Workshop Completion and Move In 

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March 30, 2008 - Back to the track for the first time this year, as a driver!  Silas Rogers asked me to do a test of the new electronics I installed in his 1976 Nova about three weeks ago.  This was a real friendship job.  Silas had been to several people asking them to put the delay box and shift controller into the car and nobody wanted anything to do with the wiring on the car.  After several hours of trying to figure out how everything was connected, I finally gave up and decided to just "make it work".  It took over a week of wiring, tracing, ripping out and rerouting to get everything so I could make sense of it.  We had to change the shift solenoid, rewire the three-step, line-lock and some of the many switches that were already in the car.  Anyway, we finally got it working the way it is suppose to. 
Friday we set the valves and adjusted the carb.  Silas and his brother Leo, had changed the oil, put new front springs on it and they changed the rear end gear from 4.56:1 to 4.30:1.  Today we took it to the track.  This was my first time driving a real racecar since my accident in Nov. 2006.  I said a few prayers before going out there and more after I got into the car.  I set everything to shift a low rpm and didn't press the accelerator down to the floor on the first pass.  I think is was a 12 second pass at around 123 MPH.  The second pass was 10.27 @ 133 MPH, and I still did not have everything set for optimum power.  My last pass was an all out 10.03 @ 135 MPH.  Since the car is not certified, I decided not to push is any more.  There are a few more 10ths in there, but Silas needs to get the car certified before we tune it to go into the nines.  Just to let everyone know, my last pass RT was .018 sec.  Not bad for a year and 4 months layoff! 

The past two weeks Joe has been working on my racecar.  He has the seal bar all fitted up and the wheelie bars are fabricated.  The parachute is on but the cable is not connected.  The seat mount has not been made yet.  We ordered a new window net and installation kit.  While I have Joe over here, I may as well get everything done right now.

During that same two week period, Barbara has been remodeling the house.  She has already turned my old workroom into a inside washroom, assessable from the inside of the house.  We still have the flooring to do and the painting to finish it off. 

 I have purchased three new computers in the past week and taken two of them back.  The first two, which shall remain unnamed (because there was nothing wrong with the computers), had the new Vista operating system.  To make a long story short, I am having a computer made here in Baton Rouge and it will have the XP operating system on it (I almost purchased a MAC).   Within a few days I should be off of this laptop and back on a nice desktop computer where I can load my photos and movies and all the other things that I normally do.  The new computer will have a Intel quad-core processor with lots of RAM and 500 GB of hard drive.  The graphics will also be the envy of any gamer geek.  I should be set for the next three or four years (after I finish transferring all my old files from the old computer, which is another adventure, or should I say, a real pain). 

Finally, last night (3/29/08), Jeremy's Educated Young Males Against Drug & Violence group won another award.  They won the Volunteerism category at the 2008 Youth Achievement Awards Banquet of "RIZ Up Louisiana", a Non-profit young peoples organization sponsored by Louisiana State Representative Regina Ashford-Barrow of District 29.  Several of the young men were at the banquet, along with their sponsors and parents, to accept the award.  Congratulations again to Jeremy and his group.  They just got back from their trip to Atlanta where they all had a very good time.  The boys will be featured on the "Major Topics" radio show in the month of April.  They will be the guest of EBR Parish Constable Major Brown and Mr. John Smith of the "100 Black Men of Metro Baton Rouge". 

That's it until I get the new computer working!

March 15, 2008 - The car has moved of the yard to the space between the house and the workshop.  Joe Dunn and his two sons, Troy and Joe, Jr. are going to get all the welding done to be able to pass certification.  The rocker panel bar (seal bar) will be put in.  We will install the parachute and a set of wheelie bars.  The seat will be raised and tilted forward so I can see over the hood scoop (Bert Riley, the last owner, is very tall).  We are also installing a new fuel cell to go along with the new fuel system.  Joe should be complete with that work sometime after Easter.  We are waiting on some parts.

The workshop is 90% or more, complete.  All I have left is the workbench and walls on the front left side.  After the welding is done on the car, it will be moved into the shop and I will start installing the wiring, fuel system and gauges in the dashboard. 

I just found out that the converter that I had in the car was destroyed, so I must inspect the transmission before I can use it.  I am also planning to pull the pan on the engine and check some bearings.  I will not try to make the Father's Day race as I had planned. 

