stripethree

At what point do you cut your looses and move on?

The R is back in the shop again. The larger of the two radiator fans decided there was a particular chunk it didn’t like, so it kicked it off the car. This caused the fan to rotate out of balance and vibrate the entire car while I was sitting at a light, which nearly gave me heart attack as I thought I was witnessing the motor wither and die. It really felt that bad. I managed to get it to the shop after figuring out the problem and giving them a call. Driven without the A/C that fan stays off mostly, and it didn’t hurt that I have an extra fan on the smaller radiator also, thanks to Induktion.

So this is going to be another $500. On top of the thousands the transmission failure cost. On top of the drive shaft coupling and motor mounts. I want to say ‘ok, now she’ll be solid’, but who knows. I said that after the transmission. How am I going to trust this car to not leave me stranded on the side of the road sucking more money out from under me. As Ted said, with the money that’s been dumped into this car this year, I could have enough Mk2s like the GTI for parts that they’d run forever.

Stupid car.

Anand from Induktion sent me some pictures of the transmission damage last week. Parts should be arriving to them tomorrow for them to rebuild the unit. Then back to Arizona it will go.

Both halves of the transmission case are trashed, as is every bearing that they contain. The differential, the cause of this whole mess, is also destroyed, and will be replaced with an upgraded unit, a Peloquin limited slip differential.

Hopefully I will have it back on the road in a few weeks, and with the new diff, I’ve been told it will be even more of a blast to drive.

It has not been a kind month. My ankle is still sketchy at best, and I swear it bothers me more when I walk around with this brace that the doctor gave me. I go back in another two weeks, and I don’t know what to expect since even though there’s less pain, the range of motion isn’t there and it flat out doesn’t feel right. Also, another lesson learned, even with really good insurance and health benefits, emergency room visits are not cheap.

Work has been no picnic either. Next week I fly back to DC Monday through Friday for another software delivery and the work leading up to this delivery, and the official testing that is taking place this week, has been hellish. There have been a lot of 16 hour days, a lot of frustration, and a lot of, well, bullshit to deal with. I guess I feel like a lot of this hellish rush to the finish could have been avoided, but that’s for another time and place. I am hoping this will come to a graceful and positive end with the delivery next week, after which things will return to some kind of normalcy.

Last night was the culmination of the proverbial shit storm, as I left work at 5:30 to have dinner with Summer and friends only to get a phone call asking to come back and fix some absolutely necessary things. I got back there at 8 and was there until 12. Finally sniffing freedom and anxious to get home and try to get some sleep, the R32 crapped out on me about a mile away from work. It crapped out in a big way; something internal to the transmission, possibly the differential, failed and locked up the transmission. A few AAA calls, another to Summer to pick me up, and a trip across town to drop off the car at Stuttgart Autohaus later and we didn’t get home until 2am. Sleep, ha! I was simply way too stressed now having to deal with facing a car repair bill that will, without a doubt, be well into four figure territory. Turns out the R32’s return to the road was short lived and it’s next return, well, who knows. Luckily the GTI is in good shape only needing tie rod ends and an alignment to be tip top. Hopefully I can hopefully get to that stuff this week, provided I get home from work in time. All I want is for the GTI to keep on keepin’ on. The first parts off the donor Corrado, the front brakes, were installed last weekend and are working great so far. Looks like the rest is going to have to continue to wait.

I realize things could be much, much worse and all this crap will pass with no real lasting damage (other than to my bank account, so much for looking at houses… ) but man is it frustrating.mu

Iiiiiiiiit’s baaaaaack.

Finally, the R32 was back in one piece, including the third motor mount, and ready to be thrown around the SIR gravel pit again. I drove the car to work all week and took time on Saturday to make sure everything that was unbolted and replaced or reattached was still securely fastened to the car. It all was. The third motor mount finally arrived on Thursday (after two months! never ordering from that company again…), and I installed it on Saturday as well.

The car felt fantastic. Maybe it was because I’d be driving the much older, slower, and more worn GTI exclusively for two months, or maybe it was just that the whole front end of the car was very fresh and well buttoned together, but it was pretty sweet. There’s no slop in the motor and transmission anymore thanks to the new motor mounts, the steering feel is improved thanks to the new control arm bushings, and transitions were much, much better handled thanks to the new, larger front sway bar. The best part was almost the drive to the event, which was the first highway experience since the repairs. Given that highway speeds and loads were where all the ill effects were previously experience, I was slightly nervous, but no bad vibes were to be found. So it appears that the drive shaft coupling that was replaced was the big problem, and that has now been solved, thankfully. All the other things that got done as a result were just added bonuses. Hey, if I’m was going to go through the hassle and expense ($40 for one time use bolts. Bolts!) to drop the subframe, might as well fix or replace other things. Break one thing, upgrade 3, right?

