Aloha from Concord, NC!

[heymikey]

Aloha!

My name is Mike and I'm originally from Maui, Hawaii. My wife is originally from Concord, NC, and because she wanted to be closer to family, we moved back to NC. I decided to go back to school for a second degree, so I'm currently studying Mechanical Engineering at UNCC (possibly concentrating in Motorsports).

I've always been into cars and love working on them, but being in Hawaii, we never really had much as far as organized events. Now that we're kinna settled in, I was hoping to join the SCCA and participate in some autox, but I'm kinna apprehensive about it. Because the move and going back to school ended up being pretty costly, I don't have a fast car or anything (just a 2012 Honda Civic LX 4D 5MT). I just want to have a hobby that allows me to have fun with what I do have and meet some new people who enjoy the same things I do.

I'm really interested in joining in the fun, but I don't wanna make a fool of myself either. kinna hard to be cool with a cheap econobox Anyway, I saw that there's an event at zMax on the 16th and a "Novice School" on the 23rd. I live very close to Charlotte Motor Speedway, so I'm pretty sure I could make that zMax event, but do you think I should try for the Novice School instead? Any tips on getting started with autox would be greatly appreciated!

[CoolGuy094]

Please do come to the zMax event this weekend, if even just to spectate!!! I graduated from the UNCC mechanical engineering program in '09 (loved it) and would be happy to talk to you about autox. Sign up for the novice school and come see how much fun you'll have next weekend. We can help you out with any questions you have and you can see how an event operates.

[yellow CR]

Welcome to NC

I would recommend come to zMax, spectate, and see what autocross is like. One of the coolest parts of an autocross is we allow passengers. So you can come down, meet some people and many will allow you the opportunity to ride along with them on one of their runs through the course. Autocrossers are some of the friendliest people around. Almost everyone will be more than happy to answer any questions you might have.

[heymikey]

thanks guys! I definitely plan on making it to zMax, most likely as a spectator. I signed up for the Novice School, so I'm looking forward to that as well. are either of you gonna be driving at zMax? I didn't realize spectators were allowed to ride-along as passengers, but I'd love to ride along with anyone willing and see what it's like. quick question tho, do passengers need helmets? I still need to find one. any recommended places to shop? I am on a budget with school and all, but i understand safety isn't a place to really skimp.

[heymikey]

and i had another question. i tried looking it up, but I'm not sure how to interpret the class chart. what class would my car be in with the following mods?

- Eibach Sportline springs (about 1.75" drop)
- Koni sport one-way (rebound) adjustable struts/shocks
- Honda OEM EP3 Si 16x6.5" wheels with 205/55/r16 tires (OEM size wheel and tire for an EX Civic, but my car is an LX that had 15" steelies)
- Honda OEM Civic Si muffler
- K&N drop-in air filter

[z3elda]

Feb 11, 2013 22:25:20 GMT -5 heymikey said:

thanks guys! I definitely plan on making it to zMax, most likely as a spectator. I signed up for the Novice School, so I'm looking forward to that as well. are either of you gonna be driving at zMax? I didn't realize spectators were allowed to ride-along as passengers, but I'd love to ride along with anyone willing and see what it's like. quick question tho, do passengers need helmets? I still need to find one. any recommended places to shop? I am on a budget with school and all, but i understand safety isn't a place to really skimp.

Just sign the waiver when you get on-site and you are all set. We have loaner helmets available, both for passengers and drivers. You can use one of those for a few events if needed.

[yellow CR]

Since you have aftermarket shocks, springs and a different wheel size, your car will be in STF.

To be honest, your Civic may be a pretty good car in this new STF class.

<----Myself and everyone else will be at zMax, it is the 1st event of the year. And many people have new toys and/or new toy parts to try out.

[philip1]

Your setup sounds pretty good and for your car Street Touring FWD seems a good fit. Also since you are new to this sport add an "N" to the class so you don't have to contend with the big guys till you are ready.

[heymikey]

Feb 11, 2013 22:34:32 GMT -5 z3elda said:

Feb 11, 2013 22:25:20 GMT -5 heymikey said:

thanks guys! I definitely plan on making it to zMax, most likely as a spectator. I signed up for the Novice School, so I'm looking forward to that as well. are either of you gonna be driving at zMax? I didn't realize spectators were allowed to ride-along as passengers, but I'd love to ride along with anyone willing and see what it's like. quick question tho, do passengers need helmets? I still need to find one. any recommended places to shop? I am on a budget with school and all, but i understand safety isn't a place to really skimp.

