The 24 Hours of Lemons Forums → Our Crappy Race → Team/car list for Buttonwillow Histrionics!
There will be a Mini. There will be an X1/9. A '74 Duster! Enough E30s for the entire board of directors for a failing Orange County S&L, circa 1987! All this and more, right here!
Keep in mind that we're far enough out from the race that cars/team names/etc will change between now and race weekend.
A Duster should do well in Lemons, assuming they found an 8.25 rear ended disc brake car. Go Mopar! Going to miss that one, going to be on the East Coast doing our OE Judging thing. You realize the Fury has all the correct bolts on it right Murilee?
You realize the Fury has all the correct bolts on it right Murilee?
You mean they've got all the right date codes and chalk marks from the C-body line in (insert name of now-abandoned Midwestern industrial town here) on August 19, 1966?
Chalk marks, paint dabs, finishes, it will be a perfectly restored crap can.
Whoever is running the Duster, set up your cage very carefully....I was rear ended in one at a Street Stock enduro in 1980 (by a Montego) and they had to cut me out of the car....my back still hurts....
anyone notice there are SIX 1986 BMW 325's, and THREE 1987. That makes almost 10% of the field one. exact. same. car.
Also, there's a 2000 A4, which I would be very jealous of as a daily driver. Seriously, WTF? It better be missing most of the car and have a 1.8t minus the t. I expect great things.
anyone notice there are SIX 1986 BMW 325's, and THREE 1987. That makes almost 10% of the field one. exact. same. car.
I'll need to make a new 'Noch Ein Scheiß-E30!' stencil just for Buttonwillow- the old one has so much paint on it that it looks like it's made of plywood.
Hate to root against my own team, but the Mini is going to kill it!
I for one am looking forward to the stencil!
We will feel sorry for the BMW's after they feel the wrath of our 1990 Mazda 323 with special Pyramid, Crystal & Laser channeling powers (From the Gods)- While also being painted like the Starsky and Hutch car!
Signed,
TEAM ZOOM-ZOOM...BOOM
the only way the Mini will be a challenge is if it has a Honda engine. The stock engine will be hard to keep cool. We are also looking at a mini for next year. But the power train is what concerns me.
And being out on the track with Huge Ex taxi and cop cars. With driver that dont understand that not all cars can Late Brake in corners. The laws of physics apply.
Why is everyone assuming the Mini will overheat? Dump the stock sidewinder rad and run a small Japanese car rad with electric fan....When they designed the Mini they had to power the fan by belt, hence the weird, restrictive setup....If you are running it stock, remember it pushes, not pulls, so cut away the inner fender gills, delete the grille and definitely replace the steel fan with the yellow plastic fan...and replace the thermostat with a shell or restrictor......big improvement
Got 2 classics here in FL with the 11 fin fans.. They run hot.
go do a search for the targa newfoundland rally.
The classic mini that was entered, was replacing an engine every other day. Or the head. It was overheating.
I agree with a Radiator upgrade it may be ok. But then you will need to figure out where to put it so it doesnt get crushed.
WTF? It's a 998cc car with one or two SU carbs...richen the mixture a little! Fuel mileage isn't an issue....and heater cores can reject a hell of a lot of heat....add one from an SUV or pickup and it WILL help....I raced Minis for years and the cooling system was the only thing that didn't fail.....head gaskets? Maybe on a bored 1275, but a 998 has lots of beef between cylinders and it's all cast iron. Maybe use a new gasket!
heater cores can reject a hell of a lot of heat....add one from an SUV or pickup and it WILL help
Or just find the biggest junkyard radiator that sorta fits and fabricate some crude brackets to mount it.
It almost looks like an import challenge list.
A ton of BMW's. Several GTI VW's. Once you get into the 90's the Mazda's start popping up all over the place. A fair amount of Porsches and MR2's.
The Eagle Talon TSi looks very interesting. Those seem like a great platform for this type of race if they weren't a Dodge/Mitsubishi/Fiat product. Turbo + all wheel drive should mean great lap times but it also means really complicated drive train.
Or just find the biggest junkyard radiator that sorta fits and fabricate some crude brackets to mount it.
So how feasible would it be to get a radiator from a junked tractor-trailer?
MurileeMartin wrote:Or just find the biggest junkyard radiator that sorta fits and fabricate some crude brackets to mount it.
So how feasible would it be to get a radiator from a junked tractor-trailer?
Some of the bigger self-serve junkyards in SoCal have big trucks.
WTF? It's a 998cc car with one or two SU carbs...richen the mixture a little! Fuel mileage isn't an issue....and heater cores can reject a hell of a lot of heat....add one from an SUV or pickup and it WILL help....I raced Minis for years and the cooling system was the only thing that didn't fail.....head gaskets? Maybe on a bored 1275, but a 998 has lots of beef between cylinders and it's all cast iron. Maybe use a new gasket!
Yea, the other reason we're running a 998 is so we are less likely to break something and to limit the overheating. But come on-- it's a British Leyland product-- something is going to break and it's DEFINITELY going to overheat.
We've got like 5 mini radiators and 3 Austin America radiators and a radiator from an 85 crx. Once we have our front end on and an engine built and mounted, we'll figure out how to hook up some cooling that won't get taken out in the first bit of accidental contact.
Truthfully, I just want to see it put together before the event. This is the weekend when the most should be getting done but the least number of people are/were able to work on it.
--Spank
I also would like to see the cage the Mini is running and if they are going to beef up the front of the car a bit. Just making sure the drivers are safe and the car can take a hit or 2..
I can imagine it eaisy fitting into a Blind spot or 2..
We've got like 5 mini radiators and 3 Austin America radiators and a radiator from an 85 crx. Once we have our front end on and an engine built and mounted, we'll figure out how to hook up some cooling that won't get taken out in the first bit of accidental contact.
Not much contact at Lemons races these days, so don't try to build a Mad Max style armor-plate setup. Just get the cooling working. Junkyard scrounging tip: plenty of 80s BMW 7 series cars have excellent pusher electric radiator fans, and they're like 10 bucks at Pick Your Part. They move about 5 times the air of your typical junkyard pusher fan. Mercedes W114s also have pretty good electric fans.
Don't worry about cooling as much as the electrics! The Lucas alternator has to go....the starter isn't too bad....just whap the Bendix with a hammer
Don't worry about cooling as much as the electrics! The Lucas alternator has to go....the starter isn't too bad....just whap the Bendix with a hammer
Just grab any small Japanese alternator at PYP and fabricate a bracket. Problem solved!
It would have to be an early Japanese alternator with a V-belt pulley....I used a Delco 12si right off a Malibu and it was easy to fit, reliable and fits under the stock hood despite it's hefty girth...replacement field/light harness/plug assemblies are available everywhere cheap so its easy to wire
Mid-80s Toyotas have V-belt-ready alternators. They also have a funky wiring connector, so be sure to get that too.
The 24 Hours of Lemons Forums → Our Crappy Race → Team/car list for Buttonwillow Histrionics!