Probeable Cause Racing

Three weeks ago, myself and a few other guys pulled together a stack of pennies and bought a 1996 Ford Probe for $500. It had a smashed in windshield, snapped timing belt, and a rough interior.  Jason and Zack swapped in the new timing belt a week ago and got the engine to cough and stumble.  Just enough hope that we planned a work day this Friday to hopefully pull it together for the Sunday rallycross.

The 2.5L Mazda V6 powered Ford Probe GT.

Friday Jason and I picked up a few more small parts while our local Safe Lite guy installed a new windshield.  We added some fresh gas to the tank, adjusted the distributor a little and managed to get the car idling.

Probe maintenance in progress.

Jason got to work buttoning up the engine bay while I went to work on re-assembling the interior.  Amazingly, the sunroof still worked, but the passenger window was bolted into place inside the door and the driver door was only held up by one ball point pen jammed into the track. I found almost all the parts but in the end we opted to zip-tie the glass in place to be a little more secure.

The only thing holding up the whole window. 

Saturday night, Kyle and I spent some time rigging an old Miata battery into the car. The Probe is almost completely rust free, runs and drives, and for $500 is in pretty good shape other than the battery tray was rusted and the bolts to hold it to the body snapped off. Fortunately we found a block of wood and more zip-ties to secure it down and then loaded the car on the trailer.

Wood. What Can't it do?

Sunday morning we arrived at the rallycross and immediately got to work replacing the fuel filter, re-set the timing and put some numbers on the car. Kyle and I were first off the line and immediately had an issue with the car completely bogging down on the turns.

Ready to take on the dirt!

 Taking a guess that the 1/4 tank of gas wasn't enough to keep the fuel pump happy, we ran to the gas station and made it back to finish all of our runs, now with mostly full power. Jason also noticed it was only running on 5 of the 6 cylinders, found the one spark plug wire that was disconnected, plugged it in, and it was off and running for the whole rest of the day without issue.

Kyle floors it through the muddy starting line on Sunday.

At the end of the day, the car held up tremendously well. Jason took first in our class, Kyle took third (due to our lack of power in the morning), and I again missed a few gates on course but did managed to barely cone away the fastest raw time run of the group.

Racking up the trophies already!

With the dark tinted windows, no license plate (yet), and a shady-looking paint job, we all think it looks like a drug dealer's car.  Welcome to Probeable Cause Racing. We'll have it back out at Myrtle Beach with SCR-SCCA on December 2nd to wrap up the 2017 autocross season!

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Fun Filled Job Applications

An FCA product I drive

While doing some job searching earlier this year, I had applied for some jobs just on the odd chance that they'd hire me to do something I really love doing, such as driving or working for a Formula 1 team. Things went a different way and my real job is not in racing or driving or car related at all, but I just had to share this latest bit of news from one of my applications.

The job was as a temporary endurance test driver at the FIAT Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) test track in Michigan. From the job description they needed someone who could drive cars or trucks, on a test track, all day long. I can imagine that before any new vehicle is put into production gets a lot of computer simulation testing, and then a lot of real world testing to make sure it operates as intended. On top of basic functioning, I imagine the auto makers would want to test their vehicles on real roads, in real weather, and find out how they hold up on more than just a lame 2 mile test drive around the factory. 

From what I remember about the job posting, the ideal employee would have to be able to drive standard and automatic transmissions, up to 8 hours a day, as well as perform basic car care such as filling it with gas and checking the tire pressures, oil pressures, and other fluid levels. Hey, that's stuff I do every day anyway, so why not get paid to do it! Just so you know, I applied for this position on June 13th, so if you're applying for a job that you need tomorrow, you might want to plan a bit more in advance for most gigs!

Long story short, this did not turn out to be my dream job. Here's today's rejection letter, many months later. Oh well, maybe next time!

Dear Robert,

Thank you for taking the time to consider opportunities with FCA.  Your interest in FCA as a potential employer is appreciated. The Temporary Endurance Driver in Chelsea, Michigan that you applied for is no longer available. We will, however, maintain your application in our database in the event that a future opening matches your qualifications. Please click here to review any new openings that may be of interest to you as opportunities change frequently.

Sincerely,
FCA Talent Acquisition

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The Grand Tour (AKA: Top Gear ) Guys Return!

Yes, there are lots of TV, Internet, streaming, and other media ways to watch car shows, but the BEST way is if it includes these three particular blokes: Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson, and "Captain Slow" James May. You know, the guys from the old British Top Gear show, now on Amazon Prime as The Grand Tour. Last year was the first season of this new format, so it's going to be great to have them return in Season 2, starting December 8th.

Other than general silliness all focused on automobiles, well, mostly about automobiles, the show tends to feature high performance exotics, as well as ridiculously cheap cars. Spanning the globe as it were, they'll cover popular cars and things we've never even heard of or imagined.

