The Winter Project

[larryn]

"Team Tighty Whitey - One tight package, coming to a track near you"

[ML]

Originally Posted by larryn

"Team Tighty Whitey - One tight package, coming to a track near you"

We got some time before entering any real events, that'll fit the bill until we are really up and going.

[ML]

The suspension got a clean bill of health from the alignment shop yesterday. Also blacked out the grill and revised the team logo a little... "Earn Your Stripes" We are definitely ready to put the car through its paces at the AX event on Sunday.

[larryn]

Sweeet! Cannot wait to check it out on Sunday!

Do you really have a logo on the car? That would be hilarious!

[ML]

It's just a photoshop.... right now. Tom knows somebody at one of the local sign printing shops and thinks that we can get them made easily. There has just been too much going on to make the logo a reality.

[and 1]

But its too awesom of a logo to NOT make it a reality

[larryn]

You could email Miguel and have him make it up for you...

[arrutled]

My dad owns a a large format printer which he can print on just about anything. maybe even a bigass sticker.

[ML]

Here's the final version of what I sent Miguel:

[larryn]

Miguel does have a vinyl cutter, so he should be able to do it for you.

[Mitch1er]

any update?

[larryn]

This car autocrossed quite successfully almost all of last season. It was pretty cool to follow this thread and actually seeing the car run well at the local events.

[ML]

I've been stuck waiting to go through the title inspection process. I was missing a couple of pieces of needed information and didn't want to go through the process knowing that it wouldn't pass. This is a state police anti-theft inspection and a paperwork issue only. I finally got the paperwork straightened out last week and have everything set to go to the inspection this Thursday. Things would have been done a little differently if the process were better understood when this salvage rebuild project was started. At this point it will just come down to the state trooper working the inspection station (there are two that work the one here in Westfield and one of them can be a problem, its a crapshoot as to which one will be there).

Like Larry said, the car runs great and hasn't had a single real problem. We ran it at one AX event and one AX test-n-tune, during which a popping noise developed in the suspension on hard right turns after beating the crap out of the car all day. We went back through the suspension and retorqued everything (as best we could tell, the noise was most likely coming from a suspension brace on the right side of the rear axle subassembly). It ran in three more events since the test day without any issues. Other than that popping noise, there have no issues with the car.

btw, the car may be headed towards a life of autocross and rallycross. Between the time and money commitments required to run a rally car in stage events, I'm getting hesitant about spending the additional $20,000 to $25,000 that will be required to finish the rally prep and have a somewhat competitive car. This build may end with the final installation of the race seats, harnesses and a harness bar. Well, that and a little more exhaust work and a dyno tune. The turbo lag needs to be addressed, even for AX.

Oh yeah, I'm also thinking of doing away with the M3 in favor of a 2011 STi sedan. The M is sitting at 77k mi and is getting into a VANOS rebuild, radiator replacement and new clutch time frame. Given that I need tires, again, and the cricket in the dash, spending $5-6k on maintenance items is screaming new car. Or maybe Tighty Whitey will just become a daily driver.

[arrutled]

Wow, thats a lot to think about.

[and 1]

tightey whiteyyyyyyyyyyyy. hope we see TTW out there more next year. if you ever need a third driver at a rally event.....

and you know you gotta keep that m3

[ML]

Tighty Whitey is officially registered!

[and 1]

awwwwww shit she's legal now

[ML]

Originally Posted by and 1

awwwwww shit she's legal now

Legal on Star Specs! First AX event was driven on snows, now I'm driving snow on AX rubber. In the words of Travis Pastrana.... Game on!

[arrutled]

solid

[and 1]

Originally Posted by ML

Legal on Star Specs! First AX event was driven on snows, now I'm driving snow on AX rubber. In the words of Travis Pastrana.... Game on!

so the big question...what's worse? snows at AX or star specs in winter?

actually i know the start specs are worthless in the snow. the first winter with my car stored, i went down on a weekend to take her out for a drive in newport. i ended up at a restaurant downtown and stayed for a while. when i came out, it had just started snowing. there was barely a coating on the roads but i could spin the wheels at 20mph in 6th

don't crash tighty whitey!

[Artmasterx]

Originally Posted by ML

I've been stuck waiting to go through the title inspection process. I was missing a couple of pieces of needed information and didn't want to go through the process knowing that it wouldn't pass. This is a state police anti-theft inspection and a paperwork issue only. I finally got the paperwork straightened out last week and have everything set to go to the inspection this Thursday. Things would have been done a little differently if the process were better understood when this salvage rebuild project was started. At this point it will just come down to the state trooper working the inspection station (there are two that work the one here in Westfield and one of them can be a problem, its a crapshoot as to which one will be there).

Like Larry said, the car runs great and hasn't had a single real problem. We ran it at one AX event and one AX test-n-tune, during which a popping noise developed in the suspension on hard right turns after beating the crap out of the car all day. We went back through the suspension and retorqued everything (as best we could tell, the noise was most likely coming from a suspension brace on the right side of the rear axle subassembly). It ran in three more events since the test day without any issues. Other than that popping noise, there have no issues with the car.

btw, the car may be headed towards a life of autocross and rallycross. Between the time and money commitments required to run a rally car in stage events, I'm getting hesitant about spending the additional $20,000 to $25,000 that will be required to finish the rally prep and have a somewhat competitive car. This build may end with the final installation of the race seats, harnesses and a harness bar. Well, that and a little more exhaust work and a dyno tune. The turbo lag needs to be addressed, even for AX.

Oh yeah, I'm also thinking of doing away with the M3 in favor of a 2011 STi sedan. The M is sitting at 77k mi and is getting into a VANOS rebuild, radiator replacement and new clutch time frame. Given that I need tires, again, and the cricket in the dash, spending $5-6k on maintenance items is screaming new car. Or maybe Tighty Whitey will just become a daily driver.

Cool! When I make it back to the States, I am thinking about a 2011 WRX 5-door, especially if we are in the NE and it is our only car. I would like an STi, but the additional 8k+ over the base WRX may be a hard sell.

[ML]

Rob, I've been debating that same thing, except for a sedan instead of the coupe. With the white car truly being a toy, the $8k of the STi over the WRX is tough to justify.... rationally. If I were a rational person, the white car would have become recycle fodder.