Odds and Ends

Posted by ambaraj / at 9:02 PM / / 0 comments

Do you know you go to the movies with someone, and their bladder is the size of a walnut, and they insist on getting a giant sized Mr. Pibb? Naturally they have to run for a "pee break" and want you to fill them in on what they missed during their break. What an annoyance.

But thanks to the interwebs check out the website Runpee beforehand and your Mr Pibb swilling compatriot will be able to choose a slow part of the movie to do his "bidness" and you won't have to fill him in.

Follow up on my dialysis: They determined my "dry" weight. That is my weight minus the extrs fluids.

How much extra fluid was there? 12 gallons. Holy crap!

The insurance company said I'm better and wants me released Friday. The PT department said I'm not ready, the doctor said I'm not ready...but what do they know?

Lastly I have a Korean PT that scares me. She really puts me through the paces. She tiny but tough.

File photo

http://www.humorbloggers.com/

Porsche Cayman-car wallpaper

Posted by ambaraj / at 1:46 PM / / 0 comments

Porsche Cayman-car wallpaper

Posted by ambaraj / at 1:46 PM / / 0 comments

Supper car-Car Models

Posted by ambaraj / at 10:33 AM / / 0 comments

Supper car-Car Models

Posted by ambaraj / at 10:33 AM / / 0 comments

2003 TVR Tamora-Car Wallpepar

Posted by ambaraj / at 9:32 PM / / 0 comments

Brands Hatch GP

Posted by ambaraj / at 3:04 PM / / 0 comments

As an extra event in the TTRS calendar there was a single race at Brands Hatch on the GP circuit.

Arriving in the paddock I discovered that the car is very hard to start with its new map. Heading for the 15 minute qualifying session the car was running very badly and I headed out onto the circuit with very limited power and an engine that seemed like it would only run on three cylinders. Suddenly after three laps it burst into life and decided to perform flawlessly.

In qualifying I spent a few laps getting used to the new part of the circuit and scored a time of 1.51.2 for a grid position of 14th. During qualifying I noticed that the brake bias means that the back likes to come loose during heavy braking and when the tyres get hot the back gets very ragged making it difficult to get on the power in the exit of corners.

I called Luke from Enhanced Performance who set the car up about the poor running and he came with his laptop at short notice to adjust the cold fuelling map. This had the effect of making the car run better at lower temperatures.

Joe my racing partner and I softended the rear damping to try to cure the power on oversteer and we elected to ignore the rear brake bias for now.

The race itself was great. The first and second laps I spent trying to pull away from better handling lower power cars and eventually got free on the third lap to spend the next four laps chasing Brian Jordan in his big BMW 635. I followed him getting closer and closer and took an opportunity at the sharp Surtees bend where he ran wide. I pulled through on the inside, controlled a small powerslide and pulled away to the chequered flag half a lap later.

A great image of the Cosworth following Brian Jordan's BMW 635:



And the Cosworth in qualifying and trying to escape from Matt Knight's Corsa:

Having started 14th I was pleased to finish 11th. Best lap 1.51.4. All timings from the TSL Timing site.

Here's a video of the race from a BMW E30 further down the field:

And some action in qualifying showing my car at the start of the vid:


And another view of the race, just behind me at the start:

Toyota-car wallpaper

Posted by ambaraj / at 2:46 PM / / 0 comments

Toyota-car wallpaper

Posted by ambaraj / at 2:46 PM / / 0 comments

Porsche Carrera GT-car wallpaper

Posted by ambaraj / at 12:00 PM / / 0 comments

Porsche Carrera GT-car wallpaper

Posted by ambaraj / at 12:00 PM / / 0 comments

Forign cars-car models

Posted by ambaraj / at 10:16 AM / / 0 comments

Forign cars-car models

Posted by ambaraj / at 10:16 AM / / 0 comments

Nissan Skyline GT-S-car wallpaper

Posted by ambaraj / at 9:59 AM / / 0 comments

Nissan Skyline GT-S-car wallpaper

Posted by ambaraj / at 9:59 AM / / 0 comments

Jaguar XJ Show Car-Car Wallpepar

Posted by ambaraj / at 9:30 PM / / 0 comments

Advice for Men

Posted by ambaraj / at 9:02 PM / / 3 comments

Every so often I give advice for men to help them keep the woman in their life happy. Or to women on keeping their man happy. (Men are simple, beer and sports and occassionally a little wink wink nudge nudge knowwhatImean?)

