Hard Luck Racing

Photos and Video Links

2008-08-26T12:30:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the best from the race

Segement on MotorWeek
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28UkfA1pZXo

Channel 10 News Feature (click the video link, page right, for the TV footage)
http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8738925

Overall Jalopnik Coverage (the Pork Brains installment is frickin' genius) http://jalopnik.com/search/lemons/bydate/?timerange=all

Judge Phil's Jalopnik Top 66 Guide
http://jalopnik.com/399480/the-top-66-lemons-of-the-24-hours-of-lemons-south

Raleigh News-Observer (front-page story) http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1154759.html

Jalopnik’s ultimate photo gallery
<http://jalopnik.com/399755/the-24-hours-of-lemons-south-2008-uber-galle/

Some of the participant pix and videos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dieseladdict/sets/72157606392762663/detail/

http://picasaweb.google.com/r15chp/24HoursOfLemonsLemonsSouth2008

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29071791@N02/

http://youtube.com/watch?v=O4Kd3wEVQJs

http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y50/Falcopilot1/Lemons/

http://jalopnik.com/399323/chemical-ali-mustang-spins-takes-out-innocent-6er

FINALLY, Race Weekend

2008-07-30T17:28:00.000-07:00

The Lemons South event was fantastic! The facilities, operations, organizers, and other participants all came together to create an excellent experience for all (except maybe the #25 BMW Salazaar Racing Team). The weekend began for us on Thursday on a very ominous note, our tow vehicle was out of commission. After attempting some quick troubleshooting, we came to the conclusion that alternative plans had to be developed. We rented a truck from Penske but realized the hitch ball was the wrong size. We had to ditch the car trailer for a dolly set up, but we were able to get everything packed in order to head to the track on Friday morning. The trip up was uneventful. The balance of Friday was spent unpacking and running the car through tech inspection and judging. The car breezed through tech and the judges took little convincing that the car was worth less than $500.

Saturday was an overcast day with rain off and on during the afternoon. The rain made the track slick and many spinouts occured. The # 13 Wile E. Coyote Special did not spin out, though. We stayed on the track despite the slippery conditions. Our first problem had nothing to do with the weather, car, or even our drivers. Our first problem occurred a little over two hours into the race when our transponder quit working. The transponder is the electronic device that communicates with the track's timing and scoring equipment. As a result of this problem we lost a little over an hour's worth of laps. This dropped us back to mid-pack where we remained the remainder of the race. Later in the day we started experiencing fuel filter plugging. 25 years worth of sediment in the fuel tank and the sloshing back and forth caused by the road course caused us to replace several filters. Special thanks to Leezard's dad for running to the parts store for us!!

Sunday turned out to be sunny and HOT! The track was much faster and racing much more enjoyable. About 2 hours into Sunday's run we started getting a vibration. This turned out to be loose lug nuts on the driver's side front wheel. After tightening, we went back out on the track. A couple hours later the vibration came back. This time one of the 4 lugs turned out to be stripped and could not be tightened. Facing a terminal condition, Crash would take Dottie out for what turned out to be her final run. Crash literally drove the wheel off the car. When he pulled backinto the pits, the wheel was wobbling like a cartoon vehicle. It looked like on of the wheels on the "Family Truckster" from the National Lampoon movie "Vacation". The only thing holding the wheel on was the stripped lug. The 3 that had been retightened were completely missing. We turned in out transponder with 2 hours remaining in the race.

Officially, we finished in 56th position out of 76 cars. When factoring the hours worth of lost laps, we actually finished in about 46th place. This is certainly a solid effort for a bunch of rookies. In our nextrace, if ther is one for us we will definitely have a more competitive car. The Datsun looked good. It was easily one of the two best looking cars at the track. From a performance stanpoint, though the Datsun just didn't have the performance to keep up with the field. We did learn some lessons for next time though.

