Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

Winter is almost here, which means it is almost time to start working on the cars over the winter.

Mt. Ascutney Hillclimb II (Sep 2013)



Since the back of the truck (the 2012 F250 is sprung weaker than my 2001 F250) seemed to swat a bit too much (heads lights aimed up a bit), I installed some extended bump stops.

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Truck on the ground with stock (yellow) stop. Notice distance between the bump stop and the bar it... um, stops against.
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Much closer. The new bump stop acts a bit like an air cushion.
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What's on the menu for the winter.....

Golf
* Have someone check out the transmission. It seems to be 'not perfect' getting it into third. I would rather address it when I don't need it (the winter) vs. the week before an event.
* Check out the inside of the engine to make sure everything is 100%
* Camber plates (Remove Shine plates and use Ground Control)
* Order tires for 2014 season
* Check out shocks and struts to make sure they are all good

Scirocco
* Engine and VEMS from the Cabriolet to the Scirocco
* Make sure the cage is up to date for whatever racing I want to do in 2014
* Get all other safety equipment up to date (harnesses, fire ext, etc.)
* Body work and paint
* Glass install... she is going to be road legal! (-ish?)
* Ground Control camber plates
* Send out the shocks/struts for rebuild
* New tires! (current tires are from the 1990s)
* Different options for dash (i.e. gauge placement, etc.)
* Keep really beefy far from stock 4.25 final drive 020 transmission or go with the stock 02J with LSD (cable shift and perhaps hydro clutch)?
* Everything else.... the list will grow as I start getting into the car

Truck and Trailer
* Install Hella Black Magic driving lights (either two 1000 H2 or four 500 H3 lights)
* Back-up lights on bumper
* Stabilization bar for easier/better balanced towing
* Trailer: Canopy
* Trailer: On-board power for lights when disconnected from truck (perhaps with roof mounted solar cell for recharging)
* Trailer: Back-up lights
* Trailer: Back-up camera (?)

Got a new cat to help me in the garage when Vern is napping. Vern is 13+ years old and Marley is only 13 weeks (or so).

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Steve #702
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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

Normally I do not start doing anything to the cars until February... this year I am starting in December as I have a lot to do.

Golf

Swap out Shine camber plates for Ground Control
Check all struts/shocks to make sure they are up to full performance.
Scope engine to make sure everything is 100%
New brake rotors and pads... been a while since I have touched these.
Think about removing ABS..... still mixed on this.
Transmission checked out... I sometimes had a grind with 3rd gear.

Doing all this to make sure that I am 100% percent ready for the 2014 Mt. Washington Hillclimb (http://www.climbtotheclouds.com/)

Cabriolet... the donor car (so sad) is parked next to the Scirocco (the recipient). This will be a big project!

Wife wants me to cage the Jetta so she can race it next year.... I do not want to put a cage in the car that I have to daily drive everyday. I told her she will just have to drive the Golf next year.

Lots of work and little time... I would rather start now and not rush-rush-rush as the hillclimb season approaches.

Steve
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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by STI NICK »

Does your ABS have a fuse to disable it? If so just wire in a switch and have it when you want it and shut it off if you dont want it.
Nick
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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

It isn't the ABS exactly, it is the sponginess from the big block of metal that all the brakes lines connect.... well, this is Don's opinion anyway.

Personally, I think it just might be time to get new pads and rotors.
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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

New twist to this year.... I actually started earlier than normal, it just ended up taking a lot longer than expected... and I am still not done!

First, go grab a drink and a bag of popcorn... enjoy.

Before I put the car away for the winter, I brought it down to Ralph's Foreign Auto in Colchester, Vermont. Ralph has been racing for years (earlier in my post I included a picture of his BMW CSL... sweet!). I wanted Ralph to take a look inside the engine to make sure everything looked good... it did! Check.... put the car away and start planning for the 2014 season.

In February, the Golf ended up at Joey's (http://www.KalesCustom.com located on Prim Road in Colchester, Vermont...they are working on their website right now and moving 300 yards to a new shop).

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The goal was to replace the aging and bent Shine Racing camber plates, so I picked up a set from Ground Control (universal camber plates).

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The bent camber plates...

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Cutting off the old plates....

