fahrvergnugen

I cannot find a time schedule for Sunday? It’s kinda frustrating jumping between about three different web pages and an APP trying to find stuff. Especially when you click on an item in one and get transferred to another you’ve already checked… but then discover you cannot simply click the back button to return to where you started…..🤪 Sometimes a good old piece of paper works better….. AND what happened to a lunch break today? Is there going to be one tomorrow? 30 minutes is not enough time between heats when you have get your car off grid, signin/report for work, and wait in line for lunch.

The only schedule I find on that page is for Friday activities. What about times for tomorrow…. Sunday?

Does everyone have to attend the Friday activities? How will we cover workers that day? Also, I assume that a prior sound sticker and annual tech applies to this event.

Hey, all you CAM drivers.... what insurance company do you use and/or recommend for a classic car (anything built before 2000). I recently got a rude awakening from State Farm, which I have been with and satisfied for over 35 years. Here is the subtle problem. I have a 1965 Mustang which had a bad encounter with some wild dogs on a desert highway. Really ugly result as seen in the photo. I have State Farm "classic car" insurance on it with a $500 deductible. State Farm wants you to choose a body shop from their list of "network" shops. These shops charge about $65-$75/hour for labor. But here's the rub... they will not work on any vehicles built before 2000. One suggested USA Collision as a good shop that works on classic cars. They charge $125/hr. Calling two other shops that work on classic cars charge anywhere from $120-$150/hr for labor. State Farm claims that is unreasonable and they will not pay the extra cost. It's sort of a restraint of trade racket..... us our shops or we won't pay extra... but our shops will not work on your old car. Total BS. I finally got the Mustang repaired and the total cost ended up at slightly over $10k, but State Farm claims that only $5400 is reasonable. Screw the concept of a deductible. So, I'm looking to move the 9 cars I own (which are built before 2000) to somebody else who is honest about what it costs to repair a pre-2000 car. USA Collision suggested Hagerty Insurance and told me that they have never questioned what they turn in as the total cost to repair. What's your guy's thoughts on this.

I found this video while looking at some crazy car crash compilations. Pretty scary. But I also found a couple more cases where this was captured that were similar in result. One of those caused the car to jump and roll into the center barrier wall. I think the physics behind this is that a tire rolling down the road has the back edge going upwards as it rolls. When a car’s bumper hits it it acts like a brake trying to stop the tire from rolling which also causes the tire’s friction with the road to increase. The net result is to cause the bumper to go upwards, and then the tire starts to wedge it’s way under the bumper making the problem worse. The tire is strong enough to carry the weight of a car and as it goes further underneath the car must go airborne to get over it. The problem might be less severe if the car’s bumper touches the tire BELOW the center of the tire, which would force the tire upward over the car. Then you have the risk of that tire/wheel (weighing maybe 100 lbs) to crash into your windshield. Bottom line, if you EVER get into this situation, immediately jam on the brakes as hard as you can. This pushes the nose down to reduce the case of the tire going under you and reduces the impact speed. You then risk being rammed by the car behind you, but that is less risky than a total flip and roll incident. When cars roll of flip the sudden inertial effects on your internal organs can be fatal, even if you are not otherwise harmed. The last thing I would ever want to experience is a roll or flip. Pretty weird shit going on out there.

I was looking for a new car to use in next years Great Race, and found this nice 1975 VW Scirocco. Might also be a fun autocross car, but probably not all that competitive in HS, even though it is the TS model which their highest performance version back then (1.5L versus the other 1.1L or 1.3L engine). I was real happy to find it as it was fully restored in 2019. Only wrinkle.... I found it in Germany! It was picked up by the truck transport last week and is on its way to the port in northern Germany. Then 30-60 to end up in San Diego. These are hard to find in the US these days, but there were many in Europe if you try the web site: www.theparking-cars.com which gathers together a number of car selling websites across Europe. With the help of Google Translate I was able to contact potential sellers in Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Portugal, Austria and Italy. This car was found at a vintage car dealer in Phorzheim, Germany.