Tribute to Court

2008-07-08T14:31:00.000-07:00

In the May race at Altamont, Court Summerield passed away while driving. It's suspected that he may have had a heart attack, but to our knowledge it has not been confirmed. While we did not know Court personally, we feel a connection to his kindred spirit. Our deepest sympathies go out to his family. We believe that all of the people participating in these LeMons events share a common sense of adventure and desire to break away from the mold that is everyday life. As a tribute to Court Summerfield, the Hard Luck Racing Wiley Coyote Special is proud to display the colors and number of his final ride. RIP, Court.

T minus 18 days...

2008-07-08T14:19:00.000-07:00

That’s right, in less than three weeks we’ll be running around Carolina Motorsports Park. We’ve made arrangements for one of the covered garage spaces for the event. If it’s sunny, we’ll have shade. If it’s raining, we’ll be dry. If it’s neither of these, it will be a bloody miracle. The car is receiving final preparations. Everyone has gotten a little seat time at our private test track, Paulding International Raceway, also known as a temporarily abandoned sub-division around the corner from The Wrench’s house. It’s big enough to shake out the bugs, or at least that’s what we’re counting on. No major surprises so far. The car runs well, better than we expected back in January. We did find a small problem with fuel delivery, but a $5 restriction valve in the return line boosted the fuel pressure to the carbs to give us consistent performance. We’ll be installing our own version of a driver cooling system this week (a little back yard engineering utilizing a cooler, bilge pump, and some tubing). It’s not fancy, but it was cheap enough and it’ll be better than nothing. This system combined with camel packs and short driving stints should get us through. As we get close to the actual event, we pause to review our objectives. 1) Build a car and get accepted – DONE. 2) Have the car last long enough for everyone to get the opportunity to drive. 3) Not lose any fingers or toes (notice the priorities here – hair and skin have already been sacrificed to the garage gods, but that is another story, or two) 4) Avoid any photographic or videographic evidence of embarrassing or incriminating behavior. 5) Have enough stories (embellished or not) to share with our friends, families, acquaintances, and slow-moving strangers until their ears bleed. It's a challenging set of goals. Most teams have one goal - win. We have 5!! This means we're 5 times as ambitious as they are. And we may just be crazy enough to pull it off!

This is what happens...

2008-06-20T07:48:00.001-07:00

when you start building your car too early! With budget constraints preventing us from doing anything actually productive, we resorted to this. We're sure to get some looks driving this around the block. As if the wing, missing glass and the big#13 on the side weren't enough, nobody's going to miss us with this thing on the hood. We can hope that the cops will be too busy laughing their asses off to hassle us. We've also been practicing driver changes and emergency exits. Just to be clear... speed is the important factor in an emergency exit - not grace!

HLR Welcomes ACME

2008-06-08T12:36:00.000-07:00

June 8, 2007 – Atlanta, GA – Hard Luck Racing announced today that it has reached a sponsorship deal with ACME Products, Inc. The sponsorship is in conjunction with HLR’s single car team competing in the 24 Hours of LeMons racing circuit. HLR will make their debut in the series at the LeMons South event in Kersham, SC next month. ACME Products known for their line of specialty fabrications is making their first foray into the automobile racing arena. With a long history of associations with hunting and stunt enthusiasts, the company feels that auto racing, and in particular the LeMons circuit, is a natural fit for their company image. The deal, rumored to be worth tens of dollars, was masterminded by HLR president Wile E. Coyote. “We feel that ACME’s reputation for unique engineering solutions and the never say die attitude of our team perfectly compliment each other and together we’ll finally catch that, I mean win many races.” Mr. Coyote declined to further explain the comment. The ACME name is an industry icon. They are the leading designer and manufacturer of many products including rocket-propelled skates, giant ‘mouse’ traps, large magnets and extreme-sized slingshots. Their engineering division also provides customized engineering designs for customers. Mr. Coyote states, “The engineering support that ACME will be providing the team will be as critical as their financial support.” The parties declined to discuss specifics of the deal, but would not rule out the possibility of multi-car support in future seasons.

