Up and Comers for 2011

Last may, I wrote about my plans for the 2010 racing season. These included a lot of work on the Miata, which I couldn't take on because of limited time and/or money. Let's recap.

Things I did accomplish:

• Completed a welding class. Got a welder for my birthday -- thanks, Mom and Dad!
• Ordered all my LeMons don't-catch-my-ass-on-fire gear.
• Tore down the free Miata engine (pictured above, though it was last weekend, not in 2010).
• All my LeMons-related goals! Engine swap, cage build, wheel/tire fitment, finding enough drivers, getting accepted, and racing! Holy crap, racing!

Things I did not accomplish:

• Race in enough events to be eligible for an autocross trophy.
• Replace Miata suspension bushings.
• Install Flyin' Miata frame rails.
• Rebuild any Miata engine.

LeMons took a lot more research, effort, and straight up wrenching time than I anticipated, and limited what I could do on my street/autocross car.

What's coming up this year?

Complete my first (and perhaps second) engine rebuild ever.

The rusty Miata block is getting an overbore and new OEM pistons, but the bottom end is all in pristine, low-mileage condition. So that's staying as-is. Saves me the effort of Plastigaging all the bearings, and I'll have an OEM-quality bottom end. And that saves time too. I'm already on borrowed time with my timing belt, and I want to swap engines before the belt snaps.

I'm buying a cheap rebuild kit on eBay with standard bearings and rings. I'm initially just using the gasket set. After the first rebuild is done, I'll take my quarter-million-mile engine and give it a complete rebuild with the bearings and rings from the kit, buying just a gasket set and some Plastigage to complete the job.

Give the Miata a few little upgrades.

Namely, those same FM frame rails and perhaps those Energy Suspension bushings I wanted last year. Replace the speedometer cable. Get a new set of tires. Replace a few other small comfort or function items. Deal with the rust on the windshield frame. Fabricate a custom cat-back exhaust. Install new, not-from-a-junkyard speakers. Y'know. Just a few little things.

Race the Team Resignation Escort in one or two LeMons races, and break into the top 10 on laps.

Last year, I led Team Resignation to a Heroic Fix trophy at the Blago 500, and managed 60-somethingth place with 200-some laps despite almost an entire day of down time. We also got some internet and mainstream press coverage and earned a couple accolades. This year I want to keep it on the track and make it into the top 10 when LeMons returns to Autobahn in October. With a little luck, we might also run the July race at Gingerman.

A top 10 finish is ambitious, but top 20 is definitely within reach. The car will need more camber (as part of a real alignment), better exhaust, better springs, and a better engine computer, and a complete wiring harness that hasn't been hacked to pieces. All these things have either been purchased or are coming soon. We'll also need to seriously work on cutting down pitting, fueling, and driver-change times. Giving everyone specific jobs for each stop and practicing it all will be part of that, as will arriving at the track on Thursday to get a good pit spot.

And, of course, we'll need to not have catastrophic failures. To prepare for that eventuality, I want to...

Strip the parts donor and prepare a spare Escort drivetrain.

My old commuter car is still sitting in my parents' driveway, with the LeMon's blown engine in the trunk and its original transmission zip-tied in the engine bay (you read that right). I'm getting a spare engine and rebuilding that transmission (it needs a new shift fork), and mating them up. I want to have a complete drivetrain ready to swap in if anything goes bad, so we can get back on the track in (kind of) a hurry.

We're also stripping any usable parts off that ZX2 to keep as spares. Wheel bearings, brake rotors, and steering rack, primarily. And selling off the rest to offset some of the costs of racing.

Autocross?

Racing autocross events this year will primarily be to shake down the Escort and test suspension settings. I'm not renewing my SCCA membership this year because it's too expensive and I don't have the time to devote to it. Besides, the frame rail reinforcements aren't legal in STS class, and the SCCA is too serious and not-fun anyway. Which means there'll be an ugly, rusty, Contact-papered Escort running the cones with a bunch of Miatas. It'll be great. I'll run the Miata when I have time.

