Lemons at NHMS, Halloween

[Jordan]

So we are still working out the details, but I think I might be driving in the upcoming Halloween Hooptiefest October 31st. We have a veteran car (c900T) and a team in mind, but it is approaching quickly and just made the decision yesterday to pursue it. More info to come!

[Jordan]

Behold "Norman"... 4dr 900T to shame all others. Arrived safely (?) at the shop for prep.

[SwedeSport]

That's bad-ass! What is in it for a motor?

[Jordan]

Nothing fancy that I know of, just a 2.0 Turbo, I think the exhaust is even stock. I might be able to scrounge up some Trionic bits for it, but that is more for economy , consistency and longevity. The APC system hasn't been working so well I hear.

[SwedeSport]

I can imagine that keeping it simple is the best bet for a lemons car.

[tirediron]

not to hijack the subject, but that car looks awful familiar. did it run at monadnock speedway in winchester NH a few years ago?

[Jordan]

Most likely, yes! It's been around.

[tirediron]

very cool, i race up there a lot.

[Jordan]

All packed and enroute to NHMS. Norman runs and everything if anyone is in the area come say hi sat or sunday.

[SwedeSport]

Have fun, good luck!

I'd tell you to keep the shiny side up, but I'm not sure there is one.

[Jordan]

Looks like this is the year of transmission failures (sshhhh!) To its credit it was a 200k+ trans that taught several teenagers how to drive. It shifted beautifully, before it did not. I'm thinking it was the '91+ syncho spring failure. We are on the lookout for a 89-90 box and maybe a Quaiffe :)

The car was fantastic before the second day failure. Power was AWESOME even at a moderate levels of boost, we could walk away from most cars on the back straight. Even with the stock exhaust, lag was almost non-existent which made it easy to recover from bad driving (I should know).

The only other major problem we had was a complete split of the inter-cooler inlet hose. Fortunately, we drove a parts car to the track. Unfortunately, that hose burst as well after another 30 minutes. Some duct tape and tie-wraps kept it mostly in check until the transmission decided it didn't want to select any more gears.

Trionic was great. Super smooth and it allowed the drivers to keep driving (although burning through fuel at a brisk pace) even with the IC hose popped for a good 30 minutes. Something that would have crippled LH.


All in all, I had a great time, got lots of seat time and am looking forward to getting Norman back together for a podium finish next year. Despite some extra pitting, lost boost and a noob driver, we were in the top 20 in the middle of day two out of 100+ entrants. No doubt we would have made top 10 overall and certainly a class win. Winner this time was the SAAB 9kT powered Nissan 300zx...

P.S. Kip set a really quick time despite the IC hose burst mid-stint of a 127.4 ... a hair faster than our rival RallyHo team members in their Mercur XR4Ti. Way to go!

[Geoff]

Awesome, sounds like a lot of fun. I was going to drag Kelly over to check things out and say hello but she wasn't feeling well so we stayed home.

Winner this time was the SAAB 9kT powered Nissan 300zx...

whaa?

[87 n/a]

Got any pictures from the event?

[Jordan]

I'm sure some will surface in the next day or two. The organizers got stuck in the NE during the storm. I have a few of the prep but not much of the event i can post up when i get home.

[Jordan]

Awesome, sounds like a lot of fun. I was going to drag Kelly over to check things out and say hello but she wasn't feeling well so we stayed home.

Winner this time was the SAAB 9kT powered Nissan 300zx...

whaa?

Here is a video I found of the car. They built it in 2010. Norman makes an appearance in it, but it was still an 8v N/A back then.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWo-o5WUD5o&feature=plcp