Jeremy Herbert was a winner in the LPB/Rotary Club "Young Hero's" contest!  There were 8 kids from around the state that were picked as winners.  Jeremy was recommended by Bracket Masters President - Mr. Willie Beathley, Mrs. Charlotte Placiede - School Board Superintendent  and by 1st Sgt. Jordan of the Glen Oaks High School ROTC program.  We are very proud of Jeremy.  His group, "Young Educated Males Against Drugs and Violence", will take a trip to Atlanta over the Easter break as a reward.  Two young ladies, the Secretary of the group and the Cadet Captain of the ROTC will also make the trip along with male and female chaperones.  

February 26, 2008 - Before I start the transition to the new platform with the  web site, I will give a last update on the workshop. 
I finally moved the engine, transmission and all the "junk" out of the little room where I have worked for the past 17 years.  You would not believe that a room 10' x 13' could fill a workshop that is 25' x 30'! 
I am in the process of filling all the cabinets and sorting out the stuff to throw away.  I found stuff that was still in the original carton, brand new!  I found things that I have two of, or more.  I found parts for SBC that I may use to fill the old 350 block that was hiding behind the freezer.  I could have set up a nice swap meet display at Super Chevy with the things that were in that little room.    I still have a large storage shed back there that probably has a lot of surprises in it too. 
After finishing all the walls on the back and right side, I still must build the left side workbench and storage cabinet.  I have really been having fun building all of this stuff.  The finished product may not be as nice as I wanted it to be, but it is going to be so much better than what I had and I will enjoy every moment I spend out there.  Barbara says, all I need is a big flat screen TV, a Lazy-boy and a microwave (I already have the fridge)!

This web site platform transformation will take a while.  I just completed the same actions on my church website and it was not very nice.  The big problem is not with the provider, but with Microsoft FrontPage 2003, the HTML editor that I use.  Microsoft will not support this software any more.  They want everyone to purchase new software, which is better and does more but is much harder to learn and use.  I switched to Adobe Dreamweaver for the church website, but things that I can do in seconds using FrontPage, takes me a much longer time to complete, or I have to do something else.  I know many of you use Dreamweaver and do not agree.  I am trying to learn to use Adobe Flash to put video and sound on the website.  Dreamweaver and Flash work hand in hand, so I will, most likely, switch the BMRT website over to Dreamweaver and just suffer the long learning curve.  In the end, all of you out there will benefit from the changes.  Copy the photos that you want now, because they WILL be gone when the site is reconstructed using Dreamweaver.

February 9, 2007 - Today, after I went to vote, I drove out to State Capitol Raceway to see how the work was progressing.  They were in the process of cutting the concrete smooth in both lanes.  Mr. Joe said they will be ready for opening day in a week (Feb. 16, 2008).  Keep an eye on the SCR Web Site for official news of the opening.

The workshop is also progressing towards a early March completion.  Completion will be recognized by moving the car into the completed shop.  We have had several visitors to see the shop, Mr. Willie, Lacey, Ms. Davis, James Allen, James Richardson, neighbors, and Reggie comes by on a regular basis. 

I have most of the walls completed in the back half of the shop.  We will have the custom workbench and cabinets installed this coming Wednesday.  I should have the front half walls insulated and up by the end of this coming week.  I continued the white pegboard at the top and plywood at the bottom all the way around all the walls. 

I will start to build the 6 ft. cabinet and workbench for the front left side next week. This is where all the dirty work will be done, along with the welding, grinding and cutting.  I plan to put the vise, pedestal grinder and bench press in this area.  The right front will just be open with a few storage racks.  The whole center of the floor will be for the car. 

Now that I have worked on the floor for a few weeks, I like the finish and color.  The problem I mentioned earlier, with the flaking, was only in one corner, and that was the corner that the first layer was put on.  Everywhere else seems to be real strong and tight.  James Allen pointed out that you will not slip on the finish. 

January 12, 2008 - Barbara purchased the new 3 ft. cabinet for the workshop and some more wall covering.  She has invested a lot into making this project as nice as we both can afford. 

The RaceDeck floor tiles came in, I think I will like this stuff.  Having some trouble with the concrete stain that I used.  It is very easy to pull up.  When I put some tape on the floor to prevent overspray, when I pulled the tape up, some of the floor stain came up, all the way to the bare concrete.  I purchased some very nice floor tiles for the restroom.  This is real cheap Armstrong self sticking floor tiles.  We used the same stuff in our home bathroom and it came out very nice, after we had to go back and use some adhesive to make it stick.  I am going to use the same adhesive to start with this time. 

I installed all the wall treatment in the corner by the hot water heater.  The pegboard looks very good.  I built an enclosure for the hot water heater and put a top on it.  I'll be able to put something on top of it.  Tomorrow I will install the new cabinet and put some type of finish on it.  Haven't decided what finish I will apply to it. 

