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It’s close! Can you feel it? Track season is almost here. Of course there are the lucky few that go to Daytona and Sebring and start their season a few months earlier then the rest of us poor souls. Perhaps next year Andy and I will do Sebring. It’s a tough part of the year for Andy to get away because of trade shows that he has to be at. This year he added a little thing most of us like to call back surgery. Ouch! The surgery was the last resort after his doctor wanted him to try physical therapy and then those big needles with cortisone. But the good news is the surgery went well and he is recovering quickly. We are going to pass on the Limerock Race this year and attend the Mid-Ohio Race in May instead. In the past we haven’t been able to go to Mid-Ohio because it was held on Mother’s Day and it was Sprint Race only. This year they moved it off of Mother’s Day and added a 60-minute enduro. The tough part is that the event is still only 2 days. That means one day of practice on Saturday and 2 races on Sunday. A 30-minute Sprint Race and a 60-minute Enduro. As cool as that is, that is a lot of racing in one day when you add a quick practice and qualifying too. Sprint Races wear me out more then enduros just because of the shear intensity of a 12 or 15 lap race. As for the car, it is all done. My friend Keith Porges of Advanced Imported in West Bridgewater did the last minute touches of timing belt, cam seals, pulleys, belt guide and a quick bleeding of the clutch. I get so cut up trying to get my big paws at the slave cylinder above the starter that it was easy when Keith asked if I wanted him to do it. He also found a problem with the center electrode in the distributor cap that I would never had noticed. That’s a good thing! The only thing left is to dyno it again to see what the headers are actually giving me and to get the car over to EPE for Jerry to align and corner balance it. I did an unexpected improvement that just presented itself to me while I was visiting Jerry Pellegrino at EPE. Fellow NER member and Club Racer Mike Trombly re-did the suspension on his E-class 944 Turbo S leaving a full set of Moton double adjustable shock without a car to hold up. Well, I felt sorry for them and made the decision to let them hold my car up. If you know anything about these shocks you know they are about as good as you can get short of the triple adjustable versions. Installation was a bit more difficult than I initially expected. It was very tough to find a good location for the front remote reservoirs with all the crap under the hood of a turbo. The final installation came out nicely. I fabricated some brackets that were perfect. I guess watching all those episodes of Biker Build-off paid off. I want to fabricate stuff, even if I don’t need it. The rears were a bit easier but I still had to cut 2.5” holes in the rear seat area to snake the reservoirs inside and secure them to the rollbar. Now the trick is to understand how to best utilize them. I need to learn when to increase or decrease bump and the same for compression. Lots of note! What works at what tracks and why. In the past I just set my shocks to the middle set-up and learn to drive it. I decided it was time to understand racing instead of just doing it. I think it will be fun. Arriving at a good set-up will be just as rewarding as driving a good set-up Not to say the old suspension was bad because it wasn’t. It consisted of Koni 3012 rear, double adjustable shocks and the fronts were the race ready Bilstein Cup shocks that are not adjustable but the multiple valving inside made the shock perform differently under different situations. The ultra strong piston is 3/4 the thickness of the entire shock. Very stout! If anyone needs a great set of shocks for their 944 let me know. I’ll make you a good deal on 4 great shock still in great shape. As far as the new trailer is concerned it is becoming better equipped all the time. I have to find the time to install the 2 tire rack, 8 fuel jug holders and even the trick weather monitor I found to get readings on humidity and temps. I also can’t wait to fire up the new paddock scooter that my sister gave me for Christmas. Ronny look out, this little guy will kick your butt. As soon as it stays warm for a few days I will get out and do the new vinyl job on the trailer. And lastly I redid the TeamNortheast identity over the winter. The old logo had been in use since 2000 and it was due for a little freshening up and simplifying. I also wanted to separate the speedo swoosh and tagline “Life at redline” and create something that can be merchandised much like the No Fear line of Brian Simo. Besides Eric Beyer told me if I didn’t do it soon that he would steal it. So we now have 2 logos; TeamNortheastRacing for us and life at redline for everyone. We are having the usual team polo shirts and t-shirts with the TNR logo so we show a good team spirit at the race dinners and award banquets (which we always hope to be at). We will also be looking into doing different items besides shirts, jackets and whatever with the life at redline brand. It’s kind of a lifestyle statement, some people live on the edge, some are out of control… a driver’s version of those statements is ”life at redline!” That says it all! I have a couple cool t-shirt lines for it. We will be carrying over the line “objects in your mirror are faster than they appear” that Mark Keefe came up with while a bunch of us were eating dinner after a DE day at Limerock. The other line is, ”life at redline – be there or back there!” Just fun stuff to let people know we like to drive fast. So it won’t be long before we are on the track again. It has been a hard winter having to worry about the Club Racing boost thing but I think it is almost over. I think I should be OK. But what a ridiculously complex system. There are so many things that can effect boost; air temperature, humidity, air filters, exhaust, headers and maybe even the alignment of the stars. And they all can change from day to day. Depending how close a car’s set-up is to the limit, that car can be slightly over boosting on a cool crisp day in the Spring or Fall and slightly under boosting in August when the heat and humidity is the highest. I kind of wish I still had the S2. That was much easier. See you next month! |
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