51 Reply by magnusracing (edited by magnusracing 2009-12-21 06:47 PM)

  • From: San Diego, CA
  • Registered: 2009-08-17
  • Posts: 364

Re: Secrets of the Inner Circle, or how to do well at Lemons

I think for 2010 the new rules have a 24 gallon fuel capacity limit.

Our Mercedes S600 had a 25.5 gallon fuel tank from the factory so I'm glad we snuck it in during the 2009 season! Of course since the beast drank a half gallon of gas PER LAP I'm sure the judges might be forgiving.

Pendejo Engineering "Captain" - 1991 Alfa 164
1983 Shaguar XJ-S V-12 "The Two Ton Miata"
1995 Mercedes S600 V-12  - First car ever CLAIMED by JAY!
1980 Maserati Quattroporte - Judge's Choice

magnusracing's Website

  • ronman
  • ronman
  • Lemons Staff Stalker
  • Offline
  • From: Orlando, FL
  • Registered: 2009-09-15
  • Posts: 1,842

Re: Secrets of the Inner Circle, or how to do well at Lemons

The fuel cell limit SUCKS. I wonder if the super 35-gallon tank we put in the trunk of the 61 Fleetwood had anything to do with the implementation of this new rule. yikes

Official photographer/Team Police Brutality|Speedycop & the Gang
Lackey-mechanic-whatever/NSF Racing
Sycophant/Judge Phil, Jay Lamm, Kim Harmon
Galaxie Driver/not Parnelli Jones
  • From: 5,280 ft.
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 1,298

Re: Secrets of the Inner Circle, or how to do well at Lemons

pfft.  that's almost double the capacity of the FX16s and MR2s we've been running.  the FX16 could certainly accomodate one; the MR2, probably not so much.

mike - Schumacher Taxi Service
12+-time loser
"Winner" - We Got Screwed, NJMP '11

Buzz Killington's Website

  • From: Grand Rapids MI
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 25

Re: Secrets of the Inner Circle, or how to do well at Lemons

ronman wrote:

The fuel cell limit SUCKS. I wonder if the super 35-gallon tank we put in the trunk of the 61 Fleetwood had anything to do with the implementation of this new rule. yikes

That and showing up with it lashed down with plumber's strap and ratcheting tie downs got some attention too! yikes

  • ronman
  • ronman
  • Lemons Staff Stalker
  • Offline
  • From: Orlando, FL
  • Registered: 2009-09-15
  • Posts: 1,842

Re: Secrets of the Inner Circle, or how to do well at Lemons

tommytipover wrote:
ronman wrote:

The fuel cell limit SUCKS. I wonder if the super 35-gallon tank we put in the trunk of the 61 Fleetwood had anything to do with the implementation of this new rule. yikes

That and showing up with it lashed down with plumber's strap and ratcheting tie downs got some attention too! yikes

What tie-downs? http://crownvic.us/forum/images/smilies/new/look.gif

The "plumber's strap" was what came with the cell, amazingly.

Official photographer/Team Police Brutality|Speedycop & the Gang
Lackey-mechanic-whatever/NSF Racing
Sycophant/Judge Phil, Jay Lamm, Kim Harmon
Galaxie Driver/not Parnelli Jones
  • From: Davis, Ca
  • Registered: 2009-04-30
  • Posts: 1,843

Re: Secrets of the Inner Circle, or how to do well at Lemons

Bump, I've been asked again to bump this up for some newbies to see

Gosh, my business card says 'Tech Tyrant'
  • From: Davis, Ca
  • Registered: 2009-04-30
  • Posts: 1,843

Re: Secrets of the Inner Circle, or how to do well at Lemons

And Yet again I've been asked to bump this...   Sorry to you who've read it before...

-John

Gosh, my business card says 'Tech Tyrant'

58 Reply by Evil Genius (edited by Evil Genius 2011-01-25 06:36 PM)

  • From: Davis, Ca
  • Registered: 2009-04-30
  • Posts: 1,843

Re: Secrets of the Inner Circle, or how to do well at Lemons

Yes, someone asked yet again that this get bumped...     It's hard to believe I wrote this over a year ago...  Yet it still holds true...


     It is the rantings of a non-official person... I wrote it before I was heavily involved in Lemons..    So there's nothing official about it, just the drivel of a an average John...

Cheers-

-John

Gosh, my business card says 'Tech Tyrant'
  • Registered: 2009-07-24
  • Posts: 35

Re: Secrets of the Inner Circle, or how to do well at Lemons

Re: Adjustable shocks. I got a pair of adjustable Koni's from the rear of an Audi 5000 at my local PnP. Because they're struts, not shocks, I had to pay $48 for the pair. And I don't even own a Cherman car! They'll fit most '80 VW Rabbits and such. I'll sell them, and the original receipt, for what I paid.  Funny thing, when I approached a team at a race, they didn't want them because they already had adjustables on all 4 corners. Hmmm...

  • Registered: 2010-10-25
  • Posts: 8

Re: Secrets of the Inner Circle, or how to do well at Lemons

Great suggestions: Don't discount the value of a well lead team. Elect a leader than can keep the drivers and crew calm, motivate them and strategize on the go.  It's a sure bet that your team will be loaded with type A's primed with testosterone who are ultra competitive.  This is a volatile mixture that can easily run amuck if not kept in check.

  • Registered: 2011-05-24
  • Posts: 5

Re: Secrets of the Inner Circle, or how to do well at Lemons

This little graph should be posted on the inside of helmet shield for the real racey fellows heading out in the Super Squirrel #17 Dominator.

http://www.metricmechanic.com/catalog/engine-life.php

And for the technician back at the skunkworks cleanroom tweaking the Super Squirrel #17 Dominators motor.

http://mechanicsupport.blogspot.com/

The reading the bearings part. Or hell, any part of this fellows knowledge cant hurt.

=]

  • From: Reading, PA
  • Registered: 2012-04-12
  • Posts: 5

Re: Secrets of the Inner Circle, or how to do well at Lemons

really like the radiator mounting tip. am going to look into that on our unit. thanks

  • Registered: 2012-09-24
  • Posts: 2

Re: Secrets of the Inner Circle, or how to do well at Lemons

Thanks for all the good tips.

  • Registered: 2011-03-14
  • Posts: 51

Re: Secrets of the Inner Circle, or how to do well at Lemons

Good advice here, most of which we've used in one way or anotther, but here's a philosophical addition:

When I was a professor, I used to say this to my students; as a parent, I say this to my kids, and this past weekend, this was probably the main reason for our success:  DON"T STOP THINKING!!!

Cheers
RIch B. 
Chief Apologist, Z-Wrecks

65 Reply by chaase (edited by chaase 2013-08-21 01:25 PM)

  • chaase
  • Lemons Staff Stalker
  • Offline
  • From: East Meadow, NY
  • Registered: 2009-08-06
  • Posts: 1,563

Re: Secrets of the Inner Circle, or how to do well at Lemons

I just have one comment for this thread. We have run a lot of races on our little Saturn. This is the mantra we use in the garage. The car may be a POS, but it is still a race car so treat it that way, especially if you want the car to last past one race.

We change our oil after each race day using good quality oil, especially since the car is old and the engine has something like 160,000 miles on it. We regularly flush the brake fluid using DOT 4 fluid and inspect the lines. if you are doing electrical work, do the best you can. Solder the connection after its crimped to insure good contact. Make sure the wire is the correct gauge.Make sure to leave enough slack so you are not pulling on connectors.  All of the little things need to be done and some don't cost a lot of money. You may spend a little more money in the end, but if it keeps the car on the track longer then it is worth it.