Just sign the waiver when you get on-site and you are all set. We have loaner helmets available, both for passengers and drivers. You can use one of those for a few events if needed.

Thanks for the info! I'll definitely stop by and check it out on Saturday. Will you be driving your z3? I used to have an e46 325i sport. that was one of my favorite cars ever. it became my sisters car when i finished college the first time and moved back to Maui from Oahu tho.

[heymikey]

Feb 11, 2013 23:13:09 GMT -5 yellow CR said:

Since you have aftermarket shocks, springs and a different wheel size, your car will be in STF.

To be honest, your Civic may be a pretty good car in this new STF class.

<----Myself and everyone else will be at zMax, it is the 1st event of the year. And many people have new toys and/or new toy parts to try out.

That's a gorgeous s2k you have. when I sold hondas back on Maui, my manager had a boosted 2004 AP2, and that thing was a blast. any mods on yours?

[heymikey]

btw, is there a designated "spectator" area or are people generally free to wander (within reason of course)? I'm just wondering if it'd be worth bringing my camera. Never shot racing events before, but I used to shoot a lot of sports and editorial stuff when I was still in college, doing work for both UH Manoa and the Western Athletic Conference. After that it was mostly weddings and portraits til I sold most of the stuff when I moved out here. Since I no longer have a long telephoto, any action shots would have to be from not too far away.

[CoolGuy094]

Feb 12, 2013 23:13:59 GMT -5 heymikey said:

That's a gorgeous s2k you have. when I sold hondas back on Maui, my manager had a boosted 2004 AP2, and that thing was a blast. any mods on yours?

Aaaaand another reason why I like this guy already. Mike's CR is perfectly set up for STR with some high quality parts. We have a few other CR's in both BS and STR classes that exemplify what a Pro Solo S2000 should be. Jay has won a few national titles in BS and has nothing but the best installed on his. You will see some truly beautiful cars out there this weekend (Joe's Evo comes to mind). Of course, beautiful to me is mainly functional and powerful.

Spectators are free to walk the paddock oogling the cars; cameras are welcome. You can't be on course with a camera unless you are pre approved with a spotter present. There is a nice balcony overlooking the course where you can take some good pictures from.

Please be respectful of everyone's cars and possessions. We have has some issues in the past events that will cause everyone to be on higher alert than normal. Don't be stand-offish or acting weird around other people's stuff... that will be a good way to get reported to club officials, lol. We are all there to socialize and have a good time, so join in and enjoy yourself!

[z3elda]

Feb 12, 2013 23:16:57 GMT -5 heymikey said:

btw, is there a designated "spectator" area or are people generally free to wander (within reason of course)? I'm just wondering if it'd be worth bringing my camera. Never shot racing events before, but I used to shoot a lot of sports and editorial stuff when I was still in college, doing work for both UH Manoa and the Western Athletic Conference. After that it was mostly weddings and portraits til I sold most of the stuff when I moved out here. Since I no longer have a long telephoto, any action shots would have to be from not too far away.

It is MOST DEFINITELY worth bringing your camera! There is an elevated area that makes spectating a breeze. You'll see when you get there.

And BTW - feel free to grab a helmet and take a couple of rides. I know Andy is game, and you can hit me up too. And yes, I'll be in the Silver Z3 Coupe.

[C4Shane]

You can probably wear yourself out riding. You'll find very few will turn you down, and if so, it is because they are going for the last banzai run to beat the other guy in a Fordchevrostangavette and he needs to shave off a 1/100th...otherwise, riders are a blast to have along. I may be out there with my TT car (old black Corvette) just to warm it up for the upcoming TT season. If so, I love to have riders, as I don't get to do that in TT (just my GoPro is all they allow).

come on out, and bring the wife...as far as the "hard to have fun with a cheap econobox"...my son and I very successfully ran with a 1979 Fiesta...and there is nothing more econobox than a rust bucket fiesta - even earned a couple of class championships with it. Bring it on, we have a class for everything short of a Peterbilt.

