So, what did you do today?

[marshall_mosty]

https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1.0-9/1549433_10152498662073243_161838759_n.jpg

[Wade]

Congrats! ....Shelby...nice.

[rleng1]

WAHOO!!!! Congrats. Beautiful girl.

[AllZWay]

Awesome.... Very happy for ya'll.

[BlueFirePony]

Great to hear!! Congrats!

[Trublu]

Pulled heads from ol yella. Cracked between #5 combustion chamber and water jacket. Sad thing is I think that has been th root of my evil since Hallet.

[BryanL]

Pulled heads from ol yella. Cracked between #5 combustion chamber and water jacket. Sad thing is I think that has been th root of my evil since Hallet.
No surprise. Probably right about the root. I thought it was a warped head. Glad you found something and hope you can make Tws without loading it on the trailer early. I know you will have it ready.

[michaelmosty]

Wow, it is amazing how the body can function with so little sleep!!! Kaitlynn thinks it is great to be awake from midnight to 5:00 AM, how fun!!
She also likes watching car shows and even reading the AICMC forum with me. It is adorable to see her face light up and smile when she sees pictures of Mustangs. She also starts crying and pooping whenever a Camaro is seen....

I hope to make it to TWS. It was tough to not be at Cresson and can't wait to get back on track ASAP!!

[jdlingle]

Congrats Mike! Changes your whole world doesn't it?

[MikeS]

Beautiful baby.

[Fbody383]

Wow, it is amazing how the body can function with so little sleep!!! Ah, youth... wasted on the young. About the only parenting advice I give is remember you are the adult. We were pretty consistent about keeping changing/feedings in the middle of the night as quick and quiet as possible. And, if the baby takes a nap, everybody takes a nap.

I hear that Mustang infection is curable.

[AllZWay]

Wow, it is amazing how the body can function with so little sleep!!! !

I fully understand. I think I was a zombie for weeks. Jaycie was so bad... she never slept through the night a single time until she was 18months old. That was enough to guarantee we were done with having anymore kids. :eek:

Hopefully Kaitlynn won't be that bad.

[BryanL]

Wow, it is amazing how the body can function with so little sleep!!! Kaitlynn thinks it is great to be awake from midnight to 5:00 AM, how fun!!
She also likes watching car shows and even reading the AICMC forum with me. It is adorable to see her face light up and smile when she sees pictures of Mustangs. She also starts crying and pooping whenever a Camaro is seen....

I hope to make it to TWS. It was tough to not be at Cresson and can't wait to get back on track ASAP!!

That's good that Raegan can function so well with little sleep. Is Kaitlynn sleeping in her room or do you haver her in your room and you are in a spare bedroom. Just have to reset their body clock as in the womb they sleep when mommy is moving around and are up when mommy is sleeping. All about the routine for little ones.

[marshall_mosty]

Was feeling sick Friday so went to the doctor. Had a chest x-ray to clear my lungs and got another cool shot of the broken screw in my shoulder...
https://scontent-a-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/t1.0-9/1797511_10200730011372035_1823274322_n.jpg

[Fbody383]

went deep into the tilt mechanism on the #39 to try and fix the looseness... we'll see. That's an adventure. At least in the race care the wiring, turn signal/cancel cam, etc. doesn't have to be there/go back in.

[BlueFirePony]

Was feeling sick Friday so went to the doctor. Had a chest x-ray to clear my lungs and got another cool shot of the broken screw in my shoulder...
https://scontent-a-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/t1.0-9/1797511_10200730011372035_1823274322_n.jpg
Nice. :/
You getting that fixed anytime soon? I've got one in my shoulder too (and a few others scattered around my abused body) but I *think* its holding up ;)

I had pix taken Friday too but did not bring them home...had an MRI to finally pinpoint my back pain...slipped disk...got a nice shot in the spine and can actually walk for the first time in a couple weeks. At least now I can work a plan to heal.

[y5e06]

Put a new AR together, from scratch. Used some spare parts that were just sitting around and few budget pieces.
Running it as 7.62x39 (AK round).
good beater rifle I plan to shoot cheap steel cased stuff in and clean very little.
still need a flash hider and a rear fflip up sight. May steal those from my 300BLK in the meantime...


Racing related: I piled a bunch of junk from my work bench onto the hood of #95. 'Cause I needed some work space...

[marshall_mosty]

AI #67 is getting some good air time on the season 2 premier of Dallas Car sharks on the Velocity Channel.

[AllZWay]

AI #67 is getting some good air time on the season 2 premier of Dallas Car sharks on the Velocity Channel.

Cool.. I'll have to try and catch. I watch that show on occasion.

[Fbody383]

Whoop... got the new seat belts in yesterday. feels good to be *compliant*

[marshall_mosty]

Cool.. I'll have to try and catch. I watch that show on occasion.

When they interview JD, you can see my front passenger tire/fender. Michael's blown engine is also in the background.
When they interview Tommy, you can see down the passenger side of my car.
When they interview the auction guy, you see my Dad's 50 Oldsmobile

[blk96gt]

So I've been chasing a misfire for a while on cylinder #1. It's been throwing a P0301 (cylinder 1 misfire). I did check the compression at some point last year and it was fine. It really only seemed to happened at idle, so I hadn't bother checking the compression in a while, especially since the car made so much power on the dyno in January. Decided to check the compression tonight and sure enough, cylinder #1 was ~90, with the two others I checked at ~180. Oddly enough, this is the same cylinder that has had issues in the past. Changed injectors and coil packs when I got the new engine last year, so don't think either of those caused the issue.

Will probably go ahead and race the car this month and figure out what to do after that. Pretty sure it couldn't be anything else but piston/rings, but it still seems to run fine above idle and seems to have power. Had the car out this past weekend and ran great except cold idle...

[GlennCMC70]

Bent valve.
Pull the spark plug and stick an air hose in there that threads into the hole. Pressurize the cylinder and listen for where the air comes from - intake, exhaust, or crankcase. That will tell you where the issue is.

[Trublu]

Bent valve.
Pull the spark plug and stick an air hose in there that threads into the hole. Pressurize the cylinder and listen for where the air comes from - intake, exhaust, or crankcase. That will tell you where the issue is.

At TDC with both valves closed of course

[blk96gt]

Will give that a shot tonight or tomorrow. Will probably try the pouring a bit of oil down the cylinder trick and see if the compression changes first. I would think if the compression goes up it's likely rings.

[marshall_mosty]

Will give that a shot tonight or tomorrow. Will probably try the pouring a bit of oil down the cylinder trick and see if the compression changes first. I would think if the compression goes up it's likely rings.

Kevin,
I have a leakdown tester you can borrow if you cover the shipping costs to get it to you.

[blk96gt]

I may take you up on that offer. I'm going to try it with one of those air guns with a rubber tip on the plug hole tonight and see how that works. Will probably be more accurate to just use an actual tester though.

[BryanL]

Kevin,
I have a leakdown tester you can borrow if you cover the shipping costs to get it to you.

Can someone remind me when to do a compression vs leakdown test? If it passes a compression test is the motor okay?

Hey Marshall-if needed could get that leakdown tester from your tomorrow and use it this weekend couple of days if you don't ship it down to Kevin? I could ship it to him after the weekend. I'm doing a compression test anyway so this might be something worth doing??

[blk96gt]

A leakdown test can be used to determine where you losing the compression at. Valves, cylinder, etc. At least that's my understanding.

[marshall_mosty]

A leakdown test can be used to determine where you losing the compression at. Valves, cylinder, etc. At least that's my understanding.

http://www.motorcycleproject.com/motorcycle/text/compression_vs_leakdown.html

[marshall_mosty]

Can someone remind me when to do a compression vs leakdown test? If it passes a compression test is the motor okay?

Hey Marshall-if needed could get that leakdown tester from your tomorrow and use it this weekend couple of days if you don't ship it down to Kevin? I could ship it to him after the weekend. I'm doing a compression test anyway so this might be something worth doing??

Brian,
Shouldn't be a problem. It's at the shop in my pit bag. I'll be around Sunday morning around noon, but won't have much time to hang around as we are getting together at my folks for a B-day party for two of my kiddos.

[Trublu]

Brian,
Shouldn't be a problem. It's at the shop in my pit bag. I'll be around Sunday morning around noon, but won't have much time to hang around as we are getting together at my folks for a B-day party for two of my kiddos.
I've got one here if you need it

[blk96gt]

Well I poured a bit of oil into that cylinder and the compression jumped about 60 PSI, so it looks like its rings. Found a stock 96 motor with ~130k miles that has a blown head gasket on Craigslist. Said he will sell me the short block for $125. Will probably chunk the pistons, take the block to a machine shop to have the cylinders checked to see what kind of work they need and then order some pistons based on that. Will likely have the heads heads gone through while everything is apart.

[marshall_mosty]

Tonight on velocity tv at 9, my dad will be a "TV star" on "dallas car sharks". He will be working on an old orange Chevy panel wagon.
Look up velocity on internet to get channel. Dallas---time/warner is 755.

[MikeP99Z]

Set to record.

[marshall_mosty]

Dad got his 15 seconds of fame!

[Suck fumes]

Made touch up with no paint booth look easy!

[AllZWay]

Dad got his 15 seconds of fame!

I recorded it and watched it, but didn't realize which one was your Dad.. I was thinking maybe it was the guy painting the limo. Isn't that shop next door to yours? The guy did kind of look like an older Michael....but still too young to be your Dad. :D

I will have to re-watch it tonight.

[marshall_mosty]

He was at the very end (last 10 minutes) with the old Chevy panel wagon.
https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t1.0-9/1384203_10202876393542417_562823948992712642_n.jpg

https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/t1.0-9/10176012_10202876393902426_5653629877578512407_n.j pg

[Suck fumes]

Stuart was the guy painting the limo. He usually only does high end exotics. Him and Mike Luango (Ferrari shop owner) are the go to guys for ferrari repair and body work.

[Fbody383]

Hallett...

Maybe now Corey will decide the track is nice enough to stay on; new surface CW: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kNQklcQHK4&feature=youtu.be

[Dulaney]

Nah, he'll have to find some way to keep the RR's cool.

[marshall_mosty]

Hallett...

Maybe now Corey will decide the track is nice enough to stay on; new surface CW: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kNQklcQHK4&feature=youtu.be

Looks really nice!! Can't wait!

[Trublu]

I'm with you there Marshall, that place is a blast both on and off the track

[Hood]

I'm with you there Marshall, that place is a blast both on and off the track

The door is wide open for this one... (Ben Stein's voice) Francis...Francis...Francis...

[RichardP]

I went mountain biking with Dan and a couple of other people yesterday. Pretty late into the ride we came up on a large downed tree across the trail. The area around it had been built up with several smaller logs so that you could ride over it if you are good. The first guy in our group made it fine. Dan got to the top but had an issue and basically went over the handlebars from pretty high up. When he landed, it knocked the air out of him in a big way. Pretty scary watching him gasp for air. It initially seemed to me that he might have put a rib through his lung or something... After a few minutes of recovery from that, he had to ride out of the woods with his hand hurting a bit. A trip to the clinic showed a small issue. Now, apparently the cool people around here would just have it removed so it couldn't bother him anymore. I believe Dan went the boring route of having it set...

Richard P.

[AllZWay]

Ouch... That looks pretty painful. Dan... hang in there and get well.

[marshall_mosty]

Is that a pinkie and a wrist fracture? Ouch!!

[marshall_mosty]

May the 4th be with you!!

[ShadowBolt]

Sorry about that Dan.

Jerry

[blk96gt]

So the PDS event at TWS was short on instructors this weekend so ended up going back for another run at CW. During the race weekend I noticed I used about a quart of oil over the weekend. Ended up using about a quart this weekend over the course of 9 sessions. I finally looked under the car yesterday afternoon and realized the car has been puking oil out from somewhere on the drivers side. I'm hoping this explains why my oil pressure is only ~5 PSI at idle when I come off the track (oil temps normally 240-260*).

On Saturday I ran all the sessions with RA1's. First session was the best, with a best lap time of 1:56.6, and an optimal time of 1:55.8 (traffic was bad so it was hard to get clean laps). For Sunday I swapped to the RR's, and again the first session was the best. Had a best lap of 1:55.4 with an optimal of 1:54.7 (only got 2 clean laps, first lap out was the fastest). I had a 1:54.9 going on lap 4 but had to lift to get around someone between 6-5 and lost .9 sec. I need to dig into the data a bit more and look at the lateral and braking G's.

