Topic: Spirit of Lemons build update...

The final build video will not be released until we arrive at Carolina Motorsports Park on Friday morning, March 15th. We are going "media dark" as far as additional pics and videos between now and then, so any updates will be in written form only.

Why?

Well, partially because we want the final product to be revealed at the track. We've documented nearly the whole build in great detail, but a little mystery won't hurt. Also, most of what we are doing now would be much less interesting in video form. Nobody really wants to watch us weld small tabs and put small bolts from the fuselage to the chassis, or rivet plates to cover small floor-to-fuselage gaps, do they?

Here's what we've been up to:

The aluminum aircraft fuselage is now permanently located on the Toyota van chassis. The donor chassis itself has received a basic tune-up, consisting of plugs/wires/cap/rotor/fuel filter. Because it's an '87 with 176k miles that has been sitting for years, with rusty front brakes, and dried-out hoses, and we don't take chances with brake stuff on our cars, we installed new front brake pads/rotors/calipers/hoses. We still need to bleed them. We've finally heard the van run again for the first time since we cut it down to a minimal width and yanked out the dash harness, so there is hope yet. The tires we'll be racing on (a set of 185/60/14 all-seasons from a wrecked Miata, with about 30% tread remaining) are mounted and balanced, and now that we've cut the rear springs and loosened the front torsion bars, the whole contraption sits low and mean.

The cage is finished, save for the rear main hoop horizontal (shoulder harness) bar, which needs to wait until the driver's seat is mounted, in order for us to get the harness angle right. It's a 1.75x.120 DOM cage, and Jim Whitley of www.rollcagecomponents.com did a terrific job of bending it to the specs we had emailed him. It has a custom frontal crash protection structure that should protect drivers in even a worst-case scenario crash, designed by Evil Genius himself (it helps that he has already caged an identical Toyota van). The steering column and brake pedal/master/booster are mounted securely. My original plan was to use the twin Cessna steering yokes as dual control race steering wheels, to keep the magnificent Cessna instrument panel visually intact and untouched. However, for the sake of our own safety, and that of the other racers, we are keeping the Toyota column, and will have to eliminate a few of the stock Cessna radio controls in the lower portion of the panel.

Believe it or not, yanking the wings, hauling the plane home, gutting it, cutting out the floor, and cutting the donor van way down were the easy parts of this build! Now, we're into the really hard stuff. We have to polish the whole plane out, remount the first 20" of wing on each side with fabricated mounts, make finished-looking faces for the open wing ends, fashion rear fenders/dummy engine shrouds out of sheet aluminum and spun aluminum discs, and fabricate an entire tail section from scratch. It all has to really look the part, so it needs to be riveted together, polished out, and mounted securely enough to withstand the long tow on the open car trailer, and the stresses of racing CMP's fast full course. But, as a precaution for the other racers, we cannot reinforce the nose or tail sections whatsoever, so that the soft aluminum cones will become ample crush zones in the event of a serious collision.

Most of us have never done any sort of finished aluminum metalworking, so the next few weeks will be a steep learning curve. What we really need is a sheetmetal brake, an English wheel, and a planishing hammer, but those things are not in the budget. If there are any volunteers that have experience in this field, please show up Saturday! We also need to add the seat/harness/extinguisher/battery/cutoff switch, reattach the harness to the column, restore and reinstall the Cessna instrument panels, paint the interior floor with aluminum paint, replace the heater core hoses, add the fuel fill neck in a safe location, align the front wheels, and, oh, about a thousand other tasks. No worries, we four whole Saturdays left, right?

Captain: Speedycop & The Gang Of Outlaws -'94 Mark VIII (Least Horrible Yank Tank Stafford '09, NOLA '10) '61 Caddy (Org Choice-NL '09) '63 Tbird (EPIC Repair Failure-Gingerman '10, I Got Screwed-Summit Pt '10, I.O.E. WINNER Stafford '10!) '77 Lancia Scorpion (I.O.E. WINNER Joliet 2010!) '67 Galaxie 500 (Judges Choice-CMP '11)
Future Fleet: 1957 Ford Prefect 1942 Buick 1959 Bugeye Project GLCOAT

2 (edited by chrisbcritter 2013-02-10 05:48 PM)

Re: Spirit of Lemons build update...

