Both drivers use SCHROTH harnesses in their cars.

I’m pretty stoked.  As you can probably tell from the sound in the video, that’s a set of open headers you’re listening to.  Not nearly as loud as I had thought it would be, but not quiet either.  After I took this video as proof, I fired it up and put it in first gear to make sure that the car moved.  It does, with no issues.  The clutch feels perfect and I can’t wait for the roads to be washed this spring so I can take the car out for some real driving.  Alas, I am getting ahead of myself.

All 4 lights working

I should document the fix for the oil leak.  It turns out the only 3 people that ever had this problem were the people that bought this product from HMS Motorsport.  We used to have a guy working here who sent these items out to a machine shop and had them tapped to a US Pipe Thread size.  No big deal, but if you’re trying to figure out what hydraulic fitting to order, why would you think that a part from Germany is anything but metric thread?  A few sets of fittings later, I arrived at a set of 3/8NPT to AN-10 adapters that work beautifully.  Live and learn.

So once i got the oil system buttoned up and the garage full of exhaust fumes, I decided to tackle all the other little naggling problems.  The high beams didn’t work, and for once in my life it was the simple fix – the fuses had blown.  After realizing this and getting the right fuses in for the H1/H4 upgrade – all is well with the lighting.

I then modified the plastic engine covers to fit with each other.  I had to grind down and/or cut a little bit off the fuel rail cover to make it fit with the 318/M3 cowl covers.  This was quite easy with a nice straight cut hobby saw and a dremel.  With fresh plastics, the engine is really starting to look good.

Fresh and Clean

No shield yet.

Tie Rod Boots

A friend of mine helped out and threw together a heat shield for the intake out of cardboard.  It looks really great – and allows for complete thermal separation from the rest of the engine bay.  It does this while still allowing for the ABS Unit and cruise control.  Definitely a good thing.  You can see my “hot air” intake here, which is the largest air filter I could fit.  The shield is not in the picture as it’s still in cardboard.  I plan on measuring everything and picking up some metal while the car is out at VSR for exhaust work.  I also finally closed up the tie rod boots, locking the plates onto the inner tie rods.

There are still little things to be taken care of.  I buttoned up the toe/alignment and camber setup, but ran into a very lame problem.  I installed the Ireland Engineering Adjustable Rear Camber/Toe brackets.  This is pretty cool, except there is little to no room to tighten the final nut on the outboard side.  I purchased a cheap 18mm wrench to “massage” so that I could get it on the nut and turn it.  I managed to tighten the passenger side with no issues.  When I got to the driver’s side, the wrench opened up into a 19mm since I had to take so much material off the wrench.  I will probably just go buy another cheap wrench and hope that it holds together long enough to tighten the last nut.

I have to finish mounting the rear M-Technic bumper cover – I was missing some hardware to button that up until this past week.  Then it’s time to run speaker wire for the stereo, and wait for the snow to melt.

We’d like to Congratulate the SpeedSource team on their win, and are proud to have supplied them with their SCHROTH racing harnesses.

The past weekend marked the start of the 2010 Rolex Sports Car Series with the 48th running of the iconic Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona. The ‘twice-around-the-clock’ race pushes drivers, crew and car to the extreme edge of endurance. For the SpeedSource team, the start of the season brought a refreshing change of scenery after having spent the offseason building a fleet of Mazda racecars for Grand-Am competition. A solid performance from the entire crew and strong running for the #70 Castrol Syntec SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 brought home Mazda’s 23rd class win at the historic race as well as SpeedSource’s 2nd win in three years.

It was business as usual for the entire SpeedSource crew when the #70 RX-8 rolled off the trailer ready to race. Minor adjustments were made to improve driver comfort and vehicle handling during the early practice sessions. This proved to be time well spent as team owner/driver Sylvain Tremblay qualified the car in the 3rd spot.

A rain soaked start to the race led to a change in race strategy: the team decided it was best to be safe and run conservative lap times to keep the car safe and damage free. The decision proved to be effective as the car was running with the class leaders during the opening hours of the race. All things changed, however, when heavy contact inflicted by a Daytona Prototype car sent the #70 Castrol Syntec SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 into the garage during the night. The crew quickly diagnosed and repaired the damage and sent the car back onto the racetrack having fallen behind the GT-Class leader by 6 laps. From then on the innate Mazda underdog determination and the ‘will to never give up’ took flight. Slowly and methodically, the team plucked away at the class leaders until eventually taking over the class lead in the 20th hour of the race.