BBBBBBBBLUE

2008-05-30T13:27:00.000-07:00

We knew that paint would make the car look very different. But, WOW! Dottie has had an Extreme Makeover! It’s amazing how much difference a little left-over industrial paint and a spray gun in the right hands can make. Now to a perfectionist like the Wrench there are lots of flaws in this paint job (all due to the shoddy prep work forced upon him), but for a $500 crap-can this thing looks awesome. Considering the destiny of this car, the mosquito and gnat carcasses entrapped in the drying paint are inconsequential and only add character. We’ll be sure to bring lots of ‘before’ photos to convince the judges of the meager merits of this beast, lest they be fooled by the slick veneer. I’m sure they are aware that polishing a turd only gives you a shiny turd.

Acceptance!

2008-05-27T13:30:00.000-07:00

We have cleared a significant hurdle on our mission. Last week we were notified that we have been officially accepted into the Kershaw field. If the old saying is true that “you are known by the company you keep”, then surely our reputations took a serious blow by being linked to the crazies associated with this event! Invigorated by the news that we had a ticket to the dance we started to paint. Well more correctly, we started the process of painting. Keep in mind that The Wrench is also a master painter, it took some effort to lower his standards to LeMons level. Some concessions had to be made by both sides. The rest of us conceded to throwing some Bondo in some of the bigger holes, while he bit his lip and looked the other way when we did a half-ass job sanding it. I know there are going to be some people questioning our sanity in putting Bondo on a LeMons car, but REALLY – If we were sane would we even be doing this? We did all of the prep in about one day. Anyone who knows bodywork understands that one day of prep work is only marginally better than no prep work at all. The car has been primed and ready for color later this week. We’ll be painting it a glorious K#$%^A Blue.
Once we got the news of our acceptance we selected our car number from the ones available. With a concept like ours, how could we pick anything other than “13”. We also did some work on our concept regalia but we’ll hold that until after the paint is complete.

Green Flag: T minus 84 days and counting!

2008-05-02T18:12:00.000-07:00

We knew that purchasing a car 6 months before the race would give us plenty of time. But for anyone out there with more time and cash than brain cells that may be inclined to suffer the pain, anguish and ultimate humiliation that is inevitable to make their LeMons dream a reality, I offer some nuggets of wisdom from our experience.

How long does it take to prepare a car? – Starting with a car that ran reasonably well but in need some ‘structural’ repairs, we completed these repairs, fabricated and installed the roll cage, conducted an end-to-end mechanical inspection, replaced fluids, installed new seat, and performed various minor repairs/maintenance. With two guys working one evening per week (4 hours) and every other Saturday (8 hours) we were able to get our car ‘ready’ in 3 months. What remains for our project is paint, tuning and testing.

What kind of skill does it take? – We have demonstrated that one really good mechanically inclined individual can shoulder the burden for the team. We had one skilled craftsman and one ‘hack’ most of the time. But to be fair, the hack was also the ‘idea guy’. Would more talent make for a quicker build? – Absolutely! Would a team of mechanics without a ‘visionary’ be successful – No Way! (but, I may be biased).

What is the most important element during the build? – Well this is a tough question because some things are essential like a good platform (that’s car for those less technical folk), proper facilities (i.e. garage), spousal patience, and lots of fabricating raw materials lying around (most folks might call it junk – we’re talking about miscellaneous nuts, bolts, scrap metal, wire, abandoned projects, and the like). But if our experience tells us anything, GOOD tools will make a huge difference. A good bandsaw, tubing notcher, drill press, and welder were greatly appreciated time and time again. The bandsaw and notcher were already in our tool inventories and had come from Harbor Freight. The blade on the saw was a necessary upgrade and the notcher needed a minor modification to make it beefier, but both of these worked like champs. The mig welder was a 220V craftsman model. It performed much better than one of the cheaper 110V boxes. The drill press was the lifesaver! But this was no ordinary drill press. This thing is at least 40 years old and weights about 400 lbs. It had been rescued from a scrap pile about 20 years ago. A new handle and power cord gave it a new lease on life and this thing worked circles around anything you can buy at Sears today. Oh, by the way, Honey, if you’re reading this… Big Daddy would really like a Plasma Cutter for Christmas.

