tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44292736387456019562024-03-13T12:34:19.454-07:00Our Lady of Perpetual DownforceBrian VanHielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00353748985077594302noreply@blogger.comBlogger115125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4429273638745601956.post-19859871506303178302016-02-11T05:58:00.000-08:002016-02-11T06:01:22.168-08:00Barber 2016: Jackals, Hyenas, and Why We Like ThemO, Fate! She is the ever-sloping funnel. Like a singularity, it spaghettifies. Like spaghetti, it is delicious. Also like spaghetti, we few mortals, the Devotees of Downforce may still <b>taunt Fate.</b><br />
<br />
We may also taunt spaghetti. You're a jerk, spaghetti!<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
Just kidding, spaghetti. I was using you to make a point about taunting fate, because that is what we, the Disciples of The Wing, the Followers of the Flap, the Devotees of Downforce, did by appearing late of a Thursday eve with intention to run the Friday practice session at Barber Motorsports Park.<br />
<br />
Worse than taunting Fate, we failed to properly worship Our Lady by leaving her Fullerian temple, the mighty Geodesic Dome under which we pay her proper respect, at home, for it be an epic pain in the exhaust port to construct, and no one feels like it. Our bad, Our Lady.<br />
<br />
We packed up the cars and a significant pile of whatnot, and hit the road.<br />
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<br />
<h3>
Friday practice</h3>
On Friday, the car made laps with nary a squeaky bushing or gnashing of gears, which is something of a surprise given that High Priest Brian did build the transmission himself after watching videos on YouTube. Well done, that man!<br />
<br />
The facilities and track at Barber were every bit as amazing as we remembered them. Friday ended with most of the team on site, munching burrito bowls and wondering why they weren't already buttocks deep in an engine swap.<br />
<br />
We welcomed old friends and new ones, including paddock neighbors Come Monday, Mock Grass, and newcomers The Greasy Beavers.<br />
<br />
Our new driver attended the New Driver Meeting, along with a few of our seasoned drivers. Others mooched about the paddock, hoping for a homebrew beer. Both efforts were rewarded.<br />
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<br />
Behold! The new driver's meeting. As Jay pointed out, these are not the people about whom one has to worry. One has to look out for the drivers who have done a few races and think they know what they're doing. Hey, now, dammit, I resemble that remark.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Saturday: Pregnant with Hope</h3>
That's gross, Saturday. What have you been doing with Hope? I guess we know, don't we?<br />
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We took the green flag Saturday with Yours Truly at the wheel, and I managed to turn the Round Thing and step on the Foot Bits at somewhat appropriate times. As usual our carefully prepared race strategy was: Don't Blow It, and I'm proud to say that I managed to adhere.<br />
<br />
Next in the car was Priestess Meghann, who lapped peacefully until a couple of cars got into her, once at the hairpin and once in the turns 1-3 complex. One team came by to apologize. The other did not.<br />
<br />
But such is life. Sometimes things happen that are, shall we say, M-barassing.<br />
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<br />
We had a maintenance-free day, and the rest of the faithful put in quality stints without the indignant flapping of the Black Flag. This left time for Yours Truly to soliloquize about life as a Crapcan Racing Driver, which is known to have a powerful effect on the ladies.<br />
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<h3 style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Sunday: Champagne Dreams on a Beer Budget</h3>
<div>
On Sunday, the Faithful again lapped without event until the Quiet Hour, during which we all moaned appropriately toward the heavens. Moaning complete, someone checked Race Monitor, and learned that, not unlike a boar hog in a top hat, our team was inexplicably challenging for the lead of Class B.</div>
<div>
We nodded at one another in grim determination. "Yes," we all agreed, "we can surely screw this up." </div>
But nay. We did not screw it up. Instead, Fate pounced on us, dropping out of the sky like an eagle's pee. I was at the wheel of Our Lady, and she was harder to steer than a blind ass on mezcal.<br />
<br />
I brought Our Lady into the pits, and there I met our mortal enemies, our sworn nemeses, the worst pack of hyenas ever to fart about the landscape ... actually, some of them are okay. That's not true, they're all quite nice.<br />
<br />
Truth be told, we like them a lot and they're a joy to race with. But anyway, they're Duff Beer. You bastards! We like you!<br />
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<br />
<br />
Mixed messages, I know.<br />
<br />
As one, along the pit wall, the members of Duff Beer pointed two fingers at their helmet visors, then at me, letting me know that they'd recently seen an optometrist and their eyesight was plenty healthy.<br />
<br />
In the paddock, it was determined that our driver's left radius rod was not as attached as one might like it to be, so it was reattached, and I circulated some more. I had one goal in mind: catch Duff Beer and regain the lead, while fending off those dang jackals (whom we also like and are proud to call friends) Terminally Confused.<br />
<br />
The good news was I was catching up. The bad news was, so was Fate. Yes, that old hirsute bitch Fate was again gnawing our niblets, this time in the form of a CV axle that expelled its grease like a stomped-on chocolate eclair.<br />
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Without the grease, the axle got as hot as young Axl Rose, and then began to gyrate unpredictably, also like a young Axl Rose. Where do we go, now? Where do we go? Where do we gooo ah unh ah ooh uh ah ah uh uhg? *cough*<br />
<br />
Back to the paddock, that's where. High Priest Brian performed what must be the world's fastest CV axle change, we re-fueled, and Tom got into the car for the last stint. Tom made great laps, and the car performed well, but not well enough to absorb the time off track.<br />
<br />
And so, another race closed, with our team having ripped defeat forcibly from the jaws of victory at the last moment. Sadly, the LeMons staff have not seen fit to distribute prizes four deep in class B, or twenty deep overall, so we left having got nothing except one hell of a fun weekend racing a winged heap alongside a bunch of enjoyable people.<br />
<br />
We wish a hearty congrats to team LemondAid for the overall win, to Duff Beer for their honorable and most deserved Class B win, and to our sister team Turbo Schnitzel for pulling off a 10th place finish.<br />
<br />
Most of all, congrats to this human for his IOE win in the hissing Jaguar with one painted rim. Good on you, Clabo!<br />
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<h3 style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
And so, we pray:</h3>
<div>
<div>
Our Lady of Perpetual Downforce,</div>
<div>
Hallowed be thy name.</div>
<div>
Thy apex come, braking be done,</div>
<div>
In worship we accelerate.</div>
<div>
Give us this day our daily laps,</div>
<div>
And forgive us our offs,</div>
<div>
As we forgive the offs of others.</div>
<div>
Lead us not into oversteer,</div>
<div>
But deliver us from understeer.</div>
<div>
For thine is the grip, the power, and the downforce.</div>
<div>
For ever and ever.</div>
<div>
Amen.</div>
</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13825210141331942214noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4429273638745601956.post-71109785177514073562015-02-18T15:05:00.000-08:002015-02-18T15:20:17.349-08:002015 'Shine Country Classic at Barber<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>by Jim Hodgson</i><br />
<br />
If a plane landed on your car, it would be trouble. Your car
would be damaged. The plane might also take a scuff. A quantity of paperwork
would need to be filed, but not by you. No. By that point you’d have become a
revolting and possibly flammable goo.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But for a split second between the instant the plane contacted
your car and the liquification of your carcass, you would experience some
serious downforce.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yes, downforce. That is why we are here. It is our
watchword. It is our token and our meme and our cause. We are the drivers, the
devotees, of Our Lady of Perpetual Downforce. Let us sing you the song of our
people.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Screeeeee!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>What is Downforce?</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A quick refresher: it sounds simple, and it is. Downforce is
a force that pushes down. But it’s also much more than that.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A heavy car pushes down because its mass wants to be near
the mass of the Earth, much as a fat child wants to be near a Slurpee. So
sayeth our prophet, Sir Isaac Newton. But Newton also sayeth that an object in
motion tends to stay in motion.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A heavy car’s tires sing our song, but they do not turn. Without
turning there is no lapping, without lapping there can be no racing, without
racing Our Lady doth sob quite loudly at dinner, annoying everyone in earshot.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What if you could have the downforce of a lighter car being
landed upon by a plane, without the liquification of the driver? You can. We
can. We do. Praise Our Lady!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>A Wing and a Prayer</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I first beheld Our Lady of Perpetual Downforce two years
ago; a glorious 88 civic with a section of a Cessna wing bolted to the top. I
knew I had to become a pilot.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I approached the team members and babbled nonsense at them,
hoping to be invited to become one of their number. Instead, I was looked at as
one might look at a nonsense-babbling man who should probably stop drinking and
go to sleep.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Months later, at the next race, I tried again. This time I
employed the time-tested method of borrowing tools. Still no invite was
forthcoming. I believe I was spotted using a pulley puller to open a can of
beer, an obvious mistake. The beer was already open.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Months after that, I once again approached the Fullerian
temple that is the OLPD home base. This time I employed a series of complicated
dance moves meant to show that I understand the meaning – nay, the religion –
of downforce. At last, I was accepted, under the condition that I never again
perform this or any other dance.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>To Barber!</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The first race in which I piloted Our Lady was held on the
swooping tarmac of Barber Motorsports Park, which is a gorgeous facility.
