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Part
1, Background and Prep
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Part
2, Day 1, 2 |
Part
3, Day 3, 4, 5 |
Part
4, Day 6, 7, 8 |
| Part
5, Day 9, 10, 11 |
Part
6, Day 12, 13
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Part
7, Day 14, 15 |
Part
8, Day 16, 17, 18 |
No Excuses!
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Day 1: Home to Philly
Well,
we got here. It�s a 5 �1/2
hour ride normally from Melrose, NY to Philadelphia, PA.
We kept the speed down a bit, so we did it in 6+.
It was a hot day and sunny, but it�s a convertible, so we ran
top-down. We had some knocking
pulling the hills, so once we arrived and settled in, we retarded the spark.
Lacking a proper timing light, we engineer-types figured the perimeter
of the distributor base and calculated that the thickness of a screwdriver tip
at the base circle is 1.5 degrees. I
struck the rim of the base and the adjacent block with the tip and a hammer,
making a 1.5 degree mark, then rotated the distributor until the two mark
halves were just out of alignment. Voila!
No more knock and a cooler running engine, too.
We burned a quart of oil in that first day (better stock up) and the
brakes get a little screechy. There
is a strange ooze from the back axle end at the left, but it doesn't SEEM to
be brake fluid. Keep an eye on
this one! Otherwise, all is well.
We checked in for the race, surrounded by a host of incredible cars and good
people, many of whom we knew already. We
had met at a practice rally in Texas, which we ran in a rental Toyota
convertible, with cardboard fins to represent our not-yet-done Imperial.
The
�taillights� are hotel-room cups colored red with an indelible marker:
Art
and Engineering together again!
Now
we are fully armed with a real car and it received its competition markings:
We're ready to
RUN!
Day 2: Trophy Run
The
Great Race format included a one day warm-up event in the hills around Philly,
just to get used to the idea. This
is essential for the Imperial Expeditionary Farce, as we are running with an
untested and unfamiliar car. The
car is changing as we run, too and the engine and brakes settle in.
And of course, we�re GREEN, GREEN Rookies starting on a sleep and
knowledge deficit that rivals the National Debt.
Nothing if not a challenge, eh? We
refreshed our rally skills (?!?!) and even though we didn't win, we had fun.
Our friends the Goudeaus, Todd and Greg from Louisiana, who were also
in Texas, have been chosen to be part of the Hemmings Rookie Challenge � they
will be followed with 3 or 4 other teams and be part of a TV show on the race,
to air on the History Channel (I think) in September 2006.
Go Goudeaus!
BTW,
parking in Philly is a mess. We
did get a chance to run out to my college roommate's place west of town for a
sushi dinner. Thanks, Beet!
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