May 2021

 May 1st weekend – 

On Saturday I woke early to feed the puppies and have myself a cup of coffee before heading to the garage.  My goal was to fabricate a removeable top for Scrappy so I set to it.  

I made a cardboard mockup which I measured and copied over the remaining ABS sheeting we had from making Ralphie’s top.  After a quick cut with the jigsaw and I had the ABS sitting on top of Scrappy’s cage.  For the next couple of hours I heated and shaped the ABS to fit the contours of the front of the roll cage.  What I really wanted was for the wind to flow over the top which meant that the front lip had to stay below the windshield ridge after coming over the front cage bar.  

Eventually I went inside to see what Susan was doing.  She was surfing her phone in bed and not entirely recovered from her second vaccine shot she had received on Thursday.  Susan was well-enough to get up and have coffee which was good.  After coffee we both went out to the garage.  

Susan helped continue to shape the ABS.  We had the top to a decent place and decided to start the install of the wing to the rear of Scrappy.  

The wing was supposed to fit Scrappy without any issues but we found a few.  We followed the official instructions closely but ran into fitment problems when it was time to attached the wing to the uprights.  Frustrating for sure.  

It was around this time that Tasso came by on his way down to Colorado Springs to pick up some Miata parts. We chatted with Tasso about all things Miata and ended up selling him a part that can be difficult to source before he left.  

Susan and I went back to installing the wing on Scrappy and eventually had it attached.  We then had to cut the trunk lid to fit around the uprights which ended up taking longer than expected as we wanted to cut just enough to clear.  Scrappy came from the factory with a little rear spoiler that we’d been initialing after each race so we had to be careful not to impact its integrity during the cutting process.  We got the trunk to a state of “good enough” before pivoting our focus back to the removeable top. 

The removeable top was indeed removeable with just four bolts needed for attachment.  The issue was that the front was pretty darn ugly.  Ugly enough that we decided to install a “unibrow” piece in front of the top which would be permanently affixed.  I used new-arrived rivet nuts to create attachment points across the top of the windshield frame.  I was ready to dive head-first into using them on Scrappy until Susan suggested I test them on the green chassis we still have.  Good thing as I messed up my first attempt.  A side note – rivet nuts are an amazing tool and I can’t believe I didn’t know about them earlier.  

After getting the top pieces to an acceptable place we headed into the house for the remainder of the evening to hang out with the dogs on the couch.  

Sunday I was up early again to feed the dogs and have my coffee.  I decided to take advantage of the early hour by going shopping at Home Depot and Walmart.  It was great as traffic was non-existent and the stores were largely empty.  

After I got home and had my purchases stored away I ventured to the garage to see if I could figure out a better mount for the new side-pipe exhaust on Scrappy.  The shop did a great job on the header and exhaust pipe but only welded one wimpy mounting point.  They didn’t even put in a rubber barrier so the mount will certainly fail due to vibrations.  Thus I ordered some DIY-style hardware from Amazon last week.  It was going to take some doing but I made a mount-plan.  

I got Susan up for coffee and to go over my exhaust-mount idea with her.  It was a touch early but she wasn’t too too mad about it.  Susan agreed with my plan so I set about drilling and whatnot while she painted the top components, splitter, and air dam on Scrappy.  

Things were going well until Oliver jumped on Susan’s lap and laid down to clean himself.  This left Susan immobilized as Oliver was too cute to get the boot.  Eventually I convinced Susan to stand up which she did slowly as to not greatly antagonize Oliver.  What followed was more painting and car work followed by us applying clear coat.  

Oliver left us for a time and returned carrying a baby bunny.  While this action was the impetus for us adopting Oliver it was hard to watch as, over the next few hours, he played with his victim.  It would have been much better if Oliver had simply finished-off the little feller but such was not the case.  Eventually Susan locked Oliver in his shed and we watched as rain started to fall on the mortally-wounded and hapless rabbit.  Nature is brutal.  

The evening and weekend ended with Susan and myself on the couch with the dogs watching TV and playing on our internet devices.  

