The Costs

Drag racing is expensive. Any form of racing can get expensive. Drag racing is actually cheap by comparison. The costs can still be expensive even if the car does not intersect with a wall or self-implode. For example, one weekend can be broken down as such:

- Entry Fee: $50

- Gas for Truck and Trailer: $100 ($2.50/gallon gas at 15 MPG does not cover too much distance)

This is for one day of racing. As mentioned earlier, I'm shooting to complete eight of them to be competitive for the points race. Before the car can be driven at the track it needs to run. Currently, the car does not run in any way that resembles useful. Assembling the Capri has reached a stage of deafening commitment. For those playing the home-game, commitment is equivalent to cost. In the past two weeks I have discovered the following things needed to be replaced:

- The oil return line. This is fun because it is the first AN-line I assembled myself and it has turned into a massive failure. Best case scenario: $0 - Someone can fit it with the mangled fitting that are still on there. Worst Case scenario: $70 - I need to fabricate a new line. In either case, I need to remove the passenger side motor mount, the exhaust, and potentially the exhaust manifold and turbo charger. This is probably two solid hours worth of work.

- The new to-me-starter I purchased from a reputable used parts vendor is broken. The vendor is a half-hour away and claims they do not have any more to replace mine. I might be out the original hour, plus another hour, and potentially more cash tracking down a new starter.

- In a very classy way, I busted the oil-pressure sending unit. In most cars there are various indicators on the dashboard that inform the driver of various pieces of information: the speed of the car (MPH), the speed of the engine (RPM), the temperature of the coolant, oil pressure in the engine. The Capri is no different except instead of using readily available and inexpensive Ford or Chevy parts it uses aftermarket parts. "Aftermarket" parts are pieces of hardware that are made specailly for racing with the promise of increased durability. Increased, that is, until it meets me trying to over tighten a wire to it late at night. This required a run to a shop 40 miles away and spending another $30.

- Over the past few years I have been struggling to understand the reason why my Oxygen sensor has not been able to get a dependably correct reading. Oxygen sensors tell the car's computer whether or not it is getting enough fuel. They are placed in the exhaust. However, if air is getting into the exhaust before the oxygen sensor it will read erratically. After some playing with the exhaust clamps on the turbo charger I discovered one is way too wide in order to actually seal the exhaust. It seems terribly obvious but it was such a small detail we did not notice it until only a few days ago.

There are more parts that I could list with additional wait times and research needed to find them. What becomes noticeable when tabulating the cost and time involved is how the activity of getting the car running turns into a part time job with negative income. That only covers collecting the parts and does not include the time it takes to bolt them on to the car properly.

It may just seem crazy. The time and money to simply get the car running can be exhausting, not just financially but it can get mentally exhausting. Trying to find time to fit everything in to a regular schedule is a brutal thought exercise requiring dedication. In the past few years, I have spent a lot of time tracking down various parts from various people and believe this process pushes people to madness. While I maintain sterling sanity, there are occasions where I have found myself meeting people in strange parking lots late at night. Other times, I meet genuinely helpful people who are simply willing to help out a guy working on a project they think is interesting -- in the day light no less. Sometimes those meetings are what keeps me interested in the face of breaking parts.

Besides meeting the people, there is also the pure feeling of victory when you finally hear something like this:

It ain't pretty but it is mine. That's me holding the timing light to see if we had any.

The Transmission

This post does not wax oratorical like the previous few. Those readers who have been delighted by philosophy will be disappointed. However, those readers who have been waiting for pictures of grease, grime, and metal will find themselves wholly delighted.

