Started on Sunday afternoon and stopped in LV, NV. Continued on to Laughlin NV. where we are now. will be leaving shortly for the meteor crater in Arizona and be there this afternoon.

Tomorrow on to the Albuquerque Balloon Festival for 4 days there. On to the Big Bend country of Texas after that and will be just meandering around that area until I am due to be in Golied TX to do timing for the Texas Mile October 20---.

Barth is running fine, no temperature issues etc.

I changed oil before we left and this time I used Kendall Super D 15w-40w semi synthetic. I have used most all of the dyno oils like Mobile Delvac 1300, Shell Rotella, Delo, and so far the Kendall has been showing a definite improvement in oil pressure across all operating conditions. It is at least 5-8 lbs higher then the other oils.

I have never been excited about any synthetic oil for a diesel application BUT this is an interesting test. Yes it is a bit pricey compared with the Wal-Mart price of Mobil Delvac. $16 vs $9 per gallon. Small difference if these conditions continue and Kendall will be the oil of my choice.

FWIW, I used Kendall dyno oil previously in most of my race cars that were supercharged and used alcohol because Kendall was the only oil that didn't foam when a small amount of alcohol got in the oil. Unavoidable when starting the engine.

More later after more miles!

Kendall was always highly regarded when i worked for Shell; I used Super D III in my Nissan Maxima diesel; sold it to my sister with 280K miles. she sold it with 450K. Now has 750K, and it's never been apart.

you might want to enjoy Don Laughlins car collection at the Riverside Casino and some Happy Hour Margaritas. The weather in Arizona is rough, Bellemont and Flagstaff area had some tornadoes and it blew a freight train off the tracks.

Thanks Marvin+doris, yes we stay at the Riverside Casino when we go to Laughlin, try to stay there each time we go thru on the way to TX, The car museum is really good!

VERY rough ride yesterday making our way across Arizona, we were following the storm that went thru Flagstaff on Tuesday. Saw many trailers in the median on their side, saw a couple of toads being pulled back after they had disconnected and rolled in the median. In Flagstaff a RV dealership was hit by a tornado, mostly 5ers and they were stacked on top of each other, looked like a bomb went off, just a pile of fiberglass, furniture, and frames, they were in the process of cleaning it up as we went thru.

Had a right quartering wind from 30-50 kts, made good time but the coach was a real hand full, thank goodness the Breakaway is low profile. Mileage dropped into the high 9s MPG. After we stopped at the meteor crater and the evening was approaching it got better, finally was able to relax a bit after 7:00PM.

We're just outside of Albuquerque now and will be here until Sunday, this morning it is calm and hope it stays that way for the balloonists, we will see that all tomorrow thru the weekend.

Today is a much better day, very calm, a bit cold this AM but they got them all off, hundreds of them in the air at one time. Quite a site.

Wind, what there was of it, wasn't favorable for a "box" style where they could stay in the area so they all drifted to the South to land somewhere.

No incidents however one did land in a tree very near the RV park we are in, they had a lift come out and get it off the tree, no damage, just injured EGO.

They will have another mass ascension tomorrow morning and after we will head out again toward the Big Bend country of TX.

I am in Beeville TX now and will be here until Thursday morning when I go to Goliad TX County airport to set up for The Texas Mile.

Spent the last week running down from ABQ thru the Big Bend Country of TX. For once I didn't drive 70+, took it nice and easy, enjoyed the views!

Driven almost 3000 miles so far this trip. Hey Rusty--we stopped at McDonald Observatory near Ft Davis TX, we were able to attend their "star party" last Friday night. They got some neat stuff up there!

After the event Sunday, we go to Port Aransas TX for a couple of days and then back home.

The Texas Mile event was a BIG success! We had over 1400 runs in 3 days!

Fastest car 243 MPH
Fastest bike 278.7 MPH

This is a standing start 1 mile event, I only record speed at the end of the mile, no ET.

Unfortunately a Lambo crashed doing 233 MPH, after he cleared the timing trap, he survived literally walking away after he was cut out of the wreckage. He got his bell wrung badly but was OK. He refused medical transport (via hillo that was there) but later was convinced to go to Victoria TX hospital for observation.

We are in Port Aransas TX now and will be headed home slowly this week. The event was intense so I am still a bit tired. Not sure of our routing, wifey is the Nav, so she may have other ideas for me. Thinking of going thru Yuma, San Diego, but not settled yet.

Any pics of the Lambo? Might rival the Enzo that was chopped in half in Malibu a few years back. That is one reason I drive a BMW. The Euro cars are hard to beat for safety. My Cabrio Beemer has power deploying roll over bars in case it goes belly up!

Here is a link to what is on the internet:

Lambo crash

I can't post anything I personally have until I am cleared by the race director.

Fortunately, my dream Lambo is a Miura, which is not fast enough to hurt itself. The only trailing throttle problem is float collapse.

We are back home now. Just a bit over 5000 miles driven in under 4 weeks. Barth ran very well.

We had to divert our trip because of a death in the family (expected) and other issues at home so the trip was shortened by about 2 weeks. May still try to go back down to LV to the SEMA show next week but don't know for sure.

I received this video of one of the events that I worked this summer at Bonnevile, it is an open road race down highway 93A from Wendover NV to the junction of 93 and 93A. Down and back is about 100 miles. I run the speed trap just South of the mid-point.

The Barth is the "timing office" and rest station for those that break down.

Enjoy:

2010 Bonnevile 100 speed trap

That's awesome Ed!

Proves that loudest is not fastest. That Corvair is a real sleeper. Looks like you were "danger close" if one of those bad boys got loose!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Moonbeam-Express:
That's awesome Ed!

That Corvair is a real sleeper.

Properly done, a Corvair can be the ultimate sleeper.

quote:

Properly done, a Corvair can be the ultimate sleeper.

"unsafe at any speed"? I miss my Corvairs.

quote:

Originally posted by Dick Dubbs:

quote:

Properly done, a Corvair can be the ultimate sleeper.

"unsafe at any speed"? I miss my Corvairs.

I miss mine, too. My last was a '65, which had the Corvette design rear suspension instead of the earlier swing axle. I put in a later Saginaw trans, which had closer ratios, allowing a more highly tuned engine. With some John Fitch mods, it handled superbly. I moved the battery up front, behind the right headlight. That helped a lot. And Konis. Cutting the springs, front and rear, lowered the roll center. I also ran negative camber, front and rear. I had a friend who had a John Fitch Spyder and ran time trials, so lots of good advice, there.

I ended up putting the heavily-modified (Salih barrels, direct-port Weber IDAs, slanted (kinkless) exhaust tubes, etc) engine in a dune buggy, and sold the car to a fellow who did a V8 mid-engine conversion. When he was done, and had it dialed in, he gave me a ride around Willow Springs as a passenger. It was the most stunning ride I ever had. This from a motorcycle racer who really knew the course! It had power like a dragster and cornered like a slot car.

I thought it was a pretty good Q ship when I had it, but he took it to another dimension. The only problem was, with the rumpity-rump engine and huge tires, it out-muscled the muscle cars just standing still. No more stoplight suckers. It is a good thing to sell a car you love to someone who loves it more and better. Smiler

Susan used to own a swing axle Corvair that changed lanes in crosswinds. It was before me, so there might have been tire pressure issues or something. Even the swing axle cars were safe at any speed if everything was right. But, they were sensitive to tire brand and pressure. An empty back seat helped, too.