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Did I mention I race rally cars? Red Rocket Rally

Sunday, May 4, 2008
Third Place!
by brian @ 21:09:22 - [perma-link]
Today was my first rallycross on the Hotbits suspension. To say it is
a huge improvement over the busted stock junk I was running before
would be the understatement of the year. I know it felt good at
Olympus, but that was on smooth dirt roads. This was the chance I've
had to compare it to the old stuff. Now the suspension takes the
bumps instead of the car. It works like its supposed to work. The
car pretty much goes where I expect it to go. Mostly.
On the first run this afternoon, the car stopped running. It just
died. The course workers helped me push it out of the way so the
racing could continue, but I couldn't start it again. I figured I was
out of gas, but that wasn't quite right. After a couple of trips
across the field, once with a gas can, and another to get tools, Josh
and I found a blown fuse that was cutting power to the fuel pump. We
think one of the clipped wires under the hood shorted to the body and
blew the fuse. After installing a new fuse, the car fired up and I
got back into the grid with a DNF on the first pass. After that I
drove 3 clean runs just fast enough to take 3rd place in the M2 class.
We have just under 2 weeks to get the car ready for Oregon Trail (May
16-18). There's still a lot to do!

Thursday, May 1, 2008
Repairs almost complete
by brian @ 17:08:53 - [perma-link]
We rolled the car at the Olympus Rally, damaging the front edge of the
roof. Last week I got it roughly back into shape and had a new
windshield installed. Yesterday and today I tried to smooth out the
top with some body filler. While I was filling it in, I decided to
try to even the roof up with the aluminum sunroof patch panel, so it
looked like one big smooth roof. Unfortunately I didn't get quite
enough filler to go all the way around, so the back edge isn't
smooth. I'll get some more filler and work it in tomorrow.
I got to the point where every further pass with the glaze is filling
one crack but making a new one, so I decided to hit it with the primer
and see how it looks. It still needs work. I'll sand down the primer
and give it one more glaze coat when I do the back edge. Then I'll
paint it saturday so its ready for rallycross on Sunday.

Sunday, April 27, 2008
Party in GG Park
by ccons @ 15:35:14 - [perma-link]
Jenny-pants misses SF so much... :)

Monday, April 21, 2008
Olympus Rally 2008
by brian @ 12:42:56 - [perma-link]
Josh and I raced in the Olympus Rally this past weekend. We had the
new Hotbits suspension on the car, and it made a world of difference.
The car drove predictably and consistently. The roads were fast and
smooth. We were doing really well until we rolled on the 8th stage.
The E-Crew rolled us back over,
Josh popped the spark plugs to clear the oil out of the cylinders, and
the car fired back up. If we'd had our wits about us we should have
finished the next stage and completed the first day rally, but the
roll shook us up a bit. We drove directly back to service and took a
DNF.
It sucks, but the damage isn't too bad. If we'd had a spare
windshield we might have been back in it the second day. The driver's
window got smashed when we rolled the car back over, but we have
window nets. I'll replace the side windows with lexan. Maybe the
tailgate, too The windshield is the only one that has to stay glass.
Tomorrow I'll get this broken windshield out, beat the roof back into
shape so a new one will fit. And I'll order two so something like
this doesn't end our day again. I just need to figure out how to
store and transport a spare windshield.
Oregon Trail rally is May 16-18.
ps - never set tire pressures when the tires are hot. i'll learn it
eventually.

Friday, April 18, 2008
White people like...
by ccons @ 22:02:15 - [perma-link]
Sundance Cinemas: Kabuki Theatre

Friday, March 28, 2008
Its snowing!
by brian @ 08:30:27 - [perma-link]
Hooray for spring!

