24 Hours of Lemons racecar build!

[454bug]

Hey guys,

With all the REALLY nice rides on this site I didn't know if there would be any interest in a project like this... but with a couple of guy's prodding me I decided, why not... If there isn't any interest I'll get the hint and stop posting.

First of all, we are ALL car guys (and gals) on this site. I don't think you would be here if you weren't. I know there are a number of you who are building your dream cars. Maybe you have been dreaming of what would be the perfect ride and the stars have aligned so that you are able to make that dream come true. It could either be at a pretty quick pace or maybe at a snails pace, depending on time, schedule, money, family obligations, etc. There is probably a smaller percentage of us who plan on, or are already, thrashing these dream cars to REALLY enjoy them to the fullest and live the "Pro-touring" theme of our cars. But, even if you are, a little voice in the back of your head may, every once and awhile, tell you to slow down just a little and be a little more cautious than you would like, because of the money and time spent building that dream car. We all know, that other than a few trophies and some bragging rights, there is NO money or fame associated with getting that last tenth out of our cars on a road course...

There are "HAVES" and MANY more "HAVE NOTS" when it comes to people that can spend a bundle of their discretionary income on toys (their cars) and their antics with those toys... EVERYONE knows how expensive it is to go racing (time AND money)... there are a LOT more people that would LIKE to go racing than CAN go racing... Well, in comes a doable alternative... A couple of guys started a racing series with a little twist. Outside the expense of safety equipment, the cars competing in the races can't be worth more than $500.00. This keeps the cost down enough so that MANY more people, interested in feeling the rush of being on a race track with other cars, can afford to experience that.

Needless to say, the depiction above fits me to a tee... I have ALWAYS dreamed of being on a race track and NEVER had the money to make that dream come true... Granted, what I am describing is NOT rubbin' fenders with Dale Jr. or competing against one of my favorite road racers, Ron Fellows. But I realize that if I want to enjoy some of this kind of activity it's just about all I could ever afford to do... and still have a TON of FUN with my buddies who are like-minded...

The races started a few years ago in the United States. They also have these races in Europe and Japan. A couple of guys from the San Fransisco area started the USA races. The race dates have multiplied as word-of-mouth advertising has helped spread the news across the country. They have been featured in the New York Times, Motorweek, Car & Driver, Road & Track, Autoweek, Grassroots Motorsports, LA Times, Washington Post, Jay Leno's site, San Fransisco Chronicle, Urban Racer, Stockton Record, Sports Car International, Sport Compact Car, European Car, The Week, San Jose Mercury News, and the Oakland Tribune just to name a few...

So far they have 10 race dates in 2009. It started in California and turned into a West Coast-East Coast thing. Then they tried a few new venues last year and they are starting to branch out now. They had their first race in the South Houston area last October and it was a big success. They have decided to race there twice during 2009 (once in February and again in October). They have also set a race date in Louisiana in June. I plan on racing in all three of these dates. The race track in South Houston (MSR Houston) is about 5 miles from my mom's house and the race track in Louisiana (No Problem Raceway) is about an hour from where I live. These two tracks are a couple of the tracks I plan to run "hot lap" days in my Bug when I complete that project. It will be great practice to run a few hundred laps at each of these facilities before I get there with my Bug from Hell...

[JJSmitches]

Website?

[454bug]

So, after that lengthy introduction...

Here's a link to their site: www.24hoursoflemons.com (http://www.24hoursoflemons.com). Go check out their rules. They will crack you up!

The first thing I had to do was find a viable candidate... I watched many of their videos on www.youtube.com (http://www.youtube.com) (just type in "24 hours of Lemons" and you will see plenty of examples) and saw the majority of the car racing were foreign cars with 4-bangers in them. That was understandable because of the dollar limit on the value of the cars... but I REALLY didn't want to go that route if I didn't have to. As you can see from my other "project" I am a fool for cubic inches and POWER! I REALLY wanted to find a car with a V8 in it if possible. First, I went to ebay and found nothing at that price range... Second, I went to www.craigslist.com (http://www.craigslist.com). I went to each of the major city listings in Louisiana and when I got to the New Orleans area I came across this:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/01/img001-1.jpg

It was EXACTLY what I was looking for!!! :headbang:

I called the guy and didn't even try to haggle with the price... I told him I would be there the next day!!

[454bug]

Sounds like you have you work cut out for you!

Read the rules, does selling extra parts give you credit toward the $500 price?

Good luck with the race!

x2 on starting a build thread!

Jon

Hey Jon,

Yeah, that is exactly what you can do... and what I plan on doing.

I didn't think about doing a "build thread" on this project so, unfortunately, I didn't start taking pictures when I picked up the car and not really any "before" pictures so I will pick up from now going forward...

Since you have to take all glass and plastic off the outside of the car (except for the windshield) it will allow me to sell a number of pieces to raise money for the purchase of other parts.

[454bug]

I got the car home and started surveying what I had on my hands and started prioritizing what we needed to do to get the car ready to race...

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It even came with it's original doors... He changed them out trying to get doors with better window cranks in them. I'll just save the blue doors for future use.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/01/DSC03389-1.jpg

[454bug]

Don't let the $500.00 limit fool you. When they set the rule limit on the "value" of the car at $500.00 they don't include your "safety" equipment in that total... Naturally, they want to keep the "hurting" of people to a minimum so they have NO limit on safety items...

Safety items includes things like, but not limited to: roll cage (6-point or more), window net, racing seat, racing belts, fuel cell, wheels, tires, brakes, mirrors, driveshaft loop, racing suit, racing helmet, racing gloves, racing shoes, HANS-type device (or at least a collar), Fire extinguisher, Master Kill Switch, etc. They also stipulated the exhaust "aft" of the headers don't count. That's for required noise abatement reasons.

With the investment of the $500.00 car along with these safety upgrades it is very feasible to spend between $2,500-$3,000 total on the car... still MUCH less expensive than any other kind of racing and in reach of most people. With a required team size of 4-6 drivers that's not too bad if you spread the cost around. The entry fee is $500.00 per car PLUS $100.00 per driver for a total entry fee between $900.00-$1,100.00.

[TonyL]

What's your theme? There's always a theme!
That craigslist add, looks too good to be true. Be warned, the Judges may accuse you of setting up a fake ad *after* you bought the car! Looks like fun though! Post lots of pics! and we'll be rooting for ya!

[Roadbuster]

Subscribed!

This looks like a fin build!

Jon

[454bug]

What's your theme? There's always a theme!
That craigslist add, looks too good to be true. Be warned, the Judges may accuse you of setting up a fake ad *after* you bought the car! Looks like fun though! Post lots of pics! and we'll be rooting for ya!

Hey Tony,

I assure you, the craigslist ad is FOR REAL... but I sure don't know how I could convince them except to call the guy up and verify it...

Don't ask me where the name popped into my head but we decided to call ourselves, "Team Cruz Missiles"... My vision was to mount a big Cruise Missile on top of the car and wear camouflage over our firesuits as our team uniforms...

Then I happened to be looking at pictures from the last race of 2008 in California at a track called Thunderhill... and they beat me to the punch...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/01/3165530696_8090d1241d-1.jpg

But since we have already named the team we are running with this theme. I came across a couple of pictures on the internet that sparked my interest. I think it would be cool to have cruise missiles chasing us around the track... helium balloons that would be right in everyone's face behind me...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/01/balloonrockets-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/01/missiles-1.jpg

If I could just find a Mylar balloon company that could produce these for me prior to the first race in February...

Since the Mustang is already blue I decided to use the military "blue" camouflage for the painting of the car and for our matching hats and shirts and pants... We'll cut some templates out of construction paper and spray paint the other camo colors on the Mustang body to match our outfits...

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I am now trying to find full face knit hoods that we can slip over our helmets to complete the look...

Any leads from anyone on a crazy balloon company that could produce the helium balloons that can handle being pulled 80 mph let me know. You know if they were made out of parachute material they take abuse at much higher speeds than that...

[454bug]

Hey Tony, they even had your car's cousin racing at the last 2008 race at Thunderhill...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/01/lead1-1.jpg

[TonyL]

I saw it, I saw it spin out too. That was amazing the car came away without a scratch! The Bimmer was jacked up!

