Snails - Racing for Real

[CoachMK21]

Oh! I have to post pics of my helmet escapades- work in progress!

Any update on the helmet? And you mentioned you were doing another HPDE soon. What are the details on that?

 

[Dragonwhisky]

While this ain't really anything to do with racing, it's the beginning of what I expect will be a long mod cycle that will involve some "high spirited" applications of the go fast and whoa down pedal.

 

[Lessen]

Tip of the day:

Keep up on any and all means of personal communication.

I don't typically use my personal email for anything important, so mostly it's just add and reminders for stuff. Going through it this morning I realized I should probably pay a bit more attention because I (along with other customers) were invited to a last minute opening as a test driver at the indoor kart track by me. They were looking to fill a spot to do some battery testing. It was a two day deal and the worst part... I was on vacation both days It what have been cool to actually put what I've learned to real world use.

 

[zpower86]

I'm new to SNAIL. Here are two of my recent videos.

First: an autocross win in my B Street (5th PAX).

​

Second: unrestricted indoor karting from a few weeks ago.

​

 

[CoachMK21]

I'm new to SNAIL. Here are two of my recent videos.

First: an autocross win in my B Street (5th PAX).

​

Second: unrestricted indoor karting from a few weeks ago.

​

Nice videos and welcome to SNAIL. It's great to have another Z owner in the club.

 

[RobbiefromBC]

42 years after my uncle won it, and 12 years after my father won it, I've been named SCCBC's 2015 Novice of the Year!

 

[Handlebar]

Any update on the helmet? And you mentioned you were doing another HPDE soon. What are the details on that?

Beyond cooked, sorry for lack of commo.

At last DE of the year, I had my car prepped, ready... Drove 60 miles, and as I entered the gate, my clutch pedal dropped to the floor, followed by my heart and jaw. I nursed the car home after one of the good mechanics helped me assess the status (10 shifts in 50+ miles, in traffic... Could be a badge in GTSomething). I tried my son's car without telling him why I borrowed it - he did not find the pic funny.

Finished the AX season with my DD. Two runs of 'what am I doing??' And then figured out I had to be assertive.



I was well behind the race cars, but if I hadn't clipped the final one, I would have been in decent company.

@CoachMK21 I will do the helmet pics tomorrow -Tuesday at latest.

Short version - paint and masking did not work well enough for me, I resprayed twice, I am waiting for a "Mom I Like Flirting" with to finish helping use her Cricut vinyl cutter to match my Carrera design from on the side of the car to a smaller version on my helmet.

She is very nice and helpful, I will wait as needed.

 

[ConnorWolf]

Well, I still haven't gotten very far. Missed this month's autocross, but the car is... allllmost ready. I think. I need a battery tie down, a final few leaky seals replaced and I might get to go to my first autocross soon... lol.

Anything I should look out for specifically when trying to get a 30+ year old junker past an inspection for autocross?

 

[RobbiefromBC]

Make it look as presentable as possible. If a car looks tidy and looke like the owner took his time in prepping the car, it will probably be more likely to pass inspection. It sounds odd, but it really goes a long way with scrutineers

 

[CoachMK21]

Well, I still haven't gotten very far. Missed this month's autocross, but the car is... allllmost ready. I think. I need a battery tie down, a final few leaky seals replaced and I might get to go to my first autocross soon... lol.

Anything I should look out for specifically when trying to get a 30+ year old junker past an inspection for autocross?

Main points for inspection generally are:

1. Battery is secure
2. Wheel hubs are not loose / wheel lugs are tight (they will two hand grab the tire and shake)
3. Brake is firm
4. Visible leaking
5. Helmet (if your own) is SA2005 or SA2010 (SA2015 was just released, but most still accept 2005 for the rest of this year)
6. Closed toe shoes

These are the checks they do in my region, but certainly some inspectors (always loved the term, Scrutineer) are more diligent than others.

Other tips on your first autocross.

1. Walk the course, walk the course, walk the course.
   Do this until you know it with your eyes closed. Walk it as you would drive it. Think about best way through a section, based on your car. In a sweeper turn, is it better to go wide and carry speed or minimize distance? What's the next element after the turn, etc.
2. Talk with others who are faster.
   Just because they are fast, doesn't mean they know it all, but it's a good place to start.
3. Most groups have a novice walk through that is required.
   Pay attention during this. I've found that not all novices listen during these and often just talk among themselves.
4. Take video footage
   I use 2 different GoPro's and mount one always facing forward and rotate the other between a few spots; front bumper, rear hatch facing back, inside windshield facing driver, etc.
5. Have fun!

 

[RobbiefromBC]

5. Take video footage! Not only is it good for post session analysis, but you get to share your driving with everyone else!

 

[Handlebar]

Clean out your car - floor mats, all the loose change, receipts, whatever. That 'neat and tidy' stuff can go a long ways to making a positive presentation to your 'scrutineer' who's checking you over.

I'll post up my helmet-process pics in a bit when I'm home and replays are loading up.

 

[Handlebar]

Each attempt...

Clayed the finish off the helmet, then fully sealed, and primed.
First white:

Then black - this really helps the metallic 'pop' visually for me.

Then the metallic. I wanted to come very close to the "Diamond Blue Metallic" finish on my car.

I took a photo of the graphic on the side of my car...

Then resized the photo so it would wrap around the back of the helmet, from my left ear to right ear. I used wax paper, then put down blue painters tape. I overlapped the tape carefully, and put my new template over the blue tape.

Back view

I cut out the parts that will become black.

Here is the positioning:

After carefully removing the wax paper, I put down the template. This is where things went sideways in example #1 below.

Mask off the rest of the helmet...

And... Failure #1. Clearly I hadn't made sure the edges of the painters tape were down. Spray bled through and made an awful overspray. Blech!