How much does it cost? – The following is a summary view of our budget.
CAR - $500 (What we spent for the car plus the eligible improvements)
ENTRANCE FEES (car/5drivers) - $ 1300
PERSONAL SAFETY GEAR - $2000 (w/bargain helmets from EBAY)
CAR SAFETY GEAR - $1000 (roll cage, wheels, tires, exhaust, brakes, etc.)
SPARE PARTS - $?????
OPERATING COSTS - $1000 (fuel, oil, supplies for to/at/from track)
TOTAL?- $5800+
EXPLANATION TO WIFE ON WHY A $500 RACECAR COSTS 6 GRAND – Priceless!
Of course, these are the results of our situation. Our next race (if the car survives) will be significantly cheaper. Another car may have different needs, but this gives you an idea.
What’s the worst part about preparing our car for the 24 Hours of LeMons? – We still have 84 days to wait!!!

RACING TECH

2008-04-24T13:49:00.001-07:00

A challenge of sorts was issued recently by the organizers of the 24 Hours of LeMons. They have invited, No! encouraged, No! incentivized the application of racing technologies banned by respectable racing organizations. They are offering prize money to the team with the best application of said technology. These include turbine engines, sucker-fans, sliding skirts, and active air brakes. At this point though it is unclear how the $500 limit will be applied to such technology. Do you think Dan Gurney may have a spare turbine engine in his basement that ‘he just wants to get out of the way’? Of course, there are other creative technologies that we have heard of, like the ‘rocket car’.

Then there is the low tech “William Tell” device.

We have our best scientists working on it.

The right technology may even win two prizes. In addition to the LeMons award, the prestigious Darwin Award might also be garnered. Of course there are other philosophies like McLarens “Why reinvent the solution if you can steal it?” approach. I mean really, Engineers are expensive! We have our European contacts going through Ferrari’s trash as we speak.

DEATHPROOF!

2008-03-19T17:35:00.000-07:00

What does it take to transform a mild-mannered, street-legal automobile into an adrenaline-pumping, knuckle-whitening instrument of speed and daring? Well, a roll cage is a big step in that direction. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have cage!!! Our cocoon of safety was installed over the past two weekends with the assistance of welder-extraordinaire, Raymond Wix (Big Daddy’s brother-in-law). It’s a custom built unit twisted up by the maniacs down at the Don’t Do This Garage. But, as luck goes (or should I say Hard Luck?) solving one problem usually creates another. How does Big Daddy get his fat ass in the car with all those damn pipes in the way? The steering wheel needs to go. So we got one of those slick quick-connect steering wheel hubs like the real racecars have. Got it from Fred Motts Racing for less than 20 bucks. With the steering wheel out of the way Big Daddy may be able to squeeze in there without breaking out the Crisco.

Who says there's no cure for cancer?

2008-02-26T18:31:00.000-08:00

Before - The floor pans were riddled with rust. Lot's of teams struggle with the question of whether or not to remove the sound deadening material on the floors and if so, how to do it. We had no such delima since most of the sound deadening fell out as the floors disintegrated through the years. One problem solved, but the gaping holes in the floor presented more than one issue, most of them safety. Surgery was the only option for our patient. Air chisel, cut-off wheel, and sawzall were the instruments of healing.

After - A few sheetmetal grafts later and the patient is a good as new. The procedure also gave us the opportunity to do some major reinforcement under the the driver's seat area. The racing seat has been installed and things are really taking shape. The rollcage is the next major project.

Ready For Flight

2008-02-26T17:24:00.000-08:00

The latest in aerodynamic technology has transformed mild-mannered Dottie into a seriously sinister ambassador of mayhem and chaos. Designed by a super-secret team of MIT engineers, fabricated from materials produced for NASA in maximum security facilities in the bowels of Area 51, and possessing characteristics so classified that even this photo is a threat to national security. The "wing" is guaranteed to improve 0-60 times by 80%, add enough downforce to stall an F-4 tornado, and make everone within 15 feet of it appear to be "cool". Its most brilliant feature is its ingenious camouflage. Appearing to be an amateurish attempt to simulate an aerodynamic concept belies its true potential. It will surely be banned by all racing organizations, the olympics, and the Catholic Church, but not before it dominates the world of LeMons! [insert sinister laugh here] How did a lowly LeMons team happen upon such a find, you might ask.... Let's just say, we know a guy!

