26 July 2020

An Italian Tune-Up and The Tail of the Dragon: I've been pretty busy since my last update!

Leaning into the Throttle on Corner Exit on the Tail of the Dragon

26 July 2020: In the last update, I changed my spark plugs in an abandoned rest stop in an attempt to cure a persistent misfire issue. While that seemed to have cured it for the rest of that day, on the morning of the 26th I was still noticing some occasional stumbling. Well, figuring that there was probably a certain amount of the ash that covered the spark plugs elsewhere in the combustion chamber, a buildup that would be aggravated by the fact that I purposely avoided full throttle (for the most part)  since I was technically breaking in my clutch and didn't want to put any extra strain on my AC/PS belt, I decided that an ol' fashioned Italian tune-up was in order. So, after the next fill-up, it was AC off and windows down, lightly bouncing off the rev-limiter (set to 5800rpm on my MSD box) as I rejoined the highway, followed by several downshift-passes and hard pulls in 4th from 3000 to 4000rpm. 

    Hey, even if it didn't work, at least it was fun!

    Surprisingly, it did seem to work! After my full-throttle 'tune-up,' the instances of stumbling went way down. At this point, a failing ignition coil is my next guess for a 100% fix, especially because the stumbling seems to increase the higher my engine temp (and therefor ambient engine bay temp) gets. My general theory is that the high engine bay heat I have been experiencing, combined with the unusually high resistance of the gunked-up spark plugs I pulled out, over-stressed the coil and it is slowly failing. Coils are (relatively) cheap, so I'll be picking up a new MSD Blaster 2 coil at a nearby auto parts soon and swapping it in to see if it works. Worst case scenario, at least I have a spare coil again. 

    So as I drove along the highway while Google Maps counted down the miles until Smokey Mountain National Park, I started seeing signs for Oak Ridge National Labs and the Y-12 National Security Complex. Now, being a former history major in college that took a surprisingly large amount of nuclear engineering classes, Y-12 and Oak Ridge are of undeniable interest due to their connection to the Manhattan Project in World War II. While Oak Ridge was involved in scientific reactors and Plutonium enrichment from Uranium in so-called 'breeding reactors,' Y-12 was the location of the massive calutrons that enriched almost all of the U-235 used in the Manhattan Project. In basic terms, calutrons use intense electro-magnetic fields to separate the slightly heavier (only by the mass of 3 neutrons) U-238 from the fissile and lighter U-235 that is used in nuclear weapons.

    Fun Fact: The location of Y-12 in Tennessee was no accident or result of Congressional debate, but rather one of necessity. The calutrons, which use electricity to generate the magnetic fields they use to separate the two Uranium isotopes, had absolutely insane power demands. They used over 1% of the total power generated in the US every day, which accounted for just over 10% of the TVAs total power output. The Tennessee River Valley, with all of its massive hydroelectric dams and power plants, was one of the only locations in the country with an electrical grid strong enough to withstand the power supply of Y-12. The total power use of the plant during the war equates to 100x the power released by the Little Boy bomb dropped over Hiroshima, which was fueled with U-235 enriched at Y-12. 

    With all that historical and nuclear significance in mind, I couldn't just drive past it! So I pulled off the highway and got as close as I could to the 'No Unauthorized Photography' sign, and snapped a few pictures! Seeing as it is still an active strategic research site, they don't let you get that close.

It's back there, I promise!

    As I was entering the small town around Y-12 and Oak Ridge Labs, I drove past these very cool concrete guard bunkers that were likely constructed during WWII. The Manhattan Project was absolutely stunning in size, scale, and secrecy, so bunkers like this would have been manned around the clock to ensure that everyone travelling in and out of the area surrounding the two Top Secret laboratories was ID checked. 

    

    Okay, history lesson over!

    After some more highway driving, Maps turned me off the the main highway and straight towards route 129. I thought nothing of it until I started seeing motorcycles of all types everywhere, which I though was pretty strange since I was in the middle of nowhere. Then I saw the first gas station decked out with 'Tail of the Dragon' swag and it all made sense! 

    I was originally planning on riding the Tail on the 27th, after I got out of Smokey Mountain National Park, but I'm also not one for looking a gift horse in the mouth. So after a fill-up of some more 93, I headed out!

You can just make out of one of the over-animated Tail of the Dragon signs in the background

    And before I saw a single corner, I got stuck being these guys...

    Such is the problem with public roads; other people. Most of them were riding double up on 800+lb hogs, so I can't really blame them for going slow. But I can say that you'll find bigger chicken strips on the tires of those bikes than any Ducati at Starbucks. Having to come out of first gear several times to avoid stalling on one of the best drivers roads in the US was quite vexing, but thankfully they did eventually pull over, 10 minutes (but only about 1 mile) later. 

    Then there was almost a multi-car pileup when a rather dimwitted individual decided that parking his Jeep sideways across the entire lane on a completely blind corner to get a picture of his friend on a motorcycle was a smart move. Natural selection would have done its work on that fool if not for the quick reflexes of the Genesis in front of me and the healthy following distances I maintain on roads like that. Yet another reminder that public roads, no matter how incredible, are not racetracks. 

    But once we passed that Jeep, it was like the heavens opened and Moses parted the sea of minivans and Harleys in front of me. Not a soul appeared in front of me for the rest of the drive. 

    Downshift to first and slam it. Shift to second. Brake HARD and hold second around the turn. 

    'Wait, it's holding second gear? It must only do that over 3000rpm?!'

    

    Ease off the brakes at the apex, feed in throttle. 

    Shift to third, then BRAKE and get back into second to repeat.

    Nope, this was a first gear corner! Slam into first and throttle out!

    At this point I was very glad I had a Hurst Competition shifter, because slamming through gears is really the only way to describe what was happening on this road. Used to being placed into fourth for hundreds of miles, the transmission was getting a workout like it had never experienced from my hands. I could feel the slow change in shift effort and feel as the gear oil got hotter than it ever had. 

    Was that a hint of tire squeal?

    5500rpm shift to second; that turned some heads!

    ON brakes! Definitely need more pedal effort for that one. I can feel the firewall flexing.

    Everything in the passenger compartment flies to the left side of the car as she pulls a few more tenths of a G than an Cougar was ever supposed to.

Suspension Compression, but No Tire Rub!

     Brake HARDER. Those EBC Yellowstuff pads up front are loving this, but those drums have given up.

    Rear tires briefly lock up. NOPE, they haven't completely given up yet!

    Continentals giving otherworldly levels of grips and feedback as I start to fade my brakes badly, Yellowstuff or not, as the fronts have to take over for the failing rears. 

    Whoever said that you will never fade rear drums on the street was right for 99% of the time. But not there, not then. Those drums were gone, as useful as sticking my open palm out the window, about halfway through the Tail. But just as my brakes were getting too hot, my tires were in love with the abuse. If the empty and straight highways of Nevada are why tire companies still advertise tire speed ratings, the Tail is why they talk about treadware. With those tires, the limit is so clearly your level of self-preservation and responsibility, not grip. 

    As she snarled her way through the endless turns of the Tail, it was like she came alive. Never had she spent that much time above 3500rpm. Her suspension was perfect and transparent. I don't remember having a single though about the suspension during the entire drive, it just did what it was supposed to do exactly how I wanted and expected it to, which is as close to perfect as I can ask for. 

    I'll definitely have to do rear disk in the future, and I'll probably hit fronts while I'm at it. SoT has some interesting kits that might check all my boxes.

    Once I parked the car in Smokey Mountain National Park, I threw everything I needed into my ruck and started moving. I had taken a little longer getting there than I had wanted to because of the Y-12 detour (and because I got a little lost driving around the park), so I now only have about 4 hours 10.5 miles (about 7 of those would turn out to be uphill) before night fell, so I didn't have time to waste. 

Always a fun sign to see as you show up to your campsite

An interesting picture of the Fontana dam I took while a little lost...

    Fortunately, I did get to my campsite about 30 minutes before nightfall, so I had just enough time to get my gear setup and dinner made. Thank goodness I've been able to stay moderately active during the trip, otherwise there is no way I would have made that trek on time. I didn't have time to take any interesting pictures because I had to move fast. 

    

    I've got a short bear and a slightly longer snake story for you, but those will be in the next update!

    Thanks for following along!

    Ken