They should have lowered it a BUNCH and put some weight up front. It would have saved them a lot and the car would have done better.

That picture of the missle balloons are available and will do 80 mph. I'll find them for ya.

[camcojb]

don't make the car look too good, you won't like what they do at the end of the race..................... :machine:

Jody

[454bug]

I saw it, I saw it spin out too. That was amazing the car came away without a scratch! The Bimmer was jacked up!

They should have lowered it a BUNCH and put some weight up front. It would have saved them a lot and the car would have done better.

That picture of the missle balloons are available and will do 80 mph. I'll find them for ya.

With the dollar limit so tight it makes it hard to spend much money on suspension upgrades. Some people are cutting their factory springs and others are actually "chaining" down their suspension to limit it's travel.

If you could find a missile balloon supplier that would be a BIG help! I have searched all over with no success. I contacted a few advertising balloon companies and only one replied and said he had searched for a long time to figure out who makes them with no success. The other companies probably thought I was pranking them and didn't reply.

The original missile balloons in the picture behind the pickup truck were actually produced for a trade show in Europe back in 2005. I haven't found anyone that produces them now. I sure hope you have more luck than I have!

[454bug]

don't make the car look too good, you won't like what they do at the end of the race..................... :machine:

Jody

Hey Jody,

I KNOW!!! That's my biggest fear... to spend all this money and time and then some jack a** decides to CRUSH my car! I think I would have a REAL problem with that one little activity. I could play along with the rest. If you exhibit "aggressive" driving tendencies, pass under the caution, or other incidental infractions they bring you in the pits for a "spin" on the "wheel of death"... there are different things the wheel will stop on... anywhere from wearing a "tutu" around the pits for the next hour to pouring metal shavings down your carb. One of my buddies was racing at the Houston race last October and he had a couple of knucklehead co-drivers that weren't obeying the rules and they earned a spin on the wheel and they received the metal shaving treatment... their engine lasted about 2 more hours before it expired...

I could deal with a spun bearing and could live to fight another day but I don't know about the "People's Curse" award... on Sunday, at noon, the spectators vote for one car they love to HATE the most and they bring it into the pits and crush it with an excavator!!! THAT'S WHAT I MIGHT HAVE A PROBLEM WITH!!

Let's hope we don't have to deal with that. I have heard they target the NICEST rides and the obvious CHEATERS... therefore, we don't even plan on washing the car or cleaning out the inside or touchup painting anything... it would just make you a bigger target...

One thing that IS very liberating about this experience is the use of old parts I had laying around... I am a natural "pack rat" when it comes to my old car parts and accessories... I ALWAYS think I may need that extra part SOME day. I keep everything. That's why I have a 50'x60' shop full of sh*t. I have a garage sale every 3-4 years to trim down but then it stacks back up... It seems I sell everything else extra but NEVER the spare car parts. It was REALLY fun going through all the old Tupperware containers finding all kinds of hidden treasures... too nasty to use on any NEW project I cared about. Maybe a little rust or marred up... but PERFECT for this project! I have found switches, gauges, a brake proportioning valve, wire, electrical accessories, electric fans, relays, a Mallory coil, a trans cooler, exhaust pieces, air filter assembly, and more. I felt like a kid in a candy store...

[Charley Lillard]

oh man are you gonna have fun. Also spend some time at a wrecking yard getting stuff like front suspension pieces.

[Restomod]

I would play by the rules right up to the point they wanted to crush my car. There no way they would do it,they would have a fight on their hands..........
Looks/sounds like fun other than that and the metal shavings. You could hide a fine screen under your carb to keep them out though!

[454bug]

I would play by the rules right up to the point they wanted to crush my car. There no way they would do it,they would have a fight on their hands..........
Looks/sounds like fun other than that and the metal shavings. You could hide a fine screen under your carb to keep them out though!

Man, that idea for the fine screen is a GREAT one! I'll make sure I do that. You never know, it might "atomize" the air/fuel better anyway... :geek:

As far as the crushing of the car goes... I TOO would have a REAL problem with that... other than having their cousin "GUIDO" there to make sure that you follow through with the plan, I think I would tell them to stick it up their a** and hit the road... Some of the cars they have crushed during last year was a BMW that everyone said had to have $5,000-$6,000 in it as well as another race where they crushed a Crown Victoria dolled up like a Cop car with a lightboard and all. EVERYTHING about that car was top notch... It had to have more than $5,000 in it... But, you know, the last thing I would do would be to come to the race with a "Cop" car... Who wouldn't want to see a Cop car get crushed??? I think they were just asking for it!

I actually had a friend of mine who was going to sell me his BMW 325i that he had already won a 300-lap endurance race on a 1/4-mile asphalt track last summer with. Even though it was a great price and a GREAT car to use I felt it would be a target because of it being such a good handling car... I had a number of sleepless nights worrying about it until I finally told my friend that I would pass on the purchase of his car. So, the Mustang came along and here we are...

I purposefully chose a patriotic theme hoping the crowd wouldn't choose to crush a car with US flags flopping from it and big US flag decals on it... We'll have to see if we have a fight on our hands or not... :enguard: :machine:

[Restomod]

Yeah put that screen to good use!! Guido or not they can tell me to hit the road and not come back if they want but the wouldnt get my car!!

[454bug]

Hey guys (and gals)...

I hope all your projects have been going well...

I have been busy trying to keep the money flowing for my Big Block Bug project... in the mean time I have been rockin' the midnight oil trying to get my "24 hours of Lemons" Mustang ready for the upcoming event at No Problem Raceway in Belle Rose, Louisiana on June 5th, 6th, and 7th...

At first, I had no idea how long it would take to get one of these cars ready to race... I did have a race I wanted to participate in on February 24-26th at MSR Raceway (south of Houston)... I didn't make the roster... They picked 120 cars... I called the race organizers and they told me they pick the participating teams by how interesting (and goofy) the teams seem to be... I guess our team name, theme, and write-up didn't look and sound "interesting" enough for them to choose our team for the race... At first I was pissed and then I realized I wouldn't have been ready anyway!!! If we would have finished the car I think we could have campaigned with them and got into race...

It has taken this long to go from one end of the car to the other...

As you may remember, the premise of this racing series is to have a car worth no more than $500, not counting the "safety" items. "Safety Items" are defined as follows: brakes, wheels, tires, wheel bearings, fuel cell, roll cage, roll cage padding, racing seats, racing seat belts, window nets, rear view mirror, driveshaft loop, etc., etc. The other item that doesn't count towards the $500 limit is the exhaust system. Since there are noise limitations at these race tracks they require a full exhaust system on the cars...

Since there probably isn't too many people on this site interested in this build I purposely haven't been posting progress pictures along the way... There is NOTHING flashy and/or sexy about this kind of racing... JUST A LOT OF FUN!!! :drive:

So here goes a rundown of what we have been doing to get ready for the races...

[454bug]

First of all, we needed to survey the car to see what we were starting with... We then made a listing of all the items we wanted to get done on the car...

We were starting with a 302 V8 with a C-4 transmission and a 7.5" Ford rearend... I popped the cover on the rearend and found a nice surprise... 3.73 gears!!

They were "open" gears... It was time for one of the old circle track fixes for an open rearend... I dropped the center chunk out and we welded up between two of the gear teeth on the top and bottom planetary gears... This will give the rearend a small amount of "free-wheeling" when going around corners before it becomes "direct-drive" like a spool... it works MUCH better when going around corners than an actual spool as well as it didn't cost us anything, other than time, to complete...

We welded in the locations depicted by the colored areas...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/75INSTDGEARKIT1-1.jpg

After the welding was complete I re-installed the center-section, the cover, and filled the rearend with Royal Purple gear lube...

[454bug]

By the way, we changed our theme and team name to "Team Ghost Riders"... I had a lot of old Halloween props boxed up. They were from old Haunted Houses and Halloween parties I had put on over the years... Therefore, the theme was swapped over to severed limbs, skulls, bones, and the like...

Our team "write-up" goes like this... "Our team has been "dieing" to race... We have gone to the grave and back to be able to participate in this event!! "Do or Die" is our motto... or is it "Die and Do"???"

Here are our team pictures for the website...

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[454bug]

So... this is was our gameplan...

First of all, we needed to get a priority list of items to do... and stay under our budget...