One change to this season is that "The American" recurring bit will not return. If you've seen the old Top Gear shows you know they had an unknown driver dressed in white who never spoke, known only as "The Stig." There seems to be some legal requirement that any show other than Top Gear can't have a silent, white clad, fast driver character without violating some trademark, so the Grand Tour last year came up with an obnoxious stereo-typical American type that was brash and bold and drove quickly. The concept was OK, but it was the weakest part of the show, so maybe this year we'll get some other character to drive cars quickly!

You can watch the season 2 trailer now on Amazon Prime or on their YouTube channel at YouTube

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NMS-North Places 7-11?

Top Two Drivers: Jason Lisner and Stephen Fehr

What's this 7-11 thing all about? Is it 7-11 the convenience store? Are those the operating hours at my favorite BBQ joint? No, 7-11 will be my final place in the standings for autocross in 2017.

In a nutshell, this shows the current standings for the top drivers in the TSCC autocross championship. The monthly events started in March, and there will be one more event on November 19th to wrap it up. The club awards the TOP TEN every year, so there is a chance that I'll make it even though I won't be driving the last event. Here's how:

Tidewater Sports Car Club Current Standings, Top Eleven Places

The GREEN column shows the current top SIX events points standings. Somehow I'm up to 10th so that's very cool! You can see it's very close from 9-11 too!

The BLUE column shows points for ALL events so far, but since only the top SEVEN events will count, these numbers don't mean a lot until you project how everyone will do at the last event coming up on November 19th.

I won't be in Virginia to drive, and apparently my remotely controlled robot Lamborghini would be "illegal" to enter, so I can say my final best SEVEN will be the blue number. From there it's possible to calculate the best and worst that the other drivers will do on the last event, ranging from 0 for not competing to 100 for being the fastest. With the top ten though, they're all averaging in the 90s per event.

Bad news for me, one of those fast drivers that can score 100, (and has done it before), is Tony right behind me, so he will drive fast and pass me up, which will drop me to 11th. That's still really good since I was shooting for top 15, and he's faster than me anyway too!

Other than that, if someone ahead of me has a bad day or doesn't compete, I'll move back up to the top ten (with my blue number score). Yes, this can be kind of confusing, but once you understand it, I think it's a great way to run a club championship, since it allows ALL drivers in all the many classes to compete. The NMS team has driven with several different clubs, and I like how the TSCC does it best.

Those drivers ahead of me that have missed two events are so far ahead that they will easily tack on enough points to beat my "blue" score in November, so it wouldn't be so nice to wish they missed the last event just so I could beat them. Either way, I suppose the big NASCAR and IndyCar teams will want to be calling me up to offer a contract soon, so I better stop right here and let you go!

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Good Bye Stock/Street Class

My goal for 2018 is to spend more time on track with the Miata and the Coronet. To do that, I'd like to add more safety modifications to the Miata, which will bump me out of street class.  Well heck, if I'm out of street class might as well add some go-fast parts too, right?

I removed the factory wheel, careful not to detonate the airbag. Remember, that IS an explosive device on your steering wheel.

With safety gear, you need to consider all of the components as a system and not just individual pieces.  The factory seats and standard three point seat belts work together with the airbag to create a safety system that is both effective and comfortable and convenient enough for street driving.  Altering just one piece of that configuration is compromising the whole system so I need to address everything together. 

All installed, here's the new view from the driver's seat. 

The seat belts will be replaced with six-point harnesses to keep my body firmly glued to the seat at all times.  The HANS device works with the harness to prevent my neck from over-extending and significantly reduces whip-lash. With the full harness, my head won't risk impact with the wheel, making the air bag more dangerous than helpful, so the new wheel is added to remove the explosive charge and make entry and exit easier.  New seats will be installed to more securely hold me in place laterally, drop me lower in the car (safe clearance under the rollbar and hardtop), and also are designed to accommodate the ideal geometry for the harness.

Pull on the NRG collar tabs attached to the wheel to release it from the car. Firmly push it back on to snap and lock it into position.

In the next few weeks the seats and harnesses will arrive.  I'll take everything down to Panic Motorsports and let their years of experience install and fit everything properly. More to come this month with those performance mods too! November is going to be busy. 

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NMS-North Unveils New York HQ

77HS Magnets, Now Living in New York

Somewhere on the outskirts of Gotham City, the FIAT "Bat-Cave" was recently established as the new HQ for NMS-North. For the first time, here are some exclusive photos of the downsized garage.
Getting to live in different places all the time makes you appreciate even having a garage in the first place, much less one that is big enough for all your stuff! NMS had the luxury of a two car garage in SC and VA, but the new garage appears to be about 50% smaller than two cars!

Look for further developments at NMS-North over the winter, as we target competing with the Long Island Autocrossers and further adventures in driving in 2018.

