slomove

Hijack: keep our planned trip in mind through Yellowstone / Bighorn Mts. / Black Hills / Badlands NP next July (I had posted the idea a while back and also traveling with my wife). Right now the planned start is Jackson, WY and that is much closer from your place than from mine (Los Angeles)

There is a problem. I can knock out the outer smaller race but the inner race is completely recessed. I suspect I will need some kind of puller with very sharp jaws.

Just doing some general maintenance on my Birkin and found a front wheel bearing having a little play. Opened up and found furthermore that there is too little grease that is rusty red and the main nut having some rust spots. Looks like I got water in there some time ago. The bearing rollers of the outer bearing are not obviously corroded and don't make any noise but I will replace the bearings anyway. Now my question is how probable is it that the hub race surface is damaged and I need to replace the hub? Thanks

There are several Caterham owners in SoCal who had wheel bearings go bad but the bearings were not the root cause. A certain batch of hubs were incorrectly machined that did not allow for proper pre-load. Caterham replaced them for free.

That is a joke but here a real story: My wife used to work at the local elementary school and in a staff meeting one teacher told laughing about her experience of the day. This was a lesson about foul language in 1st or 2nd grade and which words are not appropriate to use. There a girl from our street commented in class "But my mommy calls daddy asshole all the time". Obviously a grievous indiscretion of the teacher but knowing the family I believed it right away.

Hello Tom, I sent you a PM

I just called Tom to see how things are going. He said he should be back on the road within an hour to catch up with John and Ed who are already on their way up north. Apparently and for unknown reasons, the rear bearings ground themselves up completely within the short 3000 miles. Maybe bad bearings or incorrectly tightened? I hope he has extended warranty :toetap05: After all, I guess he is quadruple lucky. - He did not lose a wheel at high speed on the freeway or next to a cliff on some curvy mountain road. - The problem was detected with lots of help around and good racing infrastructure and not in the middle of the desert. - He got a hold of the spare parts on a Saturday and got it shipped to arrive Monday morning. - He found a specialty shop to install all that the same day. That should account for smooth sailing for the rest of the trip. Gert

Some pictures and mini video clips (taken with my point-and shoot camera) from Saturday. Great event and again an unbelievable collection of precious hardware. My favorite (mainly because i have a model of that for 30 years): http://lh4.ggpht.com/_242PlvPtVpE/TGiPRD2_IfI/AAAAAAAAB4A/doSRQb9YigQ/s1152/P1020330.JPG

No, have not heard from Tom. I suspect he may have skipped LA since he was a bit late anyway. I arrived at the Motel in Hollister meanwhile but nobody else here yet. I suspect they still hang out in Monterey or Carmel somewhere. Gert Update: Tom is here and so are John and Ed.

If it is a slow leak, just take a few gallons reserve oil My engine is drooling oil at high revs since I had the car..... But seriously, I hope you can sort that out soon. I just arrived back home, a bit tired but will watch if and when you are in the area. If it does not work out, we'll just meet in Monterey! Gert

Can I please have a shop (any shop) to start with? I do all of the work in the driveway. This is Southern California but once a while it rains or it gets pretty hot in summer or we get mosquitos buzzing around. My regular double garage is a messy pile of tools and machines and all vehicles except the Seven (has her own little dog house) and the motorcycles (stored in a trailer) live outside at the curb. So, I would be happy to have some kind of a shed....

Hey Tom, that will be tight. I will leave Friday 13th (I don't believe in that supestitious crap and will just take a dead cat with me in the boot so that my car holds together). I suspect you want to take Hwy1 anyway and I will drive some obscure inland route, probably with TheDingo8MyBaby. I have done Hwy1 many times. Very nice but quite crowded and there are other nice roads. I will give you a call Monday or Tuesday after I return from Europe if you are still up for a short local blat. Gert

Is Caterham now going to sue Lotus? I thought they sold the 7 franchise and trade name to Caterham?

Hi Tom, assuming you have a chance to read this... If you are still in LA on Tuesday night (8/10, that is...), let me know. After 2 weeks out abroad I am pretty sure I will need a quicky blat up Big Tujunga Canyon after work. Maybe you want to join? Gert

Thanks Skip, appreciate it!

