Grassroots Motorsports: The Hardcore Sports Car Magazine

New rear calipers and pads should make our Civic much happier.

Good thing we checked the “good” side, too. We were missing one of bolts that goes into the slider pins. A new hardware kit solved that problem.

While bleeding brakes today, we noticed a screw in one our BFG street tires. We used to run these Rota Circuit 8 wheels on the Miata—they look pretty tough on the Civic. We’ll get the usual wheels back on the Civic soon.

A little more than a week ago, something just didn’t feel right with the Civic. It felt like something was dragging—not really bad, just enough to be felt. The car had sat through a big rain, so all of the rotors were rusty. We decided to keep an eye on things.

A day or so later (basically about five miles later), the car didn’t feel any better. There was still some rust on the outside of the left-rear brake rotor, so that’s where we started to look.

We jacked up the car on Saturday and gave that wheel a spin. Yeah, something was dragging. Pulled the pads on that side and noticed that the piston’s O-ring was torn. The pads were worn at a funny angle, too.

We decided to replace the rear calipers. One store in town had rebuilt calipers in stock, so we grabbed one. No one had decent pads, but we had an extra set of new pads leftover from another Civic—fortunately the 2000 Civic Si shares pads with this car.

Went to attach the brake line to the left-rear caliper, and something wasn’t right. Upon further investigation, looked like the threads on our new caliper were buggered-up.

That was the only left-side caliper they had on hand, so we had to wait until Wednesday to get another one. Got the new caliper, and it went on the car with no drama.

When we started the job on the right side of the car, however, there was a little drama: One of the bolts that goes into one of the slider pins was missing (!!!!!!!). We picked up a new hardware kit, and in theory everything will be back together tomorrow. (We stopped for dinner.)

Quick update: The car now has two new rear calipers and the system is bled. We found a screw in one of the tires, so the car is now on some different wheels.

It’s SCCA Solo Nationals time! The first day results for H Stock are up on the SCCA’s Web site, it looks like tech editor Per Schroeder is in ninth place, about a quarter of a second out of the trophies. He improved his time on every run, and the competition in the 22-car field is close, with the seven trophy spots covered by a half a second. Per’s wife, Kim, is currently in 18th spot; this is her first Solo Nationals, and it looks like she found a ton of speed on her third and final run of the day.

Per said that the new-for-2006 asphalt surface was much more slick, and that the morning classes in particular were dealing with chilly temperatures and hard tires.

Congrats on the great job so far and good luck tomorrow, Schroeders!

GRM Wants You:

Well, not all of you, but we have a staff position opening for one of you. We are looking for a new production editor. This person would work on both Grassroots Motorsports and Classic Motorsports. Our editorial offices are located in Ormond Beach, Fla.

Job Summary:

Managing the proofing process.
Proof reading pages.
Copy editing.
Compiling spec boxes.
Writing some features and event reports.
Working with the rest of the staff to produce a magazine.
Working with the marketing department on projects.
Traveling to some events.

Qualifications:

Associate degree or higher, ideally with an emphasis on English or journalism.
Automotive knowledge, ideally regarding sports cars.
Very strong grasp of the English language.
Extremely well organized.
Publishing experience preferred.

Before contacting us, can you answer yes to all of these statements?

I am extremely well organized.
I know the difference between its and it’s.
I work well with others.
I enjoy cars.
I can work in Ormond Beach, Fla.
I like Star Wars.

If you answered yes to all of the above statements (okay, we’ll let that last one slide) and are truly interested in joining our staff, then please send a cover letter and resume to our editor at david@grassrootsmotorsports.com. (Your e-mails won’t be graded, but sloppy ones do indicate a lack of the skills needed for this job.)

I know we have a few other metal-heads out there, so hopefully two or three will appreciate this bit of news. Looks like VH1 Classic is going to replay “Supergroup” as well as “Heavy: The History of Metal.” (That second one is an excellent documentary on the subject—lots of good interviews.)

Show times, courtesy of anthrax.com: metal

I have never really been into video games, but on a whim I bought the new Lego Star Wars game for our PlayStation2. (For some reason I better connected with GT2, so the PS2 has sat dormant for years.)

Hey, this is fun. My wife and I have almost made it all the way through Episode IV.

Common things heard during our gameplay:

Um, you just shot me.

Stop punching me.

Ow, you just pushed me off that ledge.

I’m now Luke. Oh wait, maybe I’m Leia.

In the last few days, I have seen message board topics asking about MegaSquirt, Civic suspension setups and the Saab 900. All of these topics are covered in the November issue of GRM. Weird.

Per has arrived in Topeka and is looking forward to competing later this week at the SCCA Solo National Championships. Look for updates and pictures next week!

I’m the new guy here. I’ll be posting blog updates soon.

Our readers are a neat bunch of people. I hate coffee with a passion—including the smell—but I still found this thread intriguing: coffee tawk To those who regularly contribute to our message board, thanks.

Remember that item I wanted that was relisted for $2.99? Well, guess who won it, chumps.

On a totally different subject (but still related to chumps), I saw a new-to-me Futurama tonight: Farnsworth Parabox That show rules.