Current "1 Car Garage" Without 1 Car

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Lewis Hamilton: Four Time World Champion!

Helmet: Don't Leave Home Without It!

Congrats to Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton for winning  his fourth world championship today in the F1 race in Mexico City. With two races still to go, he's locked it up again, and now stands tied for 3rd all time in championships. Michael Schumacher is still by far the leader with 7 titles, followed by the immortal Juan Manuel Fangio with five, and now we have Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, and Alain Prost all as 4 time champs.

Also good job to Max Verstappen of Red Bull for taking the race win today, not bad for a 20 year old, and certainly he's a future champion as well.

Our US based F1 team Haas managed to score some points with Kevin Magnussen in 8th, so they are now only 1 little point behind the factory Renault team for 7th overall. Good luck to Haas in moving up with more points in the Brazil and Abu Dhabi races!

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NMS Expands 90s Stable of Cheapness

There are unconfirmed reports from somewhere that rhymes with "South Carolina" that the infamous Team Coronautski/Lemons racing team has just acquired a 90s Ford Probe, with intentions of actually racing the vehicle in Rallycross. These spy photos (obtained from a pirate in a backstreet alley in Shanghai last night) seem to reveal a faded hunk of junk that doesn't run (since it's on a trailer), as well as a huge gash in the front windshield. Based on these few photos, we'd estimate that the purchase price seems to be approximately one handful of magic beans, obtained from a very large Giant living at the top of an enormous green plant. 

Our sources indicate that Ford intended the V6 five speed Probe to be the "new" Mustang when it was developed, but now many years later this is just an interesting little bit of blue oval trivia. This specific car seems to have what engineers refer to as "wheels", a "motor", and some sort of "interior", but for now we're going to have to wait for more information to confirm or deny that any of the Coronautski or NMS team are actually involved with this Craigslist find.

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Driving North

Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel

OK, so this blog is about driving, so here's some driving for ya! Moving from Virginia Beach to Long Island (or, "Lon---GUYland") last week had the mighty FIAT crossing the cool Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, up the Eastern Shore of Virginia (flat, flat, farms), through some of Maryland, a bunch of Delaware WAY off the interstate just for fun on two lane roads, onto the Interstate and New Jersey Turnpike (yes, you still can't pump your own gas in NJ), and then past Newark airport, MetLife Stadium, over the George Washington Bridge and the Cross Bronx Expressway, down over the Throgsneck Bridge (gotta look up that name some time), and out onto Long Island.

Looks like Maryland up ahead!

From having driven on toll roads, turnpikes, and bridges/tunnels with tolls over the years, the new EZ Pass stuck on the front windshield made the trip very simple as far as paying tolls goes, so if you are anywhere near a toll road I can vote thumbs up on the ol' EZ Pass, since it really makes things EZ. Sure, it still stinks to be paying to drive on a road, but whattyagonnadoaboutit?

Day 1 = 40MPG on the FIAT!

Hey, and thank goodness for travel apps and GPS too! Thanks to technology I can say that this was the easiest trip thru New York City I've ever done, and that's now a grand total of TWO! Some years ago I drove over Staten Island and Long Island, and then north to West Point, so I guess I'll recommend always taking the train, bus, or limo if you have a choice!

George Washington Bridge into NYC

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October Rallycross Report

Sunday the 1972 Datsun B210 was finally turning some serious laps at rallycross, and I even got to drive!

Dirtie Dirtsun, decked out with tons of painters tape.

The team replaced the destroyed radiator from last month and had the car ready to roll Sunday morning for SCR's October event.  I'm happy to report the car survived (mostly) all four drivers and their eight runs each.

We made the antenna more "arrow"-dynamic

I managed to wheel the little hatchback consistently faster than the rest of the team, but managed to pick up enough cones to drop to second fastest overall when all the penalties were tallied up. The car handled great and was a complete riot to drive.

Tearing it up on course.

Congrats to Matt for pulling down the overall fastest cumulative time in the car!  Also a massive thanks to Justin, Shellie, and Matt (Team Rising Dirtsun) and Greg who pitched in for getting the radiator replaced and out to the event.

A mess of painters tape, rust, and a car in there somewhere.

Three drivers in a Crown Victoria managed to beat us in the Modified Rear-wheel Drive class (MR).  It was hard to keep up with the V8 power of the big Ford boat. The event revealed the shocks on Dirtie are utterly dead and are up next on our replacement list to hopefully close that gap to the top of the field.

Matt almost jumps the car coming out of the one bad rut on course.

In other updates, I've picked up a really good deal on a used steering wheel and quick-disconnect setup for the Miata as part of the winter safety upgrade plan.  So far the hard top, harness bar, and steering wheel setup are on-hand.  In November I'm looking forward to a return to Discovery Parts in Atlanta to help Jason pick up a driving suit and I'll decide on seats and harnesses that fit best.

Sparco steering wheel, NRG quick release.

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