If its not fast its not fun

SCRacing LLC

The Build Begins

June – We are now well into the 2003 race season and guess what – we are not racing yet! After having ended on a high note in 2002 winning the Shifter Kart USA Regional Championship in the ICC Shifter class, we are now in the process of building a race car to compete in the SCCA series.

 

Having looked at the kart schedule for 2003 and the fact that this is my junior year we

both felt it wise to take the early part of the season as “build time” and get the car ready.

We looked at two different classes in which we thought we could compete. Both in

SCCA –one was the Sports Race category the other Spec Miata. After much debate

we opted for the Spec Miata – cost was a factor but we also liked the idea of “building”

the car. A project my dad and I would relish over the summer.

 

Through friends and acquaintances we got a number of leads on donor cars for

sale – the idea being that we would but an eight to ten year old Miata – strip it bare and

start to build it to race specs.

 

Well eventually the day arrived. My Dad had been talking to a guy in Connecticut

who had a 1991 Miata with a spare engine and a hard top (really important if you

are going to race) Without telling us he left early from work one day drove up to

Connecticut with a rental trailer and brought the car back. Mum was mad at him

as he had not really prepared her for what was to come – but this was it – our

first race car.

 

I drove it off the trailer and immediately  noticed that it was not exactly in great shape

hole in the exhaust and the brakes did not work that well. Not to worry though

as both would be ripped out and replaced.

 

First task was to find a spot in the garage where we could work on it from all sides and where it would not be in the way – this was not going to move for about three months. Dad moved his Porsche to another bay and we set the car up rear end first with plenty of space to work.

 

I could not wait to get started. We are running a 1600cc car and the specifications call for a minimum weight of 2275lbs – with driver – so the first task  was to shed some weight. Carpets, sound deadening, seats etc came out pretty easily – however the years of neglect and dirt were certainly evident underneath the carpet. Apparently one of the previous owners must have liked sunflower seeds as they were everywhere in the cockpit.

 

The seats (which will be replaced by a one piece, lightweight race seat) were in good shape and now provide excellent support when working on the suspension and brake system.

 

As you can imagine we created a lot of “trash” from the exercise and went about labeling and storing piece parts which may (or may not) be used in the rebuild.

 

Carpets, sound deadening etc would never be required again, imagine the sound of a straight through exhaust – softened by sound deadening material. We did plan on salvaging the “good stuff” so we could sell it and pay for some of the race upgrades. One such part was the soft top which was practically brand new. This time it was my dad who screwed up – ripping the passenger side just as he releasing the last of the trim screws. Ah well!

 

So end of the first day of the project and the winner was the junk yard. Tomorrow we would probably add to the lbs that we had shed just by ripping out unnecessary parts.