24 hour Lemons race!!

[solonut]

http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/



GOIN' FOR BROKEN (2009)
Date: 23-24 May, 2009
Track: Reno-Fernley Raceway, Fernley NV
Entry Deadline: Ten weeks before the race (14 March 2009)
Late Entries: Considered case-by-case, space permitting

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

[S2kreno]

http://jalopnik.com/5122063/more-reasons-not-to-cut-corners-on-racing-safety-gear-lemons-arse-freeze+a+palooza-hoonage

[solonut]

here is the video.... YouTube- 24 Hours of LeMons People's Curse

[Dean]

I think Pat has a '78 Lancia that could be a contender. Runs and everything. Might look too nice though.

[solonut]

ya mean this one??

and its a '77

If you all want i also have a VW rabbit cabriolet also.....

[jim.gandy]

Let's see... Italian car + 24-hour race. The only way I'd join that team is if I was the first driver... ;-)

[Dean]

ya mean this one??

and its a '77That's right. The tan one I had was a '78.

[S2kreno]

Is anyone REALLY doing this?! I'll play....now that I'm an illustrious graduate of a TMCC auto shop class :)

[BillH]

It's a fun, laid back way to run an endurance race. And trying to get a junker to last 24 hours would be interesting. Maybe buy 2 identical cars and take one along as a spare.
I've driven and crewed at the 25 Hours of ThunderHill and half of the race prepped cars don't make it to the end.

[vwRacer]

I am building a car.

Our team has 30 plus years experience.

From what I have seen we have a pretty good chance of being very competitive.

If anyone is interested in participating

Crew
Sponsorships
Driving
Builing

Fred
775-813-2797

[zpeed]

I want to play..

[vwRacer]

So here is to buget racing.

Friday, I spent 4 hrs on my friends lathe turning down a flywheel. The good news is that the 12lb pig of vw flywheel, now weighs 6lbs. The bad news, I get to spend an extra 2 hrs vacuuming his shop.

Saturday, What Joy O Joy, how I love to race, I drove to Davis, to pick up a Craigslist Transmission. Free is Free right? It has A Limited Slip and 4.89 Gears. 305Miles later.

Sunday, Spent the day studying wiring diagrams for the ECU on a 94VW Golf

Monday, Spent 6 hrs unlacing a wiring harness and stripping out all of the extra stuff.

Tuesday, Spent another 4 Hrs tracing and pinning the Engine / ECU harness looking for problems and getting ready to turn stock engine management into racecar engine management.

Wednesday.. Who knows what the Lemons will bring.

Sponsorships on the car are available.
$50.00 gets you 1 square foot to say whatever you want.

Looks like we need one more driver. We are looking for someone with a regional license and who is used to front wheel drive.

Call me 775-813-2797

[Cody]

^Wow, I guess I'm not so jealous of people who are participating after all. :P

But seriously, kudos on the hard work and dedication. :)

[vwRacer]

^Wow, I guess I'm not so jealous of people who are participating after all. :P

But seriously, kudos on the hard work and dedication. :)


Come on down to sunny Carson City, and enter the wonderful world racecar prep on a shoestring buget.:) I can really use all the help i can get.

who knows i may be blind after this week, reading wiring diagrams with german abreviations is a different kind of fun:mad:

[vwRacer]

So the beauty that is buget racing continues...

We dug out the shell that we are going to be using. Dug in the literal sense. Mother earth was starting to reclaim, the vehicle. Isn't that the definiton of entropy? :)

The car was a nationally competitive rally car until it had an unfortunate run in with a rather large boulder. The car rolled. Everyone walked away. The shell, well that is another story. There is something in most sanctioning body's rules about appearance, or aesthetics. This car aint got either of those, so this event is going to be that cars swan song.:(

We are building a 2.0L Long stroke motor out of a 1995 Jetta, with a forged bottom end, oil squirters. Last year of those parts before VW went the way of all of the other OEs with cracked cap rods, and cast rotating assemblies. Not a ton of power, but it is one of VW's most reliable engines ever built. I think that I might have the wiring licked. We have the entire harness reduced to 5 relays, 2 switches,1 pushbutton, and the ubiquitous check engine light. Kinda cool considering what I started with.

We went shopping, Pick and Pull style and got most of what we need. There are a few things that I am sure I will need to go back for. It is amazing how much specialized hardware you forget that a car has. IE super long allen head starter bolts, engine mount bolts etc etc.

This coming weekend we are hoping to clean up the chasis, and get it dried out before it makes its permanent home in the shop and gets a motor.

We are planning on a rear mounted radiator, so we will be doing a little Custom bodywork. Chip Foose aint got nothin on us Carson Boys.

After that we are going to need to re-enforce the front end. I have estimated, by my careful scientific methods(You Tube Videos), that if we can drop it from a five story buiding on its nose and drive it away, it might be strong enough for lemons racing.

I was just reviewing the reno region's schedule and if we play our cards right, we may be out with the car on the 18th of April for a little test and tune action PDX action. I wonder if I could do 2 different cars at a PDX?

[vwRacer]

Not much to report today.