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And removing the suspension. Notice that the strut in the foreground is bent at the very top; time to order a new set of Bilstein struts. Good thing they are really, really, really inexpensive (not!).

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After some discussion with Joey, we decided to go with to go with a set of Cusco camber plates.
Looking at the Shine Racing plates that were bent, it seemed they were not supported like a camber plate that is mounted underneath the strut tower.
The Ground Control camber plates will be used on the Scirocco.

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Making the new strut towers....

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The upper spring perches were a bit banged up because there was nothing to keep the spring within the perch when jacking it up (or if the car happened to take a jump at the hills). Because the spring would not always seat properly, the perch suffered.

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Next, thinking about the suspension setup on my old Rabbit (use of a tender and main spring), I ordered a set of 3" 200# tender springs to bridge the gab between the main spring and the upper perch.

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Order a new set of Bilstein struts....

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Camber plates are done!

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Naturally, plans change as you are trying to build something from scratch. The 3" tender springs were about an 1" too long. To get us ready for the first hillclimb of the season (Mt. Ascutney), we used a helper spring instead. To help suck up the bumps at the hillclimbs, I think I will revist the main spring again and might go with a shorter main to allow for the 200# tender (or some other rate)... some research is needed.

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Another think I wanted was a way to tie down the car in the trailer without having to use a wheel. I was putting the straps through the wheels to hold it down in the trailer. Enter some new tie down spots on the car....

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There is also a new tie down point in the front that mirrors the factory tie tow hook location.... now I have two mounting points on the front (stock tow hook plus new hook)

Some things left to do....

Cooling!!! The car is running hot with the FMIC in front of the radiator and the full belly skid plate. I have been researching options and talking with other people to see what they did to keep their engine running cooler.

I believe that I will go with a louver on the hood, misting system for the radiator and FMIC... plus a more efficient radiator that is waiting to be installed.

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Currently, I have EBC Yellow (if memory serves) brake pads on the car; these are designed for the track because they take some time to heat up, but they work great when hot. With hillclimbs, you start out at 100% speed (cold tires and cold brakes) with no opportunity to warm things up for best performance.

To help with the brakes, I am going to install some pads that heat up a bit quicker. Additionally, I am trying a different compound in the rear to balance things out.

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Tires.... bald last year and bald for the first hillclimb of this year (I almost wish I put the new tires on at Ascutney). Enter a set of Toyo R888, 235/40/17, that I tried the heat treated option this time.

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Since we were a bit short for workers at the Mt. Ascutney hillclimb, I signed up to work a checkpoint when I wasn't driving. Managed to get a lot of photos... Photos on VermontRacing.com

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The sticker came with the mirrors... thought it was funny, so it stayed.
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Grab a seat in the time machine.....

My old towing rig (2001 F250 7.3 Powerstroke with open trailer)... loved the truck.

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The 7.3 is actually a very desirable engine, but I needed a bit more power and gearing with the enclosed trailer. Honest, I did not try to color match the truck to the car, it was just what was left on the lot when I was looking for a truck.

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So.... what is coming in the next unexciting update of this project?

* Photos and videos from the Mt. Ascutney hillclimb.
* Radiator install
* New brake pads
* Louvers for hood (?)
* Misting system for radiator and FMIC (?)
* Mount the new tires

It is already making me tired just thinking about all the stuff I have to do to get ready for the 2014 Mt. Washington hillclimb (http://www.climbtotheclouds.com).

Next event is the Mt. Okemo hillclimb!
Steve #702
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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

Busy day... most of it researching and ordering parts.

Goal today was to get the car off the ground, remove the tires (prepare for brake install and possible tire change), and remove the front end/radiator.

Mission accomplished.

Naturally, today's accomplishments yielded a long list of parts to order (replace old parts, rusty screws, etc.).

When I was getting the car aligned, Ralph mentioned to me that the tire was really close to the spring. Okay, no problem, I will order some spacers. 4mm spacers on the way... is that enough? Unsure at the moment. Brainstorming other ideas.

The wheel is not touching... more of the camera angle than anything. It is close, though.

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Back to the brainstorming session (weather man said it was a weak system that was moving slowly)....

Another shot of the main and helper spring.... I am looking at other spring options where I can use the 3" 200# tender plus a different main spring (shorter and less stiff... it is currently 500#).