This is going to be one big damn year.

I'm pumped!

Update:
Oh yeah, the Supra.
My brother-in-law reminded me in the comments that he's got a Supra that's been sitting for a couple years. I agreed to toy around with it and see if I could troubleshoot its hot start issues.

I suppose it's more apt to say "I convinced him to let me do pretty much what I want with it while he's gone." And I have not lived up to my promise, since it's still sitting at his parents' place untouched. Oof. This is gonna be a big year indeed.

A eulogy.

And so it goes. I tapped the rocker panel with my foot as I left work last Thursday. Really, it was a light tap. And the tip of my shoe busted it in, because it was nothing but paint. I suppose it's just as well. When it happened Thursday, I snapped this photo with the expectation of making a humorous post about it here. Instead, it has become bittersweet.

I'll spare you the details; Eric will be posting soon on the Team Resignation blog about how it all went down. Suffice it to say that the race car's engine blew up, and swapping in the one from my ZX2 was the only viable option to keep us on the track.

So that's what we did.

Which makes it pretty official. After roughly a hundred thousand miles across six and a half years of service in my hands, my daily driver is dead. Its 210-thousand-mile engine lives on in the race car, and soon too will its wiring harness and perhaps front control arms. Which gives it a status not unlike an organ donor (except, you know, less important).

Little car, you have served me well. I'm sad you're gone, but your final days weren't exactly your best.

• You had an evap system leak I refused to fix. I had pulled those vacuum hoses and plugged the intake manifold with electrical tape. This also meant the HVAC fan would only blow at the windshield.
• You had a loud clunk from the front suspension which I'm pretty sure was broken sway bar links, but never put in the effort to check.
• You had been backed into a faucet and your rear bumper was screwed back into place. A week later, the mirror got busted off on the corner of the same house and was reattached with the same screws as the bumper.
• Your exhaust was beginning to leak, making you noisier by the week.
• Your third gear hadn't been working for several years.
• Your shifter bushings were completely shot, and the shifter buzzed loudly at nearly all times.
• Your rear defroster never worked.
• You had bald tires on ugly Escort GT fan-blade wheels.
• Your rear speakers would crackle at the mere suggestion of bass.
• I planned to never wash you again.

But despite all this, you unfailingly, albeit noisily, carried me to work. Took Amanda and I on a camping trip to Michigan. Were flung over a set of railroad tracks daily at 70 mph so I could get sweet air. And so on, and so on.

Goodbye, dependable commuter car. I have no choice now but to keep what I need and part out what I don't. It's not an elegant death, true. But I hope your heart lasts long enough to propel us into the top ten next year. You can do it. You've survived worse.

Another Two Hundred Thousand

After nearly 30 thousand miles in her possession, the Escort ZX2 is mine again. I got it back about 150 miles short of 200k. My second drive to work in it gave me the final rollover, the third car I've owned that's hit that ludicrous number -- and the second Escort to do so.

The first was my 1991 Ford Escort Pony, many years ago. Then the Miata. Now this.

I gave Amanda the ZX2 a couple years ago as a xmas gift. I have it back now because she has bought her first car. Quaint, that, since I got my first car about 10 years ago. Expect a guest post soon by her, about her new wheels.

So it's official: the Miata is my pleasure and race car; the ZX2, my daily driver. It's nice to commute in a reasonably quiet car with a compliant ride. It's not so compliant as to be infuriatingly dull -- I have an undying love of Escorts for a reason -- but it's not the torture box that the hard-steering, hard-riding, uninsulated Miata is. I have the added bonus of only having to maintain the Miata for race duty, I don't have to worry about wear from commuting as well; it can be out of service for weeks at a time while I rebuild the engine or order parts.

The down side? I won't have super-buff arms anymore, since I'm now spoiled with one of those amazing modern luxuries: power steering.

What do I do with the Escort now? Neglect washes. Do only the most necessary maintenance. Maybe do a few aero tricks and such to improve fuel economy. Treat it like the beater it has truly become. Eco-mod rat rod, anyone?

