Jim's Interim Shop of Horrors

[jimgood]

It's now in a usable state but I have more to do. Fed Ex just delivered my urethane. I'll use it to form a pad between the anvil and stand. This will be my first time using this stuff so this should be interesting. I'm also going to add a tray for the hammer and tongs and maybe another holder for hardies and punches. I haven't come up with a design for those yet so we'll see what emerges from my pea sized brain by the end of the day today.

This morning I drilled two corners for 3/8" bolts. I tapped the top of the stand rather than trying to drill all the way through. These are really only for shear and what little tension will occur when I tilt the stand to move it around.

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It's pretty easy to roll around. It feels like I'm holding about 35-40 lbs at the handle. Not light but easily manageable. Now I can move it easily from the workshop to the barn if I need to (once in a while I have to put a shoe back on a horse), which is about 50 yards. Before, I had to put it on a hand truck along with my old wooden stand and haul it around.

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Here's my old stand for comparison. It was a nice try and I used it for many years while I made my living shoeing horses. But it was really too low and clunky.

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[larry4406]

Jimgood - good work on the organization! I'm struggling with that right now as well.

I'm right around the corner from you in Warrenton.

 

[jimgood]

Jimgood - good work on the organization! I'm struggling with that right now as well.

I'm right around the corner from you in Warrenton.

Thanks! It's always a struggle for me. After all the work I put in I'm still watching entropy unfold before my eyes. But it's certainly more manageable.

 

[jimgood]

This morning I gave the urethane the poke test. Seemed firm enough so I called it fully cured even though it's supposed to take 24 - 48 hours and it's only been about 18 hours.

Patience much?

I set the anvil on it then trimmed out the parts that aren't under it.

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Started on this yesterday. I'll leave it as a mystery for now.

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[jimgood]

Just in case you were curious about the mysterious piece in the previous post...

Ta da! I say it's not bad for making use of tidbits of scrap I had laying around. Next up is a holder for the fire tongs on the left side. I found the perfect piece of 2 x 2 scrap for that.

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[jimgood]

Got the last detail done. I added a holder for my fire tongs. I had this cut-off of 2 x 2 that would otherwise have gone in the scrap bin but it was perfect for this application. I formed the loop at the bottom on the anvil so it's already started doing its job!

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Here's a side view of the hammer holder.

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I'm leaving it bare steel. I gave it a heavy coating of Boeshield T-9. Job done!

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[great white tj]

Nice job.

 

[CoopVA]

Great work on the anvil stand Jim. I've got an old anvil a buddy gave me that that would work with... hhhmmmmmm....

 

[jimgood]

Nice job.

Great work on the anvil stand Jim. I've got an old anvil a buddy gave me that that would work with... hhhmmmmmm....

Thanks. If I had to do it again, I would angle the legs with the wheels outward a little more to give it a wider stance. I used 5 degrees because I was afraid that the wheels would be in the way of my feet when working with it. But I think 10 degrees would work just as well and be more stable in transport.

The last project I did in the shop was this...this...thing I built for my wife to organize her weights.
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The race car project has been sitting idle, collecting dust. I'm at a crossroads with it. It cranks but won't start. I've gutted the wiring and rewired it to the point that BMW-approved diagnosis is likely impossible. The computer isn't really responding to the OBDII scan tool. It's been a while and I forget exactly what it was doing. But there are no codes or anything. There are any number of things that could be wrong.

• Did I misalign the chip when I resoldered it?
• Did I remove a component that is absolutely necessary for engine operation. I removed anything having to do with security but there are so many interrelationships, it's hard to decipher whether the computer will really function without them.
• Did I miswire something or neglect to wire something.
• Is the fuel simply too old? (two years old now)

So, I'll have to get back to troubleshooting it. I've basically got to start over.

 

[jbmatth]

Never fun trying to troubleshoot problems with wiring. The best method I've found is just to dig into everything going circuit by circuit and verifying everything is as it is supposed to be. Good luck with it,
JB

 

[jimgood]

Never fun trying to troubleshoot problems with wiring. The best method I've found is just to dig into everything going circuit by circuit and verifying everything is as it is supposed to be. Good luck with it,
JB

Thanks, JB. Yeah, it's that "supposed to be" part that escapes me. I literally do not know what on each circuit is "supposed to be". I'm going to hire a guy I know to help me. Just a matter of setting aside some time to do it.

Meantime, since I can't get my race car going, I want some seat time so I have arranged a rental for this weekend at Dominion Raceway. This will be my first time at this track, which was just competed last year. It will also be my first time in a Spec E30 ('82 to '94 BMW 325). I'm only running in the DE session, not racing, but it's good enough.