For the items going against the $500.00...

$350 - Price of the car (we're not counting the MSD box we decided to not use...)

- Sway Bars
- Lowering Springs
- ?????? what else???

For the safety items...

I wanted to go through the brakes, front to rear... the car has front discs and rear drums...

Therefore, on with the new rear brake drums, new rear brake shoes, new rear wheel cylinders, and new springs and hardware ...

here's the old...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC03398-1.jpg

and here's the new...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC03605-1.jpg

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for the front brakes I purchased new wheel bearings, seals, brake rotors, calipers, front brake hoses, and disc brake pads... I was thrown a new surprise when the new rotors came in... I had NO idea the SIZE of the front brake rotors were different from a 4-cylinder car and a V8 car... The front rotors were 11" diameter instead of the 10" size of the 4-cylinder rotors...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC03617-1.jpg

Therefore, I had to research and find out what all needed to be upgraded... next stop was the local "Pull-a-Part" to locate some V8 spindles and dust shields...

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[454bug]

I wanted to get the car as low as possible to get the center of gravity down and improve the handling... the two areas we wanted to focus on were the car's sway bars and the springs...

First of all were the sway bars... I went out to the "Pull-a-Part" yard again and hit a HOME RUN!!! (I just LOVE hanging out at that place... it's so cool finding parts for this car at dirt cheap prices...) I located a Mustang V8 Convertible... I purchased the front and rear sway bars for $11.68!!!

Check out the difference in diameter of the old bars and the new V8 convertible bars... that should stiffen it up!!! :headbang:

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https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC03701-1.jpg

The 4-cylinder car didn't have a rear sway bar so this should be a BIG improvement...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC03667-1.jpg

[454bug]

The next area to spend part of the $500.00 limit was the lowering springs... I started studying what companies made lowering springs for the Mustang and one of the nicest companies out there seemed to be Eibach. They have a line of springs called, "Sportlines". They are supposed to lower the car roughly 2"...

Since I missed the February race in Houston I had some time to be patient and wait for a good deal to come available on ebay... After about a month of searching and watching I was lucky to locate a really nice set for $110.00!! :twothumbs

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[454bug]

The two big areas that kill these cars while running NON-STOP for 15 hours (roughly 8 hours on Saturday and 7 hours on Sunday) are the brakes and automatic transmissions...

Hopefully, between all the new brake products and the relative light weight of this gutted Mustang we won't have any problems with the brakes... Most of the guys that have problems either don't touch them to keep the build cost down or their car is a tank and the shear weight eats them up (old taxis, cop cars, Cadillacs, etc)...

Transmission oil cooling is of paramount importance for these endurance events... we started weighing our options for an outboard cooler and dedicated fan setup and they were just too cost prohibitive... Then we came up with an idea... Why don't we just use the car's A/C condensor as a REALLY large outboard cooler...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC03682-1.jpg

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The power steering from the factory had a "cooling loop" located in front of the radiator. I had a small trans cooler laying around and decided to use it for the power steering. I had my old twin 11" fans available from my Bug's old setup before I purchased the new Ron Davis radiator that had the integrated twin fans...

So here are all my cooling upgrades with NO out of pocket expenses...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC03633-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC03707-1.jpg

[796spdbu]

Hells yeah!! I want to get into one of these races. I signed up on there website several months back after reading an article in a mag. Good luck with it.

[454bug]

So, let's recap so far...

$350 - Cost of car
$110 - Lowering springs
$ 12 - Sway bars
$472 - TOTAL (So far, so good...)



THE REAL COST IS IN THE "SAFETY ITEMS"... :)

[454bug]

One of the rules with them is that you can "sell" items off of the car to buy more items with... the sales prices are subtracted from the tally...

Therefore, I knew they could possibly give me sh*t about my good fortune on being patient and locating parts cheap so I decided to sell my front and rear lenses out of the car... I packaged up the front turn lenses, the headlight lenses, and the tail light lenses...

I sold them as a package deal for $200 on ebay after 6 days!! :bananna2:
Therefore, updated for the sale...

$350 - Cost of car
$110 - Lowering springs
$ 12 - Sway bars
$472 - TOTAL (So far, so good...)
($200) - Lenses Sale
$272 - NEW TOTAL!! (Just in case something breaks or needs replacing...)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC03574-1.jpg

[454bug]

The rules state the tires used in the race can NOT have a racing compound... They set the UTQG rating at 190...

The name of the game during Saturday (when there are over 100 cars on the track banging into each other...) is to just SURVIVE... The race is won on Sunday but if you don't make it until then... there won't be any winning... Therefore, SURVIVAL is the key to Saturday... if someone wants to REALLY pass you, then let them... they will either wreck into someone later or hurt their car... remember... survival...

For these reasons, I plan on using the tires and wheels that came on the car when I bought it for Saturday's racing... They wheels are factory aluminum, 15" x 7" wheels with 225/60/15 mud/snow tires on them... they are like brand new... If we survive Saturday in one piece then we can turn the wick up on Sunday and "take NO prisoners"... I searched on ebay and found a matching set of 15" x 7" factory aluminum wheels...

I then went to Tirerack.com and purchased a set of STICKY Hankook Ventus R-S2 225/45/15 tires for Sunday's racing... They have a UTQG rating of 200... They are made for a Miata... they have the same tread width but they are a full 3" shorter!! That makes my 3.73 gears pull like 4.00's...

NOW THE CAR WILL BE IN THE WEEDS!!! :headbang:

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[454bug]

Hells yeah!! I want to get into one of these races. I signed up on there website several months back after reading an article in a mag. Good luck with it.

Yeah, I'm REALLY looking forward to having a TON of fun!! I've got about 20 guys from work who are going to hang out with us for the weekend... it should be a hoot!

Which race are you planning on competing in?

If our car survives this upcoming race in Louisiana we will be ready for the 2nd race being held at the track just south of Houston in October... That track is about 5 miles from my mom's house. I'll be racing with 3 of my old high school classmates...

"Bang for the Buck" there's NOTHING like it!!!

[David Pozzi]

The welded spider gear trick scares me. I'd be afraid of an axle breaking or one of those gears shattering. I know it's done on circle track cars, but aren't they mostly dirt cars???

[454bug]

We needed to move on to the exhaust...

I located a set of factory headers on ebay for $25...

I went to Pep Boys and O'Reillys and bought a bunch of 2-1/4" exhaust pieces. I bought straight pieces, 45 degree pieces, a couple of turn-downs, and two "Raptor" mufflers for $22 each...


https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC03625-1.jpg

In my haste to install a traditional dual exhaust I didn't spend enough studying the undercarriage of the Mustang and it's available space... with the lowering springs along with the combination of the 3" shorter tires there was NO way a typical dual exhaust would work with the C4 transmission and it's crossmember... The crossmember that matched this transmission has only one "hump" in it on the passenger side... the car came from the factory with a "Y-pipe" and a "single" exhaust setup... so we had to get MORE creative... I ended up ordering two Flowtech glasspacks for it's compact 3-1/2" round case design. I went back to O'Reillys and purchased two 90 degree pieces of 2-1/4" pipe... We snaked the driver's side exhaust over to the passenger side, staggered the two glasspacks to maximize the space and exited them both on the passenger side, one right in front of the other...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04574-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04573-1.jpg

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[454bug]

The welded spider gear trick scares me. I'd be afraid of an axle breaking or one of those gears shattering. I know it's done on circle track cars, but aren't they mostly dirt cars???

Hey David,

I guess I should have clarified my "circle track" comment... The guy I work with that has been helping me with my projects has done nothing but circle track race on asphalt... He has been racing on asphalt for over 30 years... he has never been on a dirt track. Before they moved up to higher classes he ran the "Street Stock" class for MANY years... He, himself, has over 150 "Feature" wins in a "Street Stock" class... He told me in that length of time he has NEVER had a rearend failure because of these welded up gears. There really is no direct shock-type impact on them in this kind of racing... It's not like we are going to drag race this car with a slick on it... These old 302 V8's probably only make about 250-300 horsepower, if we're lucky...

He assured me this will be the least of our problems... I am putting my faith in him TOTALLY... I hope he's right... He said I just need to worry about my engine and/or my transmission getting hot... that will be our biggest potential for failure during 15 hours of racing...