There have been a number of tasks to get the car road worthy this year. I have been slowly whittling down the list while experiencing delays, disease, and discover additional broken pieces. There has also been a few changes of course to try and make things either easier or cheaper. One of the first cost-savings measures is the orientation of the intake. Originally, I had planned to run the pipes symmetrically as I had with the old engine. Unfortunately, with the location of the new alternator I was not able to run a simple 90-degree bend. After realizing how much rust build up occurred in the old mild steel intake I decided to use a material that would not rust such as aluminum or stainless steel. I tried to MIG aluminum and the results were astoundingly terrible as I used the wrong gas and no spool gun -- both of which were out of my price range. This meant I would try stainless steel. My attempts at using stainless steel were mostly folly. The welding attempts led to more holes and slag than anything resembling metal work. In a last ditch effort I attempted to purchase a couple of different intakes with the bent pre-fabricated. After three attempts, I could not find one that would actually clear my alternator. I conceded that if I were to spend any more money on the intake system I would simply run the stock-style asymmetrical setup. Yes, this setup is more pipe, but it was actually significantly cheaper to assemble. All things considered it doesn't look too bad:

This car is intended to be drag raced and most drag cars feature automatic transmissions. Manual transmissions are usually considered more sporting and racy. In fact, the Capri was originally equipped with a 5-speed manual transmission - the ubiquitous Tremec/Borg-Warner T5. Manual transmissions do allow the most power to reach the rear wheels, and back in the early days of hot-rodding, manual transmissions were considerably stronger than their automatically shifted counterparts.

In modern times, automatic transmissions have proven themselves the superior hardware for drag racing for a few reasons. The first reason is consistency, with a manual transmission the driver risks missing a shift or slipping the clutch incorrectly leading to a bad run. With an automatic, there is no clutch or gears to miss. The second benefit requires thinking a little bit about math and physics. With a manual transmission there are brief moments of where power is lost to the rear wheels. These are brief moments are called "shifts." It's easy to dismiss this as saying "shifting takes very little time and cannot possibly make a difference." When the entirety of a race lasts only 11 seconds even fractions of a second count. Races are measured and can be determined by thousandths of a second. Finally, the infamous T5 transmission is notably weak when being raced with lowly stock power levels.

Knowing all of these facts I reluctantly settled on converting the Capri to a Ford C4 automatic transmission. I purchased a reasonably well-reinforced automatic transmission and had planned to install it. I had continued with this plan until I discovered that to make the automatic survive would require at least another $600 in parts and another three weeks to wait for them to arrive. Instead, I decided for $300 I would purchase a new clutch and backup transmission. Here are some of the installation pictures:

The new clutch from Tampa Clutch Supply, my rebuilt old Centerforce:

Installed:

As of this past weekend, I also installed a transmission blanket which is a neat kevlar lump that prevents me from losing my toes in case gears decide to exit from the transmission. The car's drivetrain is assembled and I'm left to scrap together some exhaust, hopefully, that will be finished by the end of the weekend.

The Goal

According to Wikipedia, which is quoting one of the latest crazes of self-help, the second habit of highly effective people is: "Begin with the End in Mind: Principles of Personal Vision." This is essentially eight words too many to say, "set goals." Racing is definitely goal-oriented. Goals range from large to small and are directly proportional to the amount of money and time that the owner can commit to racing. Many of these goals, whether racers admit it or not, revolve around winning. Some people will read the previous statement and think, "of course it is about winning, that's why you race." Other people might react with, "but I just came to play, not win!" There is really more than one way to win in racing:

1. The obvious way: Winning Something. Every race has competition established so that someone can get something that says they are the first-place winner of the event, the points season, the drinking contest, or whatever method of determining a winner the event provides.

2. Slightly less obvious: Winning by benchmarks. This type of winning is done by setting goals and meeting them. There is a strong contingent of competitors that show up to very few races, with the intent on making some sort of lap-time, MPH, or ET, and then leave. Once they have attained the numbers they wish to see, they are done. This is a personal victory that may not be recognized by others but it is a win none-the-less.

3. Down right obscure: Winning by showing up. With racing, it is sometimes not even possible to establish a benchmark for performance. Given available resources it may not be possible for a driver to push their car any harder or even dream of being competitive with other cars. What that driver can find themselves able to do is come to the track and race the car to the best of their abilities.

As time has gone by I've been traversing through the list of winning. I started with wanting to just show up to the track, then started setting benchmarks, now I'm setting benchmarks and have a targeted plan to try and be competitive through recognizable victory.

Goal 1: Run 120+ MPH in the Quarter Mile.

