Well, I don't have much content to post, but since the List is
getting so quiet, I thought I'd blather a bit..
My car's running swweeeetttt!! It loves this time of year. I've
racked (wracked? wrecked?) my brains trying to figure out it's problem
with summer/heat, but just haven't figured it out. Now that we're in
the 50-60's for the highs, it's a wayyyy happy camper.
In fact, I'm *averaging* 28mpg, and just got my longest miles to a
tank of gas ever: 276 miles (30.5 mpg)! That means I'm driving it too
conservatively, doesn't it? ;)
After daily-driving my roadster for 5 years, I FINALLY tried
autocrossing last August. Whoa. It's like airport hopping in a Pitts
Special for 5 yrs, and suddenly finding out what it was MADE for
(aerobatics). I had no idea! I'm sure a lot of the fun has been due to
WyCROCers - Jack Davis convinced me we didn't have to kill our cars to
go out and have a good time, we have Gary Boone in his Corvette-
-killin'-street-prepared-roadster coaching us, and Tom Hoagland who
started autocrossing the same time I did (stinker keeps beating me by
about a second each time too! Must be his Solex's).
So I've been working on the car :) .. Suddenly the 80% mechanical
condition acceptable for street driving (clutch hydraulics, brakes,
steering), needed to be 100%. Got it set up pretty nice, but the
tires.. Oh man, what a joke. Well, I promised the wife I'd stick to
Stock class, as a way of assuring her that the costs would be kept to
just getting it 100%.. *stock*. Hopefully she won't notice a slight
revision-- "I'll stick to Stock Class .. until I get caught" ;) . At
the last autoX I was stitting next to a 2nd gen MR2 (in the same
class!!!) with 205/50x14 tires. Yeah, right. I'm gonna beat that
with my 185/70x14's?!?! Neither wife or I are acquainted with the
concept of having 2 complete sets of tires for a car, so this is new
territory ($$$) I'm treading into.. Might try to swap/sell the 185/70's
entirely, but they're new, and have been adequate for street use.
I haven't gotten wife to ride with me yet (after the way I drive on
the street.. and there's no comparison!! Now I think she's afraid to),
but I guess my enthusiasm is getting to her; she claimed if I found her
a 240Z, *she'd* try autocrossing!! Well, I don't believe it for a
minute, but she DID say that, so if any of you know of a good deal on
a cheap runnin' Z... :)
I dropped a pair of 240Z seats in my roadster. LOVE 'em. They aren't
perfect, but they are SUCH an improvement (for us bigger folks
anyway). I'll admit, I needed a wornout ragged driver's seat though;
needed that sag to clear the windshield frame.
As always, I have a long list of things that need doin' on the car,
but I just keep plugging away at it (while daily driving it). It'll
never be a show car, but it's a GREAT driver. I suppose some folks
think I'm(/we're) nuts driving 33 yr old cars like I do, but if I
wanted to drive a vintage car like an old lady, I'd get a '48 Buick or
an MGB ;) (ok, how about an MGA?) or something.
Pondering my newfound autocross 'needs', I've been wondering if the
roadster would be a wise choice with the declining parts availability.
But DANG that car is so much fun!! I dunno, are there even any choices
in the roadster price range? A BMW 2002 maybe? At one autoX there was
an amazing running Volvo 122 (oooohhh, but I remember the truck shifter
on those things!). Yeah, yeah, there's an old Miata. or MR2. That's
getting too new for me. I love OLD cars.
Saw a 350Z on the road the other day. Came up in my rear view
mirror. I thought it was a Toyota (Supra?). I pulled over, and it blew
past me before I realized what it was. Rear-end looked like a TT. So
what did Nissan do? Tell their art/design engineers to stuff
originality up their unemployment checks, and morph a Toyota and Audi
together? I hope my brief glance was flawed.
later,
dan neff '69 2000
colorado springs, co
http://www.wycroc.org
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