More photos are up now
EDIT: link should be working now, sorry about that!
6 years ago
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thunderhill ARSE-FREEZE-APALOOZA Wrap-Up
Arrived in Willows CA about 6pm PST, got checked in after a bit of kerfluffle at the Days Inn, ate at the Black Bear. Bill, Bruce and Larry started out from SLC about 6pm, arrived in Willows about 4am.
Got up Friday morning early, and drove over to the lineup waiting to get in the track. Gates opened at 7am, Pete Peterson was in line already and got in to the pits to save space for our team, Free Range and Snowspeeder. We were 2nd to arrive, and set up next to Pete and the Killer Bee. Got the car out and tarp up before the rain came, and changed to the rain tires. Since it was still fairly early in the day, it was decided to pay to run the test-and-tune on the track. As we were walking back from the main office after paying, it began to rain. Rain, oh my. Not sure what the total amount was, but it had to be about 3 inches. Felt like it, anyway…
Bruce took the car out to see how it did. This was going to be the first test of this swirl pot, and we all were keeping fingers and toes crossed. The car was doing great, and Bruce reported all was well with the gauges. After about 45 minutes, we figured we had better go through tech in case there was something that needed adjusting etc.
Due to the weather, we did not dress in our theme costumes for tech, but it turned out ok anyway. The judges were extremely busy and didn’t have a lot of time for joking around and enjoying themes, although they did appreciate many clever ones there.
Jay came around first and looked the car over. All seemed fine, until he wanted to see the tire rating…looked and looked, Paul finally discovered that the info was on the inside of the tire – they’d been mounted backwards (that’s the way they came with the car). Sheesh. Anyway, that was ok, just not the Way It’s Done.
They were running 4 lines of tech inspection, and still the lineup to go through was pretty long. We waited for our turn; someone was taking their time (or not passing the inspection!) but finally they got to us. The three inspectors looked and fussed and discussed, asked questions, asked for clarifications etc. One of them was not happy with the wiring, so Andy had to run back to our paddock for zip ties. Did I mention that we were at least ¼ mile from LeMons HQ? And he had a horrible cough? At any rate, they were procured and wires were ziptied. This is the same wiring that has passed twice before…
The BS Judging was next, with Judge Jonny and Judge Murilee. This is normally where bribery enters the picture – we had shirts for all, but didn’t really have much time to talk to them. Murille did look at front and back of the shirt, gave an appropriate mention of appreciation, and promptly went and put them in his Crown Vic so no one might make off with them. Mission accomplished!
Back to the paddock – Bruce took the car out for about an hour, until they closed the track for the day. He came back without one windshield wiper – it was somewhere on the track.
All of our other friends made it through tech ok as well. It was fun to see them again, especially after getting to know a couple of them better online.
Paul, Bill and I attended the Driving 101 class that was offered that evening, very much worth the $20 fee. We learned about various flags, passing/being passed and general good driving techniques, as well as information specific to the Thunderhill track.
Dinner that night was at the Mexican restaurant. Big margaritas that didn’t seem to have much tequila in them… oh well. Probably just as well.
Saturday dawned nice and clear, blue skies! Got to the track about 7:30am, made sure the car started etc. and got dressed. Paul built the Death Cart, replete with branch-with-skull, Black Knight and blowup doll dressed in the Stick Figure tunic. Straw was a nice touch too. Paul had his peasant outfit on, I had the peasant dress and headcloth, Bill wore the monk outfit with a Toyota hubcap he’d made for the “neck cross”. Andy had his executioner outfit, Jen her maiden dress. Bruce wasn’t into the costume thing, so he just wore a driver suit. We strolled down pit row, Bill and Paul crying “Bring out yer dead!” Everyone LOVED it, some made Monty Python references, to which we would answer in character. It was quite the show!
Drivers’ meetings ensued, then the lineup to go on the track. At the last minute, a small water leak was discovered, most likely from the water pump. Too late to do anything, let’s just watch the water level. Bill was up first, for the yellow flag transponder check, then green flag. The race is ON.
Morning racing had a few yellow flags, and it was time for a driver change and water level check. Added some water, but it wasn’t looking dire for a water level issue. This was getting fun!
Rotation/water checks continued throughout the day. Bill received his first black flag – the judges proclaimed that “your driving stinks!” and proceeded to douse the passenger side with cheap Wal-Mart cologne (fortunately not TOO strong!)
Andy was out next, was going great until the car suddenly quit. No steam coming out, that we could see, he wasn’t sure what happened… our first tow back to the pit! Turns out it was an air intake hose, it just split. It was suggested that we repair it with duct tape, so repairs were made, all the crew folks in the vicinity thought it should work fine – guess we’ll see!
Holy moly, it was my turn. Yikes. Never been on this track, and I didn’t have the luxury of a yellow flag to make a couple of laps. Damn they’re going fast. And there’s a lot of them too. After a couple of laps, the excitement really happened. I’m on the back side, coming down the blind curve on the hill, and look ahead down the track. Why is that car kind of sideways, and oh crap, it’s the Bee! I’d know that color yellow anywhere. HOLY !@#% it’s in the AIR DOING BARREL ROLLS!!! Who’s driving? Are they ok? NOT THE BEE!! ANYONE but they Bee!
All sorts of brakes going on, no one hits anyone else (that I see), but we’re all thinking the same thing, that could have been me. As I go by, I see the driver has climbed out and is sitting on the poor car, as the emergency crew gets there. I had a thought that I should stop and see if he’s ok – oh wait, we’re not on the highway here, can’t do that, just gotta hope and pray. Back to racing…
Between that and just not getting a handle on the track, I came in early as I wasn’t feeling really comfortable being out there. I figure we have guys that are having a blast driving, so let them!
Track time ended at sundown, about 4:30. The swirl pot was doing exactly what it was designed to do – no overheating! All the drivers had a blast (poor Paul had a migraine and couldn’t drive that day) and were stoked for the next day’s run.
Dinner at the Black Bear again, and all fell into bed like the dead.
Sunday dawned a bit overcast – it had rained some during the night. The ground around there has a lot of clay in it, making it extremely slick (or it grabs you and doesn’t let go, especially if you’re a tire). Drivers’ meeting again, the usual cautions were mentioned, and it was time to race.
Paul led off under yellow transponder check, needed to get a handle on the track as he hadn’t been on it yet. Green flag! Gogogogo!
