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That was all glue pull, next he'll drill a hole in the door jamb and shove his bendy stick through to clean the rest of the front up as well as it possible. It's definitely an art form and a lot of specialized tools involved too. Access to the front half or 2 thirds really isn't accessible from behind, hence the hole being drilled to gain that access.
Sounds like I might be keeping mine "race condition" ha, though I might give it the ol college try!
In preparation for round 2 of the dent pulling, I removed the rear bumper skin as the right rear underneath the skin is pushed in and kicking it back out may help with the stuff you can actually see with the skin on. I also found some halfass chopped wires to finish gutting. The fastener situation isn't 100% at the right rear either, not surprising given the hit it must have taken.
As much as I hate how crowded this garage is, I do enjoy the things that make it so.
Love it enough to build a CMC car and come racing?
Not yet lol. Not ready to dive into my 4th gen.
Last year we had a road race 4th gen come on out. It was one of those Chump cars or something. Each mod added points, and you couldn't exceed a certain amount or something like that. That car had so many cool and trick little things done to it. Every time I looked at it I saw something unique and ingenious. I like the creativity of each of the builds.
Turns out the guy who pulled my dents is about impossible to get ahold of. He refused payment for round 1, so I have that to keep luring him back in for round 2. At any rate, we had our 2nd race of the season this past weekend. I was out of town for work all week and landed back in town around 7:30 PM Friday. By 10:30 PM I had grabbed the tow rig, hooked up the trailer, gotten gas for everything, loaded up, and was headed to the track. When we arrived at 1:22 AM I was seeing things that weren't there. I awoke Saturday morning to a track I've never seen in my life. I generally prefer to be much more prepared. I ran a 59.0 in warmup, a 58.3 in qual, and struggled with mid 58s for the 2 races. As soon as I crossed the finish line after R2, I heard the loudest backfire I've ever heard in my life. Turns out it wasn't a backfire, it was the right front exploding. This track has something I've never experienced, but have long wanted to: threshold trailbraking from high speed to low. What a ************ it is to get right. Doesn't help that there's a monster bump just as you enter the brake zone. I ran garbage tires all Saturday and wrecked the right front, so threw on an even more garbage tire and headed out Sunday morning to qualifying. Now that the track had cooled, gone was the understeer from Saturday afternoon. The car felt good, it felt raceable, but I suspected it would fade 10 minutes in as the tires were old. Not to worry as I flat spotted the right front again just a couple of laps in so I came in early for qual and set about mounting the only tires I had left, stickers. I peeled every last morsel of sticker off of the "tread", scrubbed the living crap out of them on the outlap, and proceeded to miss my 2-3 upshift at the flying start of the race. On Saturday, the orange Mustang had a driver that admitted he couldn't find his groove so he was way off of his pace. On Sunday qual, the drivers switched and the car immediately outpoled me. The hunt was on. Once the race started it was apparent that, despite his pace, my car was faster thanks to the new tires. The turn 1-2-3 really is a thing of beauty, it's essentially a decreasing radius from 1-2 then a slowish corner for T3. If your car is working, you can just dive down the the inside, hug that all while flat footing it, and take a super tight entry down into T3 that has you dancing on the brake pedal to keep the car headed the right way, all while the *** end is hanging out a tire width. It's all concrete there whereas the rest of the track is asphalt. I drove down the inside of the Mustang and jumped on the brakes on my line and proceeded to downshift to 3rd gear which upset the car badly. I held on and completed the pass, but after an upset like that it usually takes some time for me to recalibrate. I blew T4 and sure enough here comes a Mustang driving right around me. Next up was some yellow flag confusion and he passed an out of class car while I rotted behind him. When the green flew so did the red mist. I thought he'd passed under yellow, but it turned out to be a false yellow. My goal was to reel in the gap, pass, and leave him which I did. . . until the friggin exhaust fell off. LaJunta is super bumpy, my neck was actually sore from holding my head up through it all. It was also enough to snap both exhaust mounts and wriggle what was left out of the band clamp. I was livid until I checked racehero and realized I'd set a new lap record of 56.970 vs last year's record set by my nemesis at 57.351. I snagged some mechanic's wire, resecured the band clamp, and got after the final race which was a standing start. I had the advantage here as I'd done one the day prior and saw how slippery it was and launched soft. It paid off, I got the jump and never looked back. There was a good bit of traffic I had to manage with the Mustang mostly staying within range, but I held the lead the whole time. I ran slower than the race prior as is typical for the later race, but I still wonder how much I had to do with that as the Mustang's pace seemed unphased. Tonight I got the car in, yanked the wheels, and checked brakes. Front will get new pads before the next event, rear pads will be flipped after I grind the **** off the inner pads, and engine/gear oil will be changed. Next race is Hallett, OK and I can't wait to duke it out with 20 other cars on a narrow *** track.
La Junta is a tough track. It looks easy, but it's really tough to get right. I took one passenger for a ride, and had to come in early because he barfed. And I corded a fairly new front tire.
I took two people for rides on Sunday afternoon. Neither of them were scared. But the first guy had a middle ear problem that created motion sickness very quickly.
I took two people for rides on Sunday afternoon. Neither of them were scared. But the first guy had a middle ear problem that created motion sickness very quickly.
I turned green riding shotgun with you years ago. I just can't do the passenger seat anymore. Way back in HPDE1 I was fine, not sure what changed.
Years ago I rode with a retired factory Ferrari driver. He had the same problem; Fine in the drivers seat, trouble in the right seat. He used the acupressure wrist bands to control it.
Just had my most successful weekend at Hallett ever, and I'm honestly disappointed with myself. I REALLY wanted to be on the podium and I missed it by 1 in the final. I missed it to people I've beaten before. That's not to take away from their abilities, rather more to articulate that I am capable of beating them. There's more to racing than lap times though, and I did get out raced in the early laps and it took a good chunk of the race to get them back. Once I did, the top 3 were long gone and my clutch was slipping and I was just praying the car would stay together for the remainder. I qualified 7th on Saturday morning, left the flip top open on the radiator cap and the car got hot. When it got hot, I did a cool down lap and the car kept getting hotter and by the time I left the track it was up to 250. Not 30 seconds later I parked it and the gauge was pegged in the 270 range. It took a good hour to get it back down to regular temps, got some surfactant back in it, and it held at 180 idling with the fan running so I proceeded to R1. I wasn't happy about starting 7th but luckily there was a snafu on the start and I found myself in P2 by T2, which I held for almost the entire race. I gapped P3 and was closing very slowly on P1, then a yellow flew for like 5 laps. P1 got around a couple of out of class cars and caught up to the front of the pack. The 2 out of class douches went slow as ***** so P3/4 could catch me, then the green flew for maybe 2 laps. On the last lap, I missed 3rd leaving T9 and got passed by 2 cars just in time for the checker. FML. R2 went alright, it was an invert from R1. I was in 4th until I missed 3rd leaving T3 and got passed by 1.5 cars, managed to hold off the 2nd. R3 was cancelled due to a thunderstorm (lightning) so 1 and 2 were compiled for the final grid. I started 5th, good enough, but got passed by P6 in T2 as I was held hostage by a good racer whose pace just wasn't quite there. It took me entirely too long to get around him, but when I did I quickly got around the guy who got me at T2 and was sitting in 4th. Same guy that almost got me in R2 did get me into T1 and I plowed like a dumptruck through T10 and blew my run. Lucky for me, he went too deep into T2 and I got next to him there and we were side by side through T3, T4, T5, and into T6 where I got him back. Once that was done, I gapped him and the clutch started slipping and faster cars started lapping me. The car held together and nobody got DQ'd so 4th place was mine. Water temps were pushing 250 the entire weekend and oil was blow your motor up hot. I made weight by 7# for the 40 minute hot as ***** final race. Strange that I had the clarity of mind that I did because I was dizzy when I got out of the car.
My guess is that the stock replacement radiator just isn't up to the task. I'm not sure how others are getting away with it. Water temps were identical last year with the Afco, but recovery seems faster with this setup so it has to be a step in the right direction. Anyone know if these radiators are any good? It's basically 2 of what I have now.
I've been running a Napa early 4th gen (lt1 style) for a long time. It's about 1 1/4" thick vs 1" for the ls style. Even with 300 oil temp my coolant was around 200. But since you go w2w I'd go with a Dewitt's. Ive been looking and did a little research and the one you listed is hit or miss for getting pinholes and stuff. Champion seems decent and is cheap but didn't find a lot of reviews.
I've got a Spectra. Car ran 200 here in CO the first 2 races and stayed around 210 IIRC for practice. When you're chasing for 25+ minutes straight the car gets hot. Always has, I just need more cooling reserve to deal with that. Plus Hallett was hotter than CO has been. An Afco is gonna run around 600, curious on the pricing on the Ron Davis. I don't think much can top them.
Car ran 210-230 last weekend at High Plains, it was warmer out than when I raced LaJunta. Won 3/4 races, but had an absolute helluva time hitting 3rd gear. I've never missed so many shifts in my life. Trans feels fine, I was shoving it into 1st, 5th, or nothing coming out of 2nd gear. I wasn't rushing it either, going to try a different shifter for the next event. I ended up swapping my clutch disc for this event, car was blowing out out the rear main like crazy so I swapped in a truck valve cover on the driver's side and ran a 5/8" hose from there to my new catch can.
I'm hoping it isn't a mess down under the car again, seems the can accounted for most, if not all, of the oil I had to add over the weekend.
Well there really wasn't much of a mess under the car after that last race. A friend popped in unexpectedly from Okinawa so I signed us both up for a time attack which was basically an autox that was more open. Car did alright, but the diff absolutely killed me on 2 important right handers, it just unloaded like crazy. Seems the lower speeds really exacerbate the issue. If Kaaz or OS Giken made a diff for this car it would absolutely transform the thing. I was losing a full second or 2 on a 1 minute course. That, plus the gap to A7s is all I can blame on the car. I ran a best of 60.8 and the fastest guys were 56-57 seconds. Makes me wonder, if I get the car working better at autox will I see an improvement on the open track? On the other hand, I forgot how bad it sucked sitting around all damn day for 5 minutes of wheel time.
I talked to OS Giken about making them. Minimum order of two at $2500 each, and you need to send them a complete rear axle assembly. They will ship that to Japan, and you might see a diff at some point.
On the other hand, I forgot how bad it sucked sitting around all damn day for 5 minutes of wheel time.
Thats why I have a hard time going back, despite the low cost and close venues. Maybe a test n tune day with way more seat time but I'd miss the competition part and comparing my times, even though I'm not that great
04-25-2019, 05:47 PM
