We managed to test run the car Saturday about 1:00 in the afternoon. Oh Boy does it hall ass! I, (Alan) drove the first pass very slow to make sure that everything was working, then on my second pass I opened it up a little....

The engine never got into it’s power band but it sure had some power. Next up, Mark tried it out. His first pass was about like my second one, then on his second he almost stalled it so he clutched it - revved it - and let it go! Even on asphalt with the tall gears it broke free for a second.  (Two short black marks burned onto the street.)

We try NOT to do that since its so hard on the equipment but it’s nice to see that it will do it. James wisely decided that we needed to get more work done and spend less time fooling around so he didn’t drive it Saturday.

This weekend we managed to knock off a lot of the issues that remained before we can race the car. We finished the fuel system, the electrical system the pneumatic system and mounted the front body panel and chain guard. It has been said that "The devil is in the details"; we learn that every day we spend working on this thing. It’s the little brackets that need to be designed, made, welded then drilled that take up so much time. Mark had family obligations so I picked up the TIG welder and practiced a little before welding on the DZUT brackets that hold on the front body panel. We were almost out of welding gas and I had never TIG welded before so I didn’t practice for long but I did OK.

All told James & I worked on the car 30 hours each this weekend. At this rate, we are hoping to actually get the rear body panel on before the first race.

Things we still NEED to before the first race (May 6^th) are:
 

• Plum in the fire extinguisher systems (this car requires 2 right now and a third before we go to Bonneville)
• Fire Proof the Fire wall (Tube of fire proof calk-$12.00, your butt not burning, priceless!)
• Bolt in the seat belts (needs to wait until after the fire wall is done)
• Install Roll bar padding.
• Tie down some of the electrical wiring.
• Also we need an SFI 3.2/A-15 Fire Suit (or Jacket) before we race. If you have one to rent or sell, let me know.

The list of things we WANT do before the first race (like paint) is endless.....

We hope to knock off the last 4 items before next weekend when we take the car down to San Diego so that Mark can do the fire systems. (He’s in escrow on a new house and planning to move just before the first race so we cut him some slack :)
 

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