I know it's not part of our event schedule, but letting folks know that NCRC is holding a weekend event at Laguna Seca on the weekend of Nov 27-28, ~$200/day. I signed up for the race group and there are a few more spots left, but probably not for long.

Figured someone might be interested.

I might be interested. Anyone else? If we could get a few cars, I think it would be a good time.

Well, the event was a bust for me. I couldn't make sound. I was clocked at 106db. Managed to choke it down to 94db with a tin can over the muffler whcih also limited my engine speed to a bit below 6000rpm. The Super Trapp tip blew off as I entered the track.

That was all for the better though.

When I took the car over to a local muffler shop to see what they might be able to do, we noticed a couple problems when the car was up on the lift. A couple of the bolts for the stub axle had come loose (but not fallen off). One of them doesn't seem to want to screw back in. Then, swapping a wheel, I realized that there is slop in my left rear wheel. I'm thinking either the main bolt holding the hub on is a bit loose, or maybe the bearings need to be replaced.

Guess I'm going to start going over the car a bit more thoroughly before events. Probably a good habit to be in.

Sorry to hear about your adventure at Laguna.

One of the things I do every time the car is on Jack stands is check for wheel movement.

A friend had a rear wheel bearing failure that ended up breaking the axle that holds the wheel. Luckily it happened at a slow section of track.

These are old cars with fatigued parts. We need to be checking this stuff all the time.

Sorry to hear it Cameron.

For anyone in the future - I have a spare cat back exhaust system that anyone is welcome to borrow if they need (and I don't )

Jerry, I'll take you up on that exhaust offer in the future if I hit Laguna again. I don't think a supertrapp would do it without seriously restricting the engine.

I'm glad I found the wheel wobble when I did. Eating the event costs sucks, but it's a relatively cheap learning experience. Beats finding out when the part breaks on track.

After finding the wobble, I checked again with the car on the ground. Loaded, I couldn't move the wheel. It was only when I had it jacked up. There's a lesson there for me.

I'm still not sure if it's the nut or the bearing, but I imagine it won't take too much (time or money wise) to figure out and correct.

Actually, the thing that kind of ticks me off most, is not realizing sooner I wasn't going to finish the event. I could have spent that time cruising the aquarium with my girlfriend. I think I'll need to plan another, more relaxing trip.


The bigger concern for me now is that stub-axle bolt that won't screw in. I suppose I could just use 5 out of 6 bolts, but I'm only 5/6 comfortable with that. Not sure what it's going to take to get that thing to screw back in. Will I need to pull the stub axle out of the diff and find a replacement? I guess that wouldn't be too tough to pick up from a junkyard. I presume they just come out, and go in, with a pull hammer.