Team Resignation

Updates about the 24 Hours of LeMons car, the 1991 Ford Escort LZX2 (ZLX2?), will now mostly be on the Team Resignation blog. Head over there to see the latest.

One step above the bleachers

I picked up a Kirkey Racing aluminum seat with a cover and a neck brace a few weeks ago. This is gonna go on the Team Resignation Escort. I found it on Craigslist. It's a 17-incher, so it's a bit wide for me and all our current drivers. But it was cheap, it was local, and we can always add padding. Besides, we won't have to buy a different seat if a fatter driver joins the team.

Up and comers

This is going to be a big summer all around. Here's a breakdown of the upcoming projects, obligations and goals.

General/Personal
I'm enrolled in a  welding class 2 days a week for the summer term at Kish. It starts at 6, which means I need to be strict about getting to work on time so I can make it to class those evenings. Maybe I'll get a welder for my birthday.

There's plenty of autocross coming up. My goal this year is to attend enough events to at least be eligible to trophy either with the Windy City Miata Club or Chicago Region SCCA. Since there's conflicting days in the schedules of the two clubs, and some events land on days like Father's Day (I already skipped the Mother's Day event to work on the Escort), that could make it difficult. I have to figure out the minimum for each club and mark down which events I have to attend.

I need to order my racing suit, shoes and helmet.

STS Mazda Miata
About a month ago I picked up a 1.6L long nose short block and transmission for free. Yes, free. The block (sans head, hence "short") hadn't been used in about 10 years and braved the elements last winter. I have no idea what shape it's in inside, but the piston tops and cylinder walls are fairly rusty. I'm spraying the release agent of the gods on it regularly free it up.
    The plan is to tear this engine down and see if it's rebuildable with a simple hone. This will be my first engine rebuild, so even if this block is fucked, I will practice on it so I know what I'm getting into when I rebuild the engine that's in my car right now. (At 220+k miles, it's burning a quart of oil every 600-800 miles. Symptoms suggest worn rod journal bearings.) My friend Duncan is going to lend me a head so I can complete a rebuild beforehand and swap engines in a weekend; when it's done, I'll give him my old head for his future projects.

If I get the time and/or money, I hope to replace all the suspension bushings with a set of urethane ones and buy some Flyin' Miata frame rail reinforcements. The high-speed shimmy/vibration is driving me nuts, and I think these two things are the solution. I'm sure all my suspension bushings are completely shot.

LeMons Escort ZLX2 
That's ZL TIMES TWO, bitches!
Tomorrow, I pick up a used Kirkey economy layback racing seat and a neck brace for the race.
Obviously, the engine swap needs to be completed. The wiring harness needs to be pulled from the ZX2 and installed in the LX. The steering needs to be depowered, the belts rerouted, the thermostat housing replaced. Hopefully all this can be done in time to get it to several autocross events before the actual race.

I need to mount my Miata's autocross wheels and see if it interferes with the rear struts. Reports on TeamZX2 indicate that 205/50-15 tires may rub against the strut when mounted to the stock wheels; aftermarket wheels are usually OK. Possible solutions are: using narrower tires, buying wheel spacers, buying aftermarket wheels, using the 14" wheels with necessarily narrower tires, or denting the strut tube in a bit. All these are real possibilities with their own tradeoffs.

Then, of course, all the nastyness of stripping the interior, having a roll cage fabricated, buying and installing all the necessary safety equipment, finding a 4th person to commit to the team, et cetera et cetera.

******

That's a busy, expensive summer. The Escort has priority; it needs to be done by October. The Miata engine rebuild will more likely be a project for the fall/winter months.

Gotta keep my fingers crossed that Amanda won't kill me.

Always with the surprises

This is what happens when you start prepping a 19-year-old car for racing. You find holes in the floor.

Background, because I feel it is always necessary: (It probably rarely is.)
I tore up the carpet on our racecar on my lunch break. A 14mm socket, a screwdriver, and a bit of really boring lunchtime NPR is all it took. I removed the front seats (socket), popped off the retaining clips for the carpet under the edge of the rear seat (screwdriver), removed the center console (screwdriver), and started yanking that shit around the pieces that were still screwed down. Vehicle carpeting is neither plush nor resilient against tearing. In fact, the pattern of the supporting thread is a lot like vinyl reinforced adhesive tape, so I could tear it into big chunks with my hands.

Never mind how unbelievably filthy that car is (I forgot to photograph the crayons and toy cars, and the smell, while unphotographable, is pervasive). I found two surprises under the carpeting. Rust holes in the floor pan. Right about where the forward roll cage supports will need to go. This is not good news.

Hopefully we can roll the cost of repairing that into the cost of installing the cage. I figure if whoever is building us a cage can't fix that and make it safe, they shouldn't be building us a cage. I guess we'll find out.

On oversimplification

I have a problem. It's called oversimplification. I have a feeling most car guys get this when they start to think about a project.

Today, for example, I was telling Eric that we should probably go ahead with the drivetrain swap on our Escort (ZX2 into a 2nd-gen LX). He asked me what was involved in the process of pulling an engine and transaxle from the wrecked ZX2. This is how it initially played out in my head:

1. Bend shit out of the way.
2. Disconnect hoses.
3. Disconnect wires.
4. Remove motor mount nuts.
5. Lift entire assembly out.
6. Remove wiring harness.

Sounds easy, right? Well, it is. Sort of. It's the details that get in the way. Each one of those steps can take a lot of time, because they all involve many, many substeps. Also, things like hammering, bending, prying, wiggling, and dealing with rusted fasteners are very big time-eaters and muscle-fatiguers.

The actual process is something more like this (which is what I sent him):

1. Remove the hood (4 bolts).
2. Disconnect and remove battery.
3. Hammer/pry/smash/pull the radiator support out of the way, along with any other bent shit that interferes. This may be the most physically strenuous and improvised portion of this exercise.
4. Inspect for broken shit.
5. Disconnect the radiator hoses (2), heater core hoses (2), power steering hoses (2), and any other hoses I can't remember.
6. Label all electrical connectors with tape and sharpie, on both sides of the connection.
7. Disconnect all electrical connectors, and unbolt any ground wires to the engine.
8. Disconnect positive starter wire.
9. Pull out axles.
10. Attach engine hoist to engine.
11. Remove the nuts or bolts on each of the 4 motor mounts (max. 2 each).
12. Slowly lift the engine and transmission out of the car, watching for any remaining connections.
13. Roll the engine hoist (with drivetrain) into the garage.
14. Disassemble car interior to locate the entirety of its wiring harness.
15. Remove wiring harness, engine computer, CCRM (a control module), and instrument cluster.

Not quite as simple, right? It suddenly went from, "Yeah, we can do this" to: "... that's pretty intense." And I'm still leaving out quite a bit (especially in terms of the interior). Once this is done, we do it again to the other car. Then we swap sway bars and steering racks, overhaul a transmission, and then reinstall one of the drivetrains. Two removals, one installation.

Nobody ever said racing was easy. Or cheap. But at least it'll be fun.

Behold, failure!

Last Saturday, my friend Brad came over to help finish the brakes on El Shitbox. Since the caliper mounting bolt was seized in place, I asked him to bust out the Sawzall and cut the fucker in half.

Then, when the caliper still wouldn't come off, I realized the caliper mounts to a bracket, which is removable. Two 14-mm bolts later, and the caliper-and-bracket assembly is off.

But then the caliper wouldn't come off the bracket, which is necessary to mount the new caliper. So I asked Brad to bust out his MAPP gas torch. He's a plumber.

We proceeded to heat, wiggle, and hammer that thing to separate the caliper from the slide/guide bolt on the bracket. At which point, this happened:

Which is about when I realized I had a complete new bracket sitting upstairs. So I grabbed that, grabbed the new caliper, and put that shit together.

Steps necessary to complete job:
1. Remove caliper and bracket assembly.
2. Install new caliper bracket.
3. Install new caliper.