Barber has such a reputation that it never admits 24 Hours of LeMons
participants until late on a Friday evening, when it is less likely to be
judged by other racetracks.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Once inside Barber Motorsports Park, we staked out room in
the paddock, unloaded all manner of paraphernalia, and began slowly freezing to
death.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the morning, the living members of the team chiseled themselves
free of the icy tomb of the trailer and began to prep Our Lady for worship.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Day One</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our Lady passed under the green flag with teammate Meghann
at the helm. The car circulated without incident, unless you count a spin in
turn five as an incident. Next, I took over.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Piloting Our Lady is everything I thought it might be.
Because downforce, the pilot can navigate almost any line on the track. That
is, unless the pilot falters in his or her worship by lifting off the accelerator.
Yes, Our Lady is susceptible to liftoff oversteer. Oh, what, like you’re
perfect? Back off already.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After my worship, Kevin took the helm. He performed a pirouette through turn one that would have
made Anna Pavlova hang up her toe shoes in a jealous rage. He then spent a few
tranquil moments arranging gravel in one of the track’s artfully placed Zen
rock gardens. He was tugged back onto the racing surface by track services.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Retirement Grease</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Worship over, Kevin begat Mark. It was deep in the afternoon
and well into Mark’s stint when Our Lady’s right CV axle forcefully shit its
grease and seized up tighter than Dick’s hatband.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A group of the faithful were dispatched. That done, a second
group were sent to the parts store to get a new CV axle. Upon their return,
Brian put the parts into Our Lady while the rest of the team helpfully goggled
at him. I helpfully ate Cheetos.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The day ended with the car back together, but just a few
minutes of racing left. Mark was sent back on track for those few minutes, and
was received back in the paddock after the close of racing with a ceremonial
beer chug and a hearty “Huzzah!”<br />
<br />
<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Wing's Eye View courtesy of Mark's GoPro</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Day Two</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Brian, high priest and owner of Our Lady, took the green on
Sunday with high spirits and the grim look of a man who did all the wrenching
yesterday while his team stood around like a bunch of louts. Nary an offer of
Cheetos could placate him. Only the piloting of Our Lady could soothe his
irritable bones.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our Lady had other ideas. Her Holiness gobbled up the clutch
like an asbestos Ritz and ceased any shifting. Sunday’s quiet hour was spent
attempting to diagnose or remedy the problem, but shifting was not achieved
except by way of foot to foot.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After a quick lesson on rev matching in Brian’s Honda CRV,
Meghann again took to the track, this time piloting Our Lady without benefit of
clutch.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Most members of the team improved upon their Saturday times
without changing gears, using careful matching of revs to get the car into
fourth and leaving it there. What is the name of such a miracle? You know it
already, for it is downforce. Say it with me. Say it loud. Bark like a dog! Or
don’t. That last part means nothing to Our Lady. It’s just funny to watch.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Results!</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the end, Our Lady of Perpetual Downforce delivered a
solid midpack performance, finishing 34<sup>th</sup> of 76 entries overall and
19<sup>th</sup> of 30 entries in Class A. We completed 326 laps. Our best lap
time was delivered by High Priest Brian (1:54.020).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
By comparison, the winners completed 422 laps, which means
we’d have needed 100 more laps to win. Time spent off track watching Brian fix
Our Lady hurt us, but that’s racing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Undoubtedly, with a sack of luck, we, the faithful, could
win a 24 Hours of LeMons race with Our Lady. But we would have to use long
stints, fewer drivers, and shouty, hurried driver changes. All of those are
dumb. We press on as we are, heads high and hearts full with the knowledge of
the true power of downforce.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our Lady of Perpetual Downforce,<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hallowed be thy name.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Thy apex come, braking be done, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In worship we accelerate.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Give us this day our daily laps,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And forgive us our offs,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As we forgive the offs of others.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lead us not into oversteer,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But deliver us from understeer.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For thine is the grip, the power, and the downforce.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For ever and ever. <o:p></o:p></div>
Amen.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Brian VanHielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00353748985077594302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4429273638745601956.post-24261969885516766082014-05-05T19:17:00.001-07:002014-05-07T06:38:58.686-07:002014 Southern DiscomfortWhile the original February time of the CMP race often lived up to the name, you really can't call May in South Carolina "Southern Discomfort". The weather was beautiful. Highs were in the 70's, nights in the 50's and besides some sprinkles on Friday, was sunny for the whole weekend.<br />
<br />
<b>Thursday</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
We got off to an inauspicious start. Pulling the car onto Todd's open trailer I gunned it a little to make sure it didn't hang up on the ramp. It didn't. It ripped the exhaust out from under the car like a fish getting gutted. On the way out the exhaust bent the shift linkage and knocked off the rear swaybar mount. Also hanging low before pulling onto the trailer (but not after) were the submarine belt mounts. There were big washers on the bottom to prevent them from pulling up though the floor, but nothing but the eyebolt head to keep it from being pulled through the bottom. The only bit of good fortune is that it happened right in front of the shop, so we had access to all of the tools to put it back together again. Needless to say we left for CMP about 4 hours later than planned. We arrived late Thursday, had a couple of beers with the Bees and the Tunachuckers and went to bed.<br />
<br />
<b>Friday</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Friday was spent setting up the dome. We got it done in about 3 hours thanks to the new hardware. Turbo Schnitzel's biggest fan stopped by to throw her bra at the dome. Sabine had found a 911 bra cheap and brought it to use on the Turbo Schnitzel. Craig's keeping it.<br />
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<br />
The new hardware allowed us to pre-build the hexes and pentagons that made up the dome on the ground and then quickly connect them at the corners. Taking it down on Sunday did not go as smoothly. Tech was smooth, though Jay did hassle us about our on-off switch. We will probably redo it when we rewire the car.<br />
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<b>Saturday</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
We sent Kevin out first so that he could circulate under yellow before the race began in earnest. He managed to stay out of trouble during what can be a chaotic session with many formerly untested cars getting wrung out by new drivers. Craig went out next and turned in some solid laps, moving us up in the rankings to 11th place. I got into the car afterwards and after a very long yellow behind a very slow driver, I was presented with a clear track. Taking full advantage I set our fast lap...and then spun. Tracking out wide on the carousel the wheels got into the rumble strips. The car was a bit upset and refused to be placated until it was facing the wrong way. Phil sent me back out quickly, but as soon as the car was back out on the track the repaired exhaust popped off. One noisy lap later and the car was back in the pits for a 20 minute repair.<br />
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The rest of my stint went smoothly. I followed the Radioactive mustang for a dozen laps and they managed not to hit me when the car got a bit wobbly as I tried to pass at the kink. Todd took the car out next, but managed a black flag for passing under yellow and got a somewhat sterner lecture from Phil. He went back out again, but came in early with some vibration in the front. A quick inspection showed that a tie rod end was missing its cotter pin and was working its way loose. A quick repair.<br />
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Kevin hopped in for the last stint of the day. He had to dodge a pair of cars that were each trying to out-brake the other into the corner and ended up 4-off. Phil was characteristically unsympathetic as it was our third offence for the day, and gave him a scavenger hunt list of selfies to take.<br />
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<b>Sunday</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Craig took the long morning session. His duty was to make the fuel last the full two hours until the 11-noon quiet hour, which with the help of a large number of yellow flags he was able to pull off without breaking a sweat. He reported some engine roughness and had lost some gauges when the oil pressure gauge worked its way loose, so we spent quiet hour checking out the wiring.<br />
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The loose gauge had shorted the wiring and blew a fuse that was easily replaced. I took the opportunity to check the grounds and added a valve cover ground that had gone missing during the last engine swap. We also checked the cap and rotor to see if it had any contribution to the roughness, and somehow dropped a screw. We jacked up the car to look for it in the sandy floor of the dome. The jack slipped off the front subframe and managed to bend the radiator like a magician flexes a deck of cards. We were somewhat mortified to say the least.<br />
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The pressure tester showed that the radiator seemed to somehow not be leaking even though the plastic upper and lower housings were flexed about an inch. That's when we realized that the hood would no longer close. Two stacks of washers under the hood pins was our temporary fix.
