Big Balla (and auto-x) Edition

Quick update before I leave for New York (not in the Z, thank God) for Thanksgiving -

1) Ebay Reselling

After a very polite Russian bought the mirrors off me for $95, we're a massive $14.70 over the $500 limit without selling the catalytic converter (guaranteed $30-50 at a recycling center). Our gross profit is $396.33, net is $235.30 - shipping and EGay fees are esspensive! I'm going to calm down on the EGay listings for now as I'd rather keep the remaining money makers on the car until this spring - headlights, taillights, various electric motors, weatherstripping, glass, etc. I'm guesstimating we'll gross another $300-500 by the time all is said and done. Hopefully this will be enough for some giant scissors to cut the springs with.

2) Car Progress

Interior is completely and utterly stripped. Lookee, no airbags! or carpet or plastic of any kind or a heater...

Dusty and barren, just how I like it

not Michigan winter friendly

Also, we're in the process of doing 3D modeling and FEA on custom strut tower bars and a roll cage, which will hopefully be fabricated within the next couple weeks.

3) Autocross

I tried autocrossing this thing last weekend. Unfortunately for the metal death cage of a boat that the Z is, the course was filled with tight corners that did a spectacular job of making me look like the awful RWD driver that I am. It's somewhat telling that after 3 tries the best I could do in the Z was 50.5s, then I jumped in my 6-speed Accord and ran a 46.5. Of course the Accord has some yellow German struts on it, but it was also a hell of a lot easier to handle. We're going to have to try our best to find a track day (on a real track) to run the Z. It didn't help that my half assed rigged up interior heater core coolant hose started leaking and spraying coolant into the passenger footwell halfway through my second run, sending a girl running out of my car. Not the first time that's happened.

Everyone was scared to ride with me at this point. Seriously.

After much spinning and frustration in the Z, I handed it over to a tame racing driver that's done LeMons before in a Civic and runs a semi-race prepped BMW E30 on the weekends. Here's how he did:

It really sounds absolutely horrible. You'll notice that the engine seems to be cutting out intermittently before finally dying. Fortunately, it had just run it out of electricity - the negative battery cable had come off of the terminal. Whoops. Score one for 'tighten battery cables before endurance race'.