OK, Christmas break is over…
Reconstituted the front end, at least structurally. All back together in one piece. Still have some paint repair to do, but that’s low on the priority list right now. Looks fine for a 10 year old car… you can see some scuffs and such, in this pic of my new-to-me gently used RMW splitter.
This splitter is beastly. It’s one massive solid panel. I could snowboard on it. It may be the strongest thing I’ve ever held…
A few scuffs on the bottom because… it’s a splitter. This will go on for track days only. Definitely not made for mountain twisties. But, with the underbody panels and the GP skirts, I’m hoping this will give me a little more stability at speed… I need all the help I can get, at triple-digit speed.
Built some custom jack points, to replace the factory points, so I can roll right on and off the lift with the GP skirts, without fooling with the jack point extension blocks, hockey pucks, etc.
Yes, I cut a hockey puck in half.
Sure, I could have some custom jack points machined. Maybe I will at some point. But these will work fine, and don’t weight much, and were easy. Three hockey pucks (75mm) rear, 2.5 hockey pucks (62mm) front. Should protrude just a few mm below the skirts. I don’t use the little trap doors anyway, so the skirts should be more aero than usual, with the holes mostly plugged by these. I’ll pull off the factory points and install them today. Need to test with the factory jack for roadside repairs, I may need to get a small flat-top scissor jack to use instead, since the factory jack can’t engage these like the factory points.
Installed my Greene Performance camber/caster plates, once I figured out that the BC coilovers had a top nut with integrated bushing that’s close enough to fit.
I started with them adjusted like this. Max caster, and about half max negative camber. I’ll tweak them a bit as needed. If I’m reading the gauge right. looks like I have about 7 degrees of caster with these. Haven’t driven the car at speed yet to evaluate, but it definitely has more “on center” feel than before. I can tell that just driving around the neighborhood.
Annnnnnnddddddd…. Yesterday was a huge day.
After a couple of failed attempts to get the car titled… I got’er done.
A truly amazing day. Went to the main NC DMV office in Raleigh early. Successfully titled the car in the name of the guy who bought it at insurance auction (via power of attorney), then transferred that title to me (via power of attorney), then titled it in my name. Then called DMV theft inspection unit, and (incredibly) they had an appointment available at 2PM. Went home and buttoned things up to be ready for the inspector. Inspector arrived at 2, was done by 2:30. I took inspection report to the local DMV office 10 minutes from my house, got a 10 day permit for the car. Back home at 3:00, drove the car to the local safety/emissions inspection shop. They were slow today, done about 4:00, passed first try. Drove the car back across town to the DMV office with the safety/emissions inspection report and registered the car, got a plate, and ordered personalized plate.
Emailed my insurance agent and added the car to my policy. DONE. Street legal!
Taxes and fees were almost exactly the same amount I paid for the car (or at least, the shell). YOLO.
Now time to schedule all the other stuff I need to have done… exhaust repair, windshield replacement, paint repairs, top and tonneau fabrication, etc. Which is fun to schedule, when the car has no roof and we’re in a El Nino rainy pattern… And I need several dry-ish days to pull out the interior, strip and repaint the cage, give it a few days to cure, and re-install interior. And the rest of the TVS stuff should arrive in a couple of weeks… and I have a weekend at VIR in late February… still lots of work to get it ready.