Virtual Reality

I just finished reading a great book by Matthew Crawford, titled Shop Class as Soulcraft and I just have to respond with my two cents. In summary, Crawford (a Physicist with a Ph.D in Political History who makes a living repairing vintage motorcycles...and writing books) makes the case that a Post-Industrial Revolution is taking place, where instead of Industry being mechanized and depersonalized, Corporate office work is being mechanized and transformed into assembly line work. Instead of allowing employees to operate autonomously, work functions are divided, so that each individual only performs a small role in the overall scheme of things. When problems arise, there is generally a company-wide protocol which is followed to rectify the situation. It only requires knowledge of the protocol, not knowledge of how the protocol works to resolve issues. This expedites problem resolutions, which reduces downtime and as a result, improves profit. Culturally, we seem to have embraced the fact that we prefer to acknowledge that something is broken and let someone (something?) else figure out why it is broken. Crawford asserts that there seems to be a desire to give the illusion of simplifying life by adding layer upon layer of user interfaces to the world around us. He gives the example of a Mercedes Benz; the entire engine is covered with pieces of stylized plastic and there is no oil dipstick. When you pop the hood of your car, there are no belts or spark plugs to replace and no fluids to check. The ultimate result of this simplification is Virtual Reality, where physical interaction with the world around us is not necessary and all work performed can be theoretical.

The primary point of the book is that people are intrinsically motivated by overcoming an obstacle that impedes their progress and that by allowing some other agency to overcome an obstacle, people are more prone to feel unfulfilled. When the book was recommended to me, it was based on a statement that I had made regarding my dissatisfaction with my current line of work and my desire to move into a more technical field (notably as a mechanic). I had no idea of the broader commentary that Crawford would provide in his book. He has a very cynical view of higher education, referring to some college graduates as having purchased a Brand Name diploma and colleges cashing in on their respective brand. He also mentions that, although he doesn't feel that his college education was a waste, guidance counselors should reconsider recommending that all students should attend college.

The author's fulfillment as a motorcycle mechanic comes from knowing that each repair he performs is unique in its own right. It can not be defined by a univeral statement or reduced to a simple procedural protocol. The initial task of a person who repairs something that they did not create themselves is to assess possible causes of the issue. Written references make a good initial starting point, but as he mentions in the later portion of his book, attempting to follow a shop manual can sometimes lead the technician in the wrong direction, and its usually best to follow intuition.

This book came at a pretty crucial time for me. I work for a contract research service provider and with the economy in the situation that it is, our company is pretty much at the whim and whimper of its clients. As a result, we've started seeing a lot of bizarre work requests, some bordering on the cusp of insanity. At the same time, the work force has been trimmed and the expectation is that work will still continue to be performed at previous levels of quality and speed. From these factors and a few others, I've pretty much decided that my current career path is not one that I want to be in for the next 20 years. My dream for the last few years has been to have a little car repair shop with one or two bays, where I can work as an independent mechanic, performing mostly basic maintenance, but also having the freedom to take on pretty much any project that catches my fancy.

The one factor that has so far dissuaded me from making the leap is that it seems our particular corner of Ohio has thus far resisted the trend of everyone transitioning to white collar work and there are still a copious number of independent mechanics in the area. I think the best way of overcoming this is to either specialize in some make or type of car that does not have a large number of mechanics in the area (ie Vintage cars, German cars, etc.). The other hurdle which I have imposed on myself is a feeling of inadequacy in the mechanical arts. I don't have any schooling as a mechanic and I've only had limited experiences working on cars myself. I don't really see it as a problem, because from previous experience most repair work is pretty straightforward after you've done something similar before. However, I feel as though I'd have a lot to prove to a prospective client.

I've noticed a bit of optimism in myself over the last week. Prior to this point, I've kind of been uncertain as to the path I've wanted my life to take. Now I feel as though God has kind of laid a path for me and I just need to make the transition.

Everyday Jesus

Its always interesting when inspiration strikes...and its also interesting how long it takes for some ideas to gestate. About three weeks ago, I got up early on a Saturday morning and hopped in the car to go to Focus In The Field. Its been an annual pilgrimage for Rachel and I for a few years back when we were dating. Then, when we got married, interest in the event kind of died down and it wasn't an official gathering for a few years. This year, it came back big, so I knew I had to go. However, with Brayden, Rachel was unfortunately unable to join me in my 500 mile trek in the deathtrap. Some irrelevant background information.

I left home at a little before 5:30 on Saturday. It was a little bit rainy, but the majority of the storms were not over Wooster when I left. However, it was still a little bit drizzly when I arrived in Ashland and decided to stop for breakfast at McDonalds. As I entered the seating area, I was a little bit surprised to see someone else there. At 5:50 on a rainy Saturday morning, you don't really expect to see anyone other than people that have to be somewhere. However, this morning, there was an Amish man sitting at a table in the corner of the dining area, working on a cup of coffee.

I'm not really sure what it was about the man, but for some reason, I had a very strong feeling of Christ's presence while I was sitting there, eating my breakfast. I briefly debated conversing with the man, as it almost seemed as though he were waiting for something. I was going to offer him a ride to wherever he needed to go. I had more than 200 miles to go, but I could certainly spare 20 minutes to take him around town. However, my car is not exactly conducive to providing taxi service and I wondered if he would still be grateful for a ride after the fact. As I was finishing up, he got up and walked out of the dining area. I left only a minute or two later and as I drove around the restaurant to leave, I could see no sign of the Amish man. He literally vanished into the pre-dawn gloom.

For much of the rest of the drive, I turned over in my head whether or not I should have offered him a ride, or at least had some sort of conversation with him. The other image that I turned over in my head was whether we might find Jesus collecting himself in the quiet of an early morning fast-food joint. Perhaps it was a weekly ritual for the man, reflecting on the week before the hustle and bustle of travelers impinged upon his little sanctuary.

Regardless of the underlying reason for the man's presence, I started thinking about Everyday Jesus. Its taken me a little over 3 weeks to allow my thoughts to marginally congeal into a blog, but the concept of Everyday Jesus has stayed with me. Really, what it boils down to is how we live on a daily basis. I realize that this is kind of a fundamental tenant of Christanity (albeit one that seems to get lost in the noise of evangelism and other more boisterous behavior), but its good to be reminded of it from time to time.

I was reminded that morning that I really need to take time to digest my experiences occasionally. Whether that means, going to McDonalds at 5:30 and reflecting over a cup of coffee for an hour, or taking a solitary weekend retreat every couple of months, I realized that its something that I don't allow myself (and a lot of people don't). We're too caught up in the moment, too busy experiencing life's highs and lows, reading, fellowshipping, etc., that we forget that we need to take time to see how God is working (or even be grateful for how He's working).

The other thing that the Everyday Jesus phrase encompassed for me was to be a stranger servant. I felt really convicted for not offering the Amish man a ride after he left. I have no idea where he was going; for all I know he works at one of the hotels nearby (the Amish in Ashland are of a much lower order than a lot of those from Holmes County, so I don't know what their employment status is). But he could have also had a long journey in the drizzly darkness. We as a society are too afraid of strangers. I don't think I know anyone who has offered assistance to a stranger, later to find out that the person they had helped was a dangerous person (aside from Adam, I think he picked up a hitch-hiker who had been convicted of Felonious Assalt, but Adam doesn't really count because he's had lots of interesting life experiences; like the day he called off work because he had died the night before...true story). The majority of people are still good and when they're in a vulnerable situation, they're likely to be even more grateful for assistance.

I read a post recently about why people have had such a strong reaction to 9/11. The comment was an off-hand remark about society by a person who has no official official qualification in that regard. However, I found the statement to be quite true. Essentially what he said was that our society has become so reliant on other people (be it the military for protection, TV for opinions, etc), that it is helpless in the face of trauma. My sister-in-law made a similar comment about the solution for problems that the people in her community faced was to call an "expert". I've actually been thinking a lot about what it means to be an expert as well, but I'll keep that for another post. My thought is that the reason our society seems so helpless is that no one is sticking out their neck for anyone else.

Mainstream news tells us that there is a lot to be afraid of when it comes to helping others. Are we too afraid of the litigious nature of our society to be of service to our fellow countrymen? I've seen a lot of jokes made about people being sued for attempting to help someone who either didn't want to be helped or was in some way injured as a result of the assistance. However, I think there is some truth to that, although I can't provide concrete proof of precedence. Are we afraid of the serial killers that roam our highways, waiting for someone to fall into their trap? That man standing on the side of the road, next to his old pick-up truck could actually just be waiting for some unsuspecting good Samaritan to stop by, so he can bundle them up and keep them in his basement dungeon for all of eternity. Really?

As a Christian, I often look at the New Testament and see all of the miracles that Jesus worked. Huge miracles; feeding thousands with a loaf of bread and a few fish; turning water into wine. The list of spectacles goes on. The thing that the New Testament does not explicitly portray is what Jesus (and his disciples and other followers) did on a daily basis. With good reason, as its hard enough to get people to read the Bible as it is...can you imagine reading it if it detailed every day of Jesus' life? From a theological standpoint, Everyday Jesus is probably as shallow a concept as they come. Jesus is a historical figure, not active in the Modern Church, that's the work of the Spirit. However, Everyday Jesus provides a model for us to live by.