May 8th weekend – 

Saturday had us up pretty early for our coffee.  Originally we were planning on driving down to Colorado Springs to buy some parts but it so happened to be that our friend Dan Hipwood was giving away these same parts.  So after coffee we went up to Dan’s house instead.  

Dan and Alina are moving to Oregon or Washington (depending on what homes they can buy) and are de-junking before they leave.  We arrived and chatted with Dan about their recent sale and preparations.  Their dog Pixel seems to have gotten more anxious with age and was distressed upon seeing us.  Not sure what’s up with that but the poor doggie barked at us a lot.  

Dan had been thinking of buying an NC Miata like ours so we let him test drive ours to see what he thought.  We hung out in their garage while they drove around.  Dan wasn’t impressed enough although Alina liked the many cup holders.  It felt sexist to write that but those are the facts.

We chatted more before finally leaving for home with a trunk full of parts.  We’ll miss Dan and Alina when they are gone.  

After we unloaded and hung out with the dogs for a bit we drove up to Kari and Alvin’s house.  The original intent of the trip was for Alvin to weld a bung on a header I want to install on Ralphie but, as things often do, it morphed into celebrating John’s birthday and Mother’s Day with John and Karen also coming.  We were very happy to have the plans shift a bit.  

When we arrived only Kari was there and she showed us the latest changes around the property.  Soon Alvin came up their road followed by a truck pulling an enclosed car trailer.  

Some months ago an old autocross pal of ours, Ron Bauer, had messaged Susan asking if we knew anyone interested in his old enclosed trailer.  I immediately thought of Alvin and, of course, he agreed to buy it.  Ron was asking far below market value for such a trailer and I likely would have bought it if Alvin wasn’t interested.  

Parking the trailer was tough but eventually Ron backed it to a location off the main driveway and out of the way.  Ron had come along with his wife, Charlie, and dog, Magnus.  Magnus is a six-month-old poodle and was pretty dang large and full of energy.  He was friendly enough and very interested in Kari and Alvin’s dogs.  There was a lot of chasing and smelling of each other’s hind-quarters.  

Soon after the trailer was parked John and Karen arrived.  Ron and Charlie hung out with us for a time longer and were pleasant company.  We chatted about racing, gardening, ducks, dogs, and whatever else struck our fancy.  They thanked us for allowing them to “crash the party” (no one minded) and eventually went on their way.  

Alvin had made smoked chicken for a late lunch and the result was tasty.  It was white meat though so was a bit dry.  A little BBQ sauce and the chicken helped tame the said dryness a bit.  

Susan, Kari, and Karen sat to look through old pictures while us boys went outside to finally get around to the original purpose of the visit.  Alvin dug out his welding equipment and successfully welded what I needed welding.  

Eventually we all said our goodbyes after much more chatting and some pictures were taken.  Alvin is a bad influence on me.  By the time we left I was convinced we should: buy another used Lemons racecar, install a shipping container for storage, and that I needed to start welding.  Susan was not amused.  

We got home around 7:00 to feed the dogs.  Normally we would have called it for the evening but we had to give Flo a once-over for the next day’s activities which included Susan rallycrossing.  We torqued lugs, checked fluids, and added air to the tires before declaring Flo rallycross-ready.  Then we headed to the couch to hang out with our dogs for the evening.  

Sunday we were both up very early.  Susan left to go play in the dirt while I headed for the garage.  I spent the day building a splitter/air dam for Ralphie and was just finishing up when Susan came home.  

The weather was rainy all day but the new site, Arapahoe County Fairgrounds, held up well and Susan had a great time.  Fortunately for her she was able to work timing so stayed out of the rain for most of the day.  Flo came back in one piece with all four cylinders still firing which is a success in itself.  

We made a trip to Home Depot to return the various hardware that we ended up not needing for the splitter/air dam builds and then Walmart for some food stuffs.  We were tired after the weekend’s activities and retreated to the couch to finish out the evening.  I was also very sunburned from driving around with the top down on Saturday (I deemed the pain worth the fun).  

On Monday Oliver came home.  The previous Thursday he didn’t come around for dinner and we didn’t see him all weekend.  Susan figured he probably got himself locked in a garage but we were worried.  I was working on the racecars with the garage door closed as it was cold and rainy when I heard his meows outside.  We were very relieved to see Oliver again.  

