Arse-Freeze Weekend Schedule

Like all weekends our schedule is at the whim of the 24-Hour Schedule. Here is a quick outline for everyone.

Friday, December 2
5:30AM		Finish loading the caravan to run to Buttonwillow Raceway
6:00AM		Leave for Track
11:30AM		Arrive on track. (Location I would like to try to hit the South East Corner of the paddock.
12:00AM		Lunch
1:00PM		1st Practice
3:00PM		2nd Practice
5:00 PM		3rd Practice
6:00 PM		Dinner
Saturday, December, 3 2011
7:30 AM		Gates open
8:00 AM		Breakfast
9:00 AM		Mandatory drivers' meeting
10:00AM		Race session I Starts
12:00PM		Lunch
~5:00PM		Race session I ends
Sunday, December 4, 2011
7:30 AM		Gates open
8:00 AM		Breakfast
8:15 AM		Mandatory drivers' meeting
9:00 AM		Race session II Starts
12:00PM		People's Curse
1:00 PM		Lunch
4:30 PM		Checker Flag
5:00 PM		Awards
7:00 PM		Gate Closes

10th Z Feast

We have another milestone this weekend. This will be the Zchef's (and Rubbys)10th Lemons Race. In celebration of the x10 loser running each meal has been on the favorite meals list. To give you a preview of the upcoming feast or simple let you know what you will be missing here is the Menu from ZChef.

Friday

On the Road Breakfast

Banana bread

Sandwich Lunch

Assorted deli meats and cheeses

Assorted breads

Chips

Veggies sticks

Fruit

Homemade cookies

Sheboygan Dinner

Sheboygan Brats

Sauerkraut

Rolls

BBQ beans

Coleslaw

Dessert

Saturday

Race Day Breakfast (Whatever you can eat while wrenching):

Egg sandwiches with sausage and cheese

Fruit

Hot coffee

Orange juice

Clam Chowder and Panini Lunch:

Clam Chowder

Panini Sandwiches

Salad

Assorted Chips

Veggies sticks

Fruit

Cookies

10th Running Celebration Dinner:

Lamb Chops

Twice Baked Potatoes

Grilled Broccolini

Green salad

Dessert

Sunday

Race Day Breakfast:

French Toast

Fruit

Maple Syrup

Sausage

Orange juice

Last Push Lunch:

Meatball Sandwiches

Rolls

Provolone

Salad

Cookies

Request for Residual Value (Arse-Freeze)

Jay,

It seems we just got done with Skankaway and were starting to get geared up for Arse-Freeze this weekend. On par with the compressed schedule this request for residual value is tardy and now we have two vehicles for you to evaluate.

The D and The Z

Electrical and Brake Trouble the the Z Again....

And the D keeps running

After pulling the cars off the trailer, we downed a few beers and began to inspect the carnage. Through jaded eyes (we already paid for Arse-Freeze) we believe both cars can be ready in time.

The worse issue appears to be on the Z, where it’s electrical system needs help. A hazmat crew was required to decon the aftermath of the battery meltdown. After that a break system exchange, rattle can paint to both cars, welding additional roll bars parts, pounding out fenders, and several beers to help dreaming of want could be appears to be the bulk of the work.

As for residual value we are at your mercy. The Z needs some help, but where to start. A few bucks for a battery, regulatory, and some odds and ends so say a residual of $350. The D well... $475 to change the oil.

Muddy

Area-Freeze Weather

Here is the predicted weather for next weekends race. IT's the best I have seen so far....

Thu1

Fri2

Sat3

Sun4

Mon5

Partly Cloudy	Few Showers	Sunny	Sunny	Sunny
57°F	58°F	59°F	59°F	59°F
High	High	High	High	High
30°F	31°F	36°F	36°F	36°F
Low	Low	Low	Low	Low
Chance of Rain: 10%	Chance of Rain: 30%	Chance of Rain: 0%	Chance of Rain: 0%	Chance of Rain: 0%

Hotel Reservations For Arse-Freeze 2011 (Revised)

Change of locations. We will be staying in the Motel 6 in Lost Hills. This is the same exit as last year but different Hotel. Here is the location:

I-5/GOLDEN STATE HWY AT SR 46
14685 WARREN ST
LOST HILLS CA 93249

Let me know if you nee any additional rooms. Here is what I know.

