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My 2012 RTTS Experience
This thread is to show you all what went down this weekend between me, my g/f Kim, my Monte Carlo, and her 04 Mustang Cobra. If you are my friend on facebook then you have already seen most of this...but not the drama on Sunday. My name is Douglas Lutes on facebook if you want to friend request me.
Get out some tissues b/c it gets aweful sad at the end...
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Friday morning comes around and Kim and I go to register our cars...and get the event sponsor decals.
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Kim and I head out to get both cars ready for a Bangshift.com photo shoot.
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I go to start my car and there is a wicked noise coming from the engine. OH NO!!!! I gather some tools and some friends and we dive into the car to see what's wrong. People are thinking it might be a loose bolt holding the flexplate to the converter or a cracked flexplate.
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The Farrington's and I unbolted the torque converter from the flexplate and started up the motor. It sounded perfect and had 65psi of oil pressure so that means the engine is ok. We put back on the TC and the noise came back...we are all thinking that the converter is coming apart from the inside. This ends my weekend...for now.
Sneak peak of Kim's 04 Cobra photoshoot.
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After all this excitement we all went to the track for some parade laps and a really good dinner.
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Kim's Cobra getting teched after dinner...
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After we all got back to the host hotel the bangshift guys went out to get some beverages. In their travels they happend to pass by a trans shop that as still open at 9:30pm...and there was a sweet 69 nova on the lift. BINGO!!! Kim and I headed over there. After explaining our dire situation the owner said he actually had a stock monte carlo ss torque converter in stock and that he could put it in the next morning. I agreed and had his buddy tow the car over to the shop...
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the next morning the guy who owns the shop called me at 7am. Kim and I are already getting ready for the race that day. He starts talking in a foreign language I can't understand but I can make out" come to the shop". I have Kim drop me off there and send her on the way to the track without me. I felt really bad for sending her alone but she handled it very well. I'm very proud of her at her first event! Anyways...I get there and the trans is out of the car on a trans jack. He shows me what happend. Apparentlly.....the TC broke the front pump gears. He took the front seal off to show me the cranage. There were the two "key ways" on the front pump...and they were all chewed up. The shaft of the TC was destroyed. This sealed the deal on the fate of my car for the event.
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We put the trans back in and called in another tow to get it back to the host hotel.
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and there she sat for the rest of the day...while all her friends were out playing.
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Her run group ended up not having another session on the autox for some reason but they did have one more session on the road course. Right as Kim was pulling out of the pit road her clutch pedal went right to the floor. She called me and told me this so I headed over to the pits. She got towed over there by the track workers.
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Turns out good ole' lead foot snapped the cable in two!!
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So we call AAA and they come get her cobra. She decided to stay with her car and I stayed at the track.
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We called every parts store in sounthern NJ...no one had a clutch cable in stock.
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Billy ended up winning that event b/c Tom skidded out f the braking box by a front bumper...it was sooo close!!!
Awards Ceremony...
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I ended up winning the Hard Luck award b/c my car was a non driving POS that entire weekend lol!!!!!
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Road Course times...I'm so very proud of Kim!!! It was her first time on a road course.
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Yes you are seeing that correctly. The "J" hooks on the tow truck tore and ripped apart the underside of her car!!!! Since this is a unibody the floor ascts as a structural part so I have no idea how this insurance claim is gonna play out. You can touch the carpet from the gashes.
Of course AAA hasn't returned a single phone call today and I haven't contacted the tow company yet. We did put in an insurance claim for the damage and they said they would go after the tow company for the money to cover the costs. Once the adjuster comes to my shop to do the estimate...the cobra is going to GForce Design Concepts for the repairs. We are just hoping that they don't total the car.
So that as my weekend. Im not mad about any of it...just a little frustrated. I had a great time hanging out with my pro-touring friends and even though I didn't get to race and have two broken hot rods...I would do it all over again tomorrow.
I want to thank Bill, Brian, their families, and the American Street Car Series for puting on an awesome event! I live for this stuff!!!!!
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Damn! :jawdrop: That sucks about the cars but cool that you had a good time! Hope the insurance comes through and you can fix her car!