Bruce, Bill and Andy got their turns – one more black flag that came with a 30 minute penalty… not much fun there. Back out, then boom, another black flag. This time, Judge Jonny spray painted the time we could go back out on the rear trunk. 1:46. Nuts, an hour. I will say it’s quite entertaining to watch the parade of offenders come into the penalty box – some/most accepting their punishment, but some thinking it would be a good idea to argue with the judges. NOT a good idea. NEVER argue with those judges!
Back in the paddock, the NerdHerd team (another MR2 team a few paddock spaces down) was experiencing overheating problems. Paul took over the 2nd swirl pot, which they installed, and were able to finish the race. They didn’t want to give it back, so they bought it for $40. More than covered the parts cost, but not the time spent building it – that’s the way it goes some times.
We offered Pete Peterson (Killer Bee owner) a stint behind the wheel, but he declined as he’d driven that day for the Free Range team, and it was close enough to the checkered flag that (I think) he didn’t want to be the one driving at the end (that’s an honor that should go to the team.) Andy ran the car through to the checkered flag, it was DONE! We finished!
The car ran like a champ, Paul’s swirl pot did its thing in keeping the overheating issues at bay. We just have really lousy drivers, so that’s what we’ll really need to work on now!
Got up Friday morning early, and drove over to the lineup waiting to get in the track. Gates opened at 7am, Pete Peterson was in line already and got in to the pits to save space for our team, Free Range and Snowspeeder. We were 2nd to arrive, and set up next to Pete and the Killer Bee. Got the car out and tarp up before the rain came, and changed to the rain tires. Since it was still fairly early in the day, it was decided to pay to run the test-and-tune on the track. As we were walking back from the main office after paying, it began to rain. Rain, oh my. Not sure what the total amount was, but it had to be about 3 inches. Felt like it, anyway…Bruce took the car out to see how it did. This was going to be the first test of this swirl pot, and we all were keeping fingers and toes crossed. The car was doing great, and Bruce reported all was well with the gauges. After about 45 minutes, we figured we had better go through tech in case there was something that needed adjusting etc.
Due to the weather, we did not dress in our theme costumes for tech, but it turned out ok anyway. The judges were extremely busy and didn’t have a lot of time for joking around and enjoying themes, although they did appreciate many clever ones there.Jay came around first and looked the car over. All seemed fine, until he wanted to see the tire rating…looked and looked, Paul finally discovered that the info was on the inside of the tire – they’d been mounted backwards (that’s the way they came with the car). Sheesh. Anyway, that was ok, just not the Way It’s Done.
They were running 4 lines of tech inspection, and still the lineup to go through was pretty long. We waited for our turn; someone was taking their time (or not passing the inspection!) but finally they got to us. The three inspectors looked and fussed and discussed, asked questions, asked for clarifications etc. One of them was not happy with the wiring, so Andy had to run back to our paddock for zip ties. Did I mention that we were at least ¼ mile from LeMons HQ? And he had a horrible cough? At any rate, they were procured and wires were ziptied. This is the same wiring that has passed twice before…The BS Judging was next, with Judge Jonny and Judge Murilee. This is normally where bribery enters the picture – we had shirts for all, but didn’t really have much time to talk to them. Murille did look at front and back of the shirt, gave an appropriate mention of appreciation, and promptly went and put them in his Crown Vic so no one might make off with them. Mission accomplished!
Back to the paddock – Bruce took the car out for about an hour, until they closed the track for the day. He came back without one windshield wiper – it was somewhere on the track.
All of our other friends made it through tech ok as well. It was fun to see them again, especially after getting to know a couple of them better online.
Paul, Bill and I attended the Driving 101 class that was offered that evening, very much worth the $20 fee. We learned about various flags, passing/being passed and general good driving techniques, as well as information specific to the Thunderhill track.
Dinner that night was at the Mexican restaurant. Big margaritas that didn’t seem to have much tequila in them… oh well. Probably just as well.
Saturday dawned nice and clear, blue skies! Got to the track about 7:30am, made sure the car started etc. and got dressed. Paul built the Death Cart, replete with branch-with-skull, Black Knight and blowup doll dressed in the Stick Figure tunic. Straw was a nice touch too. Paul had his peasant outfit on, I had the peasant dress and headcloth, Bill wore the monk outfit with a Toyota hubcap he’d made for the “neck cross”. Andy had his executioner outfit, Jen her maiden dress. Bruce wasn’t into the costume thing, so he just wore a driver suit. We strolled down pit row, Bill and Paul crying “Bring out yer dead!” Everyone LOVED it, some made Monty Python references, to which we would answer in character. It was quite the show!
Drivers’ meetings ensued, then the lineup to go on the track. At the last minute, a small water leak was discovered, most likely from the water pump. Too late to do anything, let’s just watch the water level. Bill was up first, for the yellow flag transponder check, then green flag. The race is ON.
Morning racing had a few yellow flags, and it was time for a driver change and water level check. Added some water, but it wasn’t looking dire for a water level issue. This was getting fun!
Rotation/water checks continued throughout the day. Bill received his first black flag – the judges proclaimed that “your driving stinks!” and proceeded to douse the passenger side with cheap Wal-Mart cologne (fortunately not TOO strong!)
Andy was out next, was going great until the car suddenly quit. No steam coming out, that we could see, he wasn’t sure what happened… our first tow back to the pit! Turns out it was an air intake hose, it just split. It was suggested that we repair it with duct tape, so repairs were made, all the crew folks in the vicinity thought it should work fine – guess we’ll see!
Holy moly, it was my turn. Yikes. Never been on this track, and I didn’t have the luxury of a yellow flag to make a couple of laps. Damn they’re going fast. And there’s a lot of them too. After a couple of laps, the excitement really happened. I’m on the back side, coming down the blind curve on the hill, and look ahead down the track. Why is that car kind of sideways, and oh crap, it’s the Bee! I’d know that color yellow anywhere. HOLY !@#% it’s in the AIR DOING BARREL ROLLS!!! Who’s driving? Are they ok? NOT THE BEE!! ANYONE but they Bee!
All sorts of brakes going on, no one hits anyone else (that I see), but we’re all thinking the same thing, that could have been me. As I go by, I see the driver has climbed out and is sitting on the poor car, as the emergency crew gets there. I had a thought that I should stop and see if he’s ok – oh wait, we’re not on the highway here, can’t do that, just gotta hope and pray. Back to racing…
Between that and just not getting a handle on the track, I came in early as I wasn’t feeling really comfortable being out there. I figure we have guys that are having a blast driving, so let them!
