Which one is actual size? Is this really 1:1?
Either way is my car shining in this picture or what? OK so I did back my garage queen into the driveway just for this morning shot...Thanks to Heather at Detailers Paradise. Your products rock!
Friday, May 25, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
A Real Nice Vintage MINI !!
I spotted this jewel parked in the infield at VIR during the Ferrari Challenge. If you look just off to the right behind the fence you can see the red cars flying by on the track.
Imagine....
Imagine you and your MINI on track at VIR rounding the oak tree. This is the vantage point on the track as the Ferraris chase each other at high speed. The sounds were awesome. Nothing like feeling rubber in the air and the smell of a roaring engine. Dan Zipkin, his son Jack, and I camped out on this turn at the end of the race day.
I love this turn and there is no other like it on tracks of this size. If you have not been to VIR you need to get there as soon as you can! Our club is coming back soon with a MINI contingent and I can't wait!
The Union Jack Flies at VIR.
I took this picture last Sunday at VIR. http://www.virclub.com/vir/
This is a view looking at part of the garage area during the Ferrari Challenge weekend.
This track is awesome! It looks like a country club in the middle of some beautiful hills. The Ferrari Challenge was great fun and there were some really beautiful street and race cars
all over the paddock and track.
My MINI lined up for the Parade!
Here we are moments before the parade start last Saturday. After the parade the Tar Heel MINI club celebrated it's second anniversary at Miller Park in Winston-Salem with a cook-out and a cake. Fun stuff. Nice people, lots of fun. http://www.tarheelminis.org/
Tar Heel MINIs in a Parade!!
A group of MINIs line up for the Forsyth Humane Society Parade last Saturday.
http://fhs-artunleashed.org/parade_07.html
We had quite a turn out of cars, members, and dogs of all types. We all had magnetic bones on our car doors with various sayings. It was a very nice day with great weather and a long line of MINIs supporting a great cause.
A Very Cool GP Euro Plate!!!
You have to love this! Very very cool.
I have never ordered a plate from this site but they get high customer service marks on NAM. http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/
Check out the plate selection: https://www.mattman-enterprises.com/cart.php?einstein_jump=view::catalog&cat_id=4
I will order something from them before long.
GP MINIs!!
I started thinking the other day about Minis on the Dragon and I remembered that I didn't put my GP MINI pictures up on this web log. These cars are so awesome. The thunder blue color is killer! http://www.gpmini.net/wp/introduction I would love to have one! Hmm...nah I love my car too much...it is all mine....I read all about the GPs in Autoweek before they were shipped to the USA and really wasn't real hip on them via the pictures. Then I saw one...can you say drool? This was my first introduction to the GP. They are very nice. This picture was taken as our pal Mark Vogler organized a GP meet for a short while in front of the adventure center in Fontana Village. He has some other pictures on the net if you want to check them out...http://www.gpmini.net/gallery/Marks15GPs Thanks Mark!
Sunday, May 13, 2007
SPEED Channel F1 Control
Here is one of my pictures from Charlotte, North Carolina during the Brazilian GP Speed Channel broadcast last year. It is very interesting how all of this works. There are tons of support people behind the whole thing. And they do a great job! Rock on Speed TV!! http://www.speedtv.com/
Steve Matchett.
Here are two sunburned F1 fans in Indy at a party during the United States Grand Prix. Steve Matchett http://www.stevematchettfanclub.com/steve/ and I were having a great time as you can tell. http://www.speedtv.com/speed/talent.php I have been to every USGP in Indy and even one back in Phoenix so long ago. My wife and I are rabid F1 fans. I will put some new F1 pictures up here from time to time when the subject matter relates. (See my very first post for a cool MINI USGP story) I thought I would add the picture of Steve as it related to the story below.
Installation Complete!