I spent about an hour re-routing the Idle Stabilizer Valve ISV and getting rid of it's muffler.

I found a pair of air intakes, scoops or ducts whatever you want to call em at one of my client's shop's today. I found a sheet metal guy that is willing to do the fab on the ducting for the radiator. Good thing I have all of those videos from the VW factory when they did the wind tunnel testing in 1983. Did I mention we are going to rig a rear radiator)

I priced out some tires, driving shoes, seat and a few other things

My four puck clutch is ready to pick up. THANKS BILL and COLIN AT FIBERCRAFT!!

Enough for now

[vwRacer]

I rebuilt the starter on Sunday. Took a few hours, I don't know that I found anyhting wrong with it though.

More coming soon

[vwRacer]

Haven't posted anything in awhile, Ive been a little stressed at work.

I put the engine in the car last weekend. Wasn't bad, only took like 2 hours, most of the time was spent looking for hardware to bolt everything in.
Remember we are doing an engine swap into a car that never came with this setup and secondly, we are rebuilding a chasis that was scrapped and parted out 2 years ago. This car was picked clean. Right down to removing the hard brake lines from the chasis. Even so, work is progressing.

We are still waiting fromt he lemons selection commitee to see if we have made it into the race. I am supposed to hear this week if we are in or not.

If we make it in, I am going to have to really start hitting the sponsorship bushes. Remember spaces are still available. Got a local business you want to promote, here is the perfect place. Want to tell the world that VW's are slow here is your billboard. Have a treatise that you would like to have published here is your opportunity

As for drivers we are short 2 spots: If you have delusions of grandeur, or just want to get into a field with 75-80 cars this is the place. No competition licenses are required. The racing is going to be fast autocross 70-80mph tops

I assure you the car will be very competitive and you will have a fun time.

Get in touch with me about pricing.

PS: I need a fuel gauge, If anyone has an autometer, VDO, autogage, stewart warner, kraco or such please let me know. I don't need a sender, just the Gauge. I don't have anything to give you but a thank you and a thumbs up. You at least could proudly state that that is your gauge in the dash of the number 88 Team Econoclassed VW Golf Ball.

PPS: You will get your gauge back if it doesn't get crushed, bunched, punted or smashed. Even if it does you will get it back with a great story to tell.

[vwRacer]

its official, our team has been picked for the race.

I have 3 open seats available for any budding race drivers.


I have lots of space available for anyone that wants to sponsor our car.

If you just want to give me money, I'll take that too. :)

Help Please!!!

[sperry]

its official, our team has been picked for the race.

I have 3 open seats available for any budding race drivers.


I have lots of space available for anyone that wants to sponsor our car.

If you just want to give me money, I'll take that too. :)

Help Please!!!
Hey Fred, if you come down to needing just one more warm body behind the wheel, I may be available... pending approval of the girlfriend (I'm not so sure how keen she is to let me get behind the wheel of a car in the lowest budget series endurance racing has to offer :lol: ) and my ability to afford a HANS & compatible helmet plus the $200 buy-in/license/practice fees.

Let me know if you need me and what the schedule is for the run-up to the event so I can figure out how much I can help out.

Also, post some pictures of the car if you can, so I know what I'm volunteering to get myself into!

[Kevin M]

Don't forget the SFI-rated complete firesuit. If I had the cash to buy that and a new helmet, I'd totally be in. Alas, buying house and a project car still incomplete makes that impossible. :(

[sperry]

Don't forget the SFI-rated complete firesuit. If I had the cash to buy that and a new helmet, I'd totally be in. Alas, buying house and a project car still incomplete makes that impossible. :(
I've already got the suit, gloves, and shoes for time trials. I've also got an SA2000 helmet, but it's not HANS compatible.

I'm just not comfortable wearing only a neck donut in a race with so much incidental contact. Those donuts do next to nothing for you except help hold up your helmet when you're neck gets tired.

[van]

I'm so coming out to watch this:)
And I've got $20 to put my name on your car

[BillH]

I've already got the suit, gloves, and shoes for time trials. I've also got an SA2000 helmet, but it's not HANS compatible.

I'm just not comfortable wearing only a neck donut in a race with so much incidental contact. Those donuts do next to nothing for you except help hold up your helmet when you're neck gets tired.

You're right about the neck donut. But I have been thru some violent wrecks with one on and am glad it was there. They do help your neck in the corners.

A Hans anchor kit for your helmit is $55.00, takes about 10 minutes to install.

[sperry]

You're right about the neck donut. But I have been thru some violent wrecks with one on and am glad it was there. They do help your neck in the corners.

A Hans anchor kit for your helmit is $55.00, takes about 10 minutes to install.
Yeah. I was really hoping to hook up a new Bell helmet to go w/ the HANS, but I just can't see spending like $1000 right now, so I'll just be retrofitting my trusty Bieffe with the old power drill.

But at some point I'm gonna need to go w/ a new helmet... SA2000 isn't going to be legal forever!

[BillH]

Yeah. I was really hoping to hook up a new Bell helmet to go w/ the HANS, but I just can't see spending like $1000 right now, so I'll just be retrofitting my trusty Bieffe with the old power drill.

