As you know, I like building dumb projects using junkyard parts, particularly when they're all about safety! This tale of building your very own Skull Brake Lights has more than the usual twists and turns, so buckle up!
In all the excitement of the Scuderia Flatpack V8olvo getting on its roof at Thunderhill we forgot all about their incredible new team logo!
After a little mishap with a TR7 on Saturday, the Scuderia Flatpack V8olvo (formerly the Black Metal V8olvo) suffered a much worse setback late in the race today, when it attempted to share space with a '67 Plymouth Fury.
The guys driving the V8-powered Volvo 244 were hoping to follow up their victory at Buttonwillow with another this weekend, but the Buick V6-powered Wedginator Triumph has made that goal much, much harder to reach.
I'm too busy helping to break down the Traveling LeMons Circus tents to write much detail here, so just the bare-bones facts:
Remember the Black Metal V8olvo? Featuring an all-star cast of Spec Miata racers (a vast improvement over the not-so-great drivers- e.g., me- they had in the past) and great penalty-avoidance skills, they're leading the race!
Remember the You Guess The Effluency Contenders' Laps contest we had, oh, nearly a month ago? I've finally gone through the predictions, and we have a winner!
The last time the Black Metal V8olvo raced, it was black and blue... and evil. It's still evil, but- like a bleak Swedish winter of death- it's all in white now.
Whew, it's been a crazy day at Thunderhill Raceway so far, as I switch between Journalist, Racer, and Judge hats/wigs. We had a little mishap in the first hour of practice today...
Since many of our cheapskate thrifty readers appreciated the tip about cheap rear-battery cables from junked BMW 325s, here's another nearly-free trick we discovered while preparing the V8 Volvo for the next race.
OK, fine, we know the official rules state that "added structural elements which extend past the original bodywork line" aren't allowed in the 24 Hours Of LeMons, but how could anyone be against this kind of safety enhancement? Actually, that display is the result of a game of Volvo 240 Musical Chairs, in which you…
When we brought a car with a crazy engine/transmission swap and some wild junkyard suspension mods to the 24 Hours of LeMons race, some folks thought it wouldn't last a dozen laps... but we knew better. You see, we've got the mighty Hellhammer, aka Junkyard Dave Schaible, as crew chief, and this guy can build anything…
When racing started at Altamont on Sunday, we knew we had some catching up to do; thanks to overestimation of fuel consumption, some pit slowness, and a penalty incurred by yours truly (more on that later), we started the day in 44th place out of 90 cars. We had the power, we had the skilled drivers, and we had a…
With all the excitement of the race, I totally forgot to post photos of what the Black Metal V8olvo actually looked like by the time we had it all painted and bedecaled. Thing is, we didn't have time to apply the decals until we actually got the car to the racetrack. First of all, some commenters have wondered about…
So we put in the Loverman followed by Viergangfuchs this morning and started knocking off some quick laps, passing like crazy and moving up to the 20s in the standings; Mr. Baruth has our best lap time, with 51 seconds. Now the Evil Genius is driving, and he's also fast as hell. However, the level of competition is…
There was definitely a sense of gloom hanging over the pits this morning, but just about everyone here felt that we ought to go out and have fun doing what the late Mr. Summerfield loved doing: racing. The number of cars out on the track is quite a bit smaller than what we had yesterday, as mechanical failures take…
And here comes pride up the backstretch! I'm the next driver up, so this will be brief: right now our friends on Team Porcubimmer are in first place! Black Metal V8olvo is in "preserve the car" mode, so we're running in the middle of the pack now. The car seems to be doing all right, although those of you who…
We've spent the morning applying stickers, discussing driver strategy, and being hectored by Mr. Lamm about all the horrific penalties that await overly aggro drivers (in honor of Mother's Day, one penalty involves being forced to eat an entire meatloaf while another team member plays the role of the mother, hovering…
Teams competing in the 24 Hours of LeMons race can check in and get their cars past the tech inspection judges on Friday afternoon or Saturday morning. Teams showing up on Friday get first shot at the good pit spaces, and Team Black Metal V8olvo decided to claim some real estate today. Tech inspection went smoothly…
When your V8-powered Volvo race car already has a 5-speed, Fiero wing, and hood scoop, what more do you need? That's right, a great big Swedish Rebel Flag on the roof! We had this planned for quite a while (though several commenters read our minds and suggested the idea), and we finally made it happen last weekend.…