I'm still not sure about tire pressures for the RR's, and I didn't check to see what the cold pressures were before going out in the first session. I think they were 29psi front and 28psi rear, and they were pretty consistent for the 6 laps I ran. As it got warmer I kept bumping the cold pressures down and ended up getting as low as 24psi front and 25psi rear. If I had to make a decision right now I would probably go with 26psi all around cold. I have no clue what my hot temps were as I was having to hop out of my car and into a student's.

It's not racing, but here's the video of the 55.4 and the 55.8 on lap 4 where I had to lift if anyone is interested. I also have the TraqMate data if anyone wants to take a look at it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3xntwthB_I

[michaelmosty]

Wow Kevin, nice drive.........wow.

[blk96gt]

Thanks Michael. The weather really couldn't have been any better. Mid 60's in the morning, but got up to mid-high 80's in the afternoon. Track would get greasy about 1:00.

Anyone else have any comments on RR tire pressures? I know Mike P. said to start low, but couldn't remember where he was running his cold pressures. He was running nitrogen in his tires so he would have less pressure increase than I will with normal air. Would a heavier car generally warrant lower pressures, or is there no real rule and it comes down to preference?

[Trublu]

Impressive mate. Any less gear changes and you might as well stick an automatic box in there. What rear end gearing are you running?

[mach1]

So the PDS event at TWS was short on instructors this weekend so ended up going back for another run at CW. During the race weekend I noticed I used about a quart of oil over the weekend. Ended up using about a quart this weekend over the course of 9 sessions. I finally looked under the car yesterday afternoon and realized the car has been puking oil out from somewhere on the drivers side. I'm hoping this explains why my oil pressure is only ~5 PSI at idle when I come off the track (oil temps normally 240-260*).

On Saturday I ran all the sessions with RA1's. First session was the best, with a best lap time of 1:56.6, and an optimal time of 1:55.8 (traffic was bad so it was hard to get clean laps). For Sunday I swapped to the RR's, and again the first session was the best. Had a best lap of 1:55.4 with an optimal of 1:54.7 (only got 2 clean laps, first lap out was the fastest). I had a 1:54.9 going on lap 4 but had to lift to get around someone between 6-5 and lost .9 sec. I need to dig into the data a bit more and look at the lateral and braking G's.

I'm still not sure about tire pressures for the RR's, and I didn't check to see what the cold pressures were before going out in the first session. I think they were 29psi front and 28psi rear, and they were pretty consistent for the 6 laps I ran. As it got warmer I kept bumping the cold pressures down and ended up getting as low as 24psi front and 25psi rear. If I had to make a decision right now I would probably go with 26psi all around cold. I have no clue what my hot temps were as I was having to hop out of my car and into a student's.

It's not racing, but here's the video of the 55.4 and the 55.8 on lap 4 where I had to lift if anyone is interested. I also have the TraqMate data if anyone wants to take a look at it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3xntwthB_I

What the... you must be confused, I think you had sticker A6's for those runs, great job!!!

[BryanL]

That's rough Dan. Definitely should have just had it removed. I don't have a scan of my after x-ray but think it maybe on here somewhere. I do have a pic on here after the second surgery of pin removal and tendon graft. .

[blk96gt]

Impressive mate. Any less gear changes and you might as well stick an automatic box in there. What rear end gearing are you running?
3.27's. Even when I had the 3.73's I'd stay in 4th up to the carousal and downshift to third, then short shift back to fourth up the hill going into 9. I would stay in fourth until turn 3 and downshift to third. Not long after I was back in fourth before turn 2.

For me I've found that the less I shift the better. It's likely because I don't shift fast enough, but trying to shift quickly ends up causing me to try to drive more aggressively and less smooth, so I just avoid it unless I have to. I also seem to lose time when I shift, especially going from 2-3/3-2 or 4-5/5-4. I'm afraid I'll miss and go to to 2nd on the 5-4 downshift or 1st on the 2-3 upshift.

Also, while not a "real" car, I noticed in iRacing with the Miata around Lime Rock it wasn't worth it to downshift into 3rd for the first couple turns. I would be able to get into the sweet spot for the RPM in 3rd, but I had to get everything perfect to actually gain time. I found I was much more consistent staying in 4th, and I'll take consistency every time over nailing the perfect sector to gain .1 of a second one every five times (and usually lose .1 when I don't get it). I think the same thing applies to "real" driving.

[Fbody383]

It's not racing, but here's the video of the 55.4 and the 55.8 on lap 4 where I had to lift if anyone is interested. I also have the TraqMate data if anyone wants to take a look at it. Ok, that's it... all my stuff is for sale.

Dude, thanks for sharing that. I too wonder if I shift too much and probably do.

I think you should miss Hallett... we don't have any fun and the racing is dull and boring.

[mach1]

3.27's. Even when I had the 3.73's I'd stay in 4th up to the carousal and downshift to third, then short shift back to fourth up the hill going into 9. I would stay in fourth until turn 3 and downshift to third. Not long after I was back in fourth before turn 2.

For me I've found that the less I shift the better. It's likely because I don't shift fast enough, but trying to shift quickly ends up causing me to try to drive more aggressively and less smooth, so I just avoid it unless I have to. I also seem to lose time when I shift, especially going from 2-3/3-2 or 4-5/5-4. I'm afraid I'll miss and go to to 2nd on the 5-4 downshift or 1st on the 2-3 upshift.

Also, while not a "real" car, I noticed in iRacing with the Miata around Lime Rock it wasn't worth it to downshift into 3rd for the first couple turns. I would be able to get into the sweet spot for the RPM in 3rd, but I had to get everything perfect to actually gain time. I found I was much more consistent staying in 4th, and I'll take consistency every time over nailing the perfect sector to gain .1 of a second one every five times (and usually lose .1 when I don't get it). I think the same thing applies to "real" driving.

I am going to get my data overlay on my video ASAP, I can't wait to compare our vids.
I whipped up a quick site just for that reason, you can side by side 2 youtube videos and get em sync'd up
http://dualvid.com/?vid_id=4h

[blk96gt]

Ok, that's it... all my stuff is for sale.

Dude, thanks for sharing that. I too wonder if I shift too much and probably do.

I think you should miss Hallett... we don't have any fun and the racing is dull and boring.

I hope I wasn't implying that I think shifting is slower. What I should have clarified is that, for me, shifting will sometimes slow me down. This is due to lack of confidence in my shifting abilities and wanting to focus on other things. My belief is that focusing on the braking zone, proper line and maximizing mid-corner speed should be worked on first, followed by optimizing shift points, although this may be the wrong way to go about it, so please correct me if I'm wrong.

One example for me is Turn 7 going CW. I started out short shifting into fourth going up the hill to 9 just before turn in. Once I got the line down through 9-8 I started shifting between 8-7, with the shift point getting later and later. My ultimate goal is to shift right at turn in and use the weight transfer to rotate the car for turn-in. That should slow me down just enough to make the turn-in and get back on the gas, minimizing the time off throttle. I'm just not very consistent with my entry in to 7, and I will be carrying more speed through by shifting just before turn in.

I won't be making Hallet this year, but hopefully next year I'll be able to make it. I am still debating on making nationals at Road Atlanta though.

Tyler: That's a pretty sweet tool you made. I'll have to bookmark that.

[Fbody383]

...although this may be the wrong way to go about it, so please correct me if I'm wrong. Certainly nothing wrong with it last race. I was agreeing that having too much going on may be taking time out.

I still struggle with "value," knowing what to give away when to get more back somewhere else.

I'm glad you're not coming to Hallett this year... we'll make fun at your expense, and that's one place higher for my finish. <<PPPpbbbbtttttt!!!!>>

[blk96gt]

For some dumb reason I decided I needed to get rid of and clean up some of the wiring on the car. Pulled the split loom off for most of the engine compartment wires last night. Majority of the headlight wiring is now gone from the engine bay, along with some other stuff that I'm not sure what it went to (wasn't plugged in to anything). Going to work on unpinning wires from the power distribution fuse box tonight, then work my way inside the car and behind the dash. From what I can tell as long as I leave the PATS system untouched I should be OK. Still would prefer to be able to disable it with a tune though.

The main goal of this endeavor is to attempt to make the wiring as simple as possible. If there are any wiring experts in Houston that don't have anything do this weekend (or non-experts that just want to come drink beer and point out what I'm doing wrong), feel free to swing by.

1434
1435

[blk96gt]

Got the majority of the unneeded wires out of the engine bay yesterday. Dropped the number of fuses in the engine compartment fuse box from 15 to 8, and will likely end up dumping a couple more before I'm finished. Today I started working inside the car and have pulled the majority of the harness wrap off, as well as a large number of unused connectors and wires. Now it's just a matter of following the rest of the connectors to their point of origin and pulling the pins. The easy way would be to just cut the wires, but I'm trying to make this not look like shit.

Only major headache so far was after I pulled the dash off, I realized the cage ran through both the passenger and driver side dash support brackets. I didn't have an issue cutting the passenger side, but the drivers side I was hesitant about since it supports the steering column. Once I dropped the steering column and unbolted the bracket I was able to move it around and access the majority of the harness.

In case anyone was wondering why I didn't order something similar to a painless harness, it's because nobody makes one for a 4.6. The closest I've found is this Telorvek harness (http://www.ronfrancis.com/prodinfo.asp?number=MG-91). I wasn't about to pay $870 for it though, although it would be nice. If for some reason I hose this up to the point where the car won't run, the Telorvek harness is my backup plan. The site says you have to tune out PATS, but if you call them they will include the appropriate wiring for it. My goal is not to go that route.

A couple progress pics. My plan of attack has pretty much been been starting at all the connectors that aren't plugged in and working my way back to where they start.

Dash/steering column bracket still attached. The harness runs behind that big tube, then down to the interior fuse panel and a few other places. One of my goals is to relocate that fuse box to make in more accessible (Yes I see the unpainted cage tubing, planning to remedy that before everything goes back together).
1438

Steering column dropped and harness access!
1439

Harness wrap removed to reveal a wonderful mess...
1440

As a final note, if anyone ever decides to build a 4.6 car, do all this BEFORE the cage is put in. The cage makes accessing the interior harness a huge pain in the ass. The ideal time would be right before you go to get the cage installed, since you have to get most of the shit out of the car anyways.

[kbrewmr2]

Cruised through the 2014 One Lap of America results and spotted a familiar set of names that came in 14th overall. Great run for a 1st time effort.

http://onelapofamerica.com/event/CumResultsOverall.do?eventId=33

[Fbody383]

Was having lunch at Whataburger and heard a woman yelling at one of her kids, "Sit you ass back down! We don't act like that in a restaurant."

[AI#97]

Cruised through the 2014 One Lap of America results and spotted a familiar set of names that came in 14th overall. Great run for a 1st time effort.

http://onelapofamerica.com/event/CumResultsOverall.do?eventId=33

Yep. We are still recovering from the beating which is 3500 miles in the car, most of which are on crappy northeast roads, and another 2200 in the truck/trailer. We feel pretty accomplished considering we had the lowest wheel hp of the cars in the top 28....some by a good bit and did it on the second narrowest tire in the field with 245's. Even the other subarus may have had 100 hp on us at the wheels and were 400-600lbs lighter. Only car with a narrower tire was a bone stock BRZ on 235's. Considering the car in 8th place was a full on world challenge Merc SLS and some of the GTR's had 800 HP, not too shabby. Looking at the individual results we scored as high as 8th at two events and averaged 12th-14th at the rest. The one Camaro SS that finished below us would put some of the nicest AI cars to shame with it's dry sump LS7, aero and weight savings. It was a blast doing more new tracks in 7 days than we had done in 10 years....combined! Only track either of us had been to was Mid Ohio and it had been 6 years since I had been there. The event format doesn't translate to a lot of track time, but the transits between are the adventure, especially for Husband and Wife. I think we are going to have to return to a few of these tracks with the big cars and do some ludicrous speed.

We felt we punched well above our weight class with the little grocery getter station wagon. We are already looking ahead to next year and another 100-150 hp. Made some good friends this year and can't wait to see what Brock has in store for us next year. Only 11 and a half months to prepare! Maybe the racecars get moth-balled for a while for wholesale upgrades on the Subaru!!!!