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Height of the springs (measuring tape is at the top of the helper spring) when at full droop (limited by sway bar).

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With helper spring depressed (jack under the control arm)

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Approximately what it would look like sitting on the ground.... The jack under the control arm is supporting the entire right side of the car with both the front and rear off the ground and the left side supported by jack stands.

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Spring rate and length brainstorming will begin tomorrow. Oh, the back spring (I forget the rate at the moment) is an 8" spring at full droop.

Back to the front.....

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Side by side comparison of stock vs Mishimoto radiator.

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I do need to purchase some of the plastic/rubber retainers (holds the radiator in place on the two pegs on each side of the radiator), fan switch (I'm in there, it gets replaced!), upper and lower radiator hoses (again, I'm in there....), etc.

One thing of concern are the hard plastic connectors that mount directly on the radiator... the rubber hoses connect to the hard plastic connectors. They seem to wiggle around a bit on the new radiator; unsure if this will be an issue with making a good seal.

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How it sits.... time to order some parts online and then hit VW in the morning.

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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

Got a number of packages in the mail today... parts for the Golf.

The package from German Auto Parts looked like one of the USPS poster child packages for "if you get a package that looks like this, don't open it!" It was 3 or so boxes taped together (1/4 of tape) to form a "box" to house all the other boxes and parts. I think they need to purchase some bigger boxes.... looked like they use the boxes from the stuff that was delivered to them.

In other "wrong size" news... Summit racing had a big box with lots of packing balloons to house a tiny box inside. I guess they don't have a lot of size options at Summit.

Perhaps the two companies should get together.

This weekend should prove to be a busy weekend... just waiting on a few more packages on Friday.
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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Serrilion »

Sweetness... and Yea summit likes to send u a really really big box... then this tiny little one... kinda of like xmas when u want to prank someone into thinking they got a big present when its a gift card in the small box
yea so a guy told me, "I bet I get laid twice as much as you," so I said, "Two times zero is still equal to zero," totally awesome.

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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

So.... a lot has happened since the last update; I just haven't had the time to update the project thread.

The aforementioned pile of boxes that arrived....

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The work continued on the installation of the bigger aluminum radiator. I read somewhere that some fabrication was needed so I purchased a new Dremel to replace my old one that gave up the ghost a while back.

Cutting a hole in the plastic front piece....

Guess what? The headlight is supposed to be there! I had to cut a hole in the back of the headlight to make everything work. I am unsure if this modification is needed on a perfectly straight car, but I am thinking it was only necessary (especially the headlight cutting) because of the car-meets-tree incident in 2010.

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Installed....

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Trying to block airflow around the radiator....

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The fans worked just fine before. They were from one 20AE parts car that was harvested for the frontend parts. I noticed that the nuts that held the fans to the bracket were very rusty so I sprayed them with PB Blaster and tried to remove them.... snap! (I don't have the power!) There were so rusty that they were not salvageable. The fans did make a little noise when free spinning them. I figured since it was apart, I might as well replace the fans.

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In with the new....

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There.... all ready for the Mt. Okemo #1 hillclimb….. where things got interesting.

Here is the video of one* of my runs at Okemo. If you have watched my past videos of Okemo... this is essentially the same with ONE exception. I attached the GoPro to the shifter and used the footage as picture-in-picture. What is slightly interesting is that the audio is coming from the out of car video clip and that the in-car and out of car used the same camera on two different runs. Seems I am pretty consistent with my driving as the PIP in-car footage with the shifting matches the audio from the out of car video.


*some video editing was done to make three separate runs look like a single run because I only have one GoPro camera.

So.... the end of my second to last run on Saturday had an interesting result just after the finish line…. the car kept accelerating even though I was not pushing the gas pedal. The gas pedal moved away from my foot and stuck to the floor. I stepped on the brake pedal and it was hard as a rock because the car was boosting. (there was no vacuum for the brakes).

Yes, the danger must be growing
For the rowers keep on rowing
And they’re certainly not showing
Any signs that they are slowing!


Thankfully, the finish line is essentially a straightaway, so I was able to get things under control by shutting the car off.