I think that as a Mennonite, its easiest for me to relate to modeling a servant heart and spending time reflecting on life's events instead of some of the other popular Christian lifestyle models. The following statements probably run perpendicular to the intent of my post, but Evangelism is a downright scary prospect to me (and I would almost go as far as to call it Unchristian...but not quite). All people are flawed, and for an evangelical person to call out a non-believer (or an individual who has strayed from the faith), that person will be judged for every place where they've fallen short of glorifying God. God doesn't judge that person, but the non-believer can see right through a person who talks, but doesn't live it. As a servant, you deny yourself (but don't deny that you're flawed), which hopefully opens meaningful dialogue. A servant does not single out a non-believer, but instead caters to those in need.

I've derailed a little bit, but most of all, I feel convicted. I've been in several situations in recent years where I had the opportunity to serve someone and have not taken the opportunity. Likewise, I spend my time on meaningless busywork instead of taking time to reflect on the blessings that God has given me. I have much growing to do...

Google AdSense (AKA Internet Millions!)

So I went ahead and sold out my ideals...I decided to subscribe to Google's AdSense. Please let me know if they become overly obnoxious. Its kind of a continuation of a project that I started at the beginning of the year to see whether you can actually make money on the internet.

I started out with a Knowledge Network account. I had gotten an phone call from someone about it, so being curious, I agreed to participate. Basically, I receive an email every couple of days telling me that there is a survey available. The surveys take about 10 minutes to answer and generally relate to current event topics, like Healthcare, the economy, online activity, etc. For every survey, you receive 1000 points for participating (sometimes more). Each 1000 points is redeemable for a handful of prize drawings, or you can cash out points in increments of 25000 points (equal to $25). Having participated for about 8 months, I have cashed out $35 (and wasted a couple points on prize drawings). Along with this, I am also allowing Knowledge Networks to monitor my internet usage for 20000 points the first month and 15000 points quarterly thereafter. I realize that it may seem intrusive to some, but I figured that I might as well try to recoup some of the cost of my internet for doing nothing more than what I would normally do.

Regardless, I'll keep everyone posted on how well AdSense works out and also if I come across any other marginally legitimate means of making money on the internet. Let me know if you have any opinions one way or the other, or any comments that you'd like to make on your own experiences.

Ponderings of one who thinks too much

Fascination and fear both come from the unknown. How is it that two disparate emotions can have the same root? Rachel has been telling me about a book that she read last year about how to discipline children and that the author asserts that children's negative behavior is entirely driven by fear or avoidance thereof.

My initial thought was that this was bogus. Children have to be driven by more than just fear. Children are curious, sometimes they seem completely fearless when it comes to behavior, with no regard for consequences. However, the more I've thought about it, the more I've started to believe that fear is the primary emotion that everyone experiences.

Fear is truly an all-encompassing emotion. Its negative; fear of failure prevents us from attempting something new. Its positive; fear of consequences keep us from breaking the law. Most other emotions are very one-sided; anger can be construed in a positive and negative light, but an angry person is generally a person who has lost control. Love is universally considered a positive feeling. By not having a bias, fear becomes possibly the most primal emotion.

How is it, then, that some people are afraid of things, while other people are completely fascinated by the same thing? Take spiders for instance, most people are terrified of them. They're hairy, they behave strangely and we're always told that the average person eats 5 spiders in their sleep every year. Yet, people study spiders; other people keep taratulas as pets.

I really don't have an answer as to why certain people display fear while others are curious, but I think its something that is interesting to be aware of as you go throughout your day.

Zetec Engine Build Wrap Up (Part III: Tuning)

My alarm went off and I was up like a flash. This was the day that I would find out if my efforts would reward me! I hit the shower, threw some Red Bull and Gatorade in a cooler, grabbed some cookies and granola bars and hit the road. I made it to Youngstown in about an hour and filled up on gas (after an aborted stop in Brimfield where they only had 92 octane), knowing that I80 through PA was pretty shy on civilization for the first 150 miles. Another 50 miles and I needed to make a pit stop for myself. Shortly thereafter, I saw a sign for the road I knew I needed to take south. I was a little bit confused, because Google Maps had said exit 123 and this was exit 70. But I didn't want to end up in New Jersey again, like I did the last time I took I80. So I turned off onto 322 and wandered into the hills...

It became apparent to me relatively quickly that I had gotten off way too soon. But being afraid of getting lost, I stayed on it. It was beautiful country and the sun was just starting to rise. I quickly realized that the speed limit was more of a suggestion than anything, so I picked up the pace a little bit and started making up time. On of the confusing things was that trucks were limited to 20MPH in certain hilly areas, but cars were not. Once I got to State College, 322 open up to 4 lanes, divided, It was still allegedly 55 MPH, but the flow of traffic was about 65. It still took awhile to get to Dillsburg from there, but I ended up at the shop around 9:15AM. The guys had bunch of stuff going on; there was still a Mustang on the dyno from Wednesday, and people were calling for advice on what parts to buy. We finally got my car on around 10AM and started tuning. Random people started showing up as soon as they heard a car on the dyno. Most were locals, but Hal, a Focus owner had shown up from Fredrick, MD. We made 19 dyno pulls and ended up with 150HP and 134TQ.



It was a little bit lower than I had hoped for, but I'm more than pleased with the results. The torque curve is beautiful and really long for these cams. The engine screams all the way to 7400 RPM and is buttery smooth.

We finalized everything a little after 2PM and I headed out for home. I had initially planned on taking the toll road back home, but didn't have enough cash on me to pay the toll, so I decided to go home the way I had come. Traffic seemed a little bit lighter than it had when I showed up (right at the tail end of rush hour when everyone was about 5 minutes late for work) and I had a pretty good idea of where I was going. I got out of the Harrisburg area as quickly as I could and hopped onto US322. Along the river, the car seemed to be running pretty strong, but I kept hearing a ticking sound that I thought sounded like bolts backing out of the water pump pulley, but put it off as the timing belt tensioner, since we had heard it earlier on the dyno. About 12 miles east of State College, everything kind of happened at once. I heard a slapping sound, the steering got heavy, and the battery light came on in the dash. Its kind of funny, I never pay too much attention to the lights on my dash (since the door ajar light flickers when I go over bumps and my airbag light flashes, since I don't have the OEM seats anymore), but at the first sign of trouble, you can pretty much see everything immediately...that's good. I knew pretty much right away that the serpentine pulley had let go, so my next concern was to get the car shut off and off the road (in that order) before the car overheated and blew out the headgasket. Of course, I had been driving on the 2 lane stretch of 322 along a state park, so the area was very sparsely populated and there was no good place to turn off. Fortunately, within about 10 seconds, I came up on a little place with 3 houses that had a pull off in front of them. I shut the car off and coasted into the pull off just as the temperature gauge started moving to the red.

Break-downs are never good. Break-downs are never fully anticipated, either. I kind of sat there in a state of stupor for about 2 minutes, in total disbelief. At this point, I had been on the road (from home) for about 13 hours, I was tired. I hadn't (despite my wife's prodding) eaten anything aside from a granola bar (at 4AM) and 2 cans of Red Bull at some point throughout the journey. I didn't really feel like being broken down (does anyone?). I popped the hood and could see that the serpentine belt had come loose and was shredded. Further, the pulley on the water pump was at a 30° angle compared to the rest of the pulleys. I could hear coolant boiling through the hoses, but like an idiot, I reached my hand down to try to pull the belt out of the pulleys. The aluminum motor mount was pretty hot to the touch, so I screwed around with it for a few minutes, then gave up. I decided to assess my situation instead. I had no map, so I had no clue where I was at. It looked like there were greater odds that someone was at the second house, so I walked over and mumbled something about my water pump pulley coming loose and needing to find a parts store so I could go buy a belt. I don't know if I was delirious or what, but I expected the guy to be super excited and willing to drive me to his favorite parts store. He didn't, he said something along the lines of, "I'll get you the phone number for a shop that's down the road (the way you came) a few miles". I asked if he had a jack and he said no. I realized that not everyone is as interested in cars and things mechanical as I...that was shocking.

I called the shop that he had given me the number for and he said, "Yeah, I think I've got a Focus in right now, I'll go out and have a look at it. Go ahead and call AAA and get the car towed in. I'll see if I can take care of you tonight, but you might have to find a hotel somewhere." This didn't sound too promising. Changing a serpentine belt on a Focus is not rocket science, you shouldn't need to look at the one out front to see if its doable. I called AAA (fortunately, we're Gold Members...not really sure what that means, but I think this just made being a AAA member worth it), they took my information, then transferred it to the agent responsible for the area in which I was broken down. She then asked if I had a shop that I preferred...I kind of thought that we had gone over the whole out-of-state, don't really know where I am, want to get home tonight thing. Did she recommend a place? Graham's Exxon in State College it is. A tow truck is on its way. What this means is, the towing company knows that AAA is going to cover the bill, so "lets wait until the driver is on over-time, so we can bill AAA more and make this worth it for us". In the mean time, completely irritating an already irritated stranded motorist. The tow truck showed up at 5:15PM (about an hour and 15 minutes after I was told he was in-route). The tow truck is a 1983 Chevy with a 4 speed + overdrive. The company name had been painted on the side of the truck, but 26 years of being parked outside made the paint look more like sidewalk chalk. Old faded paint like that just reminds me of the whole fingernails on a chalkboard thing...don't know why. Meet Chuck. They can't get me in until next Tuesday for an appointment (okay, Pennsylvania is seeming less and less hospitable by the minute), what did I want to do? I'm the out-of-town person, can you please give me some options? I can have this car up and running in 15 minutes if someone can sell me a freaking serpentine belt!!! Chuck says, "Well, I can take you to Pep Boys, but I can't guarantee anything." I know that as soon as he unhooks, I'm stuck wherever he drops me, unless I actually pay for the next tow. "Okay, take me to Pep Boys." I figure I'll rent/buy some tools, buy a new belt (and a couple of bolts, two of them worked loose, hence the reason for this disaster) and fix it in the parking lot. We don't have any Pep Boys locally, but apparently, they have bays in the back of their building where they work on your car. "Okay, that's cool, I'll just let them fix it and save myself the hassle." [Is the quoted commentary driving you nuts yet?]

