Topic: Gingerman - or how I fell in love with the K car

Our experience with the K car began at Monticello. tSoG agreed to get the car for me and deliver it to me

here in Chicago. The night before he was to leave his truck threw a drive shaft so instead he kept the car

and did a bunch of work to it and delivered it to the track. When I saw it pull in I was excited. Then I got

hit with the "what have I done?" feeling. As we unloaded it and all it's extra parts in the arctic cold I

remembered that I said I would never race Gingerman in April again. We had quite a bit of work to do to

the car before we could take it to tech. We had to put new brakes on it since there was no pads on one

side, just a backing plate. We also decided to get some more tires so tSoG hopped in the K and Carl

and I grabbed the truck to hit WalMart but they wouldn't put the size tires we wanted on the car since it

didn't come from the factory with it but they would mount them onto the rims if they weren't on the car so

we went back to the track and pulled the tires off, threw them in the truck and I went back to WalMart so

they could mount them. When I got back I found that our friends from White Trash Racing gave us a

used set of Direzzas so the we kept the new tires for future use. We got everything fixed and rolled into

tech at 4:00 and came out ready to race.

Saturday morning we got to the track and scraped the ice and snow off the car and got our first driver

strapped in. I must say, the race itself was rather uneventful. All five drivers got a short 30 minutes stint

in with no drama, no exploding motors, no black flags, nothing. We started to go through our second

stint which we were planning on running longer, at least an hour. Somehow the math didn't work out

and I got in the car with 2 hours left. I tried to run until the end but was too tired and came in with 30

minutes to go. We finished day one and the car was still running strong. Well, as strong as a K car can

run. We did find out that we needed another set of front pads. There was no retaining clip on the

passenger side so the caliper twisted and the pads were shot. We phoned around and got some new

pads that we would pick up Sunday morning during the mandatory quiet time.

Sunday morning I went to pick up a trailer so we could take the K car home after the race and the rest of

the crew was going to get the car ready. Unfortunately we still didn't have that retaining clip so we bent a

strap and had one of the guys from Apocalyptic Racing weld it to the carrier to hold the caliper in place.

We ended up missing the green flag by a few minutes. Eventually the timing of our stints gets screwed

up again and I can't read because I thought the race ended at 5:30 when it really ended at 5:00. I was

supposed to take the last stint and our driver comes in at about 4:40. If he had stayed out one more lap

I was going to send him back out but since he came in we switched drivers. I got a total of three laps in

on Sunday and they were glorious!

I really want to thank the NSF guys for coming up with the K it Forward idea. We had a great time with it. I

also want to thank the guys from White Trash Racing who always make me feel welcome and always

help out whenever we need anything. Another big thanks goes to the guys from Apocalyptic Racing.

Great bunch of guys to hang around with and always willing to help out. The whole weekend was great

except for the weather but even that got better as the race wore on. All in all, a great experience like

every Lemons race is.

Newest member - White Trash Racing
Owner of the Traveling Hat

Re: Gingerman - or how I fell in love with the K car

We're really glad you loved it... and glad it's making it to another team. cool

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

Re: Gingerman - or how I fell in love with the K car

I gave you a hard time from the second you signed up for this project, but I secretly was jealous.  The K car project is what Lemons is all about.  We worked hard to pit next to you, under the guise that you'd need the help but really it was to have a chance to be a part of the extra LeMonosity of this project.  I figured we'd end up elbows deep in fixing some crappy Chrysler product...and we did, but it was ours.

"He attacked everything in life with a mixture of extraordinary genius and naive incompetence, and it was often difficult to tell which was which."   -Adams, Douglas.   The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

14x loser @ Gingerman, Autobahn, Summit Point, New Jersey, Road 'Merica, and Barber

Re: Gingerman - or how I fell in love with the K car

It was great pitting with your team, we were a bit short handed so could not help as much as expected but then with the K car reliability it wasn't needed. I had to laugh after our urgent driver changes and fueling to see the K car come in and the driver get out and ask "OK who's next?'

