The rat racer lives!

General chat about the car goes in here.
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htchevyii
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Posts: 1807
Joined: Thu Jan 17, 2008 9:31 pm
Your car is a: 1982 Spider hers 1972 Spider his
Location: Hydesville, CA (NorCal)

The rat racer lives!

Post by htchevyii »

So, the rat racer made it thru two solid days of punishment unscathed. I cut too much off of the front springs, so I spent the night before the event installing another set. I will probably cut a little more off of rear springs and level it out. I was pretty happy with it considering I had never even driven the car except for a few runs up and down my street. I did start shifting to third after I saw 7500 on the tach. I'm going to install a modern tach just to be sure. What is a safe max RPM for a 1756? Most of the other cars were Subarus, Mazdas and Hondas. there was a MGB with a Mercedes engine. You'll have to fast forward a while (2 minutes) for the video to start. They made a nice S curve that I never did make it thru with the Spider's crummy turning radius. The car in front of me was a Tesla Model S electric car. The highest tech car there meets the lowest tech car there. I could buy 250 of my car for what it cost! Man that thing was quick! All electric with 413 HP in a full size 4 door sedan. Too bad they are so dang expensive. http://www.teslamotors.com/models

Video:
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http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd13 ... 2893de.mp4
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Trey
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1982 SPIDER 2000, 1964 CHEVYII, 1969 Chevy Nova, 2005 DODGE RAM, 1988 Jeep Comanche
1972 Spider, 78 Spider rat racer 57 f-100,
fiat218
Posts: 5745
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 5:06 pm
Your car is a: 1969 124 AS spider

Re: The rat racer lives!

Post by fiat218 »

Driver side wheel? Is that leaned out for cornering,or maybe I'm not seen it straight
Jim
East Grand Forks MN
1970 Fiat Spider BS1 ( FOR SALE
1969 124 AS Spider
2017 Abrath
2018 Alfa Romeo 4c Spider
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RoyBatty
Posts: 852
Joined: Sat Aug 28, 2010 11:44 pm
Your car is a: 1975 124 Spider - 1971 124 Sport Coupe
Location: Locust Grove, VA

Re: The rat racer lives!

Post by RoyBatty »

Was that autocross held at the airport on the Samoa peninsula ?
If so are Bert and Faye Curtis still setting the fast times with Lotus products? Been more than 20 years since I last ran out there.
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SLOSpider
Posts: 1140
Joined: Wed Mar 03, 2010 2:10 am
Your car is a: 1973 124 Spider 2.0FI
Location: Lompoc, Ca USA

Re: The rat racer lives!

Post by SLOSpider »

You need some better sway bars on there and some performance springs :)
1975 124 Spider
1976 Mazda Cosmo http://www.mazdacosmo.com
1989 Chevy k5 Blazer
1967 GT Mustang Fastback
htchevyii
Patron 2022
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Posts: 1807
Joined: Thu Jan 17, 2008 9:31 pm
Your car is a: 1982 Spider hers 1972 Spider his
Location: Hydesville, CA (NorCal)

Re: The rat racer lives!

Post by htchevyii »

RoyBatty wrote:Was that autocross held at the airport on the Samoa peninsula ?
If so are Bert and Faye Curtis still setting the fast times with Lotus products? Been more than 20 years since I last ran out there.
It was in Samoa and the asphalt is terrible. Sorry, I don't know of Bert or Faye. I've spent a lot of time out there, but most was at the drag strip. We are lucky to have it here.
I have a rear bar, but am waiting until I get a bigger front bar.
Trey
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1982 SPIDER 2000, 1964 CHEVYII, 1969 Chevy Nova, 2005 DODGE RAM, 1988 Jeep Comanche
1972 Spider, 78 Spider rat racer 57 f-100,
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FiatMac
Posts: 290
Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2009 1:14 pm
Your car is a: 1982 2000 Spider
Location: Salisbury, North Carolina

Re: The rat racer lives!

Post by FiatMac »

htchevyii wrote: I have a rear bar, but am waiting until I get a bigger front bar.
I would go ahead and install the rear sway bar. The rear bar greatly improved the cornering of my Spider with the stock front bar. Got rid of the understeer and created a nicely balanced cornering feel when I ran on the track at Virginia International Raceway.
Stan McConnell
Retired Mechanical Engineer
Salisbury, North Carolina
82 2000 Spider (driving)
78 124 Spider on the rotisserie
76 124 Spider parts car or possible Lemons racer
83 parts car
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SLOSpider
Posts: 1140
Joined: Wed Mar 03, 2010 2:10 am
Your car is a: 1973 124 Spider 2.0FI
Location: Lompoc, Ca USA

Re: The rat racer lives!

Post by SLOSpider »

I have a larger front bar if interested Ill sell.
1975 124 Spider
1976 Mazda Cosmo http://www.mazdacosmo.com
1989 Chevy k5 Blazer
1967 GT Mustang Fastback
htchevyii
Patron 2022
Patron 2022
Posts: 1807
Joined: Thu Jan 17, 2008 9:31 pm
Your car is a: 1982 Spider hers 1972 Spider his
Location: Hydesville, CA (NorCal)

Re: The rat racer lives!

Post by htchevyii »

Darn it! So much for my budget racer! I only had $350-400 into the whole project including the car, but now I've got a big front sway bar on the way thanks to Brian and a set of used stock car springs thanks to advise from Jim Scurria (SCCA racer from Mirafiori.com). So now I've got more work to do and I still need to get busy with the tractor paint so it's not sooo ugly!
Trey
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1982 SPIDER 2000, 1964 CHEVYII, 1969 Chevy Nova, 2005 DODGE RAM, 1988 Jeep Comanche
1972 Spider, 78 Spider rat racer 57 f-100,
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