This is a performance goal. I would like my car to reach 120 MPH or more by the end of a quarter-mile from a standing start. This would mean that my car will reach 120 MPH in the same distance it takes a Toyota Yaris to roll to 76 MPH.

Goal 2: Finish top-5 in the points for my class at my chosen race-track.

Race tracks have points-earning system that is broken down into classes. The classes group cars of similar type and modification level, points are awarded for showing up to the race and winning elimination rounds. Last year, to break into the top-5 at the track at which I will be racing required 250 points. A driver is awarded 30 points for showing up to the race and then 11-14 points for winning various levels of elimination rounds. On my schedule are eight points-awarding races. For showing up to those races I can earn 240 points. If I win any elimination round, which will at minimum award 11 points, I will meet my goal.

I know these goals sound simple on the surface. In fact, new Corvettes roll off the show room floor with the ability to run over 120 MPH in the quarter mile. Of course, a new Corvette that can do that costs over $50,000. But unlike that mythical Corvette, I actually own the Capri. The Capri is a collection of the wrong parts trying to be competitive in arguably the wrong event. Whereas, most people would have started with an already fast V8-powered car with a good looking exterior, I started with a 4-cylinder car that is rough around the edges. To make the car competitive I've had to put it on a diet and get it a pretty good workout. This means, like any other highly tuned athlete, it's a little finicky, has loads of personality, and requires a lot of work to maintain.

The engine is a 2.3L-based Ford 4-cylinder engine originally designed for use in the Ford Pinto. The actual displacement of my engine is 2.5L but it is still a Ford and a 4-cylinder and was still originally designed for use in a Pinto. The power-output goal of this engine is 400-horsepower and 400-ft/lbs of torque . That is roughly the same horsepower and torque as a 2001 BMW M5 or the 2010 Ford Mustang GT and is certainly a step up from the stock 88-horspower. This is done with a hideously large turbocharger that is strapped to the side of the engine. Noting that this power output is more than triple the stock levels it puts the engine a bit on edge and means that all of the systems need to be monitored carefully.

The 1984 Mercury Capri RS-Turbo, again to honor its full designation, is actually based on a 1984 Ford Mustang. Mustangs and Capris made between the years 1979 and 1993 have many things in common. First, I have been told by most of my ex-girlfriends and my wife that they are hideously ugly. Second, they all share the same mechanical under-pinnings. The fenders and outward facing sheet metal changed but the underside of the cars are identical. Finally, these cars can be fairly light from the factory (2700 lbs for a cloth interior, non-power windows, 1988 coupe model). My car is probably lighter than that. There is no interior sound deadening, there is no center console, no carpet, no back seat, no air conditioning controls, no extra wires running anywhere, no inner fenders. The car is more tartan than a 1970's New York taxi cab. It is also over 25-years old. This car qualifies for and wears collector-plates. Not that anyone but me would try to collect this type of car.

This car lives an existence where any concern of its preservation is put aside in the name of speed. What breaks and when is the determining factor in how realistic any of these goals may seem and whether or not they'll be achieved. If the Capri is going to fly like a bat out of hell ... it will probably get singed a little by the flames.

The Shop

My wife has a blog. She documents the comings and goings of our toddler. Occasionally, she features posts called, "Wordless Wednesdays." I would like to introduce everyone to "Too much $h!t Tuesday." These shots are a product of having moved from our old house to our new one and always taking time to fix the car instead of the garage. I will skip spending a lot of time explaining this situation and simply let the pictures speak to the current state of disorganization in my "Race Shop."