Actual steps taken:
1. Cut caliper.
2. Remove caliper and bracket assembly.
3. Lubricate, wiggle, torch, and hammer caliper guide bolt until something breaks.
4. Install new caliper bracket.
5. Install new caliper.

I am a genius.

Weekend racecar prep Number 1

These are my 10-year-old Caterpillar boots. They've seen a lot of abuse, including a weekend photographing an NIU ROTC trip for the Northern Star (which, since its redesign, is one "Under Construction" GIF away from 1997), among other less taxing camping trips, junkyard treks and work excursions. This pair finally bit the dust on Saturday the 13th, and I promptly replaced them with another pair. Hopefully these will last another 10 years.

The job that did it was swapping suspensions on the new Ford Escort diarrhea bucket of an automobile. That's right, I officially have an unofficial LeMons/ChumpCar racer! It'll be a 2nd-gen Escort LX/3rd gen ZX2 Franken'Scort. (Theme and actual car/team name TBD.)

Eric, my only willing co-conspirator and co-money pit feeder at this time wrote up a good bit of detail on it. It's worth every second of your time to read, because he is a hilarious and insane man. This most recent Saturday, we (almost) completed that job by doing the rear suspension. Details on that are coming, as soon as I get my photos back from my dad's camera.

Clogged catalyst

So, my catalytic converter clogged. It was a strange experience. On my drive home, I noticed the car made less power above 4k RPM, and started sounding like a trumpet. Yes, a trumpet. As my commute wore on, it got progressively worse -- to the point where I could barely maintain 80mph (welcome to Chicago tollway speeds). I put my headlights up and my speed dropped. That's how on-the-limit I was with regard to available power.

I should note that the cat had been making a rattling noise for several weeks before this happened. When this happened, the noise stopped.

So I went straight to my dad's place, jacked up the car and dropped the exhaust. Sure enough, the chunks of catalyst remaining in there had rolled into the back of the cat and got lodged in the pipe. We broke it up and got it out.

This is the stuff.

(Never mind the Taz floor mat, we use it on the garage floor.)

Yeah, I figured there would be a lot more, but no. Apparently most of it had already blown out.

So, my car no longer sounds like a trumpet, it has all its power, and a nonfunctioning catalytic converter. I'm technically no longer STS-legal, but I'll worry about that if I ever go to nationals. In the mean time, I don't care.

***********

On a side note, I picked up a set of tires on 13" Ford Escort steelies today, 175/70-13. (Yes, the 13" do fit over the calipers, though barely). Two are practically new, the other two have somewhat more than half life. Different brands for each pair, but it'll serve. And where else can you get a set of wheels and tires, mounted and balanced for $40? I got a new scissor jack out of the deal too, one from a Saturn. Heavier duty than mine, and it came with a handle. Mine did not have a handle, which made jacking a pain in the ass.

Yes. Jacking.

My obsession with Ford Escort Wagons

Amanda and I have decided to go camping for our vacation this year, and it got me thinking about how much I love Ford Escorts -- specifically how much I miss my '93 Escort wagon.

It was my second car that actually belonged to me (third, if you count the '71 Plymouth Satellite I owned for all of 3 months), the first being a '91 Escort Pony that I still owned during and after the time I owned the wagon.

It was like my hatchback but with a stronger engine, air conditioning, no broken springs, much less rust, and a lot more room. And, like all the cars I loved, it was stickshift.

For my 21st birthday, my friends and I loaded that car as tightly as we could and took off on an 8-hour road trip to Garden of the Gods, a scenic spot in the middle of Shawnee National Forest, in what we dubbed the crotch of Illinois. (Look at it on a map. Illinois has a crotch.)
On that trip, it carried a fallen tree from the road to the campsite, a tree that was longer than the car itself. I slept in it the first night.

When I was in college, my roommate was threatened with a knife by another roommate the night before my last final exam of a fall semester. Not feeling safe sleeping in that apartment, I drove my wagon out to the NIU parking deck, hopped in the back, folded down the seats, unrolled the sleeping back I kept in there, and slept until my morning final. It wasn't terribly warm, but it kept me out of the wind.

