 heads with an Edelbrock TorquerII Intake and a 4spd manual trans. L2304 060 Forged TRW 350 pistons were assembled as a "typical" 350 build, it should have about 11.5:1 static compression ratio. I upgraded the cam to a Speed-Pro CS179R specs: 0.050" dur 222*I/222*E, SAE dur 290*I/290*E, valve lift .447"I/.447"E, overlap 78*, has a published power range 2200-5200rpm with "good" idle. I will most likely have to run premium gas in this thing.

11 June 2006 - Shanghai, WV that is...

This morning I rode over the 2 mountain passes to the west of Martinsburg looking for some killer climbs. Well, I found some! Leaving Martinsburg I rode over North Mountain then over the Shenandoah to Shanghai Pass. The climbing was brutal with grades of over 14%! I was literally standing on the pedals and moving at speeds as slow as 5mph on a few occasions! It was a great ride and it is definitely helping to improve my climbing. The 2-1/2hr ride covered about 40 miles and ascended 4,600 feet! I thought I had made the top earlier this week, but I was wrong by a few hundred feet! Returning home I downed a huge glass of chocolate milk, then it was off to my cousin's son's birthday party where I fueled up on a bunch of food.

10 June 2006 - Hard day's work

Plans changed today. I was going to leave for a ride by 8:30AM, but found myself sleeping until 9 when I got a call from a co-worker about a current program. I then got up and had breakfast with Julz and Thane. Julz made some good french toast and the boy and I packed'em down. I then decided that I would work on the car while Julz cleaned the apartment, and Thane ran around thinking he was helping. However, you can see here he was more intersted in naps today. I decided to pull off the front bumpers and grill, along with all the steel parts I could from the front end. The lower left front bumper had a stripped bolt head that I had to use vice-grips on. Other than that most of the bolts were not too difficult to get off. I used a wire brush and steel wool on the bumpers and steel parts to remove rust. I then painted the parts with a black Rustoleum paint to prevent further rust and to provide a clean underbody appearance. I will also be re-doing the frame with a paint on rust stopper that actually reacts with the rust creating a coated black finish. 1st pick is with the grills removed. 2nd pic are the removed parts, all except the 1 problem bumper.

04 June 2006 - C&O Canal

Today was threatening rain, but it only sprinkled as we drove to Harpers Ferry. Julie and I took Thane for his 3rd ride in his Burley on the C&O Canal Pathway. We parked in the small town of Bolivar which is just up a hill from Harpers Ferry. We rode southeast towards DC to a small park area in Brunswick. Thane had fallen asleep just a couple of miles from there and slept while we took a short break for lunch. He then woke up about a mile after we headed back. We rode 14 miles in 1hr 37mins. Julie had a tip-over trying to climb up "that hill" from Harpers Ferry to Bolivar. Whe was going so slow that she lost he balance and just fell over...Too bad Thane and I were already up the hill waiting and weren't able to get a picture of it! :) haha

03 June 2006 - Wind, mountains, but luckilly no rain

Today started early with a co-worker arriving at 8AM for a road ride. The roads were still a bit damp due to heavy rains last night. Pete is training for a triathlon this fall and plans to compete in the Olympic distance. He's road with me at Skyline drive and today I took his legs to the point they were about to snap! I planned out a nice route that took us over North Mountain 4 times. I really wanted to put him to the test and drive him into the ground, but as you know you can't make someone go harder than they want to. I gapped him on each climb with over a 3 minute gap at the top of the 4th and final climb of the morning. Our ride time was 3hrs 15mins with 4501 vertical feet of climbing over a distance of 52 miles. Below is some of the data from my Polar for each of the 4 main climbs. Climb#1: Duration 0:23:10 Energy Expenditure 387 kcal MinHR 135 bpm, AvgHR 160 bpm, MaxHR 176 bpm Min Spd 5.3 mph, Avg Spd 12.2 mph, Max Spd 26.3 mph Distance 4.7 miles Min Cad 41 rpm, Avg Cad 73 rpm, Max Cad 102 rpm Ascent 970 ft, Avg Grade 6.3% Climb#2 Duration 0:11:35 Energy Expenditure 200 kcal MinHR 117 bpm, AvgHR 163 bpm, MaxHR 172 bpm Min Spd 4.9 mph, Avg Spd 8.4 mph, Max Spd 19.2 mph Distance 1.6 miles Min Cad 40 rpm, Avg Cad 60 rpm, Max Cad 86 rpm Ascent 665 ft, Avg Grade 8.0% Climb#3 Duration 0:09:05 Energy Expenditure 152 kcal MinHR 125 bpm, AvgHR 159 bpm, MaxHR 174 bpm Min Spd 5.4 mph, Avg Spd 7.0 mph, Max Spd 13.6 mph Distance 1.1 miles Min Cad 40 rpm, Avg Cad 49 rpm, Max Cad 68 rpm Ascent 470 ft, Avg Grade 8.4% Climb#4 Duration 0:23:45 Energy Expenditure 387 kcal MinHR 123 bpm, AvgHR 157 bpm, MaxHR 170 bpm Minimum Speed 3.3 mph Average Speed 10.3 mph Maximum Speed 26.3 mph Distance 4.1 miles Min Cad 31 rpm, Avg Cad 65 rpm, Max Cad 100 rpm Ascent 1010 ft, Avg Grade 4.7% Returning home I fueled up and tinkered with the car a bit. Placed the front end on jacks and removed the wheels. Took steel wool to the rims and I plan to check the numbers for authenticity as they look to be the original rally wheels. I also scrubbed on the convertible frame some more and used some Rustoleum paint on it. I also re-mounted one of the drawers to its track on the tool case that came with the car.

