Davemk1

It was really fun meeting you all and seeing the Navarros again. I drove from Bozeman to Chico Hot Springs to meet the group and it's about an hour door to door. When I left Bozeman there were severe weather warnings and the sky was very dark in one direction. I reluctantly decided to not drive my Seven, for fear that the weather would get as bad as they said it would, and I drove my Mini. By the time I left the rain was falling very hard and there was standing water in the road and the temperature had dropped to 45*. Call me a wimp but I'm glad I opted for the Mini. Aside from meeting some cool people I got a quick spin in Skip's Caterham. The acceleration is hard to believe and it made it feel like I left the emergency brake in the Mini on during the drive home. I've never been in a car that needed to be shifted so quickly. Skip's got fast hands! Thanks for the ride Skip. I hope to come down to Denver sometime and do a bit of driving with you. If anyone else is coming through Montana let me know. It would be fun to meet up. Stay well, Dave

That makes me want to write bad checks. dave

I love it all......... dave

It very rarely rains at 10,500 feet. dave

Hello Gentlemen, Please keep and eye on the weather. It's bad here in Bozeman and the forecasts calls for bad weather all day and severe thunderstorms with large hail possible this afternoon. If that happens in the valleys it's possible that that it will snow up on the plateau. If the weather isn't too bad I'll see you at Chico. If the forecast comes true I might not brave the drive over the pass. We'll see this afternoon what it looks like. All the best, dave

The weather has been perfect over the past few weeks. It's afternoon thunderstorm season so plan on it getting windy and wet in the afternoon. See you all at Chico. dave

I suspect you nailed it. The same thing happens with bicycle tires. A small cut that closes itself and doesn't leak or does so very slowly but when the cut is rolled over it leaks a bit more and with every rotation it leaks. dave

Cool. thanks. That's not much is it? dave

Out of curiosity what does the toe in/out number represent? 10 what? dave

I have EBX Greenstuff pads on my Birkin and they work very well. Good initial bite and little to no dust. Dave

Is that Dick Brink's own personal car at one time? It sure looks like it right down to the wheels. Dave

I know there is a Zetec/T9 kit available for the Elan and I'm told it works very well. I've autocrossed against a couple from the North West who run an Elan with a Cosworth BDA in it with a Quaiffe dog box. The BDA puts out about 240 hp. It's a bit quick. dave

I emailed about that car and asked if my 6'4" body would fit in it and the owner told me it would be really tight and that I'd stick up a lot. I have this mental picture of my dad sitting in a kids pedal car. Too bad as I really lust after the Elevens. dave

A number of years ago before I owned a Seven my pride and joy was a 1966 Lotus Cortina. It was a cold Thanksgiving day and the roads were dry and the skies clear so I took the Cortina out for a drive. I was passing through the very small village of Churchill Montana when there was a big mechanical noise from the engine and then it suddenly died. I coasted over to the side of the road and there was a gentleman out raking leaves in his yard and I went to talk to him to see if I could use his phone to try to get a tow truck. He was polite but a bit suspicious looking. We talked for a bit and he warmed up and let me into his house to use the phone. I called the towing company and they would get someone out to me in a few hours. I went back out and help the homeowner with his leaves. We finished up and he invited me inside and the whole family was there watching a game on TV. I was welcomed in and given a soda and a seat to watch the game. The phone rang and then the guy says "OK...... it's time to go to Grandma's" and the entire family gets up and heads to the door. I of course get up and the guy says that they are going to his mother's for Thanksgiving dinner but that I can stay here and watch the game and stay warm while waiting for the tow truck. It was very cold outside so I awkwardly took him up on his offer and the family left me in their home alone and went to Grandma's house. I couldn't believe they would leave me alone in their home but I was grateful. The tow truck arrived about an hour later and before I left I made sure to write down their address and later sent them a thank you card. I'd guess they thought it odd that I sent a card and wondered what the big deal was. It was a big deal to me. There really are good people out there. Keep that screwdriver. It's more than a tool now. Dave

I'm surprised to read this. I run a Birkin and understeer is very rare and only when I drive it improperly. What kind of camber are you running? When do you experience the understeer? On corner entry, exit or is is steady state in a sweeper type turn? Dave

Mine is self towing. dave

The turn signals are often wired through emergency flasher switch (act as an interrupter). The Birkin is this way and the contacts on the back of the E. Flasher switch were loose and the turn signals worked intermittently. Worth looking at. dave

Hear Hear. Thank you, Dave

Cool...... thanks for the link. As Lutz said it will cost about $40k. The government will subsidize the purchase (with our tax money - so we are giving a discount to Volt buyers) to the tune of $7500 so the consumer will pay $32.5K. dave

Bob Lutz was on Letterman last night and for the most part seemed like he did a very good job taking the right share of responsibility for the current position they find themselves in. The sad part was it as obvious that he had no real idea when the new Chevy Volt would hit the market. Letterman kept asking and Lutz kept dancing. Eventually he said it would hit the showrooms "some time in 2010 to late 2011". Hard to believe that he doesn't even know when the savior product of GM will actually be hitting the streets. They are putting most of their eggs in this one basket and they can't even say when. Sounds to me like they still have large technical hurdles with the car. He says he expects it to sell for $40K but he has no idea when. Seems par for the course to me. Dave

So many red herrings. By strict definition our own military considers waterboarding to be torture. The context has no bearing........ ticking time bomb or not. It's against our laws and those laws were broken. You might think that these bad men deserved it and I for the most agree but that doesn't matter as it is against our laws. What kind of example does send to our citizens as well as those around the world if we selectively choose to obey or disobey laws at our whim? The administration screwed up and did not listen to our own intelligence experts about 911 and they buried their heads in the isolationist sand. Then after the fact they panicked and did things that they knew were wrong as they lied about it afterward. Now the truth is coming out and anyone that can hold their head high and think that our government acted with honor and dignity sees the world in a far different light than I. time for a lunchtime blat. Dave

W. wouldn't lasted as long as that reporter did. dave

W. and Rummy said it wasn't so it must not be. dave

My Birkin is 1240 pounds and 136 whp (figure 150ish at the crank) so that makes for 8.2 lbs/hp. But since the car can't go anywhere without my butt in the seat - the car weighs 1430 with me in it and that makes the real life ratio 9.5lbs/hp. Dave

Birkin w/Zetec. 136hp at the wheels and 1241 pounds without me in it. dave