[Rob Liebbe]

Very cool - congrats to Matt and Misty!

[marshall_mosty]

Sounds like you had an awesome time. It's very rare for a husband/wife to share the same passion. That's really cool. It doesn't surprise me though since you met at the track (at least that is what I surmised)... :)

[y5e06]

I was pondering Aero for the Fat Bird today when i saw this on my way home.
duh. home depot parts....

[AllZWay]

Very cool - congrats to Matt and Misty!

Ditto!! Very cool. I would like to do this sometime.

[kbrewmr2]

Ditto!! Very cool. I would like to do this sometime.

Don't wait until you're too old or anything or wait until you've got the right car or whatever other excuse you can think of. Just get a reliable car that will handle the transits & track stuff and go for the experience your first year. M&Ms route of using a somewhat stock WRX STi is perfect. It's a pretty incredible experience. You'll either figure out it's for you and have that year of experience under your belt to really truly *know* what the event is about and what sort of machine, mods package, etc you want or you'll have it crossed off your bucket list and on to the next challenge.

I did it in '07 as part of an already established team (Neon SRT-4 with about ~400whp) so my experience was a little less trial-by-fire-learn-from-your-mistakes which had its upsides and downsides. Since we weren't new just a couple new team members there was that pressure that we should do even better especially from the car owner / main driver. Didn't get as much driving time as part of a 3 man rotation either that was heavy rotation with the car owner taking tracks he had done before and leaving us newbs splitting up the tracks that were new to the whole team. But it was still a fun experience especially at the end of the event coming in 5th overall and 1st in class. The driving I got to do at Hallett in the mist first time ever in the car at speed period and then having to recalibrate for the dry 2nd session (to come in 11th), the drag stuff, etc. plus just the overall experience of making it through the event itself was something anybody will carry with them for their lives.

I'm itching to do another run at it, even in a car that may not even be competitive in stock class, it was that fun to me anyways.

[michaelmosty]

I pulled the engine on Sunday and found a little issue:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152629529563243&set=pcb.10152629530138243&type=1&theater

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152629528828243&set=pcb.10152629530138243&type=1&theater

The motor started running bad in qual so I came in early. Looked through the plugs, pushrods, rockers, etc and didn't see anything wrong. Since all 8 plugs looked good at that time I guess the valve came apart some time on the out lap or lap 1 of the first race. I guess the motor finally let go fully when the side of the cylinder wall broke apart.
It is funny to think the motor actually started up and ran for a second on Saturday night. Amazing what a few beers will make you do, haha.

[marshall_mosty]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/t1.0-9/10401585_10152629528828243_4833957040854476789_n.j pg
https://scontent-b-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1.0-9/10301966_10152629529563243_3058553541406587029_n.j pg

The lump next to the spark plug is the head of the exhaust valve...

[Rsmith350]

^^^^^looks like a coffee table waiting to happen :) ^^^^^^^^^^

[ShadowBolt]

I pulled the engine on Sunday and found a little issue:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152629529563243&set=pcb.10152629530138243&type=1&theater

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152629528828243&set=pcb.10152629530138243&type=1&theater

The motor started running bad in qual so I came in early. Looked through the plugs, pushrods, rockers, etc and didn't see anything wrong. Since all 8 plugs looked good at that time I guess the valve came apart some time on the out lap or lap 1 of the first race. I guess the motor finally let go fully when the side of the cylinder wall broke apart.
It is funny to think the motor actually started up and ran for a second on Saturday night. Amazing what a few beers will make you do, haha.

pre-Karma for what you guys were going to do to my car the next night.

JJ

[Hood]

Got news... you either broke a valve spring first or lost/failed the lock. When the valve dropped into the cylinder, it broke the head off and bounced around in there until it got the piston and cylinder. I had the same EXACT thing happen at MSR Houston in 2010. Since any valve spring is allowed on these engines, use a double that can be shimmed to within .090 of coil bind. Check retainer to valve stem seal clearance at full open to avoid problems too.

[Trublu]

Jet lag equals opportunity to spend uninterrupted shop time in the wee hours of the morning without even a yawn

[smitty328]

Got my new slave cylinder/throwout bearing, new spacers, put everything in, got the transmission back in, exhaust back on all in record time (for me). I get to go do it all again, because the F ing Ford POS throwought bearing leaks hydraulic fluid all over the place! Are you F ing kidding me! F*&#!!!

[marshall_mosty]

Sorry Mark... I had the same thing. With the new rack and pinion that went in, came back out, went in, came back out... Finally realized the rack casing was different between the two racks. Swapped the hard lines, ground a little off the new rack and after about 4 hours of f'n with it, it's in the car and all is well.

Built a mini tire rack on the front of the trailer for 2 tires. Now I can bring 2 trailer spares, a full set of rains, and a full set of drys...

[Pranav]

Got the rebuilt motor on the stand and started bolting stuff on it.

Went to a friend's kid's 1st birthday party and realized I was the only "bachelor" there. Damn getting old sucks.

Went back home afterwards to finish bolting up stuff. Letting the RTV cure some more before filling it up, priming it, and dropping the car on to it (get it? haha). Stretch goal is to get a late evening spin around the block tomorrow then dyno later this week.

[y5e06]

After 2 other ditched versions and much dilly dallying i finally finished my brake ducts for the Dulaney C6 Hub adapters and LS1 12 brakes. They aren't the prettiest as welding Al really is tough at times.
the amount of work to make something like this from scratch was immense especially considering the odd shape of the adapters and limited space from running 12" rotors. I have much respect for the product and price point for any of the Blaine Fab ducts (which I replaced).
They'll get tested at Hallett...

oh and i might have a pair of brand new, never mounted, timken f-body hubs available.

[Fbody383]

After 2 other ditched versions and much dilly dallying i finally finished my brake ducts for the Dulaney C6 Hub adapters and LS1 12 brakes. Fancy hubs, sticky tires, AND bumpsteer kit??? At least paint part of it orange so I can say something nice.

Now I may have to throw Sean's 3rd gen style rebuildables on the 39.

[rleng1]

Great. Hallet would not be Hallet without Morgan testing out a new brake package. May be a good year to sit this one out. may want to consider giving the Morg a finger point-by.

[smitty328]

Got up this morning and it was kinda cool outside, so I decided to go put my trans back in before work. Got everything back together and the throwout bearing seal broke again! Went back out after work and put the original throwout bearing (too long) back in but it works! Trans in and out three times since Saturday, what a pain. Hopefully it stays together for Hallett.

[marshall_mosty]

Got up this morning and it was kinda cool outside, so I decided to go put my trans back in before work. Got everything back together and the throwout bearing seal broke again! Went back out after work and put the original throwout bearing (too long) back in but it works! Trans in and out three times since Saturday, what a pain. Hopefully it stays together for Hallett.

Mark,
I had a few times where mine came out in short succession. When it explodes at TWS a few years back, it rolled off the trailer and I had the trans on the ground and pulled apart in less than an hour. Kinda sad I had done it enough to keep the time down to that... <sigh>

[David Love AI27]

Mark,
I had a few times where mine came out in short succession. When it explodes at TWS a few years back, it rolled off the trailer and I had the trans on the ground and pulled apart in less than an hour. Kinda sad I had done it enough to keep the time down to that... <sigh>

Thats why I finish putting it back together Saturday mornings... that way everything is still fresh in my mind

[kbrewmr2]

NASA Mid Atlantic had a rough weekend

http://www.nasaracing.net/?p=3665

[David Love AI27]

saw one of the original Batmobiles

[Fbody383]

NASA Mid Atlantic had a rough weekend

http://www.nasaracing.net/?p=3665


http://www.your4state.com/story/d/story/deputies-release-identities-involved-in-fatal-cras/22505/E1ISa3iYBE-k0_5mfp9cAQ

I hate to see that; 67 is young in this day and age. For you guys that instruct, especially in street cars, please do not be bashful about getting out of a car if a student refuses to take direction. I'm not implying that happened in this case but it is true in others.

I understand that accidents happen and have a personal philosophy that "life is not a risk free proposition," but YOU as an instructor don't have an obligation to ride with idiots.

On a better note, Orange has new brakes all around, better IATs than Pranav... and some '09 dated 16s for Friday practice.

[marshall_mosty]

http://www.your4state.com/story/d/story/deputies-release-identities-involved-in-fatal-cras/22505/E1ISa3iYBE-k0_5mfp9cAQ

I hate to see that; 67 is young in this day and age. For you guys that instruct, especially in street cars, please do not be bashful about getting out of a car if a student refuses to take direction. I'm not implying that happened in this case but it is true in others.

I understand that accidents happen and have a personal philosophy that "life is not a risk free proposition," but YOU as an instructor don't have an obligation to ride with idiots.

On a better note, Orange has new brakes all around, better IATs than Pranav... and some '09 dated 16s for Friday practice.

http://www.your4state.com/media/lib/180/a/b/b/abb54fc5-7804-4944-9847-a259b3168c97/Original.jpg

[Rob Liebbe]

Most tragic indeed and one reason I don't like to instruct anymore. Additionally, I've never been to this track but I wonder why they were able to hit a tree. Are trees that close to the track, did they go over a guardrail, was the tree protected by a guardrail or wall, etc.? I know Todd's wild ride ended up in the trees, but they were very far off the track.

[kbrewmr2]

Was on Shennendoa which is part of Summit Point's facility (in WV) if you wish to check it all out. There's quite a few threads on different boards casting stones in many directions and don't want this one to get off on those sorts of tangents though.

We're spoiled with literally Texas sized runoff room at our tracks....

I stopped instructing because I wasn't real good at recongnizing the when I needed to reel a student in. Thankfully just hurt cars and bruised egos, but I still felt so bad about it and about letting down the instructor corps and orgs that I instructed for that I stopped. I recongized that I was a good "coach" kind of person that would be perfect for the student that had car control and pace down and just needed help on where to work on going faster but no real place for that sort of stuff in DE1/2 though.

Events like this are especially sobering because it causes me to replay the minor crashes I did have in the passenger seat with a "what if" sorta spooky angle added on top.

[Fbody383]

There's quite a few threads on different boards casting stones in many directions and don't want this one to get off on those sorts of tangents though. I do think it's useful to bring up and I hadn't seen/heard of the incident before you did.

Almost a Catch-22 in that "we" need instructors to get people competent to come race if that's what they want to do.

And it wasn't that long ago the Mustang got upside down at Hallett and punch the main hoop through the floor... http://jalopnik.com/5390929/mustang-crash-gallery/ so even with some "runoff room," things can still go awry.

Never hurts to review risk.

[kbrewmr2]

You're definitely right, things can go awry no matter experienced or first time out there ever.

[Trublu]

Sobering moment indeed. Speculation always seems to give an obvious result but proper investigation should yield cause and recommend measures of prevention.

That said, irrespective of the cause of this incident, discussion around safety and ways of improving it are important even if the conclusion is no change required.

I've never instructed but I can imagine there'd be some ass puckering moments and the desire to reprimand a someone who's pushing well past capabilities is probably tempered by wanting them to succeed. There's also some very fast road cars being pushed very hard, that have had a lot of money spent on performance and very little spent on safety....

In my industry our progression in safety is on the back of many lives lost, perhaps the outcome here will be a change in HPDE criteria or perhaps not but the mere fact that healthy discussion is taking place means a life was spent but perhaps not in vain.

[marshall_mosty]

Seeing any sort of incident has made me reevaluate my safety gear. Whether it is adding roll cage after Master's thesis on rally car cage design and truly understanding the importance of main hoop kicker cars going to the back of the car in order to dissipate a side impact. Or adding. Additional door bars to the door sill area...

My desire to wear both long sleeve nonmex underwear along with 3 later suit "just incase"...

Having a full fire system instead of just the minimum requirement of a hand held bottle.

[Fbody383]

There's also some very fast road cars being pushed very hard, that have had a lot of money spent on performance and very little spent on safety.... Maybe there's some room there to improve. Drag racing uses ETs to baseline safety, open road does top/average speed. We don't normally have a way to measure straightaway speeds or cornering speeds but segment/lap times might be useful.

Marshall, I might just have to read that...

[marshall_mosty]

This isn't the thesis I was trying to find, but a good read, and based on the NASA CCR's.
https://drc.libraries.uc.edu/bitstream/handle/2374.UC/689418/MET2011_Carter_Ryan.pdf?sequence=1

[y5e06]

two things:
wish we (CMC) could add shock tower tubes for added rigidity and longevity to the chassis.

damn, um, that is a lot of panel 'rearrangement' to get that cage built....

