I’ve been watching my local 7-11’s supply of Simpson’s straws with character magnets on them. At first, there was the full collection of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Apu and Maggie…now there is only a box with a bunch of Marges. I guess she was the least popular.
Link to Ebay auction for what the hell I’m talking about
I almost bought the Lisa one because she’s holding a recycling sign.
That is all.
I (Per) can often be heard calling people that look tough the slightly sarcastic phrase, “Well aren’t you a Billy Badass?” While that has yet to get me beaten up by a guy named “Ace” it’s not always appropriate. Take our Saab 99. We installed a quartet of Hella 500s on the nose and at first, I thought, “that’s totally Billy Badass!” but I quickly corrected myself, “nope, that’s Bjorn Badass.” Well, whatever it is, we’ve now got auxilliary lights that should handle our nighttime TSD and stage rally needs.
We found the four lights on a MINI messageboard for $80 shipped. There are two driving lights (in the center) and two fogs (the outer positions)
The four lights also came with a wiring harness, this switch panel and one switch. We went out and found two more than sort of match. We’ll also be adding a rear fog light to the mix.
Based upon some feedback from SaabRally.com we moved the tow strap mounting point to the body, rather than the bumper bracket. We reinforced the backside with a steel plate that is welded into the chassis.
From the Vorshlag Motorsports Spec E30 engine mount description page:
“The factory rubber motor mounts were primarily designed as a noise and vibration damper, and do a less than ideal job of locating the engine securely. They are also full of an evil fluid that is straight from hell.”
It’s the unexpected laugh that you appreciate the most.
In other news, UTC Challenge is this Friday, so we’ll be up at VIR with a slew of wicked fast track stuff fighting out for time-trial supremacy.
Our trip to Deland was successful yesterday, but a look at this video will give you an indication that there’s a reason why the MINI is so fast on transition-heavy courses:
This was a run that was faster than our best, but with one cone early in the run. You’ll notice that we also pushed in the 180-degree turn.
Kim and Per have decided to kick the Saabaru loose. If you’re interested in this “semi-famous, semi-GRM project car” give Per an email at per@grassrootsmotorsports.com. We’re pricing the car at $14,000 with all of the goodies, extra wheels, etc.
It’s a red (duh), manual with 33k miles.
Team Dynamics wheels with fresh Continental ExtremeContacts
Swift Springs
KYB AGX struts
Hotchkis rear bar, Addco front
Hotchkis front strut bar, ebay rear
Katzkin leather interior
fogs
FHI rear skid
Primitive front skid (both skids are “unused”, never rallycrossed this car)
Car is located in FL.
email me at per@grassrootsmotorsports.com
Last night we mounted up the front and rear bumpers. While we were assembling them, we took the time to mount up some Safe Quip recovery straps to the front and rear. We also made a mount for the auxilliary light bar, which can also serve as the top mount for the skid plate.
The front tow hook is a looped strap.
The rear tow is a metal ring.
The light bar will bolt to the top of the bracket.
While we can weld the skid plate runners to this end of the bracket.
We took a spin out to Ocala for some testing of some new tires and a digital video in-car camera set up.
We’re trying out BFGoodrich’s g-Force R1 for autocross use.
We hope to get some in car video from the Chase Cam uploaded later this week.
Last night, we reassembled the lights on the car and bolted up the ‘new’ wheels and tires.
We’re still missing our bumpers. Those will go on tomorrow.
The Carroll Shelby wheels look awesome, and very appropriate for our rally-car-in-the-making.
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