My 2017 Mitty adventure!

I'm finally home!!! After the Mitty, I was home for all of about 12 hours before I had to hop on a plane to head out on a business trip to North Carolina. If I'd had more room in the TR, I would have probably just taken my work suitcase with me to the Mitty and driven straight up to the plant that I had to work at.

This years' Mitty was simply awesome. Different than others, but awesome just the same.

We planned this year to go to the Porsche Experience Tour this year with the Huntsville team and then on to Braselton. We made our plans, Dad showed up in good spirits and repair and on Thursday morning we headed out. By mid-day, we met up with Dave and Ron. Lou showed up to see us off from Huntsville as well (Wish you could have made it Lou!!!).

Somewhere in Ft Payne, we had a long gas stop and as we pulled out of the station, my car jammed between 1st and 2nd gear. It would go into 3rd and 4th. Reverse too, but it would not even hint at going into 1st and second.... Panic ensued in my mind....

I backed the car into the station lot, everyone gathered around and we started going through what might be wrong. I started to tear the center console area out, as I had made up my mind that the problem was in the shifter area. A call to my friend Keith yielded a potential shift lever delivery as I had most definitely sheared the rubber insulation out in my lever when it jammed, and my lever was now turned 90 degrees from stock.

Eventually I got it turned back to stock position and settled on the fact that I'd have to drive the car on to Atlanta with just 3rd and 4th. Along the way, I walked through in my mind the process I'd have to go through to get the transmission shifter top out of the car so I could fix it. I was also getting some very helpful texts from Keith saying that a bunch of different 6Pack members were offering to bring things to help the following day.

When we got to the hotel in Atlanta, I decided that I was going to have to fix it right there. There was no way I'd make it through the Porsche tour and on to Braselton with just 3rd and 4th gear (how right I was!!!!!).

In the next 3 1/2 hours I pulled the console, front interior, trans tunnel and shifter top. I then repaired it and reinstalled everything. It turned out that the switch on the shifter top that rides on the 1/2 rail was so worn out that instead of depressing in/out, it would rock forward/backward and jam in the hole. When it did this, it would lock up the shifter rod, keeping it from allowing the car into 1st or 2nd. I 'fixed' this by pulling that switch out and replacing it with the reverse light switch. I then took the damaged switch and put it in the reverse light hole. Before doing so however, I made 4 more gaskets out of the Permatex box to space it further off of the trans and keep the button from jamming the car in or out of reverse.

My fix worked well and we were able to drive the Porsche tour and all the way to Braselton with no problems (we kept up with a gaggle of 911's!!!!!)

It was great to see old friends again and to meet a bunch in person for the first time! Cannot emphasize that enough!

I took tons of pics, so I hope you enjoy some of these!!!

 

Major Maintenance!

Just took Thanksgiving week off to enjoy some time doing things I wanted to do..... One of them was to work on the TR!

I finished up all of the items listed below.

- Balance Wheels
- Re-grease front wheelbearings
- Hit all Grease Zerks on Universal joints
- Pull rear axles and grease splines
- Top up Differential (GL4)
- Top up Transmission (GL4)
- Change oil and filter (ZR1 20-50)
- Check exhaust joints and mounting
- Check installation of Goodparts TA Brackets and Addco Rear Bar
- Install stainless clutch line
- Paint drums with caliper paint and cook (painted and cooking now)
- Paint calipers with caliper paint and cook them.

Pretty good list if I do say so myself!

The car drives great now too with the wheels balanced better than they were.

Some Photos From Around Town!

Just some cool photos from around town.....

Panlong OBD II scanner for modern cars.

I know some of you will occasionally work on your daily drivers/modern cars and I do as well...

Over the years, I've gone to Autozone/FLAPS to have the codes read off the ECU and find out what was wrong with the car. I've saved myself a ton of money over the years replacing my own sensors and other simple parts that were not major issues, but I hate having to go to the store to have the codes read. There are code readers available at the same stores, but they can be a little expensive.

My wife's DD (Honda) recently started 'acting funny' to her, but when I drive it, it seems fine. I popped up the 'wrench' signal a couple days later, but provided a direct Honda code on the dash indicating it was time for a tire rotation and transmission fluid change. Wife was still convinced there must be something wrong with the engine.

I found that since I had last looked at a code reader a couple years ago, new versions have come out in the form of a Bluetooth enabled code reader which uses your smartphone as an interface. That is nice because the code readers I've used at the FLAPS usually have a pretty clunky interface.

The first one I looked at was an ELM127 reader, which is available for about $20 on Amazon. There appear to be a couple different versions, but then I found the newest version in the Panlong Mini OBD II scanner. Lots of positive reviews on Amazon about the scanner.

I ordered one via Amazon Prime and got it in about 2 days with free shipping. Cost was about $15.

To use the device, you have to download an appropriate app to your phone. The suggested app for this unit is called 'Torque'. There is a free version and a 'Pro' version for about $5. I have only used the free version so far. The unit can be a little finicky in pairing with your phone and then reading the car. It was easy with the wife's Honda, took 2 tries for me to get the sequence right with the Chevy (I think I just did not wait long enough with it the first time).

What I've learned so far is that I can:
- Read all the codes in the car (Amy's car and my truck are both running fine and neither had any codes....)
- Set up an interface to see running diagnostics as the car is running and driving (only works with the Bluetooth/Android version, won't work with the Iphone supposedly).
- Add other performance based measures which use the GPS and the accellerometer in the phone to assist in the calculation.

For $15 and the free app, I'd say its completely worth it. I guess maybe I'll see later if I see an issue with the car via the Panlong that it truly pays for itself.

If nothing else, in my mind, it makes sense to know what codes your car is throwing when you have a problem even if you take it to someone for service. More information means less of a chance of getting ripped off.

So if you work on your modern car, this little device so far seems worth it.

Memphis Euro Car Show 2015

The Memphis Euro Car Fest was a great event again. Unfortunately early morning rain held a few people back from coming (in my estimation) but turnout was still pretty good.

I ended up again with a 2nd place in the TR category, placing behind my buddy Dave and his great looking TR250.

Here are some photos.