$2009 West Coast Challenge deadline approaching

Bueller?

It's on. We'll have an update soon.

Hurrah! I think I might even start a build thread on here...I don't know if I should spoil the surprise or not.

Thanks for the update!

Bryce

I feel like a bit of a pest (am I the only west coaster who gives a damn about this anymore?), but since my cubic manhours are steadily increasing on this project I'm antsy to start a build thread. When are you guys going to make this thing official? Now I know how my girlfriend feels when I lead her on about making things official....someday.

Bryce

I wonder if a turbo Miata could win this thing? Oops! so much for under cover......

John and I started working on the Challenge car and found out the donor motor was shot Hopefully we can find a replacement or save this one for minimum outlay as our budget is already perilously close to done.

P71 wrote: John and I started working on the Challenge car and found out the donor motor was shot Hopefully we can find a replacement or save this one for minimum outlay as our budget is already perilously close to done.

Half price day at the U-Pull yard gets you an engine for $75. You just missed the sale on President's day, but I'm sure another will come before the challenge.

Bryce

Any U-Pull's by Bellingham? That's where the car, engine, trans, etc are.

Funny thing is this engine was free

P71 wrote: Any U-Pull's by Bellingham? That's where the car, engine, trans, etc are. Funny thing is this engine was free

Free engine that is no good? Sounds like another case of "you get what you pay for"...not a surprise, I'm sure, just a disappointment! Google tells me there's a Gundie's in Bellingham, they've got a pretty good reputation (though I haven't dealt with the Bham branch) but I'm not sure if they'll be that cheap. Worth calling them and seeing what they can do and if they have any recommendations for your situation (cheaper U-Pulls in the area, call you when a special deal comes around, etc.). Google "used auto parts" and "auto recycling" in the area for more hits, there are several out there. Of course, you could also pull an engine locally and bring it up with you next time you go up there to wrench on it. Those fit in P71 trunks, right?

Oh yeah, and if you find something at the Seattle/Portland Gundies, they might deliver it to B'ham for free since they do daily shuttles to Seattle/Portland for free as well.

Bryce

It's not bad, it just needs freshening. It's an 84 Ford 302 that ran when pulled but the bearings had too much wear on them. Everything else looked good (except the bent pushrod) and even has cross-hatching on the cylinder walls and no carbon ridge. I think we'll be able to do rings/bearings and call it good.

John (ThunderCougarFalconGoat) is building the car with my help as it's his future "winter" car. It's an 83 Turbo Coupe that we got with no engine. We already collected up a V8 T5, driveshaft, 16" wheels, body parts, etc. We worked on the engine on Saturday with the intention of getting it ready to go. We have a set of fresh E7 heads, new cam, oil pump, water pump, etc. Saw the bent pushrod and decided to pop a rod cap once the pan was off just "to see".

Just a quick update on my entry:

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/reader-rides/109/

Started painting the engine bay this weekend, looks much better. Need to finish the paint in the engine bay, repair the battery box, build some better motor mounts, sort out the wiring, sort out the fuel system, assemble the engine, then I can move to the back of the car to fix the linkage and update the brakes.

So the event moved from June to August, eh? At least I'll have more time to finish the car and get it tested and tuned.

Luckily I don't have to schedule my vacations early like some people do.

Yes... more time to build!

Those August dates are firm.

Firm, ripe, and ready for picking! Hopefully the slide to August is only a good thing for everyone. We determined that the best way to support competition in the $2009 class was to hold the Uber-Weekend at the end of the season, rather than the beginning. All you folks who have already stumbled upon the enlightened path of Screw-This-Recession-I'm-Racin'-for-$2009! should benefit from the extra build time.

Locked and loaded: the $2009 Class is a GO! We have a West Coast Challenge Weekend.

It sure is nice to finally get a firm date, thanks guys! I, for one, am extremely happy about the extra build time, I'll be sure to put it to good use. I've already started my build and will start a build thread here shortly, probably this weekend. I'm attempting to bring the first hybrid to the Challenge and it won't by some sissy Prius or something...stay tuned for more details!

Bryce

So whats the deal with registration? I just learned of the 2009 part of the challenge yesterday with the GRM email newsletter... before obviously had already heard of the San Diego Grand Challenge, but I had written that off due to living in Seattle... So I haven't seen any registration dates that aren't December of last year, the registration portion still says the event is in June... Is it possible to still get in on this or what?

Absolutely!

I just need to confirm that a couple of things are falling into place with my project... Is there a deadline for registration? I'll know at the beginning of April.

Nice catch, fixing the registration form now.

Deadline for $2009 Class entry is tomorrow, which is the day after whatever day you happen to be reading this.

Seriously, it's July 31st. But send it in ASAP to help us plan!

Right on! I'll sign up ASAP. This contest won't be Volvo-less

David_Chong wrote: Nice catch, fixing the registration form now. Deadline for $2009 Class entry is tomorrow, which is the day after whatever day you happen to be reading this. Seriously, it's July 31st. But send it in ASAP to help us plan!

Is there a host hotel setup yet? I'd like to get my rooms sorted out soonish.

So when we are going about compiling our budget, is there a specific format that is preferred? I started just doing something in excel, and have receipts for all of my large items readily at hand (still need to track down some others as I wasn't originally building this as a challenge car)...

Here's some information I dug up for my teammates and since I'm a nice guy, I'll share it with you folks.

SDRev's main info forum post

From poking around on their pages, the drag races are going to be held on Saturday, the 22nd at the Barona Drag Strip.

Google Map view of Barona Drag Strip

Otherwise known as the middle of nowhere aka 30 miles east of Qualcomm.

Here is a clip from Barona: Electric Cobra Daytona at Barona

The Autocross will be on Sunday the 23rd at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

and just to give you an idea what autocrossing at Qualcomm is like:

Lotus Elise Autocross at Qualcomm

Long courses (compared to Oregon events at least) and it will be hot! so for those of you coming from out of town and not towing (like me) longevity and reliability should be a factor in your design and how you compete. In order to finish first, first you must finish!

weezilusa, you may want to head over to the SDGrandChallenge site and ask there, or e-mail David Chong directly. Another thought would be to look at past Challenge articles to learn how others have done their budget documents (I know I'll be doing that as well)

Thats a good thought fiat22turbo... Thanks for bird-doggin those sites electronically; Look forward to seeing you there!

Not a problem, my teammates love information, so I have to keep it coming.

I am concerned about the strength of the transmission in the Porsche, but we'll make do.

See ya there!