Thanks Barry. I've been through the old Hoosier tire thing many times. I recall doing a lap and thinking that I'm not very good at this. Then put new tires on and suddenly I feel like a driving god - I can't make any mistakes. Haha, a little exaggerated, but it's amazing how much fresh Hoosiers let you get away with.
I'm looking forward to a custom seat and many tweaks to make the car fit me better. I've been trying to fit myself to the car for the last 16 years of racing.
towing
A quick point
Remember the FF w/o driver will be only around 950 lbs so one does not need a double axle trailer and a 3/4 ton pickup. A light weight single axle and SUV will do very nicely.
I store my Swift on an open trailer in my two car garage and have room to park another car in there also. Can't do that with an enclosed trailer.
Ahh... Dave,
Yes having an open trailer is nice for gas mileage and maybe for storing in the garage from time to time but how about those rainy day before you even get to the event and the spray from your truck is making a mess of your FF.
What about the Hotels/motels that you could stop at, you know people nowadays personal property means nothing, so your best bet is to stay at high end Hotels, if you don't stay at the high hotels could buy you an enclosed trailer. So if you went to the solo National's, 3 National tour's and 3 pro solo events not including any 2 day events you may go to could up to 1200.00 a year in hotel cost, so in 3 to 4 years you've paid for your enclosed trailer.
Then for us here in the Bay Area going to a Crows Landing event can be harsh with 110 degrees at some of the events and stay out of the sun for me is pretty big lately. Anyways that my justification for an enclosed trailer.
Ben
I jumped in with both feet and will get Sho's enclosed trailer too. My usual drive to the local track is a 20-minute drive. The local road course is about 1:15 drive, and Lincoln is about 10 hours away.
I'm thinking the enclosed trailer will get me lots of friends on a rainy day, like how momma used to tie a pork chop around my neck so the dog would play with me.
Just under 2 weeks until I get the car. Sho has been immensely helpful and accommodating with any info that I have needed. I'm a little nervous about random requirements that seem to come up with each different person I speak with at Canada Customs, but here's hoping it works out well!
I had my first autocross of the year in a Scion FRS this past weekend. It's a great car, but I'm really looking forward to getting in the CM car! I'm going to finish out the season in the Scion, but there will definitely be some CM shakedown fun during fun runs and a for few events.
We now have a DM Lotus 7 copy regularly competing, and it sounds like the EM Pink Panther (MGB with recent Buick turbo where the passenger's feet would go) will be making a few appearances. Another racer is considering an FM car, but not too seriously just yet. That'll be fun having other Mod cars to play with!
Just my $0.02 but getting seat time in the Citation is a lot more fun than the street car
Jim
I wish I understood everything I know.
I won't try to deny that, but I'm thinking about a season championship and an agreement with a friend.
The big question is if my willpower will hold out over the shiny new thing to play with!
Well an agreement with a friend is very important and I can't argue that.
But it cost you a good bit of coin to buy the Citation. And it's perfect. Handles like a dream. Just seems like a shame.
Jim
I wish I understood everything I know.
Originally Posted by captain_pants
Corey..... email me direct if you have questions about importing.
(I've imported 2 Fords and a trailer in the past year into Canuckistan...
donpdm at gmail dot com
Short trip summary:
I now have the Citation!
Long trip summary:
As time got closer to go pick up my car, a friend asked if I wanted a co-driver for the trip - an enthusiastic "Yes!" was my answer!
We left Winnipeg Saturday morning to meet Sho in Chicago. I was confident that we had everything in order after my previous research with Canada Customs. Then at the US border the agent asked if we had set up an ITN number to export the car. A what? I was so focused on the Canadian side that I didn't even realize that the US changed the rules about 5 years ago, requiring an ITN # for any self-propelled vehicle that was leaving the country! And, it needed to be submitted 72 hours (3 days) in advance. Luckily, we were coming back in 4 days, so this will work.
To make a long story short, a broker in Pembina, ND was able to create/get a number for us for $75, which I'm pretty sure was the 'what else are you going to do' pricing for confused Canadians. That's a little frustrating, but nothing that's going to stop us. Saturday night was spent in Wisconsin Dells; an area I think I need to come back to sometime!
Sunday was a fairly short 3-ish hour drive to Chicago, and straight to the Museum of Science and Industry! I had been there before on a work trip, but only for a few hours. I vowed I'd get back someday. Great fun for an Engineering/Science geek like myself!
