Kurt Busch Still Sucks

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Pittsburgh Floods of 2004

Well the rain swollen rivers of western PA have imposed their will upon the downtown Pittsburgh area. An area already hit with flooding from the remnants of hurricane Frances. This time it was Ivan. Now I am by no means saying that we took it as bad as Florida residents, we only got the water. No wind or tornadoes to speak of. However in the three river city, water is enough to cause significant damage. The college where I teach is located about 100 ft from the northern bank of the Monongehala river. A deep muddy river that runs north out of West Virginia. Well this river has flooded numerous basements in the downtown Pittsburgh area, to include the one where I work. Our student activity center is located in our basement and at last report was under 6 feet of water. All of our electricity, elevators, telephones and Internet service has been severed. We were told to report to work anyway minus the students. I am able to post this blog from my battery powered laptop while "borrowing" an adjacent wireless connection that the owner has not secured.
Again, I am no way comparing our city's damage to that of the folks down south, but it certainly makes life interesting to see pleasure craft washed up on the Golden Triangle. Just glad they're not mine!

Exhaust Valve Stem Caps

OK,
So for the past few months I had been on a quest for an exhaust valve stem cap for one of the valves on my Ford 302 engine. Now you may think (as I did) that 1000's of them are still floating around out there, but as it turns out the answer is "NO They're Not!"

It started back in July when I was changing the cam on my Ford 302 in my Bronco. No big deal, but the new engine has the old style heads with caps on the backs of the valves. During the process of resetting the valves, I dropped one of the caps into a black hole (i.e I have no idea where it went). I thought it was no big deal, I have another set in the basement, but to my surprise, they had no caps. OK then I will just go to the Advance Auto and get one...yeah right. Then I just assembled the engine without it. The engine ran, and I continued the rocker arm adjustment process. I could not get the vacuum gauge needle to stop fluttering, and the engine seemed to have a miss.
My little cap missing from the exhaust valve was certainly the culprit. I went on a quest! With 70 Ford truck manual in hand, complete with parts numbers and a diagram! I went to my local Quality Plus Ford Dealer... My first mistake is went there in my work clothes... a shirt and tie. So here comes this clean cut, middle aged, professional guy with a greasy 35 year old shop manual in his hands, up to the parts counter at the dealer.
"Uh you guys have one of these?"
"Nope"
"Why not?"
"Computers only go back to 1980"
"So before 1980, what did you do?"
"Books"
"I have the part number right here, from your own Ford Shop Manual!"
"Can't help you sir"
"Can't or Won't?"
OK then...I go to a machine shop where they specialize in racing engines for Ford.
Some greasy fathead looks at me as if I was first human he ever saw.
"You guys have one of these I can buy?" showing him the cap. "I will buy the whole valve if I need to?"
"Nope"
Looking around at over 300 pairs of heads in various stages of assembly, and other parts everywhere.
"None? Not even an old one? I really need this part, I am sure you know how important this cap is"
"Yup"
pause
"Go to a junkyard and get one"
Now I have lived in the Pittsburgh area for 5 years now, and I am not in the know when it comes to parts and cars. My old stomping grounds back in Souderton, PA I knew everybody. Not here.
So I call my old friend Nick Markey back in Souderton. He is like a pit bull with a task. He calls me back in less than 24 hours and says he found one. I call his friend Doug Myers at a performace shop in Zeiglersville, PA and for 5 bucks I get two of them!
So I put the new cap on reset the valves and there is no longer the fluttering in the vacuum gauge. I still have that miss.
My next mini project is to adjust the carb and get a new vacuum advance for the Mallory distributor.
Oh the joy of owning an old vehicle!

My new Suunto "Wrist Computer"

Yesterday I took delivery of a brand new Suunto Vector Khaki wrist top computer watch. It is absolutly amazing! Back in 1997 I bought a Casio Pathfinder with some of these features.
1. Barometer
2. Altimeter
3. Temp

I was really impressed with the way this watch tracked atmospheric changes, and when outdoors you could easily see from the watch if the weather was going to change. After that I was hooked. I wore that watch every day for 4 years, until the battery died. I had the battery serviced at a jeweler and they said it died in the process. I then ordered another Casio, and this one had everything the old one had and a compass! Wow!

I wore this watch every day until last month, when the battery indicator said "low" I took the watch to another watch battery place, asked them if they knew how to change the batteries, they said yes, I turned it over and got back a dead watch with new batteries...

I tried whatever I could to get that back up and running. No joy.

Anyway after a few weeks of research, I decided to go away from the Casio Pathfinders this time, even the solar ones. I always liked the Suunto models with the same features, but they were a little more pricey than the Casios. I researched and decided that I would go with the Vector Khaki Model. This thing showed up yesterday.

Step 1 - Trash the band! It is not only uncomfortable, but it is hideous! There is an elastic Suunto strap that costs 10.00 that you can get at any accessory site. That is the first thing I did, and the watch looks great. Warning...this watch is big! However considering the way it works, and how freakin accurate it is (way more than the Casio) it is well worth it!

Step 2 - Calibrate it. I am still in the process of calibrating it, but I do like the fact that when I tested the altimeter with my Garmin GPS I was within 10ft! Wow! How is that for accurate?

Step 3 - Enjoy it. The Khaki model as the reverse LCD, that means the face is black and the digits are an olive drab. I always liked that look, but never found a watch that I wanted with that design until now. So this watch looks good, not too geeky.

What more can I say? This is an amazing watch, the price was comparable to the Casio at 175.00 and it seems to be a better piece of gear.

Oh yeah and the battery is "user servicable" that's a plus. :)

Email me if you have any questions!

Sporto