We did it!

The results are not so good, but we learned a ton about racing.. and just how crappy our radio setup was...

Ended up 70th overall, and were forced to trailer the car 2.5 hours early due to too many black flags.

Upgrades!

The loading of the second car didn't go too well last time, so Dave and I decided to "upgrade" the ramps.

We added a platform of 1 1/2" plywood across the back (screwed directly into the trunk of the parts car... hope we dont need that part). Then re-inforced the ramps a bit.

Holy Ice Batman

So mother earth has decided to blow her nose all over the Portland area.. and the metropolitan areas are a TRAVESTY... why can't people learn how to drive in the snow?

Quick updates:

- Modified ramps completed to avoid losing the front end of the race car over the side of the parts car.

- Drank beer

- Installed coolant overflow tank

- Installed hard-wood floors in the passenger side

- Drank beer

- Installed windshield wipers and fixed squirters

- Drank beer

- Relocated wiper switch to accomodate HANS device

ummm Drank more beer?

Hope I can get out of town in the crap..

my e30

Final Touches

So Erik is out of town, so Dave and I decided to add a little "spice" to the car and to the theme. The wives were excited to break out the spray pain, and we were excited to play with more bamboo!

This is what we came up with... Flower Power!!!

Our first roadtrip!

So this weekend we wanted to do a dry run with most of our gear loaded on the trailer... needless to say, it was quite an experience. 2 12' cars on a 20ft trailer. I guess it's a good thing we dont care about the body of the parts car! On the drive down to the allignment shop, we put the front bumper on the back end of the parts car. We tried a different technique on the way back.

Special Thanks to Bob at Superior Performace for allowing us to use his high-tech allignment rack.

This is what we did on the way home... scary as sh*t driving it up on the trailer. The theory was to put the front wheels of the race car, ON TOP of the trunk of the parts car. All was perfect, until my aim was a "little off"

How much does it cost to run a LeMons race?

Well, let me tell you!


Team Total
$ 3,139.26

If you have 4 people, that's $784.81 per person... which does NOT include lodging once you get there, personal safety items (suit, shoes, gloves), and any other useless crap you end up buying at the track (we all do it...)

The bulk of our budget came from the ridiculous gas prices, and multiple trips to Seattle to pick up the car and the parts car (I wish prices were then, what they are now). Tires, high-end brake pads, Spare head gasket, and diesel for the truck to drag it 500 miles each way played a huge part as well.

Miraculously, we are $128.27 UNDER BUDGET for the car... It turns out parts on the 88 MR2 are worth quite a bit of money on ebay. We sold the interior for $125, and misc trim pieces for about $90. and that MOMO steering wheel we got in the purchase? $120 on ebay.

Who is bringing the tools? You are, I am, Dave is, Jeff is. Jeff is bringing hand tools galore, we're bringing whatever specialty/automotive tools we think we'll need along with the generator and compressor. Jeff is bringing a wire feed, right?

Who is riding in what car? Down: Matt Jeff Erik in truck, Chris Rhi Tyler Tiffani in Chris' car. Up: Matt Erik Tiffani Rhi Tyler in truck, Chris Dave in Chris' car.

What tools do we need? None. Dave needs to bring his puller kit thingie and we need to decide who's bringing the wire feed.

Who has the radios? Where are the batteries? You have the radios and the batteries, from your dad.

Do the radios even work?? See last question

Where did I put my race suit that I bought 4 months ago? WOW... Maybe I should dryclean it? Uh...I think it's in the shop, actually. Didn't you already clean it? Maybe it's just you that stinks...

Does the car run well enough? No.

Did I forget to weld on that last hood pin support? Yes.

What time should we leave Portland to make it there in time to drive on Friday? Leaving will be dictated, unfortunately, by my aunt's diner schedule. At this point it's looking like start at 3pm and I can skeedadle by 6ish, on the road by 7, so lets say we're rolling by 8 after I've totally redone all the car binding you guys mess up.