[Alien]

Looks like Marshall's flight got cancelled.

http://www.bustle.com/articles/27700-mans-hilarious-all-by-myself-video-at-las-vegas-airport-perfectly-depicts-flight-delay-loneliness

[marshall_mosty]

Looks like Marshall's flight got cancelled.

http://www.bustle.com/articles/27700-mans-hilarious-all-by-myself-video-at-las-vegas-airport-perfectly-depicts-flight-delay-loneliness

I'm impressed the guy knew all the words.

[Rob Liebbe]

Stuck in LV airport all night - when the strip is a cab ride away. I don't get it.

[marshall_mosty]

Spent the day at the shop getting things ready for Hallett. Helped Michael gets his back together. It's getting very close.

[Fbody383]

Another front hub purchased and installed for Hallett... on the tow truck.

Adjusted the sub-belts so the adjuster doesn't hit the through hole in the seat and self-adjust-looser.

Gave Ross crap about something or another.

Sean welded up a crossmember from the E1 4hour enduro winning 92 CMC Camaro.

[marshall_mosty]

Michael Schumacher is out of his induced coma and has been transported to a rehabilitation hospital.
http://news.yahoo.com/schumacher-coma-leaves-french-hospital-spokeswoman-095019931--spt.html

[ShadowBolt]

Michael Schumacher is out of his induced coma and has been transported to a rehabilitation hospital.
http://news.yahoo.com/schumacher-coma-leaves-french-hospital-spokeswoman-095019931--spt.html

Just last week I read where a doctor said he doubted he would ever wake up.

JJ

[Fbody383]

http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2014/07/08/sheriff-intoxicated-woman-rode-stolen-horse-to-failed-shoplifting-attempt/

Surprised to find out this wasn't in north Texas...

[Rob Liebbe]

http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2014/07/08/sheriff-intoxicated-woman-rode-stolen-horse-to-failed-shoplifting-attempt/

Surprised to find out this wasn't in north Texas...

She stole Keystone Light!?!?!?! Stupid is as stupid does. :D

[marshall_mosty]

She stole Keystone Light!?!?!?! Stupid is as stupid does. :D
Modified slightly...


Collin County, TX. (CBS DALLAS) – A Texas man drunkenly drove his race car to a convenience store, where authorities say he attempted to shoplift items and then drive off on the beer-laden car.

Michael Mosty, 37, was charged with public intoxication and possession of a prohibited beverage after Collin County Sheriff’s deputies said he failed to shoplift items from the Exxon store on Saturday, WFAA-TV reports.

When deputies arrived, Mosty was being held with the items he allegedly attempted to steal, along with his race car, parked sideways outside – with three cans of Keystone Light beer stuffed into the cool suit cooler in a Walmart bag.

Collin County Sheriff Joe Schmoe said Mosty will likely face additional charges for the incident.
But convenience store items were not the only things that Mosty allegedly took Saturday evening – the race car was also not his. Harris said that the car was returned to its rightful owner (Mosty’s wife) and had declined to press charges against her husband.

Mosty, of Richardson, received the two charges for not only being drunk, but also hiding the three cans of Keystone Light in the cool suit. NASA CCR regulations specically prohibit alcohol to be consumed while operating a competition vehicle…

“This is all very, very sad”, stated Mosty. “I was in a depressive mood ever since Bryan Leinart failed to ski across the turtle pond at our Summer Shootout at the Hallett Motor Racing Circuit”.

Bryan Leinart has been known for his on and off track antics ranging from trying to order take-out during a race at the Hallett Café as well as wake boarding on a cooler lid during a rainstorm at a previous NASA event. Mosty failed to comment on whether the cooler lid Leinart was using for wake boarding belonged to him and once housed Keystone Light.

[kbrewmr2]

http://www.reactiongifs.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/slow_clap_citizen_kane.gif

[Fbody383]

Modified slightly... If it was unopened cans in the cooler it was just for thermal mass, and therefore allowed.

[Trublu]

Ah yes, we really should plan an AI/CMC trip to the Mountain
http://www.motorsportretro.com/2012/04/ford-xy-gtho/

[Casey_SS]

Ah yes, we really should plan an AI/CMC trip to the Mountain
http://www.motorsportretro.com/2012/04/ford-xy-gtho/

That would be spectacular. I'll see your video and raise you another one :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJCE-0CnoVA

[marshall_mosty]

And another...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR6PXvhXTj0

[AI#97]

Ah yes, we really should plan an AI/CMC trip to the Mountain
http://www.motorsportretro.com/2012/04/ford-xy-gtho/

LOL! Sort of reminds me of the full field inverts that used to happen in 06-07.

I really want to drive that track someday in something with some balls....not a micro rental car!

[Fbody383]

Well, Saturday night/Sunday morning actually, needed to put together some Sunday lunch...

Work friend sold me on a Traeger pellet smoker. Couple batches of ribs have been excellent but needed to get a brisket done. I used their brand dry rub and let it sit in the fridge about 8 hours.

Let it smoke/180 degrees-ish with a quick spray on the hour for the first three and a bowl of water in the smoker for some moistsure. Used a 1/2 apple juice, 1/2 apple cider vinegar and a little worse-ta-shista-shire combo in a spray bottle. Checked on pellets, progress, and a little spritz around 4:00am and all looked good. Got up around 7:00 expecting temp to be 175-180 and need a couple more hours. Nope. 205ish... little more than I wanted that early but no choice to pull it off.

Wrapped in foil and let it sit for about 40 minutes. On second thought I won't slice the next one until we're ready to eat, but hey, live and learn. Wrapped up tight in foil and into the warming drawer in the oven.

My mom brought green beans and the Brother in law/sis in law brought the potatoes - could cut it with a fork and we all ate it without sauce.

So who's got a brisket rub they really like?

I think the worcestershire sauce was the flavor I could do without, and too much chunky garlic in the rub.

[BlueFirePony]

Well, Saturday night/Sunday morning actually, needed to put together some Sunday lunch...

Work friend sold me on a Traeger pellet smoker. Couple batches of ribs have been excellent but needed to get a brisket done. I used their brand dry rub and let it sit in the fridge about 8 hours.

Let it smoke/180 degrees-ish with a quick spray on the hour for the first three and a bowl of water in the smoker for some moistsure. Used a 1/2 apple juice, 1/2 apple cider vinegar and a little worse-ta-shista-shire combo in a spray bottle. Checked on pellets, progress, and a little spritz around 4:00am and all looked good. Got up around 7:00 expecting temp to be 175-180 and need a couple more hours. Nope. 205ish... little more than I wanted that early but no choice to pull it off.

Wrapped in foil and let it sit for about 40 minutes. On second thought I won't slice the next one until we're ready to eat, but hey, live and learn. Wrapped up tight in foil and into the warming drawer in the oven.

My mom brought green beans and the Brother in law/sis in law brought the potatoes - could cut it with a fork and we all ate it without sauce.

So who's got a brisket rub they really like?

I think the worcestershire sauce was the flavor I could do without, and too much chunky garlic in the rub.
To your question:
I use a rub I make that is basically a typical 11 season mix with paprika, cumin, garlic, cinnamon and so forth - same rub for beef and pork though depending on the audience I might spice it up more on the brisket or add a more fruity finish for the pork.
For a great off-the-shelf pork or steak rub, I really like John Henries Pecan rub....yummm.

Now for all the other stuff I know you were just jonesing to ask ;)

One key to good brisket (same for all cooking I guess) is prep.
Look for a brisket with good marbling and probably more fat than you think should be there. A good meat will always out perform a poor meat no matter how much seasoning, sauce and magic you throw at it.
And it does not mean you have to buy a $50 brisket. My best brisket has come from our yearly cow, but I've found excellent packers at Sam's for around $35 and flats for under $2.25/lb. I check out the product at our local stores regularly (Sams, Krogers, etc.) and when I find a good selection I fill up my freezer.

When you prep the brisket leave about a 1/4 inch of fat on the bottom but trim everything else. A good marbled brisket will just cook beautifully even with just salt and pepper.

If you are cooking a whole packer, you may want to inject the flat - when I do a whole I use a beef broth with a little ground (fine) garlic...let sit at least 4 hours or overnight if you can.
If you are just cooking a flat, skip the injection and go straight to rub. For the last year or so I've been usually cutting the tip off the packer and cooking it separately from the flat. Seems to make managing the cook easier.

The rub is intended to help create a bark that will aid in keeping moisture in and render the fat evenly. It will of course aid in the flavor profile as well so that's where various ingredients come in.

I lather the brisket with mayonnaise or spread butter (I use mustard on the pork) and then sprinkle the meat heavily with the rub. The combo of the rub and spread make for a nice thick bark and help keep the first 1/8 of the meat from drying out too fast.

Depending on schedule, I get a fire-side temp of 300-325 and the other end 200-220.
For the smoke we use a mix of hickory and plum. Probably the best subtle smoke mix there is. I know there is all sorts of people with conviction that say mesquite is the best or oak but I find them too overpowering. For the fruit you can't go wrong with pecan or cherry. I've also experimented with orange, peach and other fruits.
We also use a good lump charcoal to keep a stable temp (we also have ceramic bricks wrapped in tinfoil lining the bottom of the smoker).
Make sure the wood is good and dry and ideally no bark. Freshly cut wood will contribute to the creation of creosote and so too will moisture trapped between the wood bulk and bark. Even if your wood is "good" you can create creosote with improper airflow for the fuel being consumed. A light thin smoke is what you are after (with a blue tinge) vs a heavy dark (white, yellow) smoke.

Ribs go on the low side, tip on the high and the flat in the middle - yardbirds, links and ABTs in the middle as well.

When spritzing I use is either 3/4 apple or 3/4 white grape juice, a smidge of soy sauce and the rest cooking oil.

Flat gets wrapped at the 4 hour mark, tip at the 6 or when it hits around 160-170 internal. After that you are not getting any more penetration from the smoke and the meat is basically steaming itself internally giving off a lot of the yummy internal juice (this is known as "the stall")
It's time to work the inside and get all that fat rendered - this is the next chance for you to adjust the flavor profile.
At this point I mop the brisket with our plum chipotle and wrap tightly...double wrap (make sure second layer is definitely shiny side in) and put fat side up so that the juices run down.

Shooting for an internal temp of 220F at max so look to pull the brisket at 200.
At this point you can again nudge the flavor profile.
Since all the "kick" in our plum chipotle will have been cooked out of the mopping while the brisket was cooking wrapped, I mop again now.
Then wrap with tinfoil and pack in cooler wrapped with towels - it will continue to cook and be oh so good.
I usually have a section of the brisket that I leave wrapped in the smoker for an extra couple hours for the "cook's" cut - aka moist cut. Its what the folks get that hang around drinking beer with the cook - its like candy :)

Ribs go either 3-2-1 or 2-2-1 depending on if I am lazy or trimmed for baby backs. Same concept for the ribs on the mop when wrapping - then mop again for the last hour they are unwrapped - remember to let the ribs sit for 20 minutes or so before serving to let them firm up...they will fall off the bone and some like that, but I call that pulled pork, not ribs :)

[Fbody383]

Thank you, sir. Knowledge base enhanced. The couple slabs of 3-2-1 ribs I have done have been pretty darn tasty.

[GlennCMC70]

Got my car running today. All seems well. Looking to do a open track day to get some rjn time on the motor. Then I should be ready for TWS.

[BlueFirePony]

The couple slabs of 3-2-1 ribs I have done have been pretty darn tasty. Glad to hear it! Yeah I really like the 3-2-1 (ala St Louis style cut) approach I seem to get more consistency but maybe it's just that there is more time to fix mistakes on the cook :confused:
Nowadays I really only use 2-2-1 if I am doing a whole mess of ribs or are really pressed for cook time - plus there is whole trimming exercise getting to baby backs and I am a lazy cook.

Now I just need to find a good source of plum for the fall...just about out of the wood we cut from our trees....I can find pretty much everything else around here but plum.

[Pranav]

Pulled down my 2nd 70 hour week in a row.

Oddly enough I find comfort in knowing I haven't touched/seen my car since Hallett.