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I strapped into the car and rolled towards the track entrance. The car was about 100 feet away when Craig reminded me that it had no fuel. In all of the excitement over the radiator we had forgotten to put fuel in the car during the quiet hour. I made a circuit of the track and they met me at the fuel pumps on track. Mike was there fueling up cans for the 39 car and graciously allowed us to fuel up on his credit card so we didn't have to wait for the pump's credit card authorization modem to sync.<br />
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Finally getting out on track the car was doing well. The tie rod end being fixed gave me a bit more confidence going into the kink (it had felt weird over the hump on Saturday) and I was able to follow and eventually get a point-by from the Monza.
Todd hopped in the car and almost made it to the end of his stint when he felt some wobble. Bringing the car in we found that the front passenger side shock had pulled through its grommet and was only casually connected to the car. It was probably repairable, but the rear wheels seemed to also have a fair amount of bearing play. With about a hour and a half to go in the race we called it and focused on tearing down the dome.
Brian VanHielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00353748985077594302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4429273638745601956.post-88237301760923736902014-02-03T11:28:00.001-08:002014-02-06T17:08:58.487-08:002014 'Shine Country Classic at Barber<b>Friday</b><br />
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We finished putting our suspension together and the car on the trailer at 4am on Friday morning. Dick Anderson had found a set of beat up shock bodies that he was able to modify to fit in OLPD (Thanks Dick!). We had the "new" shocks installed that were incredibly stiff and the upper a-arms that had been shortened by 3/4". The car looked almost silly coming off the trailer with the wheels tucked up into the fenders and what we estimated to be 6 degrees of negative camber. We unloaded it from the trailer at Barber Friday night and tried cruising around the paddock. The steering was really wonky, as we realized that shortening the arms also affected the toe by almost 1-1/2".<br />
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After adjusting the ride height to something a little more reasonable, we decided that we should go back to the stock a-arms. The stock arms gave us a much-more-reasonable 1 degree of negative camber. Not the 2-3 that we would have preferred, but closer than the 6 or so that the shortened arms were giving us. The toe also was shifted back to about 1/16" of toe out in the process, so we didn't need to adjust it. We put a pair of the new RE11a's on the front and the partially worn Azeni's on the back.<br />
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Time not spent on the car was split between seeking shelter in the heated RV and assembling the dome. My teammates then banished me to the trailer to sleep because of my snoring.<br />
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<b>Saturday</b><br />
<br />
Saturday started out well. Mark went out first and racked up some extremely fast laps. We were running second for a little while after the flag dropped until some of the faster cars started to catch us. Mark got us a black flag with a spin, but we got a wave through since it was our first.<br />
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Britton went out next and managed to go 4-off about halfway through his stint. Our penalty was singing "Sweet Home Alabama". There was a news crew filming. My apologies to anyone that dares listen. We're at about 1:15 into the clip.<br />
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Chase and Nate fortunately had relatively uneventful stints in the car. My turn was next, and after many laps of getting used the the track I was able to start putting some faster laps down. I parried for several laps with the #150 Porsche, which we seemed evenly matched with. The shifting had seemed difficult when I got in the car, and seemed to get progressively worse as I was on the track. By the end of my stint I was running the track entirely in 4th to avoid shifting.<br />
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Barber is a very different experience than the handful of other tracks I've driven on. The "line" seems much less rigidly defined, with lots of room for alternate approaches. This makes passing easier as going off the line didn't seem to carry as big a penalty. The track feels much more fluid. You can carry significant speed through most of the corners.<br />
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Todd went in for our final stint of Saturday. He'd been humbled a bit by getting a pair of black flags while driving the Turbo Schnitzel Integra earlier in day. His turn in OLPD went smoothly.<br />
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We were fairly exhausted, since the car ran pretty well in 4th we figured we'd try bleeding the clutch and other troubleshooting in the morning.<br />
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<b>Sunday</b><br />
<br />
We tried bleeding the clutch to see if the shifting improved. The pedal had week return, but it did seem to be pushing the clutch arm. Mark went in the car and reported that the shifting problem remained. The clutch was only partially disengaging and shifts required good rev matching to pull off. There was some light rain which gave Mark a huge advantage over the other cars before the pavement began to dry out. We had put on the 4 remaining New RE11a's for maximum rain advantage.<br />
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Here's some footage of us coming onto the track from the rear facing camera on the Diesel Chevette. We show up about 2:30 into the clip:<br />
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We continued with the same driver order. Britton finished the morning session before the 11-12 quiet hour. Chase and Nate drove without incident, with Chase making good use of heel-toe to make smooth shifts.<br />
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It started to rain towards the end of my stint, which was fun before the windshield started fogging up. After a few laps of following brake lights I brought the car in. Todd hopped in along with a generous helping of Fog-X. It didn't help too much as he made it to the checkered by wiping the windshield with his glove to see.<br />
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We ended up 18th in the final standings. Relatively respectable for us. No major downtime, but long and frequent pit stops were our liability. We weren't aiming for a podium spot, so we switched drivers so that everyone got some seat time on each day.<br />
<br />Brian VanHielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00353748985077594302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4429273638745601956.post-56390998650450299352014-01-27T07:44:00.000-08:002014-01-27T07:44:38.653-08:00Preparing for BarberThe big change for the South region schedule for 2014 is the addition of Barber Motorsports Park. I'm excited, as I've never been to Barber. <br />
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The car ran well at the last race. We had no serious mechanical issues. So for Barber we can focus on making improvements rather than repairs. <br />
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Shocks have been a sore point since the beginning. We swapped the springs fairly early in OLPD's racing career, but the shocks are still original. This is most evident in the way the car can hop sideways through certain turns. We found a set of beat up shocks that we think we can repair/rebuild. Hopefully we'll get a dispensation from the powers-that-be, but we'll face getting some penalty laps if we don't.<br />
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Also needing to be addressed is the aero "package". In addition to the wing, we also have removed all of the glass, so drag the car sees on the straights is significant. The open windows also tend to suck some of the exhaust into the car. The guys that run the Magnum PU Prelude had enclosed their back in a hatch-like fashion using a sheet of 1/8" polycarbonate, some 1" square tubing and lots of rivets. Vincent was kind enough to send me step-by-step photos of their process.<br />
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We are planning to follow their construction technique, but with one difference. Because our rear window slope would be much more severe with a sedan, we are going to make it Kammback ala the CRX.<br />
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It's what all the cool hypermilers are doing.Brian VanHielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00353748985077594302noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4429273638745601956.post-71350998934802338482012-09-23T12:00:00.000-07:002012-10-06T22:25:11.626-07:002012 Lemons South Fall - SundayBritton took the wheel of the newly repaired car for the 2 hour morning session before the Sunday 11-12 quiet hour. A little more than an hour in he was black flagged for contact with the 124 Fiat. He had been getting a bit too aggressive going into turn 1 and now our front bumper was left out on the track.<br />
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We made it over to the judging area before him and were waiting with Jay, Phil and Mary. I cringed as I saw him come off the track and start to turn through the off-limits spectator area to get to judging. "NO!, NO!, NO!" I screamed over the radio before he gave us a black flag double-whammy. He froze and eventually figured out the correct path to navigate. The judges were amused with our "self-policing" and let him back on the track with a promise of no more bad behavior.<br />
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At an hour and 45 minutes in, the car was sputtering as the gas ran out. Britton came in and we weren't yet ready, so we sent him around the track once more. The second time he drove right by us and went straight to the judging area. He had ignored the blend line when he came back on the track and they had black flagged him. They gave us a warning, he went around again, and we finally got to put fuel, and Dave, into the car.<br />
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Dave finished out the session and resumed it after the break. He actually made the gas last for 2 hours... because a big chunk of it was spent under yellow. Dave himself was almost wrapped up in one of them. Here's the video that the Thing 112 car captured:
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He managed to keep his tail intact, and I went into the car with ~2 hours to go. The herd had thinned, and I was able to drive fast. We had to make a stop to put a few more gallons in, but the car drove strong up to the end.
