Thoughts On A Year's Worth Of Blogging

Like the stand-up comic said of his own jokes, "A lot of these I do just for myself."  (The posts.)  But it's gratifying to have some regular readers.  I'm open to suggestions on how to make the blog better.  And to posts by regular readers.  It needs more voices.  There have been several times when I thought I'd run out of things to post about.  But something always seems to come up.  Sometimes very interesting stuff, like my cousin's current TR-6 restoration.

Maybe it shouldn't surprise me that four of the top five posts are Porsche-related.  (And one of them was a "referral" by the owner of 550-141, so people were sent to the post.)  Marque-centric car buffs seem to have a laser-like focus on their brand, sometimes to the exclusion of anything else.  But, although I'm a Porschephile myself, pains are taken to keep the blog from becoming Porsche-centric.

Lately, with the return of good weather, I've tried some posts about touring (and a couple more are in the pipe).  But I don't have any significant road trips planned, other than another Dragon run in October.  There is only so much local color to go around.

Porsche aside, it's heartening that some of the most-read posts are the "scholarly" ones: the aero evolution of the Ford GT 40 and the Porsche 917, a summary of Formula 1 regulations and their impact, the Mille Miglia Ferraris, and the review of Tony Brooks's autobiography.  A minor goal for the blog has been to post short essays about things I wanted to know myself (or would have) but could find nowhere else.  Or at least not in one place at one time.

The relative popularity of some posts has surprised me: Leonardo's Moretti, my account of a day on the Dragon.  Conversely, some posts that I thought might garner a following, or was proud of, have sunk without a trace.  So you never know...  I'll keep posting about the automobilia I love, and occasionally linking to interesting sites, until it becomes tiresome--even to me.

Speaking of interesting sites, BARCBoys is one that I recently found that will interest readers of, shall we say, a certain age:

http://www.barcboys.com/

Purdy Car, Purdy Picture

Emerson Fittipaldi trail-brakes his Lotus 72 into a surfeit of Oil Dri.

TR-6 Restoration (#9)

The carbs are rebuilt and polished.  The intake manifold has been repaired and is ready for cleanup.  (It had pin holes in the vacuum tube which had to be filled and ground down.)  The new radiator has arrived.  Body now completely sanded but metal repair yet to be done.  Both shops are doing other work too, so there's a hiatus in progress.

Who Are They?

It doesn't take that long to become an ancien pilote.  Or at least one with silver hair or a plump middle-aged face.  Who are they?  Extra Credit: which one is lucky to have reached middle-age, and why?

Hard Core (Killboy Videos Chasing The Dragon IV)

The video runs an hour; suggest you advance it to 21 minutes (to bypass starting line stuff to where the first ess begins) and watch until bored.  The audio is excellent and fun, especially the turbo pop-off valves. There's a huge variety of cars, from street-licensed Miatas to a McLaren Can-Am replica.  Several V-8 transplants.

This hillclimb is sanctioned and organized by the Central Carolinas Region of the SCCA.  It does not take place on the Tail of the Dragon, but on the access road to the Maple Springs Overlook off the Cherohala Skyway in the Nantahala National Forest.  The road is closed for the event.  (Duh... but people have asked Killboy on his website before...)

Running harder than 8/10 requires Stephen Colbert equipment.  The course is bumpy and reading camber changes while using all the road takes judgement and a sensitive right foot.  There's plenty of gravel; doubtless it moves around during the day.  And there's no margin for error.  In the closed-course events I work for my club, you can go for a ride across the grass for a good long way before you hit something solid (if you ever do).  Here, the ditches and guardrails are right there.

Killboy reports that FTD was set by the silver Locost with a turbo Miata engine (the one pushing its pop-off valve hard).  Number 171, driver Heikki.  He comes through for the first time at 25:50 on the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRrXgYOQs5g&feature=c4-overview&list=UUVB5ySWa26KLFevRd_1_AHw

Fun With Search Terms (#4)

More amusing (to me) search terms that got surfers to this blog, and the thought that came to my mind:

"pilote Pedro Rodriguez"  He certainly was.  One of the best.  

"wiring Corvair tail lights"  no idea...

"faux knock-off Porsche"  That would be a fake, fake Porsche?

"replica Borrani wheels"  Borrani is still in business, so you can get the real deal (bring $$$).  Unless you want faux knock-offs... which wouldn't be replicas... but I'll stop going down this rabbit hole...

"Moretti 750 Gran Sport for sale"  Don't think you're gonna find one on the internet...

"championnat american cars races"  Hmmmmm?

"BRM Formula 1 cars"  You got to a reasonably good site.  Pilotes Anciens: Home Of The Also-Rans.

"Porsche 993 with ducktail spoiler"  Does this spoiler make my ass look big?

On the upside, the 993 series (1994-1997) was the last air-cooled 911.  And it did a better job of integrating the
integrated bumpers of the 964 series (1989-1993), which replaced the "rubber baby buggy bumpers" of the
911 Carrera series (1984-1989) and the 911 SC series (1978-1983).  On the downside, it acquired the
fat ass that the water-cooled 911's have further fattened.  "Everybody got that?" (as Rick Moranis
asked in Spaceballs).

TR-6 Restoration (#8)

It turns out that the radiator is kaput--the frame is rusted.  After mulling over an aluminum racing radiator (his first inclination), Cuz has decided to go with a n.o.s. piece from British Victoria.  His research indicates that TR-6's "have issues, but overheating is not one of them."  The n.o.s. part keeps the car closer factory original.  British Victoria will probably get the interior/top/dash trim too.  They were budgeted, of course ($2500), but the ca-chings continue.

Cuz has decided to go with the (historically correct) red paint code on the new data plate, not the green code for the paint that will be applied.  Mr. & Mrs. Cuz have decided to go with two-eared knock-off hubs for the wire wheels, not the octagonal-nut "safety" ones.  "[Mrs. Cuz] has staked her claim to the TR.  I will be relegated to the Hertz clone."  (A multi-year restoration/creation of a Mustang GT 350 H[ertz] clone is wrapping up as the TR-6 project begins.)  

Above and below: two dents were discovered when the rear bumper was removed.  "No big deal" to repair says the
body & paint man.  The bondo patch mentioned last week; also no big deal because it did not conceal rust.