Thanks Giving (Page 1 of 2)

As many of you know, our team was awarded the Heroic Fix Trophy at Yee-Haw It's Texas Lemons 2009 last weekend at MSR-Houston. It was a team effort, but it was really more than that. I suspect that Hillary Clinton will never have a book ghostwritten about the experience, but if she did, it could be called "It Takes A Village to Successfully Swap Motors on an MR2 in Less Than 12 Hours." So I want to take a minute to thank everyone who helped us out.

For those of you who don't know the story, here's the brief version. On Friday during Break and Tune, we determined that we were getting compression of ~170psi on cylinders 1, 2, and 4, but only 25 on cylinder 3. We were creating excessive crankcase pressure, leading to a lot of oil mist coming out of the intake valve cover. We knew that if we didn't do something, the oil smoke from the car would get us black flagged over and over again on Saturday, an outcome we wanted to avoid. So we decided to pull the spark plug and injector control wire and run on 3 cylinders for as long as we could. It didn't last long like that (roughly 8 laps total over 3 drivers) before we developed an obnoxious rod knock. Pulling the spark plugs revealed about a 1/16 clearance on our rod bearings on the 1 & 4 cylinders; when we pulled the bottom end, the rod bearings on both ends were flat and burned, the crankshaft scored, and the motor was done. Turns out the #3 cylinder had a really nasty hole in it. See photo:

We decided to try to swap motors, but the only one that was readily available was back in Fort Worth. My dad and I hopped into the Suburban around 4:00 Saturday afternoon and drove there, loaded up the donor MR2 on the borrowed trailer, and made it back ot the paddock by about 3:45 on Sunday morning. Early morning testing revealed some sketchy compression, but eventually we made it work and got it into the race car. By some miracle, it fired on the second try, albeit on probably only 2 cylinders. But we knew if we got back on track for even one scored lap, we would have a happy ending to yet another otherwise sad day in the annals of MR2 racing history. We did about 10 more laps and were able to finish under the checkered flag, which put a big grin on everyone's faces, at least on our team, and we got the Heroic Fix trophy, which I think my wife thinks is hideous and I think looks like the most beautiful piece of scrap welding ever. You be the judge:

So, I have a ton of people to thank, and I want to do it publicly because their efforts were all tremendously public.

First and most especially, a big thanks to Bryan Carlson (that's him in the photo above). Bryan not only provided the donor car and the trailer which were both sitting in his driveway back in Fort Worth, but his endless and unceasing prodding of us to keep going was the motivational boost that we needed when energy and spirits waned. Bryan, you never said it in so many words, but at some point on Sunday morning, what I got was something along the lines of "you guys can quit now and start drinking -- if you're total pu$$ie -- or you can get this job done and get back on the track. What are you here for anyway?" On top of that, Bryan was a tremendous aid to getting the engines swapped. When we'd run into a fitting that we couldn't figure out or just needed another guy to get wrenching, Bryan had the answer or dove right in. Bryan, words can't express my gratitute to you for all your help this weekend.

Second, thanks to Aaron, Scott, Todd, and the other guys at ATS for their assistance and advice. We would have probably called it quits early on Sunday morning after that first compression test on the donor motor came back with such poor results if you guys hadn't helped us out. In addition to your advice and encouragement, thanks too for the tool and parts lending program. I think we got everything back to you but if you're missing anything, let me know and I'll look through the boxes of parts in the garage to see if it wound up in there.

Third, thanks to Danny of the green MR2 team. At a couple different times, we'd run into a problem and none of us could see the solution, then Danny would wander in and just by having a different set of eyes on the problem, a solution would be found. Danny, your assistance in getting the new engine fitted when those motor mounts didn't want to line up was invaluable. Thanks buddy!

Fourth, thanks to Judge Phil for walking down to our paddock space around 2:00 to give us a kick in the ass. The new engine was in but was being slow about getting buttoned up and connected. We were all tired and feeling discouraged that it was taking longer than we wanted and needed it to take, and I think that everyone was feeling that we weren't going to make it. When Phil told us that we stood a good chance of getting an award if we could turn just one more lap, it was just the shot of motivation that everybody on the team needed, and it made all the difference. It was like the entire team switched into a gear that they didn't know that they had. Thanks, Phil.

Fifth, thanks to all the folks who stopped by to watch us wrench on the cars and offer encouragement. Sometimes when the chips are down (as they were for us from about 1:30 on Saturday until about 2:40 on Sunday), just a kind word from a stranger really helps to keep you focused on the task at hand. One of the great things about Lemons is exemplified by the number of teams that stopped by to offer assistance and tools if we needed them. Here's one example: I don't know whose cherry picker we used all weekend, but I can't thank you enough for letting us use it. We never could have done this job without it.

Sixth, thanks to my team for pulling together again and again and again to get the job done. There seemed to be almost a thousand times over the weekend when we felt down and out and you guys just kept pulling it together and getting the job done to the best of your abilities. Mark, I couldn't ask for a better co-manager of these teams. Even now looking at the way that we were able to tag-team that car when one or the other of us was just plain worn out, I can't believe it. Thanks for sticking with me, brother. Pete, despite your protestations to the contrary, I hope you know that we simply could not have done this without you. You are a rock. Dad, I never had any question that when it was obvious that we were going to need to overnight it to FTW and back without much sleep, you would be there and would get the job done, no questions asked. I can't thank you enough. Sprotz, your tireless optimism and your ability to procure tools out of nowhere are amazing. Steve and Dave, you guys were great. You have no idea how helpful your assistance was to getting this engine swap done. For a bunch of guys who hardly knew each other this weekend, I'm awed by how everyone pulled together as a real team to make this happen. You are an awesome bunch of guys and I can't wait to race with you again.

Seventh, thanks to Jay and Nick and the Lemons crew for putting on the best race series on the planet as far as I'm concerned. We spent a total of less than 2 hours on the track over the weekend but that last 20 mintues or whatever when I was on the track after getting the motor swapped, as nothing more than a rolling chicane (except for you, Triumph TR-7! We waxed you! ), were undeniably the most satisfying laps I've ever turned in my life. You guys enable all this crazy behavior and I can't thank you enough for the opportunity.

Finally, and most importantly, thanks to my wife and girls for indulging me in this ridiculous addiction. I spend far too much time either in the garage working on the car or being distracted thinking about working on the car than is fair to any of them. I hope that they see how much it and you all mean to me.

Cheers, LeMonsters. Can't wait to see all of you again soon.