"Our" LeMons e30

[roguetoaster]

lol....unlikely but I'll note it.

We would have picked up several spots at least, but we were running 6 drivers (not complaining, since I was the 6th guy recruited I think...:) ), and were pitting at around half a tank due to fuel starvation issues. Also didn't help that our LSD sometime during the practice session became an open diff.....and LSD is pretty important at Summit because of all the tight sections. We had a lot of spinning inside wheels during the race, for sure.....

If you haven't already, adding a second pump (low pressure on the drivers side feeding the other side, if you can pass it in Lemons that is) is a great way to combat starvation issues along with the larger tank, which you might already have.

[irish44j]

lol....unlikely but I'll note it.

We would have picked up several spots at least, but we were running 6 drivers (not complaining, since I was the 6th guy recruited I think...:) ), and were pitting at around half a tank due to fuel starvation issues. Also didn't help that our LSD sometime during the practice session became an open diff.....and LSD is pretty important at Summit because of all the tight sections. We had a lot of spinning inside wheels during the race, for sure.....

[roguetoaster]

If it helps move them in the right direction, we were 4th at Daytona this year (3 seconds out of 3rd), and we get around 13/14 MPG on track.

[irish44j]

I don't think we'll be at VIR - the two primary car owners had a scheduling conflict with something else so had to cancel out on that, unfortunately. I know that was the original plan though, since they asked me to come drive again. Jim and Chris (the main owners) are more into Chump than Lemons (they're not as "into" the theme stuff as the cheap racing), but I think we'll plan to do both here and there sporadically as their schedules allow. I heard Jim talking about a race in Sept/Oct up near Pittsburgh, though I don't know offhand what track or series he was talking about.

At the Glen the car was just dingy OEM dark blue with peeling and faded paint, unpainted cage, and nothing that would make it the least bit memorable.

I keep trying to convince them to drop an M42 in, but they also rallycross a 6cyl e30 so they like the bigger engines. I think they're looking real hard for an 'i' motor to swap in when there is time.

[roguetoaster]

I hope you guys will be coming to VIR in early August. If so feel free to drop by the now ratty looking silver #318 or 319 (not sure which we will be running) with the orange taped rear metal bar bumper and have a look a fellow M42 powered "motorsports" car.

Paint job looks great BTW! Was it like that @ the Glen, if so I really don't remember it for some reason, but that may have been due to the really poor weather and hiding out in the heater trailer except as needed.

[irish44j]

Well, I'm not actually one of the owners (that would be Jim Spoth and Stephen Nichols), but I drove with the team at Capitol Offense a few weeks ago and helped out on the car (and did a lot of the painting). Anyhow, figured I'd just post it up for the hell of it since none of the other guys on the team are on here (except Spoth, but he doesn't post much).

They ran the car in Chump at Watkins Glen in May and finished, but not very high with stock ETA engine, stock springs, and pretty much everything stock except gutted interior and cage/safety stuff.

For Capitol Offense (at Summit Point) the springs were cut, a few other "performance" things done, and we turned the car from a well-weathered and dented dark blue into something a bit better (IMO). We ended up 18th overall with only one minor mechanical issue in the 16 hours (retaining nut on the throttle cable came off during my first driving stint, so I had to get towed back in and the nut replaced). But 18th not bad for a stock ETA with stock cut springs, I think. A few other e30s finished ahead of us, but I think they were all "i" cars, and I think we beat all of the other ETAs and the M42 cars - I could be wrong about that though.

So...

I did almost all the painting of the exterior. This car is for Lemons and Chump, so it's meant to be a bit goofy but not too crazy. I need a sponsorship from 3M tape and Rust-oleum. A full week of evenings with rattle cans, wet sanding, and taping.

This is the "regular" (chump) look (but before the springs were cut)







this took a lot of tape for details that nobody noticed, lol.


For the LeMons race, our theme was "Judge Phil" (blatant brown-nosing, yes), and Chris Helgesen (one of the drivers) did an alternate hood which was really excellent.



Judge Phil liked it too..


He also took my idea of using a DirecTV dish off my house as a spoiler and did some fab work to take it to the next level. Still has the adjuster on it as well. While it certainly contributed some drag, it also provided noticeable downforce on the rear compared to without it, which helped out on the tight and curvy course at Shenandoah.





a few action shots







though I was a bit partial to this one, since I'm an M42 guy myself...I had a number of tight battles with this car during my driving stints.