Bling bling!
still have to do some radiator ducting and spend a mountain of money on Haltech and wiring but the original engine and trans are getting pulled soon.
Bling bling!
still have to do some radiator ducting and spend a mountain of money on Haltech and wiring but the original engine and trans are getting pulled soon.
I'm learning that the tools for manipulating steel don't work the same with aluminum.
Had to buy a $200 bead roller to give this panel some rigidity. Getting only an hour or two after work makes for some slow progress. Starting to wonder if I should've just shelled out for the Renegade cooling system kit. Although I do like what I'm building better than what they supply. Theirs is a lot bigger and bulkier (designed for v8's).
I ordered the Haltech stuff, including their cool digital dash.
The guy who I'm supposed to be buying the engine bracket from has gone silent lately, so I may be adding the fabrication of that to my list.
The lil Spyder Kart brought home another $2k Challenge autocross win over the weekend! (This time it even beat all the over-budget cars!) It really is an autocross rocket ship and its a blast! I really enjoyed letting a few friends give it some runs and they all came back with big smiles. I let pro driver Mike Casino take 3 runs with it and his best time was a tenth slower than mine, so that felt good (lol). He also had a big grin and seemed to enjoy it. However, I've done what I set out to do with it and I've driven it exactly once since last year's Challenge, so I'm thinking of putting it on the market. Garage space and Porsche project money would be nice to have. This was my 5th year entering it in the Challenge and I'm ready to do something different - probably the Corolla next year.
A rocket ship is right. You were flying. The time spent on the rev limiter through the right-hand sweeper out back was impressive.
AxeHealey said:A rocket ship is right. You were flying. The time spent on the rev limiter through the right-hand sweeper out back was impressive.
Haha! I was taking that sweeper right at the limit of grip. Shifting to 3rd wasn't going to gain me anything and letting off in that scenario is where the tail likes to come around. Super fun course!
She's up for sale. Won't be a Challenge car for the next guy. The pricing is a bit "optimistic" but that's because the car is truly awesome. If it doesn't sell, I'll hang onto it and get it out to rip occasionally and maybe bring it back to the Challenge a few years down the road. $8k for a GRM'er
I went to college with Mike at UNCC. I'm ashamed to admit I've only autocrossed once in my life, and it's because Mike got me to go. Guy can drive!
Scotty Con Queso said:I went to college with Mike at UNCC. I'm ashamed to admit I've only autocrossed once in my life, and it's because Mike got me to go. Guy can drive!
Super cool guy. My first 2 years with the Spyder, I landed in 2nd place to Mike by fractions of a second. So we have a bit of a rivalry going. 3 years in a row for me now! 😂
I commented to him that I was very impressed how he can jump into anything and drive it fast where I need a bit of time to learn the limits of a new car (in reference to his role at the Challenge). He said "don't think of it as driving a new car. Think of it as driving the same track". And that makes a lot of sense.
This is ugly news for the local racers at the Freedom Factory. The amateur events just don't fill the stands like Cleetus' YouTuber events do. I hope my chances to run there aren't gone for good. There are 2 more events scheduled later in the year. I'll be trying to get out there.
In reply to Lof8 - Andy :
See, I was getting to that same shifting decision through the sweeper but my mechanical sympathy tends to kick in. I've popped an engine on the limiter and ever since then I'm a bit gun shy to just pin it there. That should probably change.
AxeHealey said:In reply to Lof8 - Andy :
See, I was getting to that same shifting decision through the sweeper but my mechanical sympathy tends to kick in. I've popped an engine on the limiter and ever since then I'm a bit gun shy to just pin it there. That should probably change.
Generally speaking, I do usually drive with a fair bit of mechanical sympathy. But out there on the Challenge autox, I'm pushing absolutely as hard as I can to fight for those tenths/hundredths (I've lost to Mike Casino by literally thousandths of a second). I suppose I do put a lot of faith in the limiter being at a "safe" rpm. Those sustained lateral G's probably aren't helping in that exact scenario. I have not popped an engine and thats likely why I'm ok running around all willy-nilly on the limiter like that. ha!
In reply to Lof8 - Andy :
It's also, I think, an autocross v. road race mentality. With the endurance and vintage racing I'm accustomed to, standing on the limiter to gain a few tenths or even more a lap doesn't make a gigantic difference whereas it really does with such a short run. Next time. Next time.
In reply to AxeHealey :
Exactly. That is definitely not something I'd do in a race on a full sized course.
This damn radiator exhaust duct took way longer than I care to admit.
Looks like it came out nicely. Are those plastic rivets?
In reply to AxeHealey :
They're black aluminum. Leftovers from doing the fender flares.
The $500 Tire Rack Challenge winnings have gone to a set of adjustable rear Koni shocks for the 914 🤘
radiator install complete! (Finally). Not certain yet what task I'll jump to next. Maybe engine removal.
Our SCCA rallyx venue in Port St Lucie has struggled with standing water over half of the available area for the last few years. This weekend it was dry and we got some nice long runs! Woohoo! The rally tires have so much lateral grip on this surface. I felt the machine go up on 2 wheels a couple of times, and as a result, I was being extra cautious (slow) on the higher speed corners. They may not be the right choice for the St Lucie venue.
AxeHealey said:In reply to Lof8 - Andy :
It's also, I think, an autocross v. road race mentality. With the endurance and vintage racing I'm accustomed to, standing on the limiter to gain a few tenths or even more a lap doesn't make a gigantic difference whereas it really does with such a short run. Next time. Next time.
Also having to think with a mid-engine mindset even more concerned with not upsetting the car mid-corner than front engine. Since I don't know which you were running I might be preaching to the choir here. Had to learn this running mid-engine cars on dirt oval.
Random pic posted by the Firm fb account. Hard on the brakes or is the rake just the result of that dip in the track?
Firm Rallyx last weekend. Normally I would run the Yamaha for one of these, but the UTV entry list was very light (1 entry) and I saw 2 Crown Vics on the list. So Crown Vic got the nod this time. Turns out these guys are making some kind of youtube $1k Challenge amongst their friends. There was also a v6 Solara and a Hyundai Tiburon in their group. The owner of the white, lifted Vic is part of Starr Fabrication, who is building a custom fiberglass funny car body for one of Cleetus' drag cars. They are a nice, fun group of guys. They said they had a blast and will be attending future rallyx events too.
I've been finding a lot of distractions lately that are keeping me from progress on the 914. The YXZ needed new front diff seals and I decided to upgrade the steering rack while i was in there. A local friend is hosting a backyard lawnmower race next weekend, so I had to snag a mower for that. And last weekend myself and 4 friends took our off-road rigs on a 700-ish mile trip through a portion of the FAT (florida adventure trail). We had a blast! I don't really remember the last time I took a trip that didn't at least have the lodging stops pre-planned. We headed north from Bradenton on Thursday night towards St Mark's (near Tallahassee), rode the trail south from there, and returned home on Sunday afternoon and just winged it the whole time. On the final night, we sprung for an airbnb, as showers and real beds started to sound real nice.
Glad you had such a great time on the FAT!!
I went through orientation to be an instructor at The Motor Enclave in Tampa about a year ago. However none of their events have aligned with my work schedule to actually come out and instruct. But they recently put out a call for "off road instructor training" with a promise of some crosskart laps! So of course I took a 1/2 day at work to make that happen. 2 laps wasn't really enough to get comfortable in the car or learn the track. But it was damn cool!!
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