Tomorrow is our second RallyCross. We’re so excited, we might pee ourselves.
We mounted the Kumho ECSTA R700 rally tires on the original Subaru Impreza LX rims. While we’ve got a few leads on some strong and lightweight Rally rims, nothing has materialized yet.
More info on the RallyCross can be found here:
Rally Rebels.
Thanks to Rita, I’ve got a Houston evacuee (she says we went to college together, but I’m not convinced that I remember her) staying with me this week. She flew in on one of the last flights out before the hurricane hit, and as a result she has no wheels of her own in town. So I’m helping her remember how to drive a 5-speed so she can get out whenever she wants.
Between the Volvo 740 Wagon and the Type R, the Volvo was the natural choice since it doesn’t have a rollbar/seat/harness setup and it’s not my precious, precious Type R. Also, her limited prior experience with a manual was in a truck, so the B230FT’s tractor-like qualities are perfect. She took to it very quickly and will be rev-matching in no time, but naturally she’s had a stall or two. It’s part of the learning process.
One such stall happened on a slight uphill near the beach, and since we had rolled back a bit and a queue was forming, I stuck my hand out to wave the four or five cars behind us around. The car behind us honked a few times, which always pissed me off when I was learning stick, since it really doesn’t do anything except fluster the driver more and encourage them to rush things, which isn’t going to help. The honking car then pulled up next to us and stopped; a surfboard was wedged between the passenger seat and the door, blocking most of the window and our view of the driver, but the voice was clearly audible;
“Are you just learning?” he asked.
“Yes!” we replied in unison.
“Oh man, okay, I’m sorry I honked….” he said, sounding truly repentant.
I hope his surfer karma was restored despite the brief lapse of road-rage.
This week seems to be taking forever. Last weekend went quickly, as Saturday was awesome, Kim and I looked at new houses (ours is getting a little small for us…no storage space) and then Sunday was an awesome autocross in Deland…but Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and now Thursday have struggled past as we are pushing hard to get the December issue done and there seems to be an interminable supply of problems. Adding to this, I’ve got a RallyCross on Saturday that I’m really looking forward to. This combo has made this week seem endless and normally I’m surprised by how quickly the work weeks go around here. Just as long as I don’t start humming that song, “Everybody’s Working for the Weekend” Oh crap, it’s started…”Everybody’s Working for the Weekend….la la la la la…Everybody’s Working for the Weekend………”
The Miata was designed to be a modern interpretation of a classic British sportscar. Well, shortly after purchase we found out that our little Rat was trying a little too hard to be a Brit. A little inspection showed that beneath the carpet on the parcel shelf was an abundance of good ole fashioned, character building rust. Fortunately, the rust was pretty much contained on the bolt off panels used to access the fuel tank and filler pipe. A quick trip to BSI for extra panels cost only $25, and with a little help from Rustbullet, and a bit of seam sealer the car was once again rust free. While we were at it, we decided to replace the worn out old top with a newer one provided when we purchased the car.
Since we had a complete top mechanism we didn’t have to mess with stretching new material over the frame, and the installation was a straightforward bolt-on affair. Removing the parcel shelf carpeting revealed the top mounting rails which are bolted to the body. After cleaning out all the misc. leaves, dirt, and other funky stuff that had collected there over the years, we decided it would be a good idea to give the rails themselves a sanding and painting as the corrosion had taken a foothold. Unfastening the top mounting bolts near the safety belt mounting points, and the rear bolts left the top free to be taken off, and the new one was installed. It fits nicely, and now as an added bonus, the driver can actually SEE out the rear window.
One of the great things about working here at GRM/CMS is we get to (have to) travel frequently. As you’ ve probably noticed, several of us are out of town as much as we are at home, especially during the busy Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter seasons. My latest traveling adventure was back out to Colorado for the Colorado English Motoring Conclave. I found out about the Conclave during my last visit, and it turned out to be a blast. Maybe it’s due to the beautiful weather, or the fact that cars don’t rust in Colorado (no salt on roads), or how isolated a big city it is, whatever the reason, there is a thriving sports car scene out there. There were over 520 British cars at the event from Land Rovers, to Bugeye’s all marking their territory in beautiful Arvada CO. As a bonus I got to see a couple of GRM Challenge competitors, (howdy Frankenstang, and Mental) hang with some old friends, and drive up to Steamboat Springs for the Colorado Cog Rally. On the way up, I passed through the Vail Valley, and noticed a bunch of fancy car transporters along with some real high $ machinery. Ahh, that’s right, the Colorado Grand was going on as well! Lots of car stuff to do at altitude……and lots of wonderful roads in them thar hills!
Our Saab 92x just hit the 3000 mile mark and it was time for an oil change. We used Mobil 1 (cheap in 5-quart jugs from Wallyworld) and a Bosch filter. It’s running fine with no complaints, it even tows our 1700 pound boat with ease.
We mounted up a set of Forester steel wheels and tires last night, we needed an extra set of wheels so that we can get our Kumho ECSTA R700s mounted up for the weekend. Those Forester wheels are kind of tough looking. They’re a little too tall for our speedometer and gearing, but they look cool.
Heading to Road Atlanta’s Petit Le Mans this weekend? So are we. We’ll have a booth set up among the vendors and welcome everyone to stop by. Full details on the event can be found at the Road Atlanta Web page: Road Atlanta
Kim and Per brought their MINI out to our local CFR SCCA autocross in Deland. Per wound up in second on index, less than a 1/10th of a second behind Jason Minhart. Kim was about .9 back from Per in raw time and finished fourth on index, out of over 130 drivers.
This was one of the last events for the car on its little 15″ tires. We’re wearing out the 205/50R15 V710 Kumhos and finding that it takes quite a few runs to bring them to cord. We’ve got over 50 runs on this set on concrete and asphalt and the tires just keep on sticking. We’ll probably see cord in another 10 runs or so.
We replaced the stock steering wheel with a relatively inexpensive MOMO MM07 competition steering wheel. It’s available from all MOMO dealers.
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