Quattro Inspiration

DIY Cooling Suit (Step 1)

Most of the South East is too hot and muggy to support human life during the summer, mosquitoes on the other hand do just fine. The bottom line is that we have little chance of surviving the 24 Hours of Lemons in Kershaw SC in late July without some kind of clever technological solution.

It would be great to buy one of the purpose built cooling suits the pros wear. But in the spirit of Lemons (and being broke anyway) we decided to build our own.

Here's the ingredient list that you'll need if you want to build your own:

1. Atwood V500 Bilge Pump ($15)
2. Radio Shack 12v power supply (w/ switch) ($7.99)
3. Target 18 liter cooler ($19)
4. 10' Silicone 1"OD hose ($7)
5. 20' Silicone 3/8" OD hose ($7)
6. Watts Quick Connect Straight Valve ($7)
7. 2 Brass Nipples ($10) (to transition b/t the two hoses)
   

The picture below shows the basic design. Obviously the pump will be set in the base of the cooler. The driver will have the choice to either turning off the system at the power source or adjusting the flow using the straight valve.


I was concerned about the power of the pump. The pump will "push" water up to about 7'. If the flow returns down to the pump (i.e. a 7' vertical loop with the pump and exit at the base) the flow is adequately strong). Success!

For Sale: Seats, Seat Belts

You will know us by our trail of parts...

Today we offer the following: Front seats and seat belts. They're in great condition and they're super comfortable. I kind of want to put them in my 330ci and every other car thereafter. The pictures below are of the passenger seat, the driver is in similar condition.

Workday: Gut, Roll Cage, Joy Ride

This Saturday we met to take out the interior and take measurements for the roll cage. We also took the car out for a quick (slow?) spin.

We lifted the car to take a look underneath. The car is definitely in "good-enough" condition. One issue had been concern about a rusted out exhaust line. It turns out that at some point the exhaust had fallen off its hanger and the left rear drive shaft wore THROUGH the exhaust! Fortunately this happened in the final few feet of the exhaust system after the last coupling... should be easy to replace.

In the mean time in-line 5 makes a nice V-8 like rumble (minus all of the V-8 torque).

Teammate Steve finally got to take it for a spin: "Awesome!... It really is slow."

Good news: We're On The Grid

Good news: I got the email last night from the race (dis)organizers. With their typical dry wit they informed us that we had been accepted:

Good news-I think. Your team has officially been ACCEPTED for LeMons South, on 26-27 July at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw SC.

Now we really need to get cracking on our to-do list. More later!

To Do

Here's our to-do list:
1. Fix exhaust leaks
2. replace control arm bushings (have)
3. Replace rotors/pads (have)
4. Replace brake servo (have)
5. Install power steering pump belt
6. Replace strut inserts
7. Replace springs (in transit)
8. Remove interior
9. Install racing seat
10. Install roll cage
11. New wheels/tires
12. Cucaracha horn (have)
13. Decorations

Winter's Over, Springs are here...

The kind people of the AudiWorld 4000 forums have given our team a set of 4 used springs. They come with the caveat that they may be a bit slack because they are off of an 85 4000s. But I'm pretty sure that anything will be better than our completely limp set with more than 212k miles.

Now if only we could find some strut inserts!