As you can see from this photo shot from a helicopter overhead, I have Glad brand Press' n Seal on the bar to protect it from moisture. It was almost 80 degrees today, sunny, and windy so I had a great day for a nice dryout of the insulation. Overnight the insulation has a light impression of the bar. I was surprised how little interference there was as I am told the 2005-06 models have thicker insulation than previous models and are more likely to have a hood alignment problem after the brace is installed. I am sure this will change car to car. Random variation. I have seen some 2004 models that had larger insulation dents than my car. Not sure about that insulation thickness information I was given. I will say one thing I investigated was Dynamat http://www.dynamat.com/ insulation for my hood vs. the factory stuff. I called their technical support Friday after I got in from work and talked to them about their product. I really like it and it would be cool to see metallic silver insulation under a MINI hood. In fact I told them to come to the Dragon event next year! I will have some of this stuff in my car soon so standby for that segment.
I was watching the Formula One Grand Prix of Spain this morning and was reminded of the stuff they use on the cars to deflect heat. It looks like the gold stuff NASA used on the LEM that went to the moon during the Apollo missions. Very similar to Dynamat. Cool stuff and it works. I have talked to Steve Matchett http://www.speedtv.com/speed/talent.php about it before. It is used by most teams and will soon find its way to our road cars.
The $64,000 question...hood deflection? Wellll....maybe a slightly larger crack in the clearance. I measure 1 mm. Actually not bad at all. Hardly noticeable to the untrained eye. So mission accomplished. I like my new mod and I did it all myself. My bolts are all torqued to 25 foot pounds per the M7 instructions and my Mom painted the logo on the brace red for me. Cool eh?
M7 Science Project!!
What is this? A science project? OK so I think too hard when I do a project. I am too picky about my toys so I ask 10,000 questions and read 3 books before I do anything. My analogy has always been "Ask me what time it is and I will explain how the watch works..." Isn't that the fun part of life?
Back to the science project. I bought this strut tower brace at MINIs on the Dragon from the future Queen of Nebraska before I knew her name. She was carrying one of these M7 braces in one arm literally like a bunch of flowers covered in bubble wrap and I said, you look like a beauty queen! Wow.. that was really psychic! I was at the Detroit Tuned booth talking to a guy doing a strut brace install on a car. I had been concerned about the tight clearance on the hood. The hood insulation literally touches the bar after the install. If my hood were to be one millimeter out of line I would go crazy. I want the brace for the slight handling improvement but mostly the strut tower plates to prevent any possibility of the legendary mushrooming of the sheet metal after a hard impact. http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/showthread.php?t=78629
I have been reading about this on the NAM site for a long time so I would rather err on the side of being careful. So the dilemma, I want the bar but I am scared of the hood alignment outcome! Afraid I say...maybe I watched Charlie Brown too much as a child...well cut me some slack there were only three channels back then and nothing was on. But that is another story.
Last Friday I called M7 tuning http://m7tuning.com/ and talked to Shelly Horvath, Director of Marketing & Customer Service. She figured me out really quick. She said "Andrew it will be ok, we have sold hundreds of these! Many MINI dealers are installing the plates or bars as the cars are delivered. Don't make a science project out of this!" We laughed. She sent me the install directions for the bar via e-mail. The title of the e-mail was "M7 Science Project."
Well if you look in the picture I am taking this install to the maximum. The hose can be seen on the left "injecting" H2O into the insulation fabric. Forget a squirt bottle, I am going for some massive amounts of Dan River water. I soaked this thing for a while and installed the bar. The posts I have read said use protection on the bar to prevent the moisture from white spotting the bar while the insulation is drying. The NAM posters were right. I had some drips on my fender and they were ugly white globs. Imagine that on my pretty little M7 black brace. Nothing some Hydro cleaner couldn't clear up in short order! Man that stuff is great. http://www.detailersparadise.com/_system/_advancedstore/qryProductSearch.asp?Action=Search&SearchQuery=hydro&SearchType=1
The Caravan Heads Down I-40.
The Tar Heel MINI caravan heading down I-40. This is real fun when you have a line of MINIs full of friends, talking on the radio, and doing synchronized passing....this picture was shot by Dan Zipkin. My car is fourth at this point. A commercial break. For all your MINI mods be sure to visit Dan at
And now back to the story, here is a link to the video of all of us coming down Black Mountain on I-40 with some cool tunes on the Sirius Radio featuring some classic vinyl in the form of Jethro Tull and Led Zeppelin.
