Building our Lemons/Chumpcar (Page 16/29) DonP JUL 10, 02:07 AM Barbasol? Okay, I was born in '59, but I still had to look that one up. Might have something to do with the fact that the last time I was clean-shaven was 1978. We've been luck and not needed a defroster since that rain outing. But I have a couple blowers ready in the race trailer just in case. Barbasol. There's gotta be a ton of that type of tip out there. DonP JUL 10, 02:15 AM Arron, I've seen a couple posts on the Lemons forum touting those coolers. They are cheap and readily available. But you know how it gets to be sometimes. You just gotta build something because you can. BTW, I had been following your build thread. Really wish I recalled this post. http://www.fiero.nl/forum/F...L/000133-7.html#p243 We got bit by this on a recent race weekend. Just killed us! But that's a story for later in this saga. 2.5 JUL 10, 01:16 PM Bobsled team, ... thats hilarious! DonP JUL 10, 06:54 PM quote Originally posted by 2.5: Bobsled team, ... thats hilarious! And the helmets (on the roof) were mounted on some sort of springs. So they Bobbled! It was neat. DonP JUL 11, 04:05 PM Once again, we returned to the Reno-Fernley road course for an SCCA track day event. This time Rich and I had a new instructor, Sam McCord. Sam has been vintage racing for many years in his Lotus Europa. I know nothing about the different models or variants of the Europa, but I believe his is a late 60s car with a Ford power-plant. Sam was kind enough to let me take a ride as passenger in the Lotus. I thought the Fiero was tight - no way. The Europa was extremely tight and felt very fragile. But Sam was not even remotely shy about bouncing off the turtles. More importantly, Sam was also a good instructor and both Rich and I came away feeling much better about our track experience. If you have an opportunity to do a HPDE track day with someone playing the role of instructor. I would really recommend biting the bullet and purchasing a two way, in-car communication product. We purchased a chatterbox device. http://chatterboxusa.com/ this box allowed for clear communication between driver and instructor even in a loud race car. If you are in a stock street car it may not seem necessary, but the helmets change everything. I have some general photos of the day at http://s1222.photobucket.co...7-1-12?sort=3&page=1 But this guy http://s1222.photobucket.co....jpg.html?sort=3&o=3 was another local car built for LeMons racing. Jay does advanced carbon fiber construction, and may be the only LeMons car with a fully carbon-fiber hood. I made the comment that both Rich and I came away happy with our instruction. Truth be told, I had a lot more track time than Rich. I ran on Saturday, Rich ran on Sunday. But where I got a full day in, Rich's experience was cut a bit short. If you read a couple posts up where I talked about our previous track day, you'll find where we reassured our then instructor that the engine was in the process of blowing up. We finished that day and one or two auto cross days, but failed to finish our next track day. I have posted a 4-5 minute video showing the engine letting Rich down after completing a lap on-track. http://youtu.be/TkHR0jUq27s Not to worry. This happened on July first, our next race was at Thunderhill in September. What's the problem? We just needed to step up our 3800 SC swap. Because I can, I've also posted an SCCA promo video we did for the RenoSCCA group. Not really Fiero related, but I think it's fun. We really enjoy working and playing with the SCCA-Reno guys and gals. We have learned a lot from some, particularly those who can kick our butt on track. http://youtu.be/sYPP3ufxtDQ Formula Owner JUL 25, 04:23 PM quote Originally posted by DonP: We did remove the parking brake hardware off the rear disc setup. Not sure I'd do this. I haven't read the entire thread, so maybe you've addressed this. But removing the park brake hardware can cause problems. If the park brake actuating levers (on the back of the calipers) are removed, the screw mechanism will then be allowed to move inward. If it moves inward too far, it will create a leak, maybe enough to prevent pressurization on the rear. Also, according to GM, periodic use of the park brake is needed to keep the rear brakes adjusted. If you're inspecting and adjusting after every event, this should be no problem. Personally, I'm not sure about this. From my understanding of this system, I think it should adjust without applying the park brake. However, I think that proper adjusting will require that the park brake actuating levers be in place, as well as the return springs that keep these levers pushed toward the rear of the car. A side note: You can use front calipers on the rear, and COMPLETELY eliminate any and all problems from the park brake system. Question for you. Are you able to lock the rear wheels? I have a Formula with the same brake pads. I'm able to lock the fronts, but not the rears. My park brake works fine, clamping on both rear calipers, so I'm confident that they're properly adjusted. I'm concerned that my proportioning valve may be faulty. thesameguy JUL 25, 06:12 PM Hey Don - FWIW, our first race in Reno Fernley we used a homemade cool shirt. We used nylon tubing from McMaster-Carr, sewed it to a cheap Hanes t-shirt using IIRC medical stitching, and used a 12v potable water pump from an RV supply place to pump iced water of a small cooler from Walmart. The whole thing cost about $80, the bulk of which was a $40 or $50 pump and a $15 cooler. That shirt was like waking up to a bucket of water. After 20 minutes of driving, when you start to get hot, the water in the cooler has gotten VERY cold. Flip on the pump and get ice water across the chest! You've got a choice about flipping it on and off again to cool down, or leaving it running to help avoid the shock next time you get hot. DonP JUL 26, 06:03 PM quote Originally posted by thesameguy: Hey Don - FWIW, our first race in Reno Fernley we used a homemade cool shirt. We used nylon tubing from McMaster-Carr, sewed it to a cheap Hanes t-shirt We considered doing just that. But Troy on the LeMons forum made a compelling point about the workmanship that has to go into making a shirt. And the real fear of giving me or any of the other guys a needle A.K.A. a "sharp implement of destruction," far outweighed the $90 per shirt that ultrachiller was charging. Having said that, Rich's Coolshirt branded vest seems to be of better quality commensurate with the additional cost. Last year at Thunderhill was the first time I had to try the shirt. OH MY LORD! that was a shock. It felt like cold water was being poured down my back. Luckily I first tried it out in the pits and so had the opportunity to see if I was actually experiencing a leak. Sure felt like water was being poured. But I was dry. At Buttonwillow this year I tried leaving it running - it was that hot- but found that the on-off routine worked best. The medical coolers that aaronkoch referenced above often have some sort of valving to regulate the flow. And they can be had cheap on e-bay. We were trying to get out to Reno-Fernley this morning to test out some suspension changes. Didn't make it, but the cool system was firmly mounted and ready to go. Any endurance racers should look at these systems. DonP JUL 26, 06:10 PM quote Originally posted by Formula Owner: Not sure I'd do this. I haven't read the entire thread, so maybe you've addressed this. But removing the park brake hardware can cause problems. . . . That's a very good thought. I know that we had to buy that special tool to retract the piston when we started. We've checked the brakes regularly and have not really seen any problems. But I wasn't really looking for the piston to not be retracted. I'll check specifically for that this evening. I also do not recall if we just put another set of front '88 calipers on the rear. I'm still very impressed with the effectiveness and durability of the Thermo-quiet pads. We changed them prior to our last race just because of the hours we have on them. But in reality, the wear was all but unnoticeable. And the brakes are very good. Thanks for the heads-up. Don FTF Engineering JUL 26, 09:39 PM Do the rules allow you to use front calipers on the rear? That would get rid of all the parking brake issues.