Cliff notes: Car rocks, brain sucks.

Well, I made it to Gingerman for the first time yesterday (Saturday).

It was a really long week. Last weekend I noticed my front bearings were making noise, and sure enough, one of them was toast (passenger side oddly enough).

Well, got that done, thanks Len for quick service on the bearings. But I was up real late Thursday wrapping that and some other details up.

Friday I got off of work late, and was running around my house like a chicken with my head cut off getting tools into the truck, car onto the trailer, and getting out of the house. It felt good to be on the road with the car in tow, I didn't forget "too much"... after all it's one day, I shouldn't need to take the wheels off the car, right?

Now, the reliability of a device such as the digital alarm clock in a hotel room is beyond dispute. They use the AC power for timing of their clocks, and the power company is nice enough to correct the power over the day to make sure the average cycles per second is always 60. Well, somehow, my alarm clock was running in DOUBLE TIME. double u tee eff. So I manage to wake up at 3:30 in the morning, thinking it was 6:45, and start coffee, have a smoke, struggle to life (lack of sleep already hurting..) when I realize my phone's clock is way off. I hate cell phones. After a minute or two of figuring out that my phone is not going to "fix" itself, I decide to find a TV station showing the time. Damnit, the alarm clock is busted. I set it again, wait 10 minutes and sure enough it's reading 20 minutes later.

Finally wake up at the real 6:45. Wander to the track with Wai, it's a short 5 minutes from the Ramada. Paddock is easy to find, had to park in some dirt but it was fine (as it warmed up during the day, the dirt got softer, oh well). Got the car unloaded, warm it up a bit (thank goodness the radiator/block didn't freeze, it was cold that morning).

At this point, I'm trying to make a lap around the track in my head, since I'd never been there before. I was able too, I just made some mnemonic devices to remember the different sections (1/2/3/4/5 make a boot, 6/7/8/9/10 make a **** and ***** when looked at upside-down, and 11 is an L. Easy enough.

OK, first lap around, wow I'm on ice skates! R comps (Hankook Z214) needed some time to warm up. Well, I get on the track at turn 2, make it around (everyone else is already warmed up, I got on late) and make it around past 11. Getting ready for turn 1 for the first time, I get on the wrong side of the track (Hey, every other turn 1 is a righty it seems! Whoops.) Well, I was going slow, but not slow enough, the rears flung out and I didn't save it after a few zigzags back and forth. Fooey.

OK, next session, I'm determined to let the car warm up better (and remember which way the track goes). Too bad, I loop it coming out of three and end up stuck in mud. Corner worker pushed me out three minutes later and I have another humbling conversation with the guy at the flag station in pit row.

Well, eventually, I did manage to get my tires to warm up, and had a few good sessions. I only had one mechanical DNF, a spark plug wire came off the distrubutor. Whoops. Oh, and after the 2nd crap session I decided it was time to jack the car up and look for anything off. Turns out one of my new wheel bearings had some play? Weird! I retorqued (overtorqued) the axle bolt and it went away. Maybe the bearking wasn't pressed in all the way? Seems unlikely. Anyhow I have a spare bearing/hub/knuckle just in case something goes bad on it.

Ryan and I took turns playing passenger. I needed a few laps to see the track on the right line.. too bad it came sol late in the day. Last session, car was still running strong with a passenger, but I really wasn't driving well. Just too frazzled from the whole week. Oh well, I'm looking forward to *really* figuring out the track at Expo.

I'm glad I had the test day to shake out the car, figure out the new weight balance with the cage, new sitting position, seats, etc...

Next weekend I'm going for competition licensing school. 2 days with Driving Concepts with NASA at Blackhawk farms. Hopefully my brain is warmed up by then, and I relearn the track OK (did a 1-day there 2 years ago)

-Chris

 

Interesting.

It could have been a hellluva lot worse. The clock could have been over three hours behind.

 

i love gingerman...so close.

couple of my brothers buddies were there saturday, (blue sti, white 99 2.5 rs)

they had a great day. wish i could have made it up in time to spectate, as i had to be in GR sat. night (had to work too late though)

 

One guy in a PY ITR dumped all his oil on the track, a sandwich plate under his oil filter broke off, and spun him out. The guy behind him (Matt? from Team Tuna) spun and wasn't far from hitting Pete. The oil hitting the exhaust started a small fire. We had a good laugh that I wasn't the first one to catch fire that weekend

Not sure if Pete decided that the motor was OK or was starved of oil long enough to do damage. Worth a look-see anyway.

Other than that, no sheetmetal damage on the weekend. An instructor in an STI spun off and tore up his front lip, that's about all I saw.