We had packed up during the day, so there was little left to do once I hopped out of the car. I was able to take a quick show, we loaded the car up and started the trek home.<br />
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Our overall standing was 18th place. Not bad considering we had lost a chunk of time on Saturday and had accepted a 5 lap penalty (we would have been in 15th place without those laps). No awards, but we did get a mention in the wrap up video:
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Brian VanHielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00353748985077594302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4429273638745601956.post-30183184668952701902012-09-21T12:00:00.001-07:002012-10-06T22:26:12.218-07:002012 Lemons South Fall - SaturdayAfter a snarky remark at the driver's meeting got us an assured last place start, I started out in the car.<br />
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Jay: "Black flags will be shown at 9 and 12"<br />
Me: "What should we do 'til then?"<br />
Jay: <pause> "We'll be throwing the green right behind these guys. Whoever wants to be first should line up behind them"</pause><br />
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While circulating under yellow there was some slight wobble in the front. Brought it in and we had some looseness in the drivers side front wheel. Removing the wheel we thought the problem might be a bad upper ball joint. It seemed minor enough, but we would want to fix it if we could get the parts. Not wanting to miss hours of racing in the interim, the wheel went back on and I got back on track. The green had flown a couple of laps before, but the whole track was under yellow as cars failed under the first few applications of full throttle.<br />
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It was only a couple of laps later when I was brought in for a black flag. Phil informed me that I had passed under yellow. Our usual policy is to immediately own up when we're in the wrong (which is pretty much always), but I was incredulous since all I had done is circulate in a line at 30mph for two laps under a full course yellow. Phil believed me and sent me back out, but the next two hours were spent stewing over how I could have possibly gotten the flag. The only car passed during that period was one that had pulled off line and slowed down with (presumably) a mechanical problem. Perhaps it got back in line somewhere behind me and made it look like a pass to the corner workers.<br />
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The rest of the stint went better, and Britton was to get in the car next. Unfortunately I got directed away from the hot pits around a stalled car and had to do an extra lap to get back to the hot pit area. Other than that, the driver switch and the rest of his stint went pretty smoothly.<br />
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We brought the car into the pits to switch out Britton for Leslie. Going from a 6+ foot driver to a 5 foot driver is a pretty big adjustment. We had decided earlier that the seat moved enough that we might have to adjust the length of the anti-submarine belts. <br />
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Dave got in for the next stint. He had contact with the 411 car almost immediately. They had been passing pretty aggressively with Leslie taking slower laps in the car. Dave was a bit more reluctant to give up his line and it cost them both a trip to the penalty box. This was our first "real" offence, so they let him stay in the car.<br />
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I went back in the car with around 2 hours left in the day. Fuel was running out with about 20-30 minutes left. We put Britton in the car to finish out session, but he brought it straight back to the pit with a bad wobble in what felt like the front right wheel. <br />
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Jacking the car up, the passenger side wheel felt fine. The driver's side wheel, however, virtually came off in my hands. When the wheel was removed we saw why. The end of the axle had broken off and the hub was working it's way out of the spindle. We needed a new axle and hub bearing. I set to work removing the spindle assembly while Dave and Mark located parts. They set off to Columbia, where there was an O'Reily's that had the bearing in stock and a Harbor Freight in case we needed to buy a press.<br />
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Knowing they were also running Honda's, I lugged the spindle over to the Terminally Confused camp for insight. Craig immediately knew what needed doing and how to do it. He advised that a large hammer should be able to get the bearing races out of the spindle. No press required.<br />
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In practice it was a bit more difficult. We spent the next couple of hours using NSF's vice to try and pound out the bearing. The first hour was trying to remove the snap ring, which was now wedged in pretty tightly. I was ready to give up and head to the Pull-a-Part in the morning for a complete spindle, but Dick Anderson wouldn't let me. A longtime racer and engineer, he had come to the race to watch the Turbo Schnitzels and relax, but he couldn't resist a problem that needed solving. We eventually freed the ring, but the outer race wouldn't budge.<br />
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Craig came to the rescue again when he related a mechanic's trick he had heard about: lay a bead of weld around the inside of the race and let the cooling metal pull the bearing in. It worked like a charm. Meanwhile Britton and Dave swapped out the axle. Unable to get it onto the splines of the intermediate shaft, they realized that the inner cup spline count was different on the new axle. We swapped the cups and used safety wire to keep the boots on. Our repairs wrapped up, we took a break to drink a couple of beers and watch Speedycop's Merrimac and Monitor cars fight an epic battle using roman candles. <br />
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<br />Brian VanHielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00353748985077594302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4429273638745601956.post-38783409036194467722012-09-21T12:00:00.000-07:002012-10-06T22:25:51.909-07:002012 Lemons South Fall - FridayWe've been working on a new theme for a few weeks. Friday morning it all started to come together as the printed graphics went on to the car. It was a thing of beauty. Stephen put together the side graphics in exchange for lunch and the promise of future car repairs. He also created the t-shirt designs which are equally stunning. Dave did the hood graphic and figured out the lettering. We got the full set printed at Meteor. Fortunately they were able to turn them around in a couple of days.<br />
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The afternoon was a little less relaxed than I hoped. Lemons has started doing their own tech inspections and there were quite a few cages that failed tech despite being CMP veterans. We were no exception. The front cage spreader plate welds had gaps at the corrugations of the sheet metal floor. We borrowed a spatter welder and were able to throw enough metal in the general direction to get the car to pass tech.<br />
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This year was the third time that the BS judging was held in Camden's downtown. It's a fun event, where the cars are towed down and then driven in a parade to a 3 hour block party. It's a fantastic way to see the other cars and racers, since it forces everyone into closer quarters. Unfortunately the area designated for parking the trailers was far too small. We ended up about a half mile away as ~100 trailers lined up along a side street one after another. A bit of an inconvenience, but worth it.<br />
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We managed to talk Phil into giving us the same class as the Turbo Schnitzel. He offered us either class A with 0 laps, or class B with a 5 lap penalty. We took the latter.Brian VanHielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00353748985077594302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4429273638745601956.post-19485911572602934962011-11-22T07:56:00.000-08:002011-11-22T07:58:11.533-08:00First Trip to Little TalladegaWe took Our Lady to Little Talladega (Talladega Gran Prix Raceway) for a day of amusement. I downloaded Harry's Lap Timer for my iPhone on the way there and took some video with the CountourHD. The results, after some composting were pretty cool.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/oABG6MRvjCI?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>We ran the car with and without the wing. We got a little faster without the wing, but I'm not convinced that it wasn't just me learning the track and getting more aggressive with the braking zones.<br />
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One thing I did notice without the wing was oversteer! I spun it a couple of times as the back end started to come around in the turns. It added a new dimension.Brian VanHielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00353748985077594302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4429273638745601956.post-12515017145887720322011-09-25T13:56:00.000-07:002011-10-06T13:57:43.758-07:002011 Where the Elite Meet to Cheat - SundayWilliam prepared us for Sunday with the "Bacon Explosion". I assumed the name was figurative. Craig experienced the literal interpretation later in the afternoon.<br />
