Category: 2007 CMR

June 2007, a very difficult and technical Time/Speed/Distance rally. We entered in the Classic Division with the 65E.

Thumb twiddling…

bonnet cleaning

I can’t drive the car and I can’t really work on it either… so I might as well clean it. I had it pretty clean before, but the second day of the Classic Motorcar Rally in June was done on a miserable rainy day (I need to post photos from that at some point!) and the car got filthy. So I spent a rainy weekend a couple of weeks ago scrubbing wheel wells, cleaning wheels, and since I have the bonnet unshackled from the frame, scrubbed areas which are usually impossible to reach. Hard to see in the photos above due to the flash but they are sort of a before and after shot… I scrubbed the area that gets pelted by the debris from the front tires, with brushes and sponges… then rinsed it off with a swipe from the pressure washer.

rear wheel

I also flossed the wire wheels… always a pain in the ass.

Of course the weather has turned wonderful again… all I can do is wait while my steering rack get rebuilt.

Barn Project

meth lab?

Sorry for the lightweight blogging recently… been very busy both at work and at home. The above is a photo of merely ONE of my barn projects of late. Can you guess what it is?

I also dealt the final coup de grace to the fallen tree in our backyard last weekend. Fun story about that, but I haven’t had the time to post it!

I also owe everyone the “day two” of the Classic Motorcar Rally… really behind on that.

Oh yeah… I finished the book about Chile under Pinochet… fascinating stuff. I have some thoughts about it I’d like to share, but again… not enough time for my own writing recently.

Oh well. I’ll get to it, I Promise! 😉

2007 Classic Motorcar Rally, Day One. Photos and Story.

The first day of rallying was clear and pleasant… well, the weather that is… the rallying was unclear and unpleasant for Dad & I. We were very rusty on TSD rallying, and messed up several times… including the very first odometer-calibration segment where we missed a turn! That put us completely off the rest of the day. Oh well. We enjoyed ourselves though, as we can never take ourselves too seriously. The story follows…

BMW 3.0cs

BMW 3.0cs

Continue reading “2007 Classic Motorcar Rally, Day One. Photos and Story.”

2007 Classic Motorcar Rally, Arrival. Photos and Story.

benz

This is the best photograph I took on Friday, day one of the 2007 Classic Motorcar Rally. It is a pair of Mercedes-Benz 300sl cars reflected in the coachwork of a Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster undergoing “recreation” (more on that later.) First, I’ll fill you in on the events of Thursday and our arrival…

panorama

We arrive at the Majestic Inn in Anacortes, WA around 3:30 PM Thursday, check in, attend the Rally orientation, and put the car through tech inspection. Of course, my brake lights had failed. This is an annoying issue with E-type Jaguars. Thankfully it is an easy fix. I zip over to NAPA, where I have three models to choose from (Part #s: SL143, SL145, & SL147) They have the SL143 in stock, so I purchase it and install it later, after the car cools down enough for me to thread my arm under the frame and have my face next to the exhaust headers:

Napa Parts

Top photo: NAPA part# SL143’s box lying in a strategic spot as I prepare to install it.
Bottom photo: Looking down between the headers and frame at the brake light switch installed.

Feeling confident, we amble across the street for dinner at the Star Bar which turns out to be VERY good. Dad has a salad and short rib, I enjoy the tuna and a beef tenderloin. We drink a bottle of Chilean wine and really enjoy a great meal. If your travels take you to Anacortes, I highly suggest a dinner there. I’ll probably take Sue there sometime as it is pretty close to home. After dinner, we head back over to the hotel bar for a drink and run into the rally mechanics Craig & Dave:

Great guys. I share the news with them that my brake lights are working again, and after the malts are down, wander off to bed.

2007 Classic Motorcar Rally, day two: Much better!

No pictures again… sorry. I’ll upload them as soon as I can.

We finished the rally today. We did much better than yesterday. We went through all the checkpoints in the correct direction, at what we thought was a pretty reasonable time. There was one where we knew we were a bit late, but it was right after a VERY difficult bit of navigation that trapped a LOT of people. In fact we saw many of the leaders getting suckered. They were MUCH later than we were, so we came out better. In rallying it isn’t about being flawless, it is about screwing up less than everyone else! 😉

As soon as I can post photos, I’ll tell the whole tale, as it is photos that I use as mental bookmarks to be able to relate it all.