Chuck tells me about the twin turbo LT1 TranAm he's building. Sounds like fun. But he was going to send his computer away to some company over near Pittsburgh to re-tune it. It was going to cost $150. I don't know about LT1s, but with a Focus, if I wanted to do a twin-turbo setup, I don't think I'd send the computer to someone to tune it. Then he goes on to tell me about the guy just down the road who has a dyno, so the next time that I needed one, I wouldn't have to go quite as far as Dillsburg. "Thanks Chuck, but I came over because the guy is a good Focus tuner, not because he has a dyno. I have guys within an hour of my house who have a dyno." He's a nice guy, just seemed a little sheltered, probably in his late 20s, early 30s. We had some good conversation on the trip into State College.

I walked around the front of the Pep Boys as Chuck unhooked me. I walked up to the service desk and told the "Service Writer" (who was actually a high school student) what was going on. It went something like this:
Me: I need a new 75.5" serpentine belt and two new 1/2" M8x1.25 bolts.
SW: What is the year, make and model of the car?
Me: 2003 Ford Focus with a 2.0L DOHC 3 code Zetec Engine without A/C in it. But the serpentine belt is a 75.5" belt, because there is an underdrive crank pulley on it.
SW: Okay...that's going to be $105.42.
Me: WHAT? What's the break down on that?
SW: $36 to remove/reinstall Serpentine belt, $52 for a new Dayco belt, plus disposal fees and tax.
Me: That's robbery. I only paid $28 for my Goodyear Gatorback belt that was on the car. I could almost buy 2 of those for the cost of your crappy Dayco. Don't you have any other belts.
SW: No, sorry, that's all we have.
Me: Okay, I guess let's just get this over with, then.

I wandered around for a little while. I started by grabbing the tools that I knew I would need to install the belt and hunting around for parts. I went back to the service desk and said, Can I get the belt, I'll just go do it myself. "Oh, we just pulled the car in, so you'll be ready to go here shortly." Fine...

There was a grocery just down the strip from the Pep Boys, so I thought I would go get some food and an anniversary card for Rachel (since it was, afterall, our anniversary). I walked to the back of the store, hoping there was a deli where I could procure a submarine sandwich of some sort. Instead, I got accosted by a middle-aged women of oriental descent, trying to sell me some chinese food. I would have to find a bathroom facility before I got home and I didn't really want to make that kind of pit stop. So I found a pack of Cherry Pop-tarts. Those would go well with my last Red Bull.

I wandered back up to Pep Boys, where the "service writer" informed me that the technician working on the car had told him that the tensioner was loose. He had one in stock, and the total would be $202. "Can I go out and have a look?" This is starting to sound like monkey business... The tech was cool (he grew up in Cleveland and almost went to Wooster College). The tensioner was just fine, the two bolts that held it to the block had come loose, so he tightened them up. Okay, I'll head back in and wait some more. I started BSing with the service writer...why was I out in State College? What all did I have done to the car? He had rebuilt a 2004 Acura RSX-S that he had bought for $3700 a few years back. Okay, that's cool...I had seen it out in the parking lot, so that seemed legit. He had a Honda CRX before that with an Integra GSR swap. He sold it to a buddy who promptly put the largest GT series turbo he could on it (sounds like a typical Honda story). He had a picture on his phone. The turbo was about 3/4th of the length of the engine. It was grotesquely fascinating...We were then interrupted by the technician who said, "Hey, this belt doesn't fit!" Yeah...I told you within the first 30 seconds of standing at your counter, that you needed to pull a 75.5" belt, not the 77.5" belt that your computer tells you that a non-A/C Focus gets.

SW: I'm not sure I can look up a non-spec size in the computer.
Me: See the last 3 digits on the part number? That is the length of the belt. If you go pull a 5036755 instead of a 5036775, it'll fit.
SW: Types 5036755 into the computer. Hey, we have one of those, its only $48.
Me: Yay, I saved $4.

7:22PM August 6th - I called Rachel and told her that I was finally back on the road. My best guess was that I'd be home sometime between 11 and 12PM. Instead of making the wrong turn out into the boonies, like I had coming into PA, I decided I was going to take 322 to 99, which would take me right to 80. So, I ended up 20 miles further east on 80 that I had initially intended (rather than the 50 miles west I had done in the morning), but it was much easier driving. Once on 80, I put the hammer down. I wanted to be home. I was a little bit tired of dealing with automotive things. I hadn't seen a whole lot of PHP on my way out, so I figured I'd be okay on the way home. I punched it up to about 75MPH and chased the sun as best I could. Fortunately, most of the other traffic on the road was doing the same thing, so I made quick work of the trip across PA. I found myself stabbing the throttle in 5th gear and feeling the awesome torque (its not a lot, but its a lot more than it was) pull me out towards 85MPH for passing when needed (I kept the speed reasonable). I stopped for gas in Youngstown again, along side a Hummer that was packed to the gills with what I remember as stuffed animals and trinkets. I still can't get over those things...

I must have zoned out going through Akron on 76, because I remember driving by the Rt.18 exit and had a sinking feeling that I had missed 21 South. But I couldn't remember for certain...the next exit was 57 at Wadsworth, so I took it down to 585 and still couldn't remember until I got to 585 whether or not I had missed the 21 exit (I think it was a combination of being very tired and not being overly familiar with the 76 exits past Akron). I finally pulled into the house at 11:18PM and promptly fell asleep. The trash in the car could wait until Friday...

Zetec Engine Build Wrap Up (Part II: Installation)

We woke up about 9:30ish (AM, for clarification) on Friday morning. Rachel had prepared a hearty breakfast of cheesy eggs with bacon and stove top toast. Without Rachel, this whole weekend would have been miserable. She kept us fed and hydrated and made sure that we didn't work ourselves too hard.



I had told Chris that I would have the engine ready to pull when he got there. I lied. I had depressurized the fuel system and I had removed the hood by myself (a feat by itself). I also drained the coolant out of the car, but that was pretty much as far as I had gotten with it. So the first thing that we did was start looking to see what needed to be undone to remove the old engine. We had decided that we were going to remove the engine and transmission assembly together, so that meant pulling the axles and disconnecting the shift linkages and the clutch hydraulic line as well as all of the wiring harnesses that surrounded the engine. Fortunately, there is one main wiring harness that runs the fuel aspect of the engine and a wiring harness that runs over top of the transmission to run the cooling system and to keep tabs on the emissions. So we disconnected those two harnesses, a few random engine grounds, and the vehicle speed sensor and reverse indicator sensor on the transmission (transaxle? for FWD vehicles...I like transmission). If only removing an engine were that easy...

As I mentioned, to remove the transmission with the engine, we had to pull the axles out of the transmission housing. Typically this is pretty easy; remove the wheels, unbolt the lower spindle bolt that holds the ball joint into the spindle, pry the ball joint out and the axle pretty much pulls out of the transmission (you want to drain the transmission fluid before this step, otherwise you'll be covered with heavy oil that smells of onion or garlic...its the sulfur additives in the oil). My Focus in its 112202 mile glory had/has never had new ball joints installed (I guess the passenger's side appeared to have been replaced at some point, since it was bolted instead of riveted) and as a result, we bent a 4 foot 1" thick solid steel pry bar attempting to pop the ball joints out of the spindle. Time for Plan B: We loosened the upper spindle bolt that holds the strut and freed the spindle from the constraints of suspension geometry. Then we popped the nuts off the rear tie rods to get a little more articulation. At that point, we managed just enough clearance to pull the axles out of the transmission. Alright, now onto the easy part...



There are three motor mounts that need to be removed in order to pull the engine. Two are readily accessible from the top of the engine, but the third (AKA, the "Dog Bone", due to its shape) is at the bottom, rear of the engine (actually bolted to the transmission). Obviously, this is the one you want to take out first, since you don't want to be underneath an engine without any support aside from a hydraulic jack from China via RKO. Upon removal of this motor mount, an odd assortment of rocks were found to be hiding behind the mount. It wasn't the only collection of rocks that we found (mostly gathered in suspension areas, helping set preload)...that's the joy of having spent the first several years of its life living on a gravel driveway. Fortunately, the dog bone came out with minimal fuss. We're starting to get into areas where I had worked within the last several years, so bolts were getting easier to remove. We pulled the engine hoist up to the car and hooked onto the two hooks on the engine. Once we drew up all the slack on the chain, we went to work on the motor mounts. Chris took the driver's side and I took the passenger's side. Within 5 minutes we were ready to lift.

