Hoists!

For one reason or another, it has taken us a long time to get the hoists installed in our new shop. Well they're in finally and I'm stoked! The 4 post has an 82" under clearance. Meaning my 6-3" frame can walk under it with room to spare. The 2 post is an asymmetric that will allow us to lift a Miata and still be able to open both doors all the way to get inside. We'll precision level the runners on the 4 post to be able to do accurate alignments. I think we'll make some DIY roll on/roll offs for the scales so we can corner weight and align at the same time.

The bridge jacks will be here next week. Those are the little pneumatic scissor lifts that sit between the runners on the 4 post to lift the wheels off.. This will make some common tasks about 90% faster and easier.

Mike and Sonny have been working steadily over the past 6 weeks to get the mezzanine finished up, all the spare parts, tools and equipment organized and on shelves. Chapeau gentleman. Man do we have some floor space now and still room for about 2000 wheels in inventory. Just in time as we have a 40' container due in a week or so and already have maybe 500 wheels in stock. Still a bit more work to do to get the shop done but we are nearly there.

Enduro tub

More orange is better than less orange.

Yet another G machine

Just picked up a 2010 Tonykart KRX with Rotax FR125 TAG motor. Took it out to ACS or as the karters call it "Cal Speed". This thing is a workout to drive and that precisely why I got it. Training for the NASA enduros. That its kick ass fun to drive is a bonus. This and racing the mountain and cross bikes should keep me in something resembling driving shape.

TC Design Cage

Enduro tub is back from TC Design in Milpitas. NASA is allowing us to attach the door bars to the door sill so we added a plate there. As you can see from the pics, the tub is fully seam welded. The acid dip at Strip Clean (Santa Ana) removed more weight than the seam welding added. It's now at Mclaren Autobody in Lake Forest. Since it's a race car, we are not going to get too carried away with the cosmetics. Robert at Mclaren is doing a single stage paint for us at a racer friendly price.

SuperMiata WIP

Still a lot to do but we're getting close. That's the spec air dam and wing. I like it.

Acid dipped tub

Just got the enduro tub back from Strip Clean in Santa Ana, CA. Was 495 lbs, now 461 lbs. Revealed quite a bit more RR qtr panel damage under the paint than I thought it had. Windshield frame has been damaged and repaired and  I didn't think to check that before having it stripped. Too much work into this tub to turn back so we'll glaze and paint it just the same. Now off to TC Design for seam welding and the cage.

New race car builds, putting together the new shop

Been a while since I updated you all on happenings here at 949 Racing. Over the last Qtr /2010, we have really examined just what we want to be racing. W2W, Speed Ventures, NASA, SCCA STU, SuperMiata etc.

 Finally getting finished design on our racking system so those bits arrive next week. Soon as that's assembled we can clear the shop floor and get our hoists installed. Should look something like a shop by the end of January. Planning a swap meet here maybe mid February. Remember those? It'll of course, be an open house for the new shop and facility. Really (I mean really) looking forward to having the shop look like a shop.

SuperMiata
  The silver 99 Rental car that some of you may have read about is alas, being taken apart. This is actually hard for me to do because I love the car and it's perfect as is. The reality though, is we never drove it on the street so the HPDE style safety equipment wasn't really enough considering the speed it was capable of. Add to that our need for a donor to build into our first SuperMiata and it's fate is sealed. The 160whp motor that's in it aren't legal for the SuperMiata series I'm putting together, so it comes out. Might end up in my orange daily driver if the Adaptronic NA-VVT conversion prototype ECU takes a while.

  You can find out more about SuperMiata by clicking the link above but essentially it starts with a Spec Miata. Add single adjustable coilovers, 9" wheels, air dam, wing and oh yeah, a C15-60 Rotrex supercharger supplied by Oscar Jackson of Kraftwerks. The engines will be tuned, dyno'd and then sealed by Kraftwerks at 200whp. All years and engine sizes will make the same power and have more or less the same area under the curve. 2300 lb competition weight. Best guess on 225/45/15 NT01's will be around 1:57 at BW13CW, 1:29 at WSIR. Wheel to wheel races will be run exclusively at Speed Ventures. Of course it'll be eligible for NASA PTC as is or PTD without aero and some ballast. Should kick butt in PTC by the way.

OGK
The OGK's "whammy" 2.0 liter engine build we begun back in Feb 2010 has been paused several times while we figure out various facets of that plan. It's finally done and will be ready top drop into the OGK in a week or two.The OGK is really pure ego gratification. I really believe I can build the fastest track Miata on the planet. Yeah I know, crazy. I'll make a bit less power than some of the other super fast Miata around but I think I'll go far beyond others in terms of suspension optimization and aerodynamics. What will I use it for? As a customer has suggested; 'crush other peoples dreams'. I think that pretty much covers it.

Enduro
   Our successes in the NASA 3 hr Enduro's (I forgot to tell you about that) have got us motivated for a serious effort to win the WERC (Western Endurance Racing Championship) and make a focused run at a class win in the Thunderhill 25 hours. To that end we're building a new car from scratch. That starts with acid dipping the tub to remove all the paint and get it ready for seam welding. Acid dipping is being done by Victor and the guys at  Strip Clean in Santa Ana. They have a proprietary process that removes any acid residue, leaving a phosphor based coating that is ready for paint and welding. The seam welding and cage will be done by Tony Colicchio TC Designs in Milpitas. As we have a tight build schedule and not enough manpower here to strip the car down and shuttle it around, we're enlisting the aid of Miata track prep specialists Andrew Kidd and the crew at Trackspeed Engineering in SLO. From there it comes back here to get put together. Engine is being built by Mike Keegan of Keegan Engineering here in Lake Forest. Custom modular wiring harness. More to come as the enduro car comes together.

  So, no pics? Yeah. not much to take pictures of this week. OGK is gutted and sitting under a tarp. Silver 99 for SuperMiata is on jackstands, in progress. 99 for the enduro build is a currently a faded green street car with ratty top and prototype from air dam (Spec air dam for SuperMiata).