I've made the decision not to sort out a new drivetrain and new chassis simultaneously in the race wagon. Since I have no firm data on 510 Wagon race specs to build upon, I will start the tuning process on the chassis first. With this in mind, I purchased a known-commodity drivetrain. This purchase was made from a customer of Troy Ermish's race shop, as he was upgrading to a … [Read more...] about WAGOON MOTOR
WAGON UPDATE #2
... The Wagoon is slowly morphing into a race car. The interior has been stripped of all components (windows/cranks, panels, headliner, carpet, dash, sound deadening, weatherstripping, etc), and then I sold it all on Craigslist for $100. The interior sound deadening material was a long project to remove, but I collected it all in a trashbag and it totalled 20 lbs! The … [Read more...] about WAGON UPDATE #2
BRITISH EXTRAVAGANZA ’09
This weekend was the British Extravaganza race weekend at Buttonwillow Raceway put on by VARA. The Bakersfield British Car Club graced the infield with a Concours as well. I went down to see some buddies race and to check on the owner of my old racecar, as this was his first event with it. Good weather, good friends, good racing - " priceless". … [Read more...] about BRITISH EXTRAVAGANZA ’09
LAGUNA SECA WITH YOUR-PRIVATE-TRACK-DAY
Today I was instructing at Laguna Seca Raceway for a track day event put on by Your Private Track Day. Phillip Holmes and his group put on a well organized event with plenty of track time for everyone. They ran three run groups in rotating 20 minute sessions from 9AM until 4PM, more than enough time to chew up a set of brake pads. From hi-dollar Ferraris to old-school Beemers, … [Read more...] about LAGUNA SECA WITH YOUR-PRIVATE-TRACK-DAY
WAGON POLL
So, do I leave the roof rack on the race car??? Let me know what you think. UPDATE: The rack weighs 15 lbs!!! And the roof trim underneath weighs another 3 lbs. Regardless of the drag issue, the rack goes. But I think I'll keep the roof trim, it just looks too cool to get rid of. I'll keep the rack to bring my surfboard along to the track however ;-) … [Read more...] about WAGON POLL
WAGON UPDATE #1
I spent a couple of days dismantling to see what I've got. Engine bay stripped, dash removed, starting on the doors, glass, and suspension. Previous owner made a few cool mods for track-day events: lowering springs in front, teflon TC bushings, rear comp springs with lowering blocks, and a first gen multi-link rear axle mod that I think I'm gonna update and give a try. I found … [Read more...] about WAGON UPDATE #1