I left work around 10:30 on Tuesday to get my second vaccine.  The line was significantly shorter to get my second shot as it was for the first one some weeks ago.  I drove Betty and hilariously got multiple compliments about the car.  One guy even asked how much I paid for it.  The shot itself was virtually painless and I went back to work after waiting the requisite five minutes.  

I woke Wednesday feeling ok.  My head felt a little off but my temperature was normal so I went to work.  I made it until 11:00 before I went back home.  My head was feeling very wrong by then and, once home, I found that I had developed a fever.  I hung out with the dogs for the rest of the day on the couch.  We watched streaming shows I know Susan wouldn’t want to watch with me.  I was feeling normal by the time we went to bed.  

May 14th weekend – 

The weekend activities really began on Thursday after work when we started up the RV for the first time in six months.  We’d had it plugged into the house’s power throughout the winter and it started no problem.  We drove onto E470 to get up to cruising speed and back home and it ran without issues.  Once we had the RV back home we filled up the 100 gallon water tank.  

When we flushed out antifreeze we found that the drain pipe from the grey tank was cracked and leaking into the water bay.  Ugh.  I was thinking we’d replace the pipe but Susan suggested repairing it instead.  It turns out there are several solutions available and we found a silicone wrap at Lowes to try.  The space available to apply the wrap was cramped and I had a difficult time getting started but eventually had the pipe wrapped and the leak stopped.  

We were both “off” from work on Friday though I did go into the office for an 8:00 meeting I didn’t want to miss (what has happened to me?).  I didn’t stay too long after it was through and hit Walmart for supplies on my way home.  Susan had an interview at 10:00 so was busy too.  

Once home we busily packed and loaded up the RV for the weekend.  We finally left and arrived at the track a hair before 1:00 to unload Ralphie.  Friday’s plan was to let two of our Lemons drivers (Dave and Ian) take Ralphie out onto the track to test the car and give feedback.  Unfortunately Ralphie was still not running right after my many attempts at fixing the car.  

After some tinkering with the crank sensor I took the car out myself to see if I could replicate the problem.  Of course Ralphie decided I had finally done enough and ran perfectly from then on.  I was so thankful.  

One of our Lemons drivers, Ian, had brought out his new track toy – a C6 Corvette.  Ian was happily racing around the track when the car suddenly lost oil pressure.  Yikes.  This basically ruined his day.  We are hopeful that the engine is ok as it would be roughly $20K to fix.  These sorts of costs are why we race cheap Miatas versus higher horsepower, and thus more expensive, cars.  

It seemed like a lot of people we knew were at the track on Friday.  Nick D’Antonio was there with some friends and came by to chat.  “Lemons Dave” who was one of our drivers for the 24 hour race in September was there testing out an endurance Miata with part of his Lemons team.  Kris was there testing out his Audi endurance car and let me take it for a few laps (so much fun).  Our rally/rallycross pal Sterling was also at the track as he was renting out his VW and crewing for some of the Rocky Mountain Vintage Racing (RMVR) teams for the weekend.  

The day was hectic but successful from a testing-perspective.  Ralphie was running well and we got some good feedback on things to change.  

Dave helped us load Ralphie back into the trailer just in time to hunker down inside with Susan and myself as a rainstorm rolled in.  The deluge lasted for at least 30 minutes and we chatted while we waited for it to pass.  Eventually the sun came out, Dave left, and Susan and I were able to attend to our poor dogs who we had largely left alone in the RV.  They were very happy to see us.  

After feeding the pups we sat outside on our favorite camping chairs and ate fresh-ish chicken wings.  We met our paddock neighbors (Paul, Corey, and their daughter) who were crewing for a Porsche team.  Paul and Corey looked to be around our age and seemed like nice folks.  We concluded our outdoor activities by walking around and checking out the neat old racecars.  Then it was streaming programming and hanging with the dogs in the RV to finish out the night.  

