RTTC3: The Thrash

[carguy502]

I assume that many of you who are planning to attend/participate are in thrash mode right now. Winter projects are just now getting finished, nerves are frayed, the best and worst in us come out, all in the name of driving hard and fast.

I tore my car down to the firewall in November and have been putting it back together since. Nearly everyday after work I've gone and put in 3 or 4 hours in the cold or dark. Sunday, I rolled the car out and towed it for exhaust and alignment. Upon firing the freshly assembled motor, I get a nasty rattle. I shut it down and tore it apart after I towed it home. This is what greeted me:


Broken rocker stud, bent pushrod, mangled valvecovers. My wife pulled up and I told her I was going to sell my RTTC3 registration on pro-touring.com and she supported me. I called a couple of my buddies who were coming down for RTTC3 and we started talking. They encouraged me to over night parts, thrash on Wednesday and Thursday and race. They are leaving Wednesday night and driving overnight to help me finish the car. Parts are on order and I will be there. The wife still supports me.

I wanted to put this out there to recognize the people in our lives that help us carry on when we don't have the constitution to do so.

Naomi Swertfeger
Ryan Fithian
TraviZ Jackson
Nick Perrin

THANK YOU!

If you possess similar sentiments, feel free to post up.

Don

[tazzz25906112]

Hey Don hang in bud,,,, it'll all feel right on the week3nd when you've got this "I can't believe I did it" grin on your face..... We all done the thrash and to tell the truth,, they can be fun in the end (especially when buds come down to help out).... See you there man.

[Flash68]

Very cool man! Gitter dun!!

[tommycomfort]

Absolutely get it done or if you don't, make sure you feel like you did everything humanly possible (within the limits of your bank account). Every time we have a crazy engine swap thrash or any other emergency just finishing and showing up are worth the work. Sounds like you have the crew to get it done!
Tom

[sik68]

Get it done! Feels crazy now, but this will be a great story to tell down the road.

[LM7_67]

You can do it! (currently in thrash mode myself)

[Ron.in.SoCal]

HA, somehow Matt also decided it'd be a good idea to pull his motor and mod a few things. You're not alone...

[James OLC]

Broken Spindle assembly found yesterday - the lower ball joint was hanging on by a thread. We're scrambling today to get a replacement.

The cascade effect of this is that we may not have a chance to bed the new rotors until the morning of the event and won't have a chance to deal with any unexpected complications arising from the new rear end housing, floater, differential, or brake lines. Or slave cylinder, clutch. Or deal with the belt tensioner that sounds like it's ready to head for the promised land...

You have to love the first big event of the season!

[Gandalf]

Good luck James - I know you can do it! Good that you caught it now though. Can't wait to see you guys. Just a mini-thrash going on here - lots of small stuff to take care of before Friday - mostly trying to get the remainder of my instruments functional and cluster mounted back in the car. Tach was playing-up last night so the vendor is overnighting one tonight. Driveshaft check and exhaust adjustment tomorrow. I know a bunch of stuff is going to show up on Thursday but I refuse to START pulling things apart the day before the event. Nothing good can come of that so they will have to wait. I will have my hands full this weekend anyway. Helmet arrived today so I've been wearing it around the office all day LOL!

G.

[Roadbuster]

Thrashing here too. There was a lot I wanted to do but I took a step back and listed just the essentials and concentrated on those. Good luck!

[James OLC]

We've done all we can after another day of stress. We don't have any miles on anything and we may be working the hotel parking lot tomorrow to get things buttoned up but we're going to load up and hope for the best. I'm re-evaluating my renal car options but am torn between the kia rio, Camaro SS, and a Benz... Jack and I are going to give it some thought this evening but I think we'll take this one down to the wire... See everyone tomorrow one way or another!

[67zo6Camaro]

Thrashing also.... changed leaky 9" bearing, another new power steering line on the rack, o ya and Im putting in a racing seat along with the roll bar that I started tonight. What a nut job I am for waiting until the last minute.

[RS_Customs]

Hope everyone is getting their toys back together. Safe traveling to you guys, see you soon!

Robert