24 Hours of Lemons, Thunderhill (Willows CA), Dec 28,29,30th 2008?

[Tony D]

Anybody here going to be there? We're thrashing a 77 280Z that was 'slightly tweaked' and is assembled with 'trash pile parts' for the event.

As it sits we are headlights, door bar, and a bent #3 Intake Valve away from being 'as ready as we will ever be'....

Anyone else going to be there?

http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/

[BRAAP]

YEEHAAA… That does sound like fun no doubt.

We are expecting a full detailed report of the event.

Good luck and if you need anything, just let us know
Paul

[PETEW]

That really sounds like a lot of fun. I would love to be in something like that. Good Luck and give 'em hell!

[BobbyZ]

The rules page is hysterical. That sounds like a great event.

[Thumper]

Sounds like someone is going to have fun. I was wondering how a z would do in the competion please keep us update on how well you do and how much fun you have. BTW your title says 2008 not 2007

[Tony D]

I was thinking ahead to next years event...we're already in this one!

I'm hoping to find more Z's out there.

[Thumper]

Originally Posted by Tony D

I was thinking ahead to next years event...we're already in this one!

I'm hoping to find more Z's out there.

Ahh my bad. Looked on the events page and didn't see a definite listing for december of next year so just assumed typo.

What are you planning on running this year? A s30 also? I would like to participate in one unfortunately I do not know if I will have $1000-$1500 to spend. entry, car, hotel, gas, tires, etc...

[Tony D]

That's why you get the recomended 5-7 drivers! Keeps costs down. Nobody should be out more than $3-500. Hotel? I'm personally bringing a sleeping bag and using the front seat of my truck as accomodations!

Make no mistake, I'd not be paying that money. I got drafted for technical expertise, not fundage! I'm cheap, and technically adept, so that qualified me. I'm to fat to fit in the prepped car, so I'm support. LOL

There is an article in the ZONC (Z Owners of Northern California) December Newsletter on one of their club members who entered an S130 in an event at Altamont Speedway earlier this year. Anybody who saw the 'Mach 5' S130Z at the MSA event....well now you know where it went!

Apparently I've been told he put an extensive detailed account on Z-Driver, but I don't cruise the forums like some guys do...

Yes, it's an S30...a 1977 280Z. I'm working on the Cardomain Page today, but damned if I can't make it visible, or get back and alter the title page! Argh...and a pine tree blew over today, so I have to cut that thing up and fix the fence so the dogs don't escape. Damn bother!

[MJLamberson]

I so wish I would have heard about this ealier I was visiting some family up in the area the other day, could have stayed a little longer to see it but w/e, what have you done to the 77?

[Tony D]

"Done" to it? For $500 you can't 'do' a lot of anything! That's the point of the race.
What I started with was six cars I bought for $500 a couple of weeks ago. We stripped the interior, sold the fenders, hatch, door windows, wheels, and most importantly the nice rubber bumper ends to raise cash for the project.

Then I made a control panel that is 'universal S30' which has all the wiring required for the race: headlights, tail lights, ECU (Megasquirt), and a pushbutton start. The panel is the most expensive part of the whole car. At $7 each for the popout circuit breakers, about that much for the switches used, and $165 for the Megasquirt Kit, it's more than the amortized cost of the whole car before selling the parts! We really lucked out when we pulled the struts and found some Tokiko Blues in there... So from here and there off the other cars we scavenged 'good parts' like a swaybar for up front, and basically cut some springs to lower/stiffen up the suspension. Found out the engine 'that didn't run' was due to the distributor spindle being 180 off...plus two teeth. And that the #5 cam lobe was going flat. And that the PO had cranked the engine and broke the #3 intake valve guide off in the port as well as bending the valve.

I mean, it looks like crap but it goes decently. In testing at Willow Springs it was actually passing Vette Drivers who don't know how to drive in the corners! Slicks, Rollbar, Door Bar, Fire Extinguisher, New Brakes all don't count towards the cost as they are 'safety equipment'---the overall rule is 'if you don't want to loose it, don't put it in the car' because at any point during the race you have a chance of being called into the pits for a spin of the 'Wheel of Misfortune' and your car getting crushed...crushed right there on the spot.

So other than my nice panel which looks out of place in such a pile, everything else was just 'junk laying around the yard that my wife was happy to see go away'....

