Officially Joining the Ranks!

#1

Hey y’all. I didn’t want to jinx anything by publicly announcing I was getting a car and coming racing, but now that the car is paid for and in transport to Austin, I guess I can :slight_smile: I met binaryfarms last week and we’re looking forward to meeting and racing against anyone who wants to join up in Tejas!

I’ll be racing a blue/white livery 89 325is, my goal is to have it entered in the Eagles Canyon race coming up this October. I’ll also be running it in the BMW CCA CR race at TWS this December.

Car will be arriving this week and I’ll do some shakedown at either the NASA event at H2R next or the PDS at Texas World speedway on June 30 - July 1. Regrettably, I can’t make it to Race Hallett in June or Sept, have family stuff, kids, vacation, and a prior commitment that’s keeping me away from those.

Cheers!

#2

Congrats…on the new car. Is it already race prepped…? Just wondering.

#3

It is. Just needs freshening of the safety gear - seat, harness, nets…

#4

Woo Hoo!

And then there were two…

#5

ooh, ooh, can I be #3 ???

well, now I’m kind of screwed. My 14 yr old had been eyeing my 325i for his first car - and calling it “his” car. I think it might just be a ploy for something “better” - so he probably won’t be heart broken if I rip out the interior.

BinaryFarms - how did your Comp school go?

Any advice on a roll cage builder in Austin? I’ve thought about buying a “kit” from the guy in Alabama and then paying a welder friend to help me install it…but I’ll consider all options.

Am I going to cry when I disable the sunroof and rip out the AC - this car has been a nice backup driver for a couple of years…

#6

[quote=“L8Apex” post=67319]ooh, ooh, can I be #3 ???

well, now I’m kind of screwed. My 14 yr old had been eyeing my 325i for his first car - and calling it “his” car. I think it might just be a ploy for something “better” - so he probably won’t be heart broken if I rip out the interior.

BinaryFarms - how did your Comp school go?

Any advice on a roll cage builder in Austin? I’ve thought about buying a “kit” from the guy in Alabama and then paying a welder friend to help me install it…but I’ll consider all options.

Am I going to cry when I disable the sunroof and rip out the AC - this car has been a nice backup driver for a couple of years…[/quote]
Please be #3 We need more people.

I wish I had some advice for a cage builder, but I just don’t know anyone here. Houston? Yep. East Coast? Plenty. California? Oh HELL yes. Austin? not so much :frowning:

Have you done a comp school yet? Cause if you haven’t, they’re awesome.

#7

I’ve had an SCCA National License on and off since 94 so I’m hoping I can slide into NASA without too much fuss.

I think I’m just going to order a roll cage kit from Kirk Racing in AL and hope I can buy enough beer for my favorite welder fabricator to get it installed…

#8

I know there are some Porsche guys in austin. (I know i said the “p” word.) but they may be able to help you out. I think the name of the shop is scotts autohaus or something similiar, I know he is a shop that supports race cars, i’ve seen them at the tracks, also may try giving Terry Sayther in Austin a call he maybe able to point you in the right direction. I haven’t used either of these shops so i’m not buyin or sellin just passing on some info.

I plan on building my own…if you choose… here is where I ordered my bender and dies. http://www.jd2.com/p-32-model-3-bender.aspx

#9

ooh - ooh

say… you wouldn’t be looking to loan those out after you’re done would you ? :slight_smile:

I think the Kirk Racing “kit” was about $700 the last time I priced it - and it looks pretty safe. There’s an E30 Project car build thread on Grassroots Motorsports web page if you want pics of it.

Jim

#10

I remember that article…I believe GRM took that car to the shop…so that leads me to believe that specific cage could have been a custom type install rather than just a kit. I have 4 cages to build, so the cost of the bender was justified. (and seems like I will never be finished) I have minimal experience building cages and was supervised when I was building them. I do have access to the person that taught me, and he agreed to come to my place and supervise if needed, when I do my E30. I will probably end up screwing up a couple hundred dollars worth of metal to get it figured out by myself…but once I do…building duplicate parts shouldn’t be a problem so maybe we can work something out depending on your build deadlines ect…I had hoped to have my cage installed already, but work…and my daily drivers needing work have taken up my last 3 weekends, and i’ll be headed out of town for a couple months for work. My race seats and spec exhaust are still sitting in my living room, awaiting install as well. Building cages isn’t rocket science…but i’m just a product of the Texas Public School system!

#11

Sorry to have been offline for a bit, if only work understood that I need more track time.

Comp school was great, and first race at Texas World was a lot fun, though I lost a motor mount and didn’t get to race on Sunday. I went up to Hallett after that and had a fantastic time, great track, great time camping and even a car to race against. We need more of that, and I’d rather not tow 8 hours to do it!

I had my cage built at a place that did a lot of Miata work called Applied Racing Technologies in South Austin. They’ve since closed up I believe, but the guy that did the fab work for my cage has opened a shop here in Austin. Happy to pass his info on if you haven’t pulled the trigger on one already.

Just signed up for Eagles Canyon - anyone else going to make it?

-mark