At this point it was about 3:30 and Brett (a local guy) had shown up after work to see how things were going. He had plans for the evening, but was able to stay for about 30 minutes to help out. Which was fortunate, because we started lifting, and the clearances for everything got really tight. I manned the hoist, while Chris and Brett watched as I lifted. If there was an alignment issue, one of them would push on the engine until we cleared. We pulled the engine with all of the accessories attached, which reduced the amount of room that we had to play with on the periphery. It took us about 40 minutes to get the engine freed from the bay. We ended up lowering the passenger's side of the car a little bit so that we didn't have to lift the engine quite so high.





At this point, we pulled the engine to the side, lowered it to waist height and started removing the alternator and power steering pump, as well as the cam gears. I had made a last minute decision that I wasn't going to try to leave the A/C installed on the new engine. This engine is built to turn the wheels, not an A/C compressor. We quickly swapped the accessories over to the new engine, timed it with the cam gears installed and went to put the serpentine belt on. Unfortunately, the two piece under-drive pulley kit that I had bought did not work for cars without A/C, because the waterpump pulley was an overdrive pulley and the belt would have worn against itself on start up. So, we swapped the overdrive pulley off of the car, put the stock pulley on from the other engine and headed for Autozone to pick up a new belt that fit. Generally when you go to Autozone, the person behind the counter will look at you with a blank stare until you tell them year, make and model. You can't just tell them what size belt you need. Fortunately, we found an above average employee who understood part numbers well enough to find us a 74" belt. We took that home and tried it, but it was just a little bit too short. So another trip to Autozone and we found a 75.5" belt that did the trick nicely.

Next, we lowered the old engine the whole way to the floor and started unbolting the transmission. Ford for some reason decided to use 13 bolts to hold the transmission onto a Zetec engine, but only uses 6 bolts to hold the transmission onto a 460 truck engine. Go figure...Anyhow, the transmission came off without too much hassle. Then we lifted the engine back up, moved it out of the way and took it off the hoist. The new engine went on, we bolted up the new, lightweight flywheel, aligned the clutch and pressure plate and got ready to slide the transmission back in place. By about 11PM on Friday, we had the old engine out and the new engine ready to go in.

We got a bit of an earlier start on the project Saturday. I woke up around 7AM and decided that I would try to install the revised tune onto my flasher. I had accidentally given my tuner the wrong serial number for my flasher, so I couldn't load the tune. We got out into the garage, wandering around by 8:30AM. I started removing the A/C components, like the condensor and the A/C cooler (AKA radiator). After that, we lifted the new engine up and slid it into the engine bay. Without the A/C compressor attached to the engine, we had an additional 6" of room, so it dropped in much easier. We bolted up the top two motor mounts and started reconnecting harnesses, grounds, hydraulic lines and shift linkages. By about 10AM, Brian, Devon and Megan showed up to lend a hand as well. Once they showed up, they kind of realized that the majority of the work had been finished and it was just a matter of buttoning things up, like reconnecting the exhaust and re-installing the axles. Throughout the morning, I kept trying to call my tuner to get the issue straightened out, since we were hoping to fire the car up by evening. I finally got ahold of someone at the shop around 12:30 and he said that everyone had gone to the local drag strip for the day and I'd have to call back on Monday.





Everyone who had come to help left around 2 or 3 in the afternoon, once the majority of things were finished up. Chris stayed and helped me straighten up the garage and get our tools sorted out. By 5:15, we decided that we could probably get away with starting the engine with the tune that was installed on the computer, as long as we didn't run it too long and we just let it idle. So, we cranked it a few times to get fuel pressure, then I turned the key and it fired right up. It sat and idled, but was making a little bit of noise, so we were afraid that it was running too much spark and was detonating, so we shut it off and pushed it over into the corner of the garage.





On Monday, being rather antsy, I called the tuner several times to see if they had time to straighten my tune out. I spent a little time in the morning checking that I had oil pressure, that the timing was right and that the valves weren't hitting the pistons. The tuner was really busy, so he didn't have a chance to get the tune straightened out until almost 6PM. He emailed it over and I loaded it onto the car. The car fired right up, so I took a look around the engine bay. It was still making a little noise, but I wasn't too concerned about it. I took it out and broke the cams in at 3000 RPMs for ~30 minutes. I got back to the house, changed the oil and the noise went away. After taking the oil to be recycled (and a little detour), I put the car away for the night. I had to get miles on the car Tuesday, because we were busy Wedneday and I was scheduled for tuning on Thursday. By Wednesday night, I only managed to put about 180 miles on the car. I had hoped to have 500 at least. Oh weell...I changed the oil and set my alarm for 2:30AM...It was going to be a long day Thursday...

Zetec Engine Build Wrap Up (Part I: The Lead-up)

I apologize that I have not posted any further commentary regarding my engine build on here. I'm not really sure who all is following it, and I'm also not really sure where I left off last. I believe that I had left off with getting the headwork done...

Once the headwork was done, I was debating on what cams to put in the car. My initial thought was to use a huge cam setup, that looks really good on paper. 300° of duration and 0.450" of lift on the intake and 290° od duration and 0.381" lift for the exhaust side. If you want to pump a lot of air quickly, these cams would certainly do the trick. However, after talking to my tuner, we decided for a car that isn't going to be trailered anywhere, the Crower Stage 2 cams would be more than sufficient (280°/0.413" intake, 276°/0.393" exhaust). When the cams came, I quickly set to work setting the valve lash on them. The first thing I noticed was that there was going to be contact between the cam lobe and the head material surrounding the lifter. This was not unexpected, so I pulled out the trusty Dremel tool and hacked off a bunch of excess aluminum (weight savings to boot).

For those who are working on a project similar to this with a solid lifter head, you need to remember that when your machine shop does a valve job, or has to replace a valve seat, the distance between the top of the valve and the cam is going to decrease (by thousandths of an inch). Ford only has certain size lifters that you use to adjust the lash on the cams, and with the valve job, I was at or below the smallest size offered by Ford. So I pulled out the trusty dremel again and started shaving material off of the bottom of all of the lifters until they were within spec. Just as I was finishing up the intake side, I got a little bit sloppy and as I was tightening down the cam for final measurements, I mis-torqued the cam and it snapped (they're a very high-carbon steel, which makes them pretty brittle). Time to call Crower for a new cam. Fortunately, the Focus shares its engine with a whole host of other vehicles, including the Escort ZX2 (which has variable cam timing on the exhaust side, for emissions purposes). This allowed me to order just an intake cam, instead of having to get a whole new set of intake/exhaust cams. That put me behind a week, and I was planning on installing the engine in two weeks. I called it quits for the evening and the next evening went out to finish the exhaust side. When the replacement intake cam arrived, the lash was not significantly changed (it can vary from cam to cam and head to head, based on machining tolerances and storage conditions.

That pretty well wraps up the assembly of the engine, so in anticipation, I had scheduled a week and a half off of work, starting on July 31st (Thursday) until August 9th (today). With my work schedule, I have to plan it just so, since I work every third weekend. Fortunately, no one had taken that time off before me, so I was good. I had been accruing all of the fluids and miscellaneous items that I thought I would need, so as not to be rushing around on the Thursday before. Thursday was a rush anyhow. I had to run around and find an engine hoist (key element to engine removal and installation), which I ended up just buying a 2 ton hoist from Rural King Ohio. So if anyone in the Wooster/Northeast Ohio area needs to borrow an engine hoist, I'm renting it out for a flat fee of $30 per use (I do have a guy who's interested in buying it, too, so I'll end up having spent less than what it would have cost to rent one for 4 days).

A fellow Focus Forum friend from Michigan offered to come down and lend a hand from start to finish and I had a few local Focus people come lend a hand as they could on Saturday. Chris (from Michigan) arrived about 12:13 on Thursday night, so we stood around in the garage for an hour and looked at what we were about to get ourselves into. Then we decided that we would head into the house and call it a night. The next 48 hours were going to be interesting...

Impressive!

Ever wonder how to get a 3400 lb car into a conference room in the middle of a building? Here you go!

Randomly hilarious YouTube Video

As I mentioned in my last blog, I enjoy browsing YouTube videos for all of the zany stuff that people post. This is no exception...warning for very mild profanity.

I Love Technology

The internet is a fabulous thing; it allows me to connect with old friends, make new friends with similiar interests, lets me buy stuff that you can't buy in box stores, and most of all, it gives you access to all of the zany antics of people on YouTube. YouTube has a seemingly inexhaustable supply of cool car videos. However, the other day I was watching the latest Ken Block Gymkhana video and YouTube put up a dialogue box that said "Support for your browser is being phased out, please upgrade to a more modern browser". WHAT?!? When did Windows2000 become old? Windows 3.1 is old. DOS is old.

That comment, coupled with the fact that my computer keeps getting slower and slower on a weekly basis has got me thinking about technology. We recently upgraded to a 20" LCD flatpanel monitor and a wireless optical mouse/keyboard combo, since the monitor was sporadically blacking out and the keyboard and mouse looked like they had spent the last 5 years as the primary terminal interface at a oil change place (the new black hardware hides dirt much better). Regardless, the new hardware still does not cover the fact that I am using an 8 year old computer with a 10+ year old operating system.