Hi Speedy,
Don't sweat the panel beating and polishing - just stick a wire brush in a drill and "engine-turn" the panels to hide the lumps. It was done on the original Spirit for exactly the same reason. You'll end up with something like this:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y164/ChrisBrame/Untitled-TrueColor-01_zpsf1943eef.jpg

Re: Spirit of Lemons build update...

Nice photoshop!

We're a third done polishing already, so we're gonna finish that up. Personally, I like polished aircraft. Plus, it should blind our competitors and make them all go four off and get put on the trailer, so we can totally dominate and win overall. big_smile

Captain: Speedycop & The Gang Of Outlaws -'94 Mark VIII (Least Horrible Yank Tank Stafford '09, NOLA '10) '61 Caddy (Org Choice-NL '09) '63 Tbird (EPIC Repair Failure-Gingerman '10, I Got Screwed-Summit Pt '10, I.O.E. WINNER Stafford '10!) '77 Lancia Scorpion (I.O.E. WINNER Joliet 2010!) '67 Galaxie 500 (Judges Choice-CMP '11)
Future Fleet: 1957 Ford Prefect 1942 Buick 1959 Bugeye Project GLCOAT

Re: Spirit of Lemons build update...

speechless.

"THE WONDERMENT CONSORTIUM"
Everything dies baby that's a fact,
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back?

Re: Spirit of Lemons build update...

IT LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I drove it today, under its own power. Not fast (4mph), and not far (150 feet), but dammit, it drove! Brakes were great. Stopping distance was inches. smile

This means we are way ahead of the curve on most (okay, ALL) of our previous ridiculous team IOE builds. Still lots to do...


HELP WANTED!!! Two build Saturdays left!!!

http://speedycop.com/spirit-of-lemons.html

Captain: Speedycop & The Gang Of Outlaws -'94 Mark VIII (Least Horrible Yank Tank Stafford '09, NOLA '10) '61 Caddy (Org Choice-NL '09) '63 Tbird (EPIC Repair Failure-Gingerman '10, I Got Screwed-Summit Pt '10, I.O.E. WINNER Stafford '10!) '77 Lancia Scorpion (I.O.E. WINNER Joliet 2010!) '67 Galaxie 500 (Judges Choice-CMP '11)
Future Fleet: 1957 Ford Prefect 1942 Buick 1959 Bugeye Project GLCOAT

Re: Spirit of Lemons build update...

If you need something done involving a sawzall or an angle grinder, I'll be happy to pitch in while I'm down there cutting your Miata in half.  ;-)

Saturday afternoon work for you?

Tunachuckers: 15 Years of Effluency
'08 - '10: 1966 Volvo 122, "Charlie"
'10 - '18: 1975 Ford LTD Landau --> 2018 - current: Converted into 1950 "Plymford"
'22 - current: 1967 Volvo 122, "Charlie ]["

Re: Spirit of Lemons build update...

you so crazy Jeff

the Syndicate - 30 losses and counting ...
89 VW Jettarosa - #337 (11 motors later) <> 67 Mercedes 200 - #200, winner "most with the least" MSR Feb 11, IOE at MSR June 11 <> 88 Mercedes 560 SEL <> 76 Mercedes SLC - IOE at ECR March 13 <> now pimping performance parts for 1970-1980's Mercedes SEL, SEC, SL, SLC's

Re: Spirit of Lemons build update...

mechimike wrote:

If you need something done involving a sawzall or an angle grinder, I'll be happy to pitch in while I'm down there cutting your Miata in half.  ;-)

Saturday afternoon work for you?

Anytime. Bring an extension cord.

Captain: Speedycop & The Gang Of Outlaws -'94 Mark VIII (Least Horrible Yank Tank Stafford '09, NOLA '10) '61 Caddy (Org Choice-NL '09) '63 Tbird (EPIC Repair Failure-Gingerman '10, I Got Screwed-Summit Pt '10, I.O.E. WINNER Stafford '10!) '77 Lancia Scorpion (I.O.E. WINNER Joliet 2010!) '67 Galaxie 500 (Judges Choice-CMP '11)
Future Fleet: 1957 Ford Prefect 1942 Buick 1959 Bugeye Project GLCOAT

Re: Spirit of Lemons build update...

Last two build days, all day today and tomorrow. We leave tomorrow night.
All that remains is:
brake lights
wings capped
5 pt harness
extinguisher
kill switch and wiring
battery mount
finish building tail
cage padding
add coolant
finish fuel neck
mirrors
finish dash
possibly pick up Mechimike's two-car  trailer in B'more, and load spare Toyota van with tree-crushed roof as parts car
finish polishing
add fabric covers to dash and rear package tray
and probably a hundred other things I'm too tired to think of...

Once more into the breach, dear friends!

Captain: Speedycop & The Gang Of Outlaws -'94 Mark VIII (Least Horrible Yank Tank Stafford '09, NOLA '10) '61 Caddy (Org Choice-NL '09) '63 Tbird (EPIC Repair Failure-Gingerman '10, I Got Screwed-Summit Pt '10, I.O.E. WINNER Stafford '10!) '77 Lancia Scorpion (I.O.E. WINNER Joliet 2010!) '67 Galaxie 500 (Judges Choice-CMP '11)
Future Fleet: 1957 Ford Prefect 1942 Buick 1959 Bugeye Project GLCOAT

Re: Spirit of Lemons build update...

txt me if you want to meet up tonight to get The Deuce.  I'll need to hook up the trailer and swap vehicles to bring it to our pre-arranged meeting place.

Tunachuckers: 15 Years of Effluency
'08 - '10: 1966 Volvo 122, "Charlie"
'10 - '18: 1975 Ford LTD Landau --> 2018 - current: Converted into 1950 "Plymford"
'22 - current: 1967 Volvo 122, "Charlie ]["

Re: Spirit of Lemons build update...

Still don't know if this thing will fit on the trailer. I might be calling you later.

Captain: Speedycop & The Gang Of Outlaws -'94 Mark VIII (Least Horrible Yank Tank Stafford '09, NOLA '10) '61 Caddy (Org Choice-NL '09) '63 Tbird (EPIC Repair Failure-Gingerman '10, I Got Screwed-Summit Pt '10, I.O.E. WINNER Stafford '10!) '77 Lancia Scorpion (I.O.E. WINNER Joliet 2010!) '67 Galaxie 500 (Judges Choice-CMP '11)
Future Fleet: 1957 Ford Prefect 1942 Buick 1959 Bugeye Project GLCOAT

Re: Spirit of Lemons build update...

I'm around tonight.

Tunachuckers: 15 Years of Effluency
'08 - '10: 1966 Volvo 122, "Charlie"
'10 - '18: 1975 Ford LTD Landau --> 2018 - current: Converted into 1950 "Plymford"
'22 - current: 1967 Volvo 122, "Charlie ]["

Re: Spirit of Lemons build update...

Leaving now.

Captain: Speedycop & The Gang Of Outlaws -'94 Mark VIII (Least Horrible Yank Tank Stafford '09, NOLA '10) '61 Caddy (Org Choice-NL '09) '63 Tbird (EPIC Repair Failure-Gingerman '10, I Got Screwed-Summit Pt '10, I.O.E. WINNER Stafford '10!) '77 Lancia Scorpion (I.O.E. WINNER Joliet 2010!) '67 Galaxie 500 (Judges Choice-CMP '11)
Future Fleet: 1957 Ford Prefect 1942 Buick 1959 Bugeye Project GLCOAT

Re: Spirit of Lemons build update...

Time stamp note: 3:49 IN THE AM.

*facepalm*

Good luck.

Tunachuckers: 15 Years of Effluency
'08 - '10: 1966 Volvo 122, "Charlie"
'10 - '18: 1975 Ford LTD Landau --> 2018 - current: Converted into 1950 "Plymford"
'22 - current: 1967 Volvo 122, "Charlie ]["

Re: Spirit of Lemons build update...

Good luck buddy send me a text pic of this beauty

Pit Crew Revenge Racing   Rolling chicanelimo,95Lamdspeeder,Gimp Pimp Cadi,300zx Car show kaboom!! 90 Wagovan, mazda v8 Lemons LOGO TATTOO!  Aces 84 Cadi Eldo Briattz I O E WINNER
Class C win with LemonOdy Cannonball Run Whambulance !EX K Captain
Lemons Trophy Truck ShaGuar Baby!

Re: Spirit of Lemons build update...

mechimike wrote:

Time stamp note: 3:49 IN THE AM.

*facepalm*

Good luck.

So, business as usual then.  Good luck!

Bloomington, IN
We'll bring Beer!  Motorsports
Team Fiery Death! #0 2009 Lamest Day(65th), 2010 American Irony(24th), 2010 Detroit Bull(4th),2012 Capitol Offense (8th) 2012 American Irony (11 th), 2013 Capitol Offense (3rd) 2013 Chubba Chedder (4th, Judge Choice!) Now sadly part of a scrap pile. 
Toothless Racing Deadbeats #110 2011 Summit Point (61st) Currently being rebuilt into the new car!

Re: Spirit of Lemons build update...

Good Stuff!  Congrats!

Rally Baby 87 Audi 4KQ, Audi 90 Quattro Coupe, 1975 Mercedes R107, 87 E30s, E36s, the Whorenet, Rocco...
J. Phil: "Audis Never Win".  He might be right.But!, the K Dominates 2013 NJ and NH (not, but...). 
Stafford 2011 podium, 2nd NJMP 2013, Summit Point 2012 "WV ASSimilation award"
NJMP 2012 Organizer's Choice - R107, 2013 Monticello IOE Whorenet ! Organizers, CMP fall 2013 w/NSF

18 (edited by Chaddd 2013-03-18 10:57 AM)

Re: Spirit of Lemons build update...

We needed some de-icer for that trip home!  Big chunks of snow flying off and pelting me while following home through the snow storm early morning.

Re: Spirit of Lemons build update...

YOLO BITCHES!

Speedycop/NSF Racing /Pinewood Dirtbags
'10 Summit, CMP3, Autobahn, '11 CMP1, NJMP, CMP2, Summit, G'man, Stafford, Charlotte, Autobahn, ECR '12 CMP1, NJMP, G'man, NHMS1, Summit, CMP2, NHMS2, ECR, '13 CMP1, ECR, Summit, NJMP, THill, CMP2, MSR, NHMS, Sears '14 Barber, Sears1, ECR, CMP1, NJMP1, BWillow, Sebring, CMP2, THill, Sears2, '15 Sears1, Barber, Ridge, THill, '16 Sears1

Re: Spirit of Lemons build update...

can't believe i just typed that!

Speedycop/NSF Racing /Pinewood Dirtbags
'10 Summit, CMP3, Autobahn, '11 CMP1, NJMP, CMP2, Summit, G'man, Stafford, Charlotte, Autobahn, ECR '12 CMP1, NJMP, G'man, NHMS1, Summit, CMP2, NHMS2, ECR, '13 CMP1, ECR, Summit, NJMP, THill, CMP2, MSR, NHMS, Sears '14 Barber, Sears1, ECR, CMP1, NJMP1, BWillow, Sebring, CMP2, THill, Sears2, '15 Sears1, Barber, Ridge, THill, '16 Sears1

21 (edited by autoxmike 2013-03-18 09:34 PM)

Re: Spirit of Lemons build update...

Speedy - Thanks for the once in a lifetime chance to race a Cessna without having a pilot license! That freaking plane is 110% awesome.

Also probably the only time I'll say "I was racing a fire truck in a Cessna when we both passed a K car on either side".

Mike
Hong Norrth
#39 TRON Gray/Orange MX-3, aka "Sumbich"

22 (edited by Chaddd 2013-03-19 05:55 AM)

Re: Spirit of Lemons build update...

DC Doug wrote:

can't believe i just typed that!

CoCo Doug be crazy up in here!  Ain't got time for that!

Re: Spirit of Lemons build update...

Did anyone else giggle when hitting the kink in a plane at full tilt? As you go through the turn, it makes rushing wind noises like it's about to take off.

Brilliant! Speedy raised the bar once more, this time to 40K feet!

K Car Stalker

Re: Spirit of Lemons build update...

Did anyone else see Speedy made the cover of Yahoo today?

Congrats Jeff!

Captain
Team Super Westerfield Bros.
'93 Acura Integra - No VTEC Yo!

25 (edited by psychoboy 2013-03-19 11:54 AM)

Re: Spirit of Lemons build update...

the commentary on Yahoo actually manages to make the Jalopnik commentary look better....

Team OK-Speed
Regularly losing in Class A
Soon to start losing in Class C