Sorry for leaving you hanging. Blogging in racing is hard for me. I look forward to the next race, where I will see if Sparky can help with the race communication. As for the last April race, we get the cars going at Sonoma. We tried way too hard to ruin that.
We started Saturday well with both cars running through their first stints. Things got tougher after that. The Z got parked from contact damage to the right front, which resulted in some suspension bending. While the Z was still going through the repair process, the Miata in its maiden Lemons run, developed an oil leak from some teething issues. We caught that before it did real damage. It still put the car up on blocks for several hours. Here is that disturbing image, as rumblings and roaring were coming from over yonder on the green flagged track.
Both cars did get their repairs completed, and valuable race labs were run.
On Sunday the Miata did a Miata thing, it just kept running. Driver change and fuel adding was the cause of any stops. The Z ran afoul with more of the contact bug. Again we saw some fair amount of time off track. We also discovered a fuel problem. With the higher heat, we found at low fuel, the lift pumps overheat and blow the pump fuse. It is suspected to have caused the major incident (car crash). After refueling and replacing a fuse, we sent the car on its merry way. In the end, both cars did finish both days. Yeah Us!!!!
Now moving forward. We are schedule to race in the Lemons Arse-Freeze Apalooza on December 4 and 5th. To get ready for this, we do have a list of work to completed before we can get to the punch list. Here is the list of work that has started and will need to be completed in about a month for us to be ready:
Task | Status | Notes: | |
Driver’s Seat | |||
Change the Z ‘s floor pan, install seat sliders. | Done | Torch did all of that work. | |
Fuel System | |||
Restore fuel lines from Z’s seat installation. | Have compression fittings and piping. Install required. | ||
Install new fuel pump in the tank. | Walbro in-tank high pressure pump acquired. Some assembly required. | ||
Connect lower fuel tanks to allow transfer of fuel from the lower lobs of the tank. | Have compression fittings and piping. Need a check valve and Install required. | ||
Brake System | |||
Change brake booster to provided better brake feel. | Brake booster ordered awaiting arrival and installation. | ||
Restore rear brake lines from Z seat installation. | Need compression fitting and Install required. | ||
Reinstall brake calipers | |||
Rebuild Front Bumper | |||
Rebuild the front end of the Z. Add vents, splitter, and bumper support. | Fabricate, weld, tape, and paint. | ||
