Sunday, November 28, 2010

New Theme?

We have yet to announce a new theme for Lemons 2011 but we do have some Ideas.:-)

For those who don't know, Stick Figure Racing is working on a two front approach to racing in the new year.
We will be joining forces with Larry and his team V-Ram in designing and building one of the most wanted, dependable, powerful, and of course best looking race cars of 2011.
Larry will be posting the threads to this most ominous vehicle once we get back from Buttonwillow.

As for the second theme for 2011 we have gone into the shop and started inventory of all the super, great, ludicrous, and powerful parts that will make our car impossible to beat in the new year.
During this process we have found the following.
One 4x4 toy with real moving wheels....

One jack stand that can also be helpful in frame support.

without frame support...



The car doing its part.... Loosing as much weight as possible so we won't have to worry about qualifying under the 4000lb. rule.



And of course one slightly used 21 Hp powerhouse that some say may actually be worth it's weight in gold!

Buttonwillow?

Well it's that time again....
A time when family gets together the sound of buzzers going off, the fresh smell of Turkey in the air and promises of no more eating after the holidays, and of course Racing!
Buttonwillow is the last race in the trilogy of Animal House dementia that started with the Death Mobile at Sears Infinion, the Toga party at Thunderhill (Thanks for coming by and drinking the beer) and will now finish with the all important Cake.

I am real sorry to say that the original plans for creating a full size cake float that would be driven around on the track have fallen gravely short. We will have some cake to eat on Saturday night for all to enjoy, along with beer and champagne because we know cake and champagne go so well together. So all are welcome to stop by and get their buzz on and join us in the hysteria we call Lemons. We hope to see you there!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Latest and Greatest

Yes I know it has been a long time in coming, so here is the latest.
We have been accepted to Buttonwillow, so as usual the date has been coming up fast.
There are only two weeks until the car hits the road for the infamous trip to Bakersfield California, that's where I tell everyone the race is at because Buttonwillow is a craphole town nobody knows about.

Judy and I have prepared the car for it's long journey and are excited to welcome Ruben to the team, he lives 2 hours away from Buttonwillow and knows how to get to the track, a nice plus, I don't have to explain how to get there.

So here is the latest....
I was invited to Race with Pat Mulry and the tarp team at MSR Houston so Judy and I flew out there an did a little clowning around. During the process we had a little rain and Pat had created some very ingenious rain guards that deflect the rain away from the drivers body. As you can see I stole the design for our version of Pats design. Thanks Pat.




So on to the "greatest" at least I think so....
This is the new design element to help us maneuver the engines around at the track.


I had been talking with Bill and Larry for a long time about designing an engine stand that would allow us to move motor around the shop and still be portable enough to take with us to the track. It had to have the ability to roll under the car. Elevate to the right height of the chassis for mounting purposes and disconnect quickly enough to get it out of the way for final motor installation.


The design also allows for easy loading and unloading from the truck.


The big plus for this stand is that allows for great maneuverability around the shop because it utilizes the footprint of the engine and doesn't snag up an anything.
It is also capable of just carrying the motor without the transmission.


So the race car is loaded, parts are inventoried, nerves are frazzled and new projects are on the horizon. Our plate is full and I still feel like I am missing something.