FinalGear Racing 2010/24 Hours Of LeMons

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Punisher Bass said:
As for the fitment issues, the stock car comes with 11 inch rotors and single piston calipers. We've upgraded to 12 inch rotors and dual piston calipers, both are from the Camaro/Firebird.
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Gotcha. I didn't realize (read properly) that you went bigger. Makes sense then.

EyeMWing said:
Factory service manuals. Seriously, they're incredible - easily a dozen times better than ye olde Chiltons or Haynes.
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I've only ever seen the stuff you can get from the library and such.

And thanks again guys. :)
 
That American Girl said:
I've only ever seen the stuff you can get from the library and such.

And thanks again guys. :)
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Every once in awhile you get lucky and can get FSMs at libraries. Usually, though, they come from places like the Internet (Yarr) or Ebay or convincing the parts desk at the dealership to order you one for an arm and a leg. Totally worth having, though. Chiltons-style manuals will cut it for light service, but once you get into anything heavy, or complicated, they get stupid, and you can't dechipher the pictures, or don't explain things clearly, or are outright wrong. They also tend to generalize things to fit multiple engine, years, trim levels, or bodystyles with minor differences - but the factory manuals will gladly give you totally bespoke copies of the instructions for each, even if they're identical. For this reason they're always DAMN LENGTHY, too.
 
I just wanted to remind people that the team has its own Twitter account. It's what we'll probably be using to update everyone during the races since it's rare to have working internet at the track.
 
My mini "todo" list for this week: Change rear pads, start the rollcage, order new seat+harness.
 
I'm extremely late to the party as usual but best of luck with the car guys. I'll keep an eye on the thread for driver selection details. I wanted to do Lemons a couple of times but never got around to it.
 
RacerSpencer said:
IIRC, the ACC has free wifi. I will double check for you.
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Free wifi and "free wifi that doesn't fall over when 50 teams worth of people, plus spectators all try to post pictures to the Internet at the same time, not to mention the access point is 100 yards away in a building and you're in the middle of the paddock surrounded by car haulers" are two EXTERMELY different things.

Best bet for Internet connectivity would be to tether someone's phone up.
 
At The Lamest Day we were all lucky just to get any sort of cell phone reception, it was literally out in the middle of Amish country. I know why the pavement was so nice and smooth on the main roads, because horse and buggies were the only damn things that travel on them most of the time.
 
Now just wait until the wider tires go on and shit starts rubbing
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Are you going to get any advantage from wider tires on the rear? It will only create more drag and will cost you more money.

p.s. Please do not reply with "But it's cool, yo!" It's LeMons after all.
 
EyeMWing said:
Free wifi and "free wifi that doesn't fall over when 50 teams worth of people, plus spectators all try to post pictures to the Internet at the same time, not to mention the access point is 100 yards away in a building and you're in the middle of the paddock surrounded by car haulers" are two EXTERMELY different things.

Best bet for Internet connectivity would be to tether someone's phone up.
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I have a n95 that can share the cell internet over the wifi, i haven't had more then 2 laptops on it at a time but it should be able to support 4-5. it isn't 3g speeds but its a few times faster then dial up and you could get away with posting pictures from it. After the last few months driving i know i have coverage in just about every little poedunk town with 9 people in it. as long as t-mobile is any where near the area it should work. also it can be wep/wpa encrypted so it won't crash from every one else randomly connecting to it.

Sorry i haven't been around been driving almost every night and sleeping most of the days, drove 550 last night and i think that was pretty close to the max you can legally drive in a day. had a intresting night 2 days ago with a fiat and some dodges that went wild after 7 hours of driving rain, fiat started flashing high beams, hazards and dash lights.
 
jonup said:
Are you going to get any advantage from wider tires on the rear? It will only create more drag and will cost you more money.
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What, noone mentioned all the hard work we put into the RWD conversion?
 
It's a bit short notice for someone to go grab their CDL.

... And import a vehicle that size from the UK.

Fortunately being a trailer registering it would be cake (Worst case pry the VIN off and apply for a new one as a "home made")
 
My dad's got a CDL. :D

That would take a month just to buy and get through customs...

And I called ACC today and they claim they have "wifi fast enough to be used by many people at a time" in the paddock, or so they say.
 
RacerSpencer said:
That would take a month just to buy and get through customs...
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And even then, I don't even want to THINK about how much it would cost to ship, since it's too big to fit in a container and piece freight isn't exactly cheap.
 
Uhm. that's a bit out of the budget.

Trying to plan out the transportation of the car, not that enthusiastic about putting down $5k on a truck/trailer, then having to pay $1200/year to store it.
 
Quiky said:
Uhm. that's a bit out of the budget.

Trying to plan out the transportation of the car, not that enthusiastic about putting down $5k on a truck/trailer, then having to pay $1200/year to store it.
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Yeah, parking a behemoth like that in your neighborhood would make people a bit angry. $100/mo isn't TOO bad, as far as quadruple-length parking goes. Have you called around to VFC's, churches, etc.? Ridiculous farmers out in the middle of nowhere? (Seriously. MD-27 between Mt Airy and Westminster has plenty of what's apparently still family-owned farms)
 
Depends on how many weeds we want to find growing out of the block after a few months of sitting there, and many of the farms and locations aren't secured or monitored. So it would be a bitch to go get it and find it has been vandalized or stolen weeks prior..
 
