3 Weeks To The First Green Flag

I just realized today, I have just 3 weeks until the green flag drops. HOLY COW!!! Where did winter go? Although winter hasn't seemed to of left Michigan. It just snowed again 3" last night.

Well I said I really better start getting the car into the home stretch here. Most of the major changes have been done. New right rear axle tube is installed. The left rear tube has been shortened seeing the rear end was wide by 5/8". The new aluminum drive shaft is in. The lightweight flywheel is in. The new torque absorber is all set.

One tip I can pass on to save money has to do with tires. At the end of the season I take a look at my tires. My last set only had 2 races on them. Still perfectly good rubber. So before the weather really turns cold, I remove them from the car and put them some large tire bags and put them in the basement. This seams to preserve them through the winter pretty well. I opened up the bags today and the smell of fresh rubber came out of the bag. Ah the smell of fresh rubber!!! The smell of spring!!! So I am set for a couple weeks with tires.

Yet there are so many other things to still do. Only 3 weeks...

Winter Projects

There wasn't any major damage done to the car at the end of last year so it has allowed me to concentrate on some upgrades to be done to the car over the winter. Some I will not see the results of until I hit the track. Here are some of the things I have done.


1. Installed a torque absorber on the upper link for the rear end. It is basically a cushion for any rotational forces being applied to the rear end under hard acceleration and braking forces. Currently I have a 1,600lb/sq in spring in it. It is suppose to help the rear tires from breaking traction under hard acceleration. With the skinnier 8" tires this may prove to be quite beneficial in my quest to get off the corners harder. Got the whole thing off eBay. We'll see how it helps. $45 off http://www.ebay.com/. $130 new from http://www.lefthanderchassis.com/.


2. Reducing rotating mass. In another attempt to get off the corner better I am trying to reduce the rotating mass. I already have light weight pistons and rods in the engine. I do though have a stock like crank due to a previous tracks rules. I have a light weight crank to put in but will wait until I rebuild the engine next year. So in the mean time I took out the stock flywheel that was again mandated by a previous track. In went a very light weight flywheel. Only 2.8lbs. Stock flywheel, 4-5LBS. When turning over 7,000rpm, a few pounds goes a long way. This should help the engine spin up quicker. This was about $90 from http://www.speedwaymotors.com/.





3. More rotating mass reduction. I got rid of another one of the old rules pieces. The heavy steel driveshaft is out(12lbs). In goes the fine aluminum drive shaft (7lbs) I got off http://www.ebay.com/. Again same principles apply as the flywheel along with pure mass savings. $125 for a new $325 driveshaft. Isn't eBay wonderful?

I have others in the works but I believe these are the most significant. As soon as I hit the track I will fill you in on these updates to the car.

Recouping Some Costs By Cleaning Out The Shop

Have your rules changed and left you with some parts you will no longer need? What about other parts you no longer need? Don't let them sit there and collect dust. Put them on eBay and get some of your money back. You won't get every dollar back but it's better than it sitting on your shelf earning you $0!





Example: I bought an Edelbrock Performer manifold new for about $100. I ran it on the car for about a year or two. After moving to Michigan and switching tracks, I was allowed to run any intake I wanted. So off goes the Performer and on goes a Victor Jr intake. So what do I do with my old one? No one around here will want it. eBay it! Instead of a swap meet, you get people from around the world bidding against each other and getting you the maximum amount for your parts. All this without having to haggle with someone on price.


Result: I got $74 for my manifold. In the end my manifold only cost me about $25 - $30 to use for that time. It cost $0.35 to list and about $3.00 after the sale to eBay.


I have done this with some of the other items I have picked up over the years and it really helps keep the update. Welders, more intakes, headers, calipers, driveshafts, gears, ...it works on any item. As long as someone out there is looking for the stuff you have. I have made money on parts I have used too.





Start digging through the piles of parts you have. Clean them up and make them shine for maxium return.