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cage is in

 
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Tom Olsson
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Joined: 03 Nov 2004
Posts: 242
Location: Seattle, WA, US

PostPosted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 12:14 pm    Post subject: cage is in Reply with quote

Sorry I haven't been keeping you guys up to date on the race car. There's been a ton of work, but not much to look at. After 4 months, now we're at the point where it actually looks like we're making progress. Finally! We just got the car back from the cage builder last night. The steel is 1.75"x.095, NASCAR bars on both doors. If you're in the area, Pat Boyle at Pat's Autosport did the cage - www.patsautosport.com. I am really happy with it. It's nice and tight to the body, and his construction and welding quality are excellent.



Tom Sr's very proud of the heater box. It's completey stripped except for the heat core (required in Pro-3) and the fan. The knee bar goes straight through it, and it will still works! Pretty cool.





The car's now off to a buddy's body shop for paint. More pictures to come as it goes together. The clock's ticking. First race is the third weekend in May!
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idanity



Joined: 21 May 2005
Posts: 3097
Location: N.W.U.S.A.

PostPosted: Mon May 29, 2006 10:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

that is awesome..
i hope you never use that cage , but it sure is good to have....

have any more pics, i just sortof opened this link up, and i like it..

but, seems that few reply. owell

nice car, ive seen it in dales vydeos???
didnt i Question
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Tom Olsson
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PostPosted: Mon May 29, 2006 10:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

There's been a few updates up in the E30 section. I didn't take a whole ton of pictures once the car got to my garage, as I was too busy putting the darn thing together to think about it.

Here's the link to the thread when the paint was finished -
http://www.unofficialbmw.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=26627&highlight=

Yes, I just barely made it to the race that Dale had the video in, but wasn't very competitive, as the car was brand new and not really sorted yet. I'm taking it to be fully aligned and cornerweighted this week, so it should be a much happier car the next time out. Here's the best pic from the weekend:


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idanity



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PostPosted: Tue May 30, 2006 6:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

that photo is sooo awesome...

p.s., does the paint on the front bumper/rubber stick or is there some special blue rubber your using...and
why is there a slash through the pro3 ?


Idea now, im getting inspired to get a e30 track car...(salivating )...
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Tom Olsson
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PostPosted: Tue May 30, 2006 8:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Paint will stick to plastic as long as you get it *really* clean. I think I cleaned the bumper 4 times with Acryliclean, and then sprayed on an adhesion promoter before painting. So far, so good.

On the classes thing, there's many classes running in the same race, so you put the class on the side of the car so that the other drivers know what class you're racing in. I run in two races to get extra seat time, so the car has two classes. To avoid confusion, you have to cross out the ones you're not running in at that time.
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Steve D



Joined: 09 Aug 2004
Posts: 102
Location: San Diego

PostPosted: Sat Jun 03, 2006 6:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tom - looks good!

Any of you guys in the NW going to Mid-Ohio for the NASA runoffs (running in GTS)? I'm hoping to make it out, but am still trying to work out the logistics of getting my car from San Diego to Ohio.
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Tom Olsson
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Location: Seattle, WA, US

PostPosted: Sat Jun 03, 2006 10:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hah! I wish I could figure out how to get the car and I down to California to play with you guys, let alone head to mid-Ohio! It's the same old story all over again. I spent so much money building it that I don't have much left to race the darn thing.
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Steve D



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PostPosted: Sun Jun 04, 2006 6:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's just money, you can always steal more! Laughing
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 10, 2006 11:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

does the winners get large sums of cash?

and if i win the lotto, i will sponser you (at least i would buy a big-0le semi and fit my racer in there, and im sure a few other cars could fit...
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Tom Olsson
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 10, 2006 6:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Actually, at our level it's the other way around. You never win anything (other than bragging rights and a plastic trophy), and it costs a ton of money every weekend you run. For my car, it's about $1500 a weekend to race it.
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Steve D



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PostPosted: Sat Jun 10, 2006 6:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yep, I assume you all know the answer to the question of "How do you make a small fortune racing?" Start with a large fortune and whittle it down!

$1500 is about right for a race weekend in an E30. And that's relative cheap. Think of the guys in "real" race cars running a new set of 275+ width Hoosiers every weekend - they spend that in tires alone. Plus gas, brakes, hotel, pitcrew, other consumables, etc... It all adds up.

The Nationals in Mid-Ohio actually DOES have an increasing number of sponsors contributing what has amounted to a fair amount of prize money, though mostly in rebates. The winners of most classes will take home $1k+, however this only partly offsets the costs of participating. I'm estimating it will cost me over $4k to race in this event, if I make it. That could also buy a nice European vacation instead - maybe even with a requisite stop at the Nurburgring. Hmmm....
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