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View Full Version : LeMons: Half-Off Racing is gonna DOMINATE!



Random
January 14th, 2014, 08:23 AM
Just got the email that we are accepted into the March 22-23 Sears Point race. :)

133

Random
January 14th, 2014, 08:24 AM
Race deets: http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/events-results/2014/article/123-sears-pointless

Kchrpm
January 14th, 2014, 08:46 AM
You need to make a :random: Jake.

Random
February 14th, 2014, 02:24 PM
Work day on the 22nd to start getting the car prepped. :)

Random
February 18th, 2014, 08:37 AM
Some warm-up material: The Worst Car in LeMons History: The 30,884-Mile Tale of the K-It-FWD Plymouth Reliant Wagon (http://blog.caranddriver.com/the-tale-of-the-k-it-fwd-plymouth-reliant-part-1/)

Random
February 18th, 2014, 08:39 AM
http://blog.caranddriver.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/04-Leaders-at-the-Chubba-Cheddar-Enduro-24-Hours-of-LeMons1-626x426.jpg

Found a race team for Keith.

Kchrpm
February 18th, 2014, 09:32 AM
! Do they need a hype man?

Random
February 24th, 2014, 08:38 PM
Pulled the cap off the distributor to make sure we ordered the correct rotor...which involved first pulling the fan and shroud to get enough clearance to get the cap off. Heh.

Random
March 14th, 2014, 11:37 AM
Team status, in the words of the owner:


#508, Half Off Racing, is approaching readiness.

One very limp clutch (I think there's a pill for that now) is the only showstopper right now - and I think that's just a bleed away from being totally fantastic. By which I mean, generally serviceable.

We also found that the remains of our catalytic converter had crumbled into a bunch of golf-ball sized chunks, and plugged up the rear section of our exhaust in a fun and labyrinthine way, preventing the speedy escape of burned combustion gasses, but creating excellent back pressure so critical to low-end torque. Or something.

Anyhow, we're playing "shake out the bits" until the rattling in the pipes goes away. Maybe we'll gain 70 extra horespower, with a free-flowing exhaust! Or, maybe we'll just barely MAKE 70 horsepower. One can hope. So much for being SMOG legal. I guess that was a stupid goal anyhow. Though, I did enjoy commuting to work in our car a couple times. I have never been treated with so much respect on bay area freeways...

Can't wait to get back out there!

Random
March 19th, 2014, 10:47 PM
New header-back exhaust on the car, replacing the blown out cats and stock mooflers. Car sounds mean. :D

Random
March 21st, 2014, 07:47 PM
Teched and ready to race. Green flag drops at 1030 tomorrow. :cool:

Random
March 24th, 2014, 08:30 AM
KTVU Channel 2 coverage of the LeMons race this weekend:
http://www.ktvu.com/videos/news/24-hours-of-lemons-joe-fonzi-reports/vCT2W9/

Cameo by the #508. :cool:

Random
March 25th, 2014, 01:02 PM
We finished 17th OA, out of 167. Could've improved a few spots had we not made a couple unplanned stops right at the end--one for a black flag (got caught up in someone else's dive-bomb) and one for an oil/gas top-off*. Our next-to-last driver had to get out of the car early becuase he was cramping, which messed up our pit stop timing, necessitating the late-race splash and dash.

Oh well. Top 20 in our third race is pretty dang good!

* we were using a quart of oil per hour on track. :D Yay for 270k mile engines. :lol:

Random
March 25th, 2014, 01:04 PM
Race summary:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t1.0-9/1375057_600351453392590_285065275_n.jpg

Happy stainless exhaust (taken after Day 1):
https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t1.0-9/1187281_600351463392589_128943788_n.jpg

Kchrpm
March 25th, 2014, 01:05 PM
17th out of 167 is like 2nd out of 20. Give yourself an honorary silver (bullet beer).

Kchrpm
March 25th, 2014, 01:06 PM
Are you Rud?

Random
March 25th, 2014, 01:07 PM
Yeah. :D College nickname, accidentally given to me by a friend who dyslexically announced that "Rud is a stuss!" after I turned a Suburban around in a very small parking lot.

Kchrpm
March 25th, 2014, 01:14 PM
Consider that information banked for an appropriate callback.

Random
March 25th, 2014, 01:17 PM
A few more tidbits:

Our tires are pretty much done, particularly the rears, thanks to spinning up the inside rear on high-g right-hand (mostly) corner exits here at Sears. Need a more limited limited-slip, or a bigger front bar, or both. That said, we got three full events out of this set of Dunlops (and can still use the fronts as spares); two of those events were held in pretty hot conditions, so way to go Dunlop. :up:

Above-mentioned limited slip problem. Dunno if it was a balance issue, or a LSD issue, or both. Should be relatively easy (and inexpensive) to rebuild the clutches/shims in the LSD.

The bigger exhaust made the shift points audible within the car, and, I think, allowed other cars around us to hear us coming, but was still so quiet that you couldn't hear us from the grandstands. Haha. The in-car soundtrack was totally worth it, though. :cool:

We've got some Go-Pro video finally; I'll link to it once it's uploaded some place. Should be good, since we turned the cameras on for Rich's final stint, and he's fast. :up:

Random
March 25th, 2014, 01:34 PM
ps. there was a group of particularly crazy people that ran a stock (!) 300+k mile Prius in the race...covered the back end in bumper stickers:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1587161/Screen%20Shot%202014-03-25%20at%201.20.45%20PM.png

:lol:



Honestly, the stock Prius was by far the most bizarre LeMons car that I've ever driven (and that's saying a lot considering I've driven a number of Spank's cars including the Toyohog, the Moke, the Corvegge, and the Toronado). For how bad most of us would assume the Prius would behave on a racetrack, it was excellent. Sure it pushed like crazy in the corners and barely had enough power to get out of its own way on the straight, but what it lacked in outright performance it made up for in spirit and hilarity. The brakes were excellent until alex cooked them. Then we fixed them and were excellent once more. On the handling oriented parts of the track like the carousel, esses, and bus-stop, it could hold its own with most Class B cars.

The luxurious and functioning stock prius interior created a racing experience that was almost surreal. Taking the carousel one-handed while scanning the local radio stations over the squeal of the front tires was a bit odd. Losing myself in driving for about 8 laps while NPR discussed the subtleties of the Crimean conflict was both entertaining and informative. Seeing the corner workers laugh as I passed by dancing to Beyonce's Drunk in Love during a full-course yellow added some much needed brevity to the caution period (surfboard). And monitoring our gas mileage and regenerative braking through the full-color display on the dash provided some excellent efficiency data which was promptly ignored. At the end of day 1 we managed an average 16.8 mpg. My only regret was that the Prius didn't have GPS. I was hoping I could experiment with putting the track entry into it as a destination point and having it give me directions around the track every lap.

Yw-slayer
March 26th, 2014, 05:32 PM
Well done, Rud!

CudaMan
March 27th, 2014, 09:25 AM
Good stuff. :)

Love the Prius bumper stickers. :lol:

Godson
March 27th, 2014, 02:46 PM
A prius I don't wish would burn in hell.

Random
March 27th, 2014, 02:50 PM
That Prius has a teammate, BTW: the ToyoHog (mentioned above), which is a Harley-powered version of the car. :D Also super slow..heh.

http://blog.caranddriver.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/04-2012-Heaps-In-The-Heart-of-Texas-24-Hours-of-LeMons-Winners-Photo-courtesy-of-Ron-Vickers-626x426.jpg

thesameguy
March 27th, 2014, 05:11 PM
Am jealous.

I have a dream that after this summer's festivities I can round up the troops and we can take another whack at Lemons. Maybe this time we can be that asshole team with a giant mobile command station with air conditioning and a private toilet. And a generator. Mmmmmmm.

Random
March 27th, 2014, 07:28 PM
No shortage of RVs in the paddock these days:
https://scontent-b-sjc.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t1.0-9/10153699_10100231799169474_2083742896_n.jpg

Our humble set-up (a pickup with an open trailer! how quaint!) is right of center, just above Tinyvette and the tartan E30.

Random
March 27th, 2014, 07:55 PM
http://www.murileemartin.com/UG/LSPSa14/586%20-%202014%20Sears%20Pointless%2024%20Hours%20of%20Le Mons%20-%20IMG_4778.html

Judge's para-phrased comment: "It's not exactly the 1986 Indy 500 grid...but there is something very lemon-y about a 5-series, a Cimmaron, and a Prius lined up together." :lol:

Opposite angle, with our street car side: http://www.murileemartin.com/UG/LSPSa14/587%20-%202014%20Sears%20Pointless%2024%20Hours%20of%20Le Mons%20-%20IMG_4780.html
(http://www.murileemartin.com/UG/LSPSa14/587%20-%202014%20Sears%20Pointless%2024%20Hours%20of%20Le Mons%20-%20IMG_4780.html)
edit: a few more...
Turn 11 traffic: http://www.murileemartin.com/UG/LSPSa14/551%20-%202014%20Sears%20Pointless%2024%20Hours%20of%20Le Mons%20-%20IMG_7845.html
THis Audi paddocked next to us..they drove the car to and from the track. :up: http://www.murileemartin.com/UG/LSPSa14/464%20-%202014%20Sears%20Pointless%2024%20Hours%20of%20Le Mons%20-%20IMG_7666.html
Three wide into T7! Passing the '61 Rambler that won the Index of Effluency: http://www.murileemartin.com/UG/LSPSa14/433%20-%202014%20Sears%20Pointless%2024%20Hours%20of%20Le Mons%20-%20IMG_7623.html
A sample of the stock Rambler "handling:" http://www.murileemartin.com/UG/LSPSa14/416%20-%202014%20Sears%20Pointless%2024%20Hours%20of%20Le Mons%20-%20IMG_7591.html
The former Dos Equis car, re-themed as the Mach V. I think they had Racer5 on tap: http://www.murileemartin.com/UG/LSPSa14/273%20-%202014%20Sears%20Pointless%2024%20Hours%20of%20Le Mons%20-%20IMG_7360.html
(http://www.murileemartin.com/UG/LSPSa14/273%20-%202014%20Sears%20Pointless%2024%20Hours%20of%20Le Mons%20-%20IMG_7360.html)
edit2: first lap of the race in the Rambler :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQZQaW9iJr8

thesameguy
March 27th, 2014, 08:14 PM
Driving that thing must be incredibly tiring. All that steering and reaching for the shifter. Ugh.

Random
March 27th, 2014, 08:18 PM
There's a lot of time to rest between shifts. :lol:

George
March 28th, 2014, 09:20 AM
Column-shift race car? Wow.

Random
March 28th, 2014, 09:21 AM
Yeah! :D

George
March 28th, 2014, 10:02 AM
I will have been a licensed driver for 30 years this June and I have never driven a column-shift manual. I've always wanted to give it a try.

I had plenty of oppotunity, one would think. In high school I had not one but two good friends who owned the same '75 Chevy C-10 with a straight six and 3-on-the-tree. I rode in this truck all the time - and back in the open bed too - we'd go out driving around and drinking beer with four or five guys in the back. One friend owned it and then sold it to the other guy, and neither would ever let anyone else drive it. Both said it was too old (in '84 -'86?!) and fragile to let anyone else mess with the shifter.

I later helped the second owner swap in a 350 he'd built and an auto trans with floor shifter. This would have been late '80s/very early '90s. He did 99.9% of the mechanical work and I just hung out and handed him tools and beers.

He never let me drive it after that, either. Can't say I blame him - that thing was scary fast afterwards.

Epilogue: when I got married in '97 and headed to California for two weeks, my friend who I had helped not only swap engines but other stuff did me a solid automotive return favor.

We had worked together in a warehouse and the company had an around-town errand truck that they put up for employee bids when they got a newer one. My friend bought the truck to replace the hot rod '75. It was a '82 C-20 that we both used to drive at work. We spent a fun weekend (well, this was fun to us at the time in our early 20s) with rubbing compound and wax and brought that truck back from sun-faded pink with dingy white steel wheels and dog dish hupcaps back to a like-new appearance. I still remember the crowd of warehouse guys checking it out when he drove HIS truck to work and parked it in the usual spot. We had even pulled out the seat and rubber flooring and waxed the painted steel interior! The truck was gorgeous and had low miles, and he kept it for many years afterwards.

Why am I spilling all this in Random's racing thread? Just don't feel like working today, I guess. I'm caught up and my boss is on vacation, and Random can make it disappear if it's annoying.

Anyway, this friend is the same nut that I got lost with in Detroit once at from about 1:00 to 3:00 AM. I may have told that story once before. So I was telling him I didn't want to leave my truck in my apartment parking lot for two weeks. I felt it was either an invitation to steal or vandalize the truck or to break in to my apartment. He kept the truck for me, parked in his parents' spacious driveway and the one where he still had all his tools. By this time my '91 pickup had over 150K on it and I gave him whatever money he needed for parts to do a major service while I was gone. He didn't charge me for labor and he also detailed it for me, including under the hood.

Good friends are a good thing.

/end of thread hijack

Random
March 28th, 2014, 10:07 AM
I drove my brother's column-shift Bronco a couple times. With worn out linkages, you have to be very precise about your shifter movement or they jam. Then you're on the side of the road with the hood up un-jamming the linkages like a doofusboss. :o They really don't like to be rushed under the best of circumstances.

Other than the peculiarities of the actual shifter movement, it's just like driving any other car.

George
March 28th, 2014, 10:12 AM
I remember both guys - Neil and then Jeff - had this furious arm-wiggling, elbow swinging dance to get the '75 down into second gear. It would eventually get there.

Come to think of it, it was a similar to watching someone who had never driven an air-cooled VW put the car into reverse - a lot of trial and error.

Random
April 2nd, 2014, 07:07 PM
I forgot to mention the best part!

The Nyan-Cat car was back. :D

http://www.murileemartin.com/UG/LSPSa14/686%20-%202014%20Sears%20Pointless%2024%20Hours%20of%20Le Mons%20-%20IMG_8112.jpg

Haven't found any video of them on track at Sears Point, but here they were at Buttonwillow last summer, for review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX1X5yW7PtU&

There was a twist!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=228843300637886&set=vb.151866731668877&type=2&theater
(we'll see if linking to a Facebook video works!)

CudaMan
April 2nd, 2014, 07:42 PM
NyanCar is awesome! :lol:

Random
July 8th, 2014, 01:35 PM
We're accepted for the September 13-14 race at Thunderhill. w00t. Racing on the full, 5-mile extended dance remix track! :D

tsg (or Bryan, if you're bored): Mike from Team TinyVette (https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Team-Tinyvette/192201637460668)is saying he's short on drivers if you're looking to get your toes wet in Lemons again.

thesameguy
July 8th, 2014, 01:51 PM
Man, that'd be awesome - unfortunately my September is overbooked. Poo.

Random
July 8th, 2014, 02:02 PM
Well, if you end up with empty space, Mike is a nice guy and the car is about as well-prepped as any you'll see at a LeMons race.

Random
September 4th, 2014, 08:52 PM
Final prep this weekend--gonna see if we can finagle some 95 M3 strut tops into the car and get some camber in the front. Also need to repair the busted exhaust mounts; in hindsight, hard mounting the exhaust to the chassis wasn't a good idea. *ahem* Then it's a final nut-and-bolt and off to the races. Word on the LeMons forum is that the entry count is less than 300, but more than they've ever done before. :eek: Since we're running on 2 miles more track, there may actually end up being more track space than last fall's race. :lol:

Random
September 15th, 2014, 06:00 PM
We didn't dominate. :(

We did, however, finish under our own power (I got to take the checker, very cool) and with minimal breakage. We got tapped once in the left rear in a hairpin (cosmetic damage), we had to pit to reattach the moofler (strap pulled off the moofler can). Ended up 60th or so out of 216 starters and 240+ cars that turned laps during the race. :)

We set a Guinness record for most cars to start an endurance road race. :D

thesameguy
September 16th, 2014, 09:54 AM
I assume there was no record set for most to finish? ;)

What was the competition like?

Random
September 16th, 2014, 08:15 PM
The new section of the track is pretty fun to drive. Doesn't race particularly well unless you are really aggressive, IMO. Seemd like there was a little less douchebaggery this race compared to the previous race at THill--maybe because the laps were longer? More slow places? I dunno. All I know is that I only once yelled at someone (which they can totally hear over all the race cars and through two helmets, right?) for cramming themselves into the apex at T5--not bad.

Cerveza won (again), with their usual combination of reasonable speed (not the fastest!), excellent on-track manners (they are passing masters), and minimal pit-stops (3 or 4 for the weekend? And they refuel and change drivers in about 5 minutes). :up: Fortunately, they are super nice guys, so there is limited bitching from the other teams. ;)

Index of Effluency was won by a Pug 404 sedan, Team "Peu-geot Daddy," who ran the entire race (slowly), played accordion music and ate baguettes whenever they pitted, had a very nice model of the Eiffel Tower on the roof, and whose fastest lap was under a full-course caution. :lol:

"Got Screwed" was won by a Civic team that had a car that would stumble but run fine if you jiggled the wiring harness. So they put together a zip-tie chain that let the driver jiggle the wiring harness whenever the car stumbled. Evenutally that didn't work any more, so they decided that the factory harness was no good and re-wired the ENTIRE car from scratch--which failed to solve the problem. Turned out they had a bad distributor. DOH! :lol: :lol:

Random
September 29th, 2014, 09:16 AM
Some scholarly analysis of the most recent race:
http://www.kstreetstudio.com/teamtinyvette/files/library/JOLv8n2.pdf

Random
October 3rd, 2014, 01:01 PM
Whee!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENUXhhV21aU

Random
November 17th, 2014, 06:04 PM
Full lap of the 5-mile version of the track, following the Cerveza Racing E28:

http://youtu.be/2QU_92dTHVQ

Dig the chambered moofler growl of our car. :D

thesameguy
November 17th, 2014, 10:15 PM
Only tangentially related -

We have a case that necessitated renting a track for a day so I had to call around and find out what people charge. T-Hill can be had on weekdays for four figures. There is serious talk around the office of renting it for a day sometime this spring. M4, Maser GTS, Viper GTS, A5, S4, Shelby GT500... Fiero? I am sending your video around to all those people tomorrow!

Random
December 2nd, 2014, 04:27 PM
The Homer got to participate in the Hollywood XMas parade:
https://scontent-2.2914.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10406671_329093710612844_2505272711445916738_n.jpg ?oh=2b264d6fea7a2cd9290d24370bb4b2ea&oe=55141F52

:D

Random
January 24th, 2015, 06:45 PM
Our latest team concept submittal, for the March race at Sears Point:


Half Off Racing Attempts New Record…

…For LeMons racing oil consumption.



Our trusty, rusty, previously musty 533i has developed a thirst for black gold that cannot be slaked. The odometer broke at 268,000 miles. The motor soldiers on, though much of the the internals have long since become little more than iridescent flakes in the sump. Draining the oil - while purely academic, since the rapid burning leads to a constantly fresh supply - supplies us with a Goldshlager-like elixir that is at once black, gold, and silver.



Silver and gold. Silver and gold. And black. Imagine Burl Ives and Jay Z in a holiday stop-motion special.



Every hour on track requires a quart of 15w-50. Our drivers are limited to two hours, so our engine won’t seize. We pit for oil long before we pit for gas. We have cleared shelves of lubricant at every nearby auto zone, and even the occasional Target.



The pre-mix in the team chainsaw (be prepared, we boy scouts cry!) requires less oil per gallon of gas used than our car.



Best of all: One event at Sonoma Raceway cancels out 32 weeks of some local d-bag commuting from McMansion to Winery and back in his Nissan Leaf. With custom plates that read “TeslaJr.”



F that clown. We’re going racing.



And best of all? We can get our jugs of store brand oil for HALF OFF!

CudaMan
January 24th, 2015, 08:38 PM
A thirst for black gold (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWF-hH1nloo) you say? ;)

Random
January 29th, 2015, 09:30 AM
Accepted to the March race. :up:

Random
February 11th, 2015, 03:34 PM
http://www.neilpeart.net/index.php?cID=276

We pitted right next to these guys at THill and totally missed that NEIL PEART was racing. Well, working on a car instead of racing, but that's sometimes how it goes in LeMons.

Random
March 22nd, 2015, 06:00 PM
Well, this event ended up eerily similar to the previous event. We finished Saturday somewhere around 30th, work our way up into the low 20s on Sunday, and the exhaust tried to fall off again. Arg! After a longish pitstop to fix that, we ended up 32nd overall. :)

Cam
March 22nd, 2015, 07:00 PM
:toast:

Random
July 11th, 2015, 09:18 PM
There are many reasons that LeMons is great, and here is another one:
http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/images/obimages/09---The-Ridge-15-BS-Inspection.jpg

Porka 914 + rotary swap + body work and paint = 787B!

KillerB
July 11th, 2015, 11:21 PM
:lol: :up:

Godson
July 12th, 2015, 06:28 AM
That's awesome!

Random
August 21st, 2015, 12:21 PM
Cool video: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2015/08/convert-significant-lemons-nerd-video-video/

The359
October 8th, 2016, 10:31 AM
Wow. Had to look twice to realize this wasn't a 935.

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14601097_10154169151999495_2506349559661195134_n.j pg?oh=54fb00550d55af11c578354718cafea9&oe=58618991

Cam
October 9th, 2016, 10:27 AM
:eek: :lol:

Random
October 9th, 2016, 11:16 AM
I like that the bumper-ettes inside the flares are rain gutters. :D