Thursday, March 27, 2008
Hay!
by brian @ 17:21:48 - [perma-link]
Flash and the rain have conspired to makemy backyard a muddy mess. Today I picked up a bale of straw (apparently hay has seeds, straw doesn't) and spread it out where the grass wasn't growing. I don't know if it will help the grass, but it certainly cuts down on muddy pawprints.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Front suspension rebuild
by brian @ 17:57:21 - [perma-link]
I've ordered some nice suspension parts from Hotbits for the rally car, but they won't be here for a couple of
weeks. We have a rallycross this weekend, so I'm rebuilding the
suspension with another set of KYB strut inserts and some new GR2s in
the back. Its the same stuff we've blown out at most of the rally
events. In fact I'm pretty sure they were already dead at Doo Wops,
based on the way the car bounces around in some of the videos I've seen.

There are some changes this time, though. I've replaced the springs
with 200lb/in instead of the 300lb-in that were on there. This puts
it in the range of the rally springs Josh and I found in a 1988 Toyota
performance catalog. The 300's are better for smooth roads, but are
too harsh for bumpy gravel. 200 is towards the upper end of the
range, but I didn't want to make too much of a change at once and be
bottoming out everywhere.

So first step is to remove the old strut assembly from the car. I
sort of cheated by loosening the top nut with the impact, and letting
the spring pop the whole assembly out of the top mount. Then remove
the two bolts connecting the strut to the knuckle. After that, slide
off the spring and remove the top nut from the strut housing and
remove the old, beat, nasty insert.

I put the new inserts in with some oil for better cooling. The oil
can transfer the heat from the insert to the housing better than an
air gap. Hopefully this will keep the inserts from heating up too
much and blowing out. The insert goes in, then crank down the top nut
to lock it in using a vise and a socket extension through the holes in
the lower tabs. Slide on the new spring and stick the strut assembly
back in the car, attaching the lower part to the knuckle first. Then
I use a floor jack under the control arm to push the strut up through
the strut mount, then crank down the top nut with the impact gun.

The rear doesn't use inserts. I replaced the whole assembly with new
GR-2s. The left rear strut was completely blown. The piston has no
resistance until it gets about 2" from the bottom, when the piston
finally hits the small amount of oil remaining inside. The right rear
strut seems to have held up fine. It has resistance all the way up,
and felt the same as the new one. Once compressed, the gas charge
pushes it back out, just like the new one. I swapped in the new one
anyway, but I'll keep the old one as a spare.

Finally, I pulled out the front sway bar. It turned out to be much
more difficult than I had expected. It tucks up behind the exhaust so
the only way to remove it was to take apart the exhaust connection in
front of the catalytic converter. I'm glad I removed it in he
garage. I was planning to run the morning session of the rallycross
with the sway bar, then remove it for the afternoon session to
compare. It would have sucked fighting with the sway bar and the hot
exhaust while lying underneath the car in the mud.

I also discovered a missing exhaust gasket. I'll get a replacement
tomorrow, or maybe tonight.

Friday, March 21, 2008
San Bruno BART
by ccons @ 14:36:44 - [perma-link]
Keeps out pigeons, among other things... :)

Thursday, March 20, 2008
Look! Mismatched branding!
by brian @ 21:53:53 - [perma-link]
I finally fixed my phone. No more broken joystick button thing! No
more randomly calling people from my pocket! No more smacking the
phone around to release stuck buttons! Yay!
I started by taking apart the "donor" Sprint PPC-6700. Its the same
basic model as my Verizon XV6700, but silver instead of black. I was
planning to completely disassemble it to get the good joystick, then
dismantle mine and install the working button in place of my broken
one. Unfortunately that button is just about the last piece you get
to as you disassemble. About 9 screws into the process, I reached the
"pull out the mainboard" step and saw a shortcut.
I could just swap the mainboards, since that board holds the radio
module and save myself lots of work. The radio module is the only
part that is different between the Verizon and Sprint models (really
its just the "ESN" coded in the radio that Verizon associates with my
phone number). The case, keyboard, buttons, camera, and whatever else
are the same. Swapping just the mainboard saved me from having to
disassemble the screen from the keyboard. I didn't have to snake the
ribbon cables out of the different case layers, or route them back in.
Now I have Sprint-badged Verizon phone. I went ahead and reassembled
the spare parts back into my old case and booted it up for a picture
(and to wipe out the memory).
This fix should last me until someone releases a phone running
Google's Android OS (hopefully in the next 6 months, based on how long
the previous phones lasted before breaking).