1992 Saturn SL2 (retired) - Elmo's Revenge -  Class B winner, Heroic Fix winner x2
1969 Rover P6B 3500S(sold) - Super G-Rover - I.O.E Winner, Class C Winner
1996 Saturn SW2 - Elmo's Revenge (reborn!), Saturn SL1  Dazzleshipm Class C x2 and IOE winner
1974 AMC Javelin - Oscar's Trash heap - IOE,”Organizer's Choice" and "I got Screwed" award winner

66 Reply by racerxr (edited by racerxr 2014-03-04 06:36 PM)

  • From: Dallas, Tx
  • Registered: 2012-03-15
  • Posts: 700

Re: Secrets of the Inner Circle, or how to do well at Lemons

Send your drivers to one or more HPDE weekends in their own car to learn how to get around a track without doing things that will warrant a black flag on a Lemons weekend.  Buy a relatively fuel efficient 4 cylinder N/A car with manual transmission.  Install race brakes and 200TW tires.  Replace engine oil, manual trans oil, and quality DOT 4 brake fluid before each race.  Fix things that break on the car before the next race.  Shift at 5K rpm.  And, drive each stint until the car fuel starves.

We have 3 top ten overall finishes (in the Gulf region) with a car/team combo that has no racing experience, runs mid to upper pack class B lap times, and has a stock 12 gallon fuel tank with unleaded fuel filler neck restrictor still intact.  Most teams dump 3 cans of gas in the hot pit faster than we dump one.

If your friends don't want to do an HPDE weekend, then go to a few yourself and recruit your team there.  You will find plenty of people interested.  Hint: Only approach the people that give pass signals and drive something that looks like they can afford a Lemons weekend.

2012 North Dallas Hooptie Judge's Choice Winners
If life gives you Lemons, install racing brakes!
https://www.facebook.com/JoBoRacing

racerxr's Website

67 Reply by gunn (edited by gunn 2014-03-05 11:08 AM)

  • gunn
  • Lemons Staff Stalker
  • Offline
  • From: SF, CA
  • Registered: 2010-12-18
  • Posts: 1,011

Re: Secrets of the Inner Circle, or how to do well at Lemons

chaase wrote:

I just have one comment for this thread. We have run a lot of races on our little Saturn. This is the mantra we use in the garage. The car may be a POS, but it is still a race car so treat it that way, especially if you want the car to last past one race.

We change our oil after each race day using good quality oil, especially since the car is old and the engine has something like 160,000 miles on it. We regularly flush the brake fluid using DOT 4 fluid and inspect the lines. if you are doing electrical work, do the best you can. Solder the connection after its crimped to insure good contact. Make sure the wire is the correct gauge.Make sure to leave enough slack so you are not pulling on connectors.  All of the little things need to be done and some don't cost a lot of money. You may spend a little more money in the end, but if it keeps the car on the track longer then it is worth it.

It's interesting you use crimped connectors. I only use them when absolutely necessary (like a wire to a ring connector) and solder as you suggest. When joining two wires though, I actually solder the wires together and then cover the joint with heat shrink tubing.

HF sells an assorted box of heatshrink tubing for $4-5 and you can get a coil of the most commonly used stuff (in my case, I find myself reaching for the 3/16" more than any other side) for $1.

I also go nuts with zipties to minimize stress on wires. For some items, I use the standard "zip once, cut off later" type you can get a lot of for a few bucks from HF.
For others, I use a little fancier releasable version. A friend gave me a few bags of fancy 3M "releasable cable ties" a few years ago but after those ran out, I've been happy with 195 of them I bought for $9 from ebay: "THOMAS & BETTS RELEASABLE TIES NEW NYLON CABLE WIRE TIE".

Finally, I'm also a big fan of conduit to bundle wires together for additional protection and cabin descuzzification. Mostly I use different diameters of "protective wire wrap" from HF but I've also found that IKEA sells a decent package in a larger diameter for fairly cheap as well. In a few specific areas (ex: running along the door sill on the driver's side side of the passenger cabin, I've added further protection by cutting a PVC/acrylic pipe in two and making a hard conduit)

Regards,
-g

Myopic Motorsport's #888 Ceci n'est pas une Citron Thunderbird ("This is not a lemon" but a 1995 tbird w/ 93 V8 swap + shopping cart rear wing + engine mounted frito maker)
2017 Sears Pointless Organizer’s Choice
Frito Making Tbird from 2018 Sears Pointless Engine Heat BBQ - http://goo.gl/csaet4