Carbon deposits in the combustion chamber were removed with CLR household cleaner and a wire brush. The bores were honed with a drill and WD-40 and new rings purchased for $50. The bores were far from round, as evidenced by the many low spots the hone never touched, but at least honed, lumpy bores with new rings seal better than un-honed lumpy bores with old rings. The warped deck surface was flattened by wrapping sandpaper around a very flat piece of steel and taking turns sanding until everyone was bored enough to call it flat.
Finally, after smoothing out a few scuffed spots on the bearings with very fine emery cloth, the engine went together with a new $24 head gasket, a $12 oil pan gasket and a $1.60 water pump O-ring. "Rebuilt" engine, $87.60.
The rebuild was effective enough that compression actually improved between the first and second races, and the team didn't even bother changing the oil between the second and third.
Lesson #5: Don't bother cheating.
Keith Gillespie of Hasport has been racing first-gen CRXs for years, and among his heaps of spares was a very thoroughly built cylinder head, huge cam and dual Webers that he generously loaned out for the team's first race. Being techno-snobs completely ignorant of anything carbureted, the entire Eyesore team naively thought that just because they didn't know a DCOE from a BBQ, the Webers would also slip by LeMons judges who police the $500 limit.
They wouldn't have, but luckily for the team, the intricacies of jetting carburetors were well beyond their abilities and they reverted, at the last minute, to the stock parts. "We don't talk about the Weber incident much..." Coleman mumbled quietly.
Lesson #6: Focus on suspension.
Studies have shown that low-speed crashes generate fewer lawsuits than high-speed crashes, so all LeMons tracks are slow and tight. A car that handles well, then, is more important than one that's powerful. Accomplishing this on the cheap means following a few basic principles:
Don't lower your car. Despite what all the high-school kids say, the benefits of a lower center of gravity do not outweigh the loss of suspension travel, the screwed up geometry, or the risks of inflicting undercarriage damage when you run over one of the dislodged body parts that litter the track during the first hour of every LeMons race. Since you can't afford good shocks, letting the suspension move freely at the ride height it was designed for is your best bet for keeping body motions controlled and at least three wheels in contact with the ground.
If you're unhappy with the handling, tune it with anti-roll bars. They're simple, demand little from crappy old shocks, and, with a little creativity, can be very cheap.
Tires don't count toward the $500, but money is still money. The Falken Azenis RT615 is one of the best tires available above the 200 treadwear limit, and it also happens to be cheap. Especially in tiny 185/60-14. Tire wear with such a light car was quite low, with the team running the same four tires through the entire 14 hours of Thunderhill (frigid, December weather extends tire life), but wheel-to-wheel racing does have its perils. In their second Altamont event, the team lost three right rear tires due to contact with spiky appendages on other cars. Don't even think of bringing fewer than eight tires to a LeMons race.
Lesson #7: Avoid frivolous decorations.
Many a team has arrived with their car looking like a Rose Parade float and the team dressed like a roving band of Cats understudies only to have their objet d'art barf its transmission all over the track the first time they ask it to turn left and accelerate at the same time. Test the car before you race it.
By John N. Frink
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