Getting Ready for the Next Round of Racing!

We have a bunch to do before the next time we take the car out. Honestly the car is not fast but, even if we shaved a few seconds a lap off, it would not have placed us any higher. We simply need to spend more time on the track, then we can focus on knocking down lap times.

• Rework the radio setup a little bit
• Inspect brake pads and shoes
• Check wheel bearings
• Flush/Bleed brakes
• Oil change
• Potentially a rear disc brake swap (Probably no performance gain but ease of maintenance and inspection)
• Change the starter, that will speed up our driver changes
• Other secret stuff
• To be continued

'18 Cure for Gingervitis - Weekend Recap

It was a great weekend! We placed 17th out of 33 in class B and 40th out of 75 overall!

Thursday
We arrived Thursday evening and set up camp. We had a couple canopies, my open trailer and tents for sleeping in.

Friday
Friday was a track sponsored testing day. It was really a bargain, 9am-5pm, for $225 per car. Split that cost over 4 drivers, it is really hard to turn down. We each got at least one session in the car. However, it was incredibly hot. The car passed tech without issue, and we were classed into class B with no penalty laps. The rookie meeting was really pretty entertaining, being laced with an appropriate amount of profanity, sarcasm, and humor to keep folks engaged. One thing that did become apparent was there were some REAL rookies to driving on track.

Saturday
The nerves kicked in a bit. The race session was from 10:00am-7:00pm. With anxiety plus heat, there was a decent amount of crankiness becoming apparent but, it was manageable. We decided to limit out time to 30 minute stints. We know these are short for endurance racing, even amateur endurance racing. This was in consideration for a couple things. First, we had 3 new drivers.  By new drivers I mean, never having been on track, or very limited track experience. Keeping this in mind we felt it was in our best interest to limit the times. Additionally, the heat was a consideration. We did not want anyone getting loopy on track. The only issue we had with the car was a sticky starter solenoid, otherwise, it worked great all day.

Driver changes
We took a relaxed approach to driver changes. Driver changes lasted about 15 minutes on average. So for any given hour during the race, we were spending about 25% off track. It worked okay, it is something we need to trim down.

Sunday
Sunday was a bit of a shorter day. The session is 12:15 to 5:30. We each got one or more stint on Sunday. The day was a mix of packing and racing. The race wrapped up at 5:30 and we went to the awards ceremony where we ended up receiving an award. The "Straight Outta Walmart" award. The car is stock enough that they said it looked like we were on our way to walmart the entire race. It was a good time and I am happy, if not honored, to have the trophy in the shop.

Next Time
The car is pretty solid. I think areas for improvement next race are going to be increasing our stint durations, shortening our driver changes, and driver development. Probably in that order. The first two are quick and easy tweaks to get more laps. Driver experience comes with time, and all we can do is continue to provide those opportunities to advance their experience, outside of just the races.

The next one should be cooler race. It should allow us to extend each stint by at least more than a few minutes.

On the driver changes, we just need to standardize responsibilities, and standardize the tasks. The standard tasks this time were overkill.

We will get the car to a couple track days so everyone can have the opportunity to get more experience in a less pressured environment. That said, our drivers did really well. They were smooth, predictable, and kept the car together.

The final stretch

• Buy drip pan
• Maybe buy another fuel jug (Adam is on it)
• Safety wire snap on harness ends (This weekend)
• Remove airbag, replace steering wheel (Work in process)
• Get and install numbers (Shane is on it)
• Tape lights (This weekend)
• Gather up and organize documentation
• Mount transponder (This weekend)
• Firewall (This weekend)
• Weld up spots on the floor (This weekend) - half done
• Cool shirt setup (Need to talk to the team)
• Torque head bolts
• Buy spare brake pads/shoes
• Radio Setup
• Buy Car Harness (Nick is on it)
• Make Helmet Harnesses (Nick is on it)

Debut Trackday

Poised and ready for action.

Slightly out gunned

What's that?

In need of some sort of better bump stop.

Sure you can pass there.

I think my proximity, or massive amounts of body roll, made him uncomfortable

Obviously he passed me on the straight. Good times and good driving by the gent in the yellow Corvette.

Practicing his left foot braking skills.

Sneak preview!

Oh the humanity, look at that body roll.

Trackday Prep

The car is registered for a trackday this weekend. A few track prep items to complete prior to its debut on Sunday.

• Nut and bolt check, motor mounts, suspension, steering, hoses (Saturday)
• Check front and rear toe (Saturday)
• Check oil (Saturday)
• Check transmission fluid (Saturday)
• Bleed front brakes (Friday)
• Flush coolant again (Friday)
• Hardwire hazard switch so signals work (Thursday)
• Finish seat back brace (Thursday)
• Roll passenger side rear fender (Thursday)

New rubber

Accepted, and rules review

On a postive note the team was accepted and will be participating in the Cure for gingervitis '18. 

I took an opportunity to review the rules yet again and highlight what we still need to complete on the car.

• Buy drip pan
• Maybe buy another fuel jug
• Finish seat back brace
• Safety wire snap on harness ends
• Replace coolant
• Remove airbag, replace steering wheel
• Get and install numbers
• Buy packing tape and tape lights
• Gather up and organize documentation
• Mount transponder
• Set timing
• Cool shirt setup

We are damn close and intend to shake down the car at an upcoming track day.

The car is still really soft, thinking we can find in the budget some urethane shock bumps tops to stiffen it up.

The journey continues

With the help of some team members we got some good work don this weekend.

- front bumper stitched back together
- grill mesh in place
- roll cage padding
- rear view mirror in place
- tail pipe fabricated
- brakes bled
- floor grip taped

Still to complete:

• Car numbers
• Go over the firewall again
• Transponder
• Finish seat back brace
• Removable steering wheel solution

Weeknight Progress

Tonight I started on a couple things. I replace the exhaust pipe that runs from just under the engine to past the gas tank. I need to fit a tail pipe.

I also started plugging the sunroof.

About 800 more spot welds to go.

Updated pic of the interior

I put together a more comprehensive list today.

Harnesses, Fire Extinguisher, Master Switch

It was a good weekend, as always.

We were able to do the following:

• Wire and test kill switch
• Install the harnesses
• Install the fire extinguisher
• Disable steering lock

Still need to complete:

• Seal up sun roof hole
• Drill holes in seat back brace
• Instrument Panel
• Mount Ecu
• Steering wheel replace
• Grip tape the floor
• Exhaust (ordered)

Weekend Progress

As you may have noticed from the previous post, we have made a great deal of progress over the weekend. Below is a quick summary of the progress and that yet to be completed.

Completed:
- Sill bars installed and finish welded
- Rear stay diagonal installed and finish welded
- Fabricated seat back brace
- Painted cage
- Painted floor

Still to complete:
- Grip tape floor in drivers area (waiting for floor to dry)
- Install harnesses (waiting for cage to dry)
- Install master switch (awaiting more welding cable)
- Install extinguisher (waiting for floor to dry)
- Buy wheels and tires x1
- Fabricate exhaust from resonator back
- Steering Lock Disable
- Install Radios
- Plug remaining firewall holes (want to wait until done installing master switch and any extra gauges)

Where we are today

The car is really pretty close. The remainder of items are as follows:

- Finish weld the sill bars

- Fit and weld the rear stay diagonal

- Fabricate seat brace

- paint cage

- paint floor
- grip tape floor in drivers area
- install harnesses
- install master switch
- install extinguisher
- buy wheels and tires x2
- fabricate exhaust from resonator back

Considering we have gotten this far in less than 3 months we should easily be good to go by the first race at the end of June.

Some recent and not so recent photos.

Sparkleturd Racing Forms

Early in 2018, a group of friends and acquaintances decided it would be a "good' idea to form a "24 Hours of Lemons" team. Sparkleturd Racing was born.

A vehicle was quickly procured that met the $500 requirement, with a little room to spare. Luckily the things needing fixing are cheap, and the remainder are covered under the safety exclusions.

This website will cover the journey to get on track with the 24 Hours of Lemons.