We woke up early to the sounds of vintage racecars revving their loud engines to take care of the dogs.  Susan had success going back to sleep but I found myself on the couch surfing on my phone.  Eventually I got her up for coffee.  

Besides testing Ralphie the plan for the weekend was to stretch the RV’s legs and watch some racing.  The RV seemed fine so we took Susan’s new DSLR camera along to watch cars mosey around the track.  Her new camera had a video component I was keen to try so we set up a tripod to take static footage of the cars doing their thing at various locations around the track.  

Lunch was chili via our slow cooker.  The food was tasty when it was finally done (I’m out of practice with the slow cooker and hadn’t started it early enough).  When we were full we ventured out to take more video.  

We walked around a lot but it was worth the effort as we found some really cool spots we’ll likely utilize in the future.  The distances had us discussing a motorized pit vehicle.  Possibly more to come on this in the future.  

When the day’s racing was finally over we retreated to the RV to make dinner and hang out with the dogs.  Food was a chicken and mushroom stew which was tasty albeit a bit too salty.  We watched a movie and streamed more for our entertainment.  

Sunday had us up early again though this time both of us went back to bed once the dogs were taken care of.  We ate some food after our coffee and left to take a bit more footage of the racing.  

We eventually wandered back to the RV to begin packing up.  Susan made a pre-drive-checklist last year which we followed to a T.  Getting the RV out of its spot is always a hassle but fortunately a lot of the racers had already left so there wasn’t much paddock traffic to deal with.  

We stopped at KOA to dump our grey and black tanks.  We were out of practice but figured out what we needed to do and finished up without making a mess or taking too terribly long.  

After an uneventful drive home we did our RV/trailer dose-e-doe and unpacked.  We were tired from the weekend’s activities and sat down on the couch where I reviewed and edited some videos while Susan did her thing.  We felt that we had a very successful weekend.  

May 21 weekend – 

The weekend really started on Friday for us.  I took a half day off from work to meet Ian and AAA at our house to tow Ian’s Corvette.  AAA ended up bailing as Ian hadn’t registered the car yet so, to save the day, I volunteered to tow if Ian helped me install a winch on our open trailer.  He agreed to help so after Ian arrived we set to it.  

It only took one trip to Lowes for hardware and we had the winch installed.  Pulling the Corvette onto the trailer worked well-enough and we soon had it strapped down securely.  

The “shop” was up in Loveland so we had a long drive to chat about this and that.  Ian is an interesting fellow with an interesting past.  He was a pro snowboarder for 15 years and now owns and runs several investment interests.  Ian was a bit apprehensive as we drove into the neighborhood where the guy (Ken) had us go to drop off the Corvette.  

Ken worked out of a three-bay shop next to his home.  There were a few nice Corvettes around that Ken owned including a crazy track-specific version.  It all seemed a bit too shade-tree for Ian but Ken came highly recommended by several local Corvette owners so, after a lengthy conversation, we drove back home sans Ian’s Corvette.  

The entire trip took several hours though it was interesting getting to know each other and I was happy to help out a friend.  We arrived back at our home around 7:00.  Ian started his trek back into the mountains and I went inside to hang out with Susan and the pups.  

Saturday I was up early to feed the dogs and do some yard work.  The recent rainy-times meant that the grass and various other vegetation needed attending to for the first time in 2021.  I wanted to finish in the morning to take advantage of the cooler temperatures.  

I had to swap the snowblower for the lawnmower in the fridge and then topped off the lawnmower’s gas tank.  It took many pulls of the starting cord but eventually the Honda roared to life and the next few hours of my life began.  

Once I was finished I staggered inside to wake up Susan.  My lack of exercise during these COVID-times has not been good for my endurance and I was hurting.  Such is.  

After coffee Susan and I left to buy a Jeep soft top for Alvin.  We were provided an address, how much it would cost, and the knowledge that it should fit in Flo just fine.  We didn’t have a name so had an awkward conversation with a bartender at the establishment before finally getting ahold of Alvin on the phone to get more details.  Eventually we found the right guy (the head chef) who was friendly enough.  This mini-adventure wasn’t over though as the top was far larger than we believed it would be and the only way we could get it home was to have it partially hanging out a window.  As I have no shame/pride regarding such things around a quarter of the top’s frame was extended out one window for the drive back home.  

