Somebody is watching over me

I know it may sound silly but frankly that is how I felt lately.
I am very blessed and my continued prayers must be getting answered.

When I pulled the car off the trailer last Wednesday there was fluid on the trailer. Saturday morning I decide (well I finally had some time) to look over the radiator. You could see there was a little bit of dampness next at the top of the fan and the driver side of the radiator….so I took a little test drive (waking neighbors not included). Pulling back into the driveway the racecar was steaming like a kettle.

If that had happened two laps into qualifying I could have had a blown motor or had fluid spraying onto the slick tires or worst. Somebody is looking after me.

One radiator replacement coming right up, turns out the backup was leaking too. Call three auto parts stores (which will remain nameless…unless they want to sponsor me!!!). Prices for replacement radiators $234, $139, $91…guess which one I bought. It pays to shop around.

Saturday night I hung out at Kelly & Jason's, Sunday I watched the Indy 500 and then went fishing with my Uncle Bob in Algonac.

On Monday morning I pushed the car out of the garage because I was going to give it a small bath because my Dad was coming over to finishing applying the decals. Also wanted to make sure there were no leaks after the radiator replacement and adding the new oil pressure gauge. The car would not turn over and the volt gauge was reading around nine volts. I did not leave the kill switch on. I charged the battery and jump started the car. Again quietly not waking my neighbors I did my little test drive, with my neighbor Tim (finally someone in the neighborhood with more cars in the backyard then me) noticing I was leaking oil. I guess I should tighten the oil pressure line a little better.

After a quick suggestion from neighbor Tim I went to the parts store to check the voltage regulator to determine why the battery was low….all on the up and up. So off came the alternator….almost in pieces. Seems one of the casting bolts broke, along with a bunch of parts in the inside making the alternator sound like the marbles rolling around in the empty skull of a redneck (I am one). I guess I was getting all the muscle out of the racecar last weekend.

If the alternator during the first laps of qualifying broke the pulley, or threw a belt, who knows what would have happened. Didn’t buy a new alternator, my neighbor and I did some redneck alternator testing and found two of the six I had were still good (and I actually found another two after we were done testing as I was cleaning up the mess I created finding spare parts). Anyone know what alternators are going for at the scrap yard right now?

Again the good Lord is looking after me.

Only 3 more days until the racecar is back on the track. I CAN NOT WAIT!

Pictures of the racecar with full decals coming soon.