This is topic 25 hours of thunderhill in forum Road Racing, Auto X & Drifting at Northern California Ford Owners  .


To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://californiafords.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=7;t=000494

Posted by acmikee (Member # 5568) on :
 
one week till longest enduro race.
currently their are 82 teams signed up
4 porsches, 1 SLC, 1 pantoz, 4 M3 BMW, 1 SWT camaro, 1 pro truck.
factory five will have a cobra and a GTM there. should be some good racing. start time is sat dec8 at 11am end time is noon sun

http://www.nasa25hour.com/registration.htm
 
Posted by 9cobra7 (Member # 2812) on :
 
One of my buddies will be co driving so I think I'll be out there for support
 
Posted by harley56 (Member # 6731) on :
 
I'm hoping the weather will be good by then, I'll be one of they guys driving the Panoz.
 
Posted by acmikee (Member # 5568) on :
 
i will look for you on friday. i will be driving a truck. a lot of cars in your class should make for some good racing. plus no rain in the forcast this year.
 
Posted by SteveL (Member # 1241) on :
 
25 Hour story...

Two years ago a friend was crewing for a Subaru race team. I don't remember what team. It sounded like a semi-pro setup. Anyhow, their primary driver was testing the car on the Friday before the race and complained the steering was very sloppy. The guy that built the car thought the alignment was off but that wouldn't explain the sloppy steering. My friend, who also happens to own Custom Alignment in Mt View, said to check the control arm bushings. At first they couldn't believe that as they just installed some hot, new aftermarket bushings in the arms. With the car up in the air they can see the bushings are failing.

Well they didn't have spares. Their shop is in the Bay Area so they started calling Subaru dealers from Chico to Sacramento looking for a set of control arms with stock bushings. No one had them. They still had the stock set in the shop but that's in the Bay Area and a 2 1/2 hour drive if you hoof it. They had no choice. They got on the phone and got someone to drive up the other set of arms. Maybe they did have a choice....

Since they were after stock arms there's a chance that someone in the visitor parking lot has a matching Subaru. Sure enough, there's matching Subie in the lot that has the arms they need. The only problem is the car owner is no where to be found. So they started bumping the car hoping to set off an alarm. The alarm goes off, the owner comes over to see what's going on and probably got the strangest request he's ever heard: "We really could use your front control arms for our race car. We have another set coming up from San Jose but we'll lose the afternoon test session. We'd like to remove your arms and install them in our car. When our arms arrive, we'll install those in your car and do an alignment."

This guy must have been a real race fan because he let them do just that. They got the new arms installed, the driver said the car is handling great and they got the Friday test session in. The replacement arms arrived in the afternoon and the donor car was up and running again.

The guy that owned the donor car said, "I'll be here next year as well."

[ December 03, 2012, 10:32 PM: Message edited by: SteveL ]
 
Posted by 9cobra7 (Member # 2812) on :
 
Lol, that is a cool story! I could actually feel that happening.
 
Posted by harley56 (Member # 6731) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by acmikee:
i will look for you on friday. i will be driving a truck. a lot of cars in your class should make for some good racing. plus no rain in the forcast this year.

Sounds good. There will be alot of fast cars in the class and with us our running a de-tuned 351, I don't think we will be real fast, besides we are all at that age where the older we get, the faster we were, but we do plan to have fun. I'm liking the "No rain in the forecast this year."

[ December 04, 2012, 09:36 PM: Message edited by: harley56 ]
 
Posted by SydeWaySix (Member # 3596) on :
 
Man, if love to come out and check out the race but other plans take precedence [Mad] might try and make my way over on.Sunday if things change. Is it free to spectate?
 
Posted by harley56 (Member # 6731) on :
 
It is free to spectate. Just need to tell them you are with a team, otherwise it is $10. We are Panoz car #94, Team BAMF and Team #48.
 
Posted by DEVERO2 (Member # 6155) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by SteveL:
25 Hour story...

Two years ago a friend was crewing for a Subaru race team. I don't remember what team. It sounded like a semi-pro setup. Anyhow, their primary driver was testing the car on the Friday before the race and complained the steering was very sloppy. The guy that built the car thought the alignment was off but that wouldn't explain the sloppy steering. My friend, who also happens to own Custom Alignment in Mt View, said to check the control arm bushings. At first they couldn't believe that as they just installed some hot, new aftermarket bushings in the arms. With the car up in the air they can see the bushings are failing.

Well they didn't have spares. Their shop is in the Bay Area so they started calling Subaru dealers from Chico to Sacramento looking for a set of control arms with stock bushings. No one had them. They still had the stock set in the shop but that's in the Bay Area and a 2 1/2 hour drive if you hoof it. They had no choice. They got on the phone and got someone to drive up the other set of arms. Maybe they did have a choice....

Since they were after stock arms there's a chance that someone in the visitor parking lot has a matching Subaru. Sure enough, there's matching Subie in the lot that has the arms they need. The only problem is the car owner is no where to be found. So they started bumping the car hoping to set off an alarm. The alarm goes off, the owner comes over to see what's going on and probably got the strangest request he's ever heard: "We really could use your front control arms for our race car. We have another set coming up from San Jose but we'll lose the afternoon test session. We'd like to remove your arms and install them in our car. When our arms arrive, we'll install those in your car and do an alignment."

This guy must have been a real race fan because he let them do just that. They got the new arms installed, the driver said the car is handling great and they got the Friday test session in. The replacement arms arrived in the afternoon and the donor car was up and running again.

The guy that owned the donor car said, "I'll be here next year as well."

Great story
 
Posted by SteveL (Member # 1241) on :
 
Actually the 25 hour story gets better...

For last year's race, the guy with the donor car shows up and parks his car next to the race team trailer and again tells them his car is available for spare parts if you need them. It was getting late so the guy went to sleep in the motorhome.

In the middle of the night, the driver radios back that he lost 3rd and 4th gear. The crew figured that they're going to have to replace the transmission. Again, no spare. So they went at the donor car again...

 -

They didn't replace the transmission in the end. They ran the car in 5th gear.

There's more of a complete writeup here:

http://jalopnik.com/5865185/why-you-dont-leave-your-wrx-unattended-at-an-endurance-race

[ December 05, 2012, 09:51 PM: Message edited by: SteveL ]
 
Posted by SydeWaySix (Member # 3596) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by SteveL:
Actually the 25 hour story gets better...

For last year's race, the guy with the donor car shows up and parks his car next to the race team trailer and again tells them his car is available for spare parts if you need them. It was getting late so the guy went to sleep in the motorhome.

In the middle of the night, the driver radios back that he lost 3rd and 4th gear. The crew figured that they're going to have to replace the transmission. Again, no spare. So they went at the donor car again...

 -

They didn't replace the transmission in the end. They ran the car in 5th gear.

There's more of a complete writeup here:

http://jalopnik.com/5865185/why-you-dont-leave-your-wrx-unattended-at-an-endurance-race

I remember reading this article last year...the owner of the stock Wrx is definitely a good sport!
 
Posted by DEVERO2 (Member # 6155) on :
 
I am happy to see an afficinado (sp) for something letting his car become a donor. It is a fun story and the guy is a good sport.

Road racers stick together

[ December 06, 2012, 11:39 AM: Message edited by: DEVERO2 ]
 




Fueled by Ford Mustang Owners
on CaliforniaFords.com