Sunday night - the car pickup came with all the anticipation of buying a new car. Hoping not to get mugged as I handed over the final payment. Hoping it would be as represented. Hoping it would be as awesome as I'd hoped! You know that feeling you had as you unwrapped your Christmas present as a little kid? That was pretty much what opening the trailer door was like! Not in the car itself, but more the possibilities and the future potential in this new toy. First impressions - this thing is a little rough around the edges. Of course, the exterior appearance is dominated by fiberglass that was made well before I had a driver's license - in retrospect I'm impressed that it looks as good as it does!
Sho shows me all the switchgear and features. He fires it up - whoa, this is the quietest 'race car' I've ever heard. I like it! Then we pulled the body panels and I looked all over. Half looking for potential issues; half looking for things that I needed to ask what the heck they are! Of course everything was as described with a nice guy like Sho. He was supremely helpful with all my questions and requests at every point in the process, and nothing changed in person. If all car sellers were like Sho, the world would be a better place. Thanks Sho for making it so painless!
I also learned that I needed to move the pedals around as I didn't have enough leg room to get my feet off the pedals. With my butt in the seat, I was nearly full-throttle and the clutch was depressed half-way. It looks like some pretty easy fab work to move the pedals.
We checked the tongue weight before hitching up to the van - about 850 lbs for a 900-lb car in a 1700-lb trailer! We desperately needed to shift weight back in the trailer! After trying a bunch of things, we settled on turning the car around (nose forward now) and putting a few dense things at the very back of the trailer. That got us down to the 350 lbs that my van needed. It seems that the trailer is pretty nose-heavy all by itself.
We hitched the 16' enclosed trailer to my wife's trusty Sienna minivan, checked everything twice, and rolled out for home. The first few miles were on grooved concrete, which was pretty unsettling. It felt like the rear end was slithering around like it was on dead Hoosiers. I was NOT looking forward to another 12 hours of that! Then we got on good pavement and all of a sudden things were ok.n A couple of stops later to confirm that everything was working as expected, and we started to get comfortable.
The plan was to only stay in small town hotels to reduce the chances of the trailer getting stolen! Park the trailer, put on the wheel lock, lock the chains to the hitch, put something on the steering wheel to remember to take off the wheel lock (!), and pray that it's still there in the morning. Monday morning comes, and the trailer was still there. Then we head out on the road to Fergus Falls. A quick stop at a commercial truck weigh scale and we verified that we're within the tow capacity of the van and the axle weights for the vehicle. This $10 peace-of-mind check was worth it, as we decided to shift a bit more weight forward in the van to get more weight off the rear axle and onto the front. Now the vehicle tows even better. All trailer and tow tires were barely above ambient temperature after 3 hours of interstate driving at 55-60 mph.
Tuesday arrives and it's time to roll a little West to Fargo then straight North to home. First stop is at the US border to complete the ITN paperwork. I am VERY glad that the US border agent mentioned it on the way South or we'd have been in a pickle on Tuesday morning. Unfortunately, the broker forgot to send the paperwork to the border until Monday, so now the car was inadmissible until Thursday. Crap! Back to the broker's building in Pembina, where they offer to store the trailer until then in exchange for their screw-up. We drop the trailer, putting every lock we had on it. Of course, nothing prevents theft, but the idea was to make it easier to go steal someone else's. Heading home empty-handed sucked - a lot.
Thursday comes around and I head South one more time. I triple-check that I have my passport, all the trailer lock keys, and receipts before heading out. The US border stop went well. They didn't even leave the office to look at anything. The guys at the Canadian border were more interested in how fast the car would go. LOL! I said that it depended how long the straight was, which got me a confused look. I paid the taxes and rolled home slowly on a very windy/gusty day.
The trailer is now awkwardly wedged in our driveway until I can get plates for the trailer, then it goes to storage for about a month (garage contractors always estimate time correctly, right?) while my garage is built. That's going to feel like a long month or two! I have enough paperwork to choke a horse from both Sho and Jim Garry, so I have a bit of reading/studying to do.
My plan is to start work on the pedals as soon as the garage is complete. I'm not going to do a complete rebuild until this winter, but I do want to get some autocross/track time in the car so I can figure out what, if anything, I want to change. Then I do a full assault on the local autocross circuit in 2017!
Wow ! what a story but good to know you now have a car to start tinkering with.
Now just from my point of view, HOW DO YOU GUYS DO THIS !!! sit on a car for 1 to 2 months before working on it, I know, I know everyone has some kind of problems like "need a new garage" "money" and a list of other things stopping them from working on their cars. I remember waiting for my FF for 3 weeks because I just couldn't drive up to get it, but even after that the car little problems that I had to fix before I could drive it because it hadn't been driven for 5 years or more, drove me crazy.