Technology should make a person's life simpler: Instead of walking or having a horse pull you 5 miles into town (which might take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours), you can pop into your car and be there in 8 minutes. Likewise, instead of writing a letter and waiting for a multitude of disgruntled postal workers to shuffle it around for a few days, you can write an email and have it delivered in a matter of seconds/minutes.

Computer technology (email example aside) seems to exactly the opposite. However, its probably that I look at things from a hardware perspective instead of from the software perspective. One would think that software would become more efficient over time. The exact opposite is true; as hardware becomes faster, it allows programmers to create more gadgets and widgets that you never knew you needed. Take the Microsoft Word Help widget; that little paperclip guy will pop up and help you format any type of document. I bet he'd even help you write a Will. The same thing has happened in cars; who knew that you could program the dash to tell you what direction you were heading, as well as having two separate trip odometers? Remember when you pushed a button in the cluster to reset the counter, and you had to make sure you pushed hard enough to get that last number back to zero? I do, and I'm not that old. How about Sync? Your mobile phone used to occupy the space that your supersized soda now resides in. Instead, your cell phone hangs out in your pocket and lets your car's computer system upload your contacts, then you literally tell your car who you want to talk to.

So how has technology simplified our lives? Microsoft Word has made it so that proper letter and document formatting has become a sacred art kept alive only by English teachers (and apparently some group of computer programmers over in Redmond/Delhi-ish, Washingdia). We can just throw words onto a virtual paper, and it automatically organizes it so that the recepient doesn't think you're ignorant. Sync allows your work day to start 8:17AM and go all the way until 6:32 PM, even though your still only getting paid for 9 to 5. It also allows you to grab your latte (or aforementioned supersized soda) with your free hand that you'd normally use for holding your cell phone. It also allows you to be slightly less distracted as you grope blindly for your cell phone with the ringtone that was catchy last week, but now is just annoying and you just want it to stop. Wait, were we driving a car here? I had kind of forgotten.

Its obvious to me that technology has complicated our lives so much more than it has simplified it. Have you tried to read a cell phone contract lately? Its nice to have unlimited texting, unlimited data, and calling to 10 out of network numbers (as well as unlimited in-network calls, obviously [duh?]) all on one Portable Interaction Portal (PIP?). However, is it really practical? Cell phones started out for calling people, so their physical dimensions were dictated by the necessity to contain a numeric "touch-tone" keypad. As phones progressed, keyboards gradually "expanded" to include more buttons in the same physical space. My ape-like hands have a hard enough time punching out the 10 digits that I need to place a call. I certainly lack the dexterity to "text". At the same time that the keypad expanded, more information was being presented on the displays. Instead of having a 2 row, 25 character/row LCD display, cell phones now have 1080p. Unfortunately again, the physical dimensions have not increased significantly. Having never actually done so, I can only imagine browsing some of my favorite websites with a cell phone. There are things that would barely fit on my old 17" monitor...

So where do we stand? Let me put on my sarcastic socks and suggest something...a federal agency dedicated to filtering new ideas/equipment as they relate to society. The developer has to prove to the agency that a new piece of equipment/software either resolves a pressing societal issue, or is significantly better than an existing piece of technology that the new device is designed to compete with or replace. We'll call it the Department of Technology Advancement Oversight. That sounds terrible, right? The FDA is trying to do something similiar with pharmaceutical development, but that's slightly off-topic, so I'll leave it at that.

Seriously? There is a lot of technology out there that is beneficial, so don't take me as anti-technology. I have a cell phone with an integrated MP3 player. It combines two pieces of equipment that I wanted/needed, but couldn't justify spending the money on an iPod. That's simplifying; turning two pieces of equipment into one. Even the most gregarious people need time to collect themselves and their thoughts (to say nothing of my reclusive self); can you get away with turning your cell phone off while driving and focus on the road ahead? Connectivity has its draw-backs, as it allows people to catch you at your weaker moments. The Internet is a huge tabloid newspaper. Instead of merely focusing on the latest scandals rocking Hollywood or the lives of the rich and famous, it allows any interested party to dig up disparaging information on any person who has traipsed across its absorbant surface. We kind of forget that when we go off playing with our latest toys.

Ultimately, I blame Microsoft. They developed the Paperclip guy and Sync...

Vacation Musings...

Its been a few days, but Rachel, Brayden and I just returned from a long weekend with the Reeder clan. It was wonderful to get away from work for a few days and reset. We drove down to MON, West Virginia to Snowshoe Resort, where Rachel's parents had rented a townhouse for the weekend.

I will admit that I approached the trip with some trepidation, as it was my (our?) first roadtrip with an infant. Fortunately, Brayden is pretty much the perfect child (up to this point, anyhow...) and travelled really well. We cramped ourselves into the Milan with Rachel's sister and her husband for the 6 hour trip. We sent a few items along with Doug and Gail, since its hard enough to pack for 4 in a mid-size car, not to mention all of the infant accessories needed for a few days on the road.

The weather was quite nice on the trip down. Sunny, warm-but-not-hot and traffic was generally light. The automatic transmission paired to the 2.3L Duratec has odd tendencies in the mountains (especially laden as it was), but cruises well between 75-80 (you had to realize that there would be significant automotive references in here, right?). Once we got to Elkins on Thursday, we got a few sprinkles, but the weather was generally quite pleasant. Once we got onto the mountain (apparently ~4848', based on the number of references made to that number about the "village"), the temperature dropped into mid-60s and was pretty overcast. Once nightfall hit, the fog rolled in and it was truly spectacular. Visibility dropped below 30 feet and the wind blew sheets of fog around. I hung out in the hot tub on the back porch and watched the fog roll around for about a half hour. That was pretty much the extent of the weather on Friday as well. Saturday there was a Chili Cookoff in the "village", and there was a 30% chance of percipitation. That turned in to 90% by about noon and we got drenched. Rachel, Brayden and I were hanging out in the village, waiting for the rest of the family to return from their trip down the ski lift to the lake below. When the torrential rain hit, we sought refugee under the eaves of the nearest Starbucks. We finally moved into the main room (is it a lobby? dining area? I'm not really sure what to call it) and decided since we were there we would patronize the establishment. I was soaked to the bone and thought that something warm sounded good. I had something from Starbucks about 5 years ago and knew it had carmel in it. So the first thing I saw was a Carmel Frappachino. Hmmmm...did you know that that's milk that is put in a blender with ice, coffee grounds, some carmel flavoring, and ICE! Yeah, needless to say, the combination of the caffeine and the ice made me start to shiver even more. At least I got a coupon for a $2 Grande cold beverage after 2PM (which we were still hanging out after 2PM, so I gave it to Rachel to get a Vanilla Bean Frappachino). Random Starbucks story aside, it was interesting to watch the fog roll in after the rain stopped. It literally blew in sheets. Rachel's mom kept apologizing for the weather (as if she had control over it), but I thought it was perfect.

There was a Jeep Jamboree going on while we were there as well. For people who think I've got a lot invested in my Focus, they need to look at some of these rigs. There was a crew who towed in two built Wranglers behind a decked out Hummer tow vehicle (all in matching red, with silver graphics, including the trailer). I'm not going to lie, I was a little bit tempted to pick up a Grand Cherokee, or a CRD Liberty and hit the trails. I've got too many other projects to work on instead (like a street "legal" Daytona Prototype replica, or even just finishing the Focus).

One interesting thing to note was the large number of college students that were hanging out for the weekend. It was apparent to me that there were a number of kids whose parents had time-shares up on the mountain. Saturday was a big drinking fest; we got the privilege of watching a guy pee off a ski lift and having every other chair yelling "Chili Cookoff...WOO!" I also heard a few passing references to some drug usage (which didn't really surprise me...I expect that from the snow-board/extreme sports fanatics).

The biggest thing that I missed out on was sleep. Since we had Brayden with us, Rachel and I slept "downstairs" in the main living quarters, so we would have a place to feed him and rock him, if need be. Everyone kind of hung out until 10:30 or 11PM every night, just talking, watching TV, etc. Then Brayden was ready to get up and greet the world at 6AM (like we normally do). The 7 hours in between were spent flopping on marginally comfortable couches (which were more comfortable than the hide-a-bed). That drove me to really wanting a can of Red Bull on Friday night...unfortunately, I hadn't taken any along, which left me to the mercy of the fine retail establishments on the mountain. Rachel ironically wanted a can of Caffeine Free Diet Coke, so I went down to the store to procure a few provisions. Ten bucks and some change later, I returned with two 250mL cans of Red Bull and two cans of Caffeine Free Diet Coke (the last two in the store).

On the way home on Sunday, we drove into PA, then cut across to Wheeling to stop at Cabela's for a little while. I wasn't really feeling going to Cabela's (which is interesting because 10-12 years ago, that would have been my Mecca) because I've kind of moved beyond the whole "Outdoorsman/hunter" phase that I had gone through as a kid. Just before we got to I70 in PA, we ran into "construction", and traveled at 35 MPH for about 30 minutes. By construction, I mean, painting the line down the center of the road. This was, humorously enough, being done by a contractor from Norwalk, OH. Is there no one out that way that can drive a paint truck in a straight line? Construction was the name of the game pretty much the rest of the way home. Just before Wheeling, we merged down to one lane, which brings me to my next pet peeve; the chronic late merger. Why do people let other people get away with this? Someone is always driving all the way up to the very last foot of their lane, then turning on their turn signal to get over. Didn't you see the sign two miles ago that said to merge right? Its people like you who get traffic backed up as badly as it is...to the person in the red Magnum, I'm still not sorry and if I had been the only person in the car, you would have ended up waiting for a long time.

