"TeamClearCoat" (teamclearcoat)
06/08/2016 at 10:00 • Filed to: None
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"TeamClearCoat" (teamclearcoat)
06/08/2016 at 10:00 • Filed to: None | 4
| 6 |
That headline is pretty unfair in several ways, but I thought it was funny, so here we are.
Yes, the best picture we have of the car is following a minor breakdown. DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT.
This past weekend, Dave and I were lucky enough to go racing with the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! team at 24 Hours of LeMons’ BFE GP. It was the first time either of us had been involved with LeMons - I had done one Chumpcar race before, and Dave had never been involved with any racing outside of autocross and track days. I was to be the 4th driver along with car owner Brian, my very good friend Matt, and a very nice gentleman named Tom. Dave was our sole crew member, and about 10 minutes into Saturday morning, we were all ready to kiss his beautiful ginger face.
Matt and I showed up to the track on Friday around noon, after a round of my signature french toast (Use Baileys instead of milk. Do it.) and a leisurely drive out to the track. Located a mere 12 miles from the outskirts of booming metropolis Byers, CO, High Plains Raceway is actually a modern, challenging track. I had done a handful of trackdays, and so was the only one who had driven there before.
We found there was shockingly little for us to do - the car flew through tech, Brian seemed to have everything we needed, the radios worked, and we all had our gear. Aside from our fourth driver not being there and us missing the deadline to register for test-and-tune running, everything looked great. For a car - a 1979 RX-7 with the running gear from a Fox body Mustang - that had been completed just days before the event, we couldn’t believe how well sorted everything seemed.
Looks like a Japanese sports car, drives like a muscle car.
Of course, all that changed on Saturday morning. The first thing that happened was Tom got dressed as to practice getting in and out of the car ( !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , folks!), only to announce that a family emergency would prevent him from participating. Oof. By the time that all got sorted out, it was time for the drivers’ meeting and we needed to get ready.
Brian, being the owner, was first out. Two laps in, it was clear there were gremlins that required excising. There was severe tire rub coming from _somewhere_, and an overheating problem. We worked for about an hour and solved the overheating problem with an upper radiator hose that didn’t collapse in on itself. We thought we found the tire rub, but when Matt went out, he came back in a few laps latter to report it was still there. Also, the car was running out of electrons.
Hammers and pipes and jacks - we need moar room!
Brian and I went to town and bought a new alternator, only to find that the spare he brought with was just out of my sight line when I went looking for it in the trailer. Which brings us to the biggest issue I had all weekend - I didn’t fit in the car. I’m a smaller gentleman (read: built like a fucking hobbit), and I didn’t have enough reach to use the clutch pedal correctly. Nor could I see any of the corners from inside the car. Oh, and the mirror was fixed in a position that provided a great view of where the headliner used to be.
By the time we got Matt back out on track, we’d lost a few hours and slipped to 50th place overall. That’s where we’ll pick up !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , out later today.
Invinciblejets
> TeamClearCoat
06/08/2016 at 10:28 |
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An FD rx7 with a mustang drivetrain and an FC fenders and front bumper. Seen it all.
Sounds like a good time tho! Hopfully you figured it a way to drive it!
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TeamClearCoat
> Invinciblejets
06/08/2016 at 10:33 |
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Thanks! Brian did an amazing job putting the car together. It’s got a little of everything in there. This will be a 3-part post, so more to come!
Flavien Vidal
> Invinciblejets
06/08/2016 at 11:21 |
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FD? that’s a SA22C RX7 with FC fenders/bumpers :)
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Invinciblejets
> Flavien Vidal
06/08/2016 at 12:05 |
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Wow lol meant to write FB to be general.
But yes it is a sa
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Flavien Vidal
> Invinciblejets
06/08/2016 at 12:19 |
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FB are supposed to be SA anyway :)
Only reason FB exist is because of VIN numbers that became mandatory in the US in 1981 :).
I personally daily drive a 1985 turbo SA22C because Japan. The amount of smartasses who attempt to correct me “No it’s a 1985, therefore it’s an FB not an SA” is simply astonishing lol. Hate Mazda for that haha
MonkeePuzzle
> TeamClearCoat
06/08/2016 at 15:00 |
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only to find that the spare he brought with was just out of my sight line when I went looking for it in the trailer
you needed my wife on hand. she finds things I can’t see right in front of me all the time (and vice versa)