RAAMaudio ST, street, track, dog hauler, grocery getter, ultra low weight audio.....

[RAAMaudio]

At least your car has parts on it, mine, still waiting, you know how hard that is, damn hard....I want my toys now or I am going to pout

To keep myself busy, besides getting the house ready to sell and smaller tweaks on the car I am shopping for a new Duramax Denali dually

I will likely have to order to get just what I want though, more waiting........

And I am still waiting for the Helix wheels to come in.......

And my wife is out of town, waiting for her to return......

So I have been buying, selling and trading some guns, at least having some fun in that area but need to get two Kahr PM9's sold so I can buy some higher capacity 9's to go with the LCP customs I just bought.

 

[rodmoe]

Ya parts on parts off new parts gotten and waiting to go back on.. then we can test test test and see it it works then Repeat.. lol

 

[RAAMaudio]

Christmas time in May, just a few days after my 63rd birthday

Just off the UPS truck, the very first DHM EFR turbo kit!!!

IC and bumper are here as well, going to start installing asap, been a long wait but going to be worth it

 

[redsilvy]

Oh man thats awesome! I can't wait until I can order my turbo kit but Im sure by then someone will have some sweet twin setup lol

 

[meFiSTo]

Hey man! Did you hear that the Miller family is going to shutter MMP?

 

[RAAMaudio]

It would not surprise me as Larry was a real enthusiast and his sons seem to be like most spoiled rich kids with not much real heart for anything except being spoiled rich kids which is a typical situation I have seen first hand many times(I lived in La Jolla for 4 years and had to get out of dead brain town).

The general populace of Utah, not all as many fine people here, just following the heard which means lots of babies, big house, nice SUV, nice clothes, single income, donating to building more gathering places and gathering often, not much left to be racing enthusiasts so hardly any go to the races thus there is no money to be made here in this venture. I have been to a very well fielded top level road race series event where the tickets were free online and 20% at most of the seating was filled, so sad....

I am leaving here for good soon!

 

[meFiSTo]

Yeah. I was talking with my wife about how strange and out of place it seemed there. The scope of it. It just seemed from the outside as a bit unsustainable. You look at Laguna Seca or Sonoma and, well, there are urban areas nearby to support big events (even then, I think Sonoma struggles). There are also club enthusiasts to provide supplemental income to the tracks. The tracks in the PNW are bare bones (although there are some substantial stands at Portland and Pacific Raceway (NHRA runs there every year). The driver/team facilities are spartan to non-existent. MMP seemed set for seriously major teams. Just sad that it will turn into a ghost town.

 

[RAAMaudio]

ALMS, probably 30% of the seating filled, Corvette Coral, big tent, food, etc...half filled, all stock Vettes except my highly modded one and a goofy modded one, bunch of people sitting around talking, eating, not watching the race or outside the tent or on the monitors inside....I had my very high end audio system playing a bit, very fine sounding, the few that walked by looked like it annoyed them so I shut it off and closed up the car and went and watched the races.

Larry Miller has the finest Ford GT collection in the world, they brought cars from CO where most were a museum, long body GT was very cool to look at, hardly anybody was looking!

There is plenty of money here to support the track and only 35 miles from SLC which a great number of people commute that far or more daily, the general population is just not into it.

The track and skiing are why I moved here in 06 but after driving the track a few years I got burned out on it and just built cars and seldom went.

As for spectators I figured seeing most of the track from the stands would add excitement but in some ways it is a boring track, maybe too much can be seen taking away from the suspense of who will be leading who when they come into view.

I took my wife to Laguna Seca for her very first race, ALMS, she absolutely loved it but part of that was the great food and local Microbrew beer stands, the topography, staying near the sea, etc.....the next year she had moved here so I took her and she was pretty let down, just not the same, crowd energy was part of what she noticed being very different, track food at the stands, no Microbrews, etc.....she won't even go now unless I bring our big trailer to hang out in and only if I am out on track so she can watch and time me.

 

[meFiSTo]

Hah. Well, at least your wife goes to the occasional event. Mine? "Cars? Meh." We went to one vintage (SOVERN) event at Pacific Raceways and parked in the Audi corral. We took a couple parade laps in the wagon and neither my wife nor my daughter was willing to drive. We're talking 35 mph here. LOL. Then again, I'm not nearly as deep into it as you so there's far less enthusiasm to wear off on her/them. Today, I'm taking my 20-year-old daughter to the EcoBoost Challenge at Emerald Downs in Auburn so she can learn how to drive a stick. They offered in their form. I'll be pissed if she does not get the opportunity to do that. We are OUT of there if they don't have a stick for her.

Anyway, yes, the Ford museum is a fricking shrine to Ford's prowess in (and obsession for) building fast @#$%. My favorite was the Daytona Cobra. Despite being a design derived from the Ferrari 250 GTO (that's my all-time favorite race car), it remains one of my favorites of all time. Because the Ferrari came first, I have to lean to it in preference. The Daytona was dominant for it's short life, but Ford moved on to the GT40 to keep up with Ferrari (and to try and bury the Ferraris at the track).

 

[RAAMaudio]

My wife is very cool about me building cars but wants me to stop and hit the road instead of keep building them, we are going site seeing all over NA and also hitting every track possible, at least the great ones, historic ones, etc.....she is totally cool with it but it helps to have a lux 43" trailer to live in while there

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I hope she get's to drive the stick!

I took my then 17 year old daughter to an autocross school, my son as well, rented a Mazda 6 but when we arrive they were out of them so took a 350z instead, which I did a bunch of hooning around on the Salt Flats just after a spring rain, sideways at 100MPH is great fun!

She did great, my son not as well, instructors were very impressed with her, she had only been driving a couple of months.

