Home » Public Forums » GMCnet » Belated Mid-Ohio Trip Report (Longish Trip Report on Mid-Ohio Weekend Aug. 5 - 8th)
| Belated Mid-Ohio Trip Report [message #96469] |
Thu, 19 August 2010 22:09  |
Craig Lechowicz
Messages: 541
Registered: October 2006
Location: Waterford, MI
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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Headed out for a long weekend at the Mid-Ohio track August 5-8th. Had one friend ride out with me, and met another at the track. Ended up leaving much later than I hoped on Thursday, then “camped” on the entrance road to be in line for the 7:00 am opening on Friday. Despite being told the wrong gate to line up at at the track, got very lucky and got a great camping place right outside of Turn 10. Came back late Sunday night after grilling dinner at the track.
Did a lot of mostly maintenance type work on the GMC before leaving, although finished up some work on a couple of improvements as well. Re-routed my propane line to fit around the rear muffler Jim K exhaust I put on a couple of years ago. Also, thanks to a great thread on this board, had discovered that Jim’s guys forgot to send the heat shield for the muffler, so they sent one out and I beat that into place. (wasn’t about to take the muffler back out to put it into place, so took some pounding and swearing to get it installed). Also, gritted my teeth and checked the rear brakes, which I had been avoiding. Fortunately, they were in pretty good shape (other than most of the parking brake cables being missing) adjusted the brakes tighter while the drums were off, and that definitely helped the pedal travel, and at least subjectively the stopping distance as well. Cleaned and packed the rear wheel bearings while I was in there, and they were all in good shape. Also finally finished up 1 battery bank’s worth of 12v. wiring of my Prosine Inverter/charger, to follow up on the AC wiring I did last year.
Overall, the motorhome ran great out and back, and camped well also. Although not a long trip, at 415 miles total roundtrip, it’s the farthest I’ve been in it since I’ve owned it. Managed to spring a few house water leaks while camping, a bad flush valve on the original toilet, and a burst PO repair line under the sink. I’ve used the water system quite a bit, and throw about $80/year of brass, copper and plastic fittings at it, so was a little surprised by all the leaks. I think partially from more than the usual use, and more use of hot water than I usually do. Onan ran surprisingly well, and got used quite a bit to recharge batteries, as we boondocked all weekend. I still have the original electric Norcold, run a CPAP machine, and some lights and Fantastic fan use, so took a fair amount of generator time to keep things charged. If I plan on doing a lot more boondocking, there probably needs to be some solar in my future.
Only one vapor lock incident, on the way back, pulled off the ramp on US 30, let it idle while we switched drivers, and it stalled almost as soon as my friend pulled up the ramp. Told him to let it coast as far as it would, came to a stop and re-started right away, and ran fine after that. One quirk lately is that I have to “Prime” it with ether or gas to get it started if it sits more than a day or so, that used to take about 2 weeks to happen, so not sure if it’s a main well plug issue, or just fuel boiling out of the bowl. Figure I’ll take that on another day.
Between the great friends, great weather and some good racing it was really a fun weekend, especially as close to the track as we were able to set up. Haven’t mastered the photo site, but here are some links to Facebook pictures. (You don’t need to be a member to click through.)
Trip Photo’s
<http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=197329&id=812886697&l=812c113aba>
Inverter wiring photo’s
<http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=197345&id=812886697&l=e596f38732>
Now, it’s off to Woodward Dream Cruise to set up tomorrow afternoon.
Craig Lechowicz
'77 Kingsley, Waterford, MI
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| Re: [GMCnet] Belated Mid-Ohio Trip Report [message #96478 is a reply to message #96469] |
Fri, 20 August 2010 01:25  |
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ljdavick
Messages: 3548
Registered: March 2007
Location: Fremont, CA
Karma: -3
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Senior Member |
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Those girls may have already eaten this month, but I haven't eaten since dinner and after seeing your bumper BBQ I'm hungry!