Track time ended at sundown, about 4:30. The swirl pot was doing exactly what it was designed to do – no overheating! All the drivers had a blast (poor Paul had a migraine and couldn’t drive that day) and were stoked for the next day’s run.
Dinner at the Black Bear again, and all fell into bed like the dead.
Sunday dawned a bit overcast – it had rained some during the night. The ground around there has a lot of clay in it, making it extremely slick (or it grabs you and doesn’t let go, especially if you’re a tire). Drivers’ meeting again, the usual cautions were mentioned, and it was time to race.
Paul led off under yellow transponder check, needed to get a handle on the track as he hadn’t been on it yet. Green flag! Gogogogo!
Bruce, Bill and Andy got their turns – one more black flag that came with a 30 minute penalty… not much fun there. Back out, then boom, another black flag. This time, Judge Jonny spray painted the time we could go back out on the rear trunk. 1:46. Nuts, an hour. I will say it’s quite entertaining to watch the parade of offenders come into the penalty box – some/most accepting their punishment, but some thinking it would be a good idea to argue with the judges. NOT a good idea. NEVER argue with those judges!Back in the paddock, the NerdHerd team (another MR2 team a few paddock spaces down) was experiencing overheating problems. Paul took over the 2nd swirl pot, which they installed, and were able to finish the race. They didn’t want to give it back, so they bought it for $40. More than covered the parts cost, but not the time spent building it – that’s the way it goes some times.
We offered Pete Peterson (Killer Bee owner) a stint behind the wheel, but he declined as he’d driven that day for the Free Range team, and it was close enough to the checkered flag that (I think) he didn’t want to be the one driving at the end (that’s an honor that should go to the team.) Andy ran the car through to the checkered flag, it was DONE! We finished!
The car ran like a champ, Paul’s swirl pot did its thing in keeping the overheating issues at bay. We just have really lousy drivers, so that’s what we’ll really need to work on now!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
It worked!
The Swirl Pot really works.
After making a enchilada can into something more useful than a memory of last nights dinner gone bad and boy am I paying for those enchiladas I ate, our swirl pot worked.
We finished the race in style and along with that we helped Team "Nerd Herd" by loaning them our back up swirl pot half way through Sunday morning so that they could finish the race. When I asked for the swirl pot back after the race they insisted on buying it from me. $40.00 dollars later they are the proud owners of technology that is somewhat still a mystery but works really well. More news on our incredible race when I get pictures to go with the story.
After making a enchilada can into something more useful than a memory of last nights dinner gone bad and boy am I paying for those enchiladas I ate, our swirl pot worked.
We finished the race in style and along with that we helped Team "Nerd Herd" by loaning them our back up swirl pot half way through Sunday morning so that they could finish the race. When I asked for the swirl pot back after the race they insisted on buying it from me. $40.00 dollars later they are the proud owners of technology that is somewhat still a mystery but works really well. More news on our incredible race when I get pictures to go with the story.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
We have "Swirl Pot Disease"
Racing at Buttonwillow was pretty challenging for us.
The car was about 4 inches too high which caused a lot off excessive wear to the tires, not to mention the tread was wearing off sideways. The car also had a issue with bump stop when you turned all the way to the left or the right, the last inch or so didn't exist so it was like waiting for the steering to recognize that you really wanted to turn back the other direction.
The big issue was overheating on the track. The track was long enough that when you did overheat you ended up driving another mile or so before you could get off the track and back to the pits. I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out the overheating issues and we spent a lot of time at the track dealing with them. My friend Pat had suggested the trick that Carroll Smith had wrote in his book Prepare to Win.
A simple but effective way to separate air from water moving through the engine.
I was a little skeptical at first, how could a little tank pull air out of water and keep it from going back into the engine? Well after working on a couple of mock up designs based off of his theory I decided to get serious and see if the thing actually worked.
Yes that's an enchilada can!
The finished product.
The new reservoir tank that allows water to replace the air as it moves through the system.
The finished unit in place waiting for testing.
On Saturday our new team member Bill, myself and Andy hooked up the system.
Using a clear tube to go from the swirl pot to the reservoir we watched as the swirl pot literally pushed air out and into the reservoir and pushed fresh water from the reservoir back into the motor. This doesn't sound like a big deal but when you spend so much of your time at the track trying to get the air out of your cooling system, this little guy is a miracle worker. It works and it works really well. We now need to test it at a constant high RPM on a regular road surface to see if it can handle the pressures that we see on the track.
The car was about 4 inches too high which caused a lot off excessive wear to the tires, not to mention the tread was wearing off sideways. The car also had a issue with bump stop when you turned all the way to the left or the right, the last inch or so didn't exist so it was like waiting for the steering to recognize that you really wanted to turn back the other direction.
The big issue was overheating on the track. The track was long enough that when you did overheat you ended up driving another mile or so before you could get off the track and back to the pits. I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out the overheating issues and we spent a lot of time at the track dealing with them. My friend Pat had suggested the trick that Carroll Smith had wrote in his book Prepare to Win.
A simple but effective way to separate air from water moving through the engine.
I was a little skeptical at first, how could a little tank pull air out of water and keep it from going back into the engine? Well after working on a couple of mock up designs based off of his theory I decided to get serious and see if the thing actually worked.
Yes that's an enchilada can!
The finished product.
The new reservoir tank that allows water to replace the air as it moves through the system.
The finished unit in place waiting for testing.
On Saturday our new team member Bill, myself and Andy hooked up the system.
Using a clear tube to go from the swirl pot to the reservoir we watched as the swirl pot literally pushed air out and into the reservoir and pushed fresh water from the reservoir back into the motor. This doesn't sound like a big deal but when you spend so much of your time at the track trying to get the air out of your cooling system, this little guy is a miracle worker. It works and it works really well. We now need to test it at a constant high RPM on a regular road surface to see if it can handle the pressures that we see on the track.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
The Trojan Rabbit!
So this is what you do if you really want to impress the Judges, you give the ugliest, shittiest most worthless bribe you can think of.
And yes there was "BEER" in it.
And yes there was "BEER" in it.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Buttonwillow is History
O.K. To wrap it up we succeeded to doing what we first attempted to do in Reno, "We Finished!"
