March 6th weekend –
Saturday we were up with an alarm at 6:30 to feed the dogs and have our coffee. We had a busy day at the track planned and needed to get going.
When we bought the new open trailer we just parked it in front of the enclosed trailer and blocked it off from potential theft with the suburban. Thus the first thing we did was drag the open trailer to the lower 40 and remove the hitch attachment to stave off thieves (I know I’ve mentioned this a couple of times but we’re not too too worried, just a little worried). Then we were back to the enclosed trailer to push out the rolling chassis we bought some weeks ago. It was much more difficult than I remembered but we managed to get it next to the non-rolling chassis so we could prepare Betty for her inaugural track day and load her into the trailer. After grabbing the last few things we could think of we headed out to get gas, ice, and water on the way to the track.
We arrived early enough to grab a prime parking spot next to our Lemons pal David who was out with his team’s blue Miata. We all checked in together and chatted about all things racecar before finally donning our helmets to drive.
Susan was the first one out and I rode along. We noticed some weird puffs of smoke from the back of the car periodically so came back after a couple of laps. Everything seemed fine so we went back out for Susan to finish her session.
I asked David to follow me around when I took my turn and he said the smoke was coming from the tail pipe. Again we didn’t find anything wrong. No overheating and the oil levels looked fine. We attributed it to the VVT motor I installed without having a VVT controller and we decided to risk it and just have fun. This turned out to be a wise move as we had a blast for the rest of the day and the car survived just fine.
Another driver on David’s Lemons team was there testing out his new-to-him Honda S2000. Unfortunately for him it had some issues and eventually died out on the track. As he didn’t trailer it he was in a bind. Susan had the excellent idea that we load the S2000 into our trailer and have him drive Betty. He was happy to have the help so we all left together at the end of the day.
Our journey back was going fine until he called and told us that Betty died on the side of the road. Commence Susan and I slapping our foreheads. We were just past Colfax on I70 which meant that looping back around was quite the affair. 10 minutes later and we were almost back when he called to tell us that he figured out the problem and was back on the road. Turned out the fuel line wasn’t snapped fully into place and popped off on a particularly large bump.
We finally met him at his suburban home at 69th and Sheridan and, after some physical struggles due to the angle of his driveway, managed to get the S2000 into his garage so he could eventually figure out its problem. He and his wife (whom we had met before) were grateful and we were happy to help. We know intimately how things can go wrong on track days and what a pain they can be to deal with.
We took I25 home and were reminded why we almost always take the toll road when towing. Towing a loaded trailer in heavy traffic is no fun. We eventually backed into our driveway as the sun was almost completely set to find Oliver waiting for dinner. Susan tended to him and we unloaded and took care of our ecstatic dogs. We were happy how the day turned out when we finally sat down on the couch for the evening.
I was up early again on Sunday to feed the dogs and contemplate the day. I was tired so attempted to go back to bed. After an indeterminate amount of time passed I gave up and sat on the couch to watch YouTube videos until Susan emerged around 10:00 to make coffee.
I was on the precipice of making it a lazy Sunday when Susan reminded me that we have so much to do and the weather was amazing outside. So we went to the garage to get on with it.
After several months I finally decided to take another look at Scrappy. I had swapped in a fresh used motor but the car would not fire up. Everything looked fine and Alvin had come over to check the ECU but found nothing wrong. I was stumped. One thing I did know was that the starter didn’t work so I began tearing apart the intake side of the engine to swap it out.
Susan was going to paint Ralphie using leftover paint from when we painted Scrappy. Unfortunately some nefarious chemical reaction had taken place in the paint can which made most of its contents into a gelatinous blob and unusable. Thus Susan left to obtain a fresh can while I continued to toil away. This turned out to be a challenge as only one place had the specific paint we wanted.
Eventually Susan came back home and got to painting Ralphie. Almost immediately the new race car started looking better. What doesn’t look better yellow? Maybe that only applies to cars.
In any case I was still working away as the starter on this particular motor is painful to access. I eventually finished up and found that now the engine would turn over but still wouldn’t fire. Susan had suggested months ago that I swap out the fuel rail and did so again. I knew it wouldn’t be hard to do and so I finally swapped the fuel rail from the newer motor with the fuel rail from the blown motor. Amazingly, stupendously, miraculously, joyously, rapturously, and literally the motor started up after a few seconds of pushing the start button. We were overjoyed and I accepted a healthy amount of “I told you so’s” with no hard feelings whatsoever. I was just so happy. For context it took me over two hours to swap out the starter and maybe eight minutes to swap out the fuel rail. Sometimes working on our race cars is maddening.
There was still much painting to be done on Ralphie so I joined Susan to roll on more. We spent a couple of hours slathering on coats before we were satisfied. We weren’t finished with painting the car but done painting for the day.
I wanted to get Betty back to its pedestrian self so we unloaded it from the trailer, swapped back its street tires, and reattached the hardtop (we always take the hardtops off for track days as I sit too tall to fit inside with a helmet). We hung out for a time longer chatting about this and that before going inside to wash up.