What was strange is that the car did not rev if I had the clutch depressed. When I put it in gear, the car would accelerate; slowly at first and then ramp up to full throttle. Press the clutch and it went back to idle. Huh?

A little prodding around under the hood, we discovered there was a dent in the hood where the throttle body was making contact with it. We cut off the cruise control connector (I think this is what it is for) and went for another run.

Same result, but not as bad as the first time.

More prodding, thinking, drinking, and head scratching… then alais!

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The nut that held the dogbone together decided to take a permanent vacation. This means that the engine was free to swing in the engine bay. Therefore, thus, and hence, the throttle body was pressing against the hood. The more it pressed, the more the throttle opened, the more it pressed, the more…. You get the picture.

With the help of a lot of people at the event, in the dark no less, we were able to take a thick nut and make it thin to reassemble the dogbone. All runs on Sunday were good. I just needed to change the spark plugs (I can tell when they are going…. Sluggish acceleration)…. I felt lazy before the event and didn’t replace them. Too bad for me. (insert sounds of a Waaaaamulance)

Got the car home to prepare for the Mt. Washington hillclimb. Yeah! Lots of small things to do to get ready for this event.

First… fix the broken stuff.

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The “Okemo fixed dogbone” held together.

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New 034 EFI Motorsports dogbone…. Yeah, I know that I have the little metal piece upside down in the picture.

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Since the engine was swinging (yeah, baby, yeah!) in the engine bay, it managed to strip the mounting point in the bottom of the transmission.

Easy fix with a Heli-Coil repair kit. First time using it. Was straight forward and easy to do. Sweet!

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New 034 EFI dogbone installed…. Pretty.

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So, one would think that since I sold the Cabriolet (what?!) there would be plenty of room in the two car garage to work on the Golf on a really hot day. Nope…. We are redoing the kitchen so it is full of all the crap associated with the kitchen. The driveway and trailer (when it was raining) was my new garage.

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To help with the cooling, I ended up with four sprayers (only installed two) that I temporarily mounted using zip ties. I connected the nozzles to the original Sno Performance water/meth tubing, used the same pump and water tank, and used the Sno controller (is controlled by boost pressure) to provide a nice misting spray on the radiator.

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One note on the Mt Washington Hillclimb / Climb to the Clouds / CTTC2014… Friday and Saturday were practice days where we practiced approximately half the hill each day (bottom half on Friday, top on Saturday). I had to keep an eye on the water level for each run to determine what settings on the controller I had to use to ensure that I had water for the entire 7.5+ miles during the Sunday runs. I ended up using the highest numbers to turn on the sprayer (initial on) and full flow (100%). I think it ran out about 2 corners before the finish line… so close.

Changed the brake fluid. Nope, this update isn’t for you, it is for me so I can remember that last time I changed my brake fluid.

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Mt. Washington is only days away… and the car isn’t running correctly. Grrrrrrr…

I was convinced that the ECU did not know the throttle position because it was slow at ramping up the acceleration (I noticed this at Okemo) and would bog down if I floored it really quickly.

I replaced the spark plugs, checked the spark plug wires (made a new wire for #3 because the resistance was a lot different from the other wires, but I think this is because the original batteries in the volt meter that I purchased back in 1998 were finally dying), and checked the mechanical timing. All was good.

From the 2010 car-meets-tree incident, the mounting points for the TPS on the throttle body was damaged. I figured this must be the culprit because I can SEE that it was broken. I can replace broken stuff.

Don’t ask how much this was to overnight it to me. CTTC2014 entry fee is $800…. I wasn’t going to be sidelined for a bad TPS.

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Installed. Pretty.

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The goal was to leave at 6:00am on Thursday to head to Mt. Washington. Because the TB was replaced, the TPS had to go through the open/close motion to ensure the ECU had the correct information.

A ginormus (nope, not a real word) thank you to Jason at http://www.VEMS.us in Colchester, Vermont for getting me in late on Wednesday night to take care of the TPS position vs. the ECU.

But… he said the ECU can’t see the TPS.

Huh?

Turns out the engine swinging (yeah, baby, yeah!) at Okemo damaged one of the TPS wires. Jason repinned the plug. More on wire breakage in the next exciting episode of Golf-meets-the-top-of-Mount-Washington!