[marshall_mosty]

Planning on heading to the shop to finish the brake upgrade on the trailer. Also, depending on timing, will start cutting AI #67 apart for the decoupled 3-link. The torque arm will remain in the car until the 3 link is fully ready. It's much easier to cover a hole and run an old design than remove the old design, have the hole, and nothing to tie it all together...

Also will be taking delivery of a 2015 Explorer Sport next week (Thanks to Dave Irwin at Tyler Ford!!!)... Will be interesting to see how fast Trina's "daily driver" will be compared to Michael's '09 Mustang after it gets a tune and puts 335HP and 375TQ to all four tires...

[Fbody383]

speechless...

http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2014/08/kevin_ward_jr_death_tony_stewart_ran_over_and_kill ed_a_fellow_driver_is.html

[Suck fumes]

That's why you never let your anger overcome your common sense. Sad day for both parties. Bad thing is Stewart has to live with himself.

[Tilton]

Took my car out to the Texas A&M Sports Car Club practice autocross on Saturday for some shake down runs. New motor felt strong and the car had some decent grip despite being on 3 year old RA1s. Big thanks to Gary for loaning my his trailer on short notice.

Still have a few odds and ends to finish up, buy a new(ish) trailer, and head to the dyno. Looking forward to getting back on track later this year.

[Fbody383]

Took my car... You mean it's not Wade's car?

Glad to have you back... I was getting too close to the front.

[mach1]

Took my car out to the Texas A&M Sports Car Club practice autocross on Saturday for some shake down runs. New motor felt strong and the car had some decent grip despite being on 3 year old RA1s. Big thanks to Gary for loaning my his trailer on short notice.

Still have a few odds and ends to finish up, buy a new(ish) trailer, and head to the dyno. Looking forward to getting back on track later this year.
I think you are trying to say 3yr old RA1's>Sticker RR's :)

[Fbody383]

I think you are trying to say 3yr old RA1's>Sticker RR's :) I will need to buy a set of tires soon enough... what's the consensus RA1 or RR? I just think it's going to rain every race.

[michaelmosty]

I was thinking the same question Dave. I was baffled at Hallett when the car felt worse than in the previous years, my times were about .5-.75 slower than the previous 3 years. Then I read that all the TT guys were killing their track records b/c of the new track surface this year.
Did anyone feel the RR's were faster? Could it be the RR's are faster on some tracks but slower on other tracks?

I do not claim to know anything about tire compounds but I know Bryan Curtis switched back to RA1's for both races Sunday and he said they felt better than his newer RR's. My RA1's have over 3 full events on them, and if they had been newer I would have definitely given them a shot to compare.
I am going to try both tires at NOLA, RR's with 8 heat cycles and RA1's with over 20 heat cycles, and see the time difference b/w both.

I also thought the RR's would have a big advantage when it comes to braking but I feel there is no difference in stopping performance. I wonder if this tire is similar to a Hoosier than runs great for the first couple of heat cycles and then starts falling off after 3 or 4 cycles.

[Fbody383]

I am going to try both tires at NOLA, RR's with 8 heat cycles and RA1's with over 20 heat cycles, and see the time difference b/w both. Post up what you feel/find out data wise. I haven't been on RRs yet but don't see that they're consistently better. And if they like a smoother driving style, I should probably stay on the RA1s.

[ShadowBolt]

And if they like a smoother driving style, I should probably stay on the RA1s.

Same Same for me.
JJ

[Fbody383]

Registered for a garage at TWS... I figure $4 for the option to register for the event later was worth it.

If you want a garage anyway, why not register for it now?

[marshall_mosty]

Getting close to the newest evolution of AI #67... decoupled three link.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/10672349_10201483191521068_4498764541812460218_n.j pg?oh=197351d89fca39138ce3364758c7a903&oe=5466A2D9&__gda__=1417054260_fb05a3e35e8d6759c76a734cc3cf462 b

[kbrewmr2]

answering the "how'd you do" question isn't always fun

[Fbody383]

answering the "how'd you do" question isn't always fun You did fine. Better said, by all accounts YOU did fantastic.

Now you and Liebbe can both raise a toast to the dyno horsepower adjustment that would have had you lap the field.

[Rob Liebbe]

You did fine. Better said, by all accounts YOU did fantastic.

Now you and Liebbe can both raise a toast to the dyno horsepower adjustment that would have had you lap the field.

Dynos suck.

[BlueFirePony]

Had a major craving for chicken so took Mandy out and went to Babe's in Frisco. Love it when I get to drive that car :)

Need to find time to get the new side mirrors that Anna bought put on ...after insisting on keeping the original mirrors (to the point of flat mirror, no convex), Anna finally decided she wanted contemporary mirrors put on...I think it had a lot to do with me putting blind spot mirrors on so she could actually see! F'UGLY@@!!!
Of course she now is all about looks and chose some GT mirrors that are too small, so now I need to pull the doors, plug-weld the old holes and drill new holes for the new mirrors....gonna wait until I am ready to do a new paint job since the plug will look like shit otherwise....maybe over Christmas.

[Pranav]

Went to flush the brakes on the Tundra with my trusty motive bleeder. First the universal adapter wasn't seated right so it shifted and spewed brake fluid everywhere. Clean that mess up and continue on until I hear fluid spewing again. This time a hose on the bleeder ruptured and made a mess. Replaced the hose and cleaned everything up, and finished the job.

Now I can't find the freaking master cylinder cap after an hour of scouring the engine bay and garage. Ended up getting a generic dorman cap gasket and duct taped it in place until I can get over to the dealer on the way to work in the morning to pick up a new cap.

Just baffled as to where the cap went, and how a simple flexible rubber cap that has been on Toyotas since the early 2000s isn't available in parts stores...

[Supercharged111]

Took my turd off the trailer to make sure there's enough brake and tire and stuff to last through next weekend. The tow vehicle also received a newer style PCM. With the recent tweaks it's running stronger and even taunting me with increased fuel economy. The real test comes when I hook the trailer up. That pig weighs 4,600# empty!

[Fbody383]

Took my turd off the trailer to make sure there's enough brake and tire and stuff to last through next weekend. I watched video of getting passed by an R... oh, and them passing him back for good.

I need to look Orange over before TWS... maybe wipe some dirt off the primer.

[Supercharged111]

I watched video of getting passed by an R... oh, and them passing him back for good.

I need to look Orange over before TWS... maybe wipe some dirt off the primer.

But the fact remains you got passed by an R! I've not seen this video of you passing this illustrious rookie though, he sounds quite amazing. I think we'd get along.

[Pranav]

You guys and your "oh I'm gonna pull the car off the trailer, check the brakes/tires and wipe some dirt off"

I'm >>>THIS<<<< close to finally being able to show up to a race without having to remove/repair/replace/redo a big chunk of my car...

In January...

[Fbody383]

In January... 2016

[Supercharged111]

You guys and your "oh I'm gonna pull the car off the trailer, check the brakes/tires and wipe some dirt off"

I'm >>>THIS<<<< close to finally being able to show up to a race without having to remove/repair/replace/redo a big chunk of my car...

In January...

I neglect to mention I've temporatily given up chasing the reason why the car won't make the torque numbers because I'd rather just beat on it.

[smitty328]

You guys and your "oh I'm gonna pull the car off the trailer, check the brakes/tires and wipe some dirt off"

I'm >>>THIS<<<< close to finally being able to show up to a race without having to remove/repair/replace/redo a big chunk of my car...

In January...

I don't know how you do it all the time. I'm about to go pull my transmission for the 5th time this year. I think while I'm under there, I might put some C4 under the car and be done with it.

[Suck fumes]

Why so many issues? Thought T-56's were bullet proof.

[ShadowBolt]

I don't know how you do it all the time. I'm about to go pull my transmission for the 5th time this year. I think while I'm under there, I might put some C4 under the car and be done with it.


Call Tony at Astro he will take care of your issues.

JJ

[AI#97]

I don't know how you do it all the time. I'm about to go pull my transmission for the 5th time this year. I think while I'm under there, I might put some C4 under the car and be done with it.

Mark, what has been the failure? Synchros? The main issue with your setup is the rpms. Syncro's HATE shifting over 6500. Misty was rebuilding her T56 yearly until I found a good builder in San Antonio. Great build but had issues with heat even with a pump and cooler. We sold it and went Jerico. I ended up faceplating my T56 and love it...shifts fantastic at 7500 rpm. just not sure it's AI legal. If it is, you might be able to talk me out of it for about $2750...drop in and ready to rock and roll. Has 4 events on it. you might need a different clutch disc but I could include mine since the Jerico uses a 26 spline disc. I am thinking Jerico since we are putting one in Misty's car and honestly don't need the overdrives. It would be awesome if AI allows faceplating and you could be done with the issues.

[Supercharged111]

Don't the carbon blocker rings tolerate high RPM shifts better than the brass units?

On a side note, how long do your CMC pads last guys? My mind is blown here, I've run PPIR, PMP, Hallett (with a practice day), HPR, 2 practice days at PMP, and about to race at PMP next weekend. I still have enough pad to not check my brakes all next weekend. I never would have dreamed a set of Raybestos ST43 pads would do a whole season. Now the rotors on the other hand. . .

[mach1]

Call Tony at Astro he will take care of your issues.

JJ
X2 Tony is the man

[marshall_mosty]

I ended up faceplating my T56 and love it...shifts fantastic at 7500 rpm. just not sure it's AI legal.
Faceplating is NOT legal in AI, as it removes the syncros.

[Fbody383]

On a side note, how long do your CMC pads last guys?I get about a season - the issue is the car will eat the last 50% of a set really quick at Hallett and ECR so I try to remember to manage around those events | Carbotech XP8 front and OReilly ceramic in the rear... but i'm slow and uncompetitive.

[smitty328]

Why so many issues? Thought T-56's were bullet proof.


Mark, what has been the failure? Synchros?

I have no freaking idea! The short version of the long story is, it was brand new in December. MSRH was great, MSRC was good except when coming out of Wagon Wheel (at track out) it didn’t always want to go into third. When it happened, it was always at the same spot on track. TWS, it won’t go into fifth (first time to try it), same third gear issue coming out of carousel. Hallett, third gear issue coming out of T6. Road Atlanta, no third gear issues, no fifth. I’ve tried several different length throwout bearings, no change. A guy from Tremec is going to see if there is anything wrong internally.

[Supercharged111]

I get about a season - the issue is the car will eat the last 50% of a set really quick at Hallett and ECR so I try to remember to manage around those events | Carbotech XP8 front and OReilly ceramic in the rear... but i'm slow and uncompetitive.

Wow, the Carbotechs have a bad rap for longevity and you're squeezing a season out of the 8s? Impressive. You hit about 6 races in a season? We had a local guy try cheap pads out back and they lasted exactly 1 weekend at PPIR, out least brake-intensive local track. I never thought they'd go this long. I do need a softer pad out back, bias is all out and it's still a little sketchy on entry. I think I'd rather try bias as opposed to compromising spring rate for it.

[AI#97]

Faceplating is NOT legal in AI, as it removes the syncros.
Lol.....there are many with it done though. Trust me.

And the tech shed test to look for it only works MAYBE 5% of the time.....

[Fbody383]

Wow, the Carbotechs have a bad rap for longevity and you're squeezing a season out of the 8s?It's probably better to say Halett or ECR and three more events. I want them new for Hallett/ECR; once you get past 1/2 worn, they start to go fairly quickly. I bought a set of XP10s by mistake but may try them back to back with the 08s at TWS in a couple weeks.

In the meantime i'm going to get some big brakes and supa-light wheels with weld-on spacers after I tune the VATS out... ;)

[marshall_mosty]

I'm using PFC "Z-rated" street pads on the back of the AI car. There just isn't enough weight back there to use more brake. I can go 8-9 events on a set of rear pads.

Front PFC01's will last 3-5 events, depending on where ECR and Hallett land.

[smitty328]

I'm using PFC "Z-rated" street pads on the back of the AI car. There just isn't enough weight back there to use more brake. I can go 8-9 events on a set of rear pads.

Front PFC01's will last 3-5 events, depending on where ECR and Hallett land.

Mustangs have rear brakes?

[AI#97]

Mustangs have rear brakes?

Yep! and they work great too! I am running 13" rears with PFC97's with FULL pressure to the rear. I am currently trying a Stoptech Performance pad in the rear and they are working pretty good. If you aren't using the rear brakes, you are giving up a lot on track.

