Forward progress. I’d forgotten, initially, to loctite the bolts that Josh said to loctite. I remembered to do it before the lower oil pan though, so I went back and did that, as well as the oil pickup bolts since apparently they’re problematic as well. I went ahead and doubled the lower oil pan gasket and hope that it works out. Other frustrations–the Bentley manual talks about an oil supply check valve that goes in the block, but neither of mine had any such thing. Some internet searching found lots of other perplexed people. Apparently the part is listed, but…
The prep for Rally Colorado was complicated by the fact that the Race Against Kids’ Cancer in the Vee is the very next weekend. That meant I had to prepare two race cars before the event. Rally Colorado was a 5.5 hour tow away. There are some pretty intense mountain passes between here and there with some first-gear switchbacks. The service park for Rally Colorado was in a very green park in the middle of town. It takes a lot of watering to get grass like this on the western slope. We checked in Thursday afternoon and spent 4 hours…
I think this weekend I’ve managed to accomplish everything necessary to call the car legal for ARA. Still plenty to do, but the major welding hurdles have been accomplished thanks to my codriver and fellow Vee people. Bending: Notching: Welding: Top of the brace bars done: Cutting: Cursing: Overall, great success! I didn’t get a photo of the finished bars yet, but they came out reasonably well considering the retrofit. The must-do list is shrinking. I need to paint the new bars, install a modern rally computer and intercom and sort out the shifter and I should be good to…
Fire suppression finally installed. Stroud did, in fact, send the right bracket/clamps. It’s just the bracket looks short and the clamps didn’t reach because the car is bent. Some massaging with a sledge hammer and it fits fine now. I hope to be done bending and flaring tubing for awhile. The steel stuff is rough. Driver side nozzle is under the steering column: Codriver nozzle is under the soon-to-be-removed terratrip. Next up: I need to do something about the driver position. Actually, the driver position is mostly fine. Maybe a little higher than I’d like, but that gives me enough…
My fire suppression system finally arrived! I went with a Stroud 10lb F-36 (halogen replacement) system. Pricey at $800 shipped. I could have gone cheaper with one of the foam systems, but I didn’t want to for several reasons. (1) The foam systems have a minimum temperature limit. They can freeze, and I live in Colorado at 9,200ft. The car lives outside when I’m not working on it, and for instance, it was -12F a few nights ago. I don’t want to have to deal with taking the bottle in and out of the car. (2) Foam makes a mess.…