[Tony D]

Oh yeah, we are 'Team DDT': Detroit Driver Training

It was going to be 'Team Turd' but another entrant had already taken that name...

We figured so many of the Team Members either now live in Michigan or are from Michigan, "DDT" was a natural name for the effort! Matter of fact, the guy that sold me the six cars was actually from Michigan (Ithaca) as well, so even our 'supplier' was a Michigander.

And while the race is going on, my wife and son are on vacation in....Michigan! I'm stag for the next two weeks. Kind of makes sense, when the cat goes away, the mice begin doing all sorts of debaucherous things....

[(goldfish)]

Tyson has some good stories about doing it. I missed it, would have wanted to see it at least.

[Darrel]

who's going to be the chef?

SHOULD I BRING LOTS OF ALKA-SELTZER?
You should, because the first-annual Thunderhill Car-B-Que Cookoff takes place directly after the end of Session I. Each team is encouraged to cook food on their racecar's engine for submission to our VIP jury. Awards include Least Repulsive-Looking Entree, Most Similar to Something I'd Actually Eat, Tastiest Overall, the How In the Hell Did You Bake a Dessert on an Intake Manifold Prize, and the coveted Alfred J. Packer Memorial Mystery Meat Master Award.

zdriver write up

[Tony D]

The interim site for "The Brown Turd"

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2969745

[280Z Turbo]

301 Brown Metallic does not make it a "brown turd".

I think it's a lovely color.

[Tony D]

The color, in combination with the various shades therein, as well as overall riticulated inner fenders and such do, though! LOL

I have another one, just like it. Wanna guess which one will be the 'backup entry' for next year? Muahahahahaha!

[Tony D]

WHAT DOES A DODGE NEON LOOK LIKE WHEN THEY DIE IN THE RACING LINE AND MAKE NO EFFORT TO GET OFF THE LINE ON THE BLIND SIDE OF A RISE, AND SUBSEQUENTLY GET PUNTED 80 FEET OFF THE TRACK BY A 1977 DATSUN 280Z RUNNING SOMEWHERE NORTH OF 70MPH?

See below for the answers:





Believe this or not, this incident cost us practically no time at all, maybe in the area of 2-3 laps because it happened right at the end of the first day of competition! We hit, and they dropped the flag for the evening maybe...maybe four or five minutes later. BIG BREAK for us! Of course, the Neon....it did not return.

What, you think rearending a Neon at 70mph would STOP a Z from competition? HELL NO!

We were back on track clicking off laps the next morning!

[Careless]

sucks how the competition car you're using, Tony, is in better condition than mine =/

what the flux core

[Tony D]

Know what? I said the same thing seeing some of the stuff out there on the track: "Jesus, some of these cars are nicer than the stuff I drive!"

[ww]

You guys should have seen how these guys recovered from a 70+mph front end collision. The S30, even with 280Z bumpers, doesn't have the heaviest structure to resist this kind of impact. The team resurrected what should have been a lost cause in a matter of hours... and a few trips to the Kragen 30 miles away for replacement parts!

I watched Tony use his patented frame straightening method to pull things "mostly" back into line with his 3/4 Ton truck + big chain.

It was a great effort and they even finished in 32nd place after being punted out by the 70's "Rockford Pile" Camaro that rear-ended them in turn 2 and finished the race for the Dosrun/DDT team late in the second day of racing.

It was a great time and I can't wait to do another one as long as they maintain the level of "control" that distinguished this race from all the previous events. I much prefer a nice road course like the Hill over the Detroit track or even Altamont with the modified "in-field" configuration. Aside from the chicanes on the front straight, there was plenty of racing room and it was common to see three cars side by side going into the turns 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5a!

My original team flaked out and I picked up a ride with another team from Portland. Team Festivus campaigned a '95 1.8L Subaru Impreza Outback and finished 17th overall with all 87awhp screaming in fury the whole time!

Being one of the only members with experience at THill and some old road race experience from the late 80's and early 90's, I got to spend a little extra time in the seat to make up for some laps we lost when our thermostat failed closed... We also had an experienced Group 5 rally racer as well as a couple of experienced auto-crossers. Good times were had by all!

I posted a 15 minute in-car camera clip from the first session of day 2 on Streetfire.net: