24 Hours of LeMons: LeMons South 2009

[cali yaris]

kuchta and I are forming a team in SoCal. We have a vehicle we got for $350

[eTiMaGo]

Originally Posted by cali yaris

kuchta and I are forming a team in SoCal. We have a vehicle we got for $350

Please please let it be a salvaged totaled but driveable yaris?

[jkuchta]

Nope....MiniVan!!!

We were joking about putting in 4 race seats, so the WHOLE TEAM could ride at the same time!

[WolfWings]

If I ever go to one of these, I hope to go in something with a Jeep I6 or the old Slant-6 under the hood. If ever there were endurance engines, those would be it.

[Loren]

While a minivan would be fun in its own way, and would lend itself to all sorts of fun themes... they are big, heavy and not made for racing. If you didn't completely rebuild the brake system, you'd surely have to deal with break problems at the track. (we've seen some heavy FWD cars (an 80's Caddy comes to mind) that had to stop every hour or so to REPLACE their brakes... sometimes because they were so hot that they caught on FIRE.

I'd recommend something that's cheap, common and reliable. While the BMW's that I've been playing with are very fun cars, and can be made pretty reliable... parts are pricey. Look for something like a Ford Escort, or a small Mazda, Nissan or Toyota. Look at what's been running at the LeMons races. Unless you're planning on bringing spare EVERYTHING, there can be great benefit (both in borrowed parts and technical assistance) from running a car that there are 6 more of at the track!

PS: A well-prepped Escort is surprisingly fast.

[WolfWings]

So convert it into a Vanamino? That should lop off quite a bit of weight that way, though most minivans make a twin-turbo Supra's engine bay look spacious from what I've experienced.

[eTiMaGo]

hahah watching it online now (www.ustream.tv) go Eurotrash go!

[supmet]

Originally Posted by eTiMaGo

hahah watching it online now (www.ustream.tv) go Eurotrash go!

I watched it for a minute and then the stream broke :(

Completely different than what I was expecting.... Those cars look and sound amazing for only being 500 bucks.. I was thinking there would be a bunch of beaters putt putting around breaking down on every turn.. But they are actually racing... lol

[Loren]

Racing and breaking and crashing... and black flag penalties and mayhem and fun.

We were doing really, really well today... until the car broke. I hate freaking complicated BMWs.

Here's another tip: If you're buying a car specifically to build for LeMons, get something SIMPLE. Drop dead simple. An old air-cooled VW. An old carburetted Ford or Chevy... something that's just stupid simple. Bring spares of critical parts for the ignition and fuel system (should be about 5 parts... fuel pump, carburettor, distributor, cap & rotor, plug wires). None of this "spending 6 hours to troubleshoot why the car will start, but not rev up... could be electrical, could be fuel, we're not sure" crap!

But, yes, LeMons is "real" racing. We rarely top 80 MPH, if that... but there's a lot of driving involved in keeping a car on the track while dodging 80-90 other cars with drivers of wildly varying degrees of experience. Actually turning somewhat fast lap times in those conditions is even harder... but a helluva lot of fun.

Going to bed now. Hopefully, the guys will get the car figured out sometime tomorrow morning and maybe I'll get another hour or so behind the wheel tomorrow.

[HTM Yaris]

Hey Loren , I stopped by pit # 5 or #6 whichever one it was on Sunday . I seen the car yall were driving but nobody was around . I watched the race a while then hung with some friends . I stopped back by after the car blew up on track . By then the car was loaded on the trailer , Didn't see anybody then either . Well except for some tall dude who lookin at me funny .

[tomato]

Good luck, Loren!

[Loren]

We had a running radio joke all the way there and back about stalls 5 and 6, 10-4. Yeah, we had 5 and 6 with the other Tampa guys who's car we towed up.

Sorry, I missed you. We gave up on the car around 10am, ran out for breakfast and got back just in time to go watch the curse. (which was excellent... I was happy to see those guys get crushed) We packed up, cleaned up and loaded up the car early so we could help the other guys load up and get on the road ASAP at the end of the day.

We were over at HQ watching the race and penalties when the fire happened. Wandered over to chat with that team and check out the carnage shortly after that, then went out for some lunch. We didn't hang around our pit too much on Sunday, not a lot was going on there. Tall dude might have been Barry, our team captain and car owner.

What did you think of the race? Wasn't it a hoot?

[Loren]

Originally Posted by tomato

Good luck, Loren!

Um... you're a few days too late! The race was Saturday and Sunday. If you had wished us luck before then, maybe the car wouldn't have broken on Saturday. ;)

[tomato]

No wonder I can't find it on ustream!!

Oh, yeah, I'm at the end of the thread now ... Oooops.

[TLyttle]

You want tough, try a Toyota pigup if they are allowed. They are cheap, and seem to be blastproof. That's where I would start...

[Loren]

Various small pickups have been run in LeMons races. There was a Ranger in this one.

While being "fast" isn't necessarily a requirement to win, being "slow" isn't going to cut it, either. Pickups are heavy and don't exactly have "race ready" suspensions. It could be done, and it could be fun, but odds of being in the top 5 are not so great.

If you want Toyota, I'd be looking for an old RWD Celica or Corolla. Take as much weight out as possible, simplify the wiring to the bare minimum, replace every rubber hose on the car, put good brakes and decent tires on it, modify the suspension for good camber and go race! The key is to start with a dirt cheap and ugly car. Ugly so that it's believable that you bought it for $50-100. And if you buy it that cheap, you've got a $400 prep budget. They look really closely at the mechanical parts (engine, suspension, motor mounts, cooling system, etc), but not so much at wiring and switches, and not at all at fuel lines and such (fuel lines are safety).

Seriously, if anyone is planning to do this, run your plan past me. Having done three of these races, I know what you need to do to survive the race and how to get through BS judging without penalties.

[TLyttle]

You're right, Loren, and a buddy says, "To finish first, one must first finish." Attention to detail is paramount in any racing, endurance even moreso.

I suggested the pigup simply because of its built-in strength, availability, and simplicity. Around here, old Corollas (never mind Celicas) are getting rare and are usually really tired. The pigup I had (now the Lumbergini) really got lively once most of the heavy junk came out of it, and changing some component placement was even more helpful (battery etc).

Just remember: speed costs money, how fast do you want to go?

[Loren]

Originally Posted by TLyttle

You're right, Loren, and a buddy says, "To finish first, one must first finish."

I've been saying that since I started prepping for One Lap in 2008. It is absolutely true in any form of endurance race, and especially so in LeMons. Speed doesn't even matter so much in LeMons as long as you can keep the car out there. You can't be super-slow... but consistency counts more than speed.

A clapped-out old Corolla would be perfect! Buy it for $50... or take it out of someone's yard for free (document with photos and a "bill-of-free"), then you've got a little bit of budget to put new bearings and rings in the engine. Rebuild the carb. Probably enough to put some new shocks on it, too. Carry a spare diff and transmission with you just in case (spares are not considered in judging, only what's ON the car), and you're golden. Remember that wheels, tires, brakes and all that are "safety" items and not part of your budget!