I'm getting too old to continue waiting on better financial times so I'm actually cashing out an annuity so I can pursue racing for the next year or so. I know it's a bad idea long term but it's now or never and racing has been a dream of mine since I was 16 or so.

I contacted the regional director of NASA (National Auto Sports Association) and he said I only need to renew my license, as opposed to going through the licensing school again. That's a frightening notion. I know I'm fine with it but I was sure they would want to verify my on-track behavior before they turn me loose.

Now I have to decide whether I want to rent for the remainder of the season or buy a car. Either way is a money pit. Just not sure which one is deeper. Renting is a "you break it, you buy it" proposition. Track days can be insured but racing cannot.

I can rent for $10,800 for the remainder of the season. That includes the car, all consumables and track support including set up. I just show up and drive. I would have 8 events on the calendar in the second year so that would be $14,400 if the prices stay the same ($1800 per weekend).

If I buy a built car, I could probably pick one up for around $10k. But that's just the car. I would still need consumables. You can go through a set of tires in two weekends(?) and that's almost $700 a set. Then I would also have to buy an enclosed trailer as I don't have any place to keep the car (unless I also pay for storage. I have been looking on craigslist and I have seen very few for sale below $5k. I also don't have the skills to work on engine or transmission internals so any work needed on that front would have to be hired out.

So, if I buy, the first season is easily $20k. The second season, providing I don't ball it up, would average about $400 a weekend. So that's about $25k for two seasons and, again providing I don't ball it up, the equipment can be sold for about 70% of what I have in it (maybe $15k). And these are very conservative numbers. There are alignments, dyno visits, damage repairs, etc. And I'm basically on my own with set up.

Decisions, decisions.

 

[jbmatth]

Even though it is more money up front I'd go for the buy and race route. At least that way at the end of the season you actually have something to sell if you decide to. In two seasons you'd have almost enough invested to buy the car but wouldn't have the car to show for it.
JB

 

[jimgood]

I ran the actual numbers again in a spreadsheet and it's a little more clear cut in favor of the rental. For the Spec Miata, I can run the remainder of the season for $8600. And next season would be at most $12,100, depending on what kind of discount I can get for the full season package.

It seems like a lot of money but I have to keep in mind all the incidentals that go with owning the car, which are difficult to forecast, not to mention all the logistical issues. Back when I had my Factory Five, I was always scrambling with prep before even the DE weekends.

I'll definitely rent this season and then reassess at the end of the year. Who knows, maybe a really good deal on a car/trailer/spares package will come up in the off season.

 

[jimgood]

Got through the weekend in a rented Spec E30. I had a few screw ups but never dropped a wheel off. Dominion Raceway is not a very forgiving track though they have put a lot of thought into the typical runoff areas. But if you really screw up, you're going to hit a wall. There were a few casualties in the race classes; one AI Mustang sustained heavy front end damage in a wreck that stopped the action for about 25 minutes while they cleaned up the yard sale. The track has a lot of gravel at the edges so, whenever someone drops a wheel off, they scatter rocks all over the track. Saturday was especially bad as there were a lot of newbies getting used to the track. Following too close was sure to get you a cracked windshield in some places.

It took me two sessions to really understand the track and to find my visual cues. By the third session on Saturday, I was pretty comfortable with the car and the track. I thought I was doing pretty well but I could still see room for improvement.

On Sunday, I downloaded a lap timer app for my phone. It was a fail. It only recorded one lap at 1:43.45 in my first session. I have no idea which lap. I had neglected to read the FAQ for the app which stated that it would not work while the phone is in your pocket. I kept it in my shirt pocket.

In my third session on Sunday, the guy from whom I rented collected times for about 5 of my laps and my best was still a 43. That's 4 - 5 seconds off the pace for the guys that were racing Spec E30 that day. I guess I could cut myself a break; first time in the car, first time on the track and all that ****.

That's a LOT of time to make up on a 2 mile track.

Next time I hit the track will be as a racer in Spec Miata at Summit Point. That's my home track. The Spec Miata class is big here. There will be lots of competition. I'm familiar with both the car and the track so I should be able to run mid pack at the very least. I won't expect to run much better than that but I'll giver 'er the old college try.

 

[jbmatth]

Sounds like a lot of fun and I'm glad you kept it off the wall.
JB

 

[jimgood]

So, the only thing between me and racing in June is getting an appointment for a physical in plenty of time to send in my medical form and license application. My doctor can't see me until two weeks AFTER the next race weekend.