The SpeedSource team never looked back and continued to extend their lead to almost 4 laps to take the GT-Class win.

“I am so proud of the effort from the entire crew, the drivers, and our friends at Mazda for this win,” recalled Sylvain Tremblay. “This win is really dedicated to all of our Mazda dealers and the over 9,000 club racers who continue to support and maintain the thrill of owning and driving a Mazda car.”

Wolfsburg (22 January 2010). An emotional and triumphant homecoming: His native city, Madrid, received Carlos Sainz with rounds of cheers after his “Dakar” victory. Together with his Spanish compatriot Lucas Cruz the 47-year-old had been leading a Volkswagen trio to a one-two-three win from 2 to 16 January at the toughest test in worldwide motorsport.

It was a perfect surprise: Sainz discovered a Race Touareg 2 practically in the front yard of his home. The idea came from sponsor Red Bull. The Spanish national hero did not have to be asked twice and started a march of triumph through the streets of Madrid, escorted by a police squad. The response among the local population was overwhelming. Thousands of fans and hundreds of journalists greeted “El Matador” with rounds of cheers.

The drive ended at the Plaza Mayor, which had been cordoned off specifically for Sainz’s arrival. Besides the fans, Madrid’s mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardón welcomed Carlos Sainz as well as the 220-kW Race Touareg 2 on a recreated podium. Afterwards, the “Dakar” winner invited Ruiz Gallardón to a taxi ride through Madrid in the cross-country rally prototype.

“‘Dakar‘ winner – that simply sounds fantastic. This exploit means incredibly much to me and has made a long-harboured dream come true for me,” said Sainz, who is the first Spaniard in the history of the Dakar Rally to have clinched overall victory in the automobile classification. “Experiencing such an emotional homecoming is like icing on the cake and a special reward. I’d like to say thank you for the tremendous support before, during and after the ‘Dakar.’”

Sainz won the 2010 Dakar Rally in the Race Touareg 2 ahead of his Volkswagen team- mates Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D) and Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA). Thanks to TDI Power Volkswagen successfully defended the title after its 2009 triumph at the legendary desert classic and is thus the only manufacturer so far to have decided the automobile classification of the “Dakar” in its favour with diesel technology.

HMS has big plans for 2010 keep an eye on the web site for things to come this season. We just added the new Surefire EP6 ear plugs that are a must have for any driver or race fan take a look at them and order up a pair or two you wont be disappointed – it’s always nice to be able to hear things when you get older and these will help with that.

Also Check out the new Engine Tools and Suspension Setup Tools that we have recently added. These are high quality items that you need to have if you do any sort of maintenance to your own car.  Perfect for a wintertime fresh-up before the season really gets underway.

I also wired in a new temperature sender which was made by a DIY’er from an E30 specific forum.  It goes in the Driver’s side brake duct.  I made a long wiring harness to come into the cabin of the car because whatever wires were there before no longer existed.

Other things I did but did not take photos of include wiring the headlights completely, modifying the cruise control to work with the E36 throttle body, finishing the OBD-I vacuum hose setup, finishing all the brake pipe, and installing the fluids.  I also had the front and rear glass installed, and put on the windshield wipers.

To finish things off, I installed a set of Racing Dynamics pedals that I stashed away when I realized that they were not being produced any more a few years back.  I had these on my first E30, and loved them.  I have yet to really figure out how to mount the dead pedal efficiently to the carpet.

And here’s a shot of the suede headliner my wife and I made.  It was definitely tricky – and I am not 100% happy with the fitment (probably more my installation job than anything) but I’d say I’m 95% happy with it.  And once I’m driving the car I’m certain I’ll forget about it.

We will reopen on Monday the Fourth of January! See you then!

We’d like to congratulate Jimmie Johnson on his fourth Sprint Cup Championship. It was clinched at Miami’s Homestead circuit this past weekend. Our sincere congratulations to Jimmie and the whole crew and we are proud that they choose SCHROTH restraints to help them get to their championships safely.

SCHROTH rode to NASCAR Championships on the shoulders of Kyle Busch in the Nationwide series and Ron Hornaday in the Camping World Truck series. Congratulations go out to these drivers as well.

Come See us at PRI

We will be at the 22nd annual PRI show in a slightly different location this year, booth #1591. The show is December 10-12 Orlando Orange County Convention Center.