I have (9) cars with a new one coming soon. I need to put the final touches on 5 of them and get them ready for sale and another (2) need engine or suspension swaps. 1949 Ford Tudor (new head gaskets and rings) 1965 Mustang (need to install new heater box and under dash A/C evaporator. 1970 VW Karmann Ghia (replace dash face) 1979 VW Scirocco (install engine/tranny, new fuel tank and finish out interior) This one is an autocross setup 1979 VW Scirocco (swap stock suspension and brakes with the 1985 Scirocco) 1980 VW Pickup (Swap in high compression 1.8L engine for stock 1.6L) 1985 VW Scirocco (swap coil-over suspension and disc brakes with another 1979 Scirocco that I am keeping) But, I'm scheduled for a lower back surgery in mid November and will not be able to do such things for another 1-2 months. Looking for somebody to help out with these tasks. Preferably somebody with some experience in such tasks, but could use somebody willing to train as we go. I'm guessing there may be a total of 5-6 days of work. Luckily the weather is getting more reasonable, but I also have a 4-post lift in an air conditioned garage, so it won't be a horrible task. Willing to pay up to $50/hour for a seasoned mechanic, and $15/hour for a trainee. Send my a private message, or call 602-618-9637 and leave a message first. With all the spam and robo calls I get lately, I typically do not answer numbers from people who are not in my contacts list. I'll call you back.

Here's my test number on the side of my car from about 100 feet away. It's hard to show visibility with a picture because the focal length of the menses does not match the human eye. I could actually read the number well up to about 150 feet in person. While training about proper radio use, cone display, etc will improve things, it cannot solve the fundamental issue of properly recognizing the make/model of the cars we have coming out. Some are real obvious by their color alone, like the lime green Dodge Challenger. I have been doing this since 1963 and there is always something new that shows up. I doubt that very few people would know what a VW Corrado is.... 😀 The problem gets worse when every car is the same color. And then we have the occasional person who is not ready and runs out of order. With up to 3 cars on course at 15 seconds apart it comes at you pretty fast and these moments of confusion lead to a number of missed penalties or times. In groups A & C which I ran/worked we had several such incidents. One case was even giving somebody a rerun for a downed cone, but he didn't actually stop at the cone as is required to get a rerun. As a side note, not having the correct timing sheets printed out for Group C really added a level of chaos, as well.

Gibb's Rule #83... what does the SCCA rule book have to do with regional events?...😀 Contrasting color, size, etc...... Black numbers on a white background circle or square works with any car color. Might ruin the look of your custom graphics, but it is still readable. The rule from SCCA is that car number be at least 8 inches high and 1.25 stroke. Well, if I print a 700 pt bold number of legal size paper it comes out 7-inches high and 1-3/16 stroke. Looks pretty easy to read from some distance. Like I said, don't over think what is needed... solo_car_number.pdf

I think people are over thinking what I meant about large numbers..... or assuming what car numbers mean in other venues/events. Each car does not need a SPECIFIC number assigned, that was tried in the past and has lots of issues. But... I'm talking about having a set of car numbers made up on magnetic material that are reused in each group. Numbers 1-40. They go on your car matching your grid number. They come off at the end of your run group and go to the next run group. No record keeping required. They do not need to be seen across the whole parking lot by the observers, it is for the course workers to call out the numbers instead of something like, "the blue car hit a cone" which is another issue..... not everybody knows all the possible makes/models of cars out there. Mistakes in car identity confuse timing trying to figure out what the course worker meant. I have even heard mistakes in car make/model identification from the observers. The only wrinkles are fiberglass cars (which can use blue painter's tape to affix the car numbers) and a few two driver cars in the same run group (but I think people should be able to switch car numbers without much thinking). I'm thinking we try the concept in a simple manner.... make up some printed numbers on card stock and use blue painters tape to affix them for one run group (maybe the one with the most Miatas....😀) and see how it works. I'll get the numbers made at my expense to try it out.

