Just cant seem ta catch a break!

Hey everyone so I'm coming back at you guys with the latest most disappointing update yet,  it looks like I'm actually not going to be able to hit the track this week after all! -_-

It turns out after the last tune on Friday it was a little more then the tranny could handle and pushed it over its limits.  After we threw on the brakes we went for a little test drive and the tranny was slipping like crazy, kept throwing the car out of gear and then finally started making some crazy grinding noise... We drained the fluids yesterday to try and diagnose the problem but were gonna get more into it today.  I knew it was due to happen I just hoped It had a little more life left in it.... :-/ ha

I'm super disappointed but I called the driving school yesterday and scheduled a rain check for once i get the car all fixed and running good again.  They were super cool and said that's fine to just let them know once it's all fixed and they can't wait to have me out there so I'm workin on getting back on track ASAP... 

Im gonna do a little shopping around today and hopefully find a used transmission for a decent price that I can throw in there temporarily until I can afford to fully rebuild mine.  I think I should be able to find a decent jdm one for about $500-$750 that will get me by for now apose to spending $3000 that i dont currently have for the fully built race tranny.

I was talking with the shop thats sponsoring me yesterday and they said as soon as i get it they will swap it out for me so thats super cool!  I'm hoping to be able to have it delivered and installed before the end of the year so I can do some testing in the car before next season, but well see what my budget will allow cuz you never know what will come up! Lol

We're still finishing prepping a few few things on the car so this gives us a little more time for setup and all that to be better prepared once I actually get out there.  Which is probably better but I just wanna get out there and do work already! Lol but I guess you can't really do to much work if your machines out of service..  :-/ hah

Ill keep you guys posted as the week goes on but for now looks like were still in race rep mode!  I'll take some new pix of everything today and hopefully well have the wicked white Unicorn running again in a week or two healthier and more pissed off then ever.! Lol

Sponsors, Donations or contributions of any shape or form are more then appreciated and will be applied directly towards the 2012 racing season!  You have no idea how much a little helps and I cant begin to thank you guys enough!

I hope everyone has a Blessed rest of the week and I'll post back an update with pictures and a game plan of what we intend to do and how we intend to do it.

Thank you all again for reading and have a great day!

Always,

~*Keep Em Spinnin*~

Date in the books!

Hey everyone I hope you had a happy thanksgiving spent with delicious food and people you love!

This weeks been kinda crazy trying to get my car all set up because of thanksgiving and all but it's coming along! We got the brakes mounted, and threw a few minor adjustments to the suspension that made a major difference! We still got a ways to go with it tho but it's definitely 100 times better!

We got the brakes all on, bled and road tested.

KINDA DIRTY BUT LOOKIN CLEAN

Clay pitching a hand or two.(:

Got the seat in and mocked up to weld up the mounts.

GUTTED

Oh and mom helped too! Lol

So It's finally in the books, I called last week and scheduled my first track day/licensing school and words can't begin to express how ampd I am!  It's been just over 5 years now sense I've been on the track so I can't wait, iv been counting down the days sense September 15, 2006! (:

The track day is next week on Thursday Dec. 1st, at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma! I'll be there from 8am-6pm trying to obtain as much knowledge as possible to be able to go fast and give those guys a run for there money next year!

I was up at my sponsors shop all day yesterday at Infineon Raceway while they were tweaking on my car.  They wired up a few things for me and re-modified my tune from a mild break in tune to a much more aggressive race tune.

The car is running extremely healthy but is maxed out on how much power we're able to make with it right now because my transmission is going out and needs to be replaced.   I'm hoping my tranny will withstand the current power the car is making long enough to get my license classes out if the way and more importantly, until i can afford a new one! Lol

We're going to weld up the seat mount and harness bar either tomorrow or Monday and mount my spoiler as well as a few other things to get it track ready.!

Im looking for a trailer to be able to tow my car to the track next week and was wondering if anyone had one or knows anyone with one that wouldn't mind letting me use it for the day possibly..? I was also wondering if anyone had a gopro or 2 I might possibly be able to barrow for the day to make a video of my first day "back on track"...?

If so that would be amazing and i would more then appreciate it!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend and I'll get back to you soon with a current update and walk around video of the whole car.

Thanks again for you Love and support! 

...God Bless...

~*Keep Em Spinnin*~

Conversion Progression - stripped & gutted!

Hey how's it going Friends and FAM.? I hope everyone is having a terrific week so far!

