The wait is finally over. The F-22 turned 20 this month and can be registered as a “historic vehicle”. Since I purchased the car out of state, I would have had to go through the Maryland’s bureaucratic inspection goat-rope, aka the mechanics & bureaucrats work protection act. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for safety, but this process makes no sense. I actually got the car inspected so I’d have a punch-list of things to correct, but found the inspection checklist was of little value for sorting out the car. For example, here’s a list of things my car failed:

• No rear seat-belts (because there are no rear seats).
• Hole in fender (where the antenna used to be).
• Window tint uneven (on a rear passenger side window).
• Window won’t go up due to bad switch. (I can understand why not going down would be a safety issue, but up?…)

But what didn’t the inspection turn up? A cracked and crumbling flex-joint in the drive-line; one of two transmission mounts was sheared as well as both engine mounts (meaning that the lone remaining transmission mount was all that was holding the engine & transmission to the chassis). And the speedometer didn’t work at the time.

So rather than fixing things just to get registered and then turning around in the Spring and ripping them out when autocross season starts up again, I thought I’d just wait for historic eligibility and skip the State inspection process since I have to get a technical inspection before I can go out on the track anyway.

So here’s where I’m starting the year:

• Weight Reduction: Items removed so far — Cruise Control; AC Compressor, AC Condensor/Dryer, & Electric Fan; Mechanical Fan; fog lights; stereo, four speakers, & electric antenna; automatic locking system; trunk trim; rear seats and seat-belts.
• New Items: Adding some weight back — seat-covers; new electric fan.
• Repairs: Timing belt; fan belt; PS belt; valve cover gasket; coil, spark plugs & plug wires; water pump & thermostat; replaced all hoses; rear shocks; catalytic converter & muffler; instrument cluster; driver’s door lock; control arms, tie rods, control arm bushings; brakes, rotors, stainless steel brake lines.

I don’t have enough miles on the car yet to know anything about it’s reliability. My plan is to take it down to Dan Martin to get the Guibo fixed and get his assessment of what needs to be done to be track worthy by March. Depending on how that goes, I’ll start driving it more regularly and then prioritize what needs to be done to make it faster.