All fixed… car is load, finished packing, and left around 6:00am on Thursday for the Mt. Washington Hillclimb.

Woo-hoo!

And, since you are getting the above update well after it all happened, I should have the video from the Mt. Washington Hillclimb up in the next few days. Sorry, only one camera angle as the new GoPro 3+ Black is night-and-day better than my original GoPro 1. Wow, what a difference! The rest of the camera footage will stay on my computer.

The cliff hanger…. Loose coolant hose, oil light, out of water, bad wire, and no guardrails.
Steve #702
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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

While the video is uploading, I figured I would type up a very short summary of the 2014 Mt. Washington Hillclimb / Climb to the Clouds / #CTTC2014 / and other interesting identifiable labels that were associated with the best event this year!

We rented a house about 20 minutes down the road so we could enjoy the comfort of a nice bed, normal bathroom, a shower (much needed with the hot weather we had for three days!!!) and some place to make breakfast/dinner. We brought the full size gas grill to make lunch at the hill. Somehow I was off the hook for making dinner. Much appreciated!!!!

Devil is in the details. Check the tire pressure, check the water level for the sprayers, check the sprayer settings, torque and re-torque the wheels, change the sparkplugs (used three sets all weekend... time to try a different type or brand), wash the windows, etc. etc.

I did enter the 2011 CTTC, but with engine failure on the Friday practice day and in the pouring rain, I learned exactly 0% of the hill.

So, I really consider 2013 CTTC my first go at the hill. The recce (explore the hill/learn the course) on Thursday was in the rain and fog. I did not learn as much as I would have liked.

Friday morning we practiced the lower section of the hill (two runs) and Saturday morning was the upper section (two runs); both days in perfect weather.

Sunday was the full hill.... the race course is 7.4 miles... and the weather was perfect!

Here is the full Course Map

The snazzy poster.....
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My only goal for the event was to finish every run over the course of the three days and then drive it into the trailer with it being ready for the next race.

Success! I could have been the slowest car on the hill... didn't matter. I just wanted the joy of finishing the event.

I did have issues with the larger turbo as it took a while to spool. This was especially problematic in the dirt sections where I wanted to accelerate without spinning the tires. Also, at the top of the hill, there were a number of tight corners that required me to go from a slow speed (drive faster, man!) and accelerate in 2nd gear. It felt like I could have adjusted the radio and checked my e-mail messages while waiting for the car to get going.

There were only two issues all weekend.

First, the coolant line that went to the turbo became loose. Joey and James (http://www.KalesCustom.com) just happened to arrive at the bottom of the hill and they jumped in the took care of it. Nice!

Next, and this is related to the engine swinging (yeah, baby, yeah!) at Okemo, the stock oil pressure warning light/buzzer went off during my second run on Sunday. I looked at my big red light (it is hooked up to an aftermarket oil pressure switch... light goes on, I turn off the car very quickly!); it was off. I looked at the aftermarket oil pressure gauge; all was good there. Lights and gauges that are easy to read while racing is key! The single wire that went to the oil pressure sensor on top of the oil filter broke.

I guess there was a third issue... I purchased 30 gallons of race fuel (VP110 leaded) and only needed to add 5 gallons to the car all weekend. Talk about overestimated my fuel needs. Guess I will have to sign up for a road course this summer to burn it off.

Not much else to say. Thanks to all the officials and volunteers that made this event a success and a lot of fun. Looking forward to the next running of the Climb to the Clouds hillclimb (perhaps in 2017?) Congratulations to all the class and overall winners.... especially to Nick (1st) and Brian (2nd) in my class that provided some excellent competition. It seemed the key to success in our class was to have a normally aspirated car with talented drivers behind the wheel. New record 6:09:09 by David Higgins and co-driver Craig Drew.

Here are the results: http://climbtotheclouds.com/files/2011/ ... justed.jpg

The video.... it is uploading slowly right now. Don't expect to see anything until Wednesday late morning (at least for the HD content). At the end of the video, I included some footage from the back of the car on the upper section of the hill. I think it really shows the problems that one could encounter if they make a mistake on a corner. Ouch!

Steve #702
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It takes hundreds of nuts to hold a car together, but it takes only one of them to scatter it all over the highway. - Evan Esar
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