Car show time.
Car show time.
This is fantastic and I'm so happy for you that it came together. The best part is your family helping so much.
Is the paint plastidip or something removable to go back to stock? Honestly this would be one of the biggest sleepers just running around town once you continue sorting things out.
Almost 87 mph in the quarter sounds like a traction-limited launch.
Also LOL'd at using the phrase "back to stock" with this vehicle. :-)
Someone had set up scales and were weighing the Challenge cars. I decided to put the van on and see where I ended up. The back of the van just cleared the tiny little ramps to get on the scales. 
3,549 pounds without driver. Final results have been posted. 15th overall and, drum roll please, .... 1st in the Soccer Mom class!
My family and I had a wonderful time. I'll post some better pictures, and hopefully a video or two, after we get home and I get some free time. Until next time.
Congrats and yes I was the first of many to get beat by a minivan. Was fun working the autocross and seeing you going around the cones.
Awesome job! Congrats!
ShawneeCreek wrote: Someone had set up scales and were weighing the Challenge cars. I decided to put the van on and see where I ended up. The back of the van just cleared the tiny little ramps to get on the scales. 3,549 pounds without driver.
That's amazing that you ended up pretty much where the van weighed before you got started!
Anyplace I can go to see video of this running the cones? Or the drag strip?
There might be some on the Facebook live videos. And I'll have a couple once I get home and have a chance to process them from the cameras.
Incredible build.
DaewooOfDeath wrote: Incredible build.
It was even more incredible in person. The way the G6 interior integrated with the van was uncanny.
Congratulations on your class victory. An incredible achievement in the time available.
NOHOME wrote: Anyplace I can go to see video of this running the cones? Or the drag strip?
Finally got time to edit the videos.
External view of autocross run
Let me know if this works. This is my first try with YouTube.
In reply to ShawneeCreek:
Awesome! All-3 work FYI.
What is the plan for the van, moving forward ??
That was fun to watch.
Right now, the plan for the van is for it to sit in the garage for a month or two and take as little of my time as possible. The past couple of months of all van, all the time, was rough.
Beyond that, I'm going to work on fixing things here and there over the winter to get the van more usable. Things like:
Once spring rolls around, and my bank account recovers some, I'm going to work on testing and tuning the van at local autocrosses, drag strips, and car shows. Looking back on this year's competition the van's biggest shortcoming was the all-season UHP tires. This is especially ironic to me because I'm a tire development engineer, and should know better.
I'm looking into getting some Avon radial slicks from work for the 18" wheels that came with the G6. I'm looking at a 210/640-18, but I want to test fit the 18's on the van first. This would allow me to drop the cost of the 17" wheels from the budget and with some more cost savings might allow the purchase of a couple of steel wheels and some drag slicks. Of course all of this extra grip might require the suspension to be tweaked. It will likely need better sway bars, but we'll find out after some testing.
That's the basic plan for now. Little, cheap fixes over the winter then better tires and some testing and tuning over the summer. If things work out well, we might be back to Gainesville next fall with the van. We'll see.
Until next time.
AngryCorvair wrote: Also LOL'd at using the phrase "back to stock" with this vehicle. :-)
The paint. Just the paint was the question.
Unfortunately, the paint is your standard, permanent type of paint. This would make it not very easily removable. However, you have to remember that it was painted in the hotel parking lot the night before and prep work consisted of wiping down the surfaces with automotive detail spray and a rag. I'm guessing the paint will come off a little easier than normal, but not Plasti-dip easy. I would love to bring it back to the Challenge painted a more normal color for that ultimate sleeper/slammed stock look. In particular I like the Bright Aqua Metallic over grey (or black) two-tone that was offered from the factory. Getting that paint (or even something like it) in budget might be a struggle, though. We'll see what happens after I start digging back into this project.
I really think you should look into a set of air adjust shocks for the back. That way you can tune the spring rate assist and ride height easily at the track. Those coil spring spacers are sketchy and I'm not sure they are safe.
Getting paint into budget...
These are plastic panels, right?
Buy another entire APV for $250. Maybe not running but looking okay. Pull the plastic panels and then sell down the rest of the remaining APV hulk until you get to zero budget.
Of course, this assumes you have not maxed out your recoup budget.
Added bonus: this will get you another APV in the driveway!
PS: please remind Mrs Shawnee that I actually do like her. 
One problem with that line of thought is that, unlike most plastic Saturns, the main body panels (rear quarters, roof, etc...) are glued in place at the factory. It would be exceedingly difficult to remove and replace those panels. I just need to take some time and find a good, cheap source for the paint. Maybe a mis-mix at a body shop, or extra paint from an industrial or farm source. I'm open to ideas if anyone has some. In other news, while I was in college I loved reading build threads for car projects online. It's part of the reason I took the time to do this build thread for the van. I had a whole folder of internet bookmarks dedicated to threads to keep up on. (I had a lot more free time then than I realized.) Regardless, my favorite source for finding new threads was Build-Threads.com. I peaked in on the site today in a moment of boredom and discovered this:
Build-Threads blog post And the van also made Reader's Ride of the Week It's not much, all things considered. But I'm honored, and the van is getting famous. 
Until next time.
ShawneeCreek wrote: One problem with that line of thought is that, unlike most plastic Saturns, the main body panels (rear quarters, roof, etc...) are glued in place at the factory. It would be exceedingly difficult to remove and replace those panels. I just need to take some time and find a good, cheap source for the paint. Maybe a mis-mix at a body shop, or extra paint from an industrial or farm source. I'm open to ideas if anyone has some.
Try Interlux Brightside polyurethane. It's durable as hell, self leveling, has great coverage, crazy good UV protection, is easy to spray, and is pretty cheap.
http://www.yachtpaint.com/usa/diy/products/finishes/brightside-polyurethane.aspx
Send them an email and ask for some color swatches, and they'll mail you a packet. Lots of guys use this stuff for budget paint jobs and it looks great.
OF course, your other option is plasti-dip. Cheap, easy to apply, lots of color and finish options, and as permanent as you want it to be.
ShawneeCreek wrote: One problem with that line of thought is that, unlike most plastic Saturns, the main body panels (rear quarters, roof, etc...) are glued in place at the factory. It would be exceedingly difficult to remove and replace those panels.
If they're attached the same way as the parking lot Trans Am's door skins, you'll be surprised at how easy they are to remove- one pry with a screwdriver to get your fingers under, and a good yank ripped those things clean off.
It was fun talking and getting to check out the van and see it run.
I was a little disappointed in the turnout for the van class but ultimately you single-handedly saved it from being dominated by a complete E36 M3box van that wasn't even built for the event and wasn't being run that hard because i didn't care to risk breaking it (i drove it to work today!). So good on you for rescuing the dignity of the van class with an actually-impressive build!
I'm sure you already realize this, but drag slicks would have dropped your van into the 15s. Since it weighs nearly the same as the original g6, it should have the potential to get very close to the 14s with no additional power.
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