Lots of activity this month! At the end of June I moved to a new place of residence, then at
the end of July I moved again. That's 19 moves. And I'm sure I'll be moving again
in another year.... *sigh*
Lots of activity this month! At the end of June I moved to a new place of residence, then at
the end of July I moved again. That's 19 moves. And I'm sure I'll be moving again
in another year.... *sigh*
I went through a number of the pages on this site to correct a number of errors. I am sure I have many more errors, but I'll get them eventually. I also re-vamped the Previous Grumblings section, just to simplify updating since all the pages are now in their own folder, instead of the root folder. I also made an index to help people find the information they wanted, or to ease your exploration of the site.
This summer will also mark some serious curriculum changes for me. I am putting together an Art Metal course, which should be quite interesting. Also I will be putting together a more traditional Power Mechanics/Small Engines course, with the hopes of making the Motorized Lawnchair a PM11 project. Car Care will also return to my timetable as well.
I have aquired a variety of video footage of Autoslalom Racing, in the hopes of putting together a nifty presentation video. I've been planning this for a year already, and it should be coming together really nicely. I might need to get some kind of video-edit card for my computer, which is a bit more than I want to do but oh well.
I'm also introducing a new section for the new beast. Let me introduce my new project: "The Sinister Sentra."
I had been researching and looking for a B13 platform (91-94US -96CA) Sentra for a while. It became apparant that the 2 door 5 speed models are pretty hard to find. I found one for sale in Burnaby in the Buy and Sell for $8995. It was very clean, had less than 96,000km's and was a sedate green colour. I noticed that the sides of the car had been repainted, which steered me away because I didn't want a car that had been hit. I checked into it, and discovered that the car had only two insurance claims against it. One for $300 and one for $1500. That amount of money is pretty minor in repair dollars, so I am encouraged.
I took it for a test drive, it was so quiet, soft and solid compared to my Civic. We sat down to make a deal, and I offered $6500. The dealer seemed shocked. I explained my concerns over the paint, and some other interior flaws and off he went to "The Boss." He countered with $8300. I offered $6750. He wanted me to give him a cheque to give him "power" in making the deal with his boss. I laughed and said that I wasn't going to put down ANY money until we agree on a price. He was pretty bummed with that, but I refuse to play this stupid game in buying a car. Off he went, and came back with $7800, "no trade." He assured me that this was a good price. I told him I would give him $7000 for the car, and if that is unacceptable, they have my phone number and they can call me when they change their mind.
They accepted.
Funny, funny game, this. I think it also helps to come in on the last week of the month, where they're trying to look good in the number of sales they can get in that month.
Anyho, since I will still race the Civic for the rest of the year, the Sentra will go into storage where I hope to begin work on the suspension to prepare it for F/Super Stock for next year.
The Heinous Honda Page
(or, The Adventures of the Crate that was Trying to Die)
July 08 I competed in the CACC Championship Event #4 (They are no longer called Regionals, it seems). I took 1st in H/Stock, and was 4th overall based on indexed time. The outside edges of the front tires were getting quite worn, so much so that 48psi wasn't keeping the tires off the sidewalls. I switched them inside to outside for the next event.
July 15 I ran the Okanagan Auto Sport Club's Open League Event #5 at the new oval track outside of Vernon, BC. Since this is an open class, which means you "run what you brung, and hope you brung enough". I didn't fare to terribly well. I placed 17th out of 27. Since there are no "classes" per se, I can't compare myself with indexed times. It was good seat time, nonetheless. It was also a little different negotiating a slalom on a banked oval track. I did, however, place 5th in the fastest time read backwards. (?)
July 22 I ran the CACC Event #5, again took 1st in H/Stock and placed 4th overall.
With only two "real" events remaining, the future of the Heinous Honda is pretty much sealed. Once the season is over I will be returning the car to it's "mostly" stock appearance (out will come the seat, extinguisher, harness, stereo, possibly the sway bar, mags and race tires) and start flogging it in the paper.
If you, or someone you know is interested in a super quick H/Stock car, drop me a line! I'm asking $2000 CDN, or best offer. It's entire history is documented here, and I have been painfully honest about the car. It will be for sale at the end of September.