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

2008-02-08T10:28:00.000-08:00

The budget took one on the chin this week. We learned that new rules for 2008 will be in affect for our endeavor. Additional personal safety gear and a beefier roll cage will be required. While safety is a great concept, outsiders might stop and consider if people who would put their lives at risk in a $500 piece of crap with dozens of other like-minded idiots are really people we should be preserving in the gene pool? But, we’re the fools that can’t wait to climb in this tin can and tear off at the speed of light, so personal sacrifices must be made! Those kids don’t really need to go to college, do they? A good trade school will be fine. Those of us without kids to rob may have to sacrifice some gold fillings. You’d be surprised how much you can cut out of the household budget by switching to an all-ramen diet. Besides, how much food does a cat need, really?
But the week wasn’t all doom and gloom. We have a nibble on a sponsor. Can’t mention who it is, yet. We need to see a check before they get any publicity. Negotiations are under way, … how much is a soul worth these days?
On a brighter side, we were able to get together Thursday night for another work session. Work on the fuel pump, oil and plug changes, and a little fabrication were the topics of the evening. Mechanically, we made progress in each area. We even tinkered with the carbs a little and it seemed to do more good than harm. Big Daddy brought some fabrications from home including the skeleton of a front air dam and cold air induction system made from left-over sheet metal, silicone and duct tape. Who needs to spend money on one of them ‘pretty’ units?

COUNTDOWN TO KERSHAW – 168 DAYS & COUNTING!!!!

Evaluating the Situation

2008-02-01T04:55:00.000-08:00

Crash, Kamikaze, and Wrench contemplate options. An evening work session in the garage continues the transformation of Dottie into a worthy competitor. Stripping off the remnants of her passenger car past was the main theme of the evening. Removing a headlight bucket turned out to a lot tougher than it looked, but perseverence payed off!! The Sawzall made it's much anticipated debut and Dottie lost a few pounds after being separated from her emissions and air conditioning. Team spirits are high as our creation takes shape.

Stall Torque Defined

2008-01-29T14:22:00.000-08:00

Activity Begins

2008-01-28T13:04:00.000-08:00

Saturday, January 26, was a milestone day for the team. Big Daddy and Wrench got the day started by organizing the garage and making room for the project. It went much better than the last time we had to do this. The project at that time was to paint BD’s Cobra and the reorganizing effort took much longer.
In a few short hours the garage was prepared and “Dottie” was motored in and placed upon her throne (4 jack-stands). With this accomplished, we were off to the first official team meeting. Order was call with everyone present and accounted for. BD, Wrench, Crash, Kamikaze and Leezard all arrived on time for our meeting at Hooters in Kennesaw. Aside for some questionable service for our lone female team member, the meeting was very productive. Everyone is very enthusiastic about the project and lots of great ideas were shared. Enthusiasm was so high that the meeting adjourned back to the Wrench’s garage for a late night work session.
By the time we were ready to call it a night Dottie had been stripped to her skivvies. The gal has seen a lot of hard miles. As expected, the floor pans were gone. Fred Flinstone could have driven this thing! But there is some good news (aside from the fact that whatever built the nest behind the speaker on the driver’s side had already vacated)…
An inspection from underneath revealed that the transmission is not original. It is painted silver, indicative of being a rebuilt unit or from spending some serious time in a transmission shop. There are also hints that the clutch assembly may not be that old as speculated since some of the associated parts don’t look like they’ve weathered that much.
In addition to that, we had a bite on our recent Craigslist add for “misc Datsun parts for sale”. A guy named Mark came by in an identical Datsun. This car was the guy’s daily driver. He had 240,000 miles on it and was bragging about how well it ran. His complaint was that it looked like a piece of crap. He thought Dottie looked much better. He wanted everything, interior panels, T-Tops, seats, rear hatch, trim, etc. He wanted… Unfortunately, he didn’t have any cash and the only thing he had to trade was a wheel. We traded him an interior panel and some ratty carpeting for the wheel. We agreed to a future trade of the T-Tops and door panels for the 4 wheels and tires on his ride after he gets some 15” wheels. The rest we’re holding for cash.
Speaking of cash, stripping out the interior was better than most scratch-off tickets. $3.47 in coinage was recovered from the heap (although needing some serious disinfection). It’s hard to imagine how much was lost over the years through the holes in the floor. This booty will be deducted from our purchase price and be put towards the performance of the car. What to buy??? … Hmmm… Maybe a sparkplug, perhaps a couple hose clamps, possibly a couple feet of heater hose, the possibilities are endless!We’re out of the blocks and on our way.