The autocross results were good; 67.830 (+1), 67.858, 70.896 (+4); minus the cones I wiped out from a nasty miscue at the end of my last run. The clean run was good for 5th of of 44th overall in both raw and PAX times, and 5th out of 11 in the PAX class with a score of 982/1000. Not bad for the first event back in the car after two months. Time only runs were excellent; they can’t be compared directly to the competition runs since the course was altered, making it faster, but my times got better with each run – 66.759, 65.276, 64.676 – were all clean, and my best of those 3 was the 3rd fastest PAX times of 39 time only entrants.

The car felt great from the first launch of the first run. No excess engine movement on takeoff, the 1-2 shift, or when getting off the gas. The car felt especially planted which made me more confident in the results of my driving inputs. Turn in is sharper and the car has a good deal less body roll in transitional elements. I didn’t notice much, if any, additional understeer, which can sometimes occur with a larger from sway bar, but the course layout might not have exposed those effects, and the bar was set at the softer of two settings. The only down side of the day was finding out what the next weak link is, as the front sway bar end links are making plenty of noise to indicate they have had enough. At least the nasty clunking they are making was easy to identify and was not any part of the car trying to dislodge itself from the mother ship to completely ruin my day.

Now that the R32 is running again and all appears well (knock every piece of wood in sight), I have found out that I am not allowed to have 2 simultaneously running Volkswagens. The GTI would not crank when I went to drive it to work Monday morning and since it will start with a jump from it’s younger sibling, it is hopefully the battery and not the alternator. I’ve yet to investigate it further. I got it back on concrete and will just keep driving the R32; perhaps having the GTI sitting will add even more fuel to the motivational fire of getting parts that are awaiting install actually bolted to the car. The brakes are ready to go, I have new stainless lines, new wheel bearings are pressed into the front spindles, the rear calipers have been rebuilt with new boots, and all I need to do is put the brakes together and bolt them on the car. Soon, very soon…

The motor is still at my friends house, and I have not yet gotten injectors and a fueling setup yet. Part of that is researching what will pass emissions and get me the performance I’d like and the other part is tuners not being all that great at responding to messages. Hey, guys, ah, I’m trying to buy stuff from you, answer your messages!

The title quotes a emergency room doctor who evaluated my badly sprained and thus, discolored and swollen ankle on my clutch foot today – and it hurt a little. Haha. She asked what I did, and I explained my attempt to slide into third base and how it did not end well. She said something about sliding head first, and I said, well, that didn’t work out either last time I tried, referencing the scrapes on the inside of my elbows from ‘the dive’ of a week or so ago.

Then she insinuated I was not in shape for my age and what I was doing.

Eh, she’s probably right, but somehow I don’t know that it’ll motivate me to get back on a regular gym routine.

At least the meds are kicking in and I’m pretty much pain-free for the time being.

The first event of 2009 in Tucson, the first event I ran registration in Tucson, and the first event I ran in the PAX category in Tucson. By the way, I also run the website now, which has a fresh look for 2009.

The night before was hectic as I was plagued by technical difficulties trying to print the 107 forms needed for the event. My new-ish laser printer’s toner failed on me and I then went through 2 and a half inkjet cartridges on my other printer, which happily dog-eared every page. Luckily a nearby Walgreen’s is open 24 hours with cheap ink refilling. On site went well, there’s a few things to tweak for next time, but it was smooth. I was anxious since that was quite a large group to handle first time out.

My participation in the event was not quite as successful. Cones on every comp run left me 11th of 15 in the PAX class. Even with more cones, I couldn’t match my best raw time in TOs either. The course was fun and fast though.

I’ve been up to many cars things of late, but what else is new. I took a Solo Safety Steward class here in Tucson last Saturday which was very informative, and I also finished a website for the newly established Arizona Chapter of the Audi Club, North America. It’s not much yet, since we don’t have a lot going on, but hopefully it will grow along with the new chapter.

Next up is probably Evo School in Tucson, maybe the Phoenix event in February if I get tires in time.

The off-season is over. It didn’t feel short, it was short. No rest for the weary (or the wallet, for that matter).

Luck of the draw had be in the 6th heat, which is when it decided to rain. As far as me vs. my class, it didn’t matter since we were all in the same heat. As far as me vs. the course, it presented a challenge.

Competition runs: 45.817, 44.604, 44.518, 43.493
Time only runs: 44.072, 44.057, 43.383, 43.342
45th out of 127 in fast times, 32nd in PAX times.

The kicker being that I let another driver take the R for a spin in his time only runs and he threw down a mid-42 second run on his last shot. So again, I’m not pushing the car hard enough. I did get some good advice during my TO runs, with the current DSP national champ riding shotgun (and frequently speaking up to the tune of ‘more throttle!’).