Friday, May 11, 2007
On the Way Home from the Dragon 2007.
Through the twisties, a caravan in front and in back. In the very back we have the ultimate safety net, Dan in the Grassroots Garage BMW support car. Not only are we in one of the most reliable cars on the planet but we also have roadside assistance and 10 second technical support..life is good in the Tar Heel MINI club. The blue 2007 MINI in my rear view has less than 1,000 miles on it. Wow. We had a blast and the whole time ripped by. This was more fun that I imagined! Great cars, great surroundings, great people, what an event! The whole thing was awesome. Owning a MINI is more than owning a car. It is a real experience! This is LIVING baybee.
The Red Bull MINI...
Red Bull to the Rescue! Check out this MINI...this pair gave all the Tar Heel MINI club members a Red Bull for the road! Man I needed one! I do buy Red Bull by the case at my house. I have one every day whether I need it or not...my Doctor says is is doing wonders for my lipid profile! Rock on. Here is an interesting site.... http://www.redbullf1.com/
Aww Man!!
Aww man...this is the outcome of a late night on the curves and a collision with a deer. This is a beautiful car, like new with tons of options...ouch...that ace on the roof was needed for luck to get this repair soon! We had just finished the Monte Carlo night sponsored by the Pittsburgh MINI club... http://www.pittstopmini.org/ what a great event that was!! I won prizes! I had great fun playing black jack! Hey I won $175,000 in funny money!! Not a bad night..I remember a girl from Seattle asking me "just how many raffle tickets DO you have?" I thought this reminds me of a song...I won't elaborate...lol...Too bad about that MINI and the deer. My condolences on both counts.
Fontana Dam.
Wow. This is a look over at the dam from a distance. What a monument to human engineering. Go do the tour and talk to the TVA retiree employees in the visitor center, they are very nice. A cool place to be, this is minutes from the dragon. Nice place mon. Real nice.
Time for a bath at MINIs on the Dragon 2007!
Here my ride is fresh off the dragon getting a bath next to a car called Darth Vader! This the the washing station next to the general store in Fontana Village. I just finished using Detailers Paradise http://www.detailersparadise.com/_system/_advancedstore/qryDefault.asp wash and Hydro http://www.detailersparadise.com/_system/_advancedstore/qryproductlist.asp?categoryid=F559-D192168000050-S370-M20060425132517 on my MINI and it is great stuff! I have a trunk full of these products in this picture. Heather was setup in the tent behind this picture selling the wares...I left some currency in that tent...good stuff! Nice (pretty) lady!
Hard Rain on the Dragon!!!
It rains? Well my garage queen gets rained on for the second time since birth. Ouch. I am on the Dragon what am I supposed to do? Let's drive baybee...All of my lights including my rear fog lamp are on. The final killboy picture... I really like this one...we have Van Halen and Led Zeppelin on the sound system...fairly loud!, the rain sensor wipers are working perfectly, the Dunlop runflat tires have a grip that surprises me in this downpour, let's rock. This is living! Thanks to killboy for the pictures!! This one is great! My suggestion is go find a picture and buy at least one of yours from these hard working folks. They are the best. Here is a link to a portion of this ride in the rain. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2405066246533501034
Rain on the Dragon....
The Killboy photos http://www.killboy.com/about.html are very awesome..If you were on the dragon you need to go look for your photos! Very high resolution and very nice....I like them so much I am going to put three up here....Here we are motoring by at a fairly high rate of speed!
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
I Got Your Sign Right Here!!!
I pulled over to get this shot. These signs are a sports car lovers favorite. A MINI owners dream.
On the Dragon!!!
In the rain...the fog rising off the Smokies in the distance my MINI has been rocking the curves on the Dragon.
Poor Garage Queen, she has never been in the rain since being born in Oxford. No fear I will rub her down with the finest micro fiber cloth 'till dry.