But at some point I'm gonna need to go w/ a new helmet... SA2000 isn't going to be legal forever!

I've done 5 or 6 Hans anchors, you have to be careful with the drill so you don't go into the padding. I use a stepped drill bit, they don't grab the glass like a twist bit does.

I've worn Bell helmits forever, they're all I'll use. My SA2005 is the M3 KevlarPro. They've now changed that to the M4. I think they're only about $450 now.

[vwRacer]

OK still have space for drivers in the car.

We are selling seats for $500.00 which includes the entry fees. The car is coming pretty well..

I have had to modify my normal building standards to allow a little hoopdiness to show through.

For example, when I was wiring IMSA cars everything would be soldered then heat shrunk with multilayer heat shrink. Beyond FAA's standards. So I still am doing the same level of work, just with a little twist. I have soldered several "key" connections to ensure a excellent connection, then to camoflauge what I have done, I have used the ubiquitous wirenut, wrapped with duct tape. A little redneck wiring showing through.

This weekend I spent wiring the battery kill switch and the battery to the main control panel.
I am working to keep the budget as realistic as possible, so I had to go to pick and pull for more race parts.

I have been trying to source reasonably priced battery cable, but the price of copper has really shot up over the past few years. The best price on new cable I was able to find was 1/0 welding cable from welding supply store for 2.75 per foot. As that I needed over 25feet of the stuff, I wasn't willing to spend my budget on that. I was stuck for a few days trying to come up with something that would work, and then I remembered that various years of BMW had the batteries in the trunk. Off to P-n-P I go, wire cutters in hand. Pulling a Positive battery cable from a 1980's 3 series that has had cats living in it hmmmn--not my definition of fun. On the bright side though, a positive battery cable from P-n-P is only $3.69 even if it is 25 feet long.

The long and the short of it is that building on the cheap requires you to become pretty resourceful.


We are still trying to get the car out for the first time trial in April, we want to see how fast the car is in comparison to my red car.

In the past few years, there have been several VW's that have led overall and have placed very respectablly. I am pretty sure that we are going to have a pretty decent little car, even it does look a little rough around the edges.

[vwRacer]

Good news the wiring is progressing.

Since I am modding the car to run without the stock cluster, I have to modify the wiring harness significantly.

I have the entire harness in place and have cut out the unnecessary portions of the wiring.

Turn Signals
Horns
Headlights
Flashers
AC Controls
etc etc.

I have fabbed a new dash panel out of a old diamond plate tool box. Yep I found a piece of diamond plate and hacked it into something that can hold a starter button, fuse panel and a ignition switch, warning lights and the like.

It looks a little hokey, but it is going to work really effectively.

Next: Using a piece of extension cord to power my fuel pump

[solonut]

Fred...what size rubber will you be running.......

[vwRacer]

Hankook rs-2's 225-45-15

[turboaddict]

if you still need a hand, id be more than happy to help. found out about the event too late to put a team together myself.

[vwRacer]

Here are a few pics of what is going on.



[IMG]http://i39.tinypic.com/2hpn1j9.jpg[/URL][\img]

http://i42.tinypic.com/210ly6h.jpg[\img]

[img]http://i40.tinypic.com/nf1zyh.jpg (http://i39.tinypic.com/2hpn1j9.jpg)[\img]

[img][IMG]http://i43.tinypic.com/15g7yb.jpg[\img]

http://i44.tinypic.com/29gbbt3.jpg (http://i43.tinypic.com/15g7yb.jpg)[\img]

[img][IMG]http://i43.tinypic.com/a0eas2.jpg[\img]

[img]http://www.grok.com/hoche/gti/photos/Seed9_2006/_DSC8539.jpg[URL="http://www.grok.com/hoche/gti/photos/Seed9_2006/_DSC8539.jpg"] (http://i43.tinypic.com/a0eas2.jpg)[\img]

[img]http://www.grok.com/hoche/gti/photos/Seed9_2006/_DSC8541.jpg[\img]

[Cody]

Cool live action shots. Reminds me of these (http://seccs.org/forums/showthread.php?t=3894&highlight=hey+cody). :)

[vwRacer]

Back to it, I plumbed the fuel box back into the car, just have to get the the tank and lift pump back into the car.

I made a Cold Air box out of some old plywood I had lying around.

My lists are getting shorter, but I keep finding new things, that need a little attention

[vwRacer]

If anyone would like to Donate Cash to the #68 Econo Classed VW Golf Ball Racing Team, it would be greatly accepted.

I CANNOT accept donations of or for parts or services. I have to keep a close tally on what I actually put cash wise into the car. HOWEVER, any fundage that anyone is willing to come up with is greatly appreciated. I will give you your own corner of the car to decorate, autograph, hang a political treatise on pretty much whatever.

To be clear, under strict spirit of the Lemons rules any funds beyond the $500.00 car limit will be used for BEER, Barbecue, hotel rooms or osteopathic services post race.


I appreciate all of free offers of MOTON Shocks, Hewland Gear Boxes, blade adjustable swaybars, magnesium wheels and carbon fiber brakes. WAIT!! brakes and wheels are considered safety items, SO if you have some 6 Piston Alcons, with carbon rotors, I could use those, on my $500.00 race car.