A few months later at a TT event at MMP I let her drive the Scion tC, very fast car, she never drove a stick and it was a very built car, my ST is not that fast yet but hope to soon though less aero and 40mm narrower tires, about the same weight.....Anyway she was 1 second slower than I was, national champ instructors were blown away at how fast she was and when I told them the first time learning how to shift they all just.....said get her into racing!

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I love the Daytona, they had a long body one as well, and love the GTO, might be my all time favorite car.

There was a body kit for the 240Z at one time that was well made and pretty low cost, the 240Z door, windshield, roof were copied off the GTO. I decided to build one but when I went to buy the kit I found out the company sold out to an UK manf and all the molds went there, the cost for the kit was then many times higher and shipping just made it not affordable.

Not really into kit cars but it was such an exact looking replica and you know the cost of the rear GTO, I was willing to build one with a mild LS though, hard to find a 2.5L V12.

I did almost build the Factory Five GTM but they would not supply frame or body sections if I crashed it, it was going to be a pure race car. Instead I bought a C5 Z06 race car and ordered a C6 World Challenge body, it was getting to expensive and fast for me, engine was the last thing to have built, forged LS7, ouch!

I am done with nut fast street or track cars, I find I like a "slower" car better, suites my abilities, and I like it to be street and track, my car was plenty quick
with 210 or so WHP, 5 seconds faster at MMP outer loop than the national champ Spec Miata record on the first weekend out. Once really dialed in and with the EFR turbo, might get a bit scary

 

[RAAMaudio]

DHM EFR turbo install almost done, tomorrow it will be running!

The install would of taken 1/4 the time it has if my car was stock or just had bolt on mods but I have so many DIY changes not many parts fit it easily now.

The turbo is on the car and the oil and water lines hooked up, DP installed, it took a few hours mat the DP to my one off exhaust, using Vbands and making a new section as my exhaust started further back than stock location.

I will post pics later, to busy right now.

About the DHM parts, I have had many modded cars and trucks and hundreds if not thousands of parts over the last 47 years and DHM parts are up there with the very best, damn well made and on all other cars I am sure they would bolt right up perfectly.

 

[RAAMaudio]

Got busy showing my house, should get a very solid offer today on it, yeah!

But that means my car has been waiting for me to finish a few tweaks to get it running, which I am starting on in a few minutes.

Just bought a flywheel and stage 3 clutch kit for it.

 

[Brick]

Looking forward to seeing some new pics and hopefully wheels down and rollin!

 

[RAAMaudio]

Spec stage 3 clutch and aluminum flywheel on the way

Soon ordering Maxxis RC-1 road race slicks, 245/40/15 front, 225/45/15 rear, will fit under stock fenders on my 15x9 track wheels.

 

[RAAMaudio]

FINALLY RUNNING

Just made the first EFR/DHM test run up and down the hill by my house before putting the hood, bumper cover and lights back on so I can make a log run and start tuning, yeah!

This is the first time to drive the car in months as it was all apart waiting for the production of the first DHM EFR kit and I caught a nasty bug right before it arrived so had to get better before I worked on it. The EFR kit is going to be a bolt on like the GTX kit but my car took far longer as had to adapt several things to get it all together, more than I thought it would but I like making parts or modding them so all good.

I will post pics a bit later, heading back out to the shop to get it on the road now

Rick

 

[MOFiST]

FINALLY RUNNING

Just made the first EFR/DHM test run up and down the hill by my house before putting the hood, bumper cover and lights back on so I can make a log run and start tuning, yeah!

This is the first time to drive the car in months as it was all apart waiting for the production of the first DHM EFR kit and I caught a nasty bug right before it arrived so had to get better before I worked on it. The EFR kit is going to be a bolt on like the GTX kit but my car took far longer as had to adapt several things to get it all together, more than I thought it would but I like making parts or modding them so all good.

I will post pics a bit later, heading back out to the shop to get it on the road now

Rick

Awesome that must be satisfying. It sounds like you've spent more time working on your car than driving it. Are you going to DHM for tuning?

 

[15pbfist]

Congrats still haven't decided gtx or efr good luck can't wait to see everything

 

[FearTheSnail]

Great to hear! You should take a road trip up north to Boise to break it in

 

[Brick]

[MENTION=636]RAAMaudio[/MENTION] , this thread is begging for some new pics when you get a chance

 

[RAAMaudio]

Waiting to hear from the tuner.

2300 miles on the car so far more time working on it than driving it, I have built quite a few cars like that, this is the last major one possibly ever and I plan to drive the wheels off it

I need to go to CA in a few days so may take it if ready or put it on or in one of the trailers and tow it over.

Boise, I was thinking you may want to come down here if I can make it to a track event, if not done so you would have a great time!
I may end up going there depending how things work out, considering a new Denali dually and best deals are in Idaho and two dealers in the area.

Timeline just got bumped up to July 9th to be out of here and I have probably two semi trucks worth of stuff to pack and store and some to haul to NV...I have to develop a time line and plot out everything to make it happen on time. I am quite good at that as did it in the Navy when we decommissioned the Long Beach while having half the normal crew on a deployment for combat operations systems and by the time we hit port I would be the only one left, I was an E6, leading petty officer. I passed it up the chain of command and they had me teach all the ships officers how to do it using what I developed.


(I spent 13 years as an E6 because I had some really crappy bosses, twice, and I would not put up with their lack of leadership and butt kissing ways. That does not go well for making more money in the military and almost got me a court martial but I was right, they were wrong. I just used the energy of the lessons learned to create my own very successful business before I retired and in no time was making more than Admirals so I am glad I was wronged, it made me stronger