This car rocks! Not a slip, not a sound except an exhaust note, we ran the Dragon, and it was top shelf. Nuff said. Life is damn good. I love this car.
Highway 129
A wet day for a sign picture...yes I did the Dragon in the rain! And I have video....
Tapoco...our waitress at the Mountain Bistro in Fontana is getting married on July 7th. She lives in Tapoco. Get this...the ceremony is on 7-7-07 at 7 PM. Good luck! For the uninitiated, Robbinsville to the right - many miles away - has cell service and a working ATM!!! Wireless internet!! Civilization! Whew.
Current Beauty Queen of NE..
Everyone on NAMM http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/motd-home
knows who this is....I snapped a picture of her car because it was so cool...check out that color and those seats! Very nice. A quick story, she sold me a new M7 strut tower brace and ended up holding it like a bunch of flowers....a natural pose...oh...go read this...http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100856&highlight=detroit+tuned
Vintage British Baybee!!!
Man when I look at this engine I see this imprint of a memory I have of my old 1275 MG Midget engine. Except sideways! I lived under that car for several years...so I know these bits real well. Nice ride. I just had to take a picture of it. As I have said before I will get some photos of that Midget up here in the future...I have a ton....
My Lightspeed Bike....
Just for grins I will show you my titanium Lightspeed frame bike hand built by a guy I work with. It is very cool. Now I have a matching beer opener! I have some other front shocks for it but that red one is the coolest looking!
My Trek road bike is below on the rack. Since I am a huge fan of Le Tour de France and Lance Armstrong I have to have a Trek road bike. http://www.letour.fr/
Of course they have a drug testing problem over there..seems they can't quit tainting the samples, our Americans have kicked their ass so long the French are just looking for excuses to exclude them from winning! I won't elaborate but all our boys are clean and the French can't stand a winner from the West. Ride on America, let's go win it again. Thanks Lance and Floyd Landis. http://www.livestrong.org/site/c.jvKZLbMRIsG/b.594849/k.CC7C/Home.htm
MOTD Lightspeed Titanium Beer Opener Story....
OK here is a picture of my new titanium lightspeed bike frame beer opener. It is very cool and the story is quite funny...to me at least. I am standing in the parking lot of the Fontana Garden units and looking at my cooler Thursday afternoon. I realize that I want one of the cold New Castle beers in my cooler. It hits me...I didn't bring my opener! OMG...I always bring a corkscrew opener with me on trips...I missed this time! So I walk over to the adjacent unit and stike up a conversation with a guy who may have an opener as I think about what a loser I am for forgetting a vital piece of equipment like this! The guy has a small Swiss army knife but alas, no opener. Suddenly the door of the next unit opens and a guy comes out towards his MINI in the spot in the front of the door. I am grasping for straws as the sweat is dripping from my bottle in my right hand at this point. My throat is feeling dusty and I need to forget the miles I just put on my four tires for the day. I ask "Hey how are ya...do you have a beer opener?" He says "You are kidding right?" (In this German accent which I notice right away) I say "NO!" I am thirsty! He laughs and pulls this belt out that looks like an ammo belt for an AK-47 or something. It is full of openers. I laugh and say...it must be fate that brought us together. I notice the lightspeed sticker on the back glass of his MINI and the plate reads MOSKITO. We shake hands, I get my opener and hand him some cash as he tells me that these openers are made from recycled lightspeed bike frames! http://www.litespeed.com/ I say "Well cool I have one of those! " "I gotta have this opener!"
Check out the picture...it is engraved and the backside has a perfect beer opener. Everyone I showed it to was loving it. I know I do...want one? Just ask for my new pal Herbert. Here are his two web sites. http://spitzbube.blogspot.com/
Monday, May 7, 2007
The Dragon Brew Swap!!!
The Dragon Brew Swap was a blast! And yes I have the t-shirt! OK so this picture doesn't capture all the tons of beer that was there but I got a cool shot of some beautiful participants! (Where is my wife? ...must be off trading for some fruit-flavored something) Here we are getting ready to trade some beer! I had a ton of beer from all over the place! North, South, East, West! Microbrew City....Woohoo...much fun!!!
