Speed Week at Bonneville
The week after next is Bonneville Speed Week. I have gone there for Speed Week for the last four years so this will be my fifth. There will likely be several new record set again and I am looking forward to the sights, sounds, smells, and unique feeling I get while I am there. The salt reflects so much light back that you can get a sunburn under your chin and other places. The salt builds up on the bottom of your shoes and you end up tracking it everywhere also.
This year I am going to drive my 86 Mustang SVO to the salt and probably sleep in it with the hatch slightly open and the seats folded down. Last year I drove my 89 Mustang convertible. (no room to haul stuff in that car). Can't sleep on the salt but you can drive back towards Wendover a little bit to find a place where about 100 people camp in a 50 acre sandy flat spot. (okay unless it rains)
I will have pictures posted soon from last year from my digital compact Nikon. It took some pretty good pictures but had only a 3 power zoom so I was limited to closer pics. The pics from the race track I took with my Canon AE1 Program and a 500 mm lense. Being a film camera I needed to get them processed but I haven't done it yet. I could do that I guess, then I could post those too.
I am looking forward to using my new Canon compact with a 12 power zoom. It should equal the 500 mm I used last year and should get close enough for some good photos at the salt. The cars are about 1/4 mile away when they go by so a powerful zoom is a must.
One time two or three years ago we watched one go by between mile markers two and three and it took about 12 seconds. (about 375 mph) It was the Nish Motorsports streamliner. Damn that thing was fast. There are a couple of Diesel trucks that are dramatic also. Plus there have been a couple of spins that are always exciting.
Look for the photos coming soon.
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Missed it
Bad timing in life sometimes happens.
I missed going to speedweek this year.
The good news is I haven't missed a race at Meridian since May.
This post isn't really about Bonneville
Speedweek is fast approaching. As I am sitting here writting (typing) this I am wondering how I am going to fit it in to my schedule this year. If I miss it it will be the first time since 2002.
One of my problems is I am working on a stupid Mercury Sable that I can't get the AXOD (read that as POS) transmission to work right. This problem, as many of my problems, started because I can't just say NO. I bought a car from a friend (a 1993 Mazda Protege) and in payment I was paying 100 a month. He had just bought a 1996 Sable from his grandma. Low miles, just driven to church and the hair dresser once a week, that sort of thing. I told him the trans would go out; they always do. So when it did he asked me if I could fix it to pay off what I owed on the Mazda. So like an idiot I said yeah, OK. I rebuilt it and included a new/rebuilt torque convertor from a local supplier. After 20 miles the torque convertor self destructed and filled the trans with clutch material. They admitted that the TC was bad and gave me a new one so I rebuilt it again and now I can't get the d___ thing to shift into fourth gear. I am going to check out the valve body again and see what i can find.
About a week ago some guy stopped at my shop in a Ford Taurus. I almost told him NO with out even talking with him before I found out the problem is in his Ford pickup instead. Needs a clutch or something. I suggested Clutch World just down the street but he told me that he doesn't trust just any mechanic to work on his stuff. This guy had never met me before and I didn't recognize the name of the guy that recommended me to him but I told him I would look at the Pickup next week and give him an opinion. I may just tell him to go to Clutch World but &%$#it I need the money. So I'll be tempted to say yes even when I suspect that it may be a pain in the &%#.
Oh Well. Life goes on. Busted Knuckles and all.
Brian.