After age 45, they (NASA) require an EKG with the physical. I tried one of those walk-in clinics but they don't do EKGs.

So, I may be relegated to DE one more weekend.

On the home front, I got about 45 minutes of mowing in yesterday but had to stop after I knocked a valve stem out of a front tire on my zero turn. I was just not in a mood to fix that. I'm halfway tempted to shoot some expanding foam in there. I still have about 4 hours of mowing to do and the grass ain't gettin' any shorter. Better do something.

 

[CoopVA]

It's always something, isn't it... hope it all works out.

 

[jimgood]

It's always something, isn't it... hope it all works out.

Always

I went to Tractor Supply and got a new valve stem. Got that installed and mowed for about an hour and a half. Got half way through one field and the mower started sounded like it was running out of fuel. I cut the blade off and headed for the fuel depot by the house, expecting it to die before I got there. But it limped all the way there. So, something else may be wrong because, usually, when it starts sputtering as it runs out of fuel, it dies really quick. Anyway, I parked it for the evening.

Can't mow today as we just got a heavy soaking overnight and this morning. But I'll fill it up and see how it runs after my morning team meeting.

 

[jimgood]

Finally got back into the shop for a fun project. A coffee table I built over 20 years ago finally got destroyed. It was a pretty basic table with a tile top. I actually broke it before it was even finished but I repaired it and we kept it. Over time, the legs loosened and the tiles came loose.

So it was time. We have a gathering coming up in a couple of weeks so I need to replace it. We decided to go with a tile top again but this time I'm going to make the deck a little sturdier for the tile.

Here it is upside down. The "deck" is framed in 2 x 4s. I planed the top edges so they are dead flat. The used a piece of 3/4" ply on top. Coated it with bonding primer.

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Right side up...the boarder is made from wood reclaimed from our old barn. It's 2"+ thick and I'm not sure about the side rails but the ends are pine. I attached them with 1/2" dowel pins and glue. I pressure washed the uncut surfaces to get the horse **** and grime off. I'm going to pour on clear epoxy to coat it. Leaving the saw burn marks.

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Here is the tile we chose. The large tiles will go in the center and the smaller ones on the outside.

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I'm using these 3 x 3 tubes for the legs. They're 16" long so the finished height should be just around 18". The legs will be joined to one another with 1" sq. tube and gussets. I'd like to do curved gussets but I don't have time. The frame of the deck will sit inside the sq tubes and also be slotted into the cutouts marked in the legs shown in the pic.

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[CoopVA]

Looking good. That barn wood is a great touch...

 

[jimgood]

Thanks, Coop!

Coffee table is coming together. Got the tile laid on Saturday then did the grout on Sunday.

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I decided to try something new on the rim of the table. The rough look of the barn wood is what gives it its character. But it is very rough and splintery. Sanding would have ruined the look. So I thought I'd try clear, pour on epoxy. Being my first time, I did make some mistakes. But it was repairable. Here it is drying after a second coat (to fix the mistakes from the first coat).

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Here's a close up of one corner.

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I'm not thrilled but it's good enough. It's a good deal darker than I was hoping for.

This epoxy makes a mess. It also has to stay warm; minimum 75 degrees according to the manufacturer though I couldn't get my basement any warmer than 69. It was apparently close enough. You brush on a "sealer coat" then follow that with a "flow coat"; pour it on and spread it. It flows over the edges and drips on the floor so you have to be prepared with plastic. But it flows really slow and remains very thick (between 1/16" and 3/32"). I was worried about dust settling in it so I kept movement in the shop to a minimum while it was curing (24 hours).

And here's another project we squeezed in over the weekend. My wife designed it, picked out the plank of wood and the shoes. All I had to do was cut the corners off, give it a very light sanding and brushed on a couple coats of polyurethane clear. Sprayed the shoes flat black and screwed them on. Done.

Each shoe represents one of our horses and the wood was from our old barn.

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[jimgood]

I'm calling the coffee table "done". For now. Not really thrilled with the overall look. This view is ok but from the side it looks heinous. And it's too tall. It's only about 1/2" taller than our last table but the wife wants it about 2" shorter. So I may make another base for it.

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Onward!

 

[jbmatth]

Jim,
I'm sorry you didn't get the outcome you were after, but I think it looks great. What other than the height don't you like about it?
JB

 

[nsula_country]

Don't know till you try!

Looks pretty good in the picture!

CT

 

[CoopVA]

Looks great to me!