1) Cindy and I

2) Zmom and ZDad

3) Thrown Rod, Queen Kirsten, Mach 5 Brendan

4) Not Smoke and Lugnut

5) Sparky and Xo

6) Uncle Jon

	LOST HILLS, CA #0274 I-5/GOLDEN STATE HWY AT SR 46 14685 WARREN ST LOST HILLS CA 93249 Phone: 661-797-2346 Fax: 661-797-2976 Motel Information Map & Driving Directions View/Cancel Reservation Book another room at this property? Booking clean, comfortable accommodations at affordable prices is easier than ever before. Simply visitwww.motel6.com or call us at 1-800-4MOTEL6for the best rates of any national chain. We'll Leave the Light On For You.		Motel 6 Reservation Confirmation Confirmation Number: 274MS25049-54 Guest Name: DOUGLES VANLARE Arrival Date: Friday, December 2, 2011 Departure Date: Sunday, December 4, 2011 Arrival Time: LATE - Master Card Number of Adults: 2 Number of Rooms: 1 Room Description: 2 FULL BEDS NON-SMOKING Rate Information Total: $91.98 USD *(Per Room/Entire Stay) Tax is not included and should be added upon check-in. Your reservation rate is based on the information above. Any modification may result in an adjustment to the rate quoted. Cancellation Policy Your reservation will be held based on your arrival time as shown above. If you should need to change or cancel please notify us by 6 PM PACIFIC TIME on the arrival date to avoid billing to the credit card. Please contact the Reservation Center or the motel directly for assistance. While every effort will be made to honor special requests, we regret that these requests cannot be guaranteed. Thank you for choosing Motel6. We look forward to serving your lodging needs. Sincerely, Motel6, Inc. Reservation Center. (800) 4MOTEL6 (800) 466-8356

Enough Already on the Brakes

Busy weeks after Skankaway have keep me from blogging, but it does not mean we have kept completely idle. By my standards Skankaway was a complete success. A lot of (self imposed) car drama (well not so good), heroic runs to bail us out for parts, the fixes to get us running, two cars running, four checkers flags, great food, lots of smiles, and good times with friends. So, thank you all. (For the scorekeepers the cars came in a happy 70th with 263 laps and 77th with 251 laps).

Now on to business. We have found the D to be a stout little car. We have little time to work, so any big moves will need to wait. At this time only safety upgrades and maintenance will be attempted. We might look at car setup and alignment to optimize the car since we have some good data points, but that is about it for Arse-Freeze in two weeks.

The Z is another matter. At Skankaway we develop a bad trend. Sears Point always has pushed the braking systems to breaking point. However, this last run with the increased wheel size we simply blew the brakes apart. This is evident, by the carnage that was wrought. We went through four sets of brake pads, four different rotor combinations with various warping and cracking, replacement of the front calipers, replacement of the master cylinder, all on hand brake fluid used up, reviewed the brake booster just in case, and (a first for me a first) a warped brake pad. Enough, I got the picture. Brakes are a problem.

So, a plan to upgrade the brakes is a foot. The plan is to replace the entire wheel braking system with a mixed match of calipers, brake pads, and rotors to either better handle the heat and/or reduce the heat.

• Calipers- Looking around at our options the current Z31 style calipers are limiting in both capability and brake pad choices. I am finding it harder and harder to get the pads to run. To address this a standard upgrade is to go with the Z32 calipers. In this group Centric has nice four piston front and dual piston rear calipers setup.

• Brake Pads- By changing to the new calipers the brake pads increased from about 4 square inches to 6 square inch. However, more importantly several additional options for Brake Pads open up. I still think Hawk is a good option for the price, so I would like to try the HT10 set. I saw these before, but it was not offered for the Z31 system, but is for the Z32. Also the Hawk DTC60 for the fronts only care some intrigue, but for balance I think to starting with the HT10 at Buttonwillow will work. For more information here is a good spec sheet from Hawk Performance.

• Rotors- Looking at the choices I see a problem with the Z32 rotors. They do not change much from the Z31. They only get thinker which is good for heat transfer, but I do not think good enough. The other problem is availability and price. Like the current Z31 rotors, they are getting harder and more limited to get. In the process I noticed Z32 rotor prices exponentially increases for little gain. So, I looked around and found a possible answer with the Z33 systems. The Z33 car (or 350Z) runs a similar thinkness rotor as the Z32 but is up to an 1" more in diameter, cost 20% less for similar Z32 series rotors, and has a wide variety of options available. All of this points me in the direction to see if we can fit the larger Z33 rotors on with the Z32 calipers and brake pads. (Note: I did look a Z33 calipers, but Nissan seems to have stepped backward and OEM Z33 calipers. THe baseline caliper offered is a single piston affair. For more $$$ multiple pistons are available but did introduce some additional mounting issues.) As for our setup, last weekend, Throw Rod and I mocked this new concoction up on the car. We found that with some machinist's help in making a spacer, to mount the cailpers and turn the hubs we believe can make it all work. So, in the next two weeks we will see.

After all this one big problem does arise. This whole brake process massively violates the KISS standard that I hold improvements too. The violation is clearly shown when the completed project will have us running a modified 1986 Z31 hubs, with 1994 Z32 spec cailpers and pads, and 2008 Z33 hat rotors. What could be simpler? However, on another accord the focus is on more reliability and cost effectiveness. My goal with these upgrades is to get the brakes to last the worst torture test we run (Sears Point) for a least an 8 hour run and possibly a weekend run (in my dreams) without needing to changing the brakes. The increased effectiveness of the calipers, rotor leverage, and brake pads coupled with increased mass of the calipers and rotors, and heat tolerance of the brake pad hopefully will make barking the least of our problems. Well, that is at last the plan.

Muddy