The cross-country voyage of the Hawaiian 2002

[-=Charley]

WOW. calendar worthy??

[KFunk]

I don't know about a calendar, but I just realized its time to change the wallpaper on my laptop!

By the way, I came across some pics of the VW wagon racing full of people.

I can't resize them, but just click on each:

http://www.ohiovw.com/cars/gallery/tire%20boy-5981-Marty%20AC%20006.jpg

http://www.ohiovw.com/cars/gallery/tire%20boy-5977-Marty%20AC%20002.jpg

http://www.ohiovw.com/cars/gallery/tire%20boy-5980-Marty%20AC%20005.jpg

http://www.ohiovw.com/cars/gallery/tire%20boy-5974-Marty%20AC%20001.jpg

It's actually for sale if anybody wants it....

[a54atii]

Wow, what an ordeal. I wish I could have gone along to help. I'm glad you took the proper tools (hammer & torch) to get the job done. On the positive side, you are getting really close to having your suspension fully sorted. I can't wait to get a ride in your car once you have the urethane bushings installed. Its going to be fun!

Karl

[oz_tom]

Enjoying the read Kevin. Sounds like great fun and nice work on your 'agricultural' bushing.

Tom

[KFunk]

The 2002 emerged once again for the rescue!

So, it's been a while. I've been working on my job search and interview skills, which have apparently needed a lot of work.

In the meantime, Santa brought the 2002 a new full set of polyurethane bushings (front and rear). Santa insisted, because apparently he didn't like my home-made control arm bushing. I wish Santa would've installed them for me, since that was not a fun job in the least bit. Lots of torching and squeezing the bushings in there. I only got to try them out a few times, and wow the car can take a sharp corner smoothly now. You just cut the wheel sharp and the whole suspension reacts with quite some precision. It's weird to feel everything working so well together, as it should.

But shortly thereafter, the 2002 went into hiding from the snow and salt, and the miata has been the primary transportation for a couple months. The rust in that car is just too deep. I've covered it up for now, and it still looks good from a distance, but the rocker panels are long gone.

I think its too late for it, and I'm just gonna have to run that car into the ground. At some point I guess the subframe will just break. Wish I could save it.... In a couple years, I'm thinkin I should find a rust-free early miata for a toy, and build it up better.

Anyways, in the last few weeks, finally lots of employers started calling me and I've been running around for interviews and such. There wasn't anything that sounded that wonderful though, and I really needed to get to work somewhere soon. I decided to go ahead and take a job as a Research Assistant at Ohio University (my old undergrad school, and nearby in Athens). I'm only committed to it until the end of this year, so its just to hold me over and pay some bills. It's not quite in my preferred field of science, but its in the area I want to live in, in the school I like and know, and I'll get free classes at OU if I want to expand my skills some.

I'll also get to enjoy the college life in Athens much more than I did during my undergrad, in which I studied and worked all the time.

So, Monday was my first day at that job at OU, starting at 8:15am. I got up plenty early, let the miata warm up, and started on my way.

The weather was warm for once, so the ground where the miata was parked had thawed some. But.... the wheels started spinning a little on the miata as I left my spot. OK... I'll just hit the gas and keep on going downhill out of the spot. Then it started sliding sideways to my right side... and down into the ditch. Oops. It's still got an open-differential, and my right rear tire was hanging in air. It was 7:30am, and that car wasn't going anywhere:

Welp, no time to fix this situation. All other cars gone, and I was afraid I'd ending up sliding the van into the miata if I tried taking it.

So, out comes the 02!

It was frozen to the ground in its garage, but broke free. Still running good, and weird to be driving it again. I made it to work on time, with no problems. The miata sat there all day, until I got home that night and used dad's truck to pull it out.

I doubt I'm gonna make any real progress on the 2002 for the rest of this year, and am gonna focus on saving some money and then looking for a more suitable job.

I will be autocrossing it thoroughly, though. I also need to buy new tires... for everything. The Azenis from the miata are hard and bald, the Sumitomos on the 2002 are dead thanks to the bushing problem (outside shoulder worn off), and the only tires I have with tread are those snow tires on the E30 rims.

I think I'm gonna go ahead and get some Azenis for those E30 rims, and put them on the 2002. Then maybe a cheap set of Sumitomos or something for the miata... And if I have the money, consider a set of race tires for the 13" wheels currently on the 2002.

Well, thats the plan for now. I'm currently looking for a place to live in Athens, and we'll see how things work out.

[a54atii]

Congrats on the job! And hurray for getting the 2002 suspension finished (well, for now at least). I can't help it, but every time I hear you say rusted Miata, I think Locost 7 donor...

Karl

[KFunk]

slight update....

The good news is that the cost of the trip is now covered (shipping the 2002, shipping 2 cats, hotels, gas, food, etc.) I've finally sold my inherited 1 acre in Indiana, and received a check for $4K.

I've got new tires for the 2002 (Falken Azenis), and put them on the 14" E30 wheels.

Its geared a little better with the bigger wheels so it runs about 4K rpm at highway speeds.

The Miata currently has no road-worthy tires, so the 2002 is taking care of everything. I'm currently living near campus, within walking distance of work, so the 2002 actually doesn't get driven much at all.

Everyday I take blood from people in the morning (fun learning how to stab people!), and then I spend all day doing experiments to see how some engineered chemicals affect platelet aggregation (clotting). Strangely enough, the chairman of my Dept. is actually a 2002 fan and previous owner of a couple.

April 29th was the first autocross at OVR, so the car has been back in action:

(yes I forgot to latch the hood)

It felt pretty stable and handled smooth, but my times weren't that great. It just wasn't getting enough power when I needed it, for a couple big straights. I think it might've been a fuel starvation issue, or just the driver. Didn't have a co-driver this time, since Chris had to work and Dick's car is back in action.

Speaking of which, here's some pics of his contraption:

It's got over 302hp at the rear wheels, and yes those are Porsche 18" wheels with race tires. I rode along for one run, and holy crap.... It may not look pretty, but when that boost kicks in, it'll go. With those tires, it'll stop quick and turn as well.

There's another autocross next Sunday, and I'm hoping to run race tires just for kicks. I don't really have any competition in FSP, but I just want to see how it'll feel on that car. I've got 3 half-decent race tires on miata rims that have been sitting in my basement for 3 or 4 years. Someone is gonna give me a spare 4th race tire, so I'll have a full set for free that will last me a couple events.

Yesterday, I drove over to Kettering for the Cinco de Mayo 02 BBQ at Jim's place. Jim and Brian took my car for a spin, and I tried theirs out as well for kicks. It seems like my car has been lacking a little power in comparison to others, so I think my engine is starting to show its age and wear. It's either that, or one of my plug wires is screwing up and not firing right. I have a plug wire that is pieced together with silicone, from a time before when I blew a spark plug apart and melted the boot. Ah well, I'll try some new plug wires, and keep on driving it till it blows completely apart.

Think thats it for now. I've gotta upload some pics of the BBQ sometime, or they might get posted in the Events section.

[KFunk]

Some good news!

I didn't manage to get the R-tires in time for the 5/13 autocross, but I had some fun.

and I found this pic slightly humorous, since the 02 is a bit outclassed:

This time, I actually had some fun competition, as a '74 MG BGT showed up to run in my class:

He used to be a regular a few years ago, and decided to bring that car out again and have some fun. He was happy to have some vintage competition in FSP.

Neal, whom I beat last time, showed up again in the Golf TDI. Only this time he had race tires on, so I figured I didn't have a chance. He's a good driver, and he stretched that car to its limits.

The 02 ran pretty strong, and of course handled great. I took two passengers (Dick and Ben) for one run, and it was hilarious to bounce Ben all over the place in the backseat.

I managed to edge out the MG, probably due to him running older Yoko AVS street tires. Neal had me by a second or two early off, but I kept on pushing the 02 harder and fixing my mistakes.... and on my last run.... by 4 thousandths of a second......

Yep, its my first official first place! I've got plenty of plaques and such for 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. in the miata before. But somehow I could never quite get a 1st.

Neal has been great competition and very friendly throughout, so its been a lot of fun. We couldn't believe we were that even. Here's the results here:

http://www.ovr-scca.org/_autocross/results/class.asp?season=2007&rid=6

Soon though, I'm afraid Neal may bring out his GTI. He's been racing the Golf since he's working to get Megasquirt functioning in the GTI, which puts it in FSP.

Neal was kind enough to give me a spare race tire, and I'll put it together with the other 3 I have in my basement, and run them next time. It won't be ideal, but should be fun and get me a second or two. We'll see whenever Neal brings out his GTI and how he does, but I'm thinking that I'll need to be getting some good race tires to catch him.

The bad news:

I'm fairly certain my #2 cylinder isn't working very well. I'm gonna do a compression test soon, which I know is going to be ugly. It's not something new, and has been there since I got the car.

The motor would still last a long, long time without a full rebuild. But, I'm very tempted to do a quick stock rebuild on the motor. Myself, dad, and brother could probably do it in a few days. I'd just pull the block real quick, have the cylinders honed, throw in some new rings and bearings, and then really have some fun.

Oh, and here's some more fun pics from the autocross.

I just happened to run into Jay, a good friend of Harv from Willoughby. He was driving a Subaru that he's prepping for nationals, and was very fast:

And here's more pics of Dick's car, since I find it hilarious:

[KFunk]

OK, so it looks a bit different now:

and I just added a new strut bar from 02 again:

and yeah... just a strut bar... nothing else to see there....