[heymikey]

haha thanks. I didn't say that it was hard to have fun with my car. in fact, i think it drives very well despite being slow. i just meant it doesn't have quite the same "cool factor" as some of the other cars people have like s2000s, Evos, STis, etc.

besides, the driver makes the biggest difference, right? it doesn't matter what you drive if you can't drive it well. not that i'm a good driver or anything...

[z3elda]

Feb 13, 2013 21:08:33 GMT -5 heymikey said:

haha thanks. I didn't say that it was hard to have fun with my car. in fact, i think it drives very well despite being slow. i just meant it doesn't have quite the same "cool factor" as some of the other cars people have like s2000s, Evos, STis, etc.

besides, the driver makes the biggest difference, right? it doesn't matter what you drive if you can't drive it well. not that i'm a good driver or anything...

Last year. we had an event called the Evolution Super Shootout.
Without getting into the full explanation of how the event worked... It was like March Madness for autocross.

A guy driving a stock class 4-door Mazda Protoge made it to the final 4. If it hadn't been raining, he might have won the whole thing.

There is a class for every car, whether its "cool" or not. Just do it.

[heymikey]

I came out to zMax and met another new guy Dan (dakeller). We were both freezing and I think everyone we talked to on this forum was busy because we saw familiar cars but no drivers. Plus I think we were both more than a little overwhelmed and apprehensive about talking to strangers. haha. We'll be out at novice school for sure.

I was thinking, it'd be nice to put a face to each username/car. Can you post pictures so it won't feel so awkward approaching people? if not that's fine. I'm attaching one of me (with the wifey).

[heymikey]

looks like the picture didn't get attached to my previous post. let's try this again.

[dasautochris]

Tried to post a picture, but I always have trouble posting pics to this forum for some reason. I put the picture URL between the [ img ] [ /img ] (without the spaces) just like I do on any other forum, but it doesn't work....

[CoolGuy094]

Believe me, you don't want to see most of our ugly mugs any more than you have to.

[z3elda]

Yep- thats me

Attachments:

[dasautochris]

This is me with my son when he was 9 months old. (9 months ago)

[heymikey]

since this is an intro thread, i figure i might as well post something about me. probably my biggest passion is working on cars. although i don't have any money to work on my own, i was lucky enough to find a job where my boss appreciates what I do. here's what i mean:

any classic corvette fans here? besides going to school, i work in a warehouse where my boss has me doing a frame off restoration on a 1962 corvette. i've been posting on several other forums, but I figure some of you might find this interesting as well. anyway, this is where i'm at right now, copied from my last post in some other forums.

I have the frame completely broken down and ready for stripping. we're debating whether we should media blast or acid dip. our only concern is if there is any rust in the frame rails, media blasting won't do anything about it. plan to powdercoat the frame after prepping. I do have a few questions, which will be highlighted in bold.

bare frame


the engine is on a stand, and with the frame apart, I was finally able to spend some time on that. our plan was to just clean it up and put it back together, depending on if the internals were in good shape or not. it seems like the previous owner or whoever worked on it before really liked blue RTV sealant, because that stuff was all over the motor.





driver side head




driver bank




passenger bank






passenger head





fuel pump. is this the correct fuel pump? something about this looks wrong to me.



oil pan looks pretty beat up.


inside the oil pan


oil filter mount. is this an adapter?


crankshaft



pistons look pretty new? they're all stamped "B 396" on the inside of the skirt. supposedly, the motor was rebuilt not that long ago. would you say these pictures coincide with that?





were the rods stamped like this from the factory? or is that an indication that the motor was disassembled and reassembled?




heads and lifters - i made sure to keep the lifters in the same order I pulled them out. I pulled the heads as a complete unit to make sure I don't lose parts or mix up the order.


not sure I want to tear down the rest of the motor, because it looks pretty decent. what would you all do? any advice would be appreciated.

the driver side subframe looks like it was damaged and repaired before. The bolt holding the upper A-arms looks like was welded in place but since broke free. It seemed fine until I got the front suspension completely apart. after removing the bolt, the hole is super rough and it's missing the bushings that are found on the passenger side of the subframe. do you think should I just look for a new subframe? or can this be salvaged?