Plead for Residue Value for Arse-Freeze 2010

Jay,

My team, Flat Tire Racing, is scheduled to run in the Arse-Freeze Race. The last race we ran was Goin’ for Broken (as Clunker Refuge Racing) with our 300ZR.

During the practice day we started to develop problems (Well there’s a surprise). By the end of practice the problem was clear that we had lost a cylinder.

Not daunted, we disconnected the injector, removed the coil and ran the race on five cylinders expecting an exciting massive crowed pleasing failure. Unfortunately it survived and in the end we came in a respectable 38^th. If anyone would consider this kind of racing respectable.

We then packed our things, got home and threw it all in the garage. I was then placed on sabbatical until I made up five months of pent-up honey do projects that where calling. This included a new gas range oven to be placed in a spot where no gas was, so it could be up and running in time for the family to come over for Thanksgiving with the kids that took me four years of physiological counseling and three years of legal wrangling in divorce court to get. That now isn’t happing because the girlfriend says we never spend Thanksgiving with her family and god knows what other issues that will cause me years of additional physiological counseling to address the mental, tortured and self pitting shame. (i.e. Add it to the long list of things that makes beer so damn easy to drink).

Once we got around to working on the car we pulled the engine.

Then pulled the head and the problem was clear.

A burned up exhaust valve.

Going through the rest of the motor it does not appear to be terminal damage. To get the beast running again we would like to replace the two exhaust valves. Below is the estimate for replacement parts to repair the troubled exhaust valves and valve guide.

Item	Qty.	Cost	Total
Dokuro Exhaust Value	2	$ 5.96	$ 11.92
Beck Arnley Valve Guide	2	$ 5.81	$ 11.62
			$ 23.54

Since this is not a whole lot of money I would also like to see if you would asses the value low enough to play around a with the suspension. And when I say suspension I am not talking the easy way out of simply replacing the springs, struts, or bushing sets. We are talking stuff in the normally banned-F1-technology category. Below is a quick pictorial design of a proposed driver adjustable sway bar system.

Yes, I know, and my teammates have been laughing at me too. I realize the likelihood that this could make any difference in our performance is remote. In fact it is more likely to cause problems, but it has turned into a good therapeutic challenge. To get this driver adjustable sway bar system to work here is the list and cost of parts I need.

Item	Qty.	Cost	Total
Top Shaft	1	$3.29	$3.29
Bottom Shaft	1	$3.59	$3.59
Ball Bearing	1	$3.19	$3.19
Spring	1	$1.69	$1.69
Retaining Spring Clevis Pin	1	$1.99	$1.99
Cotter Pin	1	$0.29	$0.29
Compression Clevis Pin	1	$1.39	$1.39
Cotter Pin	1	$0.19	$0.19
Shaft Retaining Bolt	1	$0.59	$0.59
Shaft Guide Bolt	1	$0.59	$0.59
Shaft Bolt	1	$5.24	$5.24
Shaft	2	$5.64	$11.28
Turnbuckles	1	$9.21	$9.21
Shaft Bolt	1	$5.24	$5.24
Arc Guide (Sheet metal)	1
Arc Bolt	2	$0.74	$1.48
Arc Bracket	1	$1.24	$1.24
Standoff	2
Clamp Mounting	1	$1.24	$1.24
Sway Bar Clamp	1	$12.35	$12.35
Linear Bearings	2	$5.04	$10.08
Sway Bar	1
Sway Sheaths	2	$12.06	$24.12
Retaining Pins	4	$0.29	$1.16
Linear Beerings	2	$10.36	$20.72
Retaining Ring	4	$0.96	$3.84
Bearing Bracket	2	$2.99	$5.98
U Bolts	2	12.99	$25.89
Vibration-Damping Clamp	12	$1.98	$23.76
Tube Clamps	2	$10.77	$21.54
Tube Clamps (10 pack)	1	$7.38	$7.38
Front Sway Bar (Goddies donor car purchase four races ago)	1		$
			$208.55

Because I know you will read this in the late hours, the total for both valve parts and adjustable sway bar parts is $232.09. So, I am asking you for a residual value for the car to be $267.91.

Thank you

Muddy