Just wanted to give everyone an update on where things are, where we stand and what's going on in the shop. So I figured it was time for a mid-season update.
We had a long stretch where we were waiting on parts. We were simply not in a hurry, so it really didn't matter how long it took. but parts are finally in, so we went to work on the car. It's always good to have the car race ready, even if it isn't going to be raced. The first order of business was to tackle that front suspension. As you recall from the last race, it was torn up pretty good.
While I was in there with everything already apart, I went ahead and made some setup changes to it as well. We swapped out both front springs, then went about getting that left front corner back together. A new spindle, shock, upper a-frame and ball joint managed to lighten our funding considerably. We also had some concerns about the sway bar binding up, so we set about making a change there as well, in an effort to free up any possible binding issue with that. I'm not 100% sure it was actually binding, but I am 100% sure that you can tell a difference in it now, so that's worth something.
While Pops was working on some things up front, I focused on getting the body straightened back out and repairing that left side door bar. Rather than build a new door bar, we just put a torch on it and bent it back as straight as we could get it, then welded up the tear in it. Spend a little time grinding it smooth and then we'll spray some paint on it and it'll be just fine...for now. Same scenario with the driver's door, there's no point in hanging a new one on it. I learned a long time ago how to throw a door on the shop floor, stomp on it in the right spot and then hang it back on the car, so that's the approach we took. I did have to build one new panel at the front of the door because the old one simply never came back from the track.
From there I figured we might as well do something about that right rear quarter panel I tore up on opening night. It had been an ugly reminder of how terrible I performed, so it was time to make a change. A lot of hammer and dolly work, some bending here and there and it's much better. I built a new fender flare since the old one went in the trash a long time ago. So there's some paint work to be done, but the body is looking much better once again.
We're not really done with the front suspension just yet. We had a couple issues with tie rod ends and since those control your steering I guess they are kind of important. So we've got a couple parts coming this week to take care of that. then there's the electric radiator fan, it simply vanished in that hit. No joke, dude hit me so hard the fan was never found. . . UNDER YELLOW YA'LL! HE HIT ME UNDER YELLOW!!!! 😒
So, just a couple things left to do before she's ready to race again. We'll get a fan in it this weekend, along with the tie rods and then put it on the scales and start trying to get the setup back to our baseline now that I've literally changed three of the four springs. 😁 But we're not that far off, short of the paint work, which may or may not get done any time soon. Personally, I don't mind it being a reminder of someone's stupidity. when people ask "When are you gonna paint it?" I'll just reply "When idiots are done running over it." She's not pretty, but she is a racecar again.
Okay, let's talk about "the plan", because I know it's literally the only reason you've read this far. I'm guessing some of you just scrolled to the pics and started reading from there even. 🤣 We are targeting the final race of the season, September 11th, as our return to the Speedway. We want to get a test session before we head into the off season, so we'll do it then. From there, we regroup for 2022 and once again, attempt to go after that Rookie of the Year title. There's a couple major things that we still need to figure out, the main one being that the engine in the car is borrowed and I have to return it at the end of the season. That leaves us with no engine for 2022 at this time. But we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Right now, we're just focused on getting the car back to the track.
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