While I have explained The Price Is Right Theory on gift giving (women get as excited as the idea they may get a gift as actually getting one) occasionally it becomes necessary to buy something for them.

The thoughtful gift giver pays attention to a woman's needs and selects the perfect gift.

Here's some examples of how I have delighted the Crotchety Old Lady.

Last winter, I noticed that she was struggling while shoveling the walk. It wasn't even Christmas, and BAM! I got her a brand new ergonomic snow shovel. This little gift will make her think of me for years to come. I'm sure she appreciated that it was for no reason. That made it even more special.

It's the little things that count. She complained that she spends so much time in the kitchen and could use a break. So BAM! I got her a cookbook for 30 minute meals and easy clean spatulas. Thar was the happiest Mother's Day ever!

While it is important to listen and observe, sometimes just go with your gut. I did this one birthday, and it was her best gift ever.

I woke her up nice and early, 5 a.m. because she wouldn't want to waste any valuable birthday time sleeping. I rushed to get her in the car by 6, and started our journey. As we drove down the highway by dawn's early light, she pretended to be grumpy, but I know she was really happy. As we approached her birthday gift, I wasn't able to keep it secret.

She was going to drive a steam train in New Hope, Pa.!

She was overjoyed! At first she didn't want to climb aboard the engine. But the fireman encouraged her, and she climbed aboard. I made her promise not to stare at the shirtless, sweaty, rather well muscled young fireman as it would probably make him uncomfortable while he shoveled the coal into the boiler, and she said her eyes would not wander from the track.

Well, she successfully helped the engineer by ringing the bell and blowing the horn. She got off the train an hour later thoroughly soaked and with soot in every crevice of her body. And she pronounced it the best birthday gift ever as she waved goodbye to the young fireman.


http://www.humorbloggers.com

Advice for Men

Posted by ambaraj / at 9:02 PM / / 0 comments

Every so often I give advice for men to help them keep the woman in their life happy. Or to women on keeping their man happy. (Men are simple, beer and sports and occassionally a little wink wink nudge nudge knowwhatImean?)

While I have explained The Price Is Right Theory on gift giving (women get as excited as the idea they may get a gift as actually getting one) occasionally it becomes necessary to buy something for them.

The thoughtful gift giver pays attention to a woman's needs and selects the perfect gift.

Here's some examples of how I have delighted the Crotchety Old Lady.

Last winter, I noticed that she was struggling while shoveling the walk. It wasn't even Christmas, and BAM! I got her a brand new ergonomic snow shovel. This little gift will make her think of me for years to come. I'm sure she appreciated that it was for no reason. That made it even more special.

It's the little things that count. She complained that she spends so much time in the kitchen and could use a break. So BAM! I got her a cookbook for 30 minute meals and easy clean spatulas. Thar was the happiest Mother's Day ever!

While it is important to listen and observe, sometimes just go with your gut. I did this one birthday, and it was her best gift ever.

I woke her up nice and early, 5 a.m. because she wouldn't want to waste any valuable birthday time sleeping. I rushed to get her in the car by 6, and started our journey. As we drove down the highway by dawn's early light, she pretended to be grumpy, but I know she was really happy. As we approached her birthday gift, I wasn't able to keep it secret.

She was going to drive a steam train in New Hope, Pa.!

