From what I understand, some of you are concerned to have enough time to wash your car before next weekend....well, poor you.

Wouldn't you rather be staying up till midnite every night and spending your whole weekend in banzai mechanic mode? If you're not naturally disposed, it's an excellent way to sample manic depression syndrome. You're up, you're down, you're up, you're down, you're up, you're exhausted and you don't think you give a damn any more, but you think you can make it so you gotta keep going, plus if you don't otherwise nice people will call you a flake

Gotta corner weight two setups tomorrow nite (that was supposed to be today but it took all day to set ride height, preload, and body lengths - and I hope the car starts after four or five months too), and get a lesson in alignment by the string method (I get the rough idea, but at this point I'm more willing to buy one at the shop).

Oh, and put me in the camp that thinks heli-arcing is electric sex - I had to weld some eighth inch plate into the spring hats for the Mugen N1's (with holes for the mounting studs and ovalized in the rear) so that the spring had a flat surface to seat on. I have friends that prefer gas welding for the exact reasons I prefer TIG. Whatever (I've been doing alot of gas welding lately, and haven't heli-arc'd for several years). Also welded up my leaking (after being welded once) fully assembled Bilstein rear - I used wet rags for a heat sink and tried to hurry. It's holding now. Oh, and I made up some 3.5 inch long droop limiters (internal) for the Bilstein rears - with 600lb springs that still leaves about a half inch of shaft travel before the spring hits the seat. Between the limiters and a two foot tube to lever the trailing arm into droop, I am able to install the Bilstein rears with not much trouble, and without the radical surgery I originally thought I wanted. I feel kind of dumb and shortsighted about all that. Once I took full responsibility for my own satisfaction, my thinking got a little clearer.

Working on cars is humbling. I am just not as smart as I would hope to be. My mistakes and errors over the last six months cost me the first half of the season. Even the people I use for service have made some dumb mistakes, and they are as or more **** retentive than I am. Two nights ago on the shock dyno I (we) discovered a terrible error that makes me hang my head in shame. I asked for and received the most excellent customer service from a well known business for what has turned out to be nothing wrong. As a result I'm damning myself for failure to push harder against problems with more rigor. I have to explain the situation and apologize tomorrow - and I'm dreading it, because I see that I'm in that nowhere between ignorance and mastery called learning. I'm acutely aware of the cost of customers learning in business thru my business. So much for My ego.

Oh yeah, and I gotta wash the car.

Scott, who can almost visualize driving the ITR again.....almost......still trying......maybe tomorrow.....

 

That's the exact opposite of me. I've decided to not even run race tires and just have fun on my rock hard RE730s. All my financial resources are going into the other car, so something's got to give.

Hope you can give me a ride, Scott!

 

It is really cool to see someone with your dedication, and I really hope that you make it, not only so I can see your car and meet you, but to see the immense sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that is going to be written all over your face when you get your car out on the track. (man....that was a helluva run on sentence )

Keep at it! I know I'll see you at the EXPO.

to people like Scott

 

mechanic mode for the last week!!!! trying to button up the hatch for 5300 miles of hell.....................leaving tomorrow night! see you there. I'll be the sore thumb of the bunch with a red "ITR".....he,he

 

i feel your pain..keep it up..we are almost there!!

 

I was on mechanic mode...
worked on 3 PY ITRs this weekend

yoshi - who still needs to break in the Azenis tires!!!!