We started out Saturday morning in really good spirits. We arrived at the track and readied the car for the track. Jerry was first out on the track. About 45 minutes into his stint, he came in with an overheated motor. We cooled the motor down and Andy took the car back out. 15 minutes later he brought it in running really rough. The Black Night has exacted his revenge again. We had blown our top! or better said, we blew our head gasket. Time for a team meeting, do we put in a new head gasket or do we put in the spare motor? We opted for putting in the head gasket, so at 12:15pm we started our work day. At 5pm we finished the gasket replacement and Andy took it back to the track. At this point we were in 90th place, Andy brought us back to 85th and we were looking good, except that the overheating was still a problem. Jerry finished the night and we drove away feeling pretty good about what we had just accomplished.
Sunday morning was really early, we had to get up at 6am and try to get to the track by 7 to work on heat repairs. The drivers meeting was at 8 am and we needed to fill the car with fuel and get the radios ready for the next stint. At this point we called on our secret weapon to take the car out on the track (Judy). Yep that's right, a girl!
Judy took the car out and we were really shocked! "Damn she can drive and really well!"
She put the car through its paces and in one corner, the car broke free and the back of the car started to swerve. Most of the cars that lost control in that specific corner went off the track, somehow she pulled the car back into control to the shock and dismay of the four other cars that had to adjust their line to compensate for the car that they thought wasn't going to be there in about two seconds. Way to go Judy.
Now came my turn, I was nervous about getting in the car and for good reason: I knew I was going to be cold and slow. The car performed really well, it is a little top heavy so it cornered a little sloppy but that's for another race. No excitement - I didn't go off the track or hit anyone. The car was overheating again, time for a driver change.
Jerry took it back out and 45 minutes later the car was back in for another temperature problem. We started the cool down process and restarted the car. The first time it started, the next time nothing. We couldn't get it started again, the water-steam had gotten its way into the electrical. After replacing parts and using starter fluid to dry out the connections, an hour and a half later we started it back up and put it back on the track.
Andy took it out and finally got his wish: another car clipped the front of the car and he was able to put on his sticker, "It's only a flesh wound" It looks good on the car. I finished the race uneventfully with the checker flag. The car that was in first place rolled his car with one lap left.
We started out Saturday morning in really good spirits. We arrived at the track and readied the car for the track. Jerry was first out on the track. About 45 minutes into his stint, he came in with an overheated motor. We cooled the motor down and Andy took the car back out. 15 minutes later he brought it in running really rough. The Black Night has exacted his revenge again. We had blown our top! or better said, we blew our head gasket. Time for a team meeting, do we put in a new head gasket or do we put in the spare motor? We opted for putting in the head gasket, so at 12:15pm we started our work day. At 5pm we finished the gasket replacement and Andy took it back to the track. At this point we were in 90th place, Andy brought us back to 85th and we were looking good, except that the overheating was still a problem. Jerry finished the night and we drove away feeling pretty good about what we had just accomplished.
Sunday morning was really early, we had to get up at 6am and try to get to the track by 7 to work on heat repairs. The drivers meeting was at 8 am and we needed to fill the car with fuel and get the radios ready for the next stint. At this point we called on our secret weapon to take the car out on the track (Judy). Yep that's right, a girl!
Judy took the car out and we were really shocked! "Damn she can drive and really well!"
She put the car through its paces and in one corner, the car broke free and the back of the car started to swerve. Most of the cars that lost control in that specific corner went off the track, somehow she pulled the car back into control to the shock and dismay of the four other cars that had to adjust their line to compensate for the car that they thought wasn't going to be there in about two seconds. Way to go Judy.
Now came my turn, I was nervous about getting in the car and for good reason: I knew I was going to be cold and slow. The car performed really well, it is a little top heavy so it cornered a little sloppy but that's for another race. No excitement - I didn't go off the track or hit anyone. The car was overheating again, time for a driver change.
Jerry took it back out and 45 minutes later the car was back in for another temperature problem. We started the cool down process and restarted the car. The first time it started, the next time nothing. We couldn't get it started again, the water-steam had gotten its way into the electrical. After replacing parts and using starter fluid to dry out the connections, an hour and a half later we started it back up and put it back on the track.
Andy took it out and finally got his wish: another car clipped the front of the car and he was able to put on his sticker, "It's only a flesh wound" It looks good on the car. I finished the race uneventfully with the checker flag. The car that was in first place rolled his car with one lap left.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
First Day of Racing
Buttonwillow Friday 12:30pm
We arrived and Larry and the guys had saved us a sweet spot straight across from the exit ramp off the track. We went through tech and almost passed but they said our mounting points for our seat belts were to tight and were not compliant. We moved on to the judges and pleaded our case, to great happiness they accepted us with open arms. We presented them with the Trojan Rabbit to which they could do nothing more than laugh. We were very happy campers. After working on the seat belts for another two hours and twice more through tech we passed. 4:15 pm and too late to go out and test the car so we walked around and checked out the competition.
We arrived and Larry and the guys had saved us a sweet spot straight across from the exit ramp off the track. We went through tech and almost passed but they said our mounting points for our seat belts were to tight and were not compliant. We moved on to the judges and pleaded our case, to great happiness they accepted us with open arms. We presented them with the Trojan Rabbit to which they could do nothing more than laugh. We were very happy campers. After working on the seat belts for another two hours and twice more through tech we passed. 4:15 pm and too late to go out and test the car so we walked around and checked out the competition.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Here we go Again!
One more day before we load up the car into the trailer and start the long drive to Buttonwillow. I finished the special bribe for the judges last night. I think it will be one of the ugliest bribes they will ever see. I know once we turn our backs they are definitely going to want to throw it away, I sure as hell don't want it back.
Pictures will only be available after the race, so if your not there to see it you will have to come back to the blog after the race is over.
We have air in the trailer, we have a car that is in good running condition and hopefully we can keep cool heads and cooler bodies at the track. Andy and I did the final touches on the car on Sunday which included a fan in the cockpit, enlarging the fuel door opening and painting the roll cage and back panel. Spare engine and transmission are done, just need to load them in the truck.
Judy and Jenifer have been working out the logistics so that we all meet in Vegas on Thursday night. Jerry has worked it out so he will meet us at the track on Friday.
Looking forward to having a good trip, lots of fun at the track and doing some real racing.
On a good note we heard from Pete and he said a oil line broke spraying oil into the distributor causing the engine to die. The Killer Bee lives to race another day.
Pictures will only be available after the race, so if your not there to see it you will have to come back to the blog after the race is over.
