Track Cleanup

[Gary]

Hmmm. Food for thought. We did talk briefly about Swifts. Also, your point about LSD's is a good one. More research probably needed. I've no idea which cars might have had an optional LSD that might be obtained from the recyclers. A new LSD would be seriously expensive. Did the GT Swifts have an LSD?

[Do It Sidewayz]

a CRX with a b16 is just nuts for any rubber car. Too much power for rubber. It ain't really needed at all.

my suggestion..a Suzuki Swift GTi. They had a really decent 1.3L DOHC 16 Valve motor, which reved till the cows came home. There are PLENTY of aftermarket parts, as they were (and still are) rallied, so opening up the Demon Tweeks Catalog brings you everything from cams to full suspension. The bottom end is actually the same bottom end that is used in the Hayabusa Motorcycle, that makes insane amounts of power.

Although...here's my 2 cents. no matter what car you get...make an effort, and make sure you can get a LSD for the car. In my opinion....locked front diffs are ok.....Open diffs suck (except for maybe 2 races a year)....but LSDs are the best. I believe the SOLE reason why the Magik/McGrath "lifesaver" rabbit is so quick is the LSD.

Also...do yourself a favor...if you buy a Honda..make sure you stock up on steering racks, and pieces.

[max attack]

Sounds like ice racing has hooked another one ,umm not many class 2 cars that will be big inside.
You could sit in my crx,with the momo seat it has there's tons of head room-but your right about finding a decent one for a ice race kinda price.I've ridden in one of the older escort GT's,went not bad for sure,as far as a rabbit gti goes-I'd run away from one as fast as you can and don't look back!!!.
Speaking from experience on this one,mine was a mint '83 with only 84k that I built for an assult on the stud class-blew an alternater,water pump,engine,clutch and those are just the highlights of its FIRST season.Was the best handling car(most of my effort was spent on suspension) in class and could run to the front no problem(the front strait was too long for a lightly breathed on engine)but the reliability killed any hope of decent finishes.
At the same time I bought an '84 gti for a winter beater,it was an even bigger POS that needed constant attention just to even get it to run-ended up parting it out after just one winter(needed most of the parts off it to keep the racer going!!)
Think back to which cars are constantly being towed to get them started in the morning-nearly every VW there gets towed to start-now how did your japanese made car start this winter?
One car that I think would be hard to beat would be a first gen colt turbo(I think the 2nd gen's are a class 3-but not sure of its wheelbase)that colt I was driving this winter worked very well-dead last starts both weekends I ran(24th on grid)and top 5 finishes after only 8 laps,always top 3 in the following races.
Don't know if you know detmar with the white colt turbo stud car?,he had his written off in a wreck this year(just the back half)and wanted me to buy the whole car to transplant the turbo engine into mine-my car isn't worth the work as the bodies pretty pooched.I might have his # somewhere if you found another car and needed a parts car.
Of course a 2nd gen crx/civic with a B16 swap would be very tough to outrun as well.
Just my 2 cents of course .

[Gary]

Well, we don't know what kind of car would be best for class 2, and still fit some of our drivers. I've never personally sat in a CRX, but Dave L. tells me they're not big inside. Also likely hard to find one that isn't totally thrashed, given their current popularity as street cars. So, we've been thinking of an Escort GT, or maybe a GTI Rabbit, if we can find one. These two seem to have favourable power to weight ratios. However, if you or anyone knows of something that might be better, well, nothing's cast in stone. Part of the reason for getting the Celica ready is to make time and space for the next victim

[max attack]

Broke the rad eh,sounds like I missed some hard racing on the last day! .
Glad you've gotten the bulk of the work done already-most ice racers get parked untill about december before the mad thrashing begins anew.As far purple skoda paint-not a bad idea since there was already plenty left on the celica after Larry tried hitching a ride on top the hood!!.
Gary what kind of class 2 car are you looking for?anything in particular?let me know and I'll keep an eye out for you if you'd like.

[Gary]

Well, one red fender is on. New rad is in. (broke the old one on the last day). Front CV boot yet to be fixed. Electrical gremlin with the alternator identified, will be easy to fix. A/C compressor and heavy bracketry now gone, as is all that body side cladding. Wow is that stuff heavy! And, since it's heavy, it's now gone. Other fender to go on, a bit of trim replacement, then.........it's painting time!

We're thinking chartreuse maybe, or perhaps yellow with red blotches. Or, how about purple, like the Skoda? Or, maybe purple and lime green! Strange things happen in storage barns when no one is looking. Still, it'll probably wind up black. Sprayed on. Rollers are too messy. No matter what happens, it will still be better looking than Dalton's Volvo!

We have to look neat and tidy if we're going to pit beside Big Dave.

We're currently looking for a Class 2 car to add to the fun. And, if there's a separate street stud class, the Celica will be in it.

[max attack]

Oh well s**t happens Dave,mistakes don't bother me much-careless attempts to pass or outright shoving out of the way do though.
I hope the street stud class can get sorted soon,I'd like a little more grip as it might help with some of the carnege(might not though )but I don't want to get back into full on studs again.
Gary's alltrac would be a very entertaining car in a street stud class,a little more boost should just about do it......

[98RACE]

Originally posted by max attack
now that I'm not driving it the front fenders should stay relatively strait and blemish free [/B]

I dont think you saw the car at the end of the season did you???

Sorry some of it was my falt.


Dave

[max attack]

Now I realize its not my car anymore but.....please don't paint it with a roller!

Just joking Gary(well not really!)now that I'm not driving it the front fenders should stay relatively strait and blemish free-the rear quarters are a different matter(some people are just is such a damn hurry to pass )

[Crusher45]

Glidden or Behr work pretty good. Might able to have them mix black. Use a #3 roller and you're all set.

[Gary]

Had to miss the banquet. Out of town. Too bad. Hope to catch the banquet next year. And, I'll certainly sign up for cleanup too.

Y'all better look out. We're boltin' on new fenders this weekend before the Celica goes into summer hibernation. No dents.
Might even get to be the same colour as the rest of the car if we find some paint. Guaranteed to be faster.

[Bryan Rashleigh]

It is hard to know exactly what day will be clean up day. It depends on the weather and when the snow is all melted. Amazingly enough there was some big chunks of ice under the dirt. The clean up day was announced at the Ice Race Banquet. extra hands could have been used for sure! We started at 10amand finished off around 6pm,stopping for lunch. It might be a good idea to have a sign up list for track clean up at the last race so that you can sign up and write in a phone number that you could be reached at and a phone committee could be set up to make contact with the volunteers!

[Gary]

Many thanks to those who did the work. All the rest of us are in your debt. I did not know when the cleanup was until too late, else I'd have made plans to show up too.

Dave, perhaps next year the date can be announced earlier or noted on the schedule? Either that, or those of you in the know can tell me where it is already posted so I won't miss it again.

[Champ98]

On behalf of the Minden Kinsmen I would like to thank the regular few racers that show every year, without their help this years clean-up would have been a daunting task to say the least. At each end of the track and where the snow was trucked in so that we could all race this past season, there was sand and gravel, (sometimes 4 to 6 inches deep), that had to be removed by hand and shoveled into Toms loader, along with the regular car parts and debris.

Special thanks to Terry, Brian, Larry K, Larry H, Pam and Ryan and a handfull of locals for a successful cleanup.

[Champ98]

Thanks Dave, ...many hands make light work!