There is day 1’s drive in it entirety… what more do I need to say? 😉
If you want more, just click “more”.
Category: GTTSR
The Going To The Sun Rally, a vintage car tour of Montana
GTTSR: Getting There, Part Two
Today we drove from Lewiston, Idaho to Helena, Montana, with a lunch stop in Missoula. The day dawned clear and blue in Lewiston. We set up the timelapse rig, even though my computer power adapter had been acting up the day and night before. We managed to capture about 20 minutes again, before it went dead.
Click “more” to read the rest…
GTTSR: Getting There
Shaun & I left Arlington after spending time in the barn finishing a mount for the webcam to make timelapse footage of the drive. (more on that later)
Almost ready to go…
I had the front end re-aligned after I fixed that loose inner tie-rod end. The great folks at the Les Schwab store in Arlington, WA even did it for free since it was just a minor touch up and I had already paid for the complete alignment a few weeks before. The same tech did the job as the last time. You can see him in the mirror above. Jesse is his name… Thanks Jesse!
The car runs great now. Solid as a rock. No more wobbles in the front end.
Next I had to change my brake pads. I spent the weekend searching for some, and was unable to find any locally. I finally found a set online at Summit Racing. I paid for overnight shipping just to make sure they arrived on time. I went to install them last night, and of course, as is my fate with all things mechanical (ie: my steering rack that took all summer to sort out!) a two-minute-per-side job turned into a 2 hour epic struggle! The driver’s side had a pad that was unevenly worn, and one of the pots of my Wilwood calipers was stuck slightly off-kilter. No amount of wedging and struggle would get it to compress fully into the caliper housing. I finally gave up and disassembled the caliper itself and pressed it back in. Once that was done the other three pads went in relatively painlessly and quick. I’m very impressed with the design of the Wilwoods when it comes to changing pads. next time I won’t wait so long! I also will probably buy a small stock of pads as they seem, to be hard to find.
Of course the above work required draining a lot of the brake fluid from one side of the system, so they’ll need to be bled. I took a few laps up and down the driveway to test the brakes and other than a bit of sponginess (which will go away with bleeding) the brakes felt great. I’ll try and get the bleeding done as soon as possible and go bed the new pads in good later today.
The only prep work that remains is some packing and camera work. I bought two new lenses which hopefully will arrive today. Stay tuned.
I’ve also been chatting with my co-pilot for the rally, Shaun Redmond, who flies out tomorrow. You’ll meet him soon. We booked a room in Lewiston, Idaho for Friday night, and expect to be in Helena, Montana Saturday afternoon. I can’t wait to get underway!
Separation Anxiety
I’m suffering from Separation Anxiety this week. The 65E is at a body shop, getting that damage to the bonnet you see above fixed. It happened last autumn, when I removed the Going to the Sun Rally sticker from the car. A fist-sized chunk of clear coat came of with the sticker and I went suicidal for several days.
I’ve gotten over the suicidal tendencies but I do worry whenever the car is at a shop I don’t know well. If you recall I was very disappointed in the last body/paint job I had done to the car. Insurance isn’t involved this time, so maybe it will work out. This shop came highly recommended by several local “car guys” around Arlington. It should be done later this week.
Next up is rebuilding the steering rack, and then the summer rally & slalom season starts!
XKE Data – Store – Calendars
Whoo hoo! Once again picked for the XKEdata.com calendar. I’m honored. Pick yours up online at:
Luck, or lack thereof.
Above: Ouch!
Though I don’t put a lot of stock in superstition, I am usually a very lucky guy. Life has rarely dealt me any serious whacks. Today however, is Friday the 13th. Something I didn’t even think about really… except perhaps when I updated the voicemail message on my work phone.
So I’m working from home today and at lunchtime I head out to the barn and prep the 65E for a weekend Jaguar club event. The Seattle Jaguar Club is having their “Fall Colors Tour” tomorrow and I haven’t even looked at the E-type since the Going to the Sun Rally finished up last month. I took it out once for a brief drive since then… mostly because the weather has been crappy most weekends since I came back… or I’ve just been too busy.
So I push the Jaguar out of the barn and get ready to wash it. The car number stickers from the Montana Rally are still on the car so I decide to take them off. The first one comes off pretty easily… after I was able to pick enough off to grab a handfull. It shreds up as I remove it, and I toss it in the garbage. The second one comes off in one big sheet until I’m about halfway down when it goes *pop!* and to my astonishment it peels a chunk of clearcoat, along with a layer of paint right off the car!
My heat sunk.
I stared in disbelief at the sticker, now shredded and hanging halfway off the car and held up by my limp hands. I wanted to cry.
I gathered my wits and gingerly pulled it the rest of the way off without further injury. I wandered around in a daze for a while… trying to think of what to do. I went inside, tried to collect myself, and wrote a note to the E-type mailing list to see what the collective mind suggested. I got some good advice (as always) and even some leads on good paint guys nearby (Thanks Roger!)… we’ll see how it turns out.
You can see the full set of damage photos here.
As you can see, 13 is NOT my lucky number!