After scaring you with the Highlights-like "Hidden Pictures" feature, it is important to really thank my family for their support in all of this. There are really two portions to racing. There is a public portion and a private portion. The public portion is easily identifiable. In public, there is the loud cars, the time taken to go to the race track, and some social time with other racers. People, in public, can see all of that. What surprises most people is discovering that this public time is really, truly, the shortest and briefest part of racing. In private, there is cursing, money spent on parts, hours spent isolated turning wrenches and running wires. All of this creates a mess of a garage which in turn leads to more cursing. The private side is what ruins relationships and why spouses will frequently refer to their significant others' car as a mistress and claim to be widows during the racing season. My wife takes all of this in stride and even coordinates with family members to buy me gifts to help me get the car running and keep it that way. She even surprises me from time to time. Once, I left for a conference and upon my return found this had arrived in the garage without provication:


In previous years, I had been working out of a blue tackle box. A blue tackle box that I had once ran over with a car. A blue tackle box that I had once ran over with my car and it could not fit all of my tools. This big red box collection was a very welcome and entirely thoughtful present. I would have never bought one for myself as I would have kept saying how comfortable I am with by broken blue tackle box.

To round out the introduction to the shop, here is how I stay warm in weather than can reach below 0-degrees Fahrenheit:


It works. John Force Racing eat your heart out.

The Car

When I utter the words, "Yes, I have a race car," many people get grand visions of a clean sanitary workshop with a car that is equally sanitary. Those same people, usually knowing what a NASCAR looks like, start thinking of stickers and sponsor logos. They also start thinking that the car is meant to be raced at one of the local asphalt circle tracks. Upon viewing my "race car" people start wondering what type of race I plan to try and survive, much less win.

My family has some history of doing "circle track" racing. This is the type of racing with which most people are familiar. NASCAR, is in fact, "circle track" racing. Cars spend their time turning left and trying to turn left faster than the other cars that are turning left. At amateur levels this type of racing is frequently done on clay tracks. These clay tracks are given the moniker "dirt tracks." Dirt track racing is quite a bit of fun, it's exciting to watch, relatively inexpensive, and gives anyone who can afford the car and the entry fee the ability to race in front of a crowd every Friday and Saturday night.

When I entered college I had the ability to finally purchase a car of my own. While I could afford a cheap dirt track car, I had no place to put it. That meant no dedicated garage, no place to park a trailer for a car, the money and motivation existed but the logistics simply did not make sense. I had some experience with drag racing from high school and settled on attacking the drag strip. Drag racing rules allow drivers to run street cars, so I could park the car on the street and actually drive it from place to place without a trailer. For the uninitiated, drag racing is one of the earliest and simplest forms of racing. Two cars position themselves at the starting line and the one who crosses the finish line first wins. There are no turns, no bumps, no jumps, just two cars going down a straight line. There are some more subtleties and tricks to making all of this happen but generally, two cars go down a straight line.

The car I'm campaigning is far from the clandestine typical race cars of childhood dreams. To be specific, the car is a 1984 Mercury Capri RS-Turbo. That is the full designation. I pulled this car out of a field in Iowa and to be perfectly honest, have not done anything to clean up the exterior of the car since then.

To give a bit of a preview, this blog will detail the adventure of campaigning my car through the racing season. I will be back-blogging on the progress that has been made.

Welcome

Despite the title, this has nothing to do with making money. If you are looking for financial advice then I'd advise you move on to another Google search. There is a real risk that many of the things I demonstrate will be found antithetical to your end goal of making any money at all.

If you are Googling "how to make a fortune" you probably had childhood dreams of fulfilling rather high-end and exclusive employment. That's not unlike many other children who clamored to become Astronauts, President, Baseball players, Power Rangers, or Boots the Monkey. A lot of those children played out their dreams in the dirt on the playground. I had always found my self wanting to play in dirt of a different origin. At a very young age I yearned to chase my father and my uncle to the race track. My uncle owned a car that ran on local clay race tracks - my dad would occasionally drive it.

My father would take myself and my brothers to the race track whenever the weather was good and we had the time to make the one-and-a-half-hour trek. Looking back, the car ride must have been the most difficult part for my Dad. He was wrangling three boys strapped with a lot of energy over the excitement of watching the race cars go around the track. Combined with the children's talk of wanting their own car to mix it up with the guys on the track.

The desire to have my own race car never waned. I've deviated a bit from family tradition but have still managed to learn bits and pieces of philosophical bits that old owners and drivers have passed down to me. The one I've always loved is a short dialog:

"How do you make a small fortune racing?"

"How?"

"Start with a large one."