Over the weekend we only had 1 black flag and it was a drive through.
Packing up the pits, but very happy with our 45th place and 129th with 250 cars on the track and one car inoperable for the better part of a day.
ZLime Racing - Home of the Seize-Z-um, a 1992 300zx (more or less) and it's little sibling Ra-D-um the Wanna be D-type. Follow along as we attempt to keep both racing in the 24 Hours of Lemons.
Sunday, September 14, 2014
2 checkers
Both cars had very clean runs and brought the cars home with a pair of checker flags! The z was putting in times comparable to the D but it was a lot of work to make it happen. The D just did what it does.
2.5 hours to go
We just made the third driver change. The D continues to run well. And the Z has not acquired any new problems or gotten any worse. It hasn't gotten better either, but it is running better than yesterday. With a bit of sorting, I'm sure it will be quite nice.
We have one more stint after the drivers come in, we are hoping to nurse the Z through the day while everyone gets a chance to play in the D.
Lunch was pulled pork. Yum. We continue to be a team that has the best food and quite a few neighbors commented last night when we pulled out the pizza oven.
Two driver's changes done
Muddy is sending out the drivers in the Z saying the car only has a handful of issues. The brakes (shakes), the engine (hesitates), the clutch (grinds), the radiator (overheats) and the steering (wobbles). It is a zen exercise to drive it.
The D is running well to form. Lugnut pushed our best time to a 4:15.3. The rest of us have some work to do apparently.
Coming up to lunch hour and our pits our empty with 2 cars running on the track.
Driving order
Muddy has posted the plan for the day. Like all plans, there is a certain amount of hope baked in. Especially the Z today.
Day 2
Since I couldn't get the photos to post yesterday, I'll try without today.
The Z got new clutch hydraulics yesterday and we tried cleaning up the connectors to the transistors that fire the coils. When we looked at them, they were that particular shade of green so admired in Italian church domes, yet electrically are a disaster. So we stole some viniger from the salad last night, soaked the connectors until we could see copper and then put it all back together. I get the opportunity to take the car out on the track to see if this all worked or not first thing this morning.
Picasso (ex-blueberry but everyone is loving the paint jobs on the cars) will do the honors in the D.
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Race start
Lining up 250 cars to get the guiness record is fairly astounding. They are lining all of the cars up between pit row and the start finish so we are parked 8 cars wide. Looks like a very bad day on the 405.
The D is gased up and ready to roll with blueberry in the seat. We have cut a few more holes in the Z to attempt to keep things cooler. Torch is doing driving duties there.
Muddy has the schedule up and we are ready to go.
Updates
I'll post more tonight. The updates so far haven't posted so trying a short one instead.
The Z's engine is having problems. Even with that it was on too of the standings until we lost the clutch around 2:00.
The D has been spinning flawless laps, and haven't had any drivers get into trouble.
We have Tow in as the last driver and more on the clutch later.
Friday, September 12, 2014
Next driver
Both Torch and Blueberry had offs on the new part of the track. Blueberry finished his stint with just that on issue and Tow is in the car now.
The Z's clutch looks like a simple adjustment. The brakes, well.... the rotors we are using are pretty suspect.
Practice day recap
Most of the drivers managed to end up in the dirt on the new part of the track. Except for muddy and Queen. It was good we had all day today to sort things out.
The D had a flawless day. It just ran and gave everyone time on track.
The Z got a lot of sorting out, and has a lot more to go unfortunately. It is definitely showing the miles.
We have a fresh set of rotors now and the brakes are bitting well. We were running hot all day so babying the car a little. We have flushed the radiator a couple of times and have the rusty bucket of water for our efforts. That has seemed to help the overheating.
Once the car warms up however, it has a strong hesitation while accelerating. We managed to blow out the muffler so we think either a sensor is failing at temp or an injector or coil is failing. We are trying to sort that out and get it running, but we may be driving around "slow and steady" tomorrow.
Tri tip and Ahi is on the grill!
Next driver
Both Torch and Blueberry had offs on the new part of the track. Blueberry finished his stint with just that on issue and Tow is in the car now.
The Z's clutch looks like a simple adjustment. The brakes, well.... the rotors we are using are pretty suspect.
Shake down
Rod just came in.
We have brake issues and clutch issues on the new Z. The crew is on it already and we are planning our first trip to Napa Auto parts.
Test day
It is 9:00 am Friday morning And we have two cars headed out on the track.
With the new thubderhill 5 mile course, the organizers have made this a guiness record race with over 250 cars scheduled to start. Being lemons there will be significantly less than that but with this much track they will still easily beat the current record of around 180.
So we decided to get to the track Thursday night and get ourselves a decent paddock space.
Everyone converged in Dublin yesterday to pack up. There was a brake issue with the new Z so we violated the "don't cannibalize ruby rule" and stole rotors and calipers. I suspect that is the begging of some new lawn art at muddy's.
So the brakes took a bit and the loading ran long. There are almost 270,000 miles on the "new" z and it hasn't run in 4 years. We brought a lot if spares beyond normal to the track this time, including the last engine and transmission lying around.
So with a late start (but not too late) we were at the track around 9:00 on and unpacked consuming a sausage dinner around 10:30!
Which brings us to today. Torch is shaking down the new Z and Blueberry is running in the D. We are all planning on getting a chance to see the new side of the track and getting ready for tomorrow.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Schedule For Vodden the Hell Are We Doing?
If all goes well here is the schedule for the weekend.
Thursday, 11 September 2014
5:00 pm: Leave Dublin for the track
8:00 pm: Arrive at Thunderhill Raceway
9:00 pm Dinner
Friday, 12 September 2014
6:30 am: Gates open
7:30 am: Breakfast
8:30 am: Setup and get cars ready practice
9:00 am: Practice Starts
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6:00 pm: Dinner
Saturday, 13 September 2014
7:00 am: Gates open
8:00 am: Breakfast
9:00 am: Mandatory drivers' meeting
10:00 am - 6:00 pm: Race Session I
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Day 2
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Race Session I
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D
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Start
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Finish
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Pilot
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Notes
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10:00 AM
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11:00 AM
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Picasso
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Estimated 11 laps
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11:11 AM
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12:24 PM
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Driver
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2
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Estimated 12 laps
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12:35 PM
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1:48 PM
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Driver
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3
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Estimated 12 laps
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1:59 PM
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3:12 PM
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Driver
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4
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Estimated 12 laps
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3:23 PM
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4:36 PM
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Driver
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5
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Estimated 12 laps
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4:47 PM
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6:00 PM
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Driver
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6
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Estimated 12 laps
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Z
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Start
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Finish
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Pilot
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Notes
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10:00 AM
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11:10 AM
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Driver
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1
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Estimated 15 laps
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11:22 AM
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12:32 PM
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Driver
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2
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Estimated 15 laps
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12:44 PM
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1:54 PM
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Driver
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3
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Estimated 15 laps
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2:06 PM
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3:16 PM
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Driver
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4
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Estimated 15 laps
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3:28 PM
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4:40 AM
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Driver
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5
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Estimated 15 laps
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4:52 AM
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6:02 AM
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Driver
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6
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Estimated 15 laps
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12:00 pm: Lunch
7:00 pm: Dinner
Sunday, 14 September 2014
7:00 am: Gates open
8:00 am: Breakfast
9:00 am - 3:30 pm: Race Session II
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Day
3
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Race
Session II
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D
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Start
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Finish
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Pilot
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Notes
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9:00 AM
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10:10 AM
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Driver
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1
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Estimated 11 laps
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10:22 AM
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11:32 AM
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Driver
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2
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Estimated 12 laps
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11:44 AM
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12:44 PM
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Picasso
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Estimated 11 laps
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12:56 PM
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2:06 PM
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Driver
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4
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Estimated 12 laps
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2:18 PM
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3:28 PM
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Driver
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5
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Estimated 12 laps
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Z
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Start
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Finish
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Pilot
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Notes
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9:00 AM
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10:00 AM
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Picasso
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Estimated 12 laps
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10:12 AM
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11:23 AM
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Driver
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2
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Estimated 15 laps
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11:35 AM
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12:46 PM
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Driver
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3
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Estimated 15 laps
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12:58 PM
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2:09 PM
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Driver
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4
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Estimated 15 laps
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2:21 PM
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3:32 PM
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Driver
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5
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Estimated 15 laps
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12:00 pm: Lunch
4:00 pm: Awards
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