We got accpeted to the DC/Summit Point race this morning, that means it's time for...

2010 Final Gear Racing Driver Applications.

UPDATE: Price reduced.


So you want to drive with Final Gear sometime this year? There are a few things you need to know first.

You don't have to have previous track time, but it would be preferred. If the most racing you've done is lapping The Ring in 8:17 in Forza, then don't assume that means you'll be great on a real track as a result. LeMons is an endurance race and not a demo derby, bashing the car around will only cause damage and get you black flagged or even thrown out of the race. LeMons also isn't a sprint, being overly aggressive and getting pissed at everyone who's in your way is another great way to get black flagged.

The point is to set a good pace and keep racking up laps and not to destroy the car.

You will be required to provide your own race gear. That means a full certified race suit, gloves, shoes, and helmet that meet the LeMons safety requirements. If you don't have this already, you can pick up everything you need for $425 from right here or a slightly better set of gear for $635 right here. LeMons has a deal worked out with these guys that gets you the full package at a large discount, and it's already LeMons approved, so no worries about having something not up to spec. If you need to know what they allow then you can read the full list of LeMons rules right here.

You will also need to come up with $600 + $200 to be paid to Quiky. The first amount will cover your entry and license fees and food along with getting you time behind the wheel (penalties, breakdowns, or any other horrible things permitting). This money will also cover costs for fuel, tires, brakes, and other assorted car items. The $200 is a damage deposit and will be fully refunded after the race is over, that is if you didn't plow into another car, roll the car over, or crash into the wall ect ect. Also the max number of drivers a team can have is 6 with a minimum of 4.

If you're unable to afford this, then please don't apply to be a driver, but if you still want to come to the race and be with us in the pits then you can be a crew member for just $90. This will allow you access for the pits from Friday to Sunday and cover food, the number of crew members is unlimited and they enjoy all the same privileges as the drivers except for track time. Spectator tickets are $35 but are only good for Saturday and Sunday, they allow you to walk around the pits but you're not allowed to do any wrenching and it won't cover food.

I know this coming off as a bit heavy handed, but we've made some poor choices in the past when it came to picking drivers and we don't want to make the same mistakes again. We figure if we put all the facts up front then we don't have to worry about some joker showing up in a t shirt and jeans after chipping in $50 for gas and thinking nothing more is needed.

So in short, this is what you need to have before you fill out an application.

1 - A full set of certified race gear or the money to buy one if you don't own one already.
2 - $600 for fees + $200 for a damage deposit.
3 - A level head and good attitude.

If you're interested, then send a PM to Quiky.

NOTE: We're only taking apps for the Capitol Offense race in June, details can be found here.
 
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Breakdown of the costs associated with the race;
$250/person goes straight to Lemons/DriversDoor ($100 driver, $100 Team, $50 Driver Licensing)

1 good race tire (rubber only) cost about $110, and each driver will probably use 2 tires over the race weekend (6 drivers = 12 tires+).
Fuel over the weekend for the car is about $450 (Racing uses up to 9 gallons/hour, and the car requires premium).
So far we are at $550/driver in just fees and consumables used in the race.

As it stands, I own the car and have put a large investment into the car to get it race-ready, so I cannot afford to let others race the car at my expense. Short bit of the investment; $500 initial car purchase (minus whatever change I can get from reselling parts off it), $500 brakes, $450 race seat+harness to keep your ass in the car, Roughly ~$1300 for the rollcage, then the cost of wheels and other safety items, transportation expenses, and the fluids+basics to get it running.

The remaining $200 from the driver fee goes as a 'rental charge' to offset some of the car and trackside expenses. We will be doing a bit of cooking, so you won't starve at the track.

The damage deposit is held if any of the following occurs, and is at our discretion;
-Contact with another vehicle, wall, barrier, or structure causing damage to/or failure of powertrain components (Including cooling, braking, engine, transmission, transaxle, cv joints, tie rods, etc..)
-Damage to the vehicle as a result of black flags/penalties during your driving stint(s), including penalties applied to the car as a result of poor driving

I understand it's not cheap, but it is the closest thing you will get to SCCA or other motorsports events without having to shell out even higher fees.

We are not going to the race to win. We are going to have fun and enjoy casual wheel-to-wheel racing. If you want to race with us, you need to have a laid back attitude and be able to control your head on the track.

We are accepting applications immediately. Send a PM to me with your location, why you want to race, any past experience, and what you can contribute to the team (Your automotive skills, bringing tools, etc). All fees will be due by April 23rd, with no exceptions. You either pay up, or you don't drive.

We need all applications in by the 17th for Summit Point WV, and we will let you know within a couple days if you are accepted. We have had alot of requests, so the sooner you get an application in, the better chance you have.
 
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