We have air in the trailer, we have a car that is in good running condition and hopefully we can keep cool heads and cooler bodies at the track. Andy and I did the final touches on the car on Sunday which included a fan in the cockpit, enlarging the fuel door opening and painting the roll cage and back panel. Spare engine and transmission are done, just need to load them in the truck.
Judy and Jenifer have been working out the logistics so that we all meet in Vegas on Thursday night. Jerry has worked it out so he will meet us at the track on Friday.
Looking forward to having a good trip, lots of fun at the track and doing some real racing.
On a good note we heard from Pete and he said a oil line broke spraying oil into the distributor causing the engine to die. The Killer Bee lives to race another day.
Our Comrade is Down!
Bad news everybody Pete with Killer Bees took his car out last night for a nice drive on the freeway, and now his car is Kaput! http://forums.24hoursoflemons.com/viewtopic.php?id=986 We all know he won't be joining us for Buttonwillow but let's all give him support in getting his car back in drivable condition for Concours d'LeMons next weekend. Pete if there is anything we can do let us know.
Monday, August 3, 2009
There's cool-aid in our poison!
If anybody ever asks you if we are crazy, yep we are. At the last minute Larry our comrade from team V-ram convinced me we needed to do a test to see if our car was ready.
So what do we do? "Well hell we go test". This time we went back to our original test location out at SeaBase diving facility, a little known place that is at the edge of the salt flats and has a small runway for airplanes and anything else that might want to drop out of the sky. This is the perfect place to test a car, salt as far as you can see, temperatures hovering a 100* plus and a surface that is to put it lightly slick as snot!
Just put up 50 bucks total and you too can try to corrode all of that precious metal off the car. We call it extreme X-testing, cause we never know whats going to happen next.
We needed to test our radios and of course we didn't get the antenna I had ordered weeks ago, so it's another yup I guess it works moment. Although our cool new/used Nascar head gear works really well, you can't hear anyone complaining about you when you have the bright yellow cones of silence on, just ask Andy.
After doing a visual inspection and going through our check list.
1.Has 4 tires!
2.Engine looks pretty!
3.Numbers are legible!
4.Mice have left of their own accord!
Houston we have a problem! someone let a girl get in our car and she won't get out.
I don't know if any other guys have this problem but you definitely better be careful what you say because there were more standing in line.
All kidding aside the test went better than I had expected. The car was running on the cool side, oil pressure was above normal and the suspension was reacting really well during a lot of drifting moments. Thanks to Andy, Jerry, Jennifer, and Judy for hanging in there and getting us to the next level of craziness.
I want to give a special thanks to Bob and Bob T who won't be joining us on this trip you guys were great. Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to come down and help rebuild the motor and put fresh numbers on the top of the car.
Also a plug to Pat Mulry from team T.A.R.P racing who has saved us some $change$ on our equipment.
Hope to see everyone at Buttonwillow next week, we have "Otter Pops" and we aren't afraid to give them away. They taste just like cool aid only better!
So what do we do? "Well hell we go test". This time we went back to our original test location out at SeaBase diving facility, a little known place that is at the edge of the salt flats and has a small runway for airplanes and anything else that might want to drop out of the sky. This is the perfect place to test a car, salt as far as you can see, temperatures hovering a 100* plus and a surface that is to put it lightly slick as snot!
Just put up 50 bucks total and you too can try to corrode all of that precious metal off the car. We call it extreme X-testing, cause we never know whats going to happen next.
We needed to test our radios and of course we didn't get the antenna I had ordered weeks ago, so it's another yup I guess it works moment. Although our cool new/used Nascar head gear works really well, you can't hear anyone complaining about you when you have the bright yellow cones of silence on, just ask Andy.
After doing a visual inspection and going through our check list.
1.Has 4 tires!
2.Engine looks pretty!
3.Numbers are legible!
4.Mice have left of their own accord!
Houston we have a problem! someone let a girl get in our car and she won't get out.
I don't know if any other guys have this problem but you definitely better be careful what you say because there were more standing in line.
All kidding aside the test went better than I had expected. The car was running on the cool side, oil pressure was above normal and the suspension was reacting really well during a lot of drifting moments. Thanks to Andy, Jerry, Jennifer, and Judy for hanging in there and getting us to the next level of craziness.
I want to give a special thanks to Bob and Bob T who won't be joining us on this trip you guys were great. Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to come down and help rebuild the motor and put fresh numbers on the top of the car.
Also a plug to Pat Mulry from team T.A.R.P racing who has saved us some $change$ on our equipment.
Hope to see everyone at Buttonwillow next week, we have "Otter Pops" and we aren't afraid to give them away. They taste just like cool aid only better!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
30 days till Buttonwillow
So everyone knows what happened to the Black Night at Reno/Fernley.
We have been working at a feverish pace to try and get everything ready for Buttonwillow. The Black Night now has a semi-rebuilt motor and it does run, with a total of 5 gears to move it around the track. We have not taken it out and really tested it yet but we are confident with a spare motor we may have a chance.
The temperature at the track is going to be our biggest threat, we are working on that one. We have a few things in the mix to try and keep the hot-heads cool so we won't have to haul anyone off to the emergency room.
We have some new headgear for our radio system and I hope it helps with in-car communication. I am looking into antenna systems to give us a little more radio range,
I understand your not suppose to do that, cause it makes the radio police angry.
Buttonwillow in 30 days, ICE, WATER, and lots of PRAYING are our best hope for a great time. Hope to see everyone there.
We have been working at a feverish pace to try and get everything ready for Buttonwillow. The Black Night now has a semi-rebuilt motor and it does run, with a total of 5 gears to move it around the track. We have not taken it out and really tested it yet but we are confident with a spare motor we may have a chance.
The temperature at the track is going to be our biggest threat, we are working on that one. We have a few things in the mix to try and keep the hot-heads cool so we won't have to haul anyone off to the emergency room.
We have some new headgear for our radio system and I hope it helps with in-car communication. I am looking into antenna systems to give us a little more radio range,
I understand your not suppose to do that, cause it makes the radio police angry.
Buttonwillow in 30 days, ICE, WATER, and lots of PRAYING are our best hope for a great time. Hope to see everyone there.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
News Flash!
As first seen on the News at 11. Yes the "Killer Rabbit" did get loose from the Nights of the Round Track. The first reporter on the seen verifies the sighting of the Killer Rabbit trying to cause havoc on the Killer Bees.
