Home of the Toxic Asset Racing Program! Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale about the misfit adventures of a derelict Toyota MR2 and the mostly ill-informed attempts to un-derelict the car in almost certainly futile attempts to run it in endurance racing.
Advice from another team that was getting their car ready for the Arse-Freeze in California at the end of next week that I thought might be pertinent to those who are thinking we might want to add a turbo to New Blue:
“A week from the race and our Corrado is still in pieces after a minor “detonation event” cracked the #1 cylinder in 3 pieces. Good thing it happened, because it turns out the piston skirts on 2,3 and 4 were broken off! Considering there’s no shrapnel in the oil pan, we’ll attribute the damage to the previous hooligan who owned this basket case. If I was a bettin’ man, I’d bet against Z Red Baron even making it past day one, but don’t tell my teammates!
A word to the wise - If you wanna win, much less finish, NO FORCED INDUCTION!!”
So I wondered if Google Maps had a good close-up of MSR Houston. Turns out they do. I decided to try to match the YT videos of people doing laps at past YEE-HAW Lemons with the map image. As I thought, the entire race track is not used for Lemons–they cut out the 2 longest straights. I’m sure MSR Houston required that, as they aren’t too keen to have their tarmac gouged by a handful of driveshafts busting out of their transmissions. And if not a wrecked tranny in that ‘88 Crown Vic, there would probably some stupid number of blown engines brought on by that extra 4000′ of straight track.
Also interesting is that Lemons races backwards/clockwise. Here is the MSR track layout. You’ll notice that the “standard” Turn 1 is our (last) Turn 11. But, on the MSRH Videos Page, click the “SCCA SM 1 of 3″ link and you’ll see some “real” racers in Miatas run the track, in the same direction that we will (although they run the front and back straights). I’ve found it helpful to write down the course (T1-hard right, S-curves, hairpin, etc.) on a piece of paper then follow along as you watch someone’s driving video. I figure if I do this enough before the race rolls around, I’ll not be seeing/learning the track the first time I’m behind the wheel.
Back to Google maps: I’ve made my own map (first time) of the track, and put my best guess at the racing line on there. Thoughts? Don’t know if others can edit/add to it or not; I added as “collaborators” those of you whose email addresses I know. Last thing–you’ll see that the Google image doesn’t show the larger turn-out of Turn 11 onto the Pit straight.
As most of you know by now, we have not one but two bad engines. Which is discouraging.
However, I have some very exciting news to share.
Our engine woes may be solved. I did a little hunting online this morning and started calling some local places. Bolt-On Motors in South Dallas (check out the far right side of that photo — is this kismet?) has a remanufactured motor with zero miles still sitting in its crate. The guy on the phone said that they don’t sell many of those motors and he’s had it sitting around for 4 or 5 years and he’d love to get rid of it. Price is right in our wheelhouse, $350. We can have a new motor in the car and still be under the $500 limit before we even sell off any parts!!!
To my mind, this is the answer to our conundrum. We can still use the MR2 and for less investment than a replacement vehicle. Thoughts? Discuss.
No work was done on Blue over the weekend. As you all know, I promised the Missus that I would finish the nightstands I’ve been building for her prior to wrenching on the MR2’s. Well, with her permission I did a little work on the MR2’s, but I’m outta rope. I got the first bit of stain/color work done on the nightstands over the weekend and plan to get the last step on the color work done this evening. Then it will be onto more MR2 work until I can spray final finish on her tables.
That said, I’m obsessively thinking about our LeMons racer all the time. I know that we have a roll cage issue pending, that being the fact that Matt is quite tall (6′5″-ish) and will be a tight squeeze in the car even without the helmet. But I may have a solution, as shown in the photos below.
Before you look at the pictures, remember this: we are taking a street-legal vehicle and are turning it into a race car. It will not be subject to a reverse vasectomy. If we can find a way to keep the roll cage inside the frame, all the better, but this is at least an alternative (credit to Free Range Racing):
The guys over at Witchdoctor Motorsports/Bikini Racer have this first-hand account of their race earlier this fall. These guys came in second in a junked out Camaro. First place was a Corolla FX-16 running the same motor as in the MR2. Very informative & recommended for all TARPers (thanks for finding it, Matt).
Although I have 2 friends who are planning on joining us for the race, it sounds like it would be a good move to add in a few more to help with the logistical stuff, pit stops, etc. Enjoy.
We’ve decided to make a go of it for the 24 Hours of Lemons race in Houston (a/k/a LeMons Gator-O-Rama) on Feb 28-March 1, 2009.
Whoa, there, you say! What in blazes is this LeMons thing, and are you crazy? If you know me, you know that your second question is superfluous. But the first one is a legit question. Although you could surf on over to the LeMons site that was so handily linked above, they say that a picture is worth a thousand words and that a YouTube video is worth even less. But I think this is descriptive, illustrative, and it gives me goose bumps every time I see it:
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