Tom, are you now going through LA as discussed earlier and when are you driving up to Monterey? Would be great meeting you, but I am returning myself from Europe only the Monday before the race weekend and drive up on Friday. Gert

I suppose the open engine compartment side panels of the Stalker allow for the radiator and exhaust heat to better escape and not be forced down the tranny tunnel ?

Man, looks clean. I don't know how you do that. I looked under the bonnet today after last weekend's 300+ mile trip and there are sand dunes, rocks, piles of butterflies, wasps and other crap in the engine compartment. Once a while a take a power washer to flush it all out but I guess I will never get it really nice again. Oh well, maybe the Georgia roads are just cleaner.....

Thanks, very nice pictures and history. As a relative newcomer (after 16 years) in this country I am not so aware of all the local history (although, I am catching up and appreciate it). Very interesting. In have been driving Hwy178 many times and while the scenery is still spectacular, the road has suffered a bit from autobahnization. But still very good when no CHP is around. On the other hand, even (or especially) as a newcomer I believe I have seen most of the interesting areas of this state and driven most or at least many of the interesting roads in the Seven. But when I ask around among LA colleagues or friends some of them have not even made it to Yosemite, Death Valley or the NorCal Coast. Not even talking about other states. Gert P.S.: Few weeks weeks ago I drove up 9-mile Canyon Road from Hw395 to Kennedy Meadows (with the Hyundai Santa Fe, though). Also a great mountain road. I had planned to use Sherman Pass Road over to the Kern River but gave up when told that our wimpy Hyundai was not up to the road condition.

Oh well, changed my mind again and did at least part of the intended trip. With an ice chest full of water and a spray bottle the temperatures around 100 were not too bad. Kirk, if you have not tried the Breckenridge Road with the Seven, you should. At least up from Bakersfield to where the trees start. From there further up is is a bit rough but I made it alright across the mountain and added a few gouges to the sump guard. The lower part is however spectacular (watch in HD!) : single lane decent pavement, great scenery and NO ONE seen for the whole 30 mile distance. At times I was wondering what I should do if the car broke down. Might have been a long hike. Somebody should organize a hillclimb on that road

Of course, you are right. But as sad as it is the Big Brother impact of the car computers is miniscule compared to the traces you leave with your cellphone, you credit card, social networks including this site and other online activity. So, in a way, I agree but I guess we are getting used to it. Welcome in the brave new world ;-) Now, who is all reading this post?

I would not mind having a convenient and functional intercom solution with the passenger (95% of all drives it will be my wife) but I have not found one. Some of the brits from USA2005 had very nice full isolating headphone intercom but I hate getting sweaty ears in our hot climate and be tethered with a cable. For a while I tried a sound isolating cellphone headset made by Etymotics with a motorcycle intercom which worked in principle but still had the cable hassle and a lot of wind noise in the mic (in spite of my half doors). I am still waiting for a sound isolating Bluetooth headset that communicates to another of its kind. But nobody made such an animal yet (that I know of). So, for the last few years we just wear earplugs and yell at each other when something really important comes up. Normally, that can be heard. Otherwise, it is probably helpful to be married for 27 years. In most cases we just point at something and the other knows already what that means. No intercom needed. Communicating with other drivers when touring has never be a real problem. There is actually rarely a need to communicate unless something is broken or the group gets lost. In that case we just stopped and discussed while having a break. And if somebody really is separated from the group an intercom does not have the reach anyway. Then it is cellphone time or just searching. That is part of the touring adventure. I remember the PNW2007 folks checking in for me at the courthouse because they thought I might have lost my way in the county jail (Which I did not. Only a serious verbal ragging by the sheriff)

Hey Rod, good to hear from you. I had sent an email to your company because I did not know how to reach you. Anyway, moot point now since I am not leaving my air-conditioned fortress this weekend. I like driving when it is in the 80's, don't mind 90's too much and can drive when over 100 but it just stops being fun.

Temperature forecast 103 degrees in Kernville (@ 2700' altitude) and 105 in Bakersfield. Just too toasty for a fun trip. I am not going.

But please...chose a time period correct helmet! http://images.cloud.worthpoint.com/wpimages/images/images1/1/0709/27/1_6ae26f2f3ee82da19fe290f09642a962.jpg