Andy's Challenge Builds - Good Times Racing

Trunk lid looks good polished. Only every other panel to go. My maintenance guy always tells me I can’t polish a turd, proving him wrong for once. 

That trunklid does look good. Even if you don't do anything else, if you polish up that car it will resell for profit. 

In reply to Robbie :

Current goal is just some basic maintenance, tires, polish, put it on eBay. 

In reply to Andy Neuman :

How do you polish rust?

Stampie said:

In reply to Andy Neuman :

How do you polish rust?

Carefully 

Stampie said:

In reply to Andy Neuman :

How do you polish rust?

Put clear coat over it, that’s what they do on TV. 

Since we watch too much roadkill and I’m bringing a friend anyways we have entered the Mercedes and plan to drive it down to Florida next week.

If something goes wrong with the car in the next two days we will bring the Mustang. 

Working on my challenge story..

Starting goals, find an old car that can be driven to the event. Obviously, I have watched too many episodes of roadkill and the idea of finding an old car and making it drivable on a road trip seemed like a great idea. The goal is to make it to Florida, race the car, and drive it home. The first hurdle will be convincing my friend to ride along with me as we embark on a journey.

10/4/19 Sent my father to pick up car from Copart location. Verified that the car started and moved forward/backwards under its own power.

10/9/19 Installed Radiator overflow bottle.

10/16/19 Had Walmart put 4 of the cheapest tires they had on the car. The tires replaced the 2005 Michelin tires that were dry rotted, but still managed to hold air.

Changed oil, replaced air filter with a new air filter that was found in the trunk. Started car to make sure everything still worked, turned key off and pulled it from ignition, while the car continued to run. Had accidentally disconnected a vacuum line for fuel shutoff.

Registered and insured the car today so that it could possibly be taken on the road.

10/18/19 First test Drive

Andy Neuman said:

The goal is to make it to Florida, race the car, and drive it home. 

 

I assume you're going with a very loose definition of "race"?

In reply to Stampie :

Timed competition, you may be using a stopwatch but I'll be using a sun dial. I'll set up a time lapse video of my drag run so you can watch it in one sitting. 

In reply to Andy Neuman :

First drive went ok, 0-60 in the low 30 second range. Highway speed is max 62.
 

Big problem I didn't realize, the seatbelt wasn't attached at the bottom. 

Andy Neuman said:

Scrap is terrible right now, received $152 for the van. I used to get $90 for a Miata Shell. Even last year I received $200 for Infiniti. 

I got $50 for most of a Volvo 240 last weekend. $40/ton. 

Pulling the plug on bringing the Mercedes, too many safety concerns not enough time. Good luck beating my exhibition class car. Was a little disappointed my drag radial wheels center bore isn't large enough for the mustang. 

current budget, could be tempted to buy a last minute car on the way. 

You have email...

In reply to Andy Neuman :

Far be it from me to be an enabler...

https://charlotte.craigslist.org/cto/d/lincolnton-1997-z3-bmw-convertible/7004023660.html this one seems extremely sketchy but hey, Z3 for a grand

https://daytona.craigslist.org/cto/d/orange-city-1980-mustang/6989517543.html

https://smd.craigslist.org/cto/d/hughesville-2003-ford-focus-svt-zx3/6993332576.html

https://orlando.craigslist.org/cto/d/orlando-2003-mazda-6/6992196069.html

https://jacksonville.craigslist.org/cto/d/jacksonville-94-mustang-gt-conv/6990982957.html

https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/cto/d/morrisville-1993-mercury-cougar-xr-7/6985513918.html

https://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto/d/verona-1998-honda-civic-4dr/7003585908.html

https://richmond.craigslist.org/cto/d/sutherland-93-geo-storm/6998583255.html

https://blacksburg.craigslist.org/cto/d/harrisonburg-1999-saturn-model-sc-2/6989273900.html

https://norfolk.craigslist.org/cto/d/norfolk-bmw-for-sale/7001230129.html

https://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/cto/d/canton-2001-mazda-protege/7004883709.html

https://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/cto/d/kennesaw-auto-for-sale/7001514973.html

https://orlando.craigslist.org/cto/d/orlando-2001-ford-escort-zx3/7004897698.html

https://daytona.craigslist.org/cto/d/new-smyrna-beach-1996-ford-contour-gl/7000963017.html

Already in SC.

 Tempting it's at a dealer 

$2019 Recap

One day I'll bring an actual challenge car again. The mustang ended up coming because I was too much of a wimp to drive my 1980Mercedes 240d 890 miles to the challenge after only getting one very slow 8 mile test drive in. Jeremy was going to let me enter the CAM camaro but instead I entered my friend Chris who never had the chance to autocross or drag race before. He always made it to the challenge the years we broke the car. 

I ended up buying a new mustang in 2015 after my DD blew the engine. The daily had been my $2013 Miata. Usually I'm pretty cheap, but I wanted something I could take to any automotive event given the chance. Fortunately my life keeps getting busier so the only event I've been making it to is the challenge. I've used the mustang year round in PA since purchase putting on 55,000 miles.

Actually purchased a set of "will not ship snow tires and wheels" from Ohio via the GRM express. This ended up with the guy dropping the wheels off at Pat's house in Ohio, at this point I had never met Pat and he hadn't been to the challenge. As arranged Pat delivered the wheels to me via the challenge, I know Ohio to FL to get them to PA wasn't the ideal shipping solution but it worked. 

Managed to find a wife and get married during Mustang ownership, she never wants me to get rid of it. I'm not that sentimental and we have a kid on the way so it's not quite making as much sense anymore. Still trying to convince her that we will need a minivan eventually so we should just make the jump. 
 

Back to this years challenge, took our time getting there 890 miles in 2 days is a lot nicer than a one day drive.. Especially when you need to stop in Jacksonville to run errands with Jeremy to pick up another car on the way. 
 

I don't know how I get suckered into working on cars in the parking lot, I also don't know why anyone would want me to work on their car. Parking lot projects have been one of the best ways to form new friends and have time to talk to your fellow GRM members. I can't say I knew many of the challengers before the $2014 Fiero fiasco, still one of the best experiences. Bad ideas make for great stories.

The grid in the autocross was excellent this year and have time to have lots of fun runs. Having the mustang allowed me to make enough runs for me to learn the mustangs tract/stability will save me and I have no idea how. Only took me 12 runs to put down a time faster than the one try I gave the pro driver. 
 

Using all of the mustangs trick settings was too hard to learn in the five minutes of watching YouTube videos. I was trying to use the launch control on the drag strip, this led to some massive wheel spin and some 15 second runs. At least trapping 106 felt pretty fast. Eventually I was able to baby a 13.8, makes me question how many runs it takes the magazines to get the best times. 

Overall it was a great time. I feel this year was pretty relaxed with an everyone love everybody attitude. I didn't get the feeling from anyone that they were there just to win it all for themselves. Everyone is so helpful trying to make each other faster. On the way home Chris was on the phone with his father, for an hour, telling him what a great time he had, making his first drag passes and autocross runs of his life. 
 

Not sure if I'll make it next year, but I'll be back at some point and I have new ideas in the next post. 

I think Chris(shrugs shoulders) had a good idea to have a build party in the northeast this year, may try to actually set something up. Going to go over a Nelson's budget sheet to see the hard parts we will need for an actual fast challenge car. Talking with Andrew it seems I should find a cheaper 4.8 or 5.3 as a starting point and a Turbo 350 or 400. The 6.0 and 4l80e are a great combo but a $600 budget hit is a large portion of the budget. 

Also just need to post a picture of these 18x13 CCW wheels with 335s to remember I have them. They were technically free, but I don't know what they could even be used on(chevy bolt pattern). The tires beside them are 275s.   

Going to sell the Mercedes as soon as I get the chance. 

In reply to Andy Neuman :

4.8/5spd Silverado at my local Copart...

Let's put the Mercedes on that chassis with those wheels and have a big dumb gasser?

I'll buy the 6.0 and 4l80e back for 600 now that they're out of the van.  
 

only one of the wheel studs you installed fell out somewhere 

In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :

I may bid low, copart fees are crazy. Winning at $325 or $550 depends how you look at it. 

Pat, I might use the 6.0 and trade the 4l80 if I can work out a deal. 
 

Actually might take advantage of the FMV trade to myself rule. I really wish we were just allowed unlimited recoup and none of this FMV sell to yourself or trade to yourself. 

What do you need that the 80e would be traded for?

In reply to Patrick :

A cam and a th350/400 

Let my cousin take the spitfire for a spin today