A great day to be outside! It’s 75 degrees and sunny here in San Diego - Hardly seems like February. Referring to the SyTy shop manual, I started pulling everything I could get at with the truck still sitting on the street. The plan is to haul the truck up to a friend’s shop, where we’ll finish extracting the engine, transmission, and transfer case. Since my friend (and his trailer) wasn’t available this weekend, I thought I’d get a head start.

Everything was going fine, until I got a call from my wife - While taking her aunt to a doctor’s appointment, they were rear-ended by a city bus! Fortunately, their injuries are apparently limited to bruises, and her Subaru Outback Sport suffered only minor damage to the rear end. The hit was hard enough to bend the driver’s seat frame, though…

So, in the end, I only got about 75% of the work done that I had planned to do, but I’m not complaining….

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Editor’s note: I’m reposting all my old rebuild stuff in chronological order, starting from square one. Here’s the post that started it all, way back eight years ago… 

Syclone # 1853 in happier times. And no, I didn’t "break it racing"… 

In the beginning…

A loud rod knock that developed in October 2000 necessitated a rebuild of my Syclone… Unfortunately, finances and other complications delayed the start of the project until February 2001. Because my life is intensely fascinating, and everyone clamors for the intimate details, here I present a chronicle of the rebuild process. The plan is to remove the engine, transmission, and transfer case myself (with the help of some friends), and replace the engine with a ‘crate motor’ from McCoy Motorsports.

I’ve set a goal for myself - I want to have the truck running again by April 18, 2001. That’s because it will be the 10th anniversary of the day the truck rolled off the line at PAS. (Hah! I was off on that one a little bit! - Paul)

Last summer, I had the chance to go and watch the Red Bull Air Race here in San Diego. For those who have never heard of it, RBAR is best thought of as "autocross with airplanes" - a timed slalom course through inflatable pylons, with the aircraft never more than about 100 feet above ground. The aircraft are the same kind used in international aerobatic competition, and the pilots are certifiably insane.

I took full advantage of my media credentials, and took literally a thousand photos in one day. I’ve finally put them up in my Photobucket album for your viewing pleasure. Here’s the link to the gallery, and for more information about the 2008 Red Bull Air Race events in San Diego and Detroit, visit their website at www.RedBullAirRace.com.