Laguna Seca Update

Not surprisingly, we’re a little behind schedule.  In the past week we’ve:

• We started prepping all the bodywork for paint, and the new parts for fresh paint.
• Dave Green of DG Motorsports finished the production molds for the main body panels.  These were MAJOR tasks, and took a lot of hours.  Several pounds of fiberglass dust were created during the grinding and preparation of the production molds.  It may still be in my eyes and ears…
• A sporty 1.6 engine was installed over our  1.8 NB pick, as the NB would have meant lots of wiring harness work.  Although we might have lost a little potential horsepower, we’ve probably gained 1-2 days of prep-time.  Roman Maguinez took the car from bare chassis to running car in four days.  Not bad.
• Our new Team Dynamics rims will not make it here from England on time, so we found a back-up set for Laguna Seca.  Things like this will inevitably crop up during a compressed schedule.

The Last item checked off our list this today was a visit to Church Automotive Tuning.  Shawn Church is one of the default tuners for Southern California, and has helped several Time Attack cars and Bonneville racers set new records.  1,000hp+ cars regularly roll through his shop.

Although we had reasonable idea that our drivetrain package was in good shape, we just didn’t know for sure.  Shawn was able to check the date of the last time the car was tuned, which was six years ago.  Considering that the engine is 23 years old, not bad. 🙂  Most importantly, he checked the Air/Fuel ratios.  Good thing we did, as the car was running fairly lean throughout the powerband.  Shawn was able to adjust the A/F ratios, clean up the off-throttle response, and give us a better chance at a fun weekend.

This week will be filled with body prep, painting, installing sway bars and seat belts, positioning all of the electronics that are now hanging loose, and setting suspension.  Good luck to us…