Can we afford to drive Friday? No. Will anyway.

Did we ever get the mounting hardware for the HANS device? On dave's plate, he has our helmet.

Do the micorphones for our Chatterbox fit on a 3/4 helmet? See question way the fook up there that say it's your problem.

Should we park close to the track, or close to power? Life's about compromise, and we'll grab whatever spot looks sweet in our delerious drove-through-the-night state.

Will we even have power? We have a generator and propane, we're set for worst-case-scenario.

Where the F are we doing to put the welder, engine hoist, floor jack, aircompressor? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA no idea. Probably in and on and under the cars as much as possible.

Whos idea was it to buy a 1975 camper that wont fit any of our tools? You had no part of it, fuck off.

How the hell do we fit 2 MR2's on a 20' flatbed. 2x6's my friend, and a fearless heart. And foolishness. And beer.

Once we get the MR2's on, where are we going to put the rest of the shit? You already asked that. Are you drunk?

Do we have enough power in the Ford to pull all this crap over the pass? Power? Yes. Everything else? No.

Gas is HOW MUCH?? Less than rediculous.

Logistical Nightmare

We have spent so many nights working on the car, and discussing what needed to be done... and yet I feel like we are SO far away from being organized for the race.

Who is bringing the tools?
Who is riding in what car?
What tools do we need?
Who has the radios? Where are the batteries?
Do the radios even work??
Where did I put my race suit that I bought 4 months ago? WOW... Maybe I should dryclean it?
Does the car run well enough?
Did I forget to weld on that last hood pin support?
What time should we leave Portland to make it there in time to drive on Friday?
Can we afford to drive Friday?
Did we ever get the mounting hardware for the HANS device?
Do the micorphones for our Chatterbox fit on a 3/4 helmet?
Should we park close to the track, or close to power?
Will we even have power?
Where the F are we doing to put the welder, engine hoist, floor jack, aircompressor?
Whos idea was it to buy a 1975 camper that wont fit any of our tools?
How the hell do we fit 2 MR2's on a 20' flatbed
Once we get the MR2's on, where are we going to put the rest of the shit?
Do we have enough power in the Ford to pull all this crap over the pass?
Gas is HOW MUCH??

/braindump....

I'm getting stressed, but totally excited!

We have a parts car!

Thanks Erik for making the trek BACK UP to Seattle to pick up ANOTHER car...





I'm glad you didn't break anything when this happened



Now to figure out how to put two MR2's on a 20' flatbed trailer, while towing the 10' camper in the background.

mmm diesel trucks

Updates - Car is safety ready!

Well it's been a LONG few weeks trying to manage our meager existences, while attempting to earn enough money to satisfy "the man", and ohh yeah.. trying to hold our marriages together.

But we have progress!

The cage is in, and most of the welds look like they are from a Kindergarden "Welding Day". I thought we had someone that did this for a living on our team? I guess it's hard to get a lot accomplished (and pretty) if you have a fully stocked kegerator sitting 10 feet away.

Special thanks to Dave for supplying the bottle of Black Velvet that led to an almost loss of finger, marriage, etc. etc. My wife still hates me by the way.... Happy B-Day to me!

Other random things we got done.

bubble blower is installed (and functioning beautifully I might add)

Amazingly enough, our vision of a "0 emissions, free range organicly grown race car" have come to fruition... Our highly secretive process of converting the earths natural "chi" into a harnessable force using the largest organically grown crystal in the world is now ready to catapult our car past the competitors. (Don't tell Jay, it still runs on gas)

For clarification, we have a switch in the cockpit that turns on a bubble blower that will shower our opponents with soapy grossness out the back of that rather farty looking tailpipe. Realistically, we will probably only be able to run it in the pits, but it's still pretty cool!

On another accomplishment note: We have a Mascot!

Meet Khundahlini, our resident spotted owl who will watch over our team to ensure fair play!

I wish I had time to wire red LED's to his eyes, but we only have a couple weeks left, and the car doesnt even run...