On a serious note, I need a wink mirror mounts and a window net. I will take pretty much anything spare that anyone has lying about collecting dust.

I gutted the fuel tank awhile ago, and with no restrictions I can roll racquet balls down the filler neck. For comparison, the red GTI that I autox sometimes I can only put 11 gallons of fuel into it, before it is full. After gutting the filler neck and all the CA emissions stuff in the tank, I will be able to use a dump can and put 14.5 gallons into it. This should buy us around 2 hours of drive time on a full tank. What that means is that we may be able to miss the dreaded 1:15 to 1:30 pit window that everyone else has to make. Being able to stretch our on track time will allow us to make fewer stops over 18 hours and be able to use a dump can to fill the car like a real race car.

[zpeed]

18 hours??? I thought it's 24 hr. Me and my kid will be cheering you.

[vwRacer]

Yeah, I know it, kinda misleading. The organizers actually don't want people in $500.00 crapcan cars racing in the dark. Imagine autocrossing in the dark and now add 80 other cars cars on the track with you at the same time.

[vwRacer]

Good news!!!!

Check this score out!!!

http://reno.craigslist.org/pts/1123603247.html

[solonut]

are you making it out this sat???

[vwRacer]

are you making it out this sat???


No, I have too much car to build still.

I have really good news though, my mad scientist project of adapting the stock harness to something a bit more "race ish" has worked. The car fires and idles, no codes.

I am coming down to the last of it. Here is what remains

Cooling System
Driver Side Nascar bar
Harness Bar
Mount Seat.

Install adjustable brake Prop Valve
Re-Plumb Rear Brakes (getting rid of the dual Diagonal system)
Install Brake Lights
figure out low and high oil pressure lights.
install air intake system
send ECU for re-programming
install 280deg .500 lift cam
install smoke system
install cool shirt
install seatbelts

Go Racing

Not much to do, but I only have 3 weekends to get it done in

[vic]

Fred I have rubber, full set of 225/50/15 hoosier's 1/4 to 1/2 tread & 205/45/15 hankook's 1/2+ tread $200.00 for all. make offer

[sperry]

Fred I have rubber, full set of 225/50/15 hoosier's 1/4 to 1/2 tread & 205/45/15 hankook's 1/2+ tread $200.00 for all. make offer
Lemons has a 200 treadwear street tire rule. Race tires are of no use. :(

[Kevin M]

Yep. Hankook RS2s are the best you can do pretty much.

[Dean]

Falken Azenis 615s are 200 if the sizes work!!!

[vwRacer]

We have 2 full sets of RS2's that we are going to be running.

Thanks for the offer.

I am thinking about going to 13's on my other car and running Formula Ford Slicks on some 6x13 BBS that I just picked up.

This weekend whilst you all are out at Fernley enjoying your cars, we will be in Brake Line Hell..

I have purchased bulk brake lines and fittings and a prop valve from summit, so whilst you chase cones and make lotsa laps, I'll be up to my eyeballs in ATE super Blue and Portefield pads. (just because it is a $500.00 car doesn't mean that it doesnt get an excellent level of prep.)

[Kevin M]

Falken Azenis 615s are 200 if the sizes work!!!

Oh yeah, forgot about htose. For this race I'd go with those. Back when I was planning on building a car, it was for the December Thunder Hill race, which means cold and rain, and I expect the 'kooks to do better there. Plus they're cheaper.

[vwRacer]

Good News!!

I have brakes. Here is what I did!!

The VW I am building uses a dual diagonal braking system.
Good for a street car, because it is very safe, however it is lousy for a racecar.

We need a good reliable braking system that'd allow some adjustability. So, a few trips to the Pick and Pull for some rubber brake lines. I wish I could afford stainless, just not in the budget for this race.

A trip to Summit for an adjustable proportioning valve, then to Fibercraft for some new hard lines. (VW uses a Metric bubble flare)

I already had the special flaring tool

2 days later of bending and fitting lines, I now have a rock solid pedal that has adjustable bias. This should help with being able to make a super pushy car rotate nicely with a little left foot braking.

Enough for now.

If anyone has questions let me know.

We still have an available seet, If you want to go racing let me know!!

[Kevin M]

Good work man! Good luck out there.

[sperry]

Hey Fred, I've got a seat rail slidder I can donate (as long as I can get it back after the race) that just came out of my WRX (I needed the head clearance with my HANS) if that will help everyone of various heights fit in the car. It's the generic Sparco/Recaro style slider.

Let me know, I can bring it by.

[vwRacer]

I am putting the seat in the car this week. I am very very hesitant to use any form of adjustable seats in any racecar.

There is too much data for people with broken backs because their seat came loose. I am pretty sure that we wont have any fitment problems that we cant live with. You and I are pretty close in size, Michel and Lars are somewhere in between. If it is something that we absolutely cannot live with we can look at it after we get the car finished.

Did I mention that the car is really f'in loud?