31 May 2006 - Restore started

Today was the day that I decided to drop off the engine for our Corvette to be overhauled. By suggestion, I took it to a local CarQuest location. It is a distribution center as well as a store and machine shop. A co-worker has used them in the past for 2 Corvette engines and 1 Chevelle engine with great results. They will be contacting me once they clean all of the parts and get them measured. We will then go through what I will have done to it. I’d like to have it built for 350-400hp, hopefully they can make it happen. Below are a couple of pics of the engine, in pieces, when I dropped it off. I’ll be taking photos of the entire restoration process. Last night I also stripped the convertible top frame. The next step is to pull it out of the car and grind off the surface rust and prime and paint it. Julie and I took Thane for another ride tonight in his Burly trailer. He’s lovin’ it! Whenever he sees the trailer he grabs his helmet and puts it on, he just needs to understand which way is the front of the helmet! :)

29 May 2006 - Long weekend

It was nice to be home after the long hours, not in the saddle, of driving! Julie and I left Nathaniel for the first time on Thursday morning to drive up to Boyne, MI for the 24Hr race this weekend. Without Thane or the dogs we were able to fit everything into the car. This would make the gas prices a little easier to deal with. We managed a total round trip avg of 27mpg. Our trip started at 5AM with an arrival time at our 1st destination, Dexter Bike shop, at 11:30AM. Arriving it was discovered that my parts for the new 1FG, Cannondale Single Speed bike, were not yet in. The frame arrived over a month ago, and I immediately requested to have the needed parts ordered to build the bike. Well, they weren't ordered until last Tuesday! Murphy was glad to help as well, as the wrong single speed cogs were ordered and the frame was never checked and it came without the eccentric bottom bracket shell!!! Luckilly I took along my Scalpel to be used as the 2ndary bike, but now it was the main and only bike! Friday night we stayed with our friends Robin and Shari, along with John, at their cottage on Higgins Lake. It was then just a short 1hr drive to Boyne Sat morning. The set-up of camp went smooth with Julie's help, and I was able to get everything assembled on the Scalpel and eat a sandwich before the start. Everything went great at the start. I was leading the Solo Single Speed class, as well as all of the Solo classes while riding easy and walking about 4 of the climbs! After completing lap 3 I had a very comfortable lead. Even though I was walking portions of the trail I knew my legs would burn-out if I did not down-gear a little. So, Robin was nice enough to help me change gears while Julie helped find tools/parts and prepare some food for me. Then all heck broke loose! The smaller gears did not work out with the chain lengths. We tried every combination possible! As 2nd place rolled into the pits it had been 30 minutes. He rolled out and we discovered that we would need a 1/2 link, I didn't even know that such a thing existed! We finally found a match of 44/24 but the chain was as tight as a piano wire. I got rolling again to later have to stop just a couple miles in to tighten the chain ring bolts as they were working loose due to the chain being so tight. I somehow managed to make it through the lap without anything breaking, and Julie had actually acquired a half link! But the damage was done...for me the race was over and now it was just for fun. It took almost 1-1/2hrs to get out on that last lap with the gearing issue. So, I took another break and decided to eat and associate with friends that we haven't seen since before Christmas due to our relocation for work. Upon darkness setting in I began setting up the bike again using the 1/2 link and re-installing the singulator on the Scalpel. I ended up running a 32/17 on a lap departing at about 11PM. I had a blast powering out a 50 minute lap flying by the other riders out on the course. It was a lot of fun. Darkness is my favorite time to ride, and I'll claim to be the best in the dark with the results to back it. By 3AM the leader of my class packed it in, but I was takin a nice long nap. I was then awakened by thunder and lightning with a downpour of rain at dawn. Then everyone racing began packing it in, except for just 2 riders who chose to continue. My sister also came up with her kids, Brenden and Taylor. We met with them for breakfast and then I went into the waterpark with them for about 2hrs before Julz and I headed home. It is a nice waterpark, but at $40 per person it is a rip-off! Hopefully the kids got their mom's money's worth. Then it was on the road again back home. We left around 11:30AM and made it home with a couple of stops by 9:30PM. Today we took Thane on his first bike ride in his new Burley trailer. I bought it from a guy in MI off the MMBA BB for just $150. It has been used very little and is in great shape. We rode to Wally-world and bought a flag for it and I mounted it when we got home.