Does anyone know what time it is?

Remember that great song by Chicago - Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? As of this evening there are only 80 days until I want to have the car ready to test at Thunderhill Raceway.

There are only 122 days before test day at Sears Point (Infineon).

That means there are only 147 days until the car will be on a trailer headed for Mexico to run in the 20th anniversary running of the re-born La Carrera Panamericana.

But who's counting?

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

If I had half a mind and if I thought it would do any good I would be screaming and as the picture shows this is what I would like to be doing to someone today. I have been waiting for three weeks for some parts which for the most part are semi hard to get. I was calling the (supposedly)Mustang specialty shop on a regular basis and each time I was told, "Your order was sent and some things are back ordered." or I was told, "I will call them and check with them and I promise to call you back later." Finally I called on Tuesday and they said, "Hey, we lost your phone number but your parts are in." You mean the same one I gave you about a dozen times? So I drove down this morning to pick everything up and what a joke. What was supposed to be an 80 part order turned out to be about 5!!! Then they had the nerve to tell me, "The rest of the stuff is still on back order."

I went back to my office and got on the phone with MUSTANGS PLUS and ordered all of the items they had to offer. Then with the rest of my list which was either hard to get, Shelby specialty parts or obsolete parts I gave Tom a call at DELTA BAY MUSTANG. As simple as that every single one of my parts are on their way. This guy Tom (The Good) is as awesome as they get and unlike the typical sales attendant that all too often answers the phone at these places Tom really knows his stuff. I LOVE it when I can begin describing a part and he knows before I'm finished what I'm talking about. If you need any Mustang or Shelby parts call Tom at DELTA BAY MUSTANG

The last thing I did was call the other place whom we will call "The Bad" and cancel my original order.

One of the most dangerous races in the world

Phil Hill was the first American driver to win the 24 Hours of LeMans. He was the first to win the 12 Hours of Sebring three times. He was the first to win a modern Formula One Grand Prix race. He was the first to win a Grand Touring race in Europe in an American car. And he was the first American to win a World Championship. Needless to say Phil Hill has won a few races. Last year Phil told me that the La Carrera Panamericana was the most exciting race he ever ran, even more exciting than the Millie Miglia. Now that's a mouthful.

Recently in a interview with FORBES.COM, one of my best friends, Jerry Kunzman, executive director of the National Auto Sport Association, said that auto racing is safer than it was, particularly since the 2001 death of racing legend Dale Earnhardt resulted in more cars being fitted with improved head and neck restraints. But the sport still takes about three lives per year.

"Oval [track] racing has big groups of cars together, so a mistake by one driver could mean 20 getting into an accident," Kunzman says. He adds that open road racing, while more spread out, has more configurations and angles that could cause a crash and typically carries a higher risk of rollovers.

The Indianapolis 500 has produced 41 deaths since 1909, according to the race's Web site, while the NASCAR circuit has suffered ten fatalities since 1989, though none have occurred since Earnhardt's death.

Competitive thrill seekers aren't all 20-something Mountain Dew-chugging climbers, jumpers and extreme skateboarders. The top four finishers in the last Iditarod, the renowned 1,150-mile dog-sled race across Alaska, were all over 50 years old.

What makes them take on such risky endeavors? Dr. Samuel Putnam, an assistant professor of psychology at Bowdoin College in Maine, says thrill seeking behavior is mostly genetic, and that signs of it--from climbing the highest tree to swinging as high as possible on a swing set--can be recognized from very early ages.

"There is a gene that seems to be associated with adventure-seeking behavior," says Putnam.

One of the most exciting aspects to the La Carrera Panamericana is the simple fact there is so much adventure to be found. Unlike any racetrack while running the La Carrera Panamericana you will find no guard rails, no bails of hay and no corner workers with a flag letting you know there is trouble ahead. On the flip side of the coin you will find lots of deep canyons, cliffs, a few washed out roads and there is everything imaginable to hit that you can think of both solid and liquids.

Success or failure all boils down to the driver and the navigator becoming one with each other, the car and the road. Once you fire up that engine and the green flag is removed from your windshield there is nothing you can do regarding the countless hours of details that have gone into preparing the car to this point. Having the ability to put all that behind you has a lot to do with how well the car was set up and how well engineered the car was designed. Thanks to my crew, navigator, and the guys at IMPACT ENGINEERING Jon and I can rest assured that we are in as safe a car as can be found. From this point on it's just men and machine and the sixth sense that great drivers instinctively have from the time we are born.

How loooow can you goooo?

Even with tiny little 14 inch tires and without the shock absorbers bolted in now that the rear suspension is in place these photos clearly show that the car is considerably lower than it was with the old suspension and it's going be even lower when the front end is back up where it belongs. If you look at the photo on top you can clearly see that Lucky's height is exactly the same as the GT350 R Models in the Shelby American factory photo from 1965. Poor ole Lucky had seen some rough times it seems. He had worn out old leaf springs with leaf spring helpers added and when we removed the original shackles three of the four were broken. Now Lucky is beginning to feel and look like a young tiger that's crouched ready to attack as his rear end is now settling down where a GT350 R Model belongs. It won't be long until his rear claws crab a bunch of asphalt and spring out with a roar.

I have some more secrets planed for the suspension since there are some serious obstacles waiting for us in Mexico and we will not be caught with our pants down.

