What is it about wanting to go racing that makes things go wrong, even
before you get to the track.
The rod bearings were shot. The mains (at least 2, 3 & 4) were fine.
In order to check the middle main I had to pull the cap. To pull the
cap I needed a 1/2"-20 bolt. Same thread size as the lug nuts by the
way. The only problem was that I couldn't find a 1/2NF bolt anyplace,
and there aren't any hardware stores open in the Santa Cruz mountains
at 10PM. After about an hour of tearing apart my workshop (I got my
bolt drawer cleaned out anyways) and the storage area under the
carport I finally found one in my other shed. Arrgh, I have #8, #10,
1/4, 5/16, 3/8 and even 7/16 fine bolts. I even had a couple of larger
ones. I found several 1/2" coarse. Oh, between my lugnuts and other
assorted nuts, I also had plenty of 1/2" fine nuts as well.
Last night I finally got her put back together. At least enough to
crank her over. I fired her up, not much pressure, then I got
pressure, and a nasty deep thunking sound from somewhere in the engine
compartment. This morning I woke up early, pulled the pan back off,
checked all 7 bearings that I could, and they were all fine. I did
notice that the exhaust downpipe is actually in contact with the
block. Hmmm, I hadn't tightened down the engine mounts before testing
the engine, in case I had to pull it again. Could it have been....?
While I was putting her back together, I got a call from my buddy who
mounts my race tires (<plug> Thanks Ray at Scotts Valley Chevron, I'll
tell all my car buddies that you're a cool guy and send them to you
when they're on their way to Santa Cruz. </plug> who informed me that
while he was mounting my fourth new race tire he realized that Vilven
had sent me four right hand side Kumhos, rather than two each. D'oh.
It's now 5:30, I haven't washed up yet, but the car is back together,
runs and has oil pressure (60psi at idle). I guess I'll be a bit late
for Aaron's birthday party that started a few hours ago.
Tomorrow, I need to get my roll cage painted and install my new front
wheel bearings and rotors.
Larry
--
I can't go back and change time, but I can make up for lost time.
lrc@red4est.com http://www.red4est.com/lrc
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