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The track was dry in the morning and I managed to set some fast laps without getting into trouble. Dave took the next stint but the rain returned.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/kwCRVjYFY2s?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
Craig took the last stint in OLPD and Doug loaned us his GoPro to mount to the tail. The video turned out fantastic. He passes me in Turbo Schnitzel at about 18:00, but not before I demonstrate the amazing power that the Schnitzel has in the straights and then almost lose it in the turn.<br />
<br />
The rain had continued all day and the race got called about 30min early due to lightning. We ended up packing up in the drizzle.<br />
<br />
We learned from one of the guys on the Tortoise team (class B winners) that the Condos overlooking the track could be rented. Not only would we have gotten beds to sleep in we'd have gotten an awesome view of the track! Next time!Brian VanHielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00353748985077594302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4429273638745601956.post-42412012714380486392011-09-24T13:34:00.000-07:002011-10-06T13:57:22.057-07:002011 Where the Elite Meet to Cheat - SaturdayWilliam made us a mexican breakfast ans I spend the morning cursing that the ContourHD that I had brought was fried.<br />
<br />
It had rained and the track was wet. I drove the first shift in OLPD. I tried too hard. I passed lots of cars in the wet (22nd to 4th in<30 laps), but blew the braking zone at the end of the main straight. Fortunately I was able to snake through the cones and onto the Pit Out to make it look like it might have been on purpose. After waiting a few minutes for an audience with Jay I confessed my sins. He let me back out on track with a warning since the corner workers hadn't flagged me. My luck didn't last long. It wasn't 5 laps later that I managed to get a black flag for passing under yellow. I still don't know where it occurred, but I suspect it was due to the "invisible" flagger that was silhouetted by a yellow wall.<br />
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Seth got in the car next and started setting some faster laps as the track dried out. He was followed by Dave, who performed pretty well considering that he had never been in the car before.<br />
<br />
While they were out in OLPD, I drove the Turbo Schnitzel. Despite Craig's warnings and my abundance of caution I spun it on the first lap. I got a pass from Phil, who was sympathetic to the highly non-linear power curve that the Merkur possessed. I became extra-extra cautious as I explored the many handling limitations. Downshift not perfectly rev matched? Spin. Trail braking into the turn? Spin. Accelerating out of a turn? Spin. Fortunately the car had so much torque that I didn't need to shift out of 4th except at the end of the long straight. The car had a preposterous amount of power, and along any given straight I could out-accelerate anything on the track by a factor of 2. It was at the end of said straight where the pucker begins. The car was starting to overheat a little and I brought it in. As I rolled out the gates to our pit area I watched the temp climb from 190 to 230 in about 100 feet. Fortunately nothing seemed to have gotten fried and after some cooldown and radiator refilling the Schnitzel was able to get back out on the track.<br />
<br />
Craig's shift in OLPD was a little more eventful. The battery had come loose and under braking had thrown itself to the front of the car and knocked the lid off of the cool suit. Then under acceleration it ended up back in the trunk where it began to weld itself to the car. The drain killed the engine and the smoke prompted Craig to hop out of the car, stopping the race. The car got towed in. The damage was fortunately only a melted terminal, but we realized that we needed a better battery mount before we put the car back on the track. A trip to Walmart provided the parts and Craig got back out to finish his stint.<br />
<br />
Seth took the last stint in OLPD and I took another run in the Merkur. The track was dryer and the car was a bit less harrowing to drive. Unfortunately my stint ended with sheared axle shaft bolts and I got towed in.<br />
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Even the tow was eventful. I was on the end of a 40ft strap running to the cab of a flat bed wrecker. As he turned the corner the strap fell off the bed and was about to rake across a parked non-lemon Volvo. I flailed for a non-existent horn and then instinctively jabbed at the brake. It was not the right choice. The tow strap tore loose and slingshotted itself into the Volvo's trunk. It left a pretty nasty dent.<br />
<br />
So I ended the racing day with a broken camera, two black flags, and a dented Volvo. Not my best showing.Brian VanHielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00353748985077594302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4429273638745601956.post-83643079777822103902011-09-23T12:00:00.000-07:002011-10-06T12:55:51.490-07:002011 Where the Elite Meet to Cheat - FridayFriday was pretty uneventful. Because Charlotte Motor Speedway would not open its doors until 7:30AM on Friday, we decided not to do our typical arrive at 2 AM and set up a tent routine. We beat most of the Traffic out of Atlanta and arrived at the track after noon.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>The rain had just stopped when we checked in at the gate. Everyone who had arrived earlier had already rented out all the garage spaces, so we were one of the first teams to set up outside the garage area. It was a little lonely.</div><div><br />
</div><div>The tail didn't fit in the garage for tech inspection, but otherwise it was uneventful. I managed to talk Jay into putting us in class B. The conversation was simple. </div><div>Jay: "What class do we put you guys in."</div><div>Me: "Usually class A, but we've never finished in the top ten."</div><div>Jay:"Class B it is then."</div><div><br />
</div>Brian VanHielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00353748985077594302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4429273638745601956.post-65446777035569930752011-09-06T14:41:00.000-07:002011-09-06T14:43:24.293-07:00Bird's Eye Camera<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jHoiuznX7AQ/TmaOqKMenfI/AAAAAAAACno/WW5QkXn4tao/s1600/OLPD_gopro_image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jHoiuznX7AQ/TmaOqKMenfI/AAAAAAAACno/WW5QkXn4tao/s400/OLPD_gopro_image.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
At the last race DC Doug mounted his GoPro to the tip of the tail of Our Lady. The camera view was spectacular. Unfortunately the battery was shot, so we only got a minute or two of video. This seems like the Achilles heel of the GoPro in that it requires the battery to be changed with every pit stop (and perhaps more often). We've had cameras on the car in the past, and while reviewing the footage is fun, it seemed like there were always problems with getting the card and battery changed in time. GoPro's seem notorious for corrupting files whenever anything goes wrong. It seemed rare that we got usable footage.<br />
<br />
My quest to find a video system that would last the entire race lead to mostly high $$$ dead ends, but there was one ray of light: the ContourHD. It's intended to be a helmet cam for extreme sports. Contour has recently released some improved versions of their cameras that have some truly useful features: GPS, external mic, etc. That means that the lowly ContourHD, that has none of those features, is selling for $140.<br />
<br />
So I bought a ContourHD from Amazon. I also spent another $140 on two 32Gb cards. It looks like a pretty good deal, but I wonder if I might have been better off buying two cameras and switching them out during the race. I think I can make the camera do the one thing I want: take continuous footage for an entire day of racing without having to mess with it. Here's a quick shot of what it looks like holding the camera up in the garage:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DWEOTBgrzFs/TmaRH3BvkmI/AAAAAAAACns/RhPRAnTxmFg/s1600/Contour+Test+Image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DWEOTBgrzFs/TmaRH3BvkmI/AAAAAAAACns/RhPRAnTxmFg/s400/Contour+Test+Image.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The tail mounted camera has one drawback: the access panel on the back of the camera has to be open to plug in the charger. Even the optional waterproof case would need to have a hole cut into it. So cut I will.Brian VanHielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00353748985077594302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4429273638745601956.post-77482093442494513402011-08-22T10:27:00.001-07:002011-08-22T10:27:15.413-07:00New Shoes<br /><br /><center><a href='https://picasaweb.google.com/brian.vanhiel/OurLadyOfPerpetualDownforce?authkey=Gv1sRgCJTSuqfugMKYgQE#5643733205962936322'><img src='http://lh4.ggpht.com/-1TXFv9nBGDg/TlKRcvR_UAI/AAAAAAAACnc/URWsCMGQt4E/s288/0.jpg' border='0' width='168' height='281' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />Seth picked up some new wheels for Our Lady. The 15x7" wheels will let us run a larger tire. <br /><p class='blogpress_location'>Location:<a href='http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Defoor%20Ct%20NW,Atlanta,United%20States%4033.808582%2C-84.427301&z=10'>Defoor Ct NW,Atlanta,United States</a></p>Brian VanHielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00353748985077594302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4429273638745601956.post-86192052491206664782011-08-20T17:06:00.001-07:002011-08-23T12:09:58.830-07:00At the Car Wash<br />