Look, there is one guy with a FF that could be looking at 2 years before he first drives it, a friend that I have been talking to that has a car he's been working on for 10 years and still has nothing but parts. Someone that took a year to get his car going after losing an engine, sorry I just don't get it !?.
It's more of a rant then anything else and with me in my twilight years of driving fast in even these cars I'm not leaving any time on the table.
Ben
It's a reasonable question Ben! For me, I'm already racing something. I didn't buy a FF to race a FF. I bought a FF as the next race car. I'm fairly model/brand/class agnostic; I just want something competitive and fun that fits in my budget. Ironically, I have that in the Scion FRS for this season.
The other major factor is time. My 6-year-old daughter comes first. Then work. Then selling my Honda S2000 to pay off the loan for the Citation. Then everything else, like the field of hay that I used to call a lawn.
The 3rd factor is that it's a severe pain in the butt to get my trailer anywhere near my house with my current driveway. I have two 90-degree kinks in a narrow driveway that preclude backing in at my skill level, plus turning the rig around on the pad requires moving two other cars out onto the road and a 9-point (maybe 13-points? Many passes!) turn with a spotter. Last night's trailer rodeo was enough of a marriage test that I don't want to do it again for a while. After the garage/driveway, I'll be able to roll in and out by myself.
We each make our own path with our own compromises. Believe me, I'm itching to get out in the car but other things are more important.
Seeing as how this thread has kind of become specific to my car/needs, I'll post an update here.
My commuter car has been demoted to the driveway to leave the Citation in the 'small' garage, with the trailer being stored off-site in anticipation of the shop build.
Stuff to do:
- Add an Apex U-joint for the steering shaft. This lets me move the steering shaft up for easier access to the brake pedal with the left foot and prevents the pedal from bottoming on the steering shaft. Steve Lathrop advised that most Citations left the factory with these U-joints, but we don't know if it got removed on this one.
- Buy one Girling pushrod to use as a template to make shorter ones. Again, Steve L. said that most Citations had custom pushrods made from Grade 8 bolts that had the head turned on a lathe to match the Girling profile. My car has some combination of spacers and long pushrods that don't allow me to get the pedals far enough away to work for me. Custom pushrods will fix that.
- Add a MicroDynamics DRL 3 Digital Rev Limiter. The current rev limiter is from the 80's and is a comparitively huge box that hits my knee. This smaller one will free up some room.
- Rewire battery cables, with an electrical contactor to relocate the main battery disconnect switch. The main battery disconnect on the dash will seriously injure my knee in any 'bumps' as the threaded stud is contacting my kneecap. The plan is to put the contactor near the battery, but still have the main switch by the roll hoop. The contactor will be driven by a switch on the dash, but the main switch is always there to shut everything off if needed. I think this satisfies the GCR requirement and frees up a lot of room on/under the dash.
- New Lexan dash panel with scallops on either side of the wheel to accomodate my knees while getting in/out. I was going to do fiberglass until Steve L. explained the reason behind the lexan was a steering column mount, with a bonus that the Lexan could shatter out of the way if you had the big one and your feet/knees were pushed back to your body. That sounds pretty useful, though I hope to never need that feature!
- Install sheet metal 'centering' plates between the fiberglass and a few key Dzus fasteners, as described in C.Smith's Prepare to Win book, to help line up the fastener with the spring. The fiberglass is seriously eroded around a few that pretty much require a divining rod and a life coach to line up - not what I want when the grid chief is telling you to go to the start line right now!
The first two will get done ASAP and I'll deal with the other ones over the winter. It's been one month since I got the car and I still can't drive it due to the pedal arrangement. Soon...
The Scion FRS I've been autocrossing has been great once we sorted out the alignment. Aside from the torque dip that they're famous for, that is one awesome little car! It's very predictable with surprisingly-neutral handling. It's no FF, but it's fun as heck until the Citation is ready.
annnndddd welcome to CM... the car class with endless tasks and tweaks to keep you occupied.
Haha, I figured. But I was hoping to drive the car first!
Though, fairly open rules mean you have more rope to hang yourself with... Note that I'm only messing with driver comfort/safety items at this point. I didn't list it but I also got a new harness to replace a VERY old one, even though I don't need to for autocross.
Never Autocrossed them, but I spent a LOT of time racing '85,'88, and '91 VD. All great cars. '88 worked great on street tires, not so much on slicks. My opinion. Go with a car that has pushrod suspension on all 4 corners. 90+ VD would work very well.
Aaron
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