Today's event had a really difficult situation in Group C..... 12 Miatas!....😗 If you were working course, timing, observing or announcing it was really difficult determining who's running and who got a penalty if Miatas only come in three colors.... red, white, black. The net result may be that they don't get the proper time of penalty assigned. Even worse if somebody runs out of order or gets a rerun. This confusion also rolled over into the non-Miata entries if we lost track of how many Miatas should have past between them. It was a real challenge. If we were running only one or two cars on course at a time it could be manageable. But 3 or 4 can be coming at you every 15 seconds. Maybe, we should have a batch of large magnetic car numbers available to stick on the side of each car in a run group? Corvettes can be tricky with fiberglass bodies, but a little blue painter's tape would do the trick for them. Decades ago we went through a period when everybody had their own car number assigned. Was not really easy to deal with, but it did eliminate this kind of confusion for those officiating the timing and scoring.

I have ticket to Barrett-Jackson for tomorrow, 1/27 but have come down with a nasty cold and will not go. Free to first comer. It’s a paper ticket I can send via email. It is for a general admission ticket for a Senior/Military/Student. Email me direct at azsolo@windupkey.com

For those not familiar with the Great Race, it is a 9-day road rally that covers about 2200 miles. I have run the 2018 and 2019 events in my 1970 Karmann Ghia. Next year's runs in the last 10 days of June and the route goes from St Augustine, FL to Colorado Springs, CO. It is run like a regular TSD rally, expect you are NOT allowed to have an odometer, any modern calculating devices or digital devices. Pretty much old-school tech and the cars must have been built in 1974 or earlier. Real challenging event, but also somewhat of a grand event with special stops and good friends to meet. Details at www.greatrace.com Having any past TSD rally experience is a plus, but anybody with some good math skills and being alert can learn the task. I will provide training and there is a practice rally locally next February. This usually sells out each year, but I have a spot secured for 2023 and will be driving my 1965 Mustang. Just need a good navigator. My younger Son had originally thought he might do it but has since changed his mind. I will cover the entry fee ($6500) and shipping of the car to the start of the event. I will drive it back home from Colorado Springs. Navigator needs to cover their own travel, hotel and meals cost. Would also appreciate a contribution to my car expenses...:-)

Still have them. Where are you located?

Oh, broke the code... doesn't seem to like .jpg files, but will accept the much larger .png format. Go figure.

Apparently trying to edit a change to the picture doesn't work well...

I have 12 quarts of Mobil 1 advanced synthetic oil (FS) in the "European" formula, 0W-40 in two full 5 qt bottles and one partial bottle. All for $$60. I use either Castrol or Valvoline in my cars. This was for servicing some guy's Porsche who later never showed up. I can bring to the autocross on Dec 11, if you want it.

I ended up with (3) gallons of Porsche recommended coolant/antifreeze (p/n 00004330575). Some guy wanted me to change the coolant in his Panamera, but never called me back after 6 months....:-( This stuff is pricey at about $45/gallon you can have all (3) gallons for $75. Also have a new Mahle OX254D4 oil filter with new drain plug and washer which fits many Porsche models. Included in the total price. If you want them I can bring to the Dec 11th event.

My new neighbor is moving down from Payson area where he had a business in off-road toys and also selling trailers. He will be closing some of his business activities, but can get some deals on light duty (less than 7000 lbs capacity) car trailers by the end of July. Anybody interested in getting a car trailer, let me know with you email and I will forward it on to him.

I've had pretty good luck with Apache Muffler up in Mesa.

Still, the first part of the schedule and work assignments does not match the tables at the bottom of the email/posting Lance sent out......🙃

If Lithium batteries were an issue, it seems that Tesla cars would not be allowed either....

Phil, Thanks for giving me the thumb drive I left with you from the last event I attended! Especially since it was way back in Feb 2020.... The picture of my Karmann Ghia in "Porsche Mode" was excellent. I didn't know I was pushing it that hard. Can you refresh my memory with your website for the photos?

Please correct my entry (A27) to SMF Open, not Sportsman. Not sure how I ended up there. I thought the default on the registration website was Open. Did I miss some button or pull-down selection? Not that is really matters, as I end up at the bottom of either category.....😗 But, at least Ramsey will have some competition...😀

Back before the pandemic took over, there was a guy who was taking pictures at the events. Is he still doing this? What is the link to his on-line photo galleries?