Back 40 Racing at 24 Hours of LeMons

Now that things are coming into place, it’s time to get to work!

 The next step in the process was to actually get the car to a suitable work space in which to prepare it for track duty.  Fortunately, Zac recently purchased a property with a 30 x 50 foot workshop.  He graciously offered space for the duration of the build!

 With the help of a friend and his F250, we transported the Civic across the county on Superbowl Sunday afternoon, in the rain, with a tow rope.  The biggest stress-inducing factor in this activity was the fact that the car had no electrical power, and thus, no windshield wipers.   While being towed a mere 15′ behind an F250 at 40+ miles per hour on wet roads…the winshield tends to get somewhat, shall we say, less than perfectly clear.  Realistically, this wasn’t a big factor, as my job in the towed car was to simply keep tension on the tow rope, and try real hard not to rear-end the tow vehicle.  At one point, when I couldn’t see the tow rope so well, we stopped and I got out and removed a winshield wiper from the car to manually squeegee the winshield clean.  Mission Accomplishied!

 However, if there was ever any hope of using the brakes pads that are currently installed on the Civic for racing purposes, those hopes can officially be put to rest at this time!  Keeping tension in the rope on the long downhills certainly resulted in some olfactory evidence of what one might expect of a ~2,500 lb car trying to stop a ~4,500 three quarter ton truck.

 Right about now is where I’ll shift gears from past tense to present tense-ish type writing…mainly.  Thus far, my entries have been of the happenings of the last couple weeks which were prior to the start of the blog.  Now we’re going to be documenting on a more as-it-happens basis.

 With the car neslted snugly in “Zac’s 50/50 Race shop,” it’s time to get to work.  We don’t have aspirations of a quick or particularly professional build, but we do expect to get it done steadily and in time for the Carolina Motorsports Park, Kershaw, South Carolina, entry deadline of May 17, 2008.

 Since the car hasn’t run in 1.5 years or more, I decided that before trying to start the engine we would pull the sparkplugs and put a little bit of oil down in the cylinders to soak for a few days.  In removing the sparkplugs, I confirmed, first-hand, what the service records from the previous owner had told me:  The valve cover gasket is shot and letting oil leak down into the spark plug ports on the head.  I suppose it’s time to price a valve cover gasket vs. a tube of RTV silicone.  Hmmm, it seems that the set for the valve cover gaskets is on the order of $26.00!  Yikes…that’s like what, 5% of the budget!?

While the rings and such soak up the oil, we proceeded by performing an initial hose-down to remove the majority of the protective layer of organic materials from the exterior of the car. 

Then it was time to start on the interior.  This is an aesthetically pleasing portion of the process, as you see lots of progress in relatively little time.  We went from this:

To This:

In about an hour and a half.  Not bad for a couple of guys with screwdrivers and a 12mm socket.

I feel compelled to take this moment to say that this car is WAY nicer than my daily driver ‘82 Corolla Wagon (http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o313/clemsparks/1982%20Corolla%20Station%20Wagon/DSCF0752.jpg).

From the first time I heard about 24 Hours of LeMons, I realized that this was the kind of activity that I would appreciate to its fullest.  The problem was that in ‘06 and ‘07 the only events were in California…a 24 hour tow from Missouri.  I was lacking resources of a tow rig, ample vacation time, and financial backing.

I did make some feeble attempts to get interest from my racing friends in the area.  However, it seems that my friends who were actually racers were too busy to be able to spend much time or money for such a one-time event. 

 When the 2008 Schedule came out and showed events as close to my location as 10 hours, I was determined.  The current effort started with a conversation with my colleague, friend, and fellow Back 40 racer Zac.  I had mentioned the race to him many times before.  Now, however, with the new schedule, he was very interested in partaking in the fun.  Shortly thereafter, I contacted my good friend Chris, who mentioned that he was quite excited about being a part of the team, as was his friend Todd.  The 4 of us met for drinks that evening, and we made a decision:  We are going to build a car for 24 Hours of LeMons!

Chris has a great tow rig:  a retired Missouri Department of Transportation, one-ton, powerstroke diesel Van.  He also has our choice of enclosed or open trailers for use during the trip.  This will certainly make for a comfortable cruise to and from the event(s).

The teams must consist of 4 to 6 drivers.  So, we’ve met the minumum requirements, and are all in concensus that 4 drivers, as opposed to 6, will maximize our seat time and thus learning potential and FUN!  We will certainly employ the help of anybody who would like to help with the effort, both locally, and on the actual race trip(s).  Of course, we may have more drivers too…who knows?

We decided on a team name based on our common tie of participating in the ridiculousness that is Back 40 Racing (local field racing for fun).  With the similarity between Back 40 Racing and 24 Hours of LeMons racing, we found ”Back 40 Racing” to be an appropriate team name.  As a side note, I like “Captain Clem and the Back 40 Bruisers”…but that would really be best if we were going to form a rockabilly band or the like.  Still, it’s got a good ring to it.  But I digress.