Thanks for the comments and concern... we need this thing to be reliable AND safe, that's for sure... :fingersx:

[Restomod]

I still think this is really cool form of racing!! Great job on the car, cant wait for the results.

[blown9746]

a buddy of mine did one of the lemons races out here in CA last year. He does autox, some drag, and has done roadracing in the past. He said this was by far the most fun he's had in a car event.

[454bug]

I still think this is really cool form of racing!! Great job on the car, cant wait for the results.

Thanks a lot... I have a lot more progress to post... I only have a small amount of time each night since we are working on the car with all the final, last minute details...


a buddy of mine did one of the lemons races out here in CA last year. He does autox, some drag, and has done roadracing in the past. He said this was by far the most fun he's had in a car event.

Yeah, we are looking forward to having LOTS of fun as well!! :6gears:

[454bug]

The next task was to move on to the roll cage...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC03654-1.jpg

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[454bug]

In the rules it states the stock fuel tank is permissible just as long as it's 100% isolated from the cab... Well, on a fastback Mustang the fuel neck runs through the passenger rear fender, passing through the interior. We started surveying how to cap off this area from the cab...

I watched MANY videos on youtube from these races... there are a number of rearend collisions along the way by overzealous racers... I had visions of a punctured gas tank and having to deal with a potential fire... I didn't like the thought of how bad that could be...

Therefore, we decided to remove the original gas tank, build a seal-tight box and mount a fuel cell inside it... I went to the local racing shop and bought a 22-gallon fuel cell...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC03972-1.jpg

Next, we needed to plasma cut out the old spare tire area to make room for the box and fuel cell...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC03937-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC03938-1.jpg

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https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC039401-1.jpg

Next, we built a box to accomodate the fuel cell, tac'd it in place, built an angle iron lip around the perimeter of the box, and installed the fuel cell...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC039781-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC039741-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04295-1.jpg

We will build a corresponding top box to slip over this box to totally encase the fuel cell from the cab... A hard rubber gasket will be placed between the angle iron lip of the top and bottom boxes and 1/4"-20 nuts and bolts will tie everything together... We made the box wide enough to accomodate the vent line on one side and the supply line on the other... We welded pipe collars in the bottom box for the vent and supply line connections. The vent line has a "roll-over" valve in it to prevent a gas leak in the event of a roll-over...

Also, for a redundant fuel system we installed a "flow-through" electric fuel pump to back up our mechanical fuel pump on the engine...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04608-1.jpg

I have purchased the materials for the 6" "cam-lock" cap that will protect and give access to the gas cap... When we get the top box and the fill neck constructed I will post more pictures of it...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04609-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04612-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04613-1.jpg

[454bug]

A few more Safety items...

First, we installed a remote battery box mounted right behind the passenger seat area to somewhat offset the driver's weight...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC03949-1.jpg

We then installed a driveshaft safety loop...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC03969-1.jpg

We also installed the required 2-1/2 pound Fire Extinguisher...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04603-1.jpg

And Lastly, we purchased a second racing seat so we could take passengers along during our "test and tune" sessions... The new seat has a much nicer seat cover so we will use the seat that came with the car as the passenger seat (the one on the right)...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC03973-1.jpg

[796spdbu]

Ray,
If and when i run it will be in michagan i think as I live in ohio. I havent checked out the schedule yet. I love the haloween theme. Thats cool that you may be racing with old class mates!

[454bug]

One of the requirements for these races is to remove all the glass windows out of the car except the front windshield...

For the doors, we took a "Saws-All" to the inner panel and cut out ALL the guts and glass (except for the rod that actuates the bear-claw latch)...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04360-1.jpg

The quarter panel glass was removed as well. We decided instead of taking out the glass from the rear hatch and then have the definite potential of ruining the hatch by getting ran into from behind it was easier to just remove the ENTIRE hatch and glass...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC03381-1.jpg

Since we can't spend money on items that we may normally put on our cars if money was no object we have to constantly be innovative... We figured the rear hatch with the glass in it probably weighed in excess of 100 pounds... Since we couldn't afford to put an aftermarket Proportioning Valve on the car we were concerned with keeping the proper balance on the factory brake distribution block. We didn't want to lose the weight of the hatch and glass over the rear wheels and upset the brake balance of the car... Therefore, we came up with another sneaky fix to the problem... We removed the plastic rear bumper cover. We removed the 6 retainment bolts that held the factory "C-Channel" metal internal bumper from the car... It was a PERFECT receptacle for our fix... We went to the local Home Depot and purchased an 80 pound bag of Commercial-Grade, Crack-Resistant Quikrete (for $6.00)!! We went back to the shop and mixed and poured the contents into the bumper... We let it set for a day and when it was fully cured we cut a 3/16" thick steel plate to "encase" the cement... We welded all the way around the perimeter... We SURE didn't want to get black-flagged for spreading concrete rocks on to the racetrack every time we got hit from behind... :rotfl:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04292-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04294-1.jpg

A second REALLY big benefit from this exercise was to gain some additional protection from possible damage to our car and and fuel cell... :naughty:

After the plastic rear bumper was re-installed you would never know the cement and extra steel was even there... :smoke:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04383-1.jpg

[79-TA]

DANGIT. I wish I'd have been on this forum when you started this. My family and I bought and stripped a Mustang for Lemons, then didn't get chosen for the race.

The car was a rolled '89 Mustang 5.0 with a 5 speed. It was dented, but only needed a bit of suspension work and then we had it operational. After we didn't get chosen for the race, we sold the car . . . for 500 dollars, 100 more than what we had bought it for. I'd have gladly sold it to you guys to run LeMons . . . the guys we sold it to were super sketchy and stole the car cover we had on it.

*continues to kick self

[454bug]

Ray,
If and when i run it will be in michagan i think as I live in ohio. I havent checked out the schedule yet. I love the haloween theme. Thats cool that you may be racing with old class mates!

I don't see a Michigan date this year but they do have a race in Ohio in October...

Here's the information:

THE LAMEST DAY (2009) (http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/events/lamestday09/)
Date: October 3-4, 2009 (full 24-hour endurance race)
Track: Nelson Ledges Road Course, Nelson Ledges OH
Entry Deadline: Ten weeks before the race (25 July 2009)
Late Entries: Considered case-by-case, space permitting
Buy Spectator Tickets: Weekend Pass (http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=1277594)

I hope things work out so you can race... I KNOW you will have a blast!

Make sure you get a car early enough to get all the knick-knacks done... :)

[454bug]

DANGIT. I wish I'd have been on this forum when you started this. My family and I bought and stripped a Mustang for Lemons, then didn't get chosen for the race.

The car was a rolled '89 Mustang 5.0 with a 5 speed. It was dented, but only needed a bit of suspension work and then we had it operational. After we didn't get chosen for the race, we sold the car . . . for 500 dollars, 100 more than what we had bought it for. I'd have gladly sold it to you guys to run LeMons . . . the guys we sold it to were super sketchy and stole the car cover we had on it.

*continues to kick self

Hey Brett,

Man, that sounds like the PERFECT car for these races!! A standard transmission would be SO much better... Overheating an automatic is one of the biggest culprits to a good finish in these races... We sure hope using an A/C condensor for our trans cooling will help extend the life of the transmission... :fingersx:

These races have been going on for about 8 years... they are adding more and more races each year. There are a number of races in the California area. It's too bad you guys didn't hang on to the car... Maybe you could have been accepted to the next race...

I called and talked to the organizers... They stated their system is NOT a "first come, first serve" process... As long as you make the sign-up date your team will be considered, regardless of the order of when you signed up... They read your write-up and look at your submitted pictures. They are looking for the KOOKIEST teams to help make for the best show... He told me they were looking for the team that would be willing to wear a chicken suit throughout the entire race... He stated we all have had the "desire to race our whole lives"... that alone would NOT be enough to be chosen. The first race I signed up for in February I wrote a sappy paragragh of how excited I was and couldn't wait until the event... I was DENIED!!!

Well, I wasn't going to let that happen again... I wrote some stupid stuff and I was accepted...