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Sunday, May 4, 2008
	Third Place! by brian @ 21:09:22 - [perma-link] Today was my first rallycross on the Hotbits suspension. To say it is a huge improvement over the busted stock junk I was running before would be the understatement of the year. I know it felt good at Olympus, but that was on smooth dirt roads. This was the chance I've had to compare it to the old stuff. Now the suspension takes the bumps instead of the car. It works like its supposed to work. The car pretty much goes where I expect it to go. Mostly. On the first run this afternoon, the car stopped running. It just died. The course workers helped me push it out of the way so the racing could continue, but I couldn't start it again. I figured I was out of gas, but that wasn't quite right. After a couple of trips across the field, once with a gas can, and another to get tools, Josh and I found a blown fuse that was cutting power to the fuel pump. We think one of the clipped wires under the hood shorted to the body and blew the fuse. After installing a new fuse, the car fired up and I got back into the grid with a DNF on the first pass. After that I drove 3 clean runs just fast enough to take 3rd place in the M2 class. We have just under 2 weeks to get the car ready for Oregon Trail (May 16-18). There's still a lot to do!


Thursday, May 1, 2008
	Repairs almost complete by brian @ 17:08:53 - [perma-link] We rolled the car at the Olympus Rally, damaging the front edge of the roof. Last week I got it roughly back into shape and had a new windshield installed. Yesterday and today I tried to smooth out the top with some body filler. While I was filling it in, I decided to try to even the roof up with the aluminum sunroof patch panel, so it looked like one big smooth roof. Unfortunately I didn't get quite enough filler to go all the way around, so the back edge isn't smooth. I'll get some more filler and work it in tomorrow. I got to the point where every further pass with the glaze is filling one crack but making a new one, so I decided to hit it with the primer and see how it looks. It still needs work. I'll sand down the primer and give it one more glaze coat when I do the back edge. Then I'll paint it saturday so its ready for rallycross on Sunday.


Sunday, April 27, 2008
	Party in GG Park by ccons @ 15:35:14 - [perma-link] Jenny-pants misses SF so much... :)

Monday, April 21, 2008
	Olympus Rally 2008 by brian @ 12:42:56 - [perma-link] Josh and I raced in the Olympus Rally this past weekend. We had the new Hotbits suspension on the car, and it made a world of difference. The car drove predictably and consistently. The roads were fast and smooth. We were doing really well until we rolled on the 8th stage. The E-Crew rolled us back over, Josh popped the spark plugs to clear the oil out of the cylinders, and the car fired back up. If we'd had our wits about us we should have finished the next stage and completed the first day rally, but the roll shook us up a bit. We drove directly back to service and took a DNF. It sucks, but the damage isn't too bad. If we'd had a spare windshield we might have been back in it the second day. The driver's window got smashed when we rolled the car back over, but we have window nets. I'll replace the side windows with lexan. Maybe the tailgate, too The windshield is the only one that has to stay glass. Tomorrow I'll get this broken windshield out, beat the roof back into shape so a new one will fit. And I'll order two so something like this doesn't end our day again. I just need to figure out how to store and transport a spare windshield. Oregon Trail rally is May 16-18. ps - never set tire pressures when the tires are hot. i'll learn it eventually.


Friday, April 18, 2008
	White people like... by ccons @ 22:02:15 - [perma-link] Sundance Cinemas: Kabuki Theatre

Friday, March 28, 2008
	Its snowing! by brian @ 08:30:27 - [perma-link] Hooray for spring!