What kind of BBQ is that? It looks perfect for my wife's paella! I want one!!!
Larry Davick
On Aug 19, 2010, at 8:09 PM, Craig Lechowicz <craig.lechowicz@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
>
> Headed out for a long weekend at the Mid-Ohio track August 5-8th. Had one friend ride out with me, and met another at the track. Ended up leaving much later than I hoped on Thursday, then “camped” on the entrance road to be in line for the 7:00 am opening on Friday. Despite being told the wrong gate to line up at at the track, got very lucky and got a great camping place right outside of Turn 10. Came back late Sunday night after grilling dinner at the track.
>
> Did a lot of mostly maintenance type work on the GMC before leaving, although finished up some work on a couple of improvements as well. Re-routed my propane line to fit around the rear muffler Jim K exhaust I put on a couple of years ago. Also, thanks to a great thread on this board, had discovered that Jim’s guys forgot to send the heat shield for the muffler, so they sent one out and I beat that into place. (wasn’t about to take the muffler back out to put it into place, so took some pounding and swearing to get it installed). Also, gritted my teeth and checked the rear brakes, which I had been avoiding. Fortunately, they were in pretty good shape (other than most of the parking brake cables being missing) adjusted the brakes tighter while the drums were off, and that definitely helped the pedal travel, and at least subjectively the stopping distance as well. Cleaned and packed the rear wheel bearings while I was in there, and they were all in good shap
e.
> Also finally finished up 1 battery bank’s worth of 12v. wiring of my Prosine Inverter/charger, to follow up on the AC wiring I did last year.
>
> Overall, the motorhome ran great out and back, and camped well also. Although not a long trip, at 415 miles total roundtrip, it’s the farthest I’ve been in it since I’ve owned it. Managed to spring a few house water leaks while camping, a bad flush valve on the original toilet, and a burst PO repair line under the sink. I’ve used the water system quite a bit, and throw about $80/year of brass, copper and plastic fittings at it, so was a little surprised by all the leaks. I think partially from more than the usual use, and more use of hot water than I usually do. Onan ran surprisingly well, and got used quite a bit to recharge batteries, as we boondocked all weekend. I still have the original electric Norcold, run a CPAP machine, and some lights and Fantastic fan use, so took a fair amount of generator time to keep things charged. If I plan on doing a lot more boondocking, there probably needs to be some solar in my future.
>
> Only one vapor lock incident, on the way back, pulled off the ramp on US 30, let it idle while we switched drivers, and it stalled almost as soon as my friend pulled up the ramp. Told him to let it coast as far as it would, came to a stop and re-started right away, and ran fine after that. One quirk lately is that I have to “Prime” it with ether or gas to get it started if it sits more than a day or so, that used to take about 2 weeks to happen, so not sure if it’s a main well plug issue, or just fuel boiling out of the bowl. Figure I’ll take that on another day.
>
> Between the great friends, great weather and some good racing it was really a fun weekend, especially as close to the track as we were able to set up. Haven’t mastered the photo site, but here are some links to Facebook pictures. (You don’t need to be a member to click through.)
> Trip Photo’s
> <http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=197329&id=812886697&l=812c113aba>
>
> Inverter wiring photo’s
> <http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=197345&id=812886697&l=e596f38732>
>
> Now, it’s off to Woodward Dream Cruise to set up tomorrow afternoon.
>
> --
> Craig Lechowicz
> '77 Kingsley, Waterford, MI
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> List Information and Subscription Options:
> http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
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Larry Davick
A Mystery Machine
1976(ish) Palm Beach
Fremont, Ca
Howell EFI + EBL + Electronic Dizzy
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| Re: [GMCnet] Belated Mid-Ohio Trip Report [message #96484 is a reply to message #96478] |
Fri, 20 August 2010 07:18 |
Craig Lechowicz
Messages: 541
Registered: October 2006
Location: Waterford, MI
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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[quote title=ljdavick wrote on Fri, 20 August 2010 02:25]Those girls may have already eaten this month, but I haven't eaten since dinner and after seeing your bumper BBQ I'm hungry!
What kind of BBQ is that? It looks perfect for my wife's paella! I want one!!!
Larry Davick
On Aug 19, 2010, at 8:09 PM, Craig Lechowicz <craig.lechowicz@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
Larry,
It's MAGMA Marine Kettle Grill that West Marine had on sale a couple of years back. It's a decent grill, all stainless steel which is nice. Tends to be either too hot or too cold as the adjustment is quite touchy. And, it's a little like razors and blades. The grill was something like $160 on sale, but if you want to mount it to anything (like a GMC ladder) the bracket is another $50, and if you want a regulator and valve to hook to your propane tank rather than use disposable cylinders it's another $100 or so. But it's definitely got good eating potential, and will get a workout on burgers at the Dream Cruise tomorrow.
Take care,
Craig
Craig Lechowicz
'77 Kingsley, Waterford, MI
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| Re: Belated Mid-Ohio Trip Report [message #96536 is a reply to message #96469] |
Fri, 20 August 2010 14:20 |
kingd
Messages: 592
Registered: June 2004
Karma: 2
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Senior Member |
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Craig, if you're up to a somewhat longer drive than to Mid-Ohio, come to Mosport either Sept4-5 or Sept 18-19 for the Ontaro Canada version of "Club" racing. On Sept 4 there is a 1 hour Race for sedans as well as the 20 minute races for all classes and on Sept 18 there is a 3 hour race plus 20 minute racing.
Admission either weekend is via "Complimentary" tickets that I can explain to anyone how to get them.
DAVE KING
Club Racer and Official since 1974
DAVE KING
lurker, wannabe
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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| Re: Belated Mid-Ohio Trip Report [message #96550 is a reply to message #96536] |
Fri, 20 August 2010 15:10 |
Craig Lechowicz
Messages: 541
Registered: October 2006
Location: Waterford, MI
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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| kingd wrote on Fri, 20 August 2010 15:20 |
Craig, if you're up to a somewhat longer drive than to Mid-Ohio, come to Mosport either Sept4-5 or Sept 18-19 for the Ontaro Canada version of "Club" racing. On Sept 4 there is a 1 hour Race for sedans as well as the 20 minute races for all classes and on Sept 18 there is a 3 hour race plus 20 minute racing.
Admission either weekend is via "Complimentary" tickets that I can explain to anyone how to get them.
DAVE KING
Club Racer and Official since 1974
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Dave,
Thanks for the offer. I hear Mosport is a beautiful track, but I've never been there. And of course, Canadian race fans are famous for their enthusiasm. Not sure it's in the cards for this year, as the unemployment thing is hard on the travel budget. But, you never know. I really like watching races by m/h now that I've done it, and the GMC definitely seems happier to be driven more rather than less.
Take care,
Craig
Craig Lechowicz
'77 Kingsley, Waterford, MI
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| Re: [GMCnet] Belated Mid-Ohio Trip Report [message #96557 is a reply to message #96550] |
Fri, 20 August 2010 15:51 |
storm'n
Messages: 492
Registered: April 2007
Location: Ont. Can
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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If anyone coming to Mosport needs overnight parking, my drive willhold 2 I'm 15 mins. from the track. [Bowmanville]. Just e-mail me.
Norm.
Dave,
Thanks for the offer. I hear Mosport is a beautiful track, but I've never been there. And of course, Canadian race fans are famous for their enthusiasm. Not sure it's in the cards for this year, as the unemployment thing is hard on the travel budget. But, you never know. I really like watching races by m/h now that I've done it, and the GMC definitely seems happier to be driven more rather than less.
Take care,
Craig
--
Craig Lechowicz
'77 Kingsley, Waterford, MI
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List Information and Subscription Options:
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