She was overjoyed! At first she didn't want to climb aboard the engine. But the fireman encouraged her, and she climbed aboard. I made her promise not to stare at the shirtless, sweaty, rather well muscled young fireman as it would probably make him uncomfortable while he shoveled the coal into the boiler, and she said her eyes would not wander from the track.

Well, she successfully helped the engineer by ringing the bell and blowing the horn. She got off the train an hour later thoroughly soaked and with soot in every crevice of her body. And she pronounced it the best birthday gift ever as she waved goodbye to the young fireman.


http://www.humorbloggers.com

Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano-car wallpaper

Posted by ambaraj / at 11:56 AM / / 0 comments

Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano-car wallpaper

Posted by ambaraj / at 11:56 AM / / 0 comments

forign cars-car models

Posted by ambaraj / at 10:12 AM / / 0 comments

forign cars-car models

Posted by ambaraj / at 10:12 AM / / 0 comments

Tatamotors-car wallpaper

Posted by ambaraj / at 9:55 AM / / 0 comments

Tatamotors-car wallpaper

Posted by ambaraj / at 9:55 AM / / 0 comments

Turbo failure

Posted by ambaraj / at 2:38 AM / / 0 comments

Following a big end failure in the engine, swarf carried by the oil passed through the turbo. Luke took the somewhat optimistic view that the turbo would be alright and put the car back together in readiness for a race at Brands Hatch GP circuit. I went to collect the car where it was on the rolling road in the final stages of its set-up.

Luke fired up the car and ran it up to 70mph on the rolling road at which point the turbo exploded into a cloud of smoke - clearly the damage of tiny pieces of engine passing through the turbo had been substantial. A temporary turbo of unknown origin was strapped to the car and I left with the car to race at Brands Hatch.

My turbo has been sent to CR turbos (again) for its second rebuild and will be back this week to be re-fitted.

Engine rebuild

Posted by ambaraj / at 2:36 AM / / 0 comments

As the car was being set up round the new ECU and engine loom the engine suffered a big end failure and Luke, being the dedicated and technical wiz that he is, took the view that it needed sorting, and got on and did it. A major engine rebuild started with a strip down and diagnosis. There was a lot of debris in the oilways in the engine and even from a brief inspection it was clear that there had been oil starvation in the past which has caused the big end failure.

Luke guessed that the crank would also be bent and proceeded to quickly strip and assess the engine before re-assembling it. The block was cleaned and painted and the original pistons were re-used with new rings. A new crank was specced and new Cosworth big ends and main heavy duty bearings were used. New conrods were installed with ARP2000 con rod bolts and new Ford gaskets were used throughout.

The head was warped so it was sent to be skimmed and reinstalled with an ARP stud and nut kit to hold it in place. The valve seats were re-cut and the valves ground to match. A new alloy drive pulley was installed as well as a 36 tooth motorsport pulley which the ECU uses for timing. As the distributor is now redundant the hole has been plugged. Luke also painted the cam pulleys and installed a bling cam cover in blue.

The end result of the engine work is a reliable and solid race engine designed to produce a sensible amount of power. Reliability is the key here and the engine should work well for sometime.

Spark plugs are NGK BCR 8ES. Oil is Valvoline 20W 50 black racing.

Some shots of block, head and engine in car:

New ECU and loom

Posted by ambaraj / at 2:35 AM / / 0 comments

Well it's been a crap season so far because of a high end misfire. I'd like to say I traced it and eliminated it but I never managed to find it. Luke at Enhanced Performance's original diagnosis was fuel starvation. That diagnosis resulted in the fuel system being rebuilt. A pointless trip to Snetterton proved Luke's diagnosis wrong. So back it went to Enhanced Performance for more diagnosis.

Luke, to his credit, does not like to be beaten by a misfire on a Cosworth. And probably felt a bit embarrassed about failing to find the problem the first time. With room for a bit of negotiation on price we talked about the need to run a proper ECU and new wiring loom. The original Weber ECU and Ford engine loom were pretty ragged and as they are renown for causing problems on the Cosworth we decided to get rid of it all.