 

[jimgood]

LOL...thanks for the compliments guys.

I chose one angle where it looks pretty good. And, after using it, my wife is now fine with the height. We had a social gathering last night and it served its purpose well. No one noticed the crooked legs and other foibles. So, I'll just have to get over myself. It's growing on me.

 

[jimgood]

Finally got a physical and my medical form submitted to NASA for my race license application. What a hassle. My primary doctor couldn't see me until 6/24 but my first race is going to be on 6/10. So I went to a Patient First doc-in-the-box place. Even they weren't clear on whether they could do it or not. But I got it done. Mostly...

Only issue remaining is that I don't have my blood type, which is required on the medical form. So, I went to my PCP to see if they have it on record. Nope. Can I get the doctor to order a blood draw so I can get it? Nope. Tried a doc-in-the-box place to see if they could do it. Nope. Tried the hospital where I got my gall bladder removed in '10. They don't have it.

So, I ordered a DIY test kit from Amazon. Didn't even know these existed. Should arrive today and I'll know my blood type by this evening.

Tomorrow, I have to go get fitted for a new helmet and put new tethers on my HANS. Race suit and flame retardant undies are still good. My shoes are worn but usable. They're 20 years old now.

Rental car is lined up. I'll be driving car #78 in Spec Miata. Track is Summit Point Raceway. If anyone's interested, my results will be available here after the 6/10 weekend. But keep your expectations low. Last time I drove one of these was in a driver's ed event and I was posting 1:33s. Fast drivers in the series are posting 1:28s. I should be able to up my game by driving against some better drivers but 5 seconds? Yikes!

I hope to post up videos too.

 

[nsula_country]

Good luck at the race!

CT

 

[jimgood]

Good luck at the race!

CT

Thanks, CT! I'll need it!

Today I decided to tackle one of my small back-burner projects. My roll-around stool is pretty old and the plastic tray broke. So small tools and parts were falling through the crack and getting lost.


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I had a piece of aluminum left over from another project that I screwed up so I used that. I made a half-assed attempt at tuck shrinking in the curved corners. I even made a hammerform from plywood. But I really don't know what I'm doing so I ended up cutting the corners out and it worked out well enough. This took me about 4 hours start to finish. All the bending was done by hand with various body hammers, hammerform and dollies. Not my best work but it will serve the purpose for many years to come.

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[jbmatth]

Congrats on the physical, hopefully the blood type doesn't hold you back any. Also not perfect on the seat pan, but it is functional and you did it yourself. Chalk that up to a learning exercise and just go with it.
JB

 

[jimgood]

Congrats on the physical, hopefully the blood type doesn't hold you back any. Also not perfect on the seat pan, but it is functional and you did it yourself. Chalk that up to a learning exercise and just go with it.
JB

Thanks, JB.

I gave blood today but it will still take 3 days to get my blood type. Fingers crossed that it leaves enough time for them to process my license.

 

[jimgood]

Well... who am I to argue? I'm in!

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So, a provisional license means that I can only race within my region. That's fine since I only intend to race at the three tracks within my region; Summit Point, VIR and Dominion Raceway.

Once I complete 4 races (that's two race weekends) with no incidents, I'll receive my permanent Competition License. I still have to run 8 races without incident under Rookie Status. That means I have to have a letter "R" next to the numbers on my car and a 48" sq. orange placard on the back so all the other drivers know I'm a rookie. I take that as a competitive advantage because they're likely to give me wide berth.

 

[nsula_country]

Well... who am I to argue? I'm in!

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So, a provisional license means that I can only race within my region. That's fine since I only intend to race at the three tracks within my region; Summit Point, VIR and Dominion Raceway.

Once I complete 4 races (that's two race weekends) with no incidents, I'll receive my permanent Competition License. I still have to run 8 races without incident under Rookie Status. That means I have to have a letter "R" next to the numbers on my car and a 48" sq. orange placard on the back so all the other drivers know I'm a rookie. I take that as a competitive advantage because they're likely to give me wide berth.

Watch out guys! Here comes Rookie Jim!

Congrats on your license.

CT

 

[jimgood]

Thanks, CT!

Survived the Saturday races with no incidents at Summit Point. Best time was a 1:31:152. Still 2-3 seconds off the fast times. Started 12th and finished 12 out of 15. Nothing to write home about. I actually did pass one or two cars in my class but then got squirrely and put two wheels off. They went by me and I was unable to catch them again.