The next construction occurred when we were almost home. We turned off of 21 in Strasburg onto 250 at 9:30PM Sunday and there was a sign up that said "Flagger Ahead". I read it humorously to Rachel, assuming that some lazy ODOT employee/contractor had left it up from Friday afternoon, but just the same telling Rachel that I had to assume that there was a flagger ahead. Sure enough, about 3 miles down the road, traffic was stopped...which brings me to yet another pet peeve; the angry tooter. We were sitting, waiting our turn to traverse the constructin site when someone a few cars back decided to start honking their horn. I'm sorry, did you think that we all just decided to stop and take a break in the middle of nowhere on a Sunday night? Honking isn't going to make the roller go any faster; in fact, based on my experience in the road construction industry, if any of the workers catch wind of your impatience, you'll end up waiting longer. None of them really wanted to be out there on a Sunday night, either.

Regardless, we finally got home and I realized a few things. Vacations should be longer than 4 days. You should always take a day off to recuperate from a vacation. Finally, I think I'm taking after my dad; I'm really looking forward to the week and a half that I'm off here in 2 weeks where I'm going to be hanging out at home, working on my car. As a Miller, I don't really do that well with traveling and I don't really do that well with not doing anything at all (there's a difference between not getting much done and not doing anything at all). I found myself getting a little stir crazy sitting on top of the mountain. There were about 20 minutes worth of shops in the "village" and there was really only so much walking that you could do without needing some serious gear. I like to have the option of having things to do, even though I generally don't exercise those options. Oh, and the other thing that I realized...Nikl Nips from Cracker Barrel aren't as good as I remembered them being 17 years ago.

Motorsports Photography

I lamented earlier about how a lot of the pictures taken in motorsport almost show too much detail, and kind of ruin the whole magic that surrounds it. I got a chance to head over to Mid-Ohio with Dad's D50 this weekend and do a little shooting of my own. I think it probably helped that the subjects were all 40-50 year old cars, so there's a lot of magic to begin with, but I did play around with a little processing. Here's a sampling...




Full Album here.

LeMans

The last couple of years, I have made an effort to watch as much of the 24 Hours of LeMans as I feasibly can. The SPEED Channel only covers about 18 hours (only, right...), of which, I'm lucky if I can watch 5 hours of which. Generally, the racing is rather monotonous. When a race gets spread over 24 hours and 3000 miles, the races are seldom close (although some races have come down to seconds). Fortunately, most of the cameras are concentrated in the pits, where a lot of the action happens. The types of mechanical repairs that can be made in a pit stop are mind-boggling. Granted, they aren't the 6 second stops that Formula 1 cars make, but I remember 2 years ago, Audi replaced a transmission in about 12 minutes. If you're like me, it takes me about that long to pull the car into the garage and round up my tools. To say nothing of the heat resulting from 12+ hours of 200 MPH racing.

One of the curiousities of LeMan is the commercials. Primarily Audi, whose decade-long dominance of LeMans came to an end this year after 3 years of battling with Puegot's 908 HDi Diesel. Regardless, Audi seems to consider LeMans to be their Superbowl. Maybe not necessarily in their huge advertising budget, but in their irreverent, outlandish attitude. This is the event that they really push their R8 supercar. In previous years, its consisted of sticking it to "old money" types. This year, they stuck it to Ferrari. Now I realize that a lot of folks who might be reading this consider Audi owners to be stuck up and crabby people. However, most of them have never experienced Ferrari owners. When you go to buy a Ferrari at the dealership, you pretty much need to be recommended by a current Ferrari owner to even be considered to buy a new one.



Granted, an R8 is merely a dream car for a large percentage of the population (okay, maybe not a large percentage of the population, but for those who love cars), seeing as its list price starts around $115K and rockets up into the $150K+ range pretty easily with options. That's more than my house, so the odds are that Rachel will never allow me to buy a car like that. Its fine, I guess...buying a car like that isn't terribly responsible, but it might almost be justifiable considering the company that it keeps. Its AWD and the engine is pretty reliable (its actually a slightly detuned version of the engine found in Audi's LeMans winning R8 prototype car). It might actually be useful as an all year around commuter vehicle, even in northern climates. What's more, Audi has developed a concept R8 containing a V12 TDI turbo diesel engine (also derived from LeMans testing...finally a series that is revelant to street car development). Consider 500 HP, 750 ft-lbs of torque in a ridiculous sports car that can get 30 MPG. Have your cake and eat it!

Okay, I've gotten derailed a little bit, drooling. The curiousity of Audi running an R8 commercial during LeMans is that I'm guessing the vast majority of people wealthy enough to own an R8 generally have better things to do than sit and watch a race on SPEED for 18 hours. Those are the type of people who probably made a weekend getaway to LaSarthe to be part of the 250K people who chose to spectate in person this year. To me, broadcasting LeMans on TV only appeals to people, who like me, can only aspire to own cars that might share some commonality via the tire manufacturers, or for people who own Corvettes that want to watch Corvette whip the Aston boys again for the 15th time in a row, but would never consider setting foot in France. If I had the liquidity to procure an R8, I'd make sure LeMans was an annual pilgrimage.

Adoption

I haven't posted much regarding our adoption process, since Rachel has been covering the details in her blog. I'm not going to lie, a lot of the paperwork and interviews made me a bit disgruntled and crabby (ask Rachel). However, with it now looking like we will be getting a baby boy within a week, I'm letting myself get excited about it. I'm still scared, because I have no idea what to do with baby's, but I don't really think anyone knows, it just happens.

We met with the birthmom and her family on Saturday at the Cleveland Zoo. She has two girls and a little boy, all of whom are totally adorable and extremely friendly and adorable. Her boyfriend was also with her and he was very laid back and caring. The day was definitely a blessing from God to remind us that he truly is looking out for us and taking care of all of us. We were a little bit concerned when we got to the Zoo at 1PM and there was no sign of the mom and the counselor couldn't get ahold of her (Rachel and my nerves were killing us as it was to meet her). She finally got ahold of her and said that she'd be there within an hour. The hour stretched into two before she was finally able to make it. She and her family were waiting downtown in the heat for almost an hour for a bus to take them to the Zoo (which apparently there wasn't even a bus running). Once we met, we wandered around to a couple of exhibits (which took a while, being as she was about a week away from birth). I was expecting the meeting to be awkward and uncomfortable, but it was really none of that. We just kind of talked and walked and enjoyed being with each other. What an incredible day!

There was a story that I wanted to share that doesn't really fit into this post, but isn't really worth creating a new post for. The Zoo was hosting the EAC (European Adoption Council) for the day on Saturday, so there were lots of families running around with kids. When we were walking to the exhibit with the giraffes, there was an older gentleman (possibly a grandfather) and a boy who looked to be about 4. The grandfather was squatting down, holding a balloon, and the boy was standing in front of him, holding a Swiss Army Knife into the balloon. I told Rachel, "This cannot end well." However, as we walked on, I heard a pop, but no scream, so it must have worked out okay. Who honestly gives a 4 year old an open pocket knife and says, "hey, point this at me and poke the balloon in my hands"? I don't care if the kid say he wanted to do it, the gentleman should have had half a brain and said no. I think I'll be a good dad, our kids won't have pocket knives until they're 5.

Reflections

I was reminded a day or two ago of how much creativity I have lost in the last 8 years of my life. When I was younger (living at home, in High School), the sky was pretty much the limit. I felt like I had the tools at my disposal to do pretty much whatever I wanted to do. Generally, I did pretty much whatever I wanted to do, too. What I lacked in financial resources, I made up for in skills. I wanted an electric guitar, but couldn't afford one. What to do? I went online and to the library, found the books and parts that I needed and built a guitar for myself. It played great, but there were a few things that needed to be adjusted, so I did it. From memory, I seem to recall having all sorts of hair-brained ideas. Most of them never went to completion, as I was much to ADD (and probably not capable of seeing them through, anyhow).

Regardless, going to college and moving out into the "real world" seem to have made me less creative and unoriginal than I've ever been in my life. Its mostly due to the structure that is imposed on us by society; working 40 hours a week, primarily during daylight hours in order to fulfill some obligation that we owe our employer (oh yeah, in exchange for a paycheck, I was wondering what obligation we owed for a second). Beyond that, we owe certain people/organizations set sums of money on given days of the month, in exchange for things that we now maintain in our possession. There really is no room for creativity to blossom within a schedule. Compounding the issue is that I'm so hopelessly disorganized, that I have issues freeing myself from my work responsibilities long enough to allow creativity to occur again.

However, I think that another issue that has led to the decline of my creativity is the disappearance of my "brain trust". In high school, I generally had either my brother or my a group of close classmates who would goad me into taking on a project that I would randomly think up. I do have people who occasionally check in on my engine project, but its not really the same. I think that the concept of engine building is a bit too abstract for most people to really get a good idea of what is going on with it. Either that, or most people think that its a foolish thing to spend money on.

Regardless, I'm looking for stuff to do to spice up life a little bit, and get out of society's rut. Anyone have any suggestions?