Keep trying... it will be worth it... :drive1:

[454bug]

There have been many "to do" lists during the last few weeks...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04427-1.jpg

We were required to close off all openings in the firewall and fuel cell area... all unused holes were covered with sheetmetal, siliconed and riveted into place...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04596-1.jpg

We installed a triple gauge set (oil pressure, water temp, and voltage). We also made the most basic wiring runs for the battery, starter, electric fans, electric fuel pump, gauges, alternator, high/low wipers (these races don't stop for rain...), and the required brake lights... Keeping the costs down I found an old ice cube basket laying around... we used it for our control panel...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04542-1.jpg

For purely goofball reasons we installed a couple of horns we had laying around... an "ooga" horn and a "General Lee" horn!!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04480-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04479-1.jpg

[454bug]

So, we got the car rolling and most of the basic mechanicals have been taken care of...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC03986-1.jpg

The last two main items to take care of were to get the car running and the car painted...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04404-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04380-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04388-1.jpg

I rolled the car outside on one of those really cool days recently and started spray painting the car with Matte Black Krylon...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04392-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04410-1.jpg

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https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04441-1.jpg

[454bug]

After getting the car all black we decided to cover the car with a lot of extra stickers we had laying around... We had plenty more but we ran out of surface area... :rotfl:

We left the space open on both doors to accomodate the car numbers... We have to install large white circles with our car number (27) on top of the white area...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04466-1.jpg

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[454bug]

We then installed the brackets for the window nets...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04511-1.jpg

We then installed foam on all roll bars in the passenger compartment area...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04516-1.jpg

We also installed the extra wide rearview mirror... also the rules state that any exterior mirrors have to have clear tape placed over them... they don't want any broken glass on the track... I taped over both exterior side mirrors...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04518-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04525-1.jpg

The racing seat covers and seat belts were installed...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/DSC04527-1.jpg

[Rick Dorion]

This is so great! I can't wait for race results.

[68fusion]

real world costs? what do you have in the car ready to race? not counting all those "high end" decals.....

[twosaturns]

what's funny is, it just 'might' still be street legal in louisiana!

[fantasygoat]

I don't understand why you'd ADD weight to the car. I get that you don't want to mess with rear brake bias, but wouldn't a $20 adjustable valve fix that issue?

Having 100 pounds out there at the back seems counter-productive to me, so I'd really like to understand the reasoning.

[ADaughen]

For these reasons, I plan on using the tires and wheels that came on the car when I bought it for Saturday's racing... They wheels are factory aluminum, 15" x 7" wheels with 225/60/15 mud/snow tires on them... they are like brand new... If we survive Saturday in one piece then we can turn the wick up on Sunday and "take NO prisoners"... I searched on ebay and found a matching set of 15" x 7" factory aluminum wheels...


I would be careful with those snow tires. Most aren't rated for more than 85mph. They also wear very badly in warm weather. Part of the studless snow tire design is the fact they still stay soft when it is colder. In my experience when it gets warm they tend to get slippery. If they heat up, you may be looking at sliding through a turn. If anything I would suggest taking a few hot laps on them before settling on them for the race. You may be able to sell them for a few $$ and get some used tires. If they were 16"s I'd send you my stock 'stang tires.

[twosaturns]

they aren't 'snow' tires, from the looks of it; he said mud/snow, the M/S designation on most tires, what most people assume means multi season. they are just regular everyday tires.
you won't find anyone in Louisiana running dedicated snow tires.

[ADaughen]

you won't find anyone in Louisiana running dedicated snow tires.


Good point.

I'd hate to see him 3 laps in and slide into the gravel with the wheels at full lock. :drive2:

[454bug]

I don't understand why you'd ADD weight to the car. I get that you don't want to mess with rear brake bias, but wouldn't a $20 adjustable valve fix that issue?

Having 100 pounds out there at the back seems counter-productive to me, so I'd really like to understand the reasoning.

Hey Jeremy,

I can give you a number of reasons to add the weight and here are a few of them:

1) You can buy a $20 Proportioning Valve and it will not work properly... A proportoining valve works on a car with 4-wheel disc brakes, but not on a car with front discs and rear drums... I'm sure you can find some people who have done it but they are asking for trouble... The factory uses a "Distribution Block" for a reason... The brake fluid volumes needed to actuate front, single-piston disc brakes and rear wheel cylinders for drum brakes are totally different... the factory Distribution Block controls VOLUME where a proportioning valve controls PRESSURE... If you remove the Distribution Block and install the Proportioning Valve it will not provide the correct VOLUMES to the front and rear brakes... If you just add it after the factory Distribution Block on the rear brake line you are controlling PRESSURE on top of PRESSURE because after the factory Distribution Block controls volume it shifts an internal piston and then it controls pressure... Not a good idea...

2) I previously discussed the merits of having added protection from inevitable rear collisions that will probably happen at a high frequency during the race... We want protection for the fuel cell. In addition, hopely having the additional protection in the rear of the car may prevent a crushed rear fender from contacting one of our rear tires and resulting in a tire rub or punture creating a flat situation... The name of the game is to stay on the track making laps... It is a killer to spend any additional time in the pits other than during driver changes/fuel ups...

3) I'm sure you know that traction is only as good as your "weakest link"... Having the weight distribution grossly off by being biased to the front of the car is going to kill the overall handling of the car... Let's look at the numbers... Say the car, stripped down in race form now weighs 2400 pounds... The front weight is 1400# and the rear weight is 1000#... the weight distribution would be 59/41... NOT very good... The car would be "tail-happy" and the overall handling of the car would be "pushing" coming into the corners and "loose" coming out of them when you start to accellerate... Now, say we add the 100# right over the rear of the car where it can see MAX potential... Now the weights of the car are Front - 1400# and Rear - 1100# for a weight distribution of 54/46... not the best but MUCH more manageable...

4) The primary purpose for installing the "lowering" springs on the car was to lower the "center of gravity" of the car for better handling charateristics... The lower the center of gravity is, the LESS body roll... the less body roll the more consistent "contact patch" of your tires on the ground... With front-biased weight and a minimal amount of weight over the rear axle the car had a "Pro Street" look to it... it was NOT hunkered down in the rear like we wanted it to be... we were NOT achieving the lowering of the center of gravity like we were wanting to... When we added the bumper weight and installed the 22-gallon fuel cell with it's steel encased box it brought the rear of the car down and gave it the balanced look and performance we were shooting for... In it's previous state, if you were traveling at a high rate of speed and hit the brakes quickly it felt like the car would "jack" itself up and throw all the weight to the front end and the back end would "pitch out" in the opposite direction from whichever way you were turning...

5) Remember, we're NOT Drag Racing... we are not looking for every tenth of a second decrease in a Quarter Mile run... losing weight is important but NOT at the sacrifice of having an UNBALANCED chassis...

To illustrate a point, check out this short video of a "24 Hours of Lemons" race in California last year... I don't think this Corvair has his weight-bias very correct... You can see the consequences, even when you aren't going that fast...

h4nVkZ9BVIY

[454bug]

Here's a short video of the car from last weekend...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/th_MOV04470-1.jpg (http://s241.photobucket.com/albums/ff196/454bug/24%20hours%20of%20Lemons/5-24-09/?action=view&current=MOV04470.flv)

[454bug]

This is so great! I can't wait for race results.

Hey Rick,

We can't either!! If the car holds up we should have a blast!! :bananna2:


what's funny is, it just 'might' still be street legal in louisiana!

Hey Keith,

I don't know the smog requirements they have on a 1991 car... I don't think it's old enough for any "grandfather" rules... Other than that it could definitely be driven on the street... You might get a LITTLE wet in the rain though... :rotfl:


I would be careful with those snow tires. Most aren't rated for more than 85mph. They also wear very badly in warm weather. Part of the studless snow tire design is the fact they still stay soft when it is colder. In my experience when it gets warm they tend to get slippery. If they heat up, you may be looking at sliding through a turn. If anything I would suggest taking a few hot laps on them before settling on them for the race. You may be able to sell them for a few $$ and get some used tires. If they were 16"s I'd send you my stock 'stang tires.


they aren't 'snow' tires, from the looks of it; he said mud/snow, the M/S designation on most tires, what most people assume means multi season. they are just regular everyday tires.
you won't find anyone in Louisiana running dedicated snow tires.

Keith is right... That is just a GENERIC term used on tires down here... The tread design on a "Mud/Snow" tire is more aggressive than a typical street radial, hence the title "Mud/Snow"... It would supposedly have more traction in a "Mud" or "Snow" situation... It is NOT a soft compound tire like you might purchase up North...

