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200,000 views.... you, sir, are now a Jedi Warrior. :D
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Plastic protector
Todd I thought I read somewhere that you put some kind of plastic protector on your lower quarter panels to protect the paint. If you did where did you get the stuff and would you do it again?
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My lifetime goal was to hit 200,000 views on a forum, lock the thread, and sell the car. :lol:
I did have film installed behind the front and rear wheels. I'd do it again, just sooner. I'd do the whole bottom half of the car from the front wheels next time. |
Did you get rock chips behind the front wheels? First time around I wrapped pretty much the whole bottom half of my car below the body line, but I'm wondering if that was overkill. We learned it's actually easier to buff out cone rash on paint than on the clear bra. The line where the film ends also kinda bugged me too, even though it wasn't very noticeable until up close.
Matt |
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Doug |
Anybody that tracks their car should consider clear bra from the body crease down if they can't stand some wear and tear. I agree that cone rash comes off easy on paint and I have some scuffs on my clear bra. When you go to R compounds it is even more important. One thing most don't realize in in front of the rear tire is very important. Rocks are slung down against the pavement and bounce up around the louver area. At the end of the day, it's some clear coat, wet sanding, and buffing. Who gives a flying .... I'll drive mine and worry about that at some day yet to be determined. This ain't no show car.
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Here's a source for 2.8 mil clear film: http://www.signsupply.com/Vinyl/MacTac/9800.asp
5 color from the top left is clear, 15" x 10 yd roll is $30. I've used Ordway Sign Supply for my Stika cutter and vinyl supplies for 5 years or so, they've consistently provided above average service. |
Thanks for the info.
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200k view eat that doc renner! |
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Rttc 2
What a crazy 4 day adventure. We trailered down Thursday afternoon to our resident magazine editor brown noser's house, Dfresh. Commonly known as Doc Renner. I always enjoy pulling a 24ft trailer in LA in rush hour. :D Anyway, Doug, Cassie, Chris, and Natalie put us up again this year. Thanks again for the hospitality buddy. :cheers: Dave(Flash) & Rich joined us this year at the house. I don't think Rich will be invited back, he drank all the Renner's beer and snores like a horse. :lol:
I had 5200 miles on the clock and my car had never been driven in the rain. That was all about to change. On Friday we all headed out for the cruise. It ended up being about 87 miles that started down the 101 and up a twisty scenic highway. I'm not sure if my car is a cop magnet, but I spotted 4-5 cops on the route. I was towards the back of the pack. It really just sprinkled on the road trip. Rain X doesn't work that well under freeway speeds. My Vintage Air heater works great! The cruise ended at Spectre and we had lunch and bull ****ted. We skipped out and headed back to the house to barbeque and tweak on Dave's car. It poured all night long. When I woke up Saturday, I wasn't convinced I wanted to race my car in the rain. There was some blue sky starting to show to the West so I went along with it. I ended up going out on the road course 4th in line. I was trying to be last in our group but I hosed myself. As you will see in the photos, they had a sign that said Lake. I have to assume that was due to the lake we had to voyage through on the road course. :lol: Driving a 666hp car on a wet race track was a challenge. I had a blast but new it was a handicap for us in the first group. Clearly I had to drive slower and had less grip than I'd have liked. The afternoon groups had a dry track. The main thing I wanted to accomplish was learning the track. I ran a 1:12.xx which was 10 seconds off the winners pace on Sunday. Not bad for being in the rain. Saturday night Doug put on a party with the famous taco cart and Elvis juice. The house was packed full of liars. I'm pretty sure I was the only sober person in the joint. Quite a roll reversal for me. :unibrow: I hit the sack earlier than most in anticipation for a dry and sunny Sunday. The weather cooperated and it was a beautiful race day. They let us practice in the morning and timed us in the afternoon. I ended up tuning on my rear shocks to loosen up the car. Unfortunately I didn't get a decent charge in my go pro and have no footage to share. :rolleyes: Road Race: In the morning practice, the car was tight.(Pushing) I decided to set it up similar to how I had found it balanced in the autocross. The road race portion is my favorite event. The car could've been looser but it was good. I felt that I had put in 3 good laps. Atleast the best the car and I was capable of that day. I ended up hitting 110mph on the front straight.(Rev limiter in 3rd gear) Rupp said Pozzi hit 111 in Penny so I was cooking. I ran 6th out of 70 or 80 car between the two days. Pretty proud of that result. Autocross: I didn't get in the top 10 so I'm not sure how I stacked up. I ended up with a best of 39.9. To get in the top 10 you had to be in the high 38's. I really don't think I coud've gone much faster with 100 more attempts. It was a small tight course but I had a blast after I learned the course. I really think the car needs some work to compete with the likes of Finch and Mary Pozzi. I know I do as well. Speed Stop: I really like this event. I was still running after most in my group had quit. My car still doesn't get out of the hole worth a damn. 1st gear makes it to easy for excessive tire spin. My car pulls like a freight train in 2nd and 3rd. I was chirping in all 3 gears. I just can't find the traction out of the hole. I think it may be due to the really deep 1st gear in the tko 600 or shocks. I didn't get in the top 10 mainly due to my launch. I ran the fastest time last year at the event with my R888's beating DSE, Finch, so I'm still not happy with my performance. I think the lack of launch and slightly less grip under braking put me outside the top 10. I'll post my finishing spot once the results are posted. Everybody has stepped up their games significantly in the past year. What a blast we all had. Thank to all that made it happen. :thumbsup: http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...9/Rttc2015.jpg http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...9/Rttc2030.jpg http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...9/Rttc2029.jpg http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...9/Rttc2028.jpg http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...9/Rttc2026.jpg |
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Look's like a bumper mounted weed eater would have been helpful out on the autocross.:lol: :lol: Good job Todd.:thumbsup: Scott
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This is my first event with my new coil springs. The car was definitely better. :thumbsup: After reviewing the photos and the feel of the car, I know the car needs some work yet. That is good news since I clearly didn't win the title. :D The car still has to much body roll and the brake pad knockback is still slowing me down. I talked to Kyle Tucker at DSE about my front shocks. I have them 1 click from full hard and the car still rides really nice up front. He has offered to dyno my shocks for free and replace them if they are faulty. He said the car should be really stiff with that setting and they aren't. I'm going to take him up on it. :thumbsup: to DSE for nothing but pure professionalism. I'm going to start with the shock dyno and then add a smaller rear bar if that doesn't solve my body roll. I'm not sure where I had my rear shock settings in the photos so that is the only variable.
The car is going to get a floater eventually. While the brakes are there without a pump, they are a little spongy. It's the worst in autocross. I think the axle bearings are wearing and loosening up. I think the fronts are doing more work than they should be. Unfortunately, this will likely require rehooping my rear wheels for less back space to make room for the floating end. Here are the photos that have me convinced my chassis still needs work: http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...9/Rttc2214.jpg http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...9/Rttc2201.jpg http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...9/Rttc2198.jpg Here |
Great pictures Todd, all three cars look great beside eachother.
I like the pic of Dave's car in your mirror, with the cop in his:unibrow: |
oops. just took another look and see thats not Daves car.
still a cool pic none the less |
A workhorse no less!:rofl: :cheers:
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Looks like you had a blast Todd. someday I'll have a hard top:cheers:
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Great update Todd! Love all the pics and info as always! Good to hear that over all you did well and are basically happy with the results! :thumbsup:
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Awesome update Todd. Great car indeed. A real track warrior. Looks like a great time.:thumbsup:
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Great write-up Todd, thanks for sharing your experience. Sounds like you guys had a good time even though the weather wasn't the best it could be.
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Great pictures, looks like you needed a squeegee instead of a spoiler on the front.
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Great pics! Glad to see the car ran hard and you guys had a good time. Hope to meet up with you guys one of these days....:yes:
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Todd it was nice to meet in person. The body roll looks bad, but honestly I watched closely and DSE's cars, Rupps and Finch all had roll going into the 180 on the autocross. ( at least the rear of the cars ) I have talked with Brian and he is running 450 lb springs up front. Personally I like the way stiffer springs feel and handle. I'm not to good at auto-cross and think seat time and shock adjustments will help. Does your front sway bar have adjustment? I run mine stiff as well as the rear. Your car looked great and you were pushing it hard.
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Thanks guys!
My front bar isn't adjustable but I can buy a larger splined bar. I've changed it once already. My first step is sending the shocks in for the dyno time. I had the car 1 click from full stiff and it still road as good as any factory car I've ever drove. I have a feeling they need some work. If they don't, I may order a hollow sway bar or smaller diameter bar for the rear. I had to throw a bunch of compression in the rear shocks to make the car loose enough to get around the auto cross and road race. Car actually felt good except in the slow speed autocross corners and tight road course section at the end. The main thing is, I'm sneaking back up on my car. The R888's simply covered up a lack of chassis tuning. I really feel the car is faster in autocross and the road race now with street tires. That is the beauty of street tread, you are forced to make your car better instead of relying on rubber. This being my first event with the new springs, I'm happy with the results. There is no doubt my performance was better than the Optima Challenge. |
It would be fun to have some of the top guys drive these cars around the X and the RC and see what kind of times they can do with the car "as is"... and then give the owner a "well... it's a bit this or that" kind of report. That way an owner would have a base time the car is capable of and can shoot for that. Most of this --- and I saw it all day long --- is seat time. As the guys learned the course the times started to fall -- same car -- same driver... and not much "tuning"... except the driver was getting tuned up. :rofl:
Look what Nathan did with Bad Penny.... That now tells Steve, or anyone else in the seat, what the car can do. |
I've thought of that but would really like to drive a top car through the autocross sometime as well. Blake and I were going to swap cars but it didn't happen. I was burn't and not crazy about sailing their car through those cones at 100mph. :unibrow:
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Your car was blazing out there as usual Todd. Thanks for continuing to properly represent the carbureted big-block crew. :thumbsup: It was great hanging out with you and Kelly at the track and at Doug's party. Hopefully we can do it again shortly. I only had 1 beer so I wasn't too far behind you and the tea brigade. As long as I don't catch you eating hummus and reading a romance novel. :lol:
I did get some video of one of your AutoX runs on Saturday afternoon(along with Doug, Dave, and few others) and I'll be posting those shortly. |
Great pics Todd/Kelli. I like the road course splash pics best. :D
Still lots of improvement left that in that car as you work toward closing the gap to the heavy hitters. Congrats on the great road course showing buddy! :thumbsup: |
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Oh yeah, Todd you were smoikin' out there! Good to see you again Bro... |
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That battery pack won't help a moron that forgets to charge his battery. :unibrow:
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Todd, I sent the shocks out this week for the rebuild. Are you using anykind of bump stop on the rear?
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Just the internal stops in the shocks. I was thinking about the shock plates. Since I moved my shocks inboard, I"ve installed a .25 spacer on my rear wheels. It makes me wonder if there is enough clearance now to run it in the original location.
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Hey Todd
Curious how your 'sub' belt worked going over the seat instead of through the seat? thanks |
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