The Coke Machine is BACK!

It is a happy day in Cary's Garage.  The Coke machine is back in working order!

In 2003 Nan gave me a surprise birthday present - a vintage-look Coke machine, with modern electronics inside (you could think of it as a "Resto-Mod" of vending machines)!

It has a switch so that you can get a beverage out of it without inserting coins -- "Free" mode.

The handle on the front can be pushed to the left -- which dispenses a chilled "Mexican" (real sugar) Coke in a glass bottle, or you can push it to the right -- which dispenses a Corona beer in a glass bottle.  Sorry, Dexter, no Budweiser.

A few years ago the refrigeration unit stopped working.  I tried in vain to find anyone that would fix it and struck out constantly.  Then this month I was rescued by Richard Mason of  California Comport Control who removed the refrigeration unit, took it to his shop, overhauled it, and reinstalled it in the machine.  If you need air conditioning service, Richard is the best.

I waited until my good friend, Wayne Cowie, stopped by to enjoy the first wonderfully chilled Coke.  We "social distanced" on Corvette bar stools in the garage enjoying the first Cokes in many years.

Who wants to come by for a Coke or a beer?

GM Discovered Spying on Corvette Owner

OK, this is spooky.  I know the technology in new cars is amazing, but this feels like going too far.  Here is the story . . . . .

Everyone knows how much I love my Z06 Corvette!

Nan and I drove it to watch the Daytona Corvette race on Saturday July 4th at Don and Shirley's house.  That evening we drove it back home.  Everything was fine, especially since the #3 Corvette finished first!

The next day, John Elder stopped by to show me the finished product on his tricked-out 1961 Corvette. 

While walking around the garage on Sunday with John, we saw something that was not good!

A 5/16" lock nut, attached to a bolt shaft was sticking out of the rear, driver's side tire of the Z06.  Damn!

Did it penetrate the nearly-new (and expensive) Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ tire?  Only one way to find out!

So Monday afternoon I pulled the bolt out to discover . . . . . sadly, it did!  After the air rushed out I used a floor jack to raise the car just enough to take pressure off the tire.  Even though they are run-flats, no sense in stressing the tire, right?

So now it is Monday night.  The tire was full of air all day Sunday and through mid-day Monday. The car has not been started since Saturday night.  It is sitting in my garage, shielded from satellites (as far as I know).

Imagine my surprise when, on Monday night I receive the email below from General Motors.

Is that weird? 

The next issue was to decide if the tire could be repaired.  I unbolted the tire from the car.  I went back to San Diego Motoring Accessories, here in Oceanside, which is the first-class place that sold me the tires for the Z06.  Don Petty, owner, took care of everything and by Thursday I had the repaired tire back at home.

Is that sucker big, or what?

Here is a shot of the brake cooling vent on the Z06, which is easily seen with the tires removed.

Using my click-torque-wrench (a gift from Wayne Cowie -- thank you Wayne!) I torqued the bolts to 100 foot pounds, and we are back in business!

If GM knows that the tire lost all its air, do you think they know that Herod Howard and I hit 130 MPH going up the Torrey Pines Grade a few months back?  I guess they know, right?

Buff and Shine Return To Riverside

Before the Pandemic hit us all, Nan and I took Buff and Shine back to the Adams Kart track in Riverside, California for the 2020 Vintage Karting Event. 

Here is the story that I wrote for the Vintage Karting Magazine:

RIVERSIDE SUMMARY by cary thomas

The Faye Pierson Vintage Kart Reunion (1/30 – 2/1)

To Riverside they came, just as they have for the past 16 years, to rendezvous with cherished friends, and to relive the excitement of Vintage Karting.  Genuine legends of the sport, many who were there from day one, sharing a bond, an affection and a passion, came and reveled.  They came to a family-owned track that has hosted Karting for more than 55 years – Adams.  And they came from as far away as Ireland, Maryland, Ohio, Indiana, the Southeast, and up and down the West Coast.  

The California weather (where “it never rains”) made amends for the incessant rains that soaked the 2019 event by gracing the 2020 event with clear skies, mild winds, and loads of sunshine. 

As is tradition in Riverside, the event began on Thursday and ran through Saturday.  So many people look forward to the Riverside event as “the” event on the West Coast, as evidenced by the attendance; 74 drivers; 52 race entries; and 115 karts.  

Like many VKA events around the Country, Riverside exudes history.  We can never say enough about Karting’s Sweetheart, Faye Pierson, who was in attendance and out on the track (at 92) sliding through the corners.  

Jimmy Yamane was in attendance again in 2020, this time with his “Yamane Special” that he drove to the World Championship in Nassau in 1959. Now that's history!