Though no actual battle was engaged the trauma it caused to Pete with Killer Bees was irreversible. He has now claimed that due to loss of memory he will not be able to join the fight at Buttonwillow, it is a very sad day indeed. We have fresh evidence that the Killer Bees are not the only team that was traumatized by the rabbit. Possible electrical problems to the Snow Speeder Association, and overheating to the Volatile Ram may have caused by the antics of the Killer Rabbit.
Knights of the Round Track are very sorry for the problems our rabbit has caused, we have now recaptured him and he has taken his place back a-top the Black Knight. We will be working very close with Free Range Racing to harness the energy of the Killer Rabbit and utilize it in our quest at Buttonwillow. After all we know it's only a Bunny!
Though no actual battle was engaged the trauma it caused to Pete with Killer Bees was irreversible. He has now claimed that due to loss of memory he will not be able to join the fight at Buttonwillow, it is a very sad day indeed. We have fresh evidence that the Killer Bees are not the only team that was traumatized by the rabbit. Possible electrical problems to the Snow Speeder Association, and overheating to the Volatile Ram may have caused by the antics of the Killer Rabbit.
Knights of the Round Track are very sorry for the problems our rabbit has caused, we have now recaptured him and he has taken his place back a-top the Black Knight. We will be working very close with Free Range Racing to harness the energy of the Killer Rabbit and utilize it in our quest at Buttonwillow. After all we know it's only a Bunny!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Forget the Past!
After nursing the wounds, we are back at it.
Andy and I spent our Saturday morning at "pick and pull" retrieving a 5 speed transmission out of a 89 mr2. We almost pulled the motor but then we noticed a lot of water deposits running down the side of the the block that started right under the head. Checked under the radiator cap hmmm... oily, no go. I have been online and reading a lot lately, doing searches on rod bearings and mr2 engine components.
I now realized if we had replacement bearings, we could have done the work while the engine was still in the car, it probably wouldn't have been much fun in the dust storms but it was possible. I also realized we could have stolen a transmission from another team in the middle of the night, it would have taken us about 30 minutes to get it out. Damn and there were a lot of teams at the track that were candidates, I could only imagine their surprise when they opened up the engine lid to an engine hanging off one mount. I could also imagine that would have meant an automatic spot for peoples curse with a full expulsion from future 24 hours of Lemons races.
The plan of attack will be to get back into the shop and see if we can rebuild the engine without sending it to a machine shop. This can get expensive real fast and I don't think Jay will give us a $0 value on our car to do a complete rebuild. We are also looking at a 500 mile break-in period to get the bearings rings and such to seat correctly based on the rebuild manual. Maybe I can talk the guys into taking turns babying a motor while we break it in. I did find out that there are quite a few cars out there with the 4age motor in them including Geo Storms, Geo Metros, and Geo Novas. Now just to find the right year, with a motor with low miles on it. (Yea Right!)
It's great to get so much support from the other teams. After hearing some of their horror stories I don't feel so bad about ours. Get over it! Pick up the pieces "literally" and move on. Cheer's, and hoping every ones dreams come true in Buttonwillow.
Andy and I spent our Saturday morning at "pick and pull" retrieving a 5 speed transmission out of a 89 mr2. We almost pulled the motor but then we noticed a lot of water deposits running down the side of the the block that started right under the head. Checked under the radiator cap hmmm... oily, no go. I have been online and reading a lot lately, doing searches on rod bearings and mr2 engine components.
I now realized if we had replacement bearings, we could have done the work while the engine was still in the car, it probably wouldn't have been much fun in the dust storms but it was possible. I also realized we could have stolen a transmission from another team in the middle of the night, it would have taken us about 30 minutes to get it out. Damn and there were a lot of teams at the track that were candidates, I could only imagine their surprise when they opened up the engine lid to an engine hanging off one mount. I could also imagine that would have meant an automatic spot for peoples curse with a full expulsion from future 24 hours of Lemons races.
The plan of attack will be to get back into the shop and see if we can rebuild the engine without sending it to a machine shop. This can get expensive real fast and I don't think Jay will give us a $0 value on our car to do a complete rebuild. We are also looking at a 500 mile break-in period to get the bearings rings and such to seat correctly based on the rebuild manual. Maybe I can talk the guys into taking turns babying a motor while we break it in. I did find out that there are quite a few cars out there with the 4age motor in them including Geo Storms, Geo Metros, and Geo Novas. Now just to find the right year, with a motor with low miles on it. (Yea Right!)
It's great to get so much support from the other teams. After hearing some of their horror stories I don't feel so bad about ours. Get over it! Pick up the pieces "literally" and move on. Cheer's, and hoping every ones dreams come true in Buttonwillow.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Pics are up!
Pics from Goin' for Broken are up!
Check 'em out, and if you can help identify cars/teams, please post here or under the pic in the comments area.
Thanks, and enjoy the photos!
Check 'em out, and if you can help identify cars/teams, please post here or under the pic in the comments area.
Thanks, and enjoy the photos!
Nursing our wounds
So it wasn't the greatest of weekends. As everyone knows we did a test day last weekend and found out we didn't have a second gear. Andy and I tore into the car and replaced the transmission on Sunday, everything was looking up. We spent Wednesday decorating the car and Thursday we loaded it into the trailer and we were off. We arrived at the track on Friday at 11:00am. Matt and Eric were there to greet us with a sweet parking spot, right next to the judges tents. We parked the trailer and met with Eric, Matt and his team Free Range along with Pete and the guys from Killer Bee's, these are the kind of guys that make racing a lot of fun. We decide to get it in gear (Really bad Pun!) and go through tech, all the guys were great sports they dressed up in their gear and away we went, we didn't pass. We had forgot to cover the kill switch with tape. We Begged to meet in front of the judges because the costumes were hotter then hell! Just ask Jerry and Bob.
So we got on our knees in front of Judge Jonny and beg to be allowed to race with our fellow brethren. After Jonny's being impressed with our begging and our gift of a shrubbery, he allowed us to pass. He made the comment that our shrubbery was the lamest bribe they had ever gotten, we were so happy! Little did he know there was a bottle of fine whiskey imported from a little distillery right in our own back yard, I mean Park City, Utah. So I went back to let them know what they had, The shrubbery was on the ground and had been kicked around, I grabbed Judge Jonny and showed him what he really had by peeling the burlap back from the bottle, the expression on his face was one of pure horror! He gently opened the bottle and took a big sniff and gently put it into the precious Bucket "O" Bribes apologized profusely and thanked us again.
We went back, fixed the car and went through tech one more time, yes we passed!