[vic]

Fred put a seat back brace in from IOport racing and drill holes in it to fit all the drivers and use the slider. It will be fine. Good luck!

[vwRacer]

We are kinda up against our budget. One of our drivers rolled his EVO at a Rally, so he wont be joining us.

I think I found a work around for the seat slider problem.

Still working on it though.

We currently only have 4 drivers

So...If anyone wants to race contact me

OR

If you'd like to donate to the cause, I won't turn you down

[Kevin M]

Maybe just move the seat on the fixed rails between drivers? It would only take an extra set of hands a couple of minutes between drivers, and would probably be more than made up for by each driver being in a comfortable position for their stints.

[vwRacer]

That is the plan.


The problem is the car has a welded cage. The stock seat mounts have been cut out of the car. New rails were fabbed and set up for Sparco brackets and Sparco seat. We are using a Butler seat and a Kirkey brackets. A case of Mac vs. PC. I need to pick up some 2 in x 1/4 steel to make some adapters. We should be able to move the seat far enough forward accomodate even smallest driver.


I leave a bunch of adjustability in it, and well get it dialed on test and tune friday.

We'll figure out seat movemen

[sperry]

Fred, I figure if you're the smallest and I'm the biggest... and I like to be up on the wheel and you like to be back from it, and everyone else is in between us... we probably don't need to move the seat.

I just need to make sure I've got enough leg room to be able to LFB w/o hitting my knee on the wheel/dash and to avoid leg cramps on a long stint.

Could we do something as simple as a foam lumbar cushion for you to sit more reclined, and remove it for me to be able to scoot my butt back?

[BillH]

Just FYI guys, we ran the 25 hours of ThunderHill in a Miata with a Butler seat. We just used foamed seat inserts for the tall & short drivers, never moved the seat.

[van]

Fred, I figure if you're the smallest and I'm the biggest... and I like to be up on the wheel and you like to be back from it, and everyone else is in between us... we probably don't need to move the seat.
Why not use a detatchable steering wheel hub, the taller person can BYO larger offset wheel, the shorter people can use a lower offset? safety equipment?

[sperry]

Why not use a detatchable steering wheel hub, the taller person can BYO larger offset wheel, the shorter people can use a lower offset? safety equipment?
The biggest issue is the distance from seat-back to pedals, it's not so bad to have to adapt to wheel position. Plus, I don't mind being pretty close to the wheel, I'm most worried about leg cramps over a long stint.

[vwRacer]

Seat is in. It was kinda a pain, but they always are.

I don't think that I have ever put a race seat in that just went into place.

Let me know if you'd like to come down and try it out.

We have a runner, so I think I might take it out and do a big smokey burnout in the comeplex

[vwRacer]

It is official, she runs and drives!!! I even did a big smokey burnout to prove it!!

I still have a few things to finish out on the car:

Fire Extinguisher
Exhaust system
Cooling system We are still planning on doing a rear radiator with IMSA style big boxed air intake fenders.

Alignment
Corner Weights
Door Bar
Harness Bar
Install Belts
Front Bumper
Rear Bumper
Brake Lights

Still Looking for a driver

If you think you have what it takes, $500.00 gets you behind the seat of a winning car.

[vwRacer]

I took monday off from work to get a bunch of stuff done with the the racecar. I managed to get the bumpers back on the bent chasis. (The car has been in two separate roll overs)

We also managed to get some additional roll bar bracing into the chasis and installed the Nascar Bars and harness bar.

Scott came down from Reno to get fitted for the seat and we may add a removeable steering wheel. The seat makes it a little tough to get in and out of the car.

Enough for now, more pictures later

[sperry]

Hey Fred, I've got a FRS/GMRS radio coming for my WRX that's got a 12V adapter, roof mount antenna, and remote PTT. We should be able to toss it in the lemons car (I don't think a radio counts towards the $500 limit does it?) and anyone w/ a NASCAR or IMSA style headset in their helmet should be able to talk to the pits on the FRS/GMRS frequencies. I've also got like 8 or so FRS/GMRS hand-held radios for the crew in the pits we can use, I'll just need to check out the batteries and chargers on 'em since I haven't used them in at least a year.

I also have the MiniDV video camera and roll-cage mount out of my WRX we can use for in-car footage of the event. One tape lasts 90 minutes, so we should be able to just swap tapes at the start of every stint.

All we'll need are a pair of 12V cigarette lighter receptacles wired into the car to power the radio and camera.

[vwRacer]

I am working in Reno on Friday. Would it be possible to meet in Reno on Friday afternoon where the car is being worked on so we can see what your helmet and plugs looks like vs. what I have.

I called SAMPSON racing today and they let me know that the impedence of the chatterbox, nady, motocom stuff isn't compatible with IMSA or NASCAR and that they don't sell an adapter.

I'd also like to test out your radios if Possible. FRS transmits at 5watts where as GMRS is at 1 watt.

I'd just liket to get an idea as to what we are mounting in the car

I have a camera/ and mount if you'd like to mount that as well

[solonut]

Fred...cant wait to see it....Pat

[vwRacer]

It is a complete POS!! I don't think it will finish the parade lap, not to mention any actual race laps.

