Back On the Road Again

[scannon]

My Caterham went down just before time to leave for Gert's Black Hills Tour. Two of the studs that secure the turbo to the exhaust manifold had sheared and I didn't have time then to fix it.

 

That meant that Tom and I had to take the Miata on the tour and while on the tour I took a bad fall down a hillside tearing the rotator cuff on my left shoulder, injuring the right shoulder, bruised some ribs and removed a serious amount of skin from my right arm along with countless smaller scrapes, cuts and bruises.

 

It took six weeks to get in to see my ortho doc but I finally saw him on Tuesday. He told me what I already knew was wrong, a badly torn rotator cuff and probably some detached muscles in the shoulder. There is also possible damage to the right shoulder he fixed two and a half years ago. I go in for an MRI on Tuesday and then we will set a date for surgery.

 

Someone on another thread (that I couldn't find this evening) mentioned a doctor/yoga specialist that had a cure using a modified yoga head stand exercise. I tried it a few times and it improved the range of motion and decreased the pain in the shoulder. It hasn't fixed the problem but has made the arm more usable. Thank you for the suggestion.

 

I decided since the arm was somewhat usable to tackle the removal of the turbo and manifold to replace the studs. I wanted to get it done now so that when I complete rehabilitation of the shoulder the Caterham will be ready to drive.

 

The job was completed this afternoon and a test drive went well. The stainless steel studs were replaced with inconel studs with Stage 8 locking hardware. The manifold required machining on both surfaces. I also painted the cast iron turbine housing and downpipe with 2000* paint which required three bake and cool cycles. To help take the strain off the 8mm turbo studs I fabricated a bracket between the engine block and the downpipe. I plan to have a flex coupling welded into the exhaust just in front of the muffler where the catalytic converter used to be.

 

It sure felt good to drive the Se7en again. Getting out of the car was difficult and even less elegant than the normal Se7en exit but well worth the effort.

Edited September 3, 2011 by scannon

[lancylad]

Ya just cant keep a good man down.................good on you Skip. :driving:

[Z3 Stalker]

Skip,

 

Good to hear you are on the road to recovery both physically and mechanically.

[Automoda]

I didnt know you had been hurt so seriously. I hoped it was essentialy superficial.

 

Hope it heals well. Shoulders are real contraptions.

[scannon]

I wasn't going to let a few injuries ruin my trip. It was bad enough I had to leave the Caterham at home and bring the Miata. A few people noticed me using my right arm to lift the left arm up to the steering wheel or table and such. It was pretty much useless at the time.

 

Still and all, it was the best road trip in recent memory.