We decided to do the afternoon test and tune session, so after throwing our money down I had Andy jump into the car for a spin. Half way around the track I hear him on the radio saying things were bad, what do you mean bad? He comes back over the radio saying that there was no third or fourth gear. Enter your comments here (..........)
After going through all of the linkage and doing some hand shifting from underneath the car his suspicions were verified, no third or fourth gear. Damn! We are so screwed, I decided to have the guys drive the track and see what they thought of our options. They all came back saying the track was mostly a second gear track and that they could deal with the straights in fifth gear but the car was sweet in the corners so if we kept our noses clean with no black flags we could compete. I sent them out to push the car a little more to see what we could get. Too much running at the edge of the red line in the corners, Andy brought the car back in sputtering and choking, at first I thought it might be the igniter and coil, I changed it out, the car still wouldn't run. I switched out the computer module thinking maybe our oil cooler had overheated it, nope still no start. After spending half the night trying to figure it out what the problem was I turned the distributor about ten degrees and it started to a loud slapping sound of what I thought was valves smashing into the pistons. I went over to talk to Randal from Snow speeder association, the only guy at the track who really knows these motors in and out. He told me that it would be pretty close to impossible for the valves to hit the pistons if the timing belt had jumped one or two teeth. I went back and took of the timing cover and sure enough he was spot right, the belt had not moved or broke. 10:30pm and I finally decided to pull the oil pan, I had drained the oil earlier to see if there was any metal in it and there wasn't, so this was the last thing to check. Sure enough when I pull the windage tray off, there were shavings all over it and the number two and three rods were loose and wobbly, Shit we are toast!
Saturday morning I made a ton of calls no-one carried the bearings and the earliest was Wednesday to get them. Andy and I went to "pick and pull" which happened to be down the street from the hotel, and left the girls waiting in the car while we did a little shopping. We had decided that if we were going to do this we would have to get both a transmission and engine to make it work. The first MR2 we come across was an automatic with oil in the water jacket, second MR2 engine looked fairly good someone had taken the cams out but everything else was there. I got under the car and tried to move the axles, nothing, solid as a rock. At first I thought the brakes were frozen except for the fact that someone had taken the calipers off. I disconnected the linkage and tried to manually disengage the trans, linkage wouldn't move I took a piece of steal and wedge it on the clutch fork, axles still frozen, so as a last resort I tried to hammer the linkage with the steel, nope nothing, the only thing I could think of is that water had gotten into the trans and rusted everything together. Back to being toast!
We left there bummed with two ladies sitting, waiting for us in a hot car, they are the best! We got back to the track and explained what we had done and the team accepted reality, we are toast with no butter or jelly to go with it. I will post the rest later but that is our misadventures in racing for the moment.
So we got on our knees in front of Judge Jonny and beg to be allowed to race with our fellow brethren. After Jonny's being impressed with our begging and our gift of a shrubbery, he allowed us to pass. He made the comment that our shrubbery was the lamest bribe they had ever gotten, we were so happy! Little did he know there was a bottle of fine whiskey imported from a little distillery right in our own back yard, I mean Park City, Utah. So I went back to let them know what they had, The shrubbery was on the ground and had been kicked around, I grabbed Judge Jonny and showed him what he really had by peeling the burlap back from the bottle, the expression on his face was one of pure horror! He gently opened the bottle and took a big sniff and gently put it into the precious Bucket "O" Bribes apologized profusely and thanked us again.
We went back, fixed the car and went through tech one more time, yes we passed!
We decided to do the afternoon test and tune session, so after throwing our money down I had Andy jump into the car for a spin. Half way around the track I hear him on the radio saying things were bad, what do you mean bad? He comes back over the radio saying that there was no third or fourth gear. Enter your comments here (..........)
After going through all of the linkage and doing some hand shifting from underneath the car his suspicions were verified, no third or fourth gear. Damn! We are so screwed, I decided to have the guys drive the track and see what they thought of our options. They all came back saying the track was mostly a second gear track and that they could deal with the straights in fifth gear but the car was sweet in the corners so if we kept our noses clean with no black flags we could compete. I sent them out to push the car a little more to see what we could get. Too much running at the edge of the red line in the corners, Andy brought the car back in sputtering and choking, at first I thought it might be the igniter and coil, I changed it out, the car still wouldn't run. I switched out the computer module thinking maybe our oil cooler had overheated it, nope still no start. After spending half the night trying to figure it out what the problem was I turned the distributor about ten degrees and it started to a loud slapping sound of what I thought was valves smashing into the pistons. I went over to talk to Randal from Snow speeder association, the only guy at the track who really knows these motors in and out. He told me that it would be pretty close to impossible for the valves to hit the pistons if the timing belt had jumped one or two teeth. I went back and took of the timing cover and sure enough he was spot right, the belt had not moved or broke. 10:30pm and I finally decided to pull the oil pan, I had drained the oil earlier to see if there was any metal in it and there wasn't, so this was the last thing to check. Sure enough when I pull the windage tray off, there were shavings all over it and the number two and three rods were loose and wobbly, Shit we are toast!
Saturday morning I made a ton of calls no-one carried the bearings and the earliest was Wednesday to get them. Andy and I went to "pick and pull" which happened to be down the street from the hotel, and left the girls waiting in the car while we did a little shopping. We had decided that if we were going to do this we would have to get both a transmission and engine to make it work. The first MR2 we come across was an automatic with oil in the water jacket, second MR2 engine looked fairly good someone had taken the cams out but everything else was there. I got under the car and tried to move the axles, nothing, solid as a rock. At first I thought the brakes were frozen except for the fact that someone had taken the calipers off. I disconnected the linkage and tried to manually disengage the trans, linkage wouldn't move I took a piece of steal and wedge it on the clutch fork, axles still frozen, so as a last resort I tried to hammer the linkage with the steel, nope nothing, the only thing I could think of is that water had gotten into the trans and rusted everything together. Back to being toast!
We left there bummed with two ladies sitting, waiting for us in a hot car, they are the best! We got back to the track and explained what we had done and the team accepted reality, we are toast with no butter or jelly to go with it. I will post the rest later but that is our misadventures in racing for the moment.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Mister Salty
We finally found the time to go out and test the car. Larry had taken the time to get all the info on going out to the Bonneville Salt Flats, so we chased him out to the middle of the desert.
Our newly acquired used trailer towed incredibly well. Probably the first time I actually enjoyed pulling something behind me. The car fits nice and snug, so we now are stuck with little cars for racing which is not a bad thing.
