Final August Coronet Update

The month of August is quickly coming to a close and so is the to-do list for the Coronet. After this weekend's progress the team takes a weekend off to relax and then we'll pick back up with final car prep and pit stop practice the weekend before the race.

Thanks to the last team, we have some killer graphics that we've tweaked for the new purple theme. 

Putting some Sharpie skills to work, we finally labeled the kill switch so there's no confusion about how to quickly cut power to the whole car in an emergency.

Kill switch, safely set in the OFF position.

At the same time we decided the acrylic panel we cut to fill the hole in the trunk was way too brittle and we sourced some scrap aluminum to rivet in using my previous template.

Free scrounged scrap aluminum from an old BBQ cooker!

With the panel in, we're hoping any air in the cockpit will now be ducted over the trunk lid and help overall aerodynamic performance of the car.

Next time you see it, we'll have it covered in stickers!

We all took turns sitting in the driver seat to determine exactly what positions we will need it in for the race.  We all agreed on two positions for the seat and that in both, the shifter knob was just a little too far away.

Shifter now just a fist-width from the steering wheel for quick shifts.

A few minutes with a vice and a blow torch easily put another bend in the shifter rod to bend it to where it now sits just a few inches from the steering wheel and a little closer to the driver to put it right in reach of everyone.

Luke tests the setup with the belts, HANS, and helmet.

New pit crew member, Rob, was on hand to get familiar with the car and team and lead the effort to get a new head light bulb on the driver side, made short work of thoroughly cleaning out the interior which had gotten pretty bad after all the fabrication work, and generally helped out on all our projects today.

Fueling with friends. Special appearance by the NMS Miata.

The car made a street-legal trip down to the gas station for a quick fill up and another test of the new fuel jugs.   Unfortunately we found that the car was still pulling hard to the left, which we now suspect is down to a caster adjustment.  The other bad news hit when we test fit the new used wheels we bought.  Only one of the four actually matched the bolt pattern on the car.  Total bummer.  We'll look to sell those off by advertising the correct bolt pattern and probably pick up a different set of backup wheels in the next two weeks.

Onward and upward!  We're 98% there!