The Manic Mechanic

I poked and hammered a bit more on the truck this evening, plus sanded and polished the gouges out of the taillight. It aint perfect, but it's at least it's less heinous than before:



I guess it's not bad for a bit over an hour's worth of work. I should invest in a good set of body picks.

Ah, the life of a gearhead. I sure loves it.

On Saturday, I headed up with a buddy of mine to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, for the huge annual Spring car show/swap meet. It's been a couple years since I have been able to make it, since at this time I am usually in North Carolina with hundreds of Mini Cooper owners tearing up the Tail of the Dragon and other twisty, picturesque roads in and around the Smoky Mountains. This is the first time that the timing of the two events was such that I can partake in both. I headed out before the crack of dawn, picked up my bearish straight friend John, and I immersed myself in the smells of gasoline and exhaust fumes, the sounds of engines, the taste of unhealthy fairgrounds food, and all things car related. I took along my tiny Pentax digital camera and shot dozens upon dozens of pictures of classic, unusual and unique cars and bikes. These did not turn out as I hoped, since apparently I was shooting most of them through a smudged lens. The aforementioned greasy food and my sweaty pocket conspired against satisfactory photographic endeavors.

Many of you will also be happy to know there was no shortage of hot gearheads and burly bubbas. Lots of them.

I picked up quite a few specialized tools and kits, a 'clean-kit' for my blast cabinet, a billet aluminum grille for the Silverado, a huge assortment of stainless steel hardware for various uses, electrical ditties and few more odds and ends. At one time I was saddled with a backpack filled with almost 50 pounds of our goodies that I trotted for a couple miles before unloading into the truck and going back for more. We spent more time there than either of us initially expected, which was okay, but it also kept me from coming home until it was too late to start work in the garage.

Which brings me to today. I had some goodies and parts to fit to the MINI before heading down to the Dragon. I figured I could get most if not all of it done during the weekend. I got off to a sluggish start, with cold, dreary weather and lingering tiredness from the day before. In fact, a nap suddenly happened and I did not get out to start the car flog until about noon. And I got rather involved:



New silicone coolant lines, new Denso iridium plugs replacing the beat Berus that had worked themselves loose, new belt, new coolant, oil change, lots of adjusting, tuning, detailing, inspections, and so on. But, the weather eventually shooed me in before I could finish, so hopefully I will be able to get finished tomorrow after work. I want to be able to drive the car to work and back on Tuesday, since I leave for the Dragon on Wednesday morning. Yeah, anyone who is a car nut like me knows that in order to have a decent trip with lots of fellow car nuts one has to have everything in pieces until the last minute.