Spring clean-Paul Malko style

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sdwarf36
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Spring clean-Paul Malko style

Post by sdwarf36 »

Well I had a bit of a setback. Last Monday my garage caught on fire. :( Its not attached to the house and the damage was contained. And it could have been MUCH worse. The cause isn't certian-I was heating a barrel of veggie oil at the time-but the fire marshal said it started on the other side of the burnt wall near the plug.(later I did find a section of the fuse panel that looked quite blackened) Either way, the plastic barrel melted and 30 gallons of oil either spilled or smouldered. Michele got home before the fire dept-and had the sense to move the bus away from the garage-and when they did arrive-kept screaming at them "keep away from the race car!" One interior wall and work bench is all the the fire consumed-but the heat went up the wall and melted anything plastic from eye level up. And EVERYTHING is covered in black greasy soot. EVERYTHING. :( Stuff in drawers-stuff that was on shelves-stuff that was 25 ft away. The wife says Im a neat hoarder- now I'm making dump runs by the truck load.
The fire marshal said the building was sound-but I couldn't go in until DEP showed up. "whats that on the ground?" "Water + veggie oil." :How you going to clean it up?" " I have pumps + am going to put it in barrels-then bring it to the dump>' "Will you dump take it?" "Yup". "let me see you pump it." I rig up the pump + start it into a barrel-he was happy +signed off on it.
So the carpentry work is done-an electrician has been contacted + the whole place will be rewired-permits filed tomorrow. And clean up has been going on steady-my tool box took the worst of it-Michele has been washing everything off tool by tool.
The race car was 5 ft away-complete except for front brake rotors. The second I could get in the garage I tried to start it--it fired right up ! :o I was so worried the wiring harness would be fried-its all small gauge wire. (luckily almost all in plastic loom.) So besides every square inch of the car covered in greasy soot, the damage was slight. The gauge panel-headrest padding-vinyl graffics the naca ducts on the opposite side of the car (which are surrounded by metal on 4 sides :?: ) and I'm going to get the shoulder harnesses redone. Today I'm going to pressure wash the car to see if there is anything else. Damn-it was so clean + shiney with the fresh motor install. :( So Ascutney is out-but it will fly again.
Translating road racing to hillclimbing:
Proper tire selection== nothing hooks up on moss or wet leaves.
Staying on the racing line==anything paved is considered good.
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walterclark
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Re: Spring clean-Paul Malko style

Post by walterclark »

Well that sucks...part 2.
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Super1303
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Re: Spring clean-Paul Malko style

Post by Super1303 »

Well that dose suck Sherm.. What the Hell; but man you must count your lucky stars, Michele is awesome and your racecar, sorry racedwarf, is OK. ;)
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Re: Spring clean-Paul Malko style

Post by Mopar 151w2 »

Dayum! Problems of my own - some detailed seperately. But that's a rough spring cleaning, for sure - although development of veggie asphalt may be worth a bit.
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sachilles
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Re: Spring clean-Paul Malko style

Post by sachilles »

jeez man, sorry to hear it.
Sachilles
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sdwarf36
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Re: Spring clean-Paul Malko style

Post by sdwarf36 »

Thanks all-I'm on the upswing now. The woodwork is done-the wiring just got finished. I worked in the garage tonite for the first time. ( I had the whole stairwell of the bus cut out when this happened.) De-rusting all the major equipment and anything that was bare metal-degreasing everything else is still going on. Most stuff is in a box somewhere-just not where I'm used to it was. You know those people that get all freaked out if something isn't right where it suppose to be? Hi. :cry:
Translating road racing to hillclimbing:
Proper tire selection== nothing hooks up on moss or wet leaves.
Staying on the racing line==anything paved is considered good.
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Rabbit Farmer
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Re: Spring clean-Paul Malko style

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

Terrible that this happened and absolutely incredible how quickly you are bouncing back.
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