[AI#97]

I have no freaking idea! The short version of the long story is, it was brand new in December. MSRH was great, MSRC was good except when coming out of Wagon Wheel (at track out) it didn’t always want to go into third. When it happened, it was always at the same spot on track. TWS, it won’t go into fifth (first time to try it), same third gear issue coming out of carousel. Hallett, third gear issue coming out of T6. Road Atlanta, no third gear issues, no fifth. I’ve tried several different length throwout bearings, no change. A guy from Tremec is going to see if there is anything wrong internally.


Same BS issues we had with Misty's T56 for years. It was all about heat even after a good rebuild by my go to guy in San Antonio. You MUST run a cooler/pump. If we forgot to turn the pump on, 4 laps in and all the stuff you described happened. With the pump on, it would take 12-15 laps for it to happen as the trans aged. We also got rid of the shifter she had and went with MGW. It was a shorter throw and much more precise, but it required a firmer hand to get it in a gate. I put a pistol grip handle on it and increased the leverage and it was like butter after that! Was also nice to have the button on top for the reverse lockout release!

The stage 3 upgrade/rebuild we had done was around $1200 IIRC and took about 2 days. I was working in SA for the week and dropped it off on Tuesday and picked it up on Wednesday. Got 3 years out of it and was still working great at Hallett as long as the pump was on. Does your car have one of those goofy "remote" shifter linkages?

[Supercharged111]

It's probably better to say Halett or ECR and three more events. I want them new for Hallett/ECR; once you get past 1/2 worn, they start to go fairly quickly. I bought a set of XP10s by mistake but may try them back to back with the 08s at TWS in a couple weeks.

In the meantime i'm going to get some big brakes and supa-light wheels with weld-on spacers after I tune the VATS out... ;)

That car's too heavy for 8s, if I were still running Carbotechs I'd probably be on 12s. I do remember the 10s had better resolution, but the ST43 and DTC60 require less pedal effort to get the car whoad down and inspire more confidence in me at the end of a long straight. If my setup changes don't pan out, I think I'll just buy a 3rd gen and LS swap it instead.

[BlueFirePony]

I have no freaking idea! The short version of the long story is, it was brand new in December. MSRH was great, MSRC was good except when coming out of Wagon Wheel (at track out) it didn’t always want to go into third. When it happened, it was always at the same spot on track. TWS, it won’t go into fifth (first time to try it), same third gear issue coming out of carousel. Hallett, third gear issue coming out of T6. Road Atlanta, no third gear issues, no fifth. I’ve tried several different length throwout bearings, no change. A guy from Tremec is going to see if there is anything wrong internally.
Wow, does that sound familiar - though we were running a 5 speed (T3650). We did have syncro issues at first, but after that rebuild the problem came back.
At Dave G's recommendation we put a separate reservoir on for the slave and no problems after that. The S197 (at least the 2005) shares fluid between the slave cylinder and the brake hydraulics - we were running high temps on brake fluid and screwing the transmission.

[Fbody383]

That car's too heavy for 8s... You calling me fat? See, maybe that's why I got passed by a rookie. Maybe I'll break out of my shell and try something different... but probably not.

[rleng1]

Got the ole 77 etched and dyno'd today. Got the complete physical. Dyno'd 253 hp/ 303 tq, compared with 257/298 in Texas.
I run xp10 front, xp8 rears. No problems, no issues.

[Rob Liebbe]

Got the ole 77 etched and dyno'd today. Got the complete physical. Dyno'd 253 hp/ 303 tq, compared with 257/298 in Texas.
I run xp10 front, xp8 rears. No problems, no issues.


Wahoo!!!!!!

[ShadowBolt]

Got the ole 77 etched and dyno'd today. Got the complete physical. Dyno'd 253 hp/ 303 tq, compared with 257/298 in Texas.
I run xp10 front, xp8 rears. No problems, no issues.

"Etched"?


JJ

[Fbody383]

"Etched"Queens english... Cheerio, pip-pip ole chap.

[Supercharged111]

You calling me fat?

Your words.

[BryanL]

Got the ole 77 etched and dyno'd today. Got the complete physical. Dyno'd 253 hp/ 303 tq, compared with 257/298 in Texas.
I run xp10 front, xp8 rears. No problems, no issues.

So how did the ole 77 do in Colorado? Ready for another weekend?

[Rob Liebbe]

So how did the ole 77 do in Colorado? Ready for another weekend?

Wahoo Racing team meeting in Houston tonight, Brisket House, Woodway Dr. 6pm, be there or be square.

[Rob Liebbe]

Possible Ken Brewer sighting this morning - southbound 2978, approx. 6:10 am, red MR2 with a-pillar gages, TWS sticker and an AICMCTexas sticker driving really slow. I was ready to give it a bump draft until I saw the AICMC sticker.

[kbrewmr2]

I haven't owned a red MR2 in well over a year... sorry.

Sounds like a guy I know though...

[Rob Liebbe]

Tell him to speed up a bit, he was holding a long line of traffic on 2978. ;)

[GlennCMC70]

The benifits of having a wife who works for an orthopedic clinic full of doctors.............

Karlie fell at softball practice yesterday. Seemed like a sprained wrist. Decided to let it ride for the night and see how it felt this morning. She was still complaining this morning. Took her to school and Tami went to work to see if one of the docs could see her. He said yes. I picked her up from school at 10 and we had her back in school by noon and we had a nice lunch on the way back. She got x rays, discovered it was broke, got it cast and had lunch and back in class in 2 hours.

[marshall_mosty]

The benifits of having a wife who works for an orthopedic clinic full of doctors.............

Karlie fell at softball practice yesterday. Seemed like a sprained wrist. Decided to let it ride for the night and see how it felt this morning. She was still complaining this morning. Took her to school and Tami went to work to see if one of the docs could see her. He said yes. I picked her up from school at 10 and we had her back in school by noon and we had a nice lunch on the way back. She got x rays, discovered it was broke, got it cast and had lunch and back in class in 2 hours.

Hope she heals quickly. Garrett (youngest) had a buckle fracture of his left wrist a few year ago when he fell dancing at a wedding... Took us a bit longer at the Doc since we didn't have the hook up... :)

[AllZWay]

I hate to hear that about Karlie.. Jaycie got her leg broken last year with a 50/50 ball in soccer against a girl that was about twice her size and weight. It cracked the top of her bone just below the knee. She missed the last half of the soccer season, but was back in about six weeks playing indoor soccer.

Hope she heels quick.

[GlennCMC70]

Sat was a double header. After the first game she said she wanted to play. I told her we would have to take an out for her when it was time for her to bat (we still bat the whole line up). She said she could bunt. So proud of her. She was at Fridays practice running bases for infield drills. That is the day she got the cast put on. Last night I caught her trying to hold a softball (cast is on throwing hand) and thinking she can throw it.

My bet is we will keep her out of games for 2 weeks tops.

[Supercharged111]

I'll be in the same boat in 2 weeks trying to talk myself out of cutting a splint off my leg so I can race. I feel her pain.

[GlennCMC70]

In case anyone didn't know, she is 9.

[Supercharged111]

In case anyone didn't know, she is 9.

So you've got a lot of softball seasons ahead of you!

[AllZWay]

In case anyone didn't know, she is 9.

But she is way taller than my 13 year old.

BTW.. Jaycie was asked to play on a club volleyball team traveling all over to play tournaments. Not really thrilled about it, but it will be good for her to get better at volleyball. Not sure if it is going to interfere with her club basketball yet though and luckily it doesn't interfere with her soccer.

Now you know why I can't find time to race.

[ShadowBolt]

But she is way taller than my 13 year old.

BTW.. Jaycie was asked to play on a club volleyball team traveling all over to play tournaments. Not really thrilled about it, but it will be good for her to get better at volleyball. Not sure if it is going to interfere with her club basketball yet though and luckily it doesn't interfere with her soccer.

Now you know why I can't find time to race.

Then you can come back to racing when you are 50 years old and find out how fast all the young guns are.

JJ

[Pranav]

Looks like I'm headed off to Brunei right after TWS. Gonna fly through Singapore and Tokyo.

If I were to get a stopover in Singapore and Tokyo on the way back, any recommendations on what to do/eat/see? Figured some of you guys have gone thru there...

Anyone go to Brunei?

[Supercharged111]

Looks like I'm headed off to Brunei right after TWS. Gonna fly through Singapore and Tokyo.

If I were to get a stopover in Singapore and Tokyo on the way back, any recommendations on what to do/eat/see? Figured some of you guys have gone thru there...

Anyone go to Brunei?

Take me with, I'll carry your bags.

[Fbody383]

Take me with, I'll carry your bags.The visual on that makes me chuckle...

[BlueFirePony]

But she is way taller than my 13 year old.

BTW.. Jaycie was asked to play on a club volleyball team traveling all over to play tournaments. Not really thrilled about it, but it will be good for her to get better at volleyball. Not sure if it is going to interfere with her club basketball yet though and luckily it doesn't interfere with her soccer.

Now you know why I can't find time to race.
Sounds like Jaycie is gonna get that letter jacket with lots of patches :)

Prayers for her to have a good long safe run at it as long as she enjoys it!

My youngest son, "Camo" played on many travel "select" teams since he was 6 and wound up "hanging it up" before his 14th b-day after several league/city/region championships in different sports and a run at Nationals on one of his hockey teams.
He said everyone was getting too serious...I fully supported him -despite a clear path open to him in professional hockey. Camo could have easily made 3 year Varsity as a goalie and with my connections at the time had a super chance to have gotten drafted (how high? who knows.) but it was not fun for him and life is too short to get all balled up.

I quit "travel" sports when I was 16 with the same feeling...it stopped being fun. I had just made the regional baseball "All-star" travel team for the second year in a row, was being invited to select judo tournaments with Canadian Olympic team, was a player-coach on a regional travel soccer team, made the varsity b-ball team (this was 100% because my buddy was captain and his brother was a legend in the school...I rode the pine a lot), yadda yadda.

Having that experience did help me deal with Camo letting go...I am pretty sure if I had not gone through it myself I would have pushed him further, if only because he was so damn good. I think he's a lot happier guy without organized sports. He's working in a startup video game company with his Mom and having a blast, is gunsmith in the making and I can see he will enjoy that for years to come. Though, we both talked about joining a pickup team next year ;)

[Fbody383]

is gunsmith in the making... For personal use, of course:ghostgunner.net

[Supercharged111]

The visual on that makes me chuckle...

There's no shame in my game.

[BlueFirePony]

For personal use, of course:ghostgunner.net
yeah quite a thumb in the nose to the control-freaky politicals.

[AllZWay]

Bryan.. Jaycie only plans to travel this year and next until high school sports begin. She has a full schedule for sure, but not much overlap with any of them, so it just keeps her busy and competing...of which she thrives on competition. Everything is a competition to her.

[marshall_mosty]

If you wanted to drive a F1 car... at NOLA.

http://www.gpexperience.us/product/nola-track-dec15/

[AllZWay]

If you wanted to drive a F1 car... at NOLA.

http://www.gpexperience.us/product/nola-track-dec15/

Jerry has that much cash in his pocket... He should do it. :D

[ShadowBolt]

Jerry has that much cash in his pocket... He should do it. :D
Not anymore. Those days are long gone! I'm lucky if I have three hundred on me these days. Those were the good old days.

I looked at this ad and no way would I spend that but I did pay $450 to do two passes in a Roy Hill dragster at his drag racing school. I think The Sprint car school would be the best bang for the buck. Power to weight ratio is insane.

JJ

[Tilton]

Went to TWS last weekend to shake down the car and break-in the motor. I noticed a noise coming from the engine 15 minutes into the first session so I pitted. Hoping for something as simple as a loose rocker both valve covers came off, but everything was tight and oil looked clean. MWF listened to it and confirmed that my day was done. I made arrangements with Wade to drop the car off at his shop until we could dig into it some more. One night during the week he pulled the oil filter and cut it open and surprise, surprise...copper.

Yesterday we pulled the motor and found bigger flakes in the back of the pan. We didn't want to pull any of the rod or main caps until the engine builder could take a look, so we don't know what failed yet. Why can't things just work?

[Fbody383]

Why can't things just work?They do work... until they don't. Hate to hear it - but I'm with you, why can't things just work cheaply for a long time.

[AI#97]

, why can't things just work cheaply for a long time.