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<center><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/brian.vanhiel/OurLadyOfPerpetualDownforce?authkey=Gv1sRgCJTSuqfugMKYgQE#5643093810114337026"><img border="0" height="210" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-O572LDnC1NI/TlBL7AISGQI/AAAAAAAACnU/NY7kxY2UGKg/s288/0.jpg" style="margin: 5px;" width="281" /></a></center><br />
There was a car wash at the brewery benefitting the Susan G. Komen foundation. I got a picture of Our Lady in the act of supporting breast cancer research. <br />
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<center><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/brian.vanhiel/OurLadyOfPerpetualDownforce?authkey=Gv1sRgCJTSuqfugMKYgQE#5643093849107118370"><img border="0" height="210" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-z005WebzgZk/TlBL9RY4uSI/AAAAAAAACnY/gh-48gxvcbs/s288/1.jpg" style="margin: 5px;" width="281" /></a></center><br />
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Brian VanHielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00353748985077594302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4429273638745601956.post-22907980671717930012011-08-16T09:18:00.000-07:002011-08-16T09:19:05.207-07:00Brake PadsWe've been running the Hawk HP Plus pads on our Integra brakes. In general we get about 3-4 races from them.<br />
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Here are the P/N's<br />
Fronts: HB242N.661 (fit '93 Integra LS)<br />
Backs: HB350N.496 (fit '95 Integra LS)<br />
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Brian VanHielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00353748985077594302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4429273638745601956.post-54875058051487161922011-05-28T06:24:00.001-07:002011-05-28T06:24:18.471-07:0020th Place!<br /><br /><center><a href='https://picasaweb.google.com/brian.vanhiel/OurLadyOfPerpetualDownforce?authkey=Gv1sRgCJTSuqfugMKYgQE#5611757271469557602'><img src='http://lh6.ggpht.com/-QOLFD65yZXA/TeD3gYuoh2I/AAAAAAAACl0/H6USU52oM8U/s288/0.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />Short version: coulda been top ten, but an electrical short shut down our ignition for a couple of hours. <br />Brian VanHielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00353748985077594302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4429273638745601956.post-10489377588182532952011-05-22T12:00:00.000-07:002011-05-30T12:59:52.851-07:002011 'Shine Country Classic - Sunday<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HamwULp4ayc/TeP14kIYXnI/AAAAAAAACm4/CqkmWa5LjR8/s1600/IMG_0190.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612599912754077298" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HamwULp4ayc/TeP14kIYXnI/AAAAAAAACm4/CqkmWa5LjR8/s400/IMG_0190.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 299px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<div>I had the car for the morning 9-11AM stint. At 11AM they start the "quiet hour" out of respect for the local churches. It's also when they crush the winner of the people's curse. We'd been getting about an hour and 45 minutes out of the car on a full load of fuel. The car still has a couple of gallons left in the tank at that point, but the sloshing in the turns makes it unavailable to the fuel pump.</div><div>Driving was fun. I had fresh brakes, new tires and working clutch. The car was behaving well. I made some feeble attempts at conserving fuel at Nicks insistence that I could not come in for more gas. I spent some time behind the 777 car, not trying too hard to pass, but making an occasional stab at it when there was an opportunity. There were a couple of long yellows that helped our fuel timing end up perfect. I was just starting to get some serious starvation on the turns when the checker came out. I had managed to climb a couple of positions to 10th place. For the first time we'd be able to line up with the leaders!</div><div>The rest of our afternoon did not go as smoothly. Only about 20 laps into Craig's stint the car died. I assumed the igniter was the problem, and immediately began scrounging for a distributor I could borrow. The bee Civic had an extra motor, but being a D series, the distributor would not bolt up. Fortunately we discovered that the only real difference was in the castings, and that the guts could be swapped.</div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VRBO6LFeq08/TePzlm3B0FI/AAAAAAAACmo/zLLMnbky2I0/s1600/IMG_0195.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612597388045832274" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VRBO6LFeq08/TePzlm3B0FI/AAAAAAAACmo/zLLMnbky2I0/s400/IMG_0195.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 299px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a></div><div>After swapping the igniter and coil we put he distributor in and ... nothing. Disheartened, we kept looking for answers in the wiring. It was hot and we moved slow. Nick noticed a fuse that had been blown in the ABS circuit. We had tapped a lot of our hot wiring off that circuit, and so it could have been the cuplrit. We swapped the fuse and the car started right up!</div><div><br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HLDYY82JhSs/TeP1fihCnfI/AAAAAAAACmw/796OliM_uAw/s1600/IMG_0191.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612599482823908850" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HLDYY82JhSs/TeP1fihCnfI/AAAAAAAACmw/796OliM_uAw/s400/IMG_0191.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 299px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a></div><div>Craig made about 1 lap before the ignition quit in the same spot one the track. Once the car was towed in we tried wiggling every connection to see what shorting out. Unable to find a definitive answer, we just started cutting every unnecessary electrical circuit out of the car (headlights, flap, etc). We sent Craig back out with our fingers crossed. He managed to make it until the end of the race, but we ended up in 20th place overall. </div>Brian VanHielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00353748985077594302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4429273638745601956.post-77710683030555006252011-05-21T12:00:00.000-07:002011-09-11T11:05:35.998-07:002011 'Shine Country Classic - Saturday<div>The mysterious slipping clutch problem that we've had the last few races showed itself again. When the car has been out on the track a while it seems like the clutch spring is too week to reengage. In the past a quick bleed fixed the problem, but it would reappear at the next race.</div><div>After a few laps out Craig reported that the clutch was slipping. We brought him in and did a quick bleed. That seemed to fix the problem somewhat, but both Nick and Mark could feel the soft pedal in their stints.</div><div>While their stints had been uneventful besides the clutch issues, I managed to spice things up with our exhaust falling off and a black flag.</div><div>Our eBay cat broke at its weld while I was driving. The noise level in our car went from 80dB to about 120 instantly. At first I thought my ears had popped like the atmospheric pressure had changed. Then I thought I was getting passed by a sidepiped big block. I finally realize what had happened and brought the car in. Since we weren't pointing the exhaust anywhere dangerous and I wasn't breathing the fumes we took it back out.</div><div>It was loud. It was hot. The cool seat only seemed to last for the first 45 minute of our 2 hour stints, but it was still better than nothing.</div><div>I had been running back and forth with the Sta-Puft Marshmellow car, a huge Mercedes luxo-barge. After several laps we ended up heading into turn one with me on the inside. I locked up the brakes and slid into his door. It was a pretty decent hit, but we both kept it pointed down track. Had my target not been twice my mass he might have spun.</div><div>They let us slide by with a driver change since it was a first offense. We ended up not needing the get out of jail free card Mark and I earned by helping Phil figure out the headlight switch failure issue on his borrowed Beemer.</div><div>We bled the clutch once more, and Craig, Nick, and Mark got another stint in before the end of the day. We made a parts run to Camden and picked up a new cat as well as a new clutch master and slave. The entire clutch assembly needed to be removed to swap the master and we took the opportunity to remove the balancing spring that was left over from the cable clutch. (Astute readers will remember that this generation of Civic typically had a cable clutch) I also welded (badly) a piece of steel to help reinforce the frankenpedal. We had harvested the hydraulic system from the original donor Integra and made our own hydraulic clutch pedal.</div><div><br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bXmEvL04_5c/TePrGeaMMJI/AAAAAAAACmA/V7Ikdt0wbd0/s1600/IMG_0184.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612588057108426898" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bXmEvL04_5c/TePrGeaMMJI/AAAAAAAACmA/V7Ikdt0wbd0/s400/IMG_0184.