More Engine stuff (exciting, eh?)

I know I normally get on here and post about how I'm almost done with my engine build, but it never seems to be any closer than it was the last time I posted about it. So without saying that I'm either closer or further away, I'll give a little bit of an update of where I'm at.

The head was a pretty big sticking point for me initially. I really wanted to put in either a Massive Ultimate CNC head, or the trick FocusSport Cosworth head. However, that takes a lot of scratch and seeing as I just don't have time to take up a second job to pay for the hobby, I figured I'd do my own headwork. I don't really want to get a lot of money tied up in this homebrew head, since I'm still considering a head in the distant future, so I don't want to be overly attached to the head I'm doing now.

I busted out the handy Dremel tool (if you don't own one of these, you need to stop reading this and procure one before living another minute) and started grinding away. I was pretty conservative with the cutting that I did, mostly focusing on taking some metal out of the top of the intake ports and cleaning up some of the casting imperfections. The other area that I really focused on was in the bowls where the CNC machine had cut the valve seats and transition to casting. I was considering putting a set of oversized valves into the head as well. Oversizing the valves helps provide a little additional flow at lower valve lifts (which improves torque and therefore streetability). However, a set of oversized valves is nearly $300, which went contrary to my plan to build a budget head. I did pick up a set of high lift springs and retainers from LCR. Having a top end that can handle high RPMs is definitely going to be important on this car, so I wasn't about to risk floating a valve on the stock springs (especially considering the low piston-valve clearances we're going to be working with). At this point, I pretty much realized that I was as far as I could go with the head, so I decided to take it to my machinist. Its currently at the shop, awaiting being milled 0.020" (which should bump compression up about 1/2 a point..ie ~11.2:1, I'm guessing that is going to be right on the edge of requiring race gas, but should be able to make good power with Premium). I'm still waiting for the springs and retainers to show up; as soon as they do, they're going to the shop as well for final assembly. I was lamenting to the machinist that it was so hard to re-assemble the top end because the keepers kept moving around and would lock the retainers in place. He showed me his mill and a little tool that he can put into the chuck, which compresses the springs. Then he can just reach in and pop the keepers in and release the tension on the spring. Apparently its even a piece of cake on the big block race heads that have springs rated greater than 500 lbs/in. I knew I needed an arbor press!

The other part of the build where I'm working on keeping costs down is with accessories. I didn't actually budget for a new starter, power steering pump, or alternator, so I'm hoping to spend as little as possible on them. I was certain that FRPP had an inexpensive Zetec starter listed in their catalog, but apparently that was several years ago and they are no longer carrying that sort of stuff. New accessories like that are more of a luxury than a necessity. It'd be nice to know I wasn't going to have to worry about replacing them for a few years, but I think I'm going to transfer the ones off of the engine that's currently in the car. They've still got quite a bit of life in them, so we'll keep them running. I do have a spare alternator that I decided that I would tear into and see if it was something that I could rebuild. Its the alternator that was on the engine I got from the salvage yard and it scratches something fierce when you turn it by hand. This afternoon I decided to really rip into it and see what was scratching. For once, the 1/2" impact gun that I bought came in handy. Its almost too large for my compressor to spin, but it must have some sort of clutch in it, because I wound it up, let off the trigger (which stopped the socket), put it on the pulley nut and goosed it. Sure enough, it spun that nut right off! I had screwed around with it for a good 45 minutes with a breaker bar and a screwdriver, trying to get it loose. As soon as I got into the guts of the alternator, I could see that everything was pretty rusty (hence the scratching which resulted from the finger poles rubbing against the stator). The bearings looked good on the outside, but inside were rusty and just looked bad. Its currently torn apart on my garage bench. I need to decide if its going to be worth trying to rebuild, or whether to just toss it. I polished up the back plate with my Dremel and the wire brush bit. It gave it a really cool futuristic look with the patina brushed away in places. I'll take a picture and post it at some point.

I have no real time frame for wrapping this project up. Ask Rachel, I keep getting sidetracked and work on something that I wasn't initially planning on. The exciting thing is that all I really need to pick up are a set of ARP headstuds and I can have an assembled long block. That's really going to be the big accomplishment, because at the moment, I have the block covered with a plastic bag to prevent dirt and stuff from getting into the cylinders. Once I get the head on, I should be good to leave it on the stand and enjoy it as artwork (or something like that).

Fortunately, I've been working on collecting fuel components as the build has gone along, so I have an FSVT fuel rail and injectors (which are slightly larger than the regular Zetec) and an SVT MAF and housing (which is calibrated to work with the larger injectors). The thing that I'm not entirely certain on is tuning the car. Unfortunately cars don't have carbs in them anymore (is it really that unfortunate?), so its not a matter of sitting down with a screwdriver and fiddling with the needle valve to get the car to run right. Now there are about a thousand spark and fuel timing tables that need to be altered to work with cold starts, warm starts, closed loop and open loop operation. Fortunately, the Zetec uses a surprisingly powerful ECU which actually has adaptive learning, so only a few tables need to be altered and it can figure out how to populate the rest. Part of me is thinking it would be really cool to learn how to do all of this myself, but I don't know if I have the time to learn it all and buying the software (to tune in on the street) is about as expensive as hiring a professional to dyno tune it. I'll have to see. If I come up with a new daily driver, there's a good likelihood I'll go for it and try to tune it myself. Otherwise, I'm going to see about putting in a call to McNews Automotive in Dillsburg, Pennsylvannia. Ray is the closest tuner with a large amount of Zetec tuning experience and from what I've seen, he's going to tune it the way I want it (to work well, not necessarily to make the biggest numbers).

I'm really starting to get excited about this build again. I've been excited the whole way through, but there have been a few months lately when I've wondered if it was ever going to get finished. It looks like it might finally, and possibly by the end of June, I'll be installing it. Once I get the head back, I'll try to photograph some of the work I've done lately and put up a photo post.

Commuter's view of the Economy (rehashed)

I think I need to rescind my comment about perceived economic trends in the types of cars that people drive. Since I've been working a bit later the last month or two, I have seen a few more Mercedes and BMWs on the road, and a lot more Audis. Either the economy is picking up pretty rapidly again, or I was just driving amongst a different segment of the population during my commute. However, I'll add as a side note, I have been seeing some of these cars during my morning commute as well, so it might actually be a sign of economic improvement.

Be certain that I'll keep my eyes out for emerging trends to find additional merit for my perceptions.

More Fiesta bits

Based on what's being said on the net, it looks like our model and color choices are going to be similiar to what China is getting, so I took the opportunity to snoop around and look at some Chinese Fiestas for inspiration.



This is the 5 Door "Sport" version. There hasn't really been any word yet as to whether we're going to be getting a sport version or just a basic version. I really can't see Ford only offering one trim level of the sedan and the hatch, so here's hoping.

Apparently another similiarity between US and Chinese Fiesta's will be the seats. The European Fiesta has knob adjustments for reclining the seat, whereas American customers find these knobs unwieldy and time consuming. As such, we much prefer a lever which makes it much easier to move the seat to its extremes, but makes it difficult to find a middle setting that works well.

Also, in order for the Fiesta to meet US crash standards (see my rant in the previous post re:IIHS), some external modifications were made to car that we will be getting. The inside word is that the difference will be "measureable in millimeters", but we'll see once its released. The differences between the USDM Honda Fit and the JDM Fit are fairly pronounced, which may or may not be related to differing tastes in automotive styling between US and Japanese customers.

Small Car Tidbits (primarily Fiesta Related)

The Fiesta is faring very well over in Europe. Hopefully that bodes well for those of us in the US, anxious for its release. According to Autoblog, Ford has sold 108,000 units this year alone already, with almost half of those coming in March. Not bad for a continent with a highly developed mass transit system.

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/16/ford-fiesta-winning-hearts-and-minds-and-wallets-in-europe/

Other related news includes the release of www.fiestafaction.com, a website for Ford Fiesta Enthusiasts. Its being run by the same guy who runs www.focaljet.com, so its pretty much a shoe-in for being very professional and uncluttered. Most of the people on there currently are current Focus owners who are looking to get into a Fiesta for their next car, but all are welcome.

Finally, a small car enthusiast's gripe about the insurance industry: The IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) put out a report last week stating that small cars like the Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit, and Smart ForTwo don't hold up very well in collisions with larger vehicles. Shocking news, indeed! Its no wonder that American's don't like small cars. We're still in the mindset that a larger car mitigates the need for active safety devices, like knowing how to drive and being aware of your surroundings.

Focus Update

Its refreshing to be so close to finishing up my engine build. As I stated in my previous post about Automotive trends, I try to justify the expense of my hobby to myself, but I'm having more trouble doing that as time progresses. Project cars are money pits and you can seldom throw a few bucks at them without throwing a few hundred. I don't want to sound disappointed with my car or the money that I'm spending on it, I'm not. The car is great and its going to be even greater once the new engine is installed and tuned. I'm mostly just saying that truly great cars cost money and due diligence (I like that phrase) should be excerised when building one. I have probably gone overboard upon occasion with buying parts, but this current project has stretched out over a long enough period that it hasn't seemed to be that bad.