Other notable attendees were Vince Hughes, Terry Ives, Kim Livingstone (Duffy Livingston’s daughter), Tom Thorin, Junior Neal and several VKA Officers and volunteers  (Gary Wlodarsky, President, Louie Figone (of course), VP, Joe Swantek (of course), Treas., Lynn Haddock, Safety, Jim Donovan, Cook and Rolf Hill, Editor).   (I’m sure there were countless others.  Sorry if I missed you.) 

Even though Louie is furiously busy running the event, he always graciously greets me and Nan.

Vince Hughes reserves space for us and helps us in so many ways.

The early arrivers and long-distance travelers gathered on Thursday, so many that the Donovan/MaxTorque-hosted lunch was “sold out!”  The crowd increased to capacity on Friday for more practice sessions, a full-scale Kart Show, dinner hosted by the Adams family, some great raffle prizes and the evening awards ceremony.  Saturday brought morning and afternoon driving demonstrations with some really fantastic driving exhibitions. 

Again this year we left Sparkle home and took Buff (yellow Fox Kart) and Shine (blue Fox Kart).

Shine was making a repeat appearance and ran better this year than last due to some adjustments to the carburetors.

This event marked the debut of Buff to the track.  I can't thank Vince Hughes enough for all the parts, technical support, advice, and for even being my pit crew!

It felt really good being on the track with the twin MACs!

Shine came home with another trophy -- that's three in a row for Sparkle and Shine.

Special thanks to all the volunteers who supported Louie and Joe: Tom Corso, Jim Donovan, Scott Wigginton, Frank Weir, Vince Hughes, and Jack Murray. 

  Cary Thomas

Corvette Quality Telescope Tube

Readers familiar with this blog will remember about one year ago I posted an article about helping some friends with their projects here at Beltsville Shell West.  One of the projects was to build a prototype of a telescope tube out of carbon fiber materials for my friend Tom Bartol.

April 2019 Article

That project led to the creation of a full-scale telescope tube that Tom and I, with a few of Tom's friends, developed.  Here is the story.

Dr. Bartol is a neuroscientist at the Salk Institute here in San Diego.  We met while commuting to work about 7 years ago.  Tom is also a skilled machinist and an amateur astronomer.  Everything about Tom is interesting.

In 1999 Tom started designing and building a computer-controlled robotic telescope.  For all these years he has been machining his own parts to his own design and specifications.  He would give me constant updates on his progress complete with photos of the finely machined parts.  After so many years he finally finished the masterpiece and it was featured in the September 2019 edition of "Sky & Telescope" magazine.

The instrument was perfect in many ways, and so precise that Tom can mount his camera to it and the robotics and computer adjust for the all the movements on the Earth and in the universe for clear photos of planets, stars and other heavenly objects.  But there was one part that Tom felt could be improved -- the actual tube that holds the mirror and lens.  In the Version 1.0 of "BlueShift" (that's the name of his telescope) the tube was made of cardboard.

Tom and I have worked on a few projects together and he has been very helpful in machining parts for my Go karts.  In return, I made a commitment to try to help him build a carbon fiber tube for BlueShift.  This would be Version 2.0.

The prototype we built last year was super strong and Tom was now ready to go for the final project.

Tom did all the prep work by wrapping an 11 3/4" cardboard tube with duct tape (as a release agent), capping the ends with plywood, and creating a spit out of saw horses and a central shaft.  We then rolled out a long spool of carbon fiber across Tom's garage floor and down the driveway. This arrangement would allow us to carefully roll the material onto the tube while wetting out each successive layer/turn with epoxy.

We needed extra hands to mix the epoxy a cup at a time, pour the epoxy onto the carbon fiber, work the epoxy into the fabric with paint brushes, smooth out the material getting rid of any bubbles, and align the fabric for a perfect part.  We were joined by Bryan Paquette and Kevin Winchell.

The guys did an excellent job, being quick and precise.  Once the determined number of layers were securely rolled onto the mold, we wrapped the entire tube with Peel Ply (to give the outer surface a satin finish - explained below), and used a heat gun to "kickoff" the chemical reaction.

We left the assembly to dry overnight, and the next day Tom had the honor of removing the peel ply to expose the smooth, satin, strong tube.

At this stage the tube "could" have been perfectly suitable for BlueShift.  But Tom, ever the perfectionist, wanted more.  He had researched a very nice composite material that was a mixture of carbon fiber with a blue Kevlar weave.  The satin finish of the base tube was a perfect bonding surface for the finish coat. We used the same procedure as the day before and finished off the tube with several more coats of clear epoxy.

Tom completed the project by cutting the ends of the tube square . . . . . 

. . . . . soaking the tube with a garden hose (the cardboard disintegrated) and easily peeling away the duct tape from the inside of the tube.

He then drilled holes and made all the other adjustments necessary to mount the tube on BlueShift.

The finished product was so beautiful that Tom, once again, appeared "Sky & Telescope", this time the April 2020 edition.

The best part?  The name of the article is "A telescope made with a paint brush"!