Now, one concern that IS real... Since the tire's tread design is more "aggressive" that means the treads are spaced a little farther apart so it could handle digging in to Mud or Snow... Therefore, there will be a somewhat smaller "contact patch" on the ground at any given time... but, for this kind of racing you have to "run what you brung"...

Keith's comment of the "M/S" designation on the tires probably does stand for "Multi-Season"... There have been MANY tires over the years that have been listed as "Mud & Snow" but that generally meant "Multi-Season"... They are just everyday radials...

As to your comment about "getting some testing time to verify the performance capability of the tires" that will happen on Friday... The "Tech Inspection" for ALL entrants has to be done on Friday... After we're tech'd in we can "test and tune" our car ALL day long for a fee of $150.00... We plan on putting as many laps on the car as possible... Since none of us four guys have any road racing experience we ALL want to get as much seat time as possible on the track to see how hard we can push the car... Also, we want to mount up our Sunday set of tires as well to "heat cycle" them and have them ready to put the "hammer down" and hopefully go for the GOLD!! :1st:

[justdrive]

nice work! thing looks mean. in the vid, the exhaust seemed to be hangin pretty low. is that just because the grass makes it look that way? either way, great job with it, it looks like a hell of a lot of fun for pretty cheap.

[454bug]

nice work! thing looks mean. in the vid, the exhaust seemed to be hangin pretty low. is that just because the grass makes it look that way? either way, great job with it, it looks like a hell of a lot of fun for pretty cheap.

Yeah, it looks really low because of being parked on an incline in the grass... I live in the country... I mow a 6-acre pasture to look like a yard... therefore, it doesn't get cut as short as grass in a neighborhood...

The exhaust is about 4" off the ground with the taller tires... When we put our sticky tires on the car for Sunday's run it will be about 2-1/2" off the ground... Remember, this is a "track car"... there aren't many potholes on a racetrack... it won't ever see any driving on the street where I would need to worry more about ground clearance...

We purposely welded the entire system just in case we leave the track and do a little "off-roading"... :drive1:

[fantasygoat]

Thanks for the explanation, it makes a lot of sense now!

[Paul_J]

Man this car looks like more fun that a person should be allowed to have! I can see a lot more of this style racing in the future the way things are going. I wish I had some time and/or parts to donate to the cause.

Good Luck.

[454bug]

Man this car looks like more fun that a person should be allowed to have! I can see a lot more of this style racing in the future the way things are going. I wish I had some time and/or parts to donate to the cause.

Good Luck.

Hey Paul,

Yeah, we are REALLY getting pumped up!! :jump:

Three days of running around the track for a total of 23 hours (Friday - Tech Inspection and 8 hours of "Test and Tune", Saturday - 8 hours, and Sunday - 7 hours)...

Make sure you put it on your calendar to meet up with us at the MSR Racetrack south of Houston for the race in October...

[Paul_J]

I sure will. My son and I will do our best to be there to cheer you and the team on.

Looking online now for the race dates.

[454bug]

Well, we got the car together and finally got around to seeing if the car bought, sight unseen, would even run or not... We hadn't cranked the motor yet... We checked the gap on the spark plugs, put some gas in the tank, and kicked her off... It cranked right up.

Unfortunately, when you buy a car like this you have NO idea who built the engine, what they did (or didn't) do to it... what cam they put in it, etc... We kept fiddling with it and got it running okay... There is a LOT of blowby... compression was a consistent 125 psi which is fairly low for even a stock, low compression engine... It doesn't have much vacuum (about 10 inches at idle), the vacuum actually goes up when you idle it up!! We could not find any vacuum leaks... It must have such bad sealing of the rings that it will not let it create much vacuum... It doesn't look like the vacuum secondaries are kicking in because it isn't building enough vacuum... (we do have extra vacuum secondary springs that we will try and see if we can get it to respond)... Either way, we'll just have to go with the power we have... If it holds together we still have PLENTY of power to have a lot of fun with... It is still pretty peppy with the 3.73 gears... especially with the 23" tall tires it's more like 4.00 gears!!! :smoke:

I started taking the car out on short jaunts around the house to see if everything was working properly... everything felt really good except the engine kept overheating... We changed thermostats, we replaced the top and bottom radiator hoses (we felt like the lower hose might have been collasping during high RPM runs... we replaced it with a spring reinforced one), we changed the gauges, we changed the water pump, we changed the radiator cap, we added an expansion tank, we changed the timing, we adjusted the carb, we pressure-tested the system to see if we had a blown head gasket (no problems - it held pressure), and we flushed the system twice... The temperature was still consistently creeping up the harder and longer we drove it... We finally decided the radiator had some internal blockage problem that was not allowing the water to flow properly across the stock, single-core aluminum radiator...

We knew this expenditure was going to ultimately get us a little over the $500 limit but whatcha' going to do if the car won't cool??? I checked with the local Auto Parts Stores and they wanted practically the same amount of money as our local Speed Shop wanted for a 2-core aluminum FSR racing radiator... The new racing radiator was $179... I bit the bullet and bought the radiator... It fixed our problem so we will just have to suffer any penalty laps they dish at us to catch up to everyone... we have our documentation of how much everything cost... we will just have to see if they believe us... I have spent a LOT of time searching out the odds and ends we needed to finished putting the car together... their rules are a one lap penalty for every $10 spent over $500 on the car... if we start 15 laps down at the beginning of the race we feel we should be able to make that up over 15 hours of racing on a 1.8 mile track...

The math looks like this:

15 lap penalty (for being $150 over $500)
1.8 miles per lap
equals 27 miles

27 miles divided by 15 hours of racing equals 1.8 miles per hour average we need to run faster than the second fastest car (assuming they don't have any penalty laps assessed on them...) to be able to catch them...

We think that is doable... :drive:

[454bug]

I sure will. My son and I will do our best to be there to cheer you and the team on.

Looking online now for the race dates.

Here's the information and the link for the Houston race:

YEE-HAW IT'S LeMONS TEXAS (2009) (http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/events/yeehawtex09/)
Date: October 24-25, 2009
Track: MSR Houston, Angleton TX
Entry Deadline: Ten weeks before the race (15 August 2009)
Late Entries: Considered case-by-case, space permitting
Buy Spectator Tickets: Weekend Pass (http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=1282494) | Single Day (http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=1282294)

Website events page link: http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/events/

[454bug]

real world costs? what do you have in the car ready to race? not counting all those "high end" decals.....

Okay, here's a rundown of getting this car ready... some cars will be more and some will be less depending on what you are starting with... but this will give you an idea... I have rounded off some of the numbers because I don't have the receipts in front of me right now...

There are two kinds of expenditures in building one of these cars... the purchases that are counted against the $500 limit and the ones that are deemed "Safety" items and "Sound abatement" items...

Here are the tallies:

EXPENDITURES AGAINST THE $500 LIMIT
$350 - Car purchase (craigslist.com)
$110 - Lowering Springs (ebay)
$ 12 - Sway Bars (Pull-a-Part)
$ 20 - Mechanical Fuel Pump
$ 20 - Water Pump
$ 35 - Electrical Backup Fuel Pump
$ 35 - Battery Box
$ 50 - Battery
$ 15 - A/C Condensor (used for Trans Cooler)
$ 15 - Matte Black Spray Paint ($0.99 per can at Walmart)
$ 8 - Hood Pins
$670 - SUB-TOTAL
($200) - Sale of Headlight, Turn Signal, and Tail light Lenses
$470 - SUB-TOTAL
$180 - Radiator (unforseen expenditure...)
$650 - CAR LIMIT EXPENDITURES TOTAL

SAFETY AND SOUND ABATEMENT EXPENDITURES
$500 - Rollcage
$100 - Extra set of wheels (ebay)
$450 - Extra set of sticky (200 rating) tires (Tirerack.com)
$150 - Front discs and 2 full sets of racing pads (ebay)
$ 50 - Front Calipers
$ 30 - Front Brake Hoses
$ 30 - Front Wheel Bearings and Seals
$ 30 - Front Spindles (Pull-a-Part)
$ 20 - Rear Wheel Cylinders
$ 20 - Rear Brake Hardware
$ 40 - Rear Brake Shoes
$ 40 - Rear Brake Drums
$ 20 - Brake Lights
$ 90 - Exhaust (2-90's, 4-45's, 2-$16.00 Glasspacks, 2-24" straights, 2-turn-downs, hangers)
$130 - Fuel Cell
$ 40 - Second Racing Seat
$ 35 - Second Seat Cover
$150 - Two 5-point Racing Seat Belts
$ 90 - Two Window Nets and Mounting Hardware
$ 80 - Rollbar Padding
$ 30 - 5-Segment Racing Rearview Mirror
$ 50 - Cam-Lock Cap setup for Fuel Cell Box
$2175 - SAFETY AND NOISE ABATEMENT EXPENDITURES TOTAL

SUMMARY
$ 650 - CAR LIMIT EXPENDITURES TOTAL
$2175 - SAFETY AND NOISE ABATEMENT EXPENDITURES TOTAL
$2825 - GRAND TOTAL FOR PROJECT


Hopefully, that gives you a pretty good idea of what it has cost me to put together this car...