Under the Friday night lights, Ron Hornaday captured the 2009 Camping World Truck Series Championship, while his boss, Kevin Harvick, took the checker flag to win the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway. Hornaday is the oldest driver to capture a championship in any of the three top series. Kyle Busch was a close second followed by Billy Ballew Motorsports team mate Aric Almirola. Busch and Almirola still have a chance to steal the Owner’s Championship away from Kevin Harvick, Inc. next week for Billy Ballew Motorsports – should be a great race at Homestead! Both KHI and Billy Ballew driver’s use SCHROTH harnessbelts.

JIMMY JOHNSON WINS AGAIN!

A record breaking 4th in a row Sprint Cup Championship is one race away for Jimmy Johnson after his 1st place finish on Sunday at Phoenix International. Jimmy extended his points lead to 108 over Mark Martin still leaving Mark in contention but at a bit of a long shot. Either way it will be a historic championship next week at Homestead for either Jimmy or Mark. We wish them both the best of luck. All of the Hendrick Motorsports drivers run with SCHROTH harnessbelts.

NATIONWIDE SERIES ALL BUT TIED UP FOR KYLE BUSCH

Kyle Busch was forced to hold off his championship celebration by a week when he hit the wall during a spin on lap 7 of Saturday’s Nationwide Race in Phoenix. Kyle’s team did a great job in making repairs throughout the day which got Kyle back solidly to the top ten but Carl Edwards managed to collect the maximum number of points by leading the most laps and finishing first. If Kyle had been able to pass just one more person before the end of the race, he could have clinched the title a week early. So long as Kyle starts the race in Homestead next Saturday – he will take his first NASCAR Series Championship.

HMS Thanksgiving hours

We are closed on Thanksgiving, as well as Friday November 27th.  Happy Thanksgiving!

If you have ever dreamed of racing the top drivers in the country, at your favorite race track, without having to worry about bent sheet metal, blown motors, tires, brake pads, or rotors – iRacing is your dream come true! Driving season is over but that does not mean that you can’t sharpen your driving skills and compete with your friends – all from the comfort of your home. With over 35 different tracks and scores of different cars to choose from you will never be bored.

iRacing is the most realistic and fastest growing race car simulation program available and it can put you in the driver’s seat for less than $10 per month! Once you are registered with iRacing, you go online and practice, learn new tracks, and signup for online races with officially sanctioned events and specific race schedules. There are 4 “race seasons” per year for each sanctioning group and you can compete for the championships within each season.

Come to HMS Motorsport in Danvers, MA on Saturday, November 14th from 10AM to 4PM to learn everything about the only simulator and racing program that has been endorsed by IRL and NASCAR. iRacing will have their specially equipped trailer setup with four simulator stations ready for you to test your skills on the top race tracks in the country.

Registration is free but only open to the first 100 registrants (On the Boston Chapter website). iRacing will offer – this one time only – discounts for individuals that signup during the event. To make it more interesting, we will have a lap time competition using Watkins Glen International. There will be a few great prizes for the fastest lap times.

There will be a brief introductory “drivers meeting” at 10AM and Coffee and lunch will be provided. The HMS showroom will be open with special pre-holiday – event only – discounts on many items. Don’t miss our new official BMW M Collection of jackets, t-shirts, hats, and other accessories, great for holiday gifts!

Event Details:

• When: Saturday, November 14, 2009, from 10AM to 4PM
• Where: 9A Electronics Ave Danvers, MA 01923 (directions)
• Event organizer: Joe Marko, 978-774-1615

from autoweek.com

Franchitti’s Ganassi Racing crew played it conservatively on fuel in the Firestone Indy 300 and inherited the lead with six laps to go when race leaders Ryan Briscoe and Scott Dixon pitted for a late splash of fuel.
Franchitti finished 4.788 seconds ahead of Briscoe to win his second title in three years. He did not contend for last year’s title as he was trying his hand at NASCAR.

Franchitti entered the race four points behind Dixon but finished 11 ahead of him. Dixon finished third in the race.

Briscoe finished 12 points behind Franchitti. Briscoe did everything he could, leading the most laps for a two-point bonus. He secured that bonus by leading lap 181; his only chance to win the title after that was to have Franchitti run out of fuel, and he did not.

“I kept saying, ‘Come on, baby, come on baby, don’t run out of fuel,’” Franchitti said. “And she didn’t.”

Franchitti benefitted from long green-flag runs that kept his fuel strategy intact. The race went 200 laps without a caution, a first in league history.

Briscoe was heartbroken.

“It was probably one of the best races I’ve ever run,” he said. “I hate that it came down to fuