Well, I picked up a couple trannys, but made the mistake of waiting until Saturday morning to install one of them. I had everything ready to go, except for installing the actual transmission. At this point, if everything went as planned, the rest of the install should have take about a half hour. Things never go as planned for me when it comes to working on the race car! By the way, while I was waiting to pick up a new tranny, I took the car over the Tim Dann and had him install some mid mounts or rear motor mounts in an effort to cut some weight out of the car. By installing the rear motor mounts, I would be able to get rid of the stock cross member for the transmission and cut about 25 pounds out of the car. Since my car is so heavy compared to some of the top cars, I have to try to cut weight in as many areas as possible…no comments on the driver cutting weight! That would involve exercise and that just sounds like too much work!

Anyway, I digress. When I went to install the tranny, it would bottom out about a quarter to 3/8 of an inch short of the bell housing. Nothing I did would get the thing to slide the rest of the way in to the housing. I even had Joe Hall and Greg Edan come over and help me out, It wasn't going to work. I made several phone calls trying to find a different tranny, but no one had a spare. At about 12:30pm, I decided to call it a night. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing considering it was my youngest son's (Tyler) birthday and he was at the soccer fields all day at a soccer tournament. Up to this point, I hadn't even seen him to wish him a happy birthday.

I took a shower and headed for the soccer fields. On the way there, I remembered the Tim Waltner (once again) had offered to let me use his back up transmission, but by then, it was too late. Sitting at the soccer fields watching the games and thinking about racing (which I seem to always be doing), I remembered that I have a perfectly good 4 speed tranny sitting in garage that I could have used!!! Duh!!! I had it in my mind that I wanted another 3 speed in the car and I totally forgot about the 4 speed I have.

I guess it was meant to be. I should be spending the day with the birthday boy anyway. Besides, I learned a long time ago, if things are not going well in the process of getting ready to go racing, forcing the issue and "doing whatever it takes" to get to the track, that things usually never get any better at the track.

Come to find out, in the week following, after another tranny had been found, that I had installed the clutch disc backwards anyway! So I had to take basically everything apart again and start all over again! At least by the next Saturday, I will be on the track! Knock on wood…

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