[454bug]

If anyone is up this Saturday morning, check out "Good Morning America"... It starts at 7:00am Central Standard Time... They have a story on the "24 Hours of Lemons" races...

[DvBoard]

I think you've forgotten entry fees, racing suits, gas, food, travel, etc. on your expenses list ;).

[454bug]

I think you've forgotten entry fees, racing suits, gas, food, travel, etc. on your expenses list ;).

I didn't forget... He didn't ask...

He asked what costs we had in the car. :)

[454bug]

Hey guys,

We're putting the final touches on the decorations of the car... I'll get some pictures tomorrow and post them...

We're going through Tech Inspection at noon on Friday. We will have a "Test and Tune" session from 9:00am-4:00pm. We'll try to get in as many laps as we can so we have the best chance of working through any "bugs" we may encounter...

Here's a couple pictures of the track we're running on at No Problem Raceway in Belle Rose, Louisiana. It's a 1.8 mile track. The long straightaway is the "shutdown" area of the dragstrip before branching off into the curves... I marked the road course in red...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/06/aerial_1withtrackcolored-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/06/roadcourselayout1-1.jpg

I looks like a LOT of fun... :drive:

[69LT1Nova]

Love it!

I've been wanting to do one of these Lemons races, but so far, they have avoided the NW. :(

Low-buck fun!!

[454bug]

Hey guys,

I wanted to post pictures of our final product...

Here are pictures of my car after getting all of the "Team Ghost Riders" decorations... I cracked open the old Halloween items and put them to use...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/06/DSC04818-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/06/DSC04816-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/06/DSC04838-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/06/DSC04836-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/06/DSC04834-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/06/DSC04831-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/06/DSC04829-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/06/DSC04806-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/06/DSC04827-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/06/DSC04824-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/06/DSC04822-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/06/DSC04820-1.jpg

[454bug]

A few more pictures from the track...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/06/DSC04814-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/06/DSC04801-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/06/DSC04802-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/06/DSC04853-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/06/DSC04845-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/06/DSC04848-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/06/DSC04851-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/06/DSC04855-1.jpg

[454bug]

Well, we made it throught the race weekend and let me tell you... even with all the problems we had I have NEVER had more fun!!! You all HAVE to do this!! You have NO idea how competitive these cars can be and how liberating it is to have a race without a super expensive car...

Let me tell you about the rule changes... from a race series that is known for a pseudo-destruction derby it has really been cleaned up... I think their Liability Insurance has increasingly put the pressure on them to put on a safer race with more consequences for any fender rubbing... There were strict rules against hitting anyone... There were 30-minute penalties given to BOTH cars involved with a collision... There were 30-minute penalties for anyone that got two wheels off the track... Therefore, the racing was MUCH more civilized and VERY competitive... I only saw ONE collision when a guy slammed on his brakes when he saw a Yellow Flag and the car behind him ran into the back of him... I never got close to getting a scratch on my car...

Another nice change... they didn't install a tire chicane in the middle of the main straight-away at this race... at all the previous races the organizers were worried about these low-dollar cars getting too fast, especially with a ton of inexperienced drivers on the track... but they were convinced by the local track owners to NOT install a chicane in the long straight-away... if you ever watched any of the previous LeMons races on youtube, or participated in one of the events, you would know how VERY frustrating it is to have to motor through a bottleneck of cars through a chicane, single-file, on the tracks long straight-away... it kills everyone's momentum and enjoyment... No Problem Raceway has a 1/2 mile straight-away and the cars were flying!! It was SO cool to not have to bust that up with a silly detour... We hope that catches on at ALL the future events... especially at the next event we want to participate in at MSR Raceway, south of Houston in October...

[454bug]

We got the car ready just in time for Friday Test and Tune... Practice started at 9:00am with Tech Inspection at noon. I was too literal in my calculations... They didn't care about the money I spent on a battery, battery box, water pump, fuel pump, gauges, etc... They were only worried about the items that made the car faster...

Therefore, when we counted the car's purchase price of $350.00, the sale of the Headlight, Tail Light, and Turn Signal lenses, the purchase of the lowering springs, the purchase of the 5.0 Liter GT sway bars, and the 2-core aluminum racing radiator it all came up to a total of $500.00...

The result... NO penalty laps!!! :bananna2:

One thing that is REALLY hard to do with these cars is to be able to put them under stress around the house... the car is not registered, insured, and doesn't have a license plate... I didn't feel comfortable driving it very far from the house to see if everything was in order... Also, we really couldn't put the car under stress just traveling on country roads... We REALLY wanted to get to one of the local track's "hot lap" days to press the car and go through it's paces... Unfortunately, the only "hot lap" day between the time we got the car ready and when the race date was got cancelled for some reason and we never had an opportunity to see if we really had an overheating issue or not. With the small amount of driving of the car it was consistently overheating... Buying a car, sight un-seen, you have NO idea what the guy had or had not done to the car and it's drivetrain... We methodically went through every possible scenario and subsequent fix we could come up without actually pulling the motor or pulling the cylinder heads to check internals...

We changed radiator hoses, we installed a thermostat, we replaced the thermostat with a "restrictor" plate, we replaced the water pump, we installed an expansion tank system, we replaced the radiator cap, we tweaked the carb, we tweaked the timing, we located a couple of vacuum leaks (making the engine lean out), we adjusted the valves, we replaced the radiator with a 2-core aluminum racing radiator, we installed a fan shroud, we installed an 18" aluminum racing fixed fan, we replaced the carb, etc., etc. We kept chasing the problem... When we replaced the radiator and installed the fan and shroud we were able to make a 10-mile jaunt close to the house and it never got above 190 degrees. But, as stated earlier, it was a lot of wishful thinking since we never really had the ability to beat on the car...

So... off to the races with our fingers crossed... :fingersx:

We got to the track on Friday morning and unloaded... We went to the Track's Driver's Meeting. We went through our final checks on the car and got on the track... It was such an AWESOME feeling to be on the track with 50 other cars with NO restrictions on passing, racing, pacing, and virtual freedom to go at your own pace... :drive:

We ran a few laps and the car was still getting very warm but not boiling over... We changed the timing, we tweaked on the carb, and we started to wonder if we had enough free-flowing air across the radiator... It wasn't getting SUPER hot but we weren't really pounding on it yet... After Tech inspection and lunch we decided to get to pushing on the car like we would in the race... The engine water temp started to creep above 210 degrees... not the end of the world but not very comfortable either...

Therefore, we decided that our A/C condensor we were using for a trans cooler might be restricting the radiator from being as efficient as possible. So, we decided to pull the condensor out to give a free path of air into the radiator... We installed a B&M trans cooler on the car's inner fender with it's own dedicated 10" electric fan on it. We also noticed the Mustang's front end (bumper and fascia area) really restricted the flow of air into the front of the radiator. So, we decided to pull the "saws-all" out and cut a 4"x18" hole in the plastic and fiberglass front bumper area...

By the time we did all of this it was 5 minutes to 4:00pm when they were going to shut the track down... We made two more laps and the car stayed about 190 degrees...