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 299px;" /></a>Bleeding proved to be a pain in the ass. The check valve in the master was too stiff to allow fluid to be pulled through with just pumping the pedal. We needed to force fluid in by using the vacuum pump in reverse. Finally having taken care of the critical issues we did what we thought would be a prefunctory inspection of the oil, water and brakes. This is what we found: </div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XdnCwNcyz9g/TePsgBWsysI/AAAAAAAACmI/lERXnFvO4TI/s1600/IMG_0186.jpg"></a><br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XdnCwNcyz9g/TePsgBWsysI/AAAAAAAACmI/lERXnFvO4TI/s1600/IMG_0186.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612589595497384642" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XdnCwNcyz9g/TePsgBWsysI/AAAAAAAACmI/lERXnFvO4TI/s400/IMG_0186.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; width: 299px;" /></a>Fortunately we had an extra set of pads and rotors, but we still didn't get to bed until 2AM.</div>Brian VanHielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00353748985077594302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4429273638745601956.post-28842797959830514122011-05-20T12:00:00.000-07:002011-05-30T12:58:35.702-07:002011 'Shine Country Classic - FridayWe rolled into CMP latish on Thursday. I was doing most of the drinking while Craig and Mark set up. I had worked on the car more and deserved a break - or so I told myself. The TunaChuckers were already there and we checked out their "new" LTD.<br />
<div><br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MAuLHzQxd34/Tdw6O9QQdyI/AAAAAAAAClk/s-7kCFAUNvA/s1600/IMG_2678.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610423264432125730" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MAuLHzQxd34/Tdw6O9QQdyI/AAAAAAAAClk/s-7kCFAUNvA/s400/IMG_2678.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 267px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
Our tech inspection was pretty uneventful. A side effect of Our Lady having been through 5 or 6 times now.<br />
<div><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FdSP2UOtZbw/Tdw6H2JSweI/AAAAAAAAClc/oLDgLJazLbw/s1600/LSS11-UG-1761.jpeg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610423142264783330" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FdSP2UOtZbw/Tdw6H2JSweI/AAAAAAAAClc/oLDgLJazLbw/s400/LSS11-UG-1761.jpeg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 266px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
One of my favorite things about this race is the parade. One of the downtown Camden restaurant owners is involved with the track and has successfully lobbied the city counsel to allow the BS inspections to happen downtown.<br />
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We get to parade the cars through town and then assemble in the downtown area where they've blocked off the streets and set up a band. The BS inspections happen at close quarters, so you get to see exactly who your racing with and all the work they've put into their themes.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3X6Op-KUu24/Tdw651RQ_YI/AAAAAAAACls/Sv866o3vC54/s1600/IMG_0180.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610424001023245698" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3X6Op-KUu24/Tdw651RQ_YI/AAAAAAAACls/Sv866o3vC54/s400/IMG_0180.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 299px;" /></a><br />
The Squidbillies car was pretty fantastic. They actually started the race with Jr. on the roof.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Rc4oLap4UT4/TePoHAFlLMI/AAAAAAAACl4/KntfArgMujE/s1600/IMG_0177.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a></div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Rc4oLap4UT4/TePoHAFlLMI/AAAAAAAACl4/KntfArgMujE/s1600/IMG_0177.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612584767613906114" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Rc4oLap4UT4/TePoHAFlLMI/AAAAAAAACl4/KntfArgMujE/s400/IMG_0177.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; width: 299px;" /></a><br />
These guys were my next favorite. They actually stayed up all night on Saturday erasing all record of the rapture from their car. "Rapture? That must have been some other car. Maybe an E30."<br />
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</div><div>I went to bed early Friday night, and evidently missed quote a few of the shenanigans that went on after the various home brew 'shines got sampled. </div></div></div>Brian VanHielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00353748985077594302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4429273638745601956.post-42937904279511215842011-01-15T20:17:00.000-08:002011-01-23T15:51:46.680-08:00Miami: 21st Place<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bTX2MCbyz4c/TTJxu0xTfYI/AAAAAAAACkU/Kba1eDgsyZA/s1600/olpd%2Bnight%2Bracing.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 192px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bTX2MCbyz4c/TTJxu0xTfYI/AAAAAAAACkU/Kba1eDgsyZA/s400/olpd%2Bnight%2Bracing.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5562633539009346946" /></a><br /><br />It was the best of races and the worst of races. The race itself was a blast and the weather was perfect. The track was a big change from the short straights and sharp turns of CMP. At over 2 miles the track is twice the length of CMP and the .6 mile back straight lets you go as fast as your car can go. I heard the track described as 2 sections of freeway connected by 3 on-ramps. It was a pretty accurate description.<br /><br />So the ugly part was that both Leslie and I were sick. Leslie caught the worst of it and stayed at the hotel for most of the weekend. I was a little better, but it made resting between stints difficult.<br /><br />We drove down on Wednesday with Mark's father and brother. The drive took about 12 hours at a somewhat leisurely pace. The plan was to stay at a hotel that night and show up at the track early. Since Leslie and I were feeling the effects of our colds, we slept in while Mark and Alex showed up at the track at 9AM on Thursday and proceeded to wait. It took 2-3 hours for the staff to get folks situated into the pit area. We ended up pretty far from the pits off the paved area. That wasn't all bad. Across from us was a team from New York that had driven their race car down to the race... with a 6 foot tall model of the Empire State Building on their roof. Their support vehicle: a BMW Mini. We ended up lending them our extra set of wheels to help them get through the race. They ended up with the organizers choice.<br /><br />Our tech and BS inspections were pretty uneventful. We got class B and 0 laps. Our only issue with tech is that he wanted to see some more padding around the rear bar in case the seat flexed. The race was to start at midnight, so we got some sandwiches and then tried to nap.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bTX2MCbyz4c/TTKIFO0yynI/AAAAAAAACkc/kkN7xODGjYg/s1600/IMG_0023.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bTX2MCbyz4c/TTKIFO0yynI/AAAAAAAACkc/kkN7xODGjYg/s400/IMG_0023.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5562658113216236146" /></a><br /><br />Mark drew the short straw and got out on the track to circulate. It took nearly 40 minutes to get everyone onto the track and check transponders. The green finally fell around 12:35 and Mark hadn't gotten a full lap in when we complained of a soft clutch pedal. We brought him in and bled it, but lost about 15 minutes.<br /><br />We had planned on 2 hours stints but the fuel kept us shorter. After an hour and a half the car would sputter on the left-hander and about two laps later would start sputtering on all of the turns. We were putting almost exactly 9 gallons into the stock 12 gallon tank at each driver change which means that last 3 gallons was just sloshing uselessly away from the pickup.<br /><br />I got the next stint; followed by Seth and Craig. Our pit stops went pretty smoothly. We had two people in addition to the driver to help with fueling and strapping the new driver in.<br /><br />The car handled well on the turns, but was very limited in the straights. We had the shift light coming on at ~6k rpm to help the motor last the whole race. It was amusing to pass someone handily in the turns only to have them come screaming past on the long straight.<br /><br />Our first real bit of drama came at the end of my stint. I heard a terrible clunk and loud vibration. At first I thought I had picked something up in the wheel that was smacking around in the driver's side wheel well. Thinking it was one of the new CV axles, I took the car in to the hot pit and Seth noticed a piece of the alternator belt hanging out of the car. The car went back to our pit and after opening the hood we sat that the alternator had shaken itself entirely loose.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bTX2MCbyz4c/TTy-1s0jckI/AAAAAAAACk0/c0tvKZYiOUI/s1600/working%2Bon%2Bolpd.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bTX2MCbyz4c/TTy-1s0jckI/AAAAAAAACk0/c0tvKZYiOUI/s400/working%2Bon%2Bolpd.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565533069297021506" /></a><br /><br />Thanks to the generosity of some of the other Honda teams, we managed to scrounge the necessary hardware. As the belt was going back on it was apparent that the crankshaft pulley was loose. We grabbed the pulley off the spare and replaced it, but failed to notice the root cause of our problem: that the inner washer was missing. We lost about an hour and a half due to the parts run required to get more belts.