 

The motor looks OK, which is a relief. There was plenty of oil in the pan still when it was drained yesterday, and there was no debris present. Checked the bearings and they all check out. The only problem, and it is a big one, is that the part of the block that the oil cooler threads onto snapped off. I am not sure if this is even able to be repaired.

 

damn pete that sux (this is lucas btw).. wish i could have made it... the civic still needs a bit of work untill it's track ready... but i'll be out at one of the first test and tunes for sure

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chris F &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Cliff notes: Car rocks, brain sucks.

At this point, I'm trying to make a lap around the track in my head, since I'd never been there before. I was able too, I just made some mnemonic devices to remember the different sections (1/2/3/4/5 make a boot, 6/7/8/9/10 make a **** and ***** when looked at upside-down, and 11 is an L. Easy enough.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Seems to me, clocks suck, power company sucks, your brain is thinking of the wrong things (**** and *****? Why not some labia majora or something?)

Oh and TTIWWP or at least a vid...

Glad to hear that during those off's, no damage was done.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dave_B &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Oh and TTIWWP or at least a vid...</TD></TR></TABLE>

http://www.we-todd-did-racing....x.jpg

I'm almost glad I didn't attach the camera mount yet. No video worth watching. Just crappy driving and cold tires.

 

It was a fun event and the track was definitely SLICK! Luckily I was able to keep all 4 wheels on track the whole time.

Broke in the new motor, partial throttle shifting at around 6-7k the whole day. Everything was fine, except that at the end it threw a CEL 7 and the car went into limp mode.... TPS. I just replaced it last year. I wonder why it went bad again. Need to figure it out before the race this weekend.

I got more pics that I can upload when I get home tonight.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chris F &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

http://www.we-todd-did-racing....x.jpg

I'm almost glad I didn't attach the camera mount yet. No video worth watching. Just crappy driving and cold tires.</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's right, I saw the pic in the RR forum. Looks...well pink.
Oh, how was laying that stuff by the way? I'll be doing some vinyl work on mine soon, and pondered if I wanted to mess with it myself or have someone do it? /threadjack.

 

Chris - glad to see she's working for you & you didn't do major damage through the weekend.

1) Did you get to weigh the car?

2) at least you got some track time. I wasted $300 on the BMW event for 4 laps

3) When is your first race?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dave_B &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">That's right, I saw the pic in the RR forum. Looks...well pink.
Oh, how was laying that stuff by the way? I'll be doing some vinyl work on mine soon, and pondered if I wanted to mess with it myself or have someone do it? /threadjack.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Hints:
- Don't do it in the cold. Bring a hairdryer or heat gun, that's not really optional.
- Numbers and side plackards are easy. Custom cuts and curved surfaces in multiple directions SUCK (i.e., wing for instance).
- Use a mix of isopropyl alchohol and water and a dab of soap (handsoap, baby shampoo) to spray on to the car and vinyl before applying.
- Use a professional vinyl layer squeege thing to get the solution out and get it to stick, after you have it in place.

So, yeah, this is 99% a DIY easy-ish thing to do. The wing was hard, and I did a shitty job on top of it.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BudMan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Chris - glad to see she's working for you & you didn't do major damage through the weekend.

1) Did you get to weigh the car?

2) at least you got some track time. I wasted $300 on the BMW event for 4 laps

3) When is your first race?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I haven't weighed the car. It's HU, I don't even think I have an achievable minimum weight! It seems like it's still a bit porky, but I could be wrong.

What happened at that BMW event? I've never seen that... did you break down?

My first race is TBD. Licensing school this weekend (Sat/Sun).

 

Don't worry chris, it shall come to you.. I wish I could have made the speedtrial event. This is the second year I have missed the first event. I'm really tight as far as funds trying to get my build done, new race seat, harness, and other parts...But I will be at EXPO, see you there....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chris F &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">1/2/3/4/5 make a boot, 6/7/8/9/10 make a **** and ***** when looked at upside-down, and 11 is an L.</TD></TR></TABLE>

It's all in your... er... head.

 

"wiggley field" lol
well it worked for me

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chris F &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Hints:
- Don't do it in the cold. Bring a hairdryer or heat gun, that's not really optional.
- Numbers and side plackards are easy. Custom cuts and curved surfaces in multiple directions SUCK (i.e., wing for instance).
- Use a mix of isopropyl alchohol and water and a dab of soap (handsoap, baby shampoo) to spray on to the car and vinyl before applying.
- Use a professional vinyl layer squeege thing to get the solution out and get it to stick, after you have it in place.</TD></TR></TABLE>

So it's basically like tinting a car right?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dave_B &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

So it's basically like tinting a car right?</TD></TR></TABLE>

yep

 

we all have bad days.

btw chris your car is hideous

 

Glad the car is ok. Sounds like you were just exhausted from the week. I'm sure you will do much better next time..