We’re back in the pack there somewhere. I think this video is best if you hum the theme song for “Benny Hill” while watching it.
And here’s a shot of us getting cut off by some guy not using his turn signals.
Wait…let’s see that from another angle…
Category: Class 11
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Ready for the Battle at Primm
Trailered for PrimmFinal work on the car Thursday included mounting springs to hold the pumper hoses and moving the pumper switch from the unit (behind the co-driver) to the dashboard. Creech and Bob, towing the soon-to-be-rebadged 1107, should have arrived at Primm sometime around 2 a.m. Everyone else is headed out today.
I’ll be providing updates here and on Twitter (@desertdingo ) throughout the weekend. First race is just after 11 a.m. Pacific time Saturday.
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Ok, we’ve had better weekends
Bob vs. the engine
This weekend belonged to Bob, Creech, and Shawn. The whole weekend.
They installed the rebuilt transmission from Bradford Racing in Prunedale. On Saturday they drove nearly two hours to Hollister Hills SVRA for a shakedown test. The video says it all. Drive a couple hundred yards, stop. Check the transmission. Drive another couple hundred yards. Stop. Repeat. It kept popping out of second gear.
They packed it up after just one run and headed back to Bradford’s place. He drove it. It still popped out. The team trailered the car back to Creech’s and Bob dropped the engine and tranny in a record 75 minutes. They drove it back to Bradford’s and he committed to rebuilding it overnight.
Creech picked it up this morning and Bob worked his magic to get it re-installed. The engine, coaxed into place by Bob, Creech and me (while Shawn made a rocket run for transmission fluid), went in like buttah. (Bob had his own description for how smoothly it went).
Creech and Bob took it for a test drive just as it started to sprinkle. No joy. Still popping out of second gear. It really started to rain as we loaded 1102 onto the trailer. An hour drive to Prunedale. Steve says he’ll deliver us a working transmission, whatever it takes.
The team starts heading out for Vegas and the Battle at Primm on Thursday. A handful of photos here…
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Evolution of the car
More work tomorrow on the car to get it ready for the Battle at Primm. A perfect time to do a retrospective on the evolution of the car.
Skid bought it for $300 from a guy who was about to have it hauled to a junk dealer, apparently because his landlord thought it was an eyesore. The car was a rolling frame with an engine and transmission, but not much else. We stripped it down to the pan and built it back up from there.
In line for the 2007 Baja 1000. We didn’t come to appreciate this til after the race, but we didn’t have much in the way of clearance, which was our downfall. Went with red rims in honor of Eric Solorzano. Notice the night lights mounted directly to the roof, also with no protection. One low hanging branch and we could kiss them goodbye. The black on the hood was to reduce glare from the lights.
Note the substantially greater clearance, the new vintage Jeep tires that give us an extra 3/4s of an inch of clearance. Front shock reservoirs have been moved to the inside of the fenders for increased cooling. Trunk is double-fastened with clips and a rubber bungie cord. New light bar with lights repositioned further forward. The car being prepped for Primm is pretty much in this configuration.
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Baja 1000 on NBC this Sunday (aka tomorrow)
The Baja 1000 is on NBC this Sunday at 10 a.m. Pacfic Time. Aura 360 included a clip of Scott “Never Lift” Anderson going sub-orbital off the Red Bull jump in the Ensenada wash. There should be a segment on Eric Solorzano in this year’s show.
Some clips from the show (and the soon to be released documentary) are here.