We dropped off the top in our car port before heading out again to Tractor Supply to buy miscellaneous hardware and Noodles for lunch.  While most businesses were allowing fully-vaccinated patrons to enter unmasked Noodles had a sign asking that everyone be considerate and wear masks to protect the workers.  Susan and I were feeling considerate and complied (honestly not a big deal as we, of course, still were carrying masks).  

After a quick stop at our favorite liquor store for wine we were back home to start working on Ralphie.  The June Lemons race is only two weeks away and there is so much left to do.  

I spent some hours pulling apart Ralphie’s rear end to remove and press in new bearings and studs.  This went well except I mushroomed the end of a rusty axle when I removed it.  This was ok as Miata axles aren’t very expensive and Susan managed to have one ordered from local parts store to pick up the next day.  

The weather turned nasty outside as I worked and we watched as heavy rain fell.  Oliver was hanging out with us which was great as we didn’t think he would have enjoyed the rain.  

The dogs weren’t interested in my sleeping-in efforts and annoyed me out of bed only a hair later than the normal 6:30 in the AM on Sunday.  Going back to sleep wasn’t in my cards so I hung out on the couch watching streaming until I got Susan up for coffee.  I was still pretty beat from mowing the day before but there was too much to do to mope around so we got to it.  

We left to pick up the axle Susan had ordered only to find out that someone at the store had ordered the wrong one.  We were annoyed but the person was able to order another we could pick up in the afternoon which was alright with me as I had plenty to do.  

At the designated time we again came back to the parts store to find that the wrong axle was ordered that morning.  Or not.  Evidently the axle we looked at before was the right axle for our car but the person helping us got confused and ordered another.  So there were two axles waiting for us.  We purchased one of the axles and went home a bit despondent at the situation.  

I buttoned up the rear-end of Ralphie and installed new hubs on the front too.  We did more Ralphie things and then went outside to take advantage of a few minutes of clear skies to install a box onto the open trailer.  Once done we moved the trailer down to the lower 40 and Alvin and Kari arrived with Ember in tow.  

We threw meat on the grill and split up: Alvin and I to work on Scrappy and Susan and Kari to chat about this and that.  Alvin and I didn’t have much success in doing what we wanted and made a quick but fruitless attempt to buy a needed part from a local store.  

The employee trying to help us reminded me strongly why I don’t engage with certain types of people.  He was a young guy who had all the answers except he didn’t know what he was talking about.  He was the kind of guy that will state an exaggerated thing as fact and then double down.  Alvin was much more patient than I was about the interaction.  We eventually left and I couldn’t help but be reminded of some former “friends” of whom share this particular personality trait.  They drive me batty.  

At some point in all of this we sat down and ate what the good grill provided which was pretty tasty.  We chatted about this and that before Alvin and Kari left for home.  It was a nice way to end a mostly-productive weekend.    

May 28th weekend – 

The weekend began on Friday night as we loaded up Ralphie for a trip to Brad Ames’ home.  I was rereading the Lemons rules earlier in the week when I realized that dropping the floor pan to gain driver-headspace had caused the angle of the shoulder belts to be out of the required range.  Thankfully Brad agreed to add another harness bar to correct the angle.  

We arrived at Brad’s home and shop around 6:30 and he got to it.  The job took several hours and we all chatted about this and that while Brad worked.  It was interesting to see the process and the end result was fantastic.  We had a nice time.

Saturday had me up early to take care of the dogs and go to the garage.  I’ve been making a point to do something racecar-related every day for the last few weeks/months so that I didn’t fall too far behind.  Even with this daily grind the list of required things to do was still long.  I didn’t get much done though as our grander plans for the day included a trip up to Kari and Alvin’s house to see them along with Karen and John for food and conversation.  

Susan and I arrived at the Johnson-compound right at 1:00 to find everyone outside standing around an old blue truck that was full of dirt.  This was John’s plow truck and he had brought a load of garden-dirt up for Kari.  Alvin had cut a steep access road from the main driveway to the back area of the house which he then utilized to drive up John’s truck with the dirt.  

