Homeschooler SVX racer

[Aredubjay]

Originally posted by RSVX
chalk one more up on the "interested in a t-shirt board".

Yo! Way to go, Bob, uhm, Bill, ehrm, Frank, ahem, Millard -- Oh, CHRIS, yes, Chris.

[svxhunter]

Let's move the T-shirt orders to here:



T-shirts

[Mr. Pockets]

Originally posted by Porter
I know we can find a Justy for under $100 somewhere.

Suspension I've already worked out... as well as the front grip problem. Paul, I'll talk to you about all that offline... let me just say it will have a lot in common with a modern LeMans prototype, and we'll spend a total of $400 or so on suspension. Mounting points are unlimited, remember!

Get the welder ready! We're going for 20+ points of reinforcement.

Since I got my Justy as a gift (read: free), I've tried to think of what kind of engine I could swap into it for less than two grand and still have enough for suspension bits.

A DSM turbo? A FWD 2.2L Impreza engine and tranny in the middle?

The Justy does desperately need stiffening, though. I found out a few weeks ago that when you have the front of the car supported on the left and right jack points it flexes enough that the doors don't open and close right.

The cage will take care of that... it'll also hold the motor very nicely.

[svxhunter]

I am clearly not going to have a large amount of time to do this right any time soon, so I'll try my best to give a decent report now.

We towed the car to FL in a borrowed construction trailer. Overloaded tow vehicle= near miss less than 5 miles from my home. Rest of the trip was uneventful, but SLOW with HUGE following distances.

Arrived Gainesville Thursday evening, checked into the hotel (the cheap hotel, not the nice one where everyone else was staying!!) Went through registration, then spent some time going through the parking lot gawking at the cars- we were seriously outclassed!!

10 PM- Back to the cheap hotel. The company was better- not so snobby. There was a team in the parking lot trying to fabricate a transmission mount for their V-8 powered RX-7. I contributed headlights, a file, and some comradarie. They had NEVER had their car in gear, though they knew they had no 1st or 5th gear! Maybe things weren't so bad for the SVreX!!

2AM- Finished the RX-V8 and went to bed.

7AM- Headed to the track. Whole new experience. None of us had ever raced. Our team consisted of 2 teens, a carpenter, a dentist, a mom, a 5 year old, a 3 year old, and a 2 month old. That's OK, we all got shirts. Spent more time gawking at cars. Had to park next to Crabill racing's 350 powered CRX with Corvette suspension. Uggh. On the other side of us was a 383 stroker powered 240Z that was drop- dead gorgeous. Butterflies were now the size of bats.

9AM- Went through tech inspection. This was real racing. They took it very seriously, very professional. We were inspected by both an NHRA inspector and one from the SCCA (different sanctioning bodies for the two legs of the race- also different sets of rules). This was the part that made me most nervous- I knew the inspections were important for safety reasons, but if we had screwed anything up, we wouldn't ride. We had no experience, and no idea what to expect. The butterflies were now the size of vultures. Made it through tech- our helmet was acceptable to the NHRA, but not the SCCA. We would need to borrow one.

10AM- I'm sitting on a drag strip, helmet on, racing harness strapping me down. What the heck am I doing? If I drop the tranny I'll never forgive myself! The vultures are now consuming my intestines. Staging lights, go on red, no wait, power brake, take off at 2000 rpm, no 1500, no AHHHHH...

Won the first heat. 15.1 N/A. Felt pretty good. Gotta try again.
Got back in staging- had people trying to talk to me, couldn't remember all the steps in engaging the nitrous. Staged again, worried about the nitrous (never tested), purged (very cool- plumed over the roof- the grandstands all take notice), the vultures are now B-52's, I don't know why the heck I'm doing this, is my insurance paid? WHOOOSH. I never saw the guy in the next lane. When the gate handed me a timeslip that read 13.8 I could have screamed. Actually, I did scream. All by myself in a car with the windows welded shut.

11AM- 5PM- Many more attempts. We didn't seem to be able to maintain nitrous pressure, so our times wouldn't break out of the low 14's. Low 15's consistantly N/A. But the car performed incredibly. The faster it went, the stablier the ride. I don't think anyone beat us out of the gate, and I only remember 1 car crossing the finish first (Crabill's monster CRX, although I did have the empty satisfaction of beating them on one of their lesser runs!). We had 2 student 14.1 passes, several 102 trap speeds, not too great reaction times (except for one .444), and we even got the dentist to drive! We wanted to beat our initial run, but never could. In retrospect, I now know a lot of things we could do to improve!

Our runs were not that impressive. No smoke, no wheelspin, just grip and great launches! The 13.8 left us in 21st place after the drags. We felt pretty good about that and had had a great day.

Best of the day was a mid 1970's vintage Nova 4 door which managed a 10.6!! For under $2000! Totally sick!

We also went through the concourse judging on Friday. The judges were very impressed with the effort, the uniqueness of the car, being student built, and our gorgeous engine detailing. I wasn't so sure. I felt like I was driving a klunker to a car show! Best concourse went to a car that broke down and didn't get to be raced- a beuatiful mid-engined Pontiac Fiero with a V-8 squeezed in from underneath!! Wow!

(The RX-V8 had trouble all day, but they did manage to pull off a 13.792, besting us by a hair!)

Sat 4AM- Porter arrives at the hotel. He'll be well rested!!

10AM- head for the track again. Autocross today- the event we were excited about. We drew the afternoon slot, so we just waited through the AM. Porter took the first run, a respectable high 57 (Best time at that time was a 55.5). My 16 year old son took the next run- 64. Pretty good for a first time out- youngest driver on the track! (Had to brag for a minute!!). Porter's second run got him down to the mid 57's. We had to make a decision. there were professional drivers available, and one wanted to try our car. 6 time national champion autocrosser. We only were allowed 5 runs. The team decided to give him a shot. He got us down to 57. He loved the car- said it was one of the best handling cars there. His only complaint was that it had too much grip!! One more run. Decisions, decisions. The pro was pretty sure he could beat the time, if we could get the car to pivot a little in the rear. We didn't have great suspension adjustments or much time, so we changed tire pressures and he pulled off a 56.646. The autocross day ended with us watching a beautiful '67 Alfa Romeo glide through the course like it was glass, toasting all our scores with, I believe, 5 sub 55 second runs!!

Saturday night was the awards ceremony. As they moved up the list, I realized that we would probably only be going home with pictures and good memories. We enjoyed the meal, the awards, and the comraderie. I kind of wished, like everyone else, that we might go home with one of those cheap trophies with the little cars glued to them which were falling off. But I did have fun. Then I heard the announcer say that some manufacturers had started to take notice of the event. One of them was Subaru, and there was an award for the top finishing Subaru. When they called my name, I was a little surprised. I walked up to the podium, and they handed me a blue Subaru rally team hat with a big box. A really big box. I was trying to figure out what the heck it was, and everyone else in the room seemed to know. They took my picture, and I started walking back to my seat (in the back of the room). 400-500 sets of eyes seemed to be gawking at me, congratulating me, and wishing they had whatever the heck I was holding. As I got back to the table, the kids were ecstatic. It turns out I was holding a huge R/C Subaru STI. There was no better award for those kids!! They've been tearing up the pavement with it ever since!!

I'll enjoy the hat.

I'll put up some pics later, but the ones already on this thread are better than mine.

Great time, great family-friendly event, cool people, over the top cars.

What more could you ask???

-P^uL

[svxhunter]

Oh, I forgot. Of course the RC car is AWD!!

[RSVX]

Originally posted by svxhunter
Oh, I forgot. Of course the RC car is AWD!!

man, I want one!!!

[svxhunter]

OK. There's some pics from Gainesville in my locker. More will come later.

[Chiketkd]

Sounds like you guys had a blast. Glad the kids enjoyed themselves!!!

[Chicane]

I'll race ya.



Mine's AWD too. hehehe. Is the R/C car gas or electric? Glad you guys did so well!

- Rob

[FlagstaffSVX]

Oh man, I wish I was a kid again.

The whole Grassroots Challenge concept seems just plain awesome. Wish there had been a local competetion when I was in HS. Could have made my Tech/Auto teacher sponsor us.

[svxhunter]

Hey Chicane:

Its electric. I wish the SVreX was half as fast. Your pretty brave challenging a couple of teenagers at this kind of stuff! It took about 3 minutes for them to figure out how to do burnouts, rally style driving on gravel, and AWD burnouts.

[GreenMarine]

Originally posted by FlagstaffSVX
Oh man, I wish I was a kid again.

The whole Grassroots Challenge concept seems just plain awesome. Wish there had been a local competetion when I was in HS. Could have made my Tech/Auto teacher sponsor us.

What the hell are ya talking about!!!! You're younger than me!!! I still feel like a kid, well kinda.... But I'm definitly not old!!!

[Aredubjay]

Originally posted by GreenMarineSVX



What the hell are ya talking about!!!! You're younger than me!!! I still feel like a kid, well kinda.... But I'm definitly not old!!!

My mind knows I'm still young. Now, if I could just convince my body.

[GreenMarine]

Originally posted by Aredubjay


My mind knows I'm still young. Now, if I could just convince my body.

I wonder what that feels like... To feel young in your head but just not beable to do somethings... It has to be torture!!! I don't want to get old now