I ordered the water pump and new oil pan that I need this morning, and I also bought a Mass Airflow Sensor that is calibrated for the uprated SVT Focus injectors that I bought a few weeks back. The oil pan that was on the engine looked like it had been driven over a rock at some point and the bottom was scraped up pretty badly. I could have overlooked some cosmetic blemishes had it not been for the powdercoat peeling on the inside of the pan. I didn't really want any of that getting up into the refreshed rotating assembly, considering the expense of the machining and the $50 for a new oil pan seemed like cheap insurance. A lot of folks recommend replacing most of the less expensive components of an engine when you rebuild for exactly that reason. You certainly don't want a $50 part to cause thousands of dollars in damage.

As I've mentioned previously, I'm still planning on doing my own headwork. I was doing a little bit of reading this evening regarding that. Most folks generally construe porting and polishing as a black art, with which I won't disagree. However, it seems like one of the more straightforward black arts; much simpler than say, levitation or invisibility cloaking.

The other new project that I've brought on is to diassemble and rebuild an alternator. I have a handful of the accessories that came on the engine I bought at the junkyard and one of those is the alternator. However, when turned by hand, it makes a pretty nasty grinding sound, so I suspect that the brushes are pretty torn up and the commutator (or its respective bearings) might be rusted. I have no clue how to rebuild an alternator, but its got to be easier than building an engine, right?

Thanks Mom and Dad for the adventurous spirit! When I get in over my head, I turn to the internet for inspiration (or cheap(er) replacement parts when there's no getting back).

The commuter's view of the economy

Being a car person, I find it interesting to watch automotive trends in the general populace whilst driving to work and back. I bet most folks don't even notice these sorts of things, right? I drive a relatively remote stretch of US30 for about 15 miles, so its pretty easy to see trends.

I've heard Dad make comments on it before; you kind of get used to seeing certain people while you're either on your way to or from work. Everyone kind of has a routine and you start to recognize cars that you see everyday. You'd wave if it didn't completely creep other people out.

That's not really what this post is about, but it kind of is. The thing that I've noticed that is most interesting is the change in the makes and age of vehicles on the road over the past, say 9 months. I used to see a lot of Mercedes and BMWs out on 30, presumably commuting between Akron and Columbus (or points of similar magnitude). Surprisingly or not, I can count on one hand the number of both makes I have seen in the last week. I don't know whether this group of people were running around in leased vehicles that were stretching them financially, so they traded down and now travel incognito in the Camry that I just passed or whether they've been forced to completely relocate to more feasible commutes. I still see plenty of these German cars floating around town, just not out on the open road where they belong. This is kind of a trend that I would expect to see in light of our economic situation; people cutting back on frivolous expenses...I've heard that the luxury car market is a buyer's market at the moment.

The trend that seems to run counter to the current economic trend is with the age of the vehicles that I see. I used to see a bunch of older vehicles (primarily Crown Vics, Buicks, and Cavaliers/Sunfires) on the road, but recently, it seems like the majority of the cars that I see are newer Mazdas, Chevy's and Jeeps. Maybe these are the people who used to drive the German luxury cars, or maybe the folks with the old Buicks finally got tired of dealing with a headliner that kept falling into their eyes while driving. Regardless, the state of the auto industry has probably been a boon to those who were on the fence about picking up a new(er) car. With a lot of attractive offers and most companies being willing to practically give away their cars to avoid huge inventories, now certainly is a great time to upgrade to a newer car.

Sure, everyone's afraid of the economy and that their company might have to lay some people off, but even in times like that, you've got to be able to see when an opportunity presents itself. Maybe I'm a little bit naive, or maybe I'm not as aware of how lucky I am to be in a segment that seems to still be growing as I should be, but the whole situation doesn't seem as grim as most media outlets are portraying it as. On a personal level, things seem like they've gotten tighter, but it seems like they have stabilized (or even rehabilitated) to an extent.

There's another trend that I've been seeing a bit more of as well. That's the hot-rodding trend. Obviously as a bit of a hot-rodder myself, I catch these cars quite a bit, but it seems like a larger group of people are driving vehicles that they've modified to some extent. I've noticed a few in the parking lot at work, especially. I can't really call it a positive or negative trend. I try to justify the expense of a relatively pointless hobby with the gratification I get from learning new skills and making things work (better?), but for people who pay other people to trick out their cars, its a lot of money to blow on stuff that makes your vehicle less reliable. The money is better spent elsewhere, trust me.

Fiesta Movement Update

Ford is finally picking its 100 contestants for the Fiesta Movement this week. They weren't happy with the initial batch of submissions, so they extended the entry period from March 13th until March 23 (so much for me getting my entry in the middle of February). Obviously, extending the deadline made a huge difference. I think they almost tripled the number of entries in 10 days that they had for a month.

However, I must confess that I'm quite disappointed with the people that Ford has chosen so far. Fortunately only about 1/3 of them have been chosen, so there is still an opportunity for me (although I'm assuming I won't be chosen, since I don't have enough e-friends). I'm planning on still blogging about the Fiesta Movement regardless of whether or not I win. Hey I have an opinion and I can't wait to share it about some of the folks that Ford has chosen to represent their cars.

A few of my favorites so far:

Stammy on twitter left a tweet that read "fiestamovement called to tell me that I'll be driving a 2011 Fiesta for 6 months. I let it go to voicemail. Back to napping.." Way to be excited! Some of us are jittery and nervous and are actually interested in the cars.

jillhanner put up a tweet that said "Help fiestamovement cars are all manuals. Can someone in the NYC greater area teach me or give me some quick tips?" One of the first questions on the application stated that all cars were going to be manual transmissions and could you drive one? So Jill apparently lied on her application, yet they apparently don't care. At least the techs at her dealership are going to get some good practice with Fiesta clutches.

Another great comment from jillhanner: "grr Ford just called to attend something next week and meet the press but i will be in LA for the movie premier- when it rains it pours!!"

The majority of the folks that have been chosen so far have some professional experience in videography, live in major metropolitan areas, like NYC, LA, Portland, and San Francisco (I saw at least 3 or 4 from San Francisco) and seem to live entirely on the internet. Obviously, a married guy from middle of nowhere Ohio is probably not the target demographic and has no easy way of accessing the target demographic Ford is looking for. Don't worry to those who actually read my blog, I much prefer my fringe demographic and I'm not leaving!

I can hope that I'll get picked in the next few days (although I haven't even been interviewed, so I'm pretty sure I'm at the bottom of the pile). Regardless, expect to get updates on the Fiesta when something big happens or something interesting transpires.

Engine build again!

I don't know what words to use to describe my emotions at the moment; anticipation, excitement, fear.

I just ordered my billet oil pump from CFM. Its kind of interesting to me because its not really the most significant portion of the build (and its certainly not the most expensive part, either). However, throughout the entire process, I've apparently (without my explicit knowledge) been considering it the cornerstone of the whole build. Basically, the oil pump that is installed from the factory contains a stamped steel gear that is driven off the crank. However, these gears appear to be of inconsistent quality and have a tendency to seize up and break over about 7400 RPM. With my car more than likely (ie, hopefully!) making power well over 8000 RPM, I need something a bit more robust, like billet gears. With a new oil pump being fairly inexpensive (~$60), it makes sense to replace the whole pump instead of just picking up a new set of gears to install into a housing with 60K miles on it.

I'm excited that the "cornerstone" piece is on its way, but I'm a little bit nervous about the whole process of assembling the engine. Up to this point, its mostly been dismantling (which a 10 year old with enough muscle strength could handle) and buying parts (which most Westerners can handle). Now we get to the nitty-gritty where we find out if I'm a capable engine builder, or just an naively over-ethusiastic person who's hurtling towards the shock of his life. I'm not terribly mechanically inclined, but I've been working my way up to more advanced projects by surrounding myself with people who know more than I do for the first time I try anything. Unfortunately for me, I think I hit the limit of readily accessible knowledge basins, so I'm pretty much on my own.

I'm starting to read through the different assembly procedures outline in my Haynes manual and making note of the different torque values for each bolt in the margins next to the procedure. That's the one thing that kind of irks me about Haynes, is that there is a list of torque values at the front of the chapter for all significant assemblies. It doesn't do a whole lot of good to have to flip through 20 pages to find a value when you've got to have the parts assembled and bolts fully tightened within 10 minutes before the RTV sealant sets. Fortunately, I also bagged all (okay, most...) of my bolts individually and labeled them when I disassembled the engine. That's something that a 10 year old would have probably forgotten, right?

I think my biggest fear with the whole build is that I'm going to get it assembled and installed, but as soon as I build oil pressure, there is going to be oil squirting out from every conceivable orifice that should have been well sealed with a gasket or RTV (which got pinched or was not spread evenly). I guess that's better than the alternative fear that the engine would seize up and spin a rod bearing or throwing a rod out the side of the block. I just need to be patient and read my way through each step and the build will go swimmingly.

Oh, I'm also pretty well aware that as much as I like to think this project is nearly over, I'm probably closer to 60% complete than the 85% that I feel like am at the moment.

Engine pictures

I haven't posted many pictures on here, so I figure I'll start with some pictures of my engine project.





Rods and Pistons...





These two pictures show where I had to clearance the windage tray for the ARP main studs that I had installed.





I'm hoping to get a few more parts ordered this week, so I can put the whole bottom end back together. After that, its just a matter of putting the head on and installing the engine into the car. Sounds so simple, right?