I was still so happy about Scrappy starting that I suggested we go out to eat. We ended up having a nice meal at Brothers Bar and Grill. In the before times this restaurant was packed most nights but we found it largely desolate. We miss the before times. Eventually we got back home to finish up the weekend on the couch as per our normal. Such a fantastic weekend it was.
March 13th weekend –
Saturday I woke up to find no snow whatsoever. This was a bit of a shock as the forecasts all week had been calling for quite the storm both Saturday and Sunday. I tended to the dogs before briefly attempting to go back to bed. I gave up and ended up on the couch playing games until Susan got up.
The snow finally started falling around the moment Susan exited the bedroom around 10:00. She brewed up some coffee and we thought about doing something productive. We decided not to and instead entertained ourselves via our preferred electronic methods while we hung out with the dogs.
The snow didn’t really accumulate much during the day and we were wondering if this particular sno-pocalypse was to be a dud.
Sunday we woke to find more snow on the ground. I got up and had to do a bit of shoveling in the dog pen so Pebbles could do her business (Mel doesn’t seem to mind the deep snow,I think she actually likes doing her business in the deep stuff). I didn’t even attempt to go back to bed this time and instead eventually fell asleep on the couch. I awoke to the sounds of the TV when Susan came out to join me.
The snow had been falling heavily all day and Susan finally cajoled me off the couch in the early afternoon to do something about our driveway. We both bundled up and headed out. We had put the snowblower in the garage and I added some gas from the can we had take out of the trailer earlier. To my surprise I barely had to add any before the snowblower was full. This was not a good sign as the last time I used the snowblower was two years before.
After following the steps to prime the snowblower I tugged on the starter pull to no avail. I was very worried the gas had gone bad but after a couple of dozen pulls the motor coughed and started up.
We spent around two hours outside blowing the snow around and shoveling. The snow kept falling and the wind kept blowing the entire time. I didn’t feel particularly cold while we were out there but once inside I felt quite chilly. In fact it took both of us hunkering down on the couch under blankets and dogs for quite some time before we finally warmed up.
By the time the sun went down much of the snow we had moved had blown back in which was a bummer. Susan went out and recleared the dog area twice during the day and one more time before bed so Pebbles could do her thing. The snow finally quit a bit before midnight when we were heading to bed.
On Monday morning I got up early to use the snowblower again. Fortunately the additional accumulation after our initial clearing-effort the day before was light dry snow which the snowblower easily handled (it had struggled with the heavy wet snow the day before). The plows hadn’t been through the neighborhood yet but I was determined to get to work.
In Flo I blasted my way out of the driveway and down to 1st street. Thankfully I had brought a shovel as I needed it to dig out a couple of times before I finally turned back toward home. 1st street was simply impassable with the drifting. Fortunately 6th street was much better and I did finally get out of the neighborhood. The rest of the roads were snowpacked and I got to work without any further complications. Thankfully Susan was able to stay home.
March 20th weekend –
Saturday had us up at 6:30 to take care of the dogs and to drink some coffee. It was another track day so we needed the extra time.
First we had to rearrange the cars a bit as most of the Miatas were still on the north side of the house. Then I had to swap out the brake pads as I hadn’t had a chance to do so since the last track day. This took some time as I was out of practice. Then we swapped out the street wheels for track wheels and loaded up Betty.
We made our customary stop at King Soopers for gas and ice on the way to HPR. Traffic was strangely heavy on I70 east of Denver but everyone was speeding past us so we made good time. We arrived in time to check-in and unload before the track was open to cars.
Susan got helmeted up and I sat down to eat some lunch. I was munching away while I watched Susan messing with the seat belt. This went on for a couple of minutes and I went out to check on her. Something was wrong with the seat belt mechanism and it wouldn’t extend. I had no idea what to do but fiddled with it and got it working again.
We then took turns driving around the track. It was a perfect day to be out there. Not too crazy-windy, the temperatures were pleasant, and there weren’t too many people out there. Lots of fun.
I was feeling very tired around 2:00 though an we decided to pack up and go home early. The wind was blowing harder at this point and the drive home was slower than normal. Once backed into the driveway we took care of the dogs and cat before pulling Flo up onto the concrete pad.
As we were getting home from our recent Glenwood Springs trip we had noticed a clunk sound from the front of Flo. I had finally remembered to look at it so we jacked up the car and took off the front wheels. The problem was clear as the sway bar end link was completely broken and the bar itself was flapping in the breeze so to speak. No big deal and I ordered parts online (none were to be had locally).
Our house was basically without fresh food so we went to Walmart to replenish. On the way we stopped at Harbor Freight for some stuffs which was fun (we love that place). After shopping we rushed home to each some Walmart rotisserie which was very yummy. At some point in the middle-past we stopped buying rotisserie at Walmart. Eating it again had us recognizing this change as a mistake. In the evening we elected to stay on the couch with the dogs which was nice.