Apocalyptic Racing - Occupy Pit Lane racing
Racing the "Toylet" Toyota Celica powered by Chevrolet Ecotec.
24x Loser with the Celica. 16x loser in other fine machines
Overall winner Gingerman 2019

5 (edited by tSoG 2013-04-25 06:41 PM)

Re: Gingerman - or how I fell in love with the K car

Brett85p wrote:

It was great pitting with your team, we were a bit short handed so could not help as much as expected but then with the K car reliability it wasn't needed. I had to laugh after our urgent driver changes and fueling to see the K car come in and the driver get out and ask "OK who's next?'

it wasn't as bad as the simca at autobahn last year.

basically we were just shocked that we were voluntarily getting out, and not getting towed in.

dead rabbit society: cultured 'n shit.

Re: Gingerman - or how I fell in love with the K car

Glad you guys had a good time.  As for figuring out time for drivers I still have no idea how to do that right.  I seem to actually be getting worse the more I race, however I seem to only screw myself so no one seems to complain.

Also I've find it best to never tell anyone what car I'm mounting tires on. Actually it seems to go easy to keep people in the dark about what I"m going to do with anything I buy for the race car.

Racing 4 Nickels - 1989 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera
2011 SHOWROOM-SCHLOCK SHOOTOUT  IOE Winner
2012 The Chubba Cheddar Enduro Class C winner
Facebook Page

Re: Gingerman - or how I fell in love with the K car

BoB wrote:

Glad you guys had a good time.  As for figuring out time for drivers I still have no idea how to do that right.  I seem to actually be getting worse the more I race, however I seem to only screw myself so no one seems to complain.

Also I've find it best to never tell anyone what car I'm mounting tires on. Actually it seems to go easy to keep people in the dark about what I"m going to do with anything I buy for the race car.

K car was out front the tire center at walmart waiting to get the d shaped tires off the front. "not telling them" wasn't really gonna work. the problem was, they didn't have what the car had mounted, nor what we wanted.

dead rabbit society: cultured 'n shit.

Re: Gingerman - or how I fell in love with the K car

Thanks for letting me sign up to race with you guys. It was a blast. Also, big thanks to BJ for bringing the camper. Way better than sleeping in a tent!

Fourteen time loser. You'd think I'd know better by now.

Re: Gingerman - or how I fell in love with the K car

I've had that problem at Wal-mart as well. Back in the day when my current race car was my DD, I tried replacing the original skinny tires with slightly larger ones, two at a time due to lack of funds. I don't think they had any idea what the car's tire size was supposed to be, but they refused to mount tires on the back that were a different size from the tires on the front. I had to do the same thing you guys did: drive home, take two wheels off, and bring them back in my mom's Jeep.

Looking forward to pitting next to the K-car at ECR.

10

Re: Gingerman - or how I fell in love with the K car

tSoG wrote:
BoB wrote:

Glad you guys had a good time.  As for figuring out time for drivers I still have no idea how to do that right.  I seem to actually be getting worse the more I race, however I seem to only screw myself so no one seems to complain.

Also I've find it best to never tell anyone what car I'm mounting tires on. Actually it seems to go easy to keep people in the dark about what I"m going to do with anything I buy for the race car.

K car was out front the tire center at walmart waiting to get the d shaped tires off the front. "not telling them" wasn't really gonna work. the problem was, they didn't have what the car had mounted, nor what we wanted.

Cabinboy mentioned what was on there which I'm pretty sure is a dead tire size and not even sure how they fit.  I suggested 195/60 r14 since that size is still around and popular and  I'm guessing the size the star specs were.   Although first time I ordered those from tire rack I foolishly put my car in and they called me up with warnings of how the speedometer will be wrong and other horrible things.  They wouldn't even sell them to me until I gave them the cars gross max weight, even though I told them it was for Lemons racing, and has been stripped and that it will never carry cargo.

Racing 4 Nickels - 1989 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera
2011 SHOWROOM-SCHLOCK SHOOTOUT  IOE Winner
2012 The Chubba Cheddar Enduro Class C winner
Facebook Page

11 (edited by psychoboy 2013-04-26 08:38 AM)

Re: Gingerman - or how I fell in love with the K car

if my plans work out, the k-car will have 15s for race wheels going forward. it'll keep the 14s for transport and test drive duties.

as for "never carrying cargo"...it's got quite a pile of bits and pieces in it already.

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

12

Re: Gingerman - or how I fell in love with the K car

psychoboy wrote:

as for "never carrying cargo"...it's got quite a pile of bits and pieces in it already.

