A 30 year journey, and a 2nd chance.

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Almost net 100 lbs. removed just from under the carpet, and I still have probably another 20 lbs. alone up both sides on the firewall, that I can remove another time (I flat got super cramped and tired of scraping up the firewall under the dash, pedals, etc., so left the rest above the carpet line.

My math (on paper at least), at this point said w/ the empty 14 lb. weight box/torque strap combo, still inside the engine bay (So I can adjust wt. later), that I was going to scale about 20 lbs above the DF/S min. wt..

Time to install the carpet, shifter mount and new shifter, and make some adjustments to the console to slide over it and remount in the future (if going back to EF/S later I will need that weight), just thinking ahead as dropping the weight also requires it to run .95 seconds faster just to make the DF/S Index, and with the stock ECM/PM at elevation would still be a miracle 345 lbs. lighter (I don't care how far under it can run at Pomona (or any near sea level track), I am stuck w/ the lousy elevation and ever worsening DA (corrected not enough at even +3/10ths), of Las Vegas being my home track, Phoenix next closest, then Pomona, and Bakersfield, Sonoma, etc....On to the shifter install, replace seats and the rest of the interior trim.

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I dropped out 2 dozen engine bay and pics here so as not to bore those reading the thread, as it took 2 bracket installs to get it just the right angle so it was really smooth shifting, and adjusted perfectly.

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Next up the Console fabrication adjustments, will it fit over the top, yes, but needed the Auto Window switch plate completely shortened & reworked. And it was a battle (but I later got it to fit over the new shifter base and mount, more on that after DF/S testing).

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New Class designations?

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Not pics of the brake hoses replacements I did to my race car, but I replaced all the front end parts on a neighbors Toyota van (Upper and Lower Control Arms, Ball Joints, Inner and outer tie rods, etc.), just as soon as that job was out of the garage and headed for the alignment shop that required his replacements before he would/could align it...I pulled back in my car and since I already had the tools and materials out I did my new brake hoses, flushed and bled them again. But, I was so tired at that point I forgot to take pics of The Daytona work. Lol.















Ok, now the Stocker is in DF/S trim, I calculate d it was within 20 lbs of min wt. for the class w/ me and my helmet in the driver's seat, And readied the car for Div.7 1-2 Double, arranged transport and storage in Chandler , and to and from Phoenix, then Las Vegas (including Storage about 8 miles from the Strip at Las Vegas Speedway (right off the Strip), started working on the Race season Schedule....Then the wheels came off and I ended up with Covid and in the hospital.

I missed the first 2 Div. races of the season along w/ the testing at Las Vegas through the Bracket races I had also planned to test the DF/S weight, also missed Crewing for Scott McClay at same events at Phoenix, but lived through the illness to race again. Next up a S/SS Combo race and some good test dates earlier in March to ready for it once healthy again, We secured the Storage in Las Vegas at the end of January, and moved the car to Las Vegas early March, right after I recovered.

Better a late start to the season than a never start!

Las Vegas, Summit Bracket race #6 Mar. 9,2024 was the first chance I had in 2024 to test the car in DF/S trim. And did something really stupid with the slicks (live and learn, even late in life), because I was tired of them leaking down slightly at night. It involved Slime, and that just unbalanced the tires and rims so bad I removed them immediately after 1 single pass, had my wife take them to a tire shop and they would not touch them, ended up taking them home, asking Big O Tire on Monday to break the beads for me, took them home and flushed them both out with water till clear, took them back to Big O Tire (Thanks guys!), I then had them fully dismounted, Dried off inside, coated w/ dawn dish detergent air dried, had the beads of the rims cleaned well, and remounted and balanced perfectly fixing the issue properly.

In the meantime I made passes on the Street tires on that Saturday, and a test day on Sunday at Las Vegas for an import race (I was able to get a dozen hot lap test passes), in on Sunday (making small minute changes, to ignition timing (among other things, fan on/ fan off, just a bunch of do these things make it faster changes...nope on all but 1 of them), both up and down, etc. and it allowed me to test a few theories, most of which were immediately reversed, since none were for the better (the car is pretty solid as is, but I noticed it had developed a minor rear cam seal leak after the first 6 hot lapped passes, just a tiny leak, and only when seriously hot lapped, but a leak all the same. I cleaned it between passes and made sure I replaced that seal before the combo race in a week.

Though track prep was good for the first 2 passes Sunday morning, there were a crapload of very fast FWD Turbo or otherwise boosted nitrous FWD cars that instantly wore all of the rubber and glue off the track in both lanes in only the FWD tire stage areas, and there just were not a lot of Rear wheel drive cars running at that Import Event to lay down rubber on the bare patches, so for the first time in forever it was hit and miss on spinning on my street tires, hook 1 time, spin the next...But, I cannot complain, I only paid 35 bucks for an all day test session! (Scales were of course not open, and will not be until the 4 Wides Nat. and the LODRS Double at Vegas).