I am having a lot of fun actually doing the work draw up the different things that I have had to build so far.  I keep in mind the old saying, "measure twice and cut once".  So far, most of my cuts have been good.  Having to cut openings for the electrical outlets in the pegboard and cutting openings in the studs for the romex has taken a lot of measuring, cutting and fitting.  Makes you appreciate a good carpenter.  All I have to say is, it has been very rewarding and I'm having a ball!  I must purchase some stock in Lowe's!

January 7, 2008 - Congratulations to LSU, National Champs - LSU - 38 OSU - 24.

I have been driving various cars in preparation of getting rid of my little Focus to get something that I really like and will enjoy driving (since NHRA decided not to classify the Focus, I have no use for it).  Today I drove a Lincoln MKX SUV.  I like the Ford Edge much better!  I drove the Edge last year in November and really liked the ride.  That same day I drove the Infiniti M35, and to my dismay, I did not like it very much either.  I understand there is a major makeover due for the 2008 M35.  The top cars on my list, before today, were the Toyota Matrix, RAV4 and the Ford Edge.  That was before I drove the Cadillac CTS with the 304 HP V6 Direct Injection engine.  I know why Motor Trend selected the CTS the 2008 Car of the Year!  I was impressed.  I think I have found my dream car.  Never owned a Cadillac before, but that might change in the near future. 

The Workshop is moving right along.  I am preparing to put interior walls in place.  I purchased some plywood and some pegboard to see how it will look in a couple of places.  I also visited a showroom, Jackson Store Fixtures, Inc. (Ultimate Storage Co.) in Baton Rouge that has a lot of nice storage solutions for the any room in the home, including some very nice garage storage setups.  They will come out to the house and take measurements, then make computer animations of what our cabinets and wall storage will look like.  They are fairly expensive, but I may let them do one wall.  Barbara may use them to do her new room and the old pantry in our kitchen.  If we don't use them, we may purchase some of there items to go in our new spaces.  My new modular floor should be in by this coming Friday.  I ordered the Evergreen RaceDeck XL, 18" x 18" squares, with the black border.  This will go under the car and allow about 1.5 ft of walking space around the car.  I should look very good on the terracotta floor.  I ordered enough for the office space along with some extra tiles, just in case.  I decided to go with something cheaper in the restroom.  I plan to get a ready-made cabinet from Lowe's to go in the corner where the hot water heater is located, next to the deep sink.  They also have some nice table tops at Lowe's, with laminate covering, that will fit real nice into that corner on top of that cabinet. 

January 3, 2008 - Purchased a tall broom cabinet that I will use to store all my cleaning gear, mops, brooms, buckets and other tall stuff. 

Charlie Robinson stopped over to look at my new creation.  He had a lot of nice things to say, some good comments and observations.  It's always good to have some more eyes on a project to help out.

January 2, 2008 - Happy New Year!  The workshop is ready to have my old items moved out of my little room and into the big new area! 

The floor did not come out as good as I had hoped for because I choose the wrong type paint.  In fact I did not get the epoxy paint that I should have, but I picked up a three part concrete stain system.  The results are acceptable, but we had to change the color after the first coat of stain to make it darker.  The first coat was almost pink!  That did not go well with the beige walls of the restroom.  We now have a deep terracotta color on the floor.  Reminds me of the bilge paint in the Navy ships that I served on. 

To complete the floor covering, I plan to get some green Flexi-Tile or RaceDeck and put it in the restroom, the office area and where the car will be parked.  The area where I will be standing will have thick rubber mats to ease the impact on the feet from standing on the concrete. 

Barbara (Construction Manager) and I have been going to different places and looking at cabinets and other items that would help with storage and to make it look good.  There is a good place for all types of cabinets and office furniture on Greenwell Springs Road, called Commercial Liquidators.  They are directly across the street from the McDonald's and Furniture Liquidators.  The internet has some good information on garage equipment.  Charlie Robinson suggested Sam's Club for a set of 4-in-1 storage racks/workbench/cabinets.  This is a very good deal and it looks like something that would work for me in one of my areas.  They also have some other matching cabinets and workbenches at Sam's that are very nice but at a higher price.  Sears carries the Gladiator, Craftsman Professional and The Ultimate lines of cabinets.  They are listed from top of line to bottom. 

I told Willie, over the holidays, that I want my workshop to look so good that when the car is parked in it, people will come in and look at the shop and not the car.  Willie cautioned me about being able to actually "work" in my shop.  My comment was, "At my age, I don't really care about work!" 

Willie has not been feeling very well over the holidays.  Bad cold and maybe a virus.  He was feeling better on Tuesday. 

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