Sled maintenance......

So I worked on my sled yesterday.......I really didn't know much about the inards but I sure do now.
First of all, I went to see my saviour neighbour Marc for some welding. When I was in Park City, I asked to be self tested on a sled check just to make sure when I end up in Europe, I don't get disqualified for any mechanical technicalities.
Well, my rear bumpers needed a beed of weld on them to make them legal cause they were just shy of being 12mm, that's where Marc came in, (thanks buddy)and the concavity of the pan underneath was off near the rear of the sled.
So, I could see and feel that the silicone that was there before holding the pan to the skeleton had totally detached so I opened the sled up and took the pan off. I evened out the concavity of the pan by adding some foam to the center, and of course the rear. At least now the whole underneath looks smooth instead of ripply. I also re-siliconed the cross bars and blocks and re-attached the pan to the sled and re-taped it up. I also loosened up the cross bar bolts to give me a little more flex to the sled. Now my sled feels brand new!! It felt good to work on the sled.....now I feel like we are 'one'.
Tomorrow, I will pack it up and send it off to Germany. I am pretty excited about going cause I will get a true feel for my competition that awaits me in January for the Challenge Cup. I believe everyone will be there.....if I can finish in the middle of all small nations, which I think is about 24 nations, I will be very pleased....that is my goal!!
Of course, I haven't even had a chance to try out my refurbished ride....but someone did.....shoulders down girl....