Luke is a big fan of the Gotech ECUs so recommended a Pro X. The Pro X comes with a loom which was covered in a protective braid and installed.

The Pro X has a lot of features that we're not using on the Cosworth. It offers easy control of all the parameters and allows a tuner to map the car with ease. It will allow data logging but mostly it is simple, reliable, easy to control and should prove to be a good solution to the original Weber ECU. My only issue with the Gotech ECU is that its connectors are cheap plastic PC power supply multi-plugs. It doesn't look too robust. Luke has good experiences with Gotech whose customer service is apparently very good.

Luke spent time with the car on the rolling road using a laptop to do the set-up. And just when he had the car running well and seemed happy with the performance the engine gave out a massive rattle, it was switched off and a failed big end was diagnosed. More on that in the next post.

Here's the ECU and a screenshot showing the Windows front end:

Lamborghini Gallardo-car wallpaper

Posted by ambaraj / at 11:51 AM / / 0 comments

Lamborghini Gallardo-car wallpaper

Posted by ambaraj / at 11:51 AM / / 0 comments

KITT from Knight Rider-car wallpaper

Posted by ambaraj / at 10:03 AM / / 0 comments

KITT from Knight Rider-car wallpaper

Posted by ambaraj / at 10:03 AM / / 0 comments

New Hyundai i10 Kappa-car wallpaper

Posted by ambaraj / at 9:34 AM / / 0 comments

New Hyundai i10 Kappa-car wallpaper

Posted by ambaraj / at 9:34 AM / / 0 comments

I Want My MTV

Posted by ambaraj / at 3:59 AM / / 0 comments

I had the TV in the hospital, and for a mere $4 a day I had access to entire network of about 20 channels including the Breastfeeding Channel and the Stained Glass Window Channel.

The Stained Glass Window Channel showed a stained glass window for 23 1/2 hours a day, and for 30 minutes had inspirational religious progamming. The Breastfeeding Channel is the porn channel.

Now in rehab, I have Dish TV, with CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, WOR, WPIX, Discovery, another Discovery, TLC, USA, TBS, some Spanish channel, and 3 Hindi channels. And Dish TV is awful. If there is a chance of rain, it goes out and becomes the "satellite is searching for a signal network."

I miss my days of sitting on the couch (RIP...sigh) and flipping endlessly through my hundred or so favorites, watching Magilla Gorilla, and Spongebob, and Beaver, and Reno 911 (my cable channels are awesome) thinking my joy would have no end.

Me and my remote--what a team.

When I get out of here, I'll be spending some quality time getting reaquianted with my TV.

I've written a haiku for my TV

My cable TV
Bringer of such happiness
I miss you so much

Can't you feel the longing and the love?


http://www.humorbloggers.com

I Want My MTV

Posted by ambaraj / at 3:59 AM / / 0 comments

I had the TV in the hospital, and for a mere $4 a day I had access to entire network of about 20 channels including the Breastfeeding Channel and the Stained Glass Window Channel.

The Stained Glass Window Channel showed a stained glass window for 23 1/2 hours a day, and for 30 minutes had inspirational religious progamming. The Breastfeeding Channel is the porn channel.

Now in rehab, I have Dish TV, with CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, WOR, WPIX, Discovery, another Discovery, TLC, USA, TBS, some Spanish channel, and 3 Hindi channels. And Dish TV is awful. If there is a chance of rain, it goes out and becomes the "satellite is searching for a signal network."

I miss my days of sitting on the couch (RIP...sigh) and flipping endlessly through my hundred or so favorites, watching Magilla Gorilla, and Spongebob, and Beaver, and Reno 911 (my cable channels are awesome) thinking my joy would have no end.

Me and my remote--what a team.

When I get out of here, I'll be spending some quality time getting reaquianted with my TV.

I've written a haiku for my TV

My cable TV
Bringer of such happiness
I miss you so much

Can't you feel the longing and the love?


http://www.humorbloggers.com