Houston... We have ignition. Vroom Vroom

Funny but it seems I find more satisfaction in some of the small issues more so than I do large ones. For example, I know that my engine will be nothing short of perfection and I know my suspension is exactly what the doctor ordered for our application and again, nothing short of nirvana. On the other hand there are many nights I wake up asking myself, "How should I hook up that thing-a-ma-jig? Which way should I run the hoses or hey, what if I did it this way?" Many times I find myself contemplating various ways of designing a better mouse trap only to settle for what has worked so well and tried and true. The same thing was happening with my many ideas for the ignition/starter switch. I thought of various switch boards found in all the regular catalogues. Then I wondered about various locations that I had seen in other cars or articles ranging all over the car from the dash to the console area and even overhead for a few seconds. It's true what they say about us Virgos. Nothing short of perfection will do and it often drives me crazy but usually the end result finds me extremely satisfied. In this case the simplicity of a simple but efficient bezel located where the original ignition switch used to be seems all too perfect. Like I said, the smallest things seem to be the most satisfying.

Honey, does my rearend look big to you?

Whatever you do, when asked this question, NEVER answer. Your damned if you do and damned if you don't. By choosing not to reply at least they have nothing to hold over you when you eventually return from the hospital. But if you still feel the need to say something then try saying, "Ya know the that big rear end in my GT350 is from a Lincoln Versailles and there is nothing better built than that beauty." As you can see from the photos we got the rear end, the racing leaf springs, shackles, shims and bushings installed this evening and a fair amount of the Maier Racing adjustable panhard bar installed as well.

Earlier today I took off for GOTELLI'S SPEED SHOP in South San Francisco. Gotelli's has been more like a home away from home for me since the early 70's when the guys all took as much interest in watching me wind up a motor as much as I did a story or two and boy did I have a few. Some things never change. Known as "Terrible Ted," Gotelli was an often-outspoken, no-nonsense racer and one of the sport's best mechanics. He founded the still-standing Gotelli Speed Shop in 1961 in South San Francisco, began his racing career behind the wheel in 1955 with a '29 Ford A/Modified Roadster that he drove to track records at numerous Northern California tracks, but was better known as a team owner and tuner. He gave many drivers the opportunity to showcase their skills in his Gotelli Speed Shop entries, including Jim McClennan, Bud Barnett, Glen Leasler, Jerry Card, Denny Milani, Roy Thode, Kenny Safford, Norm Wilcox and myself.

As well known as Ted was he never mentioned the fact that he was one of the pioneers from old dry lake racing that eventually led to what is known as the NHRA as we know it today and he knew everyone personally that had played any major role in the sport. When I was about 18 years old one day I was telling him about a problem with an engine I had and he told Ted Jr to get "Ed" on the phone. So before I knew it I was speaking to "Ed" and told him what I was trying to do and so he told me how he would fix it. As I hung up I looked at the guys on the counter and said, "That old man is crazy as hell. Who in the hell is Ed? He doesn't know his head from a hole in the ground." About that time the guys all cracked up and as I turned around good old Ted was standing there chewing on his short old cigar with a look of disgust on his face. As he turned to walk away he said, "Go ahead and tell this idiot who that crazy old Ed is." The guys all began laughing hysterically as they all said in unison, "That crazy old man was Ed Iskenderian !" Ted is missed but the guys at the store still take care of me to this day and you can't find a finer bunch of guys in a speed shop anywhere. While I was there I picked up my Edlebrock water pump along with my flywheel and some other trick parts and headed off for the North Bay where my engine builder is.



It was good to see the guys at the engine builder as well and I had time to hang out for a while to check out the progress on the engine and see some parts fitted as well. I also took them some items for the engine like the new "tall" valve covers and other misc goodies.








After I left my engine builder I headed off to meet Tom the owner over at DELTA BAY MUSTANG who had invited me to come take a tour of his shop. Little did I know what I was getting into. No sooner than I got there I remembered exactly how I felt when I was a kid in a candy store. Oh... My.... God! The owner Tom was busy on the phone so in between calls he simply said, "Make yourself at home and have a look around and while you're at it take a walk out thru those doors back there and take a look at some of my toys." In less than five minutes I had to ask for a blank sheet of paper to start keeping a list of things I needed him to get ready. I couldn't help but think this is how a heroin addict gets his first fix for free and then it's going to cost and cost and cost. Tom and his wife Zee are the sort of people you like from the very first second you meet them. Trust me when I tell you these photos in no way do their awesome place justice as they seem to have every single Shelby part a guy could ever want and better yet it's all first cabin quality. And for those parts Tom didn't have he went out of his way to get. There were several obsolete items I needed and he just made them appear. Many thanks to Tom and his lovely wife Zee for making me feel so at home. By the way Zee, what time is dinner?

Running on a treadmill

I often ask myself why people run on a treadmill when they can run outside. Peresonally I hate it when I am trying to do something and feel like I'm getting nowhere. Isn't that the defintion of a treadmill?

That's the way I have felt for the last couple days. Trying hard but getting nowhere. But finally today a few more pieces of the puzzle came together. The battery box is finally installed as well as the main battery cables up to the engine compartnment as well as the saftey/kill switch. I also made a cool looking face plate and installed the main ignition and starter switches.

Then it was off to Maier Racing Enterprises to pick up almost all of my front and rear suspension. Talk about a kid in a candy store. (Tool man grunt) Tomorrow some of my crew is going to help remove the old rearend and leaf springs and install the new ones. The new rearend housing is all cleaned and painted as well as all new axle bearings. Depending on how late we work we may find time to install the Maier Racing adjustable panhard bar.