As for the ‘no rest for the wallet’, well, January is turning out somewhat costly on the car front. The R32 got 4 new tires on the regular wheels and will need 2 sticky tires on the autox rims after next weekend. Then there’s the GTI and the handful of things it will be getting fixed…

Note that I’m not complaining, just making an observation. Such is life: I picked this hobby and occasionally it takes my bank account in the yard and smacks it around. Whoops.

So Thursday night someone decided it would be a good idea to pull a U-turn in the front yard of the house, hit the GTI on the rear bumper, and taking off down the street. Yeah, seriously, a hit in run, in my front yard. Here’s a mix of pics the night it happened and the next morning.

Here’s the path the car took through the yard.

Then there’s where the GTI was parked and how much it was moved when it got hit.

Now, we were home when this happened and heard something odd, but it certainly didn’t sound like a car accident. I happened to look out the kitchen window and caught a glimpse of a white car driving off the side of the lawn and taking off down the street. This seemed a bit odd, so I went out side, realized the GTI was not in the same spot I parked it in, and that there was a explosion of cactus right at the end of the carport. Then the astonishment of what actually happened began.

It’s really eye opening to realize how close this car came to the house. Now, seeing the GTI moved about 6 feet, I was expecting to see some serious damage. Lucky for me, it seems it was hit on the edge of the bumper; really, another 6 inches, and it would not have been hit at all. The rear bumper is a bit tweaked, but the car drives fine. I’m amazed at the lack of damage to be honest.

Since we didn’t see anything, the police can’t and aren’t going to do much. I got a report number, that’s about it. The car only has liability coverage on it and in Arizona that means covering only bodily injury, not property damage, on uninsured motorist claims. So basically, I’m on the hook for repairs, which sucks. At least it’s not much, and since the bumper on the car is still firmly attached I probably won’t bother messing with it. I promptly called Progressive back and found out how cheap it was to get collision on the GTI, so it’s now got full coverage. It may not be worth much, but I’d prefer to get something in return if someone comes along and totals it, especially since it is certainly worth more than the $8 a month it costs to have it covered.

One the bright side, the huge pot of chili we were cooking that night came out awesome. We have a good five pounds of it left and it is sooooo delicious. Thanks for the recipe Mom!

So before we went to Nebraska, I had to make an emergency visit to the veterinarian with Llama, as he was having trouble going to the bathroom. The diagnosis was a partial blockage of his urethra or an infection of the area, so we got some meds and monitored his use of the litter box. About half way through our trip he finished the meds (we had friends staying at the house) and seemed to be back to normal doing just fine.

Then today, Summer noticed him squatting on the bed looking like he was trying to pee. His lower belly area was swollen and he was in obvious discomfort and could not go to the bathroom. So back to the emergency vet we went, and this time it was not so simple. He developed a full blockage in his urinary tract and needed to stay overnight. Last I heard he was unblocked with a catheter and was resting, but still with an IV for fluids and a catheter to monitor his urine output. He’s going to get a ultrasound done, blood work, urine-analysis… all in hopes of figuring out what the deal is. This is not uncommon in male cats, and there are options, but all of them are unfortunately somewhat invasive, the success rates are not bulletproof, and the financial commitment is substantial. It feels horrible to have that last reason in the equation, I do not have to want to choose between one of my best friends and my modest savings account, but it’s an unfortunate reality. One that brought me to tears upon hearing how much a potentially life saving surgery could cost for Llama.

It was just as upsetting to sit in the vet’s office and have to think about how things could turn out, today, next week, whenever. Even now the house isn’t the same as he’s staying over night. He could very well come home and have this happen again next week. Or it could never happen again, depending. If kidney stones caused it, he’d need surgery to remove them. It is was crystals in his urine, it depends on the type. If it’s something else… who knows. I’m hoping for the best, really, really hoping.

Go to SIR for autox this morning at it-way-too-early-on-Sunday (630 am departure).
Work the first heat.
Run the second heat.
First run, come back, front driver tire is holding less pressure than I set it at before going out. No way this should happen with temps in the 90s.
Then I hear it. The ominous hissing of air escaping the tire. I ran over something on that run that punctured it, dead center of the tread. That’s a wrap, one and done.
I also happened not to have a spare with me, which will never happen again, now.

Managed to limp the car home, thank goodness this event was in Tucson. Now time to see what one of the Monte Carlo wheels looks like on the car. At least the AZBR SCCA folks were kind enough to offer a refund of my entry fee as well as multiple offers to codrive. Good people.

Since it seems I can’t get through a month’s worth of events without something going wrong, I am thinking I might take a break from autocross and sleep in on more Sundays because this is just frustrating and it’s outweighing the fun. At least the Phoenix event two weekends ago went well, aside from getting my ass handed to me.