So we're runnin a little behind schedule for this week then I anticipated but things are moving along pretty well I think.  We finished tearing out the interior and rear seats of the car yesterday and I'd say we removed at least a good 100lbs.

Today we're planning on going to pick up the metal and materials to fab up my harness bar and hopefully can get that all finished up and painted by the weekend.  We are also going to remove and then install the new driver seat as well, but I think for now im just going to leave the passenger seat in until I can afford a new one.  

( Even tho I'm pretty sure no one is gonna want To ride with me, lol I need one in there for instructors and what not, until I get my license..)

Were going to install the brakes next week being that there still in the mail! :-/ two weeks later almost! Ha but ya ill post some more pics this weekend once we get everything in and mounted...  I have also been looking into a few track days as well and I think it's looking like sometime in the beginning of next month depending on what track I go to.
I'll keep you guys posted!

Thank you again for all your encouragement, support and donations! They mean and help more then you know!

I hope you all have a great day and a blessed weekend!

Check back for some updates in a few days... Thanks again for reading!(:

-*Keep Em Spinnin*-

Project Safety Race Car Conversion

Hey everyone I hope you had a great weekend and good start of the week!

So I'm back on the mission again early this morning and thought I'd give a little break down as to what the agenda is looking like for this week and what necessary modifications are going to need to be made to turn an illegal street car into a full track legal race car.

I'll first start off by telling you guys what class my car will be classified in as well as what and who I will be racing against and why.  The class I will be racing will be the ST2 class (which is short for super touring 2) which is the "slower" of the two unlimited class's.  The NASA racing club offers 2 different groups of unlimited cars, (unlimited meaning your able to change and modify things on the car to a certain Extent.) which are the ST1 & ST2 class's.  The way the cars are then calculated and categorized is by using a mathematic formula to find out the power to weight ratio of the car as well as certain additional points added for specific modifications. So To qualify to race in the ST2 class your car has to have a power to weight ratio of 8:1 ( meaning for every 8 pounds the car weighs i can only have 1 horse power.)  or for ST1 you can have it be as low as 5:1, and anything else is just unlimited and falls into the run what you brung Super Unlimited where every option is open based upon how much money you want/have to spend.

Now in a nut shell my car is going to have to be at a race weight of between 3,000-3,300lbs while making around 400 horse power to all 4 wheels in order for me to classify as an ST2 car.  The cars I'll be hunting are all high horsepower extensively modified race cars and the majority of them are Corvette's, Vipers, Evo's, STI's... Ect....

So I know Ill definitely have my work cut out for me, but I'v always loved the chase and have never feared a challenge, that just means I gotta catch on quick to be the one making them catch up.! Lol

Slowly but surly I'll make my goals clear early! (:

So What we now have planned and are going to begin to do today is just lightly safety prep the car so I am able to at least go out and get sometime on the track and acquire my racing license for next season.

I drew up these plans last night of the harness bar my pops and I are going to begin fabricating today so I'm able to mount my safety harnesses in and also save me about $400-$500, so that's always nice! ((:  The harness bar will just be a temporary fix until I get my full cage in the car so I think the design should work for the time being.. Most are made with tubing benders but I modified my design a little to accommodate the tools and materials I have access to being that I don't have a tubing bender. 

This is basically what one looks like...

And this is the one I drew up last night to Improvise...

I drew these designs on a wanna be CAD app on my iPad that im still trying to figure out, so sorry if there a little rough and not exactly accurately drawn but I figured they would show a decent enough example of what were going to buid.

After we get the bar all mocked up and fabricated we are going to begin tearing out the stock seats and interior to begin the completion from a street car to a track car.  Once we get the car all stripped were then going to begin putting in my new racing seat, mount up my harness bar, strap up my harness's and then go take her for a test ride to see how things fit! ;)

I'll post pictures and an update on how things are coming along later on this week and hopefully that harness bar will workout!(; Lol I'm going to look for a track day to hopefully go and do as soon as possible as well once the car is done, so once I figure that out I'll let you guys know.. ((:

Thank you all again for reading and I can't wait to show you how things look when there done!

Have a great day & stay blessed!(:

-*Keep Em Spinnin*-

New parts / New Goals / New Limits...

     Hey guys How's it going, I hope everyone is having a great week and is getting ready for this cold winter heading our way...
Anyways I'm coming back at you guys with a new update on the car and i gotta say Im happier then a kid on Christmas morning!  I just received in today some of the last few key components to complete prepping my car to begin the classes for obtaining my racing license for next year. 