Thursday, March 27, 2008
	Hay! by brian @ 17:21:48 - [perma-link] Flash and the rain have conspired to makemy backyard a muddy mess. Today I picked up a bale of straw (apparently hay has seeds, straw doesn't) and spread it out where the grass wasn't growing. I don't know if it will help the grass, but it certainly cuts down on muddy pawprints.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008
	Front suspension rebuild by brian @ 17:57:21 - [perma-link] I've ordered some nice suspension parts from Hotbits for the rally car, but they won't be here for a couple of weeks. We have a rallycross this weekend, so I'm rebuilding the suspension with another set of KYB strut inserts and some new GR2s in the back. Its the same stuff we've blown out at most of the rally events. In fact I'm pretty sure they were already dead at Doo Wops, based on the way the car bounces around in some of the videos I've seen. There are some changes this time, though. I've replaced the springs with 200lb/in instead of the 300lb-in that were on there. This puts it in the range of the rally springs Josh and I found in a 1988 Toyota performance catalog. The 300's are better for smooth roads, but are too harsh for bumpy gravel. 200 is towards the upper end of the range, but I didn't want to make too much of a change at once and be bottoming out everywhere. So first step is to remove the old strut assembly from the car. I sort of cheated by loosening the top nut with the impact, and letting the spring pop the whole assembly out of the top mount. Then remove the two bolts connecting the strut to the knuckle. After that, slide off the spring and remove the top nut from the strut housing and remove the old, beat, nasty insert. I put the new inserts in with some oil for better cooling. The oil can transfer the heat from the insert to the housing better than an air gap. Hopefully this will keep the inserts from heating up too much and blowing out. The insert goes in, then crank down the top nut to lock it in using a vise and a socket extension through the holes in the lower tabs. Slide on the new spring and stick the strut assembly back in the car, attaching the lower part to the knuckle first. Then I use a floor jack under the control arm to push the strut up through the strut mount, then crank down the top nut with the impact gun. The rear doesn't use inserts. I replaced the whole assembly with new GR-2s. The left rear strut was completely blown. The piston has no resistance until it gets about 2" from the bottom, when the piston finally hits the small amount of oil remaining inside. The right rear strut seems to have held up fine. It has resistance all the way up, and felt the same as the new one. Once compressed, the gas charge pushes it back out, just like the new one. I swapped in the new one anyway, but I'll keep the old one as a spare. Finally, I pulled out the front sway bar. It turned out to be much more difficult than I had expected. It tucks up behind the exhaust so the only way to remove it was to take apart the exhaust connection in front of the catalytic converter. I'm glad I removed it in he garage. I was planning to run the morning session of the rallycross with the sway bar, then remove it for the afternoon session to compare. It would have sucked fighting with the sway bar and the hot exhaust while lying underneath the car in the mud. I also discovered a missing exhaust gasket. I'll get a replacement tomorrow, or maybe tonight.


Friday, March 21, 2008
	San Bruno BART by ccons @ 14:36:44 - [perma-link] Keeps out pigeons, among other things... :)

Thursday, March 20, 2008
	Look! Mismatched branding! by brian @ 21:53:53 - [perma-link] I finally fixed my phone. No more broken joystick button thing! No more randomly calling people from my pocket! No more smacking the phone around to release stuck buttons! Yay! I started by taking apart the "donor" Sprint PPC-6700. Its the same basic model as my Verizon XV6700, but silver instead of black. I was planning to completely disassemble it to get the good joystick, then dismantle mine and install the working button in place of my broken one. Unfortunately that button is just about the last piece you get to as you disassemble. About 9 screws into the process, I reached the "pull out the mainboard" step and saw a shortcut. I could just swap the mainboards, since that board holds the radio module and save myself lots of work. The radio module is the only part that is different between the Verizon and Sprint models (really its just the "ESN" coded in the radio that Verizon associates with my phone number). The case, keyboard, buttons, camera, and whatever else are the same. Swapping just the mainboard saved me from having to disassemble the screen from the keyboard. I didn't have to snake the ribbon cables out of the different case layers, or route them back in. Now I have Sprint-badged Verizon phone. I went ahead and reassembled the spare parts back into my old case and booted it up for a picture (and to wipe out the memory). This fix should last me until someone releases a phone running Google's Android OS (hopefully in the next 6 months, based on how long the previous phones lasted before breaking).

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