Andy and Larry drove out to the the selected spot and started putting up a road course for us to practice on. I actually think everybody had more fun going as fast as they could and doing a little drifting.The car handled fairly tight but was really a blast to push. So we found out the engine is strong the suspension is nice and stiff and the transmission is close to toast. The car shifted fairly nice for about a half an hour and then it started doing the busted knuckle grind going into 2nd gear. "SHIT" oh I mean Darn! As the test progressed it started showing signs of doing the busted knuckle grind going from 3rd gear back into second. I guess this is why they call it a test.
I will be working in the shop tomorrow pulling the engine and trans and putting in our back-up tranny. Hoping that it will do the job. Geese only five days till the race and I am back to work, I guess my break will be at the track. Those beers Larry left in my cooler will taste nice on Friday night.
Our team of very experienced salt lickers, ready to tear it up in Reno.
Some people think it's heresy to wash a Lemon, I was thinking that we could leave all of the salt on but I don't think it will pass tech or the judges although it looks pretty cool to have the claim and proof of going through the desert forty days and forty nights to compete with our brethren in Reno.
Our newly acquired used trailer towed incredibly well. Probably the first time I actually enjoyed pulling something behind me. The car fits nice and snug, so we now are stuck with little cars for racing which is not a bad thing.
Andy and Larry drove out to the the selected spot and started putting up a road course for us to practice on. I actually think everybody had more fun going as fast as they could and doing a little drifting.The car handled fairly tight but was really a blast to push. So we found out the engine is strong the suspension is nice and stiff and the transmission is close to toast. The car shifted fairly nice for about a half an hour and then it started doing the busted knuckle grind going into 2nd gear. "SHIT" oh I mean Darn! As the test progressed it started showing signs of doing the busted knuckle grind going from 3rd gear back into second. I guess this is why they call it a test.
I will be working in the shop tomorrow pulling the engine and trans and putting in our back-up tranny. Hoping that it will do the job. Geese only five days till the race and I am back to work, I guess my break will be at the track. Those beers Larry left in my cooler will taste nice on Friday night.
Our team of very experienced salt lickers, ready to tear it up in Reno.
Some people think it's heresy to wash a Lemon, I was thinking that we could leave all of the salt on but I don't think it will pass tech or the judges although it looks pretty cool to have the claim and proof of going through the desert forty days and forty nights to compete with our brethren in Reno.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
It's Alive!
OH! Wait, Not Bob! The car is alive!
The two Bobs came over on Wednesday and did the best Earl Scheib paint job I have seen in quite a while. They used only the best paint $2.99 can buy and used a whole six cans on our black beauty. Their professional attitude toward the job and the serious attendance toward detail has paid off. The car is now black and not any black but "Satin Flat Black". They will be doing the top secret stuff on Monday, Sorry no Photos.
Andy came over today and we went through and put in all the liquids.
We finished installing the "Kill" switch and tried to start the car. we heard a click and then smoke, not the good kind of smoke either. I was concerned that the previous owner had really screwed the wiring up which he had. Andy did some splicing and I got under the car and pulled the starter, after a few miracle adjustments and a prayer it started. Andy is going to to come over one night this week and trace down all of our wiring issues.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Work Continued
Bob T and Andy came over on Saturday and worked on the car. They were lucky to get to the shop because of the Marathon that was going on that day. It took Andy an hour and a half to go the twelve miles from his house. We lost power shortly after they arrived and it was off for most of the day. We surprisingly did get a lot done, Bob and Andy were successful in pulling the motor from our street car and prepping it for installation into the race car. I finished most of the cage and took the two five speed transmissions over to the car wash. It was not a pretty sight when I came back with black clutch carbon all over my face and clothes. Larry came over for some parts and to bring me a piece of exhaust we need to make our car complete, and we wrapped up the day.
Sunday was a quiet day at the shop, the weather couldn't have been any better.
Progress on the engine started a little slow. I went to Napa to pick up a throwout bearing for the transmision, later to realize from everything I could see there is no throw out bearing for these engines. God Please don't email me now and tell me there is one because the engine is in and everything mated up and went together nicely.
The throw out bearing they have listed is too small to fit the shaft and the shaft is the same size as the hole in the crank shaft.
I looked in the book and could not find reference to one anywhere, so the engine is in the car. My buddy for the day was the hydraulic jack shown in the picture, he made the install go very nicely. The next project is to find out why the previous owner cut a lot of wires to install his bastardized alarm system. This may take a while since he cut two main connectors completely off that come from the CPU. More study of electrical this week.
Sunday was a quiet day at the shop, the weather couldn't have been any better.
Progress on the engine started a little slow. I went to Napa to pick up a throwout bearing for the transmision, later to realize from everything I could see there is no throw out bearing for these engines. God Please don't email me now and tell me there is one because the engine is in and everything mated up and went together nicely.
The throw out bearing they have listed is too small to fit the shaft and the shaft is the same size as the hole in the crank shaft.
I looked in the book and could not find reference to one anywhere, so the engine is in the car. My buddy for the day was the hydraulic jack shown in the picture, he made the install go very nicely. The next project is to find out why the previous owner cut a lot of wires to install his bastardized alarm system. This may take a while since he cut two main connectors completely off that come from the CPU. More study of electrical this week.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Roll Bar continued
Here is the latest on the roll cage.
A few of you were asking if I as going to skin the doors and run the bars out into the panel. Well I have to tell you this is probably the most difficult task in building the cage for me. I think I got lucky the top bar sits nestled in the groove of the of the door card. I chose to keep the door card for additional strength just in case we get T-Boned. I think it will work just fine. So now I have a question, Per the rules of roll bar padding on areas around the driver, do the door bars need to be padded?
I will be doing the cross bar that goes under the steering wheel as a last addition.
The whole thong should be done Saturday so we can get some other things done. Like a Motor.
A few of you were asking if I as going to skin the doors and run the bars out into the panel. Well I have to tell you this is probably the most difficult task in building the cage for me. I think I got lucky the top bar sits nestled in the groove of the of the door card. I chose to keep the door card for additional strength just in case we get T-Boned. I think it will work just fine. So now I have a question, Per the rules of roll bar padding on areas around the driver, do the door bars need to be padded?
I will be doing the cross bar that goes under the steering wheel as a last addition.
The whole thong should be done Saturday so we can get some other things done. Like a Motor.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Fire In Da Hole
O Yea! and one other thing. When things get hot down "there" sometimes that's not a good thing!
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