First Paint Pics

I dropped the 944 off at the bodyshop today - I got hit on both sides in the last 2 race weekends, but mainly to fix the hood so it's flush and not an anti-aerodynamic device. While there, Charlie Jr. took me back in the shop to see the '02. They had shot the paint earlier in the week. Here's some pics.

Head shot

An idea on how dark blue the sides and hood are.

Side stripe leading into the trunk

Engine compartment nicely cleaned up 

Stock battery box  next to the frame rail removed (its now in trunk)

Hood

Trunk

Spoiler and wheel flares

It's hard to see in the pic, but that's a nice rich metalflake. 

Coyote trying to contain his joy at the news the Bimmer is almost done.

The shop needs to put the glass back in, attach and align the hood and trunk and then it's ready to come home. I'm looking forward to it.

It Feels Like Christmas ...

 Just got my anniversary present in the mail - Thanks Maggie! - a pair of Euro flush mount turn signals. These will replace my current US spec "frog look" bulbous ones. The car is an Euro edition, so I'm just returning it to spec.

I also scored on Ebay a nice set of front grills. These came off a car that has been stored for the last 25 years and the chrome was in great shape. One slat was broken, but JB Weld came to the rescue and they look great. New ones, if you can get them from BMW - backordered the last I heard - go for over $800 a set.

Also heading my way is all new outside trim. I was part of a group buy for a set of stainless steel trim on the BMW 2002 FAQ web forum. With stainless I won't have to worry about polishing it all the time. The current trim is dirty, dented and looks okay at 25 feet, but would really stand out against the new paint. The new trim should make the paint really pop.

Meanwhile, work continues apace on the 44 racecar. After the rain light install the next item on my tick list was an overhaul of my video system. I had been running a digital camcorder being fed from some lipstick cameras, but have been unhappy with it lately. I run a Chasecam Picture-in-Picture (PIP) box to mix the 2 cameras and then feed the camcorder. The video quality from the 2011 Nationals was terrible and it was time to do something.

Something was a Chasecam digital system that I got off Ebay. Lipstick cam, digital recorder, memory cards, wires, all for $250. Since new we're approaching $1K I was pretty stoked with the deal. I sent it back to the manufacturer for a firmware update and installation of SuperCaps. This allows the system to start recording on power up and gracefully shut down when power is removed. Perfect for a racecar.

Video Stack - PIP processor + digital recorder 

It was a plug in play with the Chasecam PIP box. I mounted the forward camera in front of my mirror. This keeps it out of the elements and makes sure it doesn't need to compensate for the interior and external light levels.

Lipstick cam hiding in plain sight - attached to the roll cage

Rear cam is the same Hoyt Technology camera from before.

Now all I have to do is flip the Video switch on the console stack, and 3 seconds later it's recording to a MPG file. When done, flip the switch off and it powers down and gracefully closes the file. Pull the SD card, stick it in a computer and it's ready to go. No need to convert or transfer. The 16Gb card can do 2+ hours, so no need to worry about those 90 minute enduros. Me happy now.

Rainy Day, Go Away

I like racing in the rain, actually make that, I love racing in the rain. It's a minority opinion I know, but I'm okay with that. Even better than racing in the rain is racing in intermediate, iffy conditions. Where one minute the track's dry, then wet, then damp. At a long track like the Glen, it could be pouring and slippy at one end of the circuit and bone dry and sunny at the other. Grip in one corner one lap, none the next. What's not to like?

While the winter has been non-existent in the Northeast here, the last half of the 944 Cup season was wet. Blindingly, hurricane wet racing. And I mean it literally. Hurricane Irene barreled over New Jersey while the Cuppers were at the track. I luckily missed that weekend as I had to work instead. Summit Point Saturday was  torrential rain and fog. Even our Nationals was under a pouring black cloud.

One of the things that sucks at a rain race is visibility. Pack 20+ cars on a rainy track with poor drainage and it quickly becomes almost impossible to see anything. Heading into turn one at the start of the race is pretty hairy. All you can do is follow the car in front of you and hope that you don't become "that guy".

rain light in action

While watching Formula 1 after the end of our season I noticed those FIA rain lights the cars were running. A little bit of research and I found a supplier. I made the proposal to Dave (Cup Daddy) and he agreed it was a good idea and added it to our rules for 2012.

I got my car back from Behe's this weekend, and the first order of business was to install my new FIA rain light.

Installed in the center panel between the brakelights

And since when it will be used, it will probably be gray and dark, I made the switch lighted on the console.

While this may not keep me from being "that guy", hopefully it will prevent somebody behind me from running into me and becoming "that guy".

Sometimes it's not the little things

It's the big things .. like a 8500 lb 3/4 ton F250 pickup.

No, I didn't buy a rollback ...

My 944 is finally done done at Behe's. New motor broken in and tuned on the dyno. Friday night I fueled up the F250 to get ready for an early start. It's about an hour and half run down to John's shop just north of DC. I attached the hitch and started backing up to connect to the trailer when ... WTF? my brake pedal goes to the floor.  I don't remember asking anybody to bled my brakes. And what's that smell? That's brake fluid! I should know, I've coated my garage floor with it often enough.

A peek under the cab reveals a dripping mess, brake fluid covering everything. Being that it was 1. dark, 2. cold (about 35 degrees with a wind) and 3. it was in a safe location (my driveway) I decided the most prudent course of action was to head to the garage, open the cooler and remove a nice St. Ambrose Oatmeal stout from Montreal and drink a toast to Canada. Just because.

I also drank a toast - a Saranac Lakes Caramel Porter, don't want to get into a rut - to this happening in my driveway and not on I-95 pulling the trailer at 70 mph. Now that would really suck.

Once things warmed up by Sunday I crawled under for a peek. Looks like a brake line fitting or connection rusted out and let go. Since the truck is too big to get into my garage there's no way to put it up on the lift. And with something like brakes I want to have a good view of what the problem is and what my solution should be.

And the solution turned out to be using my AAA RV Plus membership (thanks honey!) and having it towed to my local truck shop while I went for a bike ride in the woods. Working on race cars, vintage cars and drinking beer is fun. Working on trucks, not so much. I know how to prioritize.

A couple more updates. The 2002 motor is ready for installation. The distributor was installed and should be close to the correct location. The rocker cover received some attention, and the webers had their linkage attached. Now all I need is the car .... but not until I get the truck back please.

Rocker cover in progress

And the final result

Shot of the carb linkage setup. The bridge is a BMW part from somewhere.

Mo Moto Part Deux

Getting closer.. The motor is about done after this weekend.

Close, smelling the barn here ....

The Done list:  Intake and Webers hung; new water hoses and new thermostat plumbed; alternator attached; motor mounts done; dipstick attached; distributor gaskets replaced, intake and exhaust studs removed and replaced. And a bunch of hardware electroplated as usual.

in progress ... 

Motor matches the VIN

Intake with Webers

Lots of bits on driver's side

Nice shot of the webers and hardware

Short ToDo List: Wait for the big washer that the crank pulley locks down to show up in the mail after I lost the original, and torque down the crank and main pulley. Insert the distributor hopefully close to a position that will allow the motor to start - need to do some more reading and thinking before doing that. Repaint the valve cover, and mating the tranny to the motor - that will wait until I'm about ready to stuff it back in. Now I just need the car back. It's scheduled to hit the paint booth any day now. I can't wait.