carterb Posted April 28, 2021 Report Share Posted April 28, 2021 Sunday we made one last attempt to better the car and were encouraged to find that we had fuel on the tank side of an in-line fuel filter feeding the low pressure fuel pump but just a trickle on the fuel pump side - so we bypassed the pump and started the race with great hopes! Jeff had first stint again because it seemed like I had gotten quite a bit more seat time than he did on Saturday. Where's Waldo? Here's the rolling start https://datsun510.com/uploads/monthly_2021_04/1886950111_04252021swampthing(1).MOV.53e254a627ae251817d0eddcdb94a49b.MOV The race had not gone on long before a car left the track, skidded up the hill inside turn 9, and hit a post in front of the turn workers stand! Fortunately, the driver was unhurt. Unfortunately, the car belongs to our friend Curt from work and they would not make it back out Sunday, the car hit the post square on the front and it crushed the radiator and bent both frame rails in toward each other in an un-repairable fashion - at least with the tools they had in their pits. They had to black flag the race and repair the barrier. At least Jeff was getting lots of seat time! Once racing resumed, it wasn't long before the fuel starvation issue returned. We fought it all day and by the end, were down to 20-25 minute stints between re-fills. Man that sucked! The track ultimately dried out and Jeff got his fast lap 2:01.897 before handing me the car to finish the race. But first he played a trick on me and sent me out with a loose gas cap so we were black flagged after dumping 3 gallons of gas around the circuit in 2 laps. *blush* My last stint was so much fun though! Dry track, starting at the end of the line in a double yellow procession. When we got green it was so much fun hunting down one car at a time and passing them before the car started starving for fuel again on the very last lap before the checker flag! But we did take the checkered flag - both days - and drive the car onto the trailer at the end of the weekend. Not everyone can say that. And many cars went home in pieces. You wouldn't believe how far some of the cars flew off the track in the wet. We certainly made the best of it. Oh, and we got a new tattoo! The winning BMW on Sunday gave me this at the entry to turn 6. Maybe that's how you have to drive to win the class? Maybe he just out-braked himself and it was a simple mistake. You are supposed to drop into the pit lane and report damage but I saw him skip that bit so I did as well. After finding out he won the race, then I knew why. He would have received a 5 minute penalty which would certainly have cost him the victory. Anyone have a 2dr driver's door? How about a rocker section? What an awesome weekend! Thanks Jeff, Thanks Brenda, Thanks Christel, and we sure missed you Sam! 1 Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted April 28, 2021 Report Share Posted April 28, 2021 Jeff snagged these shots from Facebook 2 Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted April 28, 2021 Report Share Posted April 28, 2021 And these came from the official LuckyDog photographers https://www.daksahoy.com/ldrl-ridge-2021 4 Quote Link to comment
slowlearner Posted April 28, 2021 Report Share Posted April 28, 2021 Fantastic pics! 1 Quote Link to comment
volkswagner Posted April 28, 2021 Report Share Posted April 28, 2021 (edited) Awesome driving guys! Sure missed it, glad my racecar gets to still enjoy it though😄 Edited April 28, 2021 by volkswagner 1 Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted May 16, 2021 Report Share Posted May 16, 2021 We have a couple months 'till the next race we are doing this season but Jeff and I couldn't wait to get the gas tank out and see what in the heck has been causing our problem. We emptied the gas, filled the tank with water and purple power (twice) and then took the plumbing torch to the fuel pick-up assembly. If that sounds scary it is! And even with twice cleaning and draining the tank, the torch eventually found enough fumes to make a pretty good *POOF* from the filler neck. Too bad we didn't have a potato shoved in there! It would have launched it over the neighbors house for sure. After melting the solder and drilling the tack welds we were able to pull out the assembly. Unfortunately, the pick-up was not as bad as we were hoping. We could get a wire in and around the corner from both sides without too much trouble. The only real possibility left is that something in the tank was floating and blocking the pick-up or something on the bottom of the tank was lifting up and doing the same. We'll be sure to give it a couple of extra cleaning cycles before we put this back together - with larger diameter pick-up and probably a notch or cross-drilled hole or something that will still allow it to pull fuel even if the face is blocked. I wonder if we could enlarge the hole in the tank big enough to install a Holley Racing HydraMat 2 Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted May 16, 2021 Report Share Posted May 16, 2021 Meanwhile, we need to improve the cockpit ergonomics now that the driving duties are split 2 ways instead of 3. Jeff has an electric power steering column on the way and Thursday, we decided to finally take the steps necessary to move the seat back. This is no small task. It will require a new cage. Jeff made the first cuts. Kind of funny to start with the door bars since they did such a good job protecting me at the last race, but this would allow us much easier access to everything else inside the car. Like the last day of a garage sale. Everything must go! Monkey bars! I can't believe some of the