We all gathered to watch Alvin’s ascent which, thankfully, was uneventful.  Last time this was attempted the truck didn’t manage the climb.  Alvin had done some work to the “road” and the bed full of dirt helped weigh down the rear tires which helped with the traction.  

As per usual the time spent with the family was pleasant and we chatted about many this’s and thats.  We ate outside under an easy-up before heading inside when rain threatened and temperatures dropped.  Alvin had prepared smoked ribs which we found to be tasty.  They may have been a bit tough but we didn’t mind one bit.  

Susan and I stayed a bit longer after John and Karen left and watched portions of movies with Alvin and Kari on their new TV.  This TV is ginormous at 75” and really looks fantastic.  When our current TV inevitably dies we may have to get one like it.  We eventually left for home as we needed to tend to our pets.  After the pups were fed and settled we sat down to finish the movie we’d begun watching at Alvin and Kari’s house (Interstellar).  

Sunday was another early day and I was out in the garage after feeding the dogs.  Soon enough and I got Susan up and she made us coffee and joined me to help work on the cars.    

Later in the morning Susan noticed a Facebook post in our neighborhood from someone giving away patio furniture.  It was two table and chair sets and, within a minute of the original post, Susan had replied that we were interested.  We drive over towing our open trailer and loaded up everything they had.  It was a good thing that Susan was so fast to act as by the time we arrived there had been three other inquiries!  

After unloading the patio furniture we had to close the garage doors to keep Oliver out.  It was muddy out and Oliver had managed to make quite a mess of himself.  We didn’t want him walking all over the relatively clean racecars so we locked him outside.  He was vocally sad but there was nothing to be done about it.  It did rain much of the afternoon but Oliver has many places to take refuge so he wasn’t exactly being tortured by being kept outside.  

We got a lot done including fabricating a racecar wing on the new-to-us scooter we’d acquired as a pit vehicle.  This wing is, of course, purely for aesthetics and should help the scooter fit the racing-vibe.  It was a quick build and Susan even painted it yellow and purple to match Ralphie and Scrappy.  

We utilized the Memorial Day Monday to continue working on the racecars.  I was up early again and Susan joined me later in the morning again.  

One of the most useful items in our tool box is zip ties which are employed in a myriad of ways on both Scrappy and Ralphie.  It was around noon when I used the last 11” zip tie to secure roll bar foam so we made a trip to Harbor Freight to acquire more.  Since it was close by we also went to Walmart and loaded up things we needed for the upcoming Lemons race.  We rarely buy so much from Walmart in one go.  Our shopping cart was so full I had to carry one item separately (a long (and entirely too heavy) folding table) when we went to check out.  

After we were home and unloaded Susan made a trip to Qdoba to get lunch while I picked at the remaining masking tape left on Scrappy’s cage.  The food was yummy and we continued to work throughout the afternoon.  

Susan spent much of her time applying vinyl to the air dams on each racecar.  This was a difficult task that I would not have had the patience to do.  Susan did an incredible job and both bumpers looked fantastic when she was done.  

When we finally finished up in the garage both cars were at a place that they “should” pass tech and could race.  We were tired from the long weekend and finished the evening on the couch with our neglected dogs.  

May was so busy with Susan and I working on the racecars.  We are hoping the June Lemons race goes well and both cars finish without issues.  This is our first (and possibly only) time running two cars and a total of eight drivers and our stress-level is very high.  While we are all friends and our drivers have realistic expectations we do not want anyone to have a poor experience if we can help it.  

A note that we took all three dogs to the vet to receive heartworm shots.  Pebbles also had her annual exam.  Pebbles weighed in at 5.2lbs, Bella came in at 12.2lbs, and Mel tipped the scale at 17.6lbs.  We’re not exactly sure what happened but Pebbles left the appointment with a bit more pep in her step.  We’re thinking that the vet’s ministrations with Pebbles’ back legs caused some kind of joint “realignment”.  Some kind of physical therapy may be in order as we have been delighted to see Pebbles doing so well.