#becauseracecar

[GlennCMC70]

Forgot to post this as well. Sorry, but I gotta brag like any proud dad would/should......
Morgan (12) played a double header softball game this past weekend. Out of 2 games (like 6 at bats), she hit a 2 RBI triple and 2 Grand Slam Homers for a total of 8 RBI's (10 if you count her). All other at bats were walks and I think she stole those two runs as well.

Karlie (9) broke her wrist, so still waiting to brag about her game wise, but she still goes to all the practices (runs bases for situational drills) and suits up for each game and cheers her team on from the bench.

[Rob Liebbe]

Forgot to post this as well. Sorry, but I gotta brag like any proud dad would/should......
Morgan (12) played a double header softball game this past weekend. Out of 2 games (like 6 at bats), she hit a 2 RBI triple and 2 Grand Slam Homers for a total of 8 RBI's (10 if you count her). All other at bats were walks and I think she stole those two runs as well.

Karlie (9) broke her wrist, so still waiting to brag about her game wise, but she still goes to all the practices (runs bases for situational drills) and suits up for each game and cheers her team on from the bench.

You are no longer da man, but your girls make us proud. :)

[AllZWay]

Forgot to post this as well. Sorry, but I gotta brag like any proud dad would/should......
Morgan (12) played a double header softball game this past weekend. Out of 2 games (like 6 at bats), she hit a 2 RBI triple and 2 Grand Slam Homers for a total of 8 RBI's (10 if you count her). All other at bats were walks and I think she stole those two runs as well.

Karlie (9) broke her wrist, so still waiting to brag about her game wise, but she still goes to all the practices (runs bases for situational drills) and suits up for each game and cheers her team on from the bench.

That is pretty awesome. Fun stuff for sure.

[Pranav]

They do work... until they don't. Hate to hear it - but I'm with you, why can't things just work cheaply for a long time.

They do work cheaply for a long time, after lots of expensive trial and error.

Even my car had a random misfire come back up last week at idle, after it had already dyno-ed and driven some with zero issues. It was the primary coil->opti wire's insulation itself being slightly cracked. I could hear it arching in the engine bay this time. No clue how that happened. Going through and rechecking every plug wire again to be safe.

[ShadowBolt]

Forgot to post this as well. Sorry, but I gotta brag like any proud dad would/should......
Morgan (12) played a double header softball game this past weekend. Out of 2 games (like 6 at bats), she hit a 2 RBI triple and 2 Grand Slam Homers for a total of 8 RBI's (10 if you count her). All other at bats were walks and I think she stole those two runs as well.

Karlie (9) broke her wrist, so still waiting to brag about her game wise, but she still goes to all the practices (runs bases for situational drills) and suits up for each game and cheers her team on from the bench.

I know how you feel. I never thought it would be so fun to watch your kids play. Jay was a starting nose tackle for a five A school (Georgetown). The head coach told Kathy and I that you can't do what Jay was doing at 165 lbs. but somehow he did it. Watching Jay play football was more fun than watching him race but I would rather be on a team with him than race by myself. Nothing like bragging on your kids. Have I told you about my grandson?

JJ

[Supercharged111]

They do work cheaply for a long time, after lots of expensive trial and error.

Even my car had a random misfire come back up last week at idle, after it had already dyno-ed and driven some with zero issues. It was the primary coil->opti wire's insulation itself being slightly cracked. I could hear it arching in the engine bay this time. No clue how that happened. Going through and rechecking every plug wire again to be safe.

Just give up like me and keep beating on it. I'm waiting for next year's 245hp dyno pull now.

[Fbody383]

No clue how that happened.Maybe I just need to rub some orange on it...

[Fbody383]

first non-involved car after a three car accordion wreck on the Beltway driving in the morning. Funny how watching Al and Glenn race can teach you to spot an accident in progress; I had enough room front and back and toward the left shoulder. Woman in front of me, car 3, in a Camry was probably 7 months pregnant. Car 2 was an elderly woman and car 1 seemed to be a pretty nice guy that came back to check on people. Blocked the left lane with the truck and waited on the PoPo.

Camry's nose folded up pretty good on the driver's side but no airbags deployed.

Then, almost got rear ended by two cars in the exit ramp off the Beltway coming home, even with the hazards on since the traffic was backed up, though still in the exit only lane.

Man, CMC racing is safe.

[Supercharged111]

Did it feel weird to hit another vehicle and not be inside a caged race car sweating your balls off?

[Fbody383]

Did it feel weird to hit another vehicle and not be inside a caged race car sweating your balls off?

Nope.


...first non-involved car after a three car accordion wreck...But it is very clear to me that when I am on track with this group I know everybody else is at least paying attention and trying not to hit me.

Maybe we need to have a cell phone race where eveybody is on a conference call talking trash to each other while we race.

[Rob Liebbe]

Nope.

But it is very clear to me that when I am on track with this group I know everybody else is at least paying attention and trying not to hit me.

Maybe we need to have a cell phone race where eveybody is on a conference call talking trash to each other while we race.

It could be car-to-car radios and you would have to communicate your intentions. For example.....

Al - Hey Glenn, I'm going to pass you on the outside going into turn one
Glenn - OK - If you think you have the balls
Al - Just watch me do it, then I'm gonna brake check you
Dave - Hey guys, settle down
Jerry - Yeah don't wreck Jay's race car
Al/Glenn - shut up you pansies
Glenn - Oh no you didn't!!!
Al - Ha!!!!!!!
Glenn - eat FU black mo-fo
Al - Oof!
Dave - Dammit - you f'ing directors suck
Jerry - don't wreck Jay's race car
Al - I got it, I got it, I got it
Dave - Slide Al slide!!!!!
Al - running out of talent - shit, grass
Glenn - you freaking punks, I'm outta here

[GlennCMC70]

;)

Not sure how you knew I said all that. Gotta get some more tin foil for the inside of my helmet.

[Fbody383]

Jay - Yeah don't wreck my dad's carToo funny.
Ladies, gentlemen, and Lienart... Mr. Rob Liebbe... he'll be here all week.

[ShadowBolt]

Too funny.
Ladies, gentlemen, and Lienart... Mr. Rob Liebbe... he'll be here all week.

I was in the car for this race. I checked up to keep from being involved in the soon to happen Al and Glenn wreck and slammed into David..........then I told him he hit me! Of course David did not even know what corner it happened in so I figure we are even.

JJ

[Rob Liebbe]

I was in the car for this race. I checked up to keep from being involved in the soon to happen Al and Glenn wreck and slammed into David..........then I told him he hit me! Of course David did not even know what corner it happened in so I figure we are even.

JJ

OK...

Jerry - Yeah don't wreck Jay's race car

Fixed it

[Fbody383]

Of course David did not even know what corner it happened in so I figure we are even.Maybe... maybe not. Show me on a map the exact demarcation of T1 and T2.

Now, why were you channeling Jay in that race?

[ShadowBolt]

Maybe... maybe not. Show me on a map the exact demarcation of T1 and T2.



I will give you that one but you said you thought I had put two off in turn two. The only place that would happen is at track out........75 yards from where I jumped sideways into the side of Orange.

JJ

[Fbody383]

you said you thought I had put two off in turn two.I had concluded that a driver with the experience, skill, and astute spatial awareness... that Jay has... then I remembered Jerry was driving and was just trying to whittle down the field.

To Jerry's defense, I thought the only reason he would have come over that hard was coming back on track. Now Jay did try to punt me... but I was in a good mood and waved instead of just spinning off track.

[Pranav]

Been in Brunei for a few days for now

-Shell here basically runs/is the focal point of this side of Brunei. It looks like they bought 1000 white entry level toyota/mitsubishi/nissan sedans, stamped some numbers on them, and parked them in the parking lots of every hotel here. We even get a fuel voucher we can present in any Shell station in this city for free fuel. Every day at work I have to read the license plates of every Nissan Sunny SUPER SEDAN in the parking lot until I can find my assigned car; it has no keyless entry so I can't cheat.

-Driving on the wrong side of the road itself isn't bad, but every time i reach for the shifter i keep banging my hand on the door with my right hand. I also keep flipping on the wipers everytime I try to indicate. By the time I get used to this I will have problems readjusting to the good ole american way

-It's a dry country, no booze and everything pretty much shuts down at 9pm.

-People are pretty friendly and at the very basic level everyone can speak at least broken english

-Tried to order the national dish of Brunei, Ambuyat (some bamboo concoction, no clue), but they ran out. Got some really good thai fried rice instead. Trying to eat any form of "western" food here is terrible; they like to put mayonnaise on salads. Looks like I'll be eating a lot more tasty asian food for my remainig 7 days here...

[Supercharged111]

Dude the Asians put mayo on everything. The wife put some on some JDM ramen noodles the other day, was actually pretty good. Of course their mayo tastes a little different too.

[Fbody383]

MAP plug.

To double check we swapped two, used a little TTS Datamaster to read it all in real time, and the Orange is back.

Which is a shame, it seemed to work ok once we got it turning left again.

Time for the winter break...

[marshall_mosty]

The brake pad fairy dropped off some Raybestos pads today. I'm converting from the $350/set PFC01's to sub $100/set Raybestos 47's. I'm also trying four different rear compounds. They are anywhere from $67-127/set...

It is almost too good to be true. If anyone would want a set, please let me know and I can try and work the same deal I received. I worked thru Ed Hunter (AI racer in the great lakes region).

It's crazy that I bought all nine sets of pads for what two and a half sets of PFC01 front pads cost...

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/1932350_10201832233726905_153581028705778750_n.jpg ?oh=58350e372acf03edd2f87c465ab75168&oe=551E251A&__gda__=1424167074_216a271b8a0b4b3201ee7e9c266cd0b c

[Supercharged111]

www.randallraceparts.com

Here's a C5 front pad for right around $100.

http://www.randallraceparts.com/product-p/r731.15.htm

[Pranav]

Just wrapped up 30 days of madness:
TWS Race
Brunei Work trip
2 days in Singapore and Tokyo each
ECR Race
3 day conference in San Fran
Cousin's wedding at Lake Conroe
Seeing other cousin's new kid after the wife went into labor during the wedding

Pretty much all back to back. Took tomorrow off work to just decompress from my "vacation"

[Rob Liebbe]

Makes me feel like such a slacker.

[mach1]

Makes me feel like such a slacker.

You and me both!

[Fbody383]

Just wrapped up 30 days of madness:
...
Cousin's wedding at Lake Conroe
Seeing other cousin's new kid after the wife went into labor during the wedding
...
Now that's a reception. Did you say, "don't worry i'm a trained race driver" and offer to help?

[Pranav]

The "trained racing driver" wasn't available. The "dumb kid that drank too much last night and couldn't be more than 300ft away from a toilet" was.

[Supercharged111]

Something tells me if I blew up a clutch in my Z06 on the track I wouldn't get it changed in 3 hours.

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa70/supercharged111/Corvette/TransandTorqueTubeOut_zpsc05e922e.jpg
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa70/supercharged111/Corvette/Clutchoutthroughheaders_zpse2b90e3f.jpg

Now to see if I can scrounge up an LS rear main cover alignment tool locally so I don't have to screw with the pan.

[Fbody383]

Apparently helped get the ECR video thread locked.

I think we need to have the discussion, civilly. We need to find video to use as teaching tools or make demos of what is acceptable behavior. The rules need to be clear and enforced - Glenn stepped up and DQd himself correctly so.

Inverts do currently count in the points - i was suggesting a different way for them to count.

A car that has position can either make the 1 blocking move they're allowed or they can't. And it's not just a CMC issue for AI, Dustin and I had an oblivious AI car racing us at Hallett after we were well into the race.

And yes, I am always up for full field inverts.

[GlennCMC70]

Not avoiding this topic. Been waiting until I am a little more cooled off as well as a few others. Behind the scenes, things are getting talked about. We have identified some balls that got dropped and an couple needed changes are being proposed.
look for a new thread in the coming days.

[Pranav]

Are contact incidents kept somewhere in digital form? I work as an analytics consultant; I can kick out a bunch of charts and plots using my fancy tool that show different trends on contact info if we have the data...

I'm mostly curious about the correlation between contact incidents and starting format (standing, rolling, invert/noninvert), etc...

We can argue back and forth all day, but if the data exists...

