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NCC BMW CCA Autocross Event 6, 8.30.09

Saturday was a good day for GeorgeCo Racing. The GeorgeCo BMW sponsored by Beano ran well all day. GeorgeCo narrowly missed the win in class by .06 seconds. On a typical autocross course, that’s less than 3 feet. But more importantly, we edged-out our chief rival (and friend) Greg who (was also driving the GeorgeCo BMW) to stay competitive for the season class title. With two events to go, it’s going to be close.

Georgeco

Imagine a World without Wumps

Tim installed the new Bimmerworld driveline today. What a difference. Imagine having a driveline that actually flexes instead of just eating guibos and center bearings. Power comes on smoothly without the background fear that it’s all going to self destruct. It also helps that he cleaned out the throttle body. With that task, phase two of this project draws to a close. Phase one was just about getting it registered and titled. Phase two was getting it baselined and ready for the track. Phase three is about making it faster and improving handling. Phase four, if I ever get there, is about completing the build-out for Spec E-30. But for now, it’s about making a better STX autocrosser.

New Wheels for the Stealth

New Wheels

I made the big wheel and tire swap last week. Since the BMW is almost done, I’m returning the MINI to normal–well closer to normal. I swapped out the R-comps on the MINI race wheels for a street tire. I took out the rear strutbar and removed the splitter. I also sold the MINI 15 inch wheels and moved the RA1s on to a new set of 15×7 lightweight wheels for the BMW. I also picked up another set of 16 inch wheels to put on the BMW with my old Goodyear F1 Tires. The 15 inch wheels have already sold and a couple of people are interested in the Hankooks. I should be close to break-even when all the dust settles.

BMW at MSP

It was a beautiful day for an August autocross–not too hot and not too humid. The NCC course at the Maryland State Police Training Center was fairly simple. There was a slolom, Chicago box, a couple of sweepers, and a skidpad circle at the end. I haven’t swapped out the driveline yet so I still can’t hammer the throttle, but I managed to win my class (I’m not saying how big the field was….) I’ve been working on smoothness and steering as the rack in the BMW isn’t as fast as the MINI. I really enjoy driving it even if the power is at the wrong end.

BMW running

Done Painting the Stealth (for now)

rear view

It’s easy to forget what a long road it’s been, but if you click through this set of photos, it’s really amazing how far this car has come in the last 13 months. I put the badges back on and hooked up the spray nozzles on the hood tonight. Once I knocked the dust off, I was amazed that this actually looks like a real car from about 5 feet.

before

The challenge with flat black paint is you can’t really appreciate it in bright light, but once the light starts to fade, it really looks great. Who would have thunk it.

front now

And all it took was about 15 rattle cans of black, half a dozen cans of filler-primer, and two tubes of bondo.

front before

MINI Paid Off & Stealth Bubbles

Hood respray

Like so many things with this car, you never really know what’s wrong until you get out the grinder. After I finished painting the roof, I found a bubble in the paint on the hood. At some point in it’s tortured existence, something very heavy landed on the hood of this BMW. The hood is mostly straight, but it sits about a quarter inch lower than it should at the hinge mounting point. It sat so low, it rubbed against the top of the throttle control link which wore a hole through the hood liner. I took the liner off, but there was no rust from the underside of the hood. I took the grinder to the bubble and found nothing but bondo. Evidently the bondo wasn’t bonding to the metal so well and had created a bubble in the paint. Sort of odd, but fixable with better prep work and more bondo. I tried to blend the patch, but trying to blend flat paint doesn’t work so well and I ended up respraying the whole hood.

But that wasn’t the big news of the day: I finally paid off the MINI today. If you know my history with cars, you’ll appreciate the magnitude of this day. For the first time since March 1988, I don’t have a car note of some kind. Now I just have to resist all of the deep discounts, once-in-a-lifetime-sales-events, zero percent financing, and cash-for-clunkers offers. That convertible we have, which probably wouldn’t sell for $1500, is worth $3500 if traded against a passenger car that gets 22 MPG or better. And Volvo currently has a $2250 discount on new 2009 V50s. The BMW 335d qualifies for a $4500 tax credit. I’m just saying….