<br /><br />Because we can only fuel and change drivers in the hot pits, we needed to change our tires out in the paddock. We managed a tire change that would have made a NASCAR pit crew proud. With Mark jacking up one side of the car, Craig and I zipped the lug nuts off with the impact guns, swapped new tires onto the front and shuttled the fronts to the rears (the fronts had already been swapped once when we had the car in for the alternator). We managed the whole thing in less time than it took to do a fuel stop.<br /><br />The good times didn't last. When we did the next pit stop it became apparent that the there was a problem with the alternator. The belt was shredded and the pulley was loose again and the locating key was destroyed. It was eventually properly deduced that the missing washer was the problem and that the key wouldn't matter if the bolt could be properly tightened with the washer in place. Fortunately Mark was smart enough to buy two belts during the last parts run, so we had the parts we needed. Another 45 minutes lost, but we were able to get back out.<br /><br />Mark was running his last stint when he got black flagged for passing under yellow. Unfortunately his response to Judge Phil's questioning was "which one?" Nevertheless, Phil had mercy on us and he went back out. We called him in with about 45 minutes left and I went out for the last stint.<br /><br />Since it was our last run out in the car, I started running the RPM's a little closer to the 7200 RPM cutoff. It made a big difference in how fast the car felt. Nobody was passing me in the straights and I was passing pretty much every car on the track except the race leaders. Later analysis would show that I was actually slower than my previous stint. The illusion of speed was created by everyone else being slower still as their tired hulks strained to reach the checker.<br /><br />The party at midnight didn't compare well to what I thought it was going to be. We were all exhausted from racing and Leslie was angry because nobody had woken her for the finish. I had a couple of beers, chatted with Phil and Johnny and then we ended up heading back to the hotel. I never even got to down one of the celebratory 4lokos that Alex had brought for us. Fortunately I had booked a flight for Leslie and I home so we could stay an extra day in Florida. Most of that day was spent sleeping.Brian VanHielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00353748985077594302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4429273638745601956.post-45636497714743792942010-12-06T08:38:00.000-08:002010-12-06T09:12:15.772-08:00Here we come, Miami<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bTX2MCbyz4c/TP0UdUeNSDI/AAAAAAAACjk/6BMAsZrxE5Q/s1600/IMG_0567.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bTX2MCbyz4c/TP0UdUeNSDI/AAAAAAAACjk/6BMAsZrxE5Q/s400/IMG_0567.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547612809934489650" /></a><br />We've committed to doing the Miami race on New Year's eve. Working on the car is a little more frustrating than we thought. The D15 block is in the car, but it runs like the timing is off 1/2 tooth. At the end of the last race we had some problems shifting into 2nd and we reluctantly opened it up with the expectation it would need a sychro. Glad we did. The countershaft was missing most of two teeth and would have locked up entirely if we'd done another race on it. Oh, and all of the axle boots are torn to shreads. <div><br /></div><div>On the plus side the lights we're adding will look really cool.</div>Brian VanHielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00353748985077594302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4429273638745601956.post-2638373856646750232010-10-03T07:56:00.001-07:002010-10-03T08:14:02.832-07:00Cool seat<center><a href="http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/10/03/1179.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 5px" border="0" src="http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/10/03/s_1179.jpg" width="281" height="210" /></a></center><br />Since the hot weather didn't seem to be letting up, I decided to build something I had been reading about for a while: a cool seat. Our first race at <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">CMP</span> was in late July and we struggled to even make it for 45 minutes in the car. That's where we first learned about the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">existance</span> of cool shirts and we resolved to get them for the next race... until we found out that the base unit was $300 and everyone would have to buy a $100 shirt. <br /><br />I read about someone building a cool seat on the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">LeMons</span> forum and this struck me as a great idea. By building the cooling into the seat there was nothing attached to the driver and no need for each driver to buy a pricey cool shirt.<br /><br />Our cool seat cost us about $100 in materials. It consists mostly of 1/4" vinyl tubing and fittings. It has 5 separate circuits looping through a seat pad that has horizontal lines of stitching to keep the tubing in place (thanks Mom!). The tubing connects to some 3/8" tubing that goes back to the $10 <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Walmart</span> cooler and the $25 bilge pump that I got at a boating store.<br /><br />One of the challenges was figuring out the fittings to get from a 3/4" hose outlet on the pump to a 3/8" tube. I ended up ordering a barbed tube reducer fitting from <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">McMaster</span> and using a short length of 3/4" tube to connect it to the pump.<br /><br />The biggest challenge, and the one we kinda failed, was securing the cooler to the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">floor</span>. We finally ended up just bolting straight <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">through</span> the floor of the cooler and sealing the bolts and washers with caulk. The cooler was pretty secure, but the caulk never cured (we left it for 3 days) and we had to run the race with a trash bag in to try and prevent leaks in a container with a couple of gallons of water, a loose pump, and two frozen milk jugs sloshing around. Needless to say we only made it about halfway through the second stint before we got black flagged for leaking what looked to the corner workers like gasoline.<br /><br />It did keep our asses cool when it did work, so for the next hot race we'll have a larger capacity cooler that's better connected to the floor.Brian VanHielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00353748985077594302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4429273638745601956.post-24350842001788673252010-09-30T06:49:00.001-07:002010-09-30T06:58:50.032-07:00What to bring.<center><a href="http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/09/30/557.jpg"><img src="http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/09/30/s_557.jpg" border="0" width="281" height="210" style="margin:5px" /></a></center><br />Not having the trailer to pack all of our tools in meant we had to be a bit more selective about what we brought. The car didn't have any major mechanical problems, but there were a few things missing that still could have gotten us into trouble.<br /><div><ul><li>RainX/FogX - Our Lady has no wipers and no interior ventilation. We tried to purchase some RainX on Sunday morning, but none of the local gas stations had it. I spent a good portion of the morning session driving blind around the track. Seth had to drive to Camden to pick some up and it made a huge difference in visibility.</li><li>Dikes - Lots of pliers, but not much to cut with.</li><li>Wheel Spindle Socket - If we needed to pull the axles out we'd need the socket that fit.</li></ul></div>Brian VanHielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00353748985077594302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4429273638745601956.post-90596750944184145582010-09-29T10:40:00.001-07:002010-09-29T10:52:22.037-07:00LeMons South Fall 2010 - Friday<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bTX2MCbyz4c/TKN6abxRSFI/AAAAAAAACi0/IdsFfq57UIA/s1600/ScreenHunter_01+Sep.+29+13.31.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 301px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bTX2MCbyz4c/TKN6abxRSFI/AAAAAAAACi0/IdsFfq57UIA/s400/ScreenHunter_01+Sep.+29+13.31.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522392162635958354" /></a><br /><br />A special thanks to Phil's BS camera for the photo.<br /><br />Craig and I didn't finish packing up the car until close to midnight on Thursday, so we decided to leave Friday morning and set up in the daylight knowing that we'd probably end up with a camping spot in the boonies. We got to CMP around noon and were surprised to see that there was a spot next to the Tunachuckers directly across from the judging area.<br /><br />With Johnny gone they were short handed on BS judging and I happened to be standing in the right place and got handed a robe. I realized after a few minutes just how much car knowledge Phil and Jay have and spent most of my time watching them work and trying figure out a way I could contribute.<br /><br />Our Lady finally made it through tech and Phil spoiled the moment by opening the hood. Seeing the B-18 in there he bumped us up to class A but didn't give us any laps.Brian VanHielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00353748985077594302noreply@blogger.com1