“Build it and they will come.” First, Utah gets the new Miller Motorsports Park, now Arizona gets the new Inde Motorsports Ranch. I sure hope this is a sign of good things to come, the SF Bay Area could always use another racetrack…
The California Datsun community came through for me as I finally found the finishing jewel for my vintage Datsun race motor; a finned, cast aluminum racing oil pan. Design Products Racing is still making a very nice, steel comp pan for the 510 for about $600, but I was hunting for a cheaper, used one, and hopefully an old [...]
Since I have cut out much of the inner skeleton from the wagon roof, there would definitely be some roofline flex under race conditions. And this would be further exaggerated by running a plastic windshield instead of a glass one. So I welded in a few braces between the rollcage and the A-pillars, and then between the main [...]
I bought these fiberglass BRE style rear flares from Classic Datsun Motorsports. They cost a little bit more than other brands, but the quality and fit are definitely superior. Ya get what ya pay for… Since all the flares are designed for two-doors, you have to do a bit of work to get them to [...]
Now that most of the fab work is done, it’s time to get ready for paint. Unfortunately that means stripping off all the suspension, steering, and brakes again. The good thing is that it makes you fix all the little problems discovered during the chassis fabrication phase of the project. Things like welding up cracks, replacing [...]
Do you think building your own race car and then trusting your life with it is kind of crazy? Then these guys are really crazy, they are the real extreme sport atheletes, the big wave surfers of Mavericks. Yesterday was the annual surf contest at Mavericks, a wave that takes special oceanic conditions to break about a half mile off shore [...]
VARA had its annual Driver’s School and Test & Tune at Buttonwillow Raceway this weekend. Attendance was particularly good considering the weather and the economy. We had almost 100 attendees, and dozens of club members attended as volunteers to help out. I spent the weekend as a “Wall Monkey” (aka driving instructor) and “Cone Boy” (aka track layout [...]
For the past six months I have been in car guy’s heaven. I have been able to use my good friend Paul Moore’s fabrication shop to work on my Datsun Wagon race car project. I have had access to his lift, his welders, his tools, but most importantly, access to his talent and his tutelage. For this I am forever thankful. [...]