old cheater racing teams figured out how to store fuel in these things! Many years ago, I found a guy up in Mt. Vernon looking to sell his Bluebird Coupe. It didn't end up working out (he changed his mind about selling) but years later he did end up selling it - to Rich Roberts, who hauled it down to GA with him. The good thing for us is that at some point in time it had a cage installed but only tack welded - and Jeff ended up with it! So with a little modification... We started the process of test fitting the cage into the Swamp Thing (and figuring out where the heck all the tubes go) and it looks like about 75% of it will work as is. We will just need new door bars and potentially a new dash bar. This is getting very exciting and my back is already thanking me! So for now... our 510 is CAGE FREE! I wonder if Trader Joes would sponsor us? : ) We have a few more upgrades in the works. Watch this space! 6 Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted May 21, 2021 Report Share Posted May 21, 2021 Wednesday after much prep work and stump grinding, we started installing the "bird cage" The front bars sit in a very similar place to the old ones so we will be able to pick up the dash bar tubes perfectly. The hoop is now at the very rear of the square tubing along the sill. It used to be in FRONT of the B-pillar. now look how much room we will have! Another view showing how much farther back the hoop is now (rainbow marks old location) Moved back 8"? My back already feels better. 6 Quote Link to comment
iceman510 Posted May 21, 2021 Report Share Posted May 21, 2021 Huge improvement. Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted June 9, 2021 Report Share Posted June 9, 2021 The birdcage continues to take shape. Doesn't seem like we've gotten two far but at our current rate of one evening per week we're doing okay. Fortunately most of the grinding is done now. I've spent hours just getting rid of the old cage mounting points! Going to have to step it up soon though, the next race is now less than two months away! Welding the top of the cage in the lowered position Complete with gussets Cage lifted up to the roof and welding in the rear diagonals and dash bar Jeff... time for a picture dump from your phone! 2 Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted June 9, 2021 Report Share Posted June 9, 2021 This picture is awesome! Let me know if you need any tubes bent up again. 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment
Icehouse Posted June 10, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2021 Here are a couple pics I took. Turns out I need to take way more! Carter at the track trying to fix our fueling issue. more fixing Removing the old cage. The new one sure is nice! Sorry Steve my new neighbor has a tube bender so we don't need your help any more. I think will will think of something you can help us with 🙂 door bar. Hmmm something new coming with the steering too! 3 Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted June 11, 2021 Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 Good neighbor to have 😄 Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted July 15, 2021 Report Share Posted July 15, 2021 (edited) Jeff and I both had a little vacation time and lost some evenings so we had to spend a couple Saturdays on the car to make up for it. First we had to deal with a little distraction, I traded some 510 parts to a friend for one of his rust buckets. Still had plenty of good racecar quality sheet metal and a friend at work needed the roof so it was a good trade We finished the cage and got it painted so we can start reassembling the inside of the car tomorrow. While I was painting, Jeff was adding "big bore" pipes to our fuel tank. In the process of cleaning it, I think I found the culprit - there was some kind of strange sinewy bug carcass that was just the right size to plug the old pickup!!! Gross and now gone. If it happens again, it should get sucked through to the filter and not cause the same issue. Next we started installation of an electric power steering kit. We ran into an issue with fitment from the firewall to the rack since it is made for an MR2 rack and we have a Ford unit, so parts are on order. Fingers crossed! The list is smaller but Jeff - we only have two weeks!!!! Edited July 15, 2021 by carterb 5 Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted July 15, 2021 Report Share Posted July 15, 2021 The electric power steering interests me. 🙂 Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted July 23, 2021 Report Share Posted July 23, 2021 One of the next things on the list was refitting the window net. Oops. The net does not extend down to the new door bar. AND the new door bar is at an angle... First I took measurements of our net. About 24" x 24" In the process of shopping for something to fit our larger span, I found that what we have is just about as big as as you can get. Hmm... We know we don't want to add big supports we have to step over to get into the car, so now what? Then I found this net. Which led me to this kit. Which should solve our little problem nicely. Also had to buy some MORE brake pads! If there is one thing we learned about ORP it's that it eats brakes and tires. 2 Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted July 23, 2021 Report Share Posted July 23, 2021 Just another day at the Hino Garage! We just started working on the car and this dude shows up. What was his name Jeff? Nice guy. Pretty excited to show off his car. It was SR20DET powered. Looked fun! Speaking of fun, by sunset we were able to finish the wiring, leak check the fuel system, mount the rear firewall, window net, belts, seat, modify the battery box, mount the fire bottle, finish the dash, mount the radio and gopro, and start the modification and welding mods to the electric steering kit. Then the real fun began. Or buddy Paul came over to supervise (He's the boss!) Jeff learning to use the new tire machines. They started playing with the balancer and an old wheel and tire. Then they dismounted and mounted several old tires and wheels for practice. Then it was time for the real thing! And that's how you do it! : ) 5 Quote Link to comment
Trophy24 Posted July 26, 2021 Report Share Posted July 26, 2021 I’m pretty good at supervising someone else do the tires lol 😆 Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted July 30, 2021 Report Share Posted July 30, 2021 (edited) Well race fans... We had a difficult decision to make this week. We had been watching the forecast for ORP and unfortunately it has been lining up to be just too hot to race. Jeff is predisposed to heat stroke and with 100 degree weather, the two of us splitting race duties, and no way to escape the heat between runs (we have a tent, not a fancy RV) he was certain he would end up sick and no amount of racing is worth that. We did however continue prepping the car this week and we would be ready to go if it suddenly cooled back down but the forecast has not painted that picture so we will look for a track day perhaps between now and our next race in September. Meanwhile - time to get the car up in the air for a bolt and brake check We were pleased to find everything in good shape, most bolts still fully torqued, and the transmission and rear end fluids are still a nice translucent gold color. Rear brake pads have another race in them. At the front end, we raised (shimmed) the rear of the transmission for a more favorable driveline angle to help reduce some of the vibration in this car. We get uneven wear on the front pads for some reason. One side always wears more than the other. We swapped sides and have enough pad left for a track day but will need a new set for the next race. They are already here in our stock so we're good to go. To all you Lucky Dogs that are racing at ORP this weekend - have fun, be safe! We will miss you! Edited July 30, 2021 by carterb 3 Quote Link to comment
damon Posted July 30, 2021 Report Share Posted July 30, 2021 Hey Carter, this pic took me way back! I had those exact same BWA wheels on my 510 in high school! As a matter of fact the last time I saw the wheels was 1991 and they even had those same BF Goodrich Radial TA’s on them. Too funny, my car was not red though. It was the really light green. 1 Quote Link to comment
damon Posted July 31, 2021 Report Share Posted July 31, 2021 Here is a picture of my car in 1989! With the wheels on it. Never seen them on another 510 ever. 2 Quote Link to comment
Icehouse Posted September 13, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2021 Another great race weekend! Started with some practice. Which got cut short due to a BMW money shifting which caused them to loose control and hit the barrier in front of a tower. They had to stop practice due to it. Then we did some super fun racing. Here is Carter getting the checkered flag and a second place finish! We didn't get enough points to podium but it sure was fun!! My boy found some friends and played in the dirt all weekend. 5 Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted September 14, 2021 Report Share Posted September 14, 2021 Looks like good times were had 😄 Quote Link to comment
obrut Posted September 14, 2021 Report Share Posted September 14, 2021 this is such a great thread to read through, the shot looking down on the car is cool. Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted October 2, 2021 Report Share Posted October 2, 2021 Jeff beat me to it! That never happens (well, maybe to the finish line, but not to posting on HIS website) As he mentioned. We went down early Friday morning to participate in the Turn 2 track day. You don't need a race car to do this ladies and gentlemen. Turn 2's webiste is here: http://www.turn2lapping.com/ They are hosting dozens of track days at The Ridge next year. Go drive in one! If you've never done it before, go to one of their classroom sessions. Most tracks have opportunities like this. Pacific Raceways has a permanent school on site for instance. Go drive your car fast on a racetrack. You will be glad you did! Anyway, it was unexpectedly wet Friday morning but we didn't care, we just wanted to drive! (And make sure our fuel starvation problem was gone) I'm happy to say we made it through the day with no issues. So happy to have that behind us - and ready for the race ahead!!! Here is Jeff taking to the track in one of the later dry sessions https://datsun510.com/uploads/monthly_2021_10/1805743328_09102021theridge(1).MOV.edc3aba3258655cbc20ea26a401836a5.MOV As a bonus, one of our customers (Jeff and I work for www.electroimpact.com) is Boeing. When we were registering in the morning I recognized one of the guys in line as one of the Boeing engineers we work with in Renton. He was there with his BMW M3. After a couple runs in the wet he was going to call it a day but we convinced him to hang out with us for a while and wait it out. He did, and ran the last session. Not only that, he offered my wife Brenda the passenger seat! She was stoked!!!! Doesn't look like much but the BMW was hitting 130mph at the end of the straight https://datsun510.com/uploads/monthly_2021_10/1607094845_09102021theridge(2).MOV.04601eec1e4f75d418903dc03bf5ceef.MOV We barely hit 110 in the 510. : ) 5 Quote Link to comment
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