Some commiserating about the futility of getting our individual Challenge project cars finished in time for this year’s event has spawned the formation of a new team. Some of us Alabama GRMers have pooled together what’s left of our pathetically meager resources and formed Also Ran Racing’s All-Alabama team to field a single entry for this year’s $2012 Challenge.
The new team consists of BradLTL, 93EXCivic, Psolver1, and Argo1. Our individual projects (Rotary Lotus, Yugo, Turbo Supra) will go forward with sights set on $2013.
Our joint entry is a Nissan 280zx powered by a T58-GE-1C turbine engine running through a hydrostatic drive… either that, or its a disused NASA track day car that we purchased, pull out of mothballs, then freshened, tuned, and updated for the Challenge.
Goals for the new team are, (1) To have an actual running automobile at the Challenge (2) Take out our creative building frustrations on a high tech valve cover racer. (3) Have fun.
In keeping with the main goal of having a running car, we brought the recently finished car out to debut at a Solo event in Birmingham this Sunday for a bit of pre season test and tune. The car went about 100 feet before the humming fuel pump stopped humming. With no immediate replacement on hand, our first event trial was a DNS.
93EXCivic and BradLTL ponder the silent racer above. No shake down runs today. Mrs. Argo1 was more philosophical, “Isn’t this why you guys are testing it? So it doesn’t happen in Gainesville?” Why yes it is.
The new All-Alabama team will see you all in Gainesville.
BTDT. First test run of the Abomination revealed a CV shaft problem which, due to budget constraints, could not be properly repaired until after the Challenge. But the 'in between' fix proved worthy up till the (IIRC) 6th drag pass. I would have hated to have the damn thing bust right out of the box on the first day.
Congratulations on having so many entries, though!
I would've loved to have come out for that. Too bad I'm stuck in Mississippi working.
turbojunker wrote:
I would've loved to have come out for that. Too bad I'm stuck in Mississippi working.
So, for the record you would have loved to come out to unload a car off a trailer... watch it not start... change a fuel filter that wasn't the problem... then load the car back on the trailer... 95 degree heat?
Post race inspection in the garage revealed a connector that came loose on the fuel pump harness. Nothing serious but a waste of a Solo event! We'll be at the next event for our testing.
BradLTL wrote:
turbojunker wrote:
I would've loved to have come out for that. Too bad I'm stuck in Mississippi working.
So, for the record you would have loved to come out to unload a car off a trailer... watch it not start... change a fuel filter that wasn't the problem... then load the car back on the trailer... 95 degree heat?
I watched a GLH backfire all weekend at last year's Challenge so I'm prepared.
We will be at the Birmingham, AL SCCA Solo this Sunday the 19th . We will have an actual working fuel pump this time. If you are in the area, stop by and say "Hi".
Update's from this weekends events... now with videos! 
http://www.alsoranracing.com/?p=404
In reply to BradLTL:
Sorry I didn't make it I had several things come up.
