Category: Cars

I am a “car guy”… I love old cars.

Boxed.

I’ve always liked this photo, I have it framed on my office wall. Of course I have lost the original high-res version of it… I took it, did my editing for my website, and threw away the original – which was stupid… because only afterward did I realize what a great shot it is! It is a wonderfully captured moment with nice composition and lighting.

This was taken on the New England 1000 rally, in 99 or 2000, (I’m too lazy too look it up at the moment.) On the first or second day of the rally the car broke. A clutch hinge pin fell out to be exact. The rally has the good forture of having the Markowski’s as the official rally mechanics. The Markowski’s run RPM, one of the best restoration shops on the planet. On the right is my father, and he is talking to (standing) Steve Markowski and if I recall correctly the kid leaning against the wall of the trailer is named Eben. The E-type has just been pulled into the trailer and my father is describing what happened.

What ensued was a miracle. I firmly believed that the rally was over for us. Anyone that knows e-types understands that clutch and transmission problems are impossible to address in a swift fashion. But somehow … using flashlights and surgical tools these two mechanical geniuses who were weren’t even old enough to drink at the time, managed to re-insert a clutch hinge pin through a hole in the bellhousing and get us back in the rally again the next morning.

I recently fixed the car’s latest ill, and am humbled by the abilities of these guys. I am the world’s slowest mechanic… I do not rush things and really don’t mind taking forever to address an issue. To me working on cars is a thing to be savored and enjoyed. I could never do it for a living, because I’m just too damn slow. These kids (who are now grown men) were born for the task. Good to have people like that around. Yin & Yang.

Adventures in Towing, part 4

The E-type had another trip on a flatbed this past weekend. :p

It has a NON-stock fuel pump, in this case a Mallory, which requires the use of a fuel pressure regulator. The latter device failed. I replaced the pressure regulator and the problem (loss of power, engine dying) did not go away. To make a very long story short: Car died on Chuckanut drive (right about here) not too long before sundown. I went into full troubleshooting mode, looking at the fuel delivery system back to front. We ran out of daylight before we figured it out. I called the insurance company (who provide a gratis 10 mile tow) who had a local flatbed company bring me to a friends house near Bow, Wa. I spent half the day Monday under the bonnet of the Jag in their driveway, until I figured out that the new part was just as bad as the old bad part. sigh. Oh well.

The upside is that I found a GOOD aftermarket pump, that will deliver the native pressure the XK engine requires, and as a bonus, it is inexpensive and comes with a serious endoresment.

The image above is from my infamous “voltage regulator” incident a few years back. Perhaps I have a problem with “regulators”?
You can read about it here. There is even a pic of my Mallory fuel pump there.

Anyway, big thanks to Greg Bilyeau, who came out from his home in Bellingham to help me out. Thanks also to Mike Hinson, who graciously allowed me to use his driveway as a garage for a day, and loaned me some compressed air, and some expertise. Huge thanks to Paul Wigton, my telephone tech support guy!

Bruce MacCormack also offered a bed for the night for us, which in the end I didn’t require. I would have stayed up all night watching “Grand Prix” on his big screen anyway. 😉 Thanks Bruce.

I’ve been pirated!

eBay: E TYPE JAGUAR Print Mounted & Framed (item 280019208603 end time Aug-24-06 13:16:09 PDT)

OK, so now I know how Lars Ullrich feels. 😉

Seriously though, I’d gladly GIVE away this photograph to anyone who asks (and in fact I do) but that doesn’t give you the right to print it, sell it, and not give me a slice of the payout! Grrrr.

I’m going through ebay’s copyright infringement process, and have notified the seller as well. We’ll see how it turns out.

Looking through the seller’s other items seems to be a target rich environment for any copyright attorneys out there.

Almost time for another big adventure.

Longtime goolsbee.org readers know that I lead a dull existence as a technology salaryman for ~50 weeks a year, baby-sitting both a giant refrigerated room full of expensive machinery and an adjacent room full of socially inept geeks who take care of the machines with me. But at least once a year, and twice if I’m lucky, I zoom off to some exciting place for a week and find myself surrounded by expensive machinery and socially inept geeks who take care of those machines.

Um, wait a minute, that didn’t come out right.

Let me phrase that better…

I go on a vintage car rally! Whoo hoo!

This is where I get all these old car pics. This is where I don’t think about web and database servers, or the inner workings of the Border Gateway Protocol for a week. This is my idea of fun. So in just a few weeks I’ll be climbing into the 65E with my Dad and driving over to Montana, where we’ll participate in the second annual “Going To The Sun Rally”. I was probably one of the first to sign up for the “First Annual” last year, but the whole engine debacle prevented my participation. Thankfully the organizers let me try again. It should be a ton of fun.

I’m spending the next couple of weeks prepping the car. Today I’m draining the gas tank and checking the filter screen on the dip tube. I had a fuel-delivery issue at speed a few weeks ago to sort out. Monday I’m transferring a sizable chunk of my bank account to SNG-Barratt, a Jag parts supplier, for some spares. Lots of little things to do. I’ve also got to get the engine up to Geoff to sort out that loose tappet sound on the exhaust side of the #1 or #2 cylinder. Jags should purr, not rattle. 😉

As always, I will thoroughly document my week here on my website. I’m looking forward to the adventure, I hope you are looking forward to watching it unfold here as well.

Audi R10 success means more restrictions in ALMS – Autoblog

Audi R10 success means more restrictions in ALMS – Autoblog

“A couple of years ago the thought of a diesel-powered race car would’ve made all but the most die-hard diesel fans laugh out loud. Today, however, Audi is dominating the American Le Mans Series with its pair of diesel-powered R10 racers. Their domination is so thorough, in fact, that ALMS organizers have decided to grant their competition concessions so they can keep up. “

Oh well, we knew it was coming. Let’s hope the oil burners stay out in front anyway.