It hauled wood, doors, giant art projects. I got stoned in it regularly, listened to way too much public radio in it, and drove it through several snowstorms, one of which was so bad I couldn't see more than 10 feet in front of me at times. I really did everything in that car, and I loved it to its all too early death.

It started on fire. One day, out of nowhere, a recalled part that was never repaired failed. A mandatory recall too, so Ford notified the (previous) owner. They just never took it in. The wires to the fuel pump pulled enough current to melt the insulation off, and, naturally, the fuel pump stopped working. I coasted into a parking lot that happened to be a repair shop, and the rest is history. Not a very dramatic fire, but still technically a fire, so it was covered by insurance. And, of course, it was totaled. I wish I could've kept it.

To this day, I still sometimes itch to get my hands on another one. This camping trip with Amanda got my mind rolling with the possibilities, and they're very tempting. "Get it for a winter beater," I tell myself. "It would be a great commuter car," I say. "The Miata doesn't need the miles; the Escort would be more comfortable and better on gas." I scour Craigslist and dream of the possibilities.

I'm still dreaming.

Hairy Farts

I got this e-mail from Amanda the other day:

Subject: My car got weave

The strangest thing happened.

I got an e-mail from another girl in the office this morning, saying "Have you looked at your tailpipe? It appears it needs a shave."

I went outside, and there was about a 1.5 feet of grey/white/silver HAIR (HAIR!) hanging from the exhaust. Like, inside of it, spilling out. I pulled it out with my foot. It's a huge pile and it seemed to be stuck in there and possibly like there's more. It looks like the scalp of the singer from Dinosaur Jr. I'll go out at lunch with a flashlight and make sure nothing's clogged and maybe get a picture if the weave pile is still there.

Do you have any idea what this is? How it got in there? It's definitely LONG and human looking, so not an animal or a bird or anything like that.

It is BIZARRE. I want to brush my teeth now and wash my hands compulsively. Buh.

---------------------

This is what happened.

Faucet: 1, Escort: 0

Amanda backed the car into the house. Unfortunately, rather than just scraping the paint a bit, she hit the house where the outside faucet is.

These pictures are post-op. The bumper cover was torn almost completely off; we screwed it back in place. The hole the faucet gouged into the car we filled with expanding foam insulation. I later sprayed over the exposed insulation with undercoating.

Notice how the foam, once it squeezes itself out of the hole, begins to form testicles. Better than truck balls!

I hacked them off the next day with a hatchet.

Spark plugs - ZX2

Yes, spark plugs are routine, and especially easy on a DOHC 4-cylinder. But it was a learning experience for Amanda, and it confirmed for me personally the problem with those fancy Bosch 2+ electrode spark plugs.

Amanda did most of this job herself. I replaced the first spark plug to show her, then she did the rest. She is slowly learning everything, as each job comes up. I'm impressed at her tenacity to continue learning this art of grease-monkeying. Also, her willingness to get (somewhat) dirty.

She has yet to bust her knuckles or be elbow-deep in grease and dirt, but those days will come.

About the Bosch plugs:

It's well documented on TeamZX2.com (the most populated and active ZX2 forum) that the best plugs for Ford's Zetec engine is the OEM Motorcraft platinum plugs. Some members specifically say to avoid the Bosch Platinum +2 or +4 spark plugs, that they work fine initially, but cause misfiring after a while. Me, I replaced the plugs when I first got the car, before I was a member of that forum and aware of this problem. Wanting high-quality plugs, I bought a set of the Bosch +2.

And sure enough, after 60 or 70 thousand miles with those plugs, the computer threw a CEL. The error code? P0303 - misfire on cylinder #3. We replaced them with Motorcraft Platinum.

Failure

These things happen to everyone from time to time. I suppose it was my turn.

I topped off the oil in Amanda's car the other day, and... well, have a look.

Yup. I forgot to put the oil cap back on. There's oil all over the place.