WE WERE PRAYING WE SOLVED OUR PROBLEM AND WENT HOME FOR THE EVENING... :fingersx:

[454bug]

On Saturday morning we went to the driver's meeting and I suited up for the race. We installed our transponder to count our laps... We staged the car... everyone got their car up to the grid and stacked them in a "V" arrangement on both sides of the exit of pit road...

The command to "start your engines" was given... We idled in place for about 10 minutes... waiting for everyone to get in their positions (corner workers, timing & scoring, etc.)... We moved out on the track at a slow pace making about 3 laps getting all the cars and tires warmed up as well as making sure everyone's transponders were operating properly... The temperature on the car was staying at 160 degrees during these warmup laps...

We went green and the race was on!!! :drive:

The first two laps were awesome!!! Everyone's adrenaline was REALLY pumping and it felt SO good... :bananna2:

After the first two laps the car was running 190 degrees... The third lap the car was running 200 degrees... The fourth lap the car was running 220 degrees... Reluctantly, I pulled into the pits to check it out... by the time I got to my pit stall the car's water temp gauge had gone past the 250 degrees on the gauge and had wrapped all the way back around to ZERO degrees!!! :eek: I had never seen a water temp gauge go THAT far around!!! It had to be at least 280-300 degrees!!! If nothing else, I can say that Ford engines ARE "Ford Tough" because I have NEVER seen an engine get that hot and keep running (not spinning a bearing or seizing a piston in the cylinders...) The oil pressure was down to zero also...

The car had always had a large amount of blowby coming from the valve cover breather... Surely, the rings were shot in the motor... To keep any oil off the track I decided to install a breather on the valve cover that had a hose to a Dr. Pepper 1 liter bottle as a "catch tank"... Well, after this stint, the smoke coming from the breather looked more like a LOCOMOTIVE... It had SO much steam in the engine there was NO way it was going to cool down quickly... Before, when the engine got hot you could bring it back to a fast idle and it would come down in temp REALLY fast... well, with this situation, it wasn't going to come back down in temperature anytime soon... As an added measure of not blowing the water out of the engine we decided to raise the boiling point of the system by replacing the 16# cap with a 20# cap... Well, needless to say, this was enough temperature to blow past this new, higher temp...

The rest of the cars marched on with the race... The winner made 435 laps versus our 4 laps... :pat: We called it quits right then and there... We decided it wasn't worth tearing the motor down at the track just to try and get a few more laps in... afterall, we were NOT going to be competitive anyway and we probably had bigger problems than just a quick head gasket fix... Our plan is to tear the motor down, hot tank it at work, magnaflux it looking for any possible cracks, verify there is no warpage from all the excessive overheating, throw in a set of rings and bearings, make sure we have the right vintage head gaskets, and get it back on the road in time to catch some of the "hot lap" days in the following months prior to our next race in Houston in October...

The sad thing is the car sounded REALLY mean and menacing with the aftermarket cam that is in the car... we had a LOT of the other teams really concerned about how competitive we were going to be... I told them, "if only it ran as good as it sounded idling, we'd be okay"... Naturally, they thought we were bs'ing them... none of them believed we were being truthfull... The sad thing is the motor was SO worn out that even though the car sounded good on the track even the 4-cylinder and V6 cars were BLOWING by me on the track... EVEN on the 1/2 mile straightaway... there is NO way even one of these secretly hopped up 4-cylinders should have BLOWN past me in the straights... THAT was humiliating... I promise you is WON'T happen again... This time around we'll know what we have in our motor...

In retrospect, we have a couple of things to look for while tearing into this motor as our culprit... since the motor finally seemed to operate fine at normal cruising speeds (and at idle) we need to look for a problem that only crops up when the motor is put under serious distress... I have always built Chevrolet motors so I am learning about Ford's little quirks one at a time... First of all, we will tear the motor down and look up the "casting numbers" of the engine and heads to decipher the exact "vintage" of the engine... This will tell us a few things... I have been told by Ford guys that different vintage small blocks used different head gaskets... the water passage holes in the head gaskets are slightly different on these different vintages... we are thinking that some water passages may be blocked off and this presented itself as a problem at higher stress and rpm's... the guy that built this motor a long time ago may have not known this either about the different head gaskets and built it wrong from the get-go... it might not have presented itself as a real problem if he was just using the vehicle to "tool around" in... he may have never put it under the stress we were... we'll make sure we check this out... Secondly, it was obvious this motor had set up for a NUMBER of years... The rust and sludge that came out of the radiator during our two "flush" jobs was unbelievable... it is our contention that possibly the block is still clogged up with this iron sludge... if so, the water passages in the block may have acted as "heat sinks" that actually RETAINED the heat instead of allowing the water to transport the heat to the radiator so it could be dissapated... It was suggested to us about two days before the race to get under the car and pry out a couple of the engine's "freeze plugs" and see if there was a bunch of rust and sludge trapped behind them... if that was the case we might have been able to remove all of them and pressure-wash the junk out enough to make a difference and then re-install some new freeze plugs... unfortunately, we just ran out of time and didn't have an opportunity to do this... since the car ran about 190 degrees on my last 10 mile drive prior to going to the racetrack we really didn't think we had a problem... Next, we were informed of another Ford oddball thing... When you look at these vintage Ford heads they have "pressed in" rocker studs... that looks innocent enough and look just like a Chevy motor with adjustable factory rocker arms... well, that's NOT the case... These rocker studs are factory length and when a "stock" cam is used with them, you just run the nut down all the way on the pressed-in stud and torque it down... there is NO adjustment to them... I am used to a Chevy motor where you back off the nut (on a hydraulic-cammed motor) until the rocker arm starts clacking... then you tighten it back up until the clacking just stops... then you put another 1/4-1/2 turn on the nut for it's final position... NOT with the Ford factory system... there is NO adjustment... I was told that if you were to run a higher lift cam then you also needed a matching set of "shims" to go with the new assembly to retain the proper installed height on the rocker assembly... well, this motor DID have an aftermarket "lumpity-lump" cam in it... It had more lift and definitely more duration... our thought is without the proper shimming to match the new, higher lift that MAYBE the valves were being opened TOO much and for TOO long and that could possibly contribute to the overheating process... and FINALLY, the motor is just, plain WORE OUT... there's NO telling what all is going on with compression, friction, blowby heat & oil consumption, etc., etc. to know what is the EXACT culprit... we WILL get to the bottom of it...

The last item that had us bumfungled was the fact that we only had 8-10 inches of vacuum at idle... NONE of us had EVER seen an engine that actually had an increase in vacuum when the throttle position was increased... usually when the throttle blades are opening up off of idle the vacuum instantly starts dropping because of a new source of air being introduced into the motor... with this motor, the vacuum at idle would be 8-10 inches... if you increase the idle to 1500 rpm's it would increase to 15-18 inches... if you increased the speed to 2000 rpm's it would increase to 18-20 inches... only above this rpm would the vacuum start to fall off... maybe this was contributed to excessive piston ring clearance but we don't know... that's a REALLY weird one...

Sorry for the long-winded dissertation...

We'll keep you posted...

[poormans69]

I love it. Thanks for the details. Makes for great reading. Good luck on the next race and keep us posted on the engine teardown.

[TonyL]

Congrats on making the "top 46" on Jalopnik! W00T!

Any press is good press, right?

[454bug]

Congrats on making the "top 46" on Jalopnik! W00T!

Any press is good press, right?

"I'LL BE BACK..."

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/06/MGMA000410still_hires-1.jpg

Humility... What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right???

Our "Best Lap" looks deceptively slow... It was on "Lap 1".... We started with 35 cars in front of us and it was "follow the leader" for the first couple of laps... unfortunately we didn't last long enough to break away from the pack and spread out... :crying:

We were fartin' around in the pits after the driver's meeting getting suited up... Cars started lining up at the track's entrance in a "V" pattern on each side of the road... they knew something we didn't... it seemed to be a "first come, first served" starting arrangement... NOTHING scientific... by the time we pulled the car to the grid just about everyone else had already staged their car... that WON'T happen again... we'll be ready next time... at the driver's meeting they had a "raise of hands" of how many people had participated in a previous Lemons race... it was about half the field... we were definitely showing our rookiness... :pat:

We got the car built now... we can focus on the drivetrain going forward from here... at least we have the car in one piece to "live" for another day... :machine:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/06/LNO09Top451-1.jpg