Or early plans were to compete in the event that is closest to us, the Toledo, Ohio, event.  We have unanimously decided, however, that the course layout at Ohio is less than desirable, and therefore we will plan to attend the event at Carolina Motorsports Park near Kershaw, South Carolina (http://www.carolinamotorsportspark.com/), and/or MSR near Houston, Texas (http://www.na-motorsports.com/Tracks/TX/MSR.html).  Either of these events is about 14 hours from us, and should be able to be managed in a long day of driving.  These are both true roadcourse circuits and we feel that they will be more conducive to learning and racecar longevity.

Selecting a car for such a race is really a curious subject.  There are lots of factors…but only one is really fixed.  That’s the price.  The rules dictate that the car must be purchased and prepared for the race for a grand total of not more than $500.  This does exclude safety related items (most of which are mandatory) as well as brakes and tires/wheels. 

In general, the cars that seem to do well are lightweight imports.  A standard transmission seems, to me, to be all but mandatory.  Rear drive would be a definite asset, though is certainly the exeption, rather than the rule, in the type of cars that would be most available to us.

I just so happens that I have become the go-to guy in my circles for anyone who needs to get rid of a car that is beyond repair.  When someone decides, “This car has been sitting in my driveway too long.  I don’t want to pay $500 to fix a car that won’t be worth that when I’m done.”  That’s when they call me.  Broken winshields, blown headgaskets, lost or invalid titles, worn out transmissions, doors that don’t open (or close), inoperable fuel pumps…these are the things that make my project cars mine.

The timing was just about perfect.  I had looked over the 2008 24 Hours of LeMons schedule and decided that there were enough venues within a close enough proximity to us that it would be worthwhile to put a team and car together…and I had actually said this outloud to my friend, colleague, and now-teammate, Zac.  It wasn’t 2 days later that I was contacted, by a friend of a friend, through a series of forwarded email messages, about a nuisance car that could use a good dose of “gone.”

 It wasn’t until I actually showed up to look at the car that I deemed it a very good candidate for use in 24 Hours of LeMons.  The car is a 1988 Honda Civic Hatchback.  It had been sitting for a year-and-a-half due to a battery and/or charging problem, but otherwise “ran when parked.”  The little Honda looked great.  Sitting under a tree covered in bird droppings and fallen branches with tires still holding air.  Its lack of power steering, power locks, and power windows certainly helped.  The ratty interior, though to be expected, also gave us a good feeling about the car.  But the 5 speed transmission sealed the deal.

And so, the car is selected!  Unless a better candidate comes along, we will be preparing this ‘88 Civic for competition.  The car is a beater, to be sure.  However, that’s what 24 Hours of LeMons is all about.  Still…we’ll have to do a bit of prepwork to get the car into shape!

Once at the competition, all cars are judged by a panel which attempts to arbitrarily validate each team’s financial details.  The burden of proof, it seems, is on the team. 

In our case, the reason we wish to compete in this event is because it can be done for low investment.  I see no reason to cheat in this respect, and therefore will be completely open, with all who are interested, about the budget of our effort.  We’ll start the tally with the purchase price of the car.  Zero Dollars.

 It is a well known fact that free cars are often more expensive than their paid-for counterparts.  I’m hoping to fly in the face of the conventional wisdom with this one.

 It is, of course, a generally accepted rule that automotive racing is inherently expensive.  “You have to pay if you want to play.”  This is what keeps so many of us from actually persuing our dream. 

 There is a new phenomenon, however, that takes the edge off the financial impact of auto racing in a significant way.  24 Hours of LeMons has entered the scene  (www.24hoursoflemons.com,  a wonderful read) and is a briliant concept that challenges competitors to purchase and prepare their racecar for $500 or less, and then proceed to compete in a 24 hour endurance race with a lineup of 4 to 6 drivers.

 So, I find myself compelled exploit this race as a rationalization that “It’s the cheapest ‘real racing’ that I’ll ever have the chance to compete in!”  What’s more?  I’ve conned at least three of my good friends into rationalizing right along with me. 

 A similar, though much less organized, phenomenon began years ago in a friend’s ”Back 40″ acres in Central Missouri.  Cheap cars and 40 acres of pasture truly do make for an unreasonably good time!  Over the years, I have honed my skills at obtaining cars suitable only for eminent destruction in a pseudo-competetive automotive event.

 In the Back 40, we get the cars cheap (and generally, torn up to the point that they’re no longer safe or practical for road transportation) and then go racing, door-to-door on a dirt “roadcourse.”  The course is likely similar to a RallyCross course.  The difference is that we don’t have timers and we’re not racing the clock.  We run as many cars as we can on the course at one time. 

This experience leads me to believe that we can find a car and prep’ it for 24 Hours of LeMons racing.  I approach all prospective “beaters” now with a unique perspective!   And so…the search is on.  Where can I come up with a suitable candidate for a 24 Hours of LeMons contender?

Howdy!  I’m Clem Sparks, Grease Monkey Extraordinaire.  I’m going to attempt to keep this blog to document the buildup of our racecar for competition in one or more events for 24 Hours of LeMons. 

Hang on tight…and be wary of flying drivel!