Spec Boxster Build

[rastta]

Looks good - like the color contrasts.

[thstone]

Its always exciting...

[thstone]

Since I went to the square setup, I've only had set full set of rear 8.5" wheels and another half set. This meant that I couldn't swap between tire sets. I finally got another pair of rear wheels but found that I didn't have any more red plastidip to paint them - but I did find several cans of gold!

I've always wondered what gold wheels would look like so I went ahead and sprayed a set. I plan to run the gold wheels at the PCA Festival of Speed in two weeks. The good news is that I can always swap back to red in about an hour.

[jsceash]

Those look sharp it will be nice to see them on the car.

[Gilles]

Originally Posted by thstone

I've always wondered what gold wheels would look like so I went ahead and sprayed a set. I plan to run the gold wheels at the PCA Festival of Speed in two weeks. The good news is that I can always swap back to red in about an hour.

Tom, is this the color called "antique gold"..?

I really like the sublime tone and I was thinking on plastidipping my Carrera Classic wheels, I think they would look great on a white car with tan interior...

But I am not sure about having to remove the tires to do it properly...

[thstone]

Originally Posted by Gilles

Tom, is this the color called "antique gold"..?

I really like the sublime tone and I was thinking on plastidipping my Carrera Classic wheels, I think they would look great on a white car with tan interior...

But I am not sure about having to remove the tires to do it properly...

This color is called "Vintage Gold" (without the metalizer). I think that this color would look awesome on a white car with tan interior!

I did not do the black basecoat which is supposed to give it more of an antique look. I simply sprayed it over the Porsche silver (two wheels towards the bottom of the photo) and over the PlastiDip red (two wheels at the top of the photo). As you can see, it covers pretty well. I used three cans for four wheels.

I have done this previously on wheels with the tires mounted - just blue tape off the tires and it works fine with the tires mounted. You have to put the blue tape on in short sections (because it is linear and won't bend around the wheel) so it takes a little time but its not hard. I also blue tape the inside of the wheels. Its really easy to do this with the tires on.

Also, be sure to have a paint mask (one that absorbs paint fumes, not just a dust mask) to avoid inhaling spray paint fumes.

[thstone]

Old trashed mudguards replaced. The old set had seen quite a bit of off-roading!

These parts sure seem expensive (around $80) for simple plastic trim pieces. Install was pretty quick and easy.

[JayG]

Originally Posted by thstone

Old trashed mudguards replaced. The old set had seen quite a bit of off-roading!

These parts sure seem expensive (around $80) for simple plastic trim pieces. Install was pretty quick and easy.

mine are broken on both sides as well

[thstone]

** Weight Reduction Update #2 **

As I mentioned earlier, I have been losing weight myself with a new total of 20lbs lost thus far.

Thus, the total weight loss now stands at 37.7lbs or 94% of the 40lb goal!

I will have my car weighed at the Festival of Speed so I have an accurate baseline weight. This should put me close to the goal of being able to manage the weight at the end of the race based on fuel remaining.

[steved0x]

Originally Posted by thstone

** Weight Reduction Update #2 **

As I mentioned earlier, I have been losing weight myself with a new total of 20lbs lost thus far.

.

That is awesome! My Dr was on me last time, I need to do something, I cold probably stand to lose around 50....

[Gilles]

Originally Posted by thstone

This color is called "Vintage Gold" (without the metalizer). I think that this color would look awesome on a white car with tan interior!
.

Tom,
Do you buy the Vintage Gold locally..?
I have not been able to find it and Amazon says from April 7 to 11.. :-(
Thank you!

EDIT: I ended ordering from Dipyoucar.com as I was not able to find the Vintage Gold locally… thanks again

[Chuck W.]

Originally Posted by thstone

I have been losing weight myself with a new total of 20lbs lost thus far..

Very commendable. That is not easy to do and has soooo many benefits.

[thstone]

A great day of practice at the California Festival of Speed! It was a little bit rainy here and there but the lap times were fast when the track was dry. I slid around a little bit but kept things well under control. A few others were not so fortunate and had some pretty serious damage.

In the first practice, I was fairly slow and off the pace of the front group by about 4 seconds. In the second practice I had the third best time (of 16 Spec Boxster's) and in the third practice I had the second best time. Looking forward to one race tomorrow and two on Sunday!

Here is a pic from this morning. I put on a new set of tires along with the gold wheels this evening.

[thstone]

Wow! What a great weekend at the California Festival of Speed!

There were reports of heavy traffic...


And rain while going through the NASCAR banking at 121mph...


And even a little off-roading...

[JayG]

It was a great weekend, got to have a nice chat with Tom. What a great guy!
between my sessions, got a chance to see the Club Race that Tom was in, it was WILD!!!
These guys were running 4 across the super speedway hauling ass at 120 mph +, some 150+!
Then into the infield 3 across at turns 3 & 4 where they come off the super speedway dropping from triple digit speeds to around 40 mph. Theses guys have some brass balls!

A great 3 days of cars, a few crashes and camaraderie

[ianacole]

Originally Posted by thstone

And even a little off-roading...

No fair taking the shorter line ...

[thstone]

Sorry for the late posts but I was out of town this week on a business trip.

To re-cap the Festival of Speed results;

Race 1: Qualified 4th and battled back and forth for 3rd but was down to gas fumes with two laps to go and decided to come off the track rather than run dry and be stranded out on the track waiting for a tow after the race. Simply mis-judged how much fuel this track uses per lap. Final position: DNF

Race 2: Qualified 5th and had an epic battle with 4th place for almost the entire race. I did everything to get by him but couldn't get the pass done. One of the top 3 dropped out with a failed engine. Final position: 4th

Race 3: Qualified 4th and raced somewhat tentatively in the rain to a 3rd place finish.

Overall, it was a great weekend. My lap times were consistently in the Top 4 of the Boxster Spec field.

Video is coming! Here are some pic's;

Who needs that inside front wheel anyway?


On the NASCAR banking...


Everyone stacks up into Turn 3 on the first lap - its as insane as it looks...


Close up on the banking...


This is a pretty big steering input!

[bkovac]

Great job Tom, you made me work for it. That was a very fun weekend. Please stop loosing weight, its only making you faster.

[thstone]

Originally Posted by bkovac

Great job Tom, you made me work for it. That was a very fun weekend. Please stop loosing weight, its only making you faster.

Thanks Branimir, it was great racing with you! I'll post up the video as soon as I can get it edited.

[thstone]

Originally Posted by bkovac

...Please stop loosing weight, its only making you faster.

** Weight Update #3 **

Spec Boxster minimum weight with driver and fuel is 2,650 lbs. My goal is to be able to manage the weight of the car by adjusting the fuel load at the start of a race so I am near the min weight at the end of a race (with some margin for error).

After one of the races at CFoS, I was sent to the scales for weighing. Total weight was 2,705 lbs with a 1/2 tank of gas. Subtracting 51 lbs for fuel (6 lbs/gallon x 8.5 gallons), says that the car/driver weighs 2,654 lbs.

In a perfect world, I'd like the car/driver total weight to be 2650 lbs with 1/8 tank of fuel, which means an un-fueled car/driver weight of 2650 - 13 = 2637 lbs.

Thus, I still need to reduce weight by 17 lbs.

To reach this goal, I have decided to lose another 10lbs myself (for a total of 30lbs lost by myself) and I need to find another 7 lbs to take out of the car to be at my minimum weight goal.