Today arrived my;

- new racing seat:

- new racing harness: 

- & new upgraded brakes for some serious stoping power!:

( Gotta make sure your safe before you can go fast, & you gotta be able to brake to make sure that you won't crash! )
     Of coarse we all know having a fast car and alot of horse power surely takes care of the majority of what you need to get up front, but a car with all power and no control is simalir to a sumo wrestler; plenty of strength and force but is limited to the application and use of it.  What I idealy would like to build is like a kung fu ninja; fast, agile, efficient, powerul & in complete  control at all times.
     Your car can make all the power in the world,  but if your unable to apply that power to the ground efficiently or can't get your car to turn or stop you gonna go nowhere fast, and probably end up last...
So even after the aftermarket parts are applied a whole lot of time and on track tuning is still going to be required in order to get the car driving and performing as best as it can.

     I will post pictures this coming week as we begin to tear out the interior, mount my seat and harness, and prepare everything to pass tech inspection so it is able to go on the track.  I will also post pictures of the brake swap upgrade as well as pictures of some necessary adjustments being made to the coilovers and suspension to get it to handle the best it can.

     I'm going to the last NASA race of the season this weekend at Infineon raceway which will be the races I will be attending next season season.  I'll be out there "undercover" scouting out my future competition, as well as just watching, learning and absorbing as much knowledge of this new racing industry as possible!  I plan on networking and hopefully talking with some people about what other necessary actions I need to be take in order to prepare for next years racing season and hopefully make some new friends with the same ol passion(:.!

     Hopefully we have clear sky's and warm weather this weekend, but if not it should make for some wet and interesting racing! Lol
I hope everyone is having a great week and has an amazing weekend!

Check back next week for updated posts on the build to see how things are coming along and watch as we turn my car from an angry street machine to a full on race car!

Thank you guys again for reading and a special thanks to those who have donated and believe and encourage me in achieving my championship ambitions!

Don't forget to always Keep Em Spinnin!

~*God Bless*~

HAND CONTROLS... How does it work...?

Hand controls

Hey everyone how's it going?

I hope everyone had a great week and was able to stay warm and dry these last few days it's been wet and cold!

I first want to start off by saying thank you to those of you that have sent donations!  I have already applied those sponsorship dollars to areas of necessity and am slowly but surely progressing that much closer to my goal for next season.  Your sponsorship contributions help and mean more then you know!

I will post updated pictures of the car as things begin to come more & more together for next season!

So I'v come across quite a few people that are still unsure as to how I'm even able to drive a regular car, let alone a full on equip race car, so I figured I would take some time to show and explain how it works.

Currently the setup that I am using is a general hand control system which you will find in most impaired drivers vehicles.  All it basically is, is a lever that hangs down below the steering column that allows you to apply pressure to the brake by pressing forward towards the dash, and down towards your lap to actuate the throttle.  So basically I steer with my right arm using a Brody nob on the wheel (similar to a tractor or bus) and apply the gas and brake by using my left hand on the lever. 

It's a pretty basic setup and a lot easier to use then most people think!

As for my controls I'm working on modifying to fit in my car to race with, they are much different and have a completely different setup.  I initially designed them to work on my kart so some significant modification are being made to hopefully fit the new design in my car so I can try and go fast again! Lol

The way the controls currently work for my kart  is;

There is a 1/4 turn motorcycle throttle attached to the right side of the wheel to give it gas, and the left side of the wheel pivots forward to actuate the brake. (similar to a motorcycle lever just backwards)

This setup in turn allows me to keep both of my hands on the wheel while still being able to apply the gas and brakes.

I'm going to be using this same type of setup in my car as well, the only difference is the right side of the wheel will pivot forward and back about an 1/8th of an inch so that I am able to manuly select my gear shift points to shift gears.

I'm currently talking with a few fabricators and machinists as well as looking for other engineers/machinists to help refabricate and widdle down some or the modification issues I'm running into to make them work as reliable and efficient as possible!  If you are or happen to know anyone with any expertise in these areas I'd greatly appreciate your help or ideas and would love to hear from you..!

Anyways that's basically the jist of how things work and how I drive my car... 

I hope everyone has a great weekend and I'll have some updates with pictures coming to you soon next week!

Thanks again for stopping  by and reading!

Stay posted for updates.

~*keep Em Spinnin*~