I should have built a SAAB or a Morris

Take that for what it is worth!

[sperry]

I am working in Reno on Friday. Would it be possible to meet in Reno on Friday afternoon where the car is being worked on so we can see what your helmet and plugs looks like vs. what I have.

I called SAMPSON racing today and they let me know that the impedence of the chatterbox, nady, motocom stuff isn't compatible with IMSA or NASCAR and that they don't sell an adapter.

I'd also like to test out your radios if Possible. FRS transmits at 5watts where as GMRS is at 1 watt.

I'd just liket to get an idea as to what we are mounting in the car

I have a camera/ and mount if you'd like to mount that as well
I should have the radio tomorrow, but the antenna is getting drop shipped from elsewhere so I'm not sure when I'll have that. At this point I'm just guessing I'll be able to run my NASCAR adapter with the radio, I won't totally know for sure until I have the radio and can try it out. According to the specs I think it will be right, but solid info on the pinout was hard to find. Certainly there are some cheap headsets specifically for the radio that will work (think cell phone handsfree level headsets) but I want to see if I can't get my existing gear to work too.

My camera is MiniDV, which should be marginally better that Hi8. Should we run an forward/driver cam, and a rear cam? I'd be nice to see the people passing us coming *and* going!

Any chance the car will be driveable by Saturday for a shakedown at RFR's $100 test n tune? I may be able to get out there for some seat time.

[solonut]

Fred.....the beauty is within.....and it will exude all your trials and tribulations......and bullheadedness to make it work!!!

[vwRacer]

If you only knew what I have done to get this bucket off the ground.


It is a racecar.

It is more of a racecar than my red car

Now, if it only holds together and is as fast as some of the other cars that I have built in the past.

There is some pretty stiff competition coming

SPEC 944's, E30's, Spec Pinatas, Five Oh mustangs, and hoardes of hondas.

[sperry]

Bad news Fred, my radio still hasn't arrived. FedEx is now 1 for 10 in delivering packages on time at my new house... though this one appears to have made it as far as Sacramento, where it left there at 9pm Wed.

After calling them, FedEx customer service has "put a note in the system indicating that they should deliver it to me". (I guess that's what happened on the other 9 packages of mine they lost... they just weren't aware that they were supposed to deliver it to me. :rolleyes: ) Then the guy mentioned something about the box being in Watsonville. :unamused:

God I hate FedEx. I think I'm going to stop buying stuff from people that can't or won't ship UPS. I never have an issue w/ UPS.

[vwRacer]

I think you could have picked it up faster than Fed Ex could have gotten it to you.

Is it Fed Ex or Fed UP?

Did you see the list of stuff we have to do still?

[Skyhorse]

Fred i have really enjoyed your updates thay show just what it takes to build a race car on a budget- its been lots of work just getting my new (race ready) formula 440 safe and driveable. for you to start with a bent shell and build a car allmost makes my brain hurt

[sperry]

I think you could have picked it up faster than Fed Ex could have gotten it to you.

Is it Fed Ex or Fed UP?

Did you see the list of stuff we have to do still?
It's coming FedEx Home Delivery. I swear, those guys just randomly move packages around the country and hope they end up where they're supposed to go.

I saw the list. I should be able to sort out all the radio stuff, and be free on Wed for testing and the team planning dinner.

[zpeed]

Any update Pictures? So I know which one I'll be cheering for.

[vwRacer]

Fred i have really enjoyed your updates thay show just what it takes to build a race car on a budget- its been lots of work just getting my new (race ready) formula 440 safe and driveable. for you to start with a bent shell and build a car allmost makes my brain hurt

Thanks for the kind words, it has been way harder than I expected. I didn't do all of the work though. I have had lots of club members be more than willing to step up and lend a hand.

I have also been lucky to be have some great customers be willing to sponsor the team and buy us BEER.

Scott Perry, Jay Reynolds, The Benson Brothers and Guy Light have been really helpful.

Everyone has been really really positive about this project, and I am optimistic about the overall outcome.

If anyone is the slightest bit interested in what a $500.00 racecar looks like, please come out on Saturday or Sunday. The admission prices are on here http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/events/reno09/

We may even put together a little video or something at a later date so people can see what the race was like.

Anyway, Enough for now

[zpeed]

$20 for a day and $30 for both. Kids under 16 are free.

[sperry]

Fred, speaking of video, I should have mounted my in-car camera while I was doing the radio stuff yesterday.

Should I plan on setting it up Saturday morning, or should I try to come by the car and set it up sometime before then?

[Mel Torme]

You guys are awesome, best of luck!!! I really wanted to join in but finances wouldn't allow it! I hope to get out there on Sunday and hope to see you guys still running!

[vwRacer]

Look a picture of the car


http://i43.tinypic.com/24evpqq.jpg

[vwRacer]

The car is going to the track today for tech, and BS Judging. I don't know if you were planning on coming out for that, but I am sure we can find a few last minute things to do. You have to check in Im sure as a driver or something.

Michel is going to the track at 10AM. I am meeting Jay this morning, 8:15 at his shop.

Im going back to bed.

[S2kreno]

Go #68! Kick butt!