Sunday started slower. After I took care of the dogs I plopped on the couch to play games until Susan got up and made us some coffee. It was a bit chilly outside but we didn’t let that stop us from going out to do some work.
It was finally time to start pulling parts off of the mostly-bare chassis. We removed the doors, rear bumper cover, windshield wiper system, wiring harness, and some other various goodies. This took some time and the weather didn’t make it pleasant work. Eventually we got to a stopping point and put our newly pilfered goodies in the garage.
We had wanted to go to Saltgrass to celebrate me recently getting a different job in my company but the wait time there was ridiculous so we went to Longhorn instead where we were immediately seated. The food was wonderful and I even got myself a steak which I rarely do anymore.
When we got back home snow had started falling a little. Susan took a nap and the snow really started coming down. This decided the rest of the evening and we entertained ourselves on the couch with the dogs to finish out the fun and productive weekend.
March 27th weekend –
We were up early with an alarm on Saturday. After tending to the dogs and coffee we commenced cleaning up the house and tidying up the garage. Not only had it been some time since we’d performed a thorough cleaning but several members of our Lemons team were coming over later in the day.
Said members started arriving a bit after noon. I BBQ’d and we chatted about all things racecar. Everyone got into both Scrappy and Ralphie to check fitment and I eventually went over a bunch of things I wanted to convey to everyone. They stayed until 4:00 or so and we had a really nice time.
Susan and I cleaned up the food stuffs and I decided I was motivated to do something with the cars so I wet sanded Ralphie. This took some time and looked immensely better after I was done. We removed hard tops from both Tia and Betty and put them in the garage. We put up Tia’s soft top and tapped the split in the plastic closed with duct tape. Susan rearranged the cars so Tia would be somewhat protected from any potential elements in the car port.
Oliver had been around all day harassing our guests and generally being a crazy cute cat but we didn’t see him when we went inside for the evening. He didn’t come around at all that night when Susan called.
Sunday we slept in slightly as most of our stuff was ready to go for our planned day at the track. I went out to get the trailer ready to hook up to the truck when I heard some sad sounding meows. I couldn’t locate the source and called Susan outside to help me look around. We didn’t find Oliver and were about to hook up the trailer when we heard more meows. Oliver was in the trailer!
The night before we briefly opened the trailer to take out Betty’s hardtop and Oliver must have snuck inside. Poor guy. He seemed little worse for wear and was very glad to see us. We will be more careful about making sure Oliver isn’t in the trailer before locking it up going forward.
Betty had been leaking fluid from its differential after the last two trips to the track so we backed the car out of the trailer and onto the concrete pad. It took some doing but we soon had the differential topped off and the car back in the trailer. We were then off to get gas and ice on the way to the track.
We pulled into the paddock a bit before 11:00 so walked up to the registration building to check in. No one was there so we stood there until the drivers meeting was over and Glenn could give us our wrist bands. The rest of the day had Susan and I alternating driving around the track with much fun had by both of us. It was very busy but most drivers out there were polite enough. We packed up at 3:00 as one of the tires was chunking a bit on its edge and we didn’t want to chance a blowout. Also I wanted to get home early enough to do more car work stuffs.
After we were home, unpacked, and took care of the dogs, then I sponge-washed Ralphie to get off the residue from the prior day’s wet sanding. We did some minor body work and Susan hit the newly bare spots from removing the mud flaps with primer before we rolled another coat of yellow onto the whole car. While I was finishing up with the paint Susan started working on replacing Flo’s front sway bar end links.
She basically swapped out one side and I the other. While I was helping the tool I was using slid off the nut I was trying to twist and I somehow managed to nose-butt the fender. This resulted in a minor nosebleed which is the first one I’ve given myself in a while. I was more careful finishing up the project. Susan was getting hungry so we ventured out to Subway to get her a sandwich that she happily ate at home while I enjoyed some leftover chili. The rest of the weekend was spent on the couch relaxing with the dogs who were all so happy to have us around.
Monday morning we got up early and drove up to Coyote Motors in Boulder to drop off Tia to have a new soft top installed. This has been long overdue and we’re both excited to have Tia in true-Miata form again. It was several years ago that I split the rear plastic window while trying to close it on a cold day (always a bad idea with a soft top).
After work on Tuesday we drove back up to Coyote Motors to pick up Tia with her new top. In a surprising turn of events we actually remembered how to get there. Since electronic navigation became a thing those many years ago I’ve felt like a part of my brain has gone dormant in that it just doesn’t retain directions well. Both Susan and I remembered this time though which was something. Tia looked fantastic and we were very happy with the work done. This summer Susan will get to enjoy driving her old favorite car with the top down whenever she wishes.
March was a busy month and simply flew by. The dogs are all doing well and Oliver is still crazy. For some time now he’s been remedying his matted fur by ripping it out in chunks. This is mildly disconcerting as he is giving himself bald spots but whatever. Looking forward to April and whatever it brings.
