challenge documents done. Aligned, claybar done. Next is polish, ceramicoat, print and pack.
challenge documents done. Aligned, claybar done. Next is polish, ceramicoat, print and pack.
Having seen what that looked like at its worst, it looks pretty dang sharp now.
Thanks Brett!!
Im looking forward to seeing what a good polish and wax can do for it. May actually make me like the silver!
One week from now the car needs to be on course and competing against monzora as well as any envelope class cars. Tomorrow is easter, i have to pack, pick up trailer, make sure car is ready, work ot until we leave, etc. Got a long list of stuff that HAS to be done.
So I'm restoring the weatherstripping.
Should probably check tire pressure and fluids.
this stuffs impressive. We'll see how long it lasts
needs to come down another inch and a half, but DAMN it came out nice.
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
Dude, that looks so good.
In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
Even better with two coats of carnuba on top of the ceramicoat and out in the daylight
"$400 car my a$$"
Looks awesome! Great work on this.
It was absolutely a $400 car before he bought it.
That's looking great! What products are you using for the plastic and rubber detailing?
In reply to maschinenbau :
So for this one as it was really bad, I had kind of a nuclear approach. The whole car was washed with a mixture of chemical guys clean slate car wash, Dawn dish soap, purple Power and Water. All the rubber and black plastic trim had special attention paid to it with kitchen scrubby pads for the Teflon pans and concrete scrub brushes to get the oxidized rubber off. This also got a lot of the contamination off of the black Plastics but still left them Gray and Truckee looking. This mixture in a great job of removing baked in and ground in paint contaminants in the nooks and crannies and seems as well. Car was then buffed with 3m compound in the purple bottle and a white pad on a porter cable da, and received two coats of seaports 3.0 ceramico. The Plastics and rubbers were treated with a generous helping of Chemical Guys vrp applied with a microfiber applicator and worked into the surfaces until they would accept no more. Paint was then top coated with two coats of Maguire's pure gold Carnival Wax.
So, the big show is this weekend. The 2024 GRM challenge at Gainesville Florida dragstrip.
Yall should come on out. Theres a cars and coffee style thing Sunday morning during the concourse part of the event, and it’d be awesome to see some of your stuff out there too!
So, this is my final all in the envelope budget.
envelope budget 1 page by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
Let’s roll the clocks back a bit and well finish up prep for the event that brings us to today.
First is finished exhaust pictures as promised. Its not super pretty, but it doesn’t rattle, leak, etc. sounds good too! unfortunately/fortunately, with the deleting of the second cat at the end of the downpipe, it now builds more boost than it’s tuned for. I’ve seen 17 on the gauge once, and 15 many times. Pump gas is 93 here, and ill throw some more octane in it at the track as cheap insurance against going boom. I have to get it tuned after the challenge, no way around it. Ill finish bolting on all the speed parts first, then find someone around here that can do it. It also has a bit of drone, so ill be adding a resonator as well while I’m doing the work.
20240317_095832 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
First order of challenge prep was changing belts back out and a thorough nut and bolt check. I found during the check that my PS return hose was leaking slightly, my heat shield was rubbing the driveshaft, and one of the braces on the rear subframe was hitting the rear sway bar causing the rattle that’s been driving me nuts. I am glad to say that everything remained torqued to spec though, and there were no real ugly Suprises.
20240317_095847 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
My nephew and I then reinstalled the inner fenders, as I still hadn’t done that and it seemed like a good thing to do with a kindergartener that wanted to help. He also insisted on tightening every lug nut all the way down by hand. I let him. He’s way cooler than my brother (his dad).
20240317_114726 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
Next up was alignment. The rear was good, the front wasn’t. all I can really correct in challenge budget and time was the camber and toe. Using factory eccentrics got me a max negative camber of ONE DEGREE POSITIVE. Don’t know what’s going on there, but no bueno. So, a pair of smaller diameter bolts allowed me to get one degree of negative camber in both fronts. The rear bushings are shot, and the tires rub the blown out legacy gt struts with any more negative camber. Ill fix these issues after the challenge before I put new tires on. I set toe to zero. It drives WAY better, but still has some nasty pull and bump steer from the shot bushings. Plans are whiteline .5 caster adding bushings, and crash bolts with fresh kyb struts for an outback and some spring cutting for ride height. Again, after the challenge.
I went ahead and went after detailing the car next. You see, the last third of the event is the concourse. Which will be tough for a mostly stock Baja, but I have a plan. We’ll see how I do, but I’m not holding my breath on scoring much higher than the base “give me” 12 points. But I can’t, in good conscience take the handout points. Higher or lower points, I’ll take what I earn square on the chin.
First, challenge team logo
20240313_194229 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
Then, swap out the rusty fuel filler parts for the non-rusty stuff scavenged from the legacy
20240317_142412 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
Then the hard work. Polishing the turd. This started with a 3m eraser wheel taking off the bug shield mount residue, then the sunroof vent visor residue, then the pinstriping. Cleaned the leftover schmutz off with lacquer thinner and paper towels. After that, the whole car was washed with a mixture of chemical guys clean slate car wash, Dawn dish soap, purple Power and water. All the rubber and black plastic trim had special attention paid to it with the blue kitchen scrubby pads for the Teflon pans and concrete scrub brushes to get the oxidized rubber off. This also got a lot of the contamination off of the black plastics but still left them Gray and scruffy looking. This mixture in a great job of removing baked in and ground in paint contaminants in the nooks and crannies and seams as well. Car was then clay bared with a mothers synthetic 2.0 clay bar and mequires quick detailer as lubricant, followed by buffing with 3m compound in the purple bottle and a white foam pad on a porter cable da. It then received two coats of C.Quartz 3.0 ceramicoat. The Plastics and rubbers were treated with a generous helping of Chemical Guys vrp applied with a microfiber applicator and worked into the surfaces until they would accept no more. Paint was then top coated with two coats of Maguire's Gold Class Carnauba wax. The interior was treated to another round of chemical guys nonsense invisible cleaner and scrubbing, followed by Maguire’s natural shine protectant. Windows cleaned, carped vacuumed.
20240330_092844 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20240330_092854 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20240330_101637 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20240330_113244 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20240331_164206 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20240331_164224 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20240331_164236 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20240331_164240 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20240331_164247 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
My 15-year-old daughter and I are all but finished loading up, and are ready to roll out at pre-dawn Friday morning for the drive to Florida. I hope to see you all there, and will give a report post challenge. Safe travels to you all, and God bless.
all loaded up and ready to go in the morning. Goal is to be on the road before 6am.
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
That's awesome, enjoy the Challenge! I'll be in TX to view the eclipse (or clouds)
That looks amazing! Safe travels, see you tomorrow!
Westbound and down, fantastic write up and hope you and the little duster enjoy the trip!
Rolling out in about 15 minutes. Im going to need a nap later.
Darlington sc. Kids asleep. Slacker.
Full tank and coffee. Next stop Florida line. Hopefully.
Saw this last night on I-75 south, just before the TN / GA border:
not Dusterbd13 but certainly made me look twice. Silver Baja on a trailer behind a red pickup?!?!
In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
Holy crap there's two of me?!
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
I'm in Charleston if you need any help from here to Savannah
We are officially in Florida! There's only one complaint; this Subaru has been on our butt the entire ride!
here!!!
Holy crap. Alan (the pro driver) wheeled it to currently leading class.
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