Front Row at the MOTD 2007 Drive In!
The early shot of the parking at the drive in!! Man they came in early for the show! A packed house before the sunset! Cool...are we having fun yet?
MOTD Drive In!!!
Before I say anything...credit for this photo goes to jibeho on the http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88930&page=2 site.
A very nice picture of the Drive in event sponsored by Tar Heel MINIs!!!
http://www.tarheelminis.org/ and Michigan MINIs http://www.michiganmini.com/
The Vendor Area...
The Vendor Area at MINIs on the Dragon...this is a thin slice and there are tents left and right...we are overlooking the hill down to the softball field from just behind the Adventure Center. That is Dan Zipkin http://grassrootsgarage.com/ , one of the best MINI mechanics around working on the blue MINI in the center.
If you look in the distance you can see the Drive In Movie setup for the showing of "Cars" which by the way raised over $2000.00 for a local charity Camp Carefree!! Woohoo! http://www.campcarefree.org/ This camp is very close to my house in Eden. I have to take a moment to say that many people contributed to raising this money. First...Mark Vogler, the founder of the Tar Heel MINI Club. http://www.tarheelminis.org/ He is the man as I know first hand that he worked very hard for many hours to pull this event off. Thanks to his cool daughters too...they worked hard!! Many club members helped...including my wife Julie who sold a ton of raffle tickets! She can do it!
I should mention Ann and her car Madge who worked hard to move the Drive In T-shirts too...but she won the raffle Supercharger pulley at the end of the movie from Grassroots Garage so I will leave her out...LOL!
I will also mention that the Michigan MINI Club....those folks sold some popcorn!! Thanks ya'll!! http://www.michiganmini.com/
A very nice event for a cool charity. Nice work all! Let's do it again next year!
Meanwhile Back at the Village...
Here we are cruising towards the General Store looking at the softball field in the background. Look at all the MINIs and the different license plates from so many states!
The Tree of Shame!!
Everyone has heard of it when you come to the Dragon....This tree is full of parts from "Body Surfin' " the Dragon. Quite a novel idea. I like it. I have several pictures but it would take a while to show you how many parts are in this tree....ouch. No MINI parts...cool.
The parking Lot is Full of MINIs !!!
The store at the base of the Dragon. http://www.tailofthedragon.com/dragon.html
This parking lot is swarming with MINIs and motorcycles....
Tail of the Dragon!!
Here we are at the base of the Dragon in the parking lot. I thought this was cool so here is the picture! I saw this same car later in the rain! Poor old tail was wet....Good thing there was no salt on it! Nice ride by the way....
The Road to the Powerhouse...
Here I am parked at the entrance to the Powerhouse Road in front of all that soaring rock wall. Wow the pictures here are very cool. I gotta' get that bug off my windshield....
Here is a link to a video of the road near the site of this picture. The best part is something I said as I approached a hard turn..."Hey Ya'll...Watch This!" http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1149875877670139780
Fontana at Last!!
The TVA Fontana Dam sign just below the village. http://www.tva.com/sites/fontana.htm
Man this place has some serious water and mountains! The curves are to die for! The scenery is incredible. I stopped here to see the sheer rock face carved so many years ago to build the dam. This sign is at the turn off to the Powerhouse road, the sight of the group MINI photos that are captured here each year. Very nice...
Trooper Escort on I-40 !!!
The caravan on I-40 West gets passed by North Carolinas finest in the left lane. (click the picture for a larger view) You can see the car up ahead of the blue MINI in front of me! Of course we would never exceed the safe speed on the highway! Did I mention that the FRS radios work great?
The Caravan to MINIs on the Dragon 2007!
The caravan is rolling Thursday morning! Our first stop is the Hickory exit on Interstate 40 to pick up a MINI or two from the area south of us. We are headed to MINIs on the Dragon 2007 http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/motd-home and this will be fun.
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