[vwRacer]

HI,

So we are currently in 30th position. Remember that is out of 104cars. I have never built a car out of junk and I mean junk parts.

Our car has been lapping really well. It is super easy to drive and has been a matter of putting 5gallons of gas in it every 67minutes.

We hare hoping to to run a little more aggressive race strategy for the second day, and make up a few more positions.
A little less tire pressure in the fronts for some more grip
The stickier of our 200 treadwear tires.

Some of the cars, though they look like buckets, are very very very fast.



If anyone has an opportunity to make it out, the racing is really close, the cars are a little odd, but it is one heck of a fun time. The penalty area is where it all happens.

We were punished for a couple of on track incidents, I still swear they confused the white golf for the white rabbit.

SO

We had had to write on the car 100 times, we will not pass under yellow.

We also had to solve an algebra problem. We were guilty of dropping 2 wheels or maybe not.

[sperry]

Last I heard, we were around 30th place... right around the time I got black flagged for passing under local yellow (I still have no idea when it happened). The team had to write "I will not pass under yellow" 100 times on the roof in sharpie. :lol:

[vwRacer]

http://i41.tinypic.com/20gmkiu.jpg

[sperry]

A little in-car video from yesterday: YouTube- 24hrs of LeMons, Reno-Fernley - sperry stint 1

[MattR]

So how'd it turn out? I'm so proud of you boys!

[vwRacer]

So here is the basic break down of how we did.

We had 104 entries.

We finished 22 Overall

6th in class.

We caught a couple of breaks on Sunday which allowed us to move up a few positions

A huge thanks to all of the Reno Region for their support.

Big thanks to our drivers who kept their cools despite baking in the car and being willing to 1.5hour driving stints

Thanks to our drivers

Michel Hoche-Mong
Jay Reynolds
Scott Perry
Fred Austin

Who's up for Thunderhill in December?

[Dean]

Great job to the whole team. Awesome first outing.

It looks like the car handled great, just down a bit on power.

[solonut]

Well I worked tech on friday an the penalty box on sat & sun.....
I was very proud of Fred's car....passed tech 1st time through,there were alot of cars that came back 3 times to get passed....lets just say.....it was very interesting....alot complained that their cars passed for the last race.....but they failed to read the rules for 2009. Lots of changes....the tech group was challanged alotand as a group we stuck to the rules.....the race was a blast to watch, and the driving was close and very clean....Fred and his crew were very professional...evenin the penalty box....bu I'll let Fred & Scott give their story...................;)

The Auto-x community was well represented...I ran into people that I know from auto-xing...I would estimate 25% of the races are auto-xers.....it was ver hard when they are all wnting support.....aka favors.....but all had their respective defication together.....

[vwRacer]

So here is the skinny on my first black flag.

Our race strategy was to start on junk tires. I think 3 of them were 185-13. The car was miserable to drive kinda like autocrossing on ice with bald tires.

We went green and I was happily motoring backward on crappy tires. Our plan was for me to start the race and make laps. We figured that in first hours parts would start falling off of cars and we didn't want to put a hole in one of our good tires.

You can only motor backward for so long, you kinda need to keep up or get swarmed. As I was doing my best to keep up stay clean not have any contact, watch for cautions etc etc. I made my usual turn in onto sunset straight. Dap the brakes, turn floor it, start climbing up the revs to the top of 4th gear. Simple enough right....

As I turned in I noticed a large gray 85 Mustang, the Rockerz in Dockerz going for the pass on my inside. OK not a brillant place for them to try the move, considering they have at least 120hp more than me. I say to myself, "Self now would be a good time to give this yahoo a little room.". So now I have 2 wheels going down the white line on the edge of the track and the a$$ is still pushing to the outside of the track. "OK self, what is your next brilliant idea?" OH yea its in the GCR, AVOID CONTACT AT ALL COST. So, they wont mind if I put 2 wheels in the dirt to avoid contact.
So, now the Commodore 64 logo is bigger than $hit and still getting closer to my head, so I say "Self now would be a good time to move over a little more." If they wont mind 2 wheels in the dirt, surely 4 would be OK.

I get all 4 wheels off, slide sideways on the cr@p tries, a simple off and on. Didn't gain any positions, avoided the larger contact, everything should be good right?

So, I get back in line and start motoring backwards according to plan, fuming on when I am going to punt the rokerz in dockerz. Maybe going into the slide would be a good place, surely that would make it on youtube. Maybe going up the hill I'd jump the car off of the curb and take his line away, maybe into the esses, I'm gonna get even!!!

Anyway, I make it to start finish, ol number 85 should be getting a black flag, WTF!! why is the starter waving at me, why #68 I did the right thing, I AVOIDED CONTACT!!! I gave the ****nockerz in dockerz room, why am I getting black flagged?

Now I'm really hot, I have my case worked out, we're all racers here, the judges will see my case, in and out drive through no problems maybe lose a lap at worst, I'll get the rockerz in dockerz later, I'll have my day!!

So, I pull up to the penalty box, and kill the car, climb out, and they yell at me, "So you like to play in the dirt huh?" "The a'hole came over on me I was AVOIDING CONTACT", I shout back.