Made a lot of mistakes but I can use the excuse that I was still getting used to the car. Last time I ran a Miata in DE, I was running an Showroom Stock Miata (SSM) on Hoosier tires. It was grippy as hell but slower. These cars (Spec Miata) are on Toyo tires. Not as grippy but still very good and predictable.

I raced as hard and aggressively as I could. Running through corners at 80+ mph a couple feet off your competitor's bumper is highly entertaining. I almost punted one guy when he checked up for a slower, out-of-class 944 mid-corner.

We only get two sessions on Sunday; qualifying and race. The race is 40 minutes, which is about 20 minutes longer than I've ever driven on track at one stretch. Thankfully, the race is at noon, so it won't be quite so hot.

Proof. Sort of.

 

[jimgood]

Sunday we only had two sessions; morning qualifying race and the 40-minute main race. In the qualifying I started 12th and finished 12th, which was good considering I drove like ****.

Got my best lap time in the race with a 1:30.298. Started 12th and finished 9th. I narrowed gap to only 1.7 sec off the fastest lap of the Spec Miatas compared to Saturday when I was something like 3 sec off. I feel pretty good about that.

As far moving up 3 spots, that was mostly due to some other drivers getting tangled in a couple of cars spinning. I don't think there was any contact, just a lot of cars to dodge and I was lucky enough to be able to dodge them without leaving the track and barely losing any momentum. Hope the video comes out because it was a pucker moment.

It was ****** hot and I don't have a cool suit. I have never driven more than 20 minutes on track so 40 minutes of all out racing was pretty grueling. I now understand why pro racers need to be in good shape to do 2+ hour stints in a race car. When it was done, I could barely get out of the car. I must have lost 10 lb with nearly an hour in the car, when I include sitting on grid waiting to start.

Results (click BY CLASS, then SPEC MIATA). I'm #78.

Obligatory action shot, which is the best I have for now. I'm trying to get some video together.

 

[jimgood]

Here's 11.6 seconds of "Oh, ****!" from my in-car video.

Edit: replaced the original video with better quality.

 

[CoopVA]

Very cool! The more you do it, the better you'll get...

 

[jbmatth]

I'm glad all went well for you. I took my cobra on an autocross course for the first time last week during the Hot Rod Power Tour and learned one thing for certain, I have a lot to learn. HAHA On my second try I wasn't getting power out of the first corner then boom it all came on and I ate a few cones, finished the lap and left it to the good drivers.

JB

 

[jimgood]

I'm glad all went well for you. I took my cobra on an autocross course for the first time last week during the Hot Rod Power Tour and learned one thing for certain, I have a lot to learn. HAHA On my second try I wasn't getting power out of the first corner then boom it all came on and I ate a few cones, finished the lap and left it to the good drivers.

JB

Killing cones was how I unlearned some of my bad driving habits in my cobra.

I was doing track days and rallycross very regularly in a '02 WRX. With AWD, and even with a very stiff rear anti-roll bar, it was an understeering pig. So popping my foot off the throttle was never met with any consequences and, in fact, it resulted in some entertaining oversteer. But it became an unconscious habit.

When I got that short wheelbase, RWD cobra, it took a while for me to figure out why I kept spinning between corner entry and mid-corner. So I ran a few autocrosses where I felt safer playing around and pretty soon I figured out that I was popping my foot off the throttle the second I felt a hint of oversteer.

It wasn't just the throttle thing. The MOST important thing to learn is that your default correction should always be steering first. And quickly! If you even smell oversteer, whip in some countersteer but leave the throttle alone for a tick. In most cases, countersteering will catch the slide.

If you're understeering, straighten the wheel slightly first. Then ease out of the brakes or throttle.

The big mistake in corner entry understeer is to straighten the wheel AND lift off the brake. The front wheels can bite before the weight transfer happens and it will transition to oversteer in a heartbeat.

This saved my skinny in the Spec Miata last weekend. I have been driving Summit Point for 18 years in several different cars and I have never been through turn 4 as fast as I have in that SM. On one lap I was trying really hard to catch the car in front of me. I turned in for T4 at 6800 in 4th gear but eased out of the throttle so that I crossed the apex at 6400 rpm feathering the throttle (when I should have kept it pegged). That's about 107 mph. I felt it start to go. But I whipped in some countersteer and kept the throttle steady until I had it straightened out. Happened in about 1 second. Here's the clip.

 

[jbmatth]

Thanks for the info, I know I have some bad habits from driving mostly very forgiving cars in the past. If I decide to do more track or autocross driving I'll want to take some driving classes and/or race schools. For some reason the clip above won't play for me.
JB