[blk96gt]

IMO, just adding harsher punishment/more rules for contact doesn't seem like much of a solution by itself. I would think the ideal thing to do would be to educate people on what is/isn't acceptable (as Dave said above) first. If that doesn't work, then start adding more punishment/rules.

Topics that I think would be of interest:
- when to defend a position
- how to defend a position
- when to attempt a pass (examples for/against)
- rules for passing*

*I know the CCR says 3/4 car width, but I really hate this rule. If I establish a position beside someone on a straight, and then they manage to come down and hit me in the middle of the turn and I didn't have two wheels off track (assuming there's no wall, and I'm on the edge of the track), then it's my fault. At least that is my understanding of the rule, so please correct me if I'm wrong. How that constitutes good, clean, and fun racing is beyond me.

And since I'm on the topic of passing. While I understand why it is my fault if I have my nose inside of someone (lets say nose at the rear wheels) and they come down on me in a turn and we have contact, I hate that people actually do this at this level of racing. Isn't it more fun to go two wide in a turn and try to actually race someone to the next corner rather than just shutting the door on them? Maybe people just aren't aware of what's going on around them? Maybe I'm just not an asshole and would rather not hit someone even though it would be their fault?

[Fbody383]

Not avoiding this topic. I never meant to leave that impression if it came across that way - I figure the other thread got locked because the emotions were high.


Isn't it more fun to go two wide in a turn and try to actually race someone to the next corner rather than just shutting the door on them? Yes, but it isn't always intentional. I think I took Mosty wide/off track at TWS. He was working on an outside pass and I couldn't hold it down and he avoided any contact.


While I understand why it is my fault if I have my nose inside of someone (lets say nose at the rear wheels) and they come down on me in a turn and we have contact, I hate that people actually do this at this level of racing. You hate that people are racing aggressively and trying to get to their apex and keep you behind them? Is it that "we" have contact or that "you" caused contact because you didn't give up the non-position you never had? I did that exact thing to Mitch at Hallett, left a black mark on the new white paint, and it took me some soaking to admit to myself that he was right - I didn't have position and I didn't make enough effort, any actually, to avoid the contact.

I'm not trying to beat you up, just supporting your observation that I want to continue to learn and understand the expectations of those racing around me.

Al/Glenn/Marshall - appreciate all the work you guys put in so we can do this thing.

[Suck fumes]

"I'm not trying to beat you up, just supporting your observation that I want to continue to learn and understand the expectations of those racing around me."


Best statement in this thread.

[Suck fumes]

"I'm not trying to beat you up, just supporting your observation that I want to continue to learn and understand the expectations of those racing around me."



So true!

[BlueFirePony]

[QUOTE=blk96gt;70366]
*I know the CCR says 3/4 car width, but I really hate this rule. If I establish a position beside someone on a straight, and then they manage to come down and hit me in the middle of the turn and I didn't have two wheels off track (assuming there's no wall, and I'm on the edge of the track), then it's my fault. At least that is my understanding of the rule, so please correct me if I'm wrong. How that constitutes good, clean, and fun racing is beyond me.

QUOTE]
That's is not how the rule works. If you have position (nose to the front doors of the car in front), the car you are overtaking has LOST the right to the line. The 3/4 width rule DOES NOT apply here as the overtaken driver has LOST the right to dictate their line - both drivers MUST be given racing room and both MUST avoid contact by adjust their line accordingly. If you think about it, this makes total sense. If the overtaken does not have the right to the line, they don't get to dictate shit. At this point BOTH drivers must be able to race unimpeded so 3/4 width would put the overtaking driver at a HUGE disadvantage (having to over brake to slow, momentum; adjust their line abruptly; put two wheels off leading to a side by side collision when they had the RIGHT to race.
If the overtaken car crowds you and causes contact, they are 100% responsible for that contact, as long as you have not made any abrupt change to your line. Now that does not mean the other driver cannot try to intimidate you by pinching a bit or adjust their braking and making you over-brake or go off course but if they make contact that is their fault. My driving coach many years ago was Beaux Barfield (glad he's finally left WhinyCars) and I remember him running me wide or tight over and over and over again for most of an afternoon until I got that through my head...he TOLD me he would back off but every time I kept adjusting my line because of the way he drove. I finally got it through my head and started making really good passes on him. He told me that KNOWING how to take advantage of the rules is one thing, but getting others to GIVE you an advantage under the rules is way more powerful).
The 3/4 width rule comes into play IFF you have NOT established position, but the pass has been started (e.g. your front bumper overlaps the other car's rear bumper), the overtaken car RETAINS the right to the line but MUST give you 3/4 width. YOU are responsible for adjusting your line at that point including slowing down, but this is where the 3/4 width rule comes in...since you have started the pass, the overtaken driver MUST give you 3/4 width and cannot claim a line that would leave you less than 3/4 width.
If you have NOT started the pass, then you get NOTHING, NADA, ZIP.
This is what FIA, SCCA and NASA (albeit not well worded in 25.4.3) are guarding against.

One topic in this light is divebombing. I think of it as a negative example...a bad thing to do. Other people characterize it as a good passing maneuver, within the rules.
Here are two ways I have heard it described:
1) (I think a dive bomb is) when an attempt to pass is started when the overtaken car is ALREADY taking the turn and has the RIGHT to the line - maybe they just got off the throttle, maybe just a downshift, or maybe they are turning in...at this point the pass has NOT been started and any contact is 100% the responsibility of the overtaking driver.
2) (I don't think a dive bomb is) when you come in hot, late brake and overlap the bumpers BEFORE the other driver starts their turn....of course you need to be in complete control..otherwise all bets are off. But this is show some people characterize divebombing...in this light, I don't have a problem with it - I just consider is an aggressive overtake but nothing wrong with it.

[GlennCMC70]

[QUOTE=blk96gt;70366]
*I know the CCR says 3/4 car width, but I really hate this rule. If I establish a position beside someone on a straight, and then they manage to come down and hit me in the middle of the turn and I didn't have two wheels off track (assuming there's no wall, and I'm on the edge of the track), then it's my fault. At least that is my understanding of the rule, so please correct me if I'm wrong. How that constitutes good, clean, and fun racing is beyond me.

QUOTE]
That's is not how the rule works. If you have position (nose to the front doors of the car in front), the car you are overtaking has LOST the right to the line. The 3/4 width rule DOES NOT apply here as the overtaken driver has LOST the right to dictate their line - both drivers MUST be given racing room and both MUST avoid contact by adjust their line accordingly. If you think about it, this makes total sense. If the overtaken does not have the right to the line, they don't get to dictate shit. At this point BOTH drivers must be able to race unimpeded so 3/4 width would put the overtaking driver at a HUGE disadvantage (having to over brake to slow, momentum; adjust their line abruptly; put two wheels off leading to a side by side collision when they had the RIGHT to race.
If the overtaken car crowds you and causes contact, they are 100% responsible for that contact, as long as you have not made any abrupt change to your line. Now that does not mean the other driver cannot try to intimidate you by pinching a bit or adjust their braking and making you over-brake or go off course but if they make contact that is their fault. My driving coach many years ago was Beaux Barfield (glad he's finally left WhinyCars) and I remember him running me wide or tight over and over and over again for most of an afternoon until I got that through my head...he TOLD me he would back off but every time I kept adjusting my line because of the way he drove. I finally got it through my head and started making really good passes on him. He told me that KNOWING how to take advantage of the rules is one thing, but getting others to GIVE you an advantage under the rules is way more powerful).
The 3/4 width rule comes into play IFF you have NOT established position, but the pass has been started (e.g. your front bumper overlaps the other car's rear bumper), the overtaken car RETAINS the right to the line but MUST give you 3/4 width. YOU are responsible for adjusting your line at that point including slowing down, but this is where the 3/4 width rule comes in...since you have started the pass, the overtaken driver MUST give you 3/4 width and cannot claim a line that would leave you less than 3/4 width.
If you have NOT started the pass, then you get NOTHING, NADA, ZIP.
This is what FIA, SCCA and NASA (albeit not well worded in 25.4.3) are guarding against.

One topic in this light is divebombing. I think of it as a negative example...a bad thing to do. Other people characterize it as a good passing maneuver, within the rules.
Here are two ways I have heard it described:
1) (I think a dive bomb is) when an attempt to pass is started when the overtaken car is ALREADY taking the turn and has the RIGHT to the line - maybe they just got off the throttle, maybe just a downshift, or maybe they are turning in...at this point the pass has NOT been started and any contact is 100% the responsibility of the overtaking driver.
2) (I don't think a dive bomb is) when you come in hot, late brake and overlap the bumpers BEFORE the other driver starts their turn....of course you need to be in complete control..otherwise all bets are off. But this is show some people characterize divebombing...in this light, I don't have a problem with it - I just consider is an aggressive overtake but nothing wrong with it.

Didn't get past the first 2 lines........ you are incorrect.
Front tire to the door gives rights to position, not the nose.
3/4 car width rule still applies even if position is established. It shows that contact was attempted to be avoided by the over taking car by putting 1/4 of the car off track.

Don't post here anymore on this subject. I am starting a new thread.

[BlueFirePony]

[QUOTE=BlueFirePony;70373]



[QUOTE]
Right...I meant tire to door. "driver in front loses the right to choose his or her line when the overtaking driver has their front wheel next to the driver"


Don't post here anymore on this subject. I am starting a new thread.
phhhtttfffttt!

[Fbody383]

I was looking for a particular yellow dawg muttstang... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7It81_habgs)

[Fbody383]

This, I did not know...

http://www.jegs.com/i/Chevrolet+Performance/809/19243374/10002/-1

[mach1]

This, I did not know...

http://www.jegs.com/i/Chevrolet+Performance/809/19243374/10002/-1

Nice

[marshall_mosty]

Pulled the transmission and found this...

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/10346360_10202249261472338_3243179604133570400_n.j pg?oh=aca9cee44dded90e5326b81af8dec705&oe=556D1159&__gda__=1428517556_31dafce7deb8821937bdf5f7ff3b9d6 c

I broke the output shaft between the 3/2 gear set. Tony at Astro has NEVER seen an output shaft fail in this location. Time to send the 3/2 and cluster to him for a magnaflux and get a new 9310 steel output shaft prior to Cresson.

[mach1]

Pulled the transmission and found this...

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/10346360_10202249261472338_3243179604133570400_n.j pg?oh=aca9cee44dded90e5326b81af8dec705&oe=556D1159&__gda__=1428517556_31dafce7deb8821937bdf5f7ff3b9d6 c

I broke the output shaft between the 3/2 gear set. Tony at Astro has NEVER seen an output shaft fail in this location. Time to send the 3/2 and cluster to him for a magnaflux and get a new 9310 steel output shaft prior to Cresson.

Impressive, must be that 600ft/lb that hits when you push the turbo boost button.

[Rob Liebbe]

Impressive, must be that 600ft/lb that hits when you push the turbo boost button.

NOS in the roll cage is easier to hide from the inspectors.

[jdlingle]

How long had you been running that A5 shaft Marshall?

[marshall_mosty]

John,
The output shaft that broke was a stock T5 shaft with unknown time/miles. I've been thru about 6 transmissions and have parts to build several in the shop.

It could range from 2-10 seasons of racing... I just don't know...

I will be upgrading to the high alloy A5 shaft (only an extra $125) over a stock shaft.

[Supercharged111]

John,
The output shaft that broke was a stock T5 shaft with unknown time/miles. I've been thru about 6 transmissions and have parts to build several in the shop.

It could range from 2-10 seasons of racing... I just don't know...

I will be upgrading to the high alloy A5 shaft (only an extra $125) over a stock shaft.

Since you're AI, why not just use a different transmission?

[mach1]

Since you're AI, why not just use a different transmission?

I would think a full A5 spec trans will be nearly bulletproof at his power level, and you keep the weight down with a t5.

[marshall_mosty]

Since you're AI, why not just use a different transmission?

I could have used something different, but just chose to do the T-5 route again. Hopefully with the upgraded mainshaft, I won't have any more issues going forward.

[jdlingle]

You've got the transmission rebuild down pat!

[AI#97]

What does a t-5 weight without a bellhousing?

[ShadowBolt]

What does a t-5 weight without a bellhousing?

If I remember it is 72 lbs. dry.

JJ

[AI#97]

If I remember it is 72 lbs. dry.

JJ

Thanks jerry. If that is true, that is only 10# heavier than a jerico....not bad.