The Snows of May
The weather in Colorado can be unpredictable. This is especially true if you live in the Rockies in the northwest corner of the state. In fact, they have a saying around here that if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes. I usually roll my eyes whenever I hear someone say that. It’s one of those sayings that has been out-said. Unfortunately, this stupid phrase is the best way to describe the weather that we have been experiencing the past couple of weeks. We have had precipitation in all its forms; rain, sleet, hail and snow. There have been brief moments of sunshine followed by house rattling winds.
If you look closely you can see signs that Spring is actually here. The Hummingbirds are buzzing around the feeder and don’t even seem to be bothered by the icicles (photo credit: phrog). The grass is turning green, the trees are budding, and the Daffodils have bloomed (and have now been pummeled into submission). Now I’m hoping that Mother Nature stops with Her shenanigans and gets down with some blue skies, sunshine, and temperatures above 70.
Summer around here is short enough as it is.
The Spanish Grand Prix 2010
It was a Red Bull 1 – 2 for qualifying and all bets were on a Red Bull 1 – 2 for the finish of the race at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya. It shoulda, woulda, coulda, but was not meant to be and Red Bull had to settle for a 1 – 3 finish. Mark Webber had no problems taking his lead from start to checkered flag without incident. But once again, his teammate, Sebastian Vettel, suffered from unreliability issues with his RB6. Vettel had to wait for traffic to clear during his pit stop which put him behind the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton. To make matters even worse, he then suffered a brake failure. Vettel was then forced to limp his car around the track for the remaining 12 laps. Luckily the gap between Vettel and fifth place Schumacher was a substantial one and he was able to maintain his position. A delaminated brake disc turned out to be the culprit.
Lewis Hamilton experienced the largest set-back of the race. Lewis suffered a deflation in his left front tire during his penultimate lap which sent him sailing into the tire wall, ending his race. Had Hamilton finished the race he would have been just one point shy of his teammate, Jenson Button, in the championship points standing. With Hamilton out, Alonso was able to capture second place to a cheering Spanish crowd. Sebastian Vettel managed a podium finish in third.
It was a frustrating race for Jenson Button. His pit stop was slowed due to a dragging clutch which sent him back onto the track behind Michael Schumacher. Even though Button was in a faster car, Schumi didn’t give the Brit any opportunity to get by. Michael Schumacher finished the race in fourth, his best result thus far for the season and Jenson Button claimed fifth.
With five races now completed, the top three contenders for the championship title are Jenson Button with 70 points, followed by Fernando Alonso with 67 and Sebastian Vettel with 60 points. However, with 14 races still to be had, a clear cut winner has yet to be determined. It’s still anyone’s race.
Formula 1 Heads to Europe
It will have been three weeks by the time the next Formula 1 race gets underway in Barcelona, Spain. This will be the home country race for Fernando Alonso, Jaime Alguersuari, and newcomer, Pedro de la Rosa. For Fernando Alonso it will be his first Spanish Grand Prix driving for Ferrari. This alone should make the Spanish F1 fans happy. And the fact that Alonso and Hamilton are currently tied with 49 championship points apiece should make for an exciting duel from the former Mclaren rivals. It is also the first race at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya for Jaime Alguersuari who started mid season last year. Alguersuari scored his first Formula 1 points in Malaysia by coming in ninth place ahead of countryman Fernado Alonso who finished 13th. The race in Barcelona will also be the first for Pedro de la Rosa driving for Sauber. De la Rosa has yet to score any championship points. His best finish thus far has been 12th position in Melbourne. The Melbourne race was also the first race he successfully completed, beating out his teammate, Kamui Kobayashi, who has yet to finish a race with an intact race car.
The news has been rather quiet during this lull in racing. Most of the news centered around the F1 personnel battling the ash of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano. Ross Brawn was among one of the few lucky souls who managed to get out of Shanghai immediately and relatively painlessly. Mark Webber, on the other hand, spent 44 hours traveling by various modes of transportation and managed to lose his passport along the way. The Virgin Racing team was so delayed in getting their equipment back to home base that they were only able to fit one of their cars, that of Timo Glock, with a new chassis.
Teams usually use this lengthy period in between races to add new bits onto the cars and make major adjustments. One driver who will be the beneficiary of a major overhaul is Michael Schumacher. Mercedes have increased the car’s wheelbase in an attempt to improve weight distribution. Ferrari will be trying out their new F-duct system in Spain and Fisichella has been out on the track testing the new aerodynamics. Red Bull’s Mark Webber has stated in an interview that Red Bull will not have the F-duct or J-switch available to them for the Spanish Grand Prix, while the Sauber team has also been testing out theirs. Most of the other teams have also made upgrades to their aero packages that they will be unveiling in Spain.
1971 BMW 2002 Project Update: 2
April 10 – With the hoist repaired it was only a matter of lifting the engine out of the car since all of the prep work had already been done. Three hours later the other engine was out of the donor car. We then loaded up the car onto a trailer along with the replacement engine and headed off to the car wash to get rid of the amazing layer of gunk in the engine compartment.
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Once back home it was time to assess what parts may need replacing before the donor car’s engine could be put into the car. The first round of parts to be ordered: clutch kit (Ireland Engineering), rear main seal and pilot bearing (Car Quest) and a pilot bearing puller tool (Harbor Freight).
Waiting for the new parts to arrive gave us a chance to find out what was wrong with the original engine. The engine ran when we got the car but had a definite knock. Once we got a good look inside we discovered that the bolts that hold the connecting rod had come loose. When we removed the oil pan we found a connecting rod nut in the bottom of the pan. Oops. Apparently the previous owner’s son had attempted to adjust the timing most likely without any real knowledge of how to do this. From a restoration standpoint it’s kind of a shame since the car would be completely original had the engine not been destroyed.
April 24 – We ran into one snag with our new parts. Ireland Engineering sent us the wrong clutch kit. They sent us the 228 clutch kit instead of the 215. Luckily our donor car had the proper size flywheel. With the new parts installed it was time to get the engine into the car. Thankfully we were able to move the project into a garage as Mother Nature seems to be having a good time messing with the weather. The Monster Shed Crew was in full force and after a good solid day of serious laboring the engine was in. All she needed was a little coaxing to turn over and then she was running under her own power.
After taking the car for a quick trip down the road to warm up the engine we discovered a problem. The water wasn’t circulating through the radiator causing the car to eventually run hot. We removed the thermostat and tested it by submerging it in a pan of water which was heated to the required temperature which was 176° where the thermostat should open. Lo and behold, the thermostat remained shut. The thermostat from the original engine was tested and found to be in working order. A couple more trips down the road and another problem was discovered — a faulty water pump. Luckily, our local Car Quest can get us parts overnight at no extra cost. The car is remarkably easy to work on (so far) and the water pump replacement only took a couple of hours to do.
Cost of project to date: $1486.19
Rear main seal – $28.80
Pilot bearing – $13.80
Bearing puller tool – $48.98 (w/s&h)
Clutch kit – $236.76 (w/s&h)
Water pump – $65.78
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
“Everybody has a story. It’s like families. You might not know who they are, might have lost them, but they exist all the same. You might drift apart or you might turn your back on them, but you can’t say you haven’t got them. Same goes for stories. So,” she concluded, “everybody has a story. When are you going to tell me yours?’
It’s been a while since I have read a really good book. The kind you get lost in. The Thirteenth Tale was exactly that type of book for me.
World renowned author, Vida Winter, has been telling tales for six decades. All of which have brought her much fame and fortune. However, none are as sought after as the missing thirteenth tale. For years reporters and would be biographers have hounded Ms. Winter for this mysterious story or for the story of her life, but all have walked away empty handed. It isn’t until she is old and frail that Ms. Winter seeks out the daughter of a bookshop owner, Margaret Lea, to tell her story to; the real story.
The Thirteenth Tale is a perfect book to curl up on the couch with on a rainy weekend, enjoy a cup of tea and get swept up in an old fashioned tale that will have you guessing until the end.
All morning I struggled with the sensation of stray wisps of one world seeping through the cracks of another. Do you know the feeling when you start reading a new book before the membrane of the last one has had time to close behind you? You leave the previous book with ideas and themes — characters even — caught in the fibers of your clothes, and when you open the new book, they are still with you.
2010 F1 Schedule
Date Location Mar. 14 
Sakhir - Bahrain Mar. 28 
Melbourne - Australia Apr. 04 
Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia Apr. 18 
Shanghai - China May 09 
Barcelona - Spain May 16 
Monaco May 30 
Istanbul - Turkey Jun. 13 
Montreal - Canada Jun. 27 Valencia - Spain Jul. 11 
Silverstone - Great Britain Jul. 25 
Hockenheim - Germany Aug. 01 
Budapest - Hungary Aug. 29 
Spa-Francorchamps - Belgium Sep. 12 
Monza - Italy Sep. 26 
Singapore Oct. 10 
Suzuka - Japan Oct. 24 
South Korea Nov. 07 
Sao Paulo - Brazil Nov. 14 
Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates -
