My garage is now sans racecar.

"ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com" (ita97) 01/08/2020 at 21:31 • Filed to: None

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My racecar got picked up by it’s new owner today. While I’m sad to see the Integra leave, I’m doing right by the car and it’s gone to a good home. It was purchased by the father of a current factory Honda HPD driver (with rides lined up in an IMSA civic R and some PWC action in a GT3 NSX next season ), who himself is a long-time SCCA Honda IT racer and with some connections to Honda USA. The car is going to join an active Honda IT group in the great lakes region, with Mid-Ohio becoming it’s home track.

The racecar car is now on it’s way to Austin where they’re going to shake it down some around Harris Hill on their way back home. I’ll go racing again myself, but when I do it’s going to be in something with wings and slicks and maybe even a budget to really do so.

Now my truck get to live in the garage. These two cars have never shared a garage before, as the racecar always got my spot.

functionoverfashion > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/08/2020 at 21:54

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Is that a curb in your garage? Does your garage have a sidewalk? 

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > functionoverfashion 01/08/2020 at 22:17

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Albeit a very thin and not all that useful sidewalk

Maybe. . . A SIDEWALK FOR ANTS!

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > functionoverfashion 01/08/2020 at 22:19

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That is a curb. It acts as the step up to the level of the house. I’m not really sure why they put it there instead of at the door, but most other houses on the block are the same way.

MiniGTI - now with XJ6 > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/08/2020 at 22:42

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I wish mine had that. the walls are all rotting from rain  water and condensation.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > functionoverfashion 01/08/2020 at 22:48

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Given where it was at and when the house was built, I suspect the idea may have been that is secondarily acts as a parking block so you know when to stop.

shop-teacher > functionoverfashion 01/08/2020 at 22:59

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Its called a gas curb. It's building code in most places to have in an attached garage. The idea is it keeps any spilled fluids in the garage, and doesn't let them flow into the house.

shop-teacher > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/08/2020 at 22:59

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Sounds like it went to a good home.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > shop-teacher 01/08/2020 at 23:05

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It did, which makes me very satisfied in the end. With the new job, I probably could’ve finally gotten back on the track for real, but I would’ve been sinking every last free penny  I had into doing so. I’ve been there before doing that, I just didn’t want to do that again. I’ve also found no shortage of other things to fill my free time over the years, and I’ll always have a wall full trophies won with the car.

shop-teacher > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/08/2020 at 23:09

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Mak es sense to me.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > shop-teacher 01/09/2020 at 00:24

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That’s kinda awesome, gives you a clear reference fit when you’ve pulled far enough too

M.T. Blake > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/09/2020 at 00:45

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Might have to change your name now. Or take the ‘Stang racing. 

Stef Schrader > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/09/2020 at 02:37

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Ooh, do we know said IMSA racer?

Also, when are they out at Harris Hill? None of my cars really work well enough to hoon at the moment, but I should see if my VW is full of bees again.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Stef Schrader 01/09/2020 at 08:20

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They’re running it at Harris Hill this Saturday. It sounds like they may have the opportunity to run a few laps around C OTA soon , too, via some of their contacts.

Tom O’Gorman is the pro driver in question.

functionoverfashion > shop-teacher 01/09/2020 at 09:27

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Interesting, I’ve never seen that before. I guess it’s not code around here? Or maybe that spec can be met in other ways.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/09/2020 at 09:36

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Glad she found a good home. 2 Fords - will your next one be one, too?

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Stef Schrader 01/09/2020 at 09:37

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I smell a great story here... Make it so, Stef!

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > functionoverfashion 01/09/2020 at 10:22

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Even around here, I've not seen it usually done this way.  Normally there is just a step up at the door to the house, with the garage floor being lower than the floor of the rest of the house.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 01/09/2020 at 10:23

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That happened by chance. If my next vehicle happened to be a Ford that would also be by chance and not out of any special affinity for the blue oval.

I bought the F-150 because  I think any half-t on truck that doesn’t have an aluminum body, active aero and a couple of turbochargers is a relic of an earlier time.  Almost three years in, it was still a great choice.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/09/2020 at 10:35

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Nice. My Tacoma’s definitely a relic, but I wanted a smaller truck.

A GT350 is still on my some day... list.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 01/09/2020 at 10:50

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I certainly lust after new Tacomas. Smaller would be nice. The only thing I regret on the F-150 was not blowing up the budget for a 4x4. It really wasn’t in the budget, but I probably should’ve done it any way.

shop-teacher > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/09/2020 at 10:54

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This also generally qualifies , as long as there is no way for spilled gasoline to make it to flammable materials. Some municipalities will have stricter than standard codes though.  There is a town near where I grew up, that still to this day requires all drain pipes to be cast iron.  No PVC allowed.

shop-teacher > functionoverfashion 01/09/2020 at 10:55

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Depends on the building code in your area, but yeah there are other ways to do it.  As long as you can keep spilled gasoline from reaching flammable materials.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > M.T. Blake 01/09/2020 at 11:00

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Updated.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/09/2020 at 11:38

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Honestly, I think you made the better choice. S maller is nice, most of the time, and hopefully it will give our family faithful service for 15 years, but it’s a pretty rough ride and slow. Pretty fun to hustle around once it gets going, though! I look at my Tacoma as the Swiss Army Knife of vehicles: not the best at any one thing, but usable in so many ways and situations. The manual was a very big selling point for me, as I have a newly 13-year old who will be learning to drive soon. My truck will be what my kids learn to drive on, and we have 10 acres in the country, so both he and my daughter will be doing that sooner rather than later.

Stef Schrader > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/09/2020 at 11:42

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Oh yay! Tomo rules. Yeah, it’s definitely time to see if my VW is full of bees.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Stef Schrader 01/09/2020 at 11:55

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I’m deeply satisfied the car is going to a good home. They asked a ton of questions about the car during the auction, and of all the prospective buyers I corresponded with he was the one that was an experienced SCCA racer who knew what the car was and what goes into running an old Honda as a real racecar. Their contacts with Honda will probably come in handy, too. There may be a bit of a chance the car gets some attention from Honda since there aren’t many of these left and it will be just down the road from the Performance Manufacturing Center. To the extent these were ever run in ITA (which wasn’t much, as they were never an ideal car for the class and always had limited parts support as one of few Honda’s with torsion bars and beam axles and the only dohc  D -series engine Honda ever made), most of them were used up 15-20 years ago. It may well be the last one still in active SCCA IT use.

Stef Schrader > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/09/2020 at 12:04

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Yeah, of all the places for it to go, this seems like the right one. Congrats!