  =  Future trophy bits...  Has anyone added to the trophy?

b

This space for rent.

Re: Gingerman - or how I fell in love with the K car

There's a wiper and a cargo door handle that we took off. I'm hoping the driveshaft yoke and melted pads are on there now.

K Car Stalker

Re: Gingerman - or how I fell in love with the K car

tSoG forgot to bring the driveshaft yoke. There's a pad-less backing plate and I'll send the melted pads with but I can't weld them on.

The all season tires we bought were 195/60-14. One hasn't been used and the others look a little sketchy after 5 hours.

Newest member - White Trash Racing
Owner of the Traveling Hat

Re: Gingerman - or how I fell in love with the K car

they'll make great backups!  and good threats for keeping the nice(r) tires in good condition.

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

Re: Gingerman - or how I fell in love with the K car

If someone wants to weld the driveshaft flange on there, I can ship it along.

dead rabbit society: cultured 'n shit.

Re: Gingerman - or how I fell in love with the K car

i have a welder and i can carve out some free time.

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

18 (edited by yukadas 2013-04-26 11:36 AM)

Re: Gingerman - or how I fell in love with the K car

I think the driveshaft flange should be on there.  It was an integral part of "Chapter 4: Head West, Young K".

"He attacked everything in life with a mixture of extraordinary genius and naive incompetence, and it was often difficult to tell which was which."   -Adams, Douglas.   The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

14x loser @ Gingerman, Autobahn, Summit Point, New Jersey, Road 'Merica, and Barber

Re: Gingerman - or how I fell in love with the K car

I'm pretty sure the antenna had to be removed to pass tech.  I knew at one point Sunday it was being attached to the trophy but I didn't see if that ever happened or not.

White Trash Racing - Fail Neon

Re: Gingerman - or how I fell in love with the K car

You'll never forget your first, cabinboy...

A&D: 2011 Autobahn, 2012 Gingerman, 2012 Road America, 2012 Autobahn II, 2013 Gator-O-Rama (True 24!)
Sir Jackie Stewart's Coin Purse Racing
2013 Chubba Cheddar Enduro - Organizer's Choice, 2014 Doing Time in Joliet
http://www.facebook.com/#!/SirJackieSte … urseRacing

Re: Gingerman - or how I fell in love with the K car

anr211 wrote:

I'm pretty sure the antenna had to be removed to pass tech.  I knew at one point Sunday it was being attached to the trophy but I didn't see if that ever happened or not.

Say what??

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

Re: Gingerman - or how I fell in love with the K car

ronman wrote:
anr211 wrote:

I'm pretty sure the antenna had to be removed to pass tech.  I knew at one point Sunday it was being attached to the trophy but I didn't see if that ever happened or not.

Say what??

Yep, they made us remove the radio antenna. It was just wobbling in the breeze and I guess they couldn't tighten it so they snipped it. Right now it's sitting on the dash waiting to be welded to the trophy.

Newest member - White Trash Racing
Owner of the Traveling Hat

Re: Gingerman - or how I fell in love with the K car

cabinboy wrote:

Yep, they made us remove the radio antenna. It was just wobbling in the breeze and I guess they couldn't tighten it so they snipped it. Right now it's sitting on the dash waiting to be welded to the trophy.

That is just blasphemous.  Our themes are normally defined by "wobbling in the breeze".
The K should should show up at the next race completely covered in antennas as a show of protest.

Apparently my name is really "Craigers".  Who knew?
We might be yellow, but at least we are slow
I'm a WINNER!

Re: Gingerman - or how I fell in love with the K car

solman244 wrote:
cabinboy wrote:

Yep, they made us remove the radio antenna. It was just wobbling in the breeze and I guess they couldn't tighten it so they snipped it. Right now it's sitting on the dash waiting to be welded to the trophy.

That is just blasphemous.  Our themes are normally defined by "wobbling in the breeze".
The K should should show up at the next race completely covered in antennas as a show of protest.

The K still wobbles in the breeze. It's got this goofy looking cat sculpture that's spring mounted that's actually quite comical. I love the idea of a roof full of antennas.

Newest member - White Trash Racing
Owner of the Traveling Hat