I then had to re-clay, re-sand the helmet. I did the priming steps as above again, and was more careful on my template, but still didn't get the lines I wanted.

Bring on Failure #2. Better, but not acceptable.

Once again, I re-re-clayed, re-re-sanded, and re-re-sprayed the primers, and base coats.

A friend has ordered an adhesive vinyl for her Cricut (not sure of name of the product, but the girls who do home crafting love the machines), and I converted my photo into a black-and-white format (SVT? I don't recall right now). Once she's run that through her machine, I'll put it onto the helmet and take new pics.

 

[JLBowler]

3M makes something called fine line tape or something very similar. It's meant for automotive and marine painting. It will work much better than blue painters tape. You can probably find it at most auto parts stores. I know our local Auto Zone has it in stock. I don't know what stores you have in your area but it should't be too hard to find and will save you from those runs under the tape.

 

[Lessen]

if you don't mind the awful odor. Aerosol Plasti-Dip works great for masking. Especially for a 3d surface and enamel paints.

 

[ConnorWolf]

My car looks so ratty until you open the hood. I painted the car once with rattlecans in a rush when I was 16, then spent 8 years collecting parts and making it run right. Hopefully it shows to the scrutineer haha.

Oh.. Also do I need to worry about my cracked windshield? I always forget about that...

 

[Handlebar]

I don't think we worry about the windshield for Autocross. For a DE, I think we do.

 

[Lessen]

I just received an invitation to a Pro Showdown at the local kart track. They're calling it 24s on the 24th. Everybody whos done 24.999 or better has been invited. Evidently there's only 20 as of now and 8 are employees. Tuesday is the day. I'll be sure to get some vid.

 

[zpower86]

My club has autocross later in the year than most regions. Here's video from this past weekend.

youtu.be/g6zaBpP9BIE

 

[RobbiefromBC]

So, I made a video featuring all the interesting and significant moments of my first season behind the wheel, go check it out! Even though I DNF'd in my final race, I was still awarded the 2015 SCCBC Novice of the year award! In 2016 I plan to run for the championship with a new car, new engine, new everything... I should really get back to working on that...

 

[Handlebar]

I loved the video, great job, @RobbiefromBC !

I ended up with 26 DE and 8 AX days in 6 months of 2015, and I am trying to communicate a safety concern to my wife - I seek helpful responses to have an 'enlightened' discussion.

My driving in SNAIL has been pedestrian at best. I seem to lack the inherent ability to 'butt-dyno' input online. On a real track, many things make more sense, and SNAIL has helped tremendously. The PCA group (Porsche Club) I am in is very conservative before promoting drivers, and I am thankful for it. I am starting to get faster and this leads to more safety concerns.

I am currently running pretty much OEM lap belts and chassis, in terms of safety. Moving to near-racing compound tires (R888) and brakes (PFC 08), is giving me great speed out of corners and braking safely later, but safety, just in case....

I have some reclining seats that can take 5-6 position harnesses. I want to go to HANS and harnesses for safety, but I have had strong suggestions that I would be more in peril from the rigidly fixed seating position if I rolled... I would put in a roll cage if I have only one car, but I truly love the 'prettiness' of my car. Putting in a roll cage, while increasing safety, diminishes value.

The cost to modify with the cage seems to not be worth it, in value to the car, but if there is not a safer car available, then I would gleefully modify the car for more time with friends and family.

Any suggestions on how to communicate this to a supportive, non-driving spouse (she has never been to a track - she thought 'Drivers Ed' was for remedial/basic safety on road for several months, and I, regretfully, did not correct her) are greatly appreciated- as are 'other things to consider' as well.

 

[Dragonwhisky]

What'd you buy that car for, its resale value or its capacity for fun and danger? If the former, you probably ought not to be beating it up on AX and race courses. If the latter was/is your purpose for owning it....

 

[Handlebar]

What I bought it for... And use it for... That is from @JoeW - and I owe him greatly from his advice and seduction to the faster side.

But I want to go faster than the 'me' that bought this as a fun car.

Make sense, @Dragonwhisky ?

 

[Dragonwhisky]

Not really, no. Sounds to me like you want meringue for your pie but don't want to break the eggs to make it. In other words, you wanna go faster, but don't appear to want to sacrifice perceived worth.

Faster involves higher risk, which you want to mitigate. That makes sense. Going faster also means 🤬's going to break. You're the one that's going to have to reconcile the one with the other. You may have to approach it like you probably approach your investment portfolio. Find acceptable gains for acceptable risks.

 

[ConnorWolf]

I don't even have to autocross the car for $#!+ to break. xD

 

[Handlebar]

I found several bolt-in four point roll cages with harness bars for reasonable funds. I will get pics of the seats and roll bar set up once I choose a path... Or a car.

 

[Lessen]

I don't even have to autocross the car for $#!+ to break. xD

Made me literally laugh out loud, which I don't really do very often over type. Thanks.

 

[Alex ONeill]

Hello Guys,

Well I finished the SCCA autocross season with a San Diego region class win!!! I've been running SCCA Pro tour and SCCA Pro SOLO, with a few regional events mixed in as well, this year in SMF class. I have been CO driving with my good friend Bret Norgaard in his 2005 Acura TL modified to run in SMF (Street Modified Front wheel drive). This was my first year racing in autocross and it was absolutely a blast! We ran 4 National SCCA events then headed out to Nebraska in September to race at The SCCA Pro SOLO finale and the SCCA National Tour Finals. It was a great experience and I can't wait to do it again next year!!!!

 

[RobbiefromBC]

My post on page 1 has been updated with all of my videos to date.

 

[zpower86]

I won the novice shootout along with placing 5th PAX (overall out of 106 drivers). This was in December.