Kershaw, SC -182 DAYS AND COUNTING!!!

Its a Datsun...

2008-01-13T15:22:00.000-08:00

After searching Craigslist, the local paper, trader mags, and back alleys, we found this diamond in the rough. A 1983 Datsun 280ZX with 180,000 miles and by the looks of it they were rough miles. The title says Georgia, but rust like this is imported!

The good... The 2.8L straight 6, 5-speed ran reasonably well out of the box, even better after we plugged a huge vacuum leak. It needs some tuning and more that one vacuum leak traced down, but the running gear doesn't seem to need anything major. We ran it yesterday long enough to determine it doesn't overheat. It revved to 6300 rpm and all of the rods and bearing stayed in place. From 60 feet away it doesn't look too bad. It should be a great platform, from a handling and performance standpoint.

The bad... The floor pans are made of Swiss cheeze. There's a lot of rust. We think most of the rust is structurally insignificant, mostly cosmetic. The clutch is questionable. The original fuel injection system was sitting in the passenger seat. The previous owner gave up on the FI and installed a dual carb setup. The electric fuel pump that the previous owner had rigged only works sporadically, but hey, he showed how to get it going again by tapping it with a hammer. Redneck Technology!

We also discovered that the fuel guage works. Damn Japanese cars, E actually means empty. After a tuning session (we stuck a bolt in a hole to plug a vacuum leak), we took it for a test drive around the neighborhood. We ran out of gas!

We hope to sell some pieces that we won't need to put some cash back into the budget. Somebody might be interested in the FI setup, the rear hatch, glass T-Tops, etc.

In the beginning...

2008-01-09T17:38:00.001-08:00

Hot Rod magazine ran an article in it's Dec. 2007 issue about this crazy racing circuit called "The 24 Hours of Le Mons". The race include all kinds of irreverent rules and procedures. The masterminds behind the circuit were either completely wasted when they conceived the series or were brilliant vissionaries that knew real racing wasn't about sponsors, million dollar budgets, or even the latest in performance technology. Real racing is about man and machine versus man and machine on an even playing field, that and going really fast with no concern for tickets, insurance premiums, or that kid chasing that ball out from between the parked cars. This race isn't about fame or glory but the blood, sweat, grease, and the thrill of it all.

The article inspired Big Daddy and all he could think about was putting together a team in time to make a race - if there was one within reasonable traveling distance. After a little research (i.e. checking the official website) it was obvious that the July race in Kershaw, SC would be the goal. Now all he needed was a car, a team, a modest budget, and a bottle of tequila for bribing the acceptance committee.

The first piece of the puzzle came together over the Christmas holiday when The Wrench joined the conspiracy. Along with his commitment of mechanical skills, tow vehicle and seat time he offered the greatest commodity - a garage to prep and store the machine until its date with destiny. This was an offer so great that Big Daddy was willing to forget the fact that the last racecar The Wrench drove he turned into scrap metal.

And so, the mission has begun. The search for the perfect (i.e. cheap and running) vehicle and co-conspirators begins.