The judge shouts "HEY WEVE GOT A WHINER get the baby food." and then says "Have you seen some of the crapheaps we've got out here, don't allow yourself to get into that positon." "Go Change drivers, and get out of here"

Lesson learned, Yep, I put four wheels off, so sorry won't happen again.
Lesson learned, Sometimes you'll still go down for doing the right thing.
Lesson learned, Mustangs driven by Rockerz have longevity problems, the Rockerz spent most of the weekend under their car.
Lesson learned You cannot win an endurance race, by being black flagged

:)

[S2kreno]

No but it makes a good story :) And I learned playing tennis tournaments (where you typically start with between 64 and 128 players) that only 1 can win so most of the time you will have to suck it up. Congrats for getting car and crew together and making us locals look better than those stupid yahoos you ran against.

[Dean]

So, what you are saying is you should have let off and let him pass instead of pushing the issue and being door to door at track out. :)

The Stewards are always right, even when they aren't. Especially if it was Pat. ;)

[solonut]

The Stewards are always right, even when they aren't. Especially if it was Pat. ;)

Hey I resemble that comment!!

I heard Freds story and checked with the corner worker....they didnt see what happened till after Fred was playing John Deere(sorry Fred) They were busy watching the Idiot spinning coming out of turn 9.....

we had one car ignore the black flag for 20+ laps....she was so focused on the track she didnt see any flags trying not to get into anyones way....when she finally came in I asked her "ewhat color was a black flag"....she had the most dumbfounded look on her face and said She didnt know what it was for...she never took her eyes off the track....

[sperry]

So, what you are saying is you should have let off and let him pass instead of pushing the issue and being door to door at track out. :)

The Stewards are always right, even when they aren't. Especially if it was Pat. ;)
For the most part everyone out there were gentleman/lady racers. If you got position on them, they conceded the spot and then came back after it at the next corner, and if they got it back, you gave it to them. Hell, I was able to go three-wide through the esses and nobody had to lift to give up the spot because everyone made sure to play nice and leave room for the other guys. For a bunch of amateurs, it was an extremely clean and well driven event!

But there were just a few idiots out there that didn't seem to care about contact. I watched the #9 porsche (that had a 300 lap penalty at the start of a 200 lap race) just bash their way through traffic, nearly spinning out twice per lap, and dropping two tires in the same 4 turns every lap. When those guys are all over you, sometimes there's nothing you can do to get out of their way... I mean how do you get out of the way of a car behind you that forgot to start braking 5 car lengths too late?

At least I got my revenge on that #9 car though... I chased him through the esses and planted myself an inch off his bumper and got him to turn into T3 too fast and early apex... meaning that he had no chance of making T4, where he went 4-off while I just putted up the hill past him. Unfortunately we had forgotten to swap the tape into the car for my final stint when that happened so I ended up missing some awesome footage. :(

[vwRacer]

So, what you are saying is you should have let off and let him pass instead of pushing the issue and being door to door at track out. :)

The Stewards are always right, even when they aren't. Especially if it was Pat. ;)

I was doing all I could to give him as much room as I could. I put 4 wheels off in order to give him that room.
If you lift in a VW you get snap oversteer, I was scrubbing as much speed as I could to let him by. When I saw him coming, I decided to let him by, I wasn't protecting a line, I was just trying to survive the corner. I initially figured that I could probably just go back underneath him at the end of sunset.

[solonut]

Fred,Scott,Jay.....you have 3-4 seconds of fame.....dont blink you will miss it..... http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Weekend/story?id=7711114&page=1

Fernley made the news!!!!!!!!!!!

[van]

Awesome, I like the nickels

[vwRacer]

We were really excited as to how well it turned out.

We are planning on running in November at T-Hill.
We were a little down on power, so it looks like we are going to piece together a turbo setup for the car.

We are planning on running a 5-7 lbs of boost and a FMU with 30# injectors and some custom tuning. God Bless OBD I

If any Subaru guys have a turbo warming a shelf and they would like to donate it, hint hint hint, the smaller the better. We want it to be making boost at 2000RPMS so we are looking at tiny tiny turbos.

We are going to weld together a log style manifold internal wastegate, external Blow Off valve make our own down pipe and up pipe etc etc.

[sperry]

Fred,Scott,Jay.....you have 3-4 seconds of fame.....dont blink you will miss it..... http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Weekend/story?id=7711114&page=1

Fernley made the news!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey, is that Das Bucket getting Bull**** judged on Friday? It's still got the crap tires on it!

[vwRacer]

Who is going to the meeting?

Looks like Scott is going to have video.

MMMMn beer and movies

[sperry]

Hey Fred, did you notice you were being followed during the test-n-tune of the car?

YouTube- RX-7 vs LeMONS 5-17-09

:lol:

[sperry]

I put the Goin for Broken highlight reel up on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=889C0AE534141DBB

The audio is a little screwed up (it's offset from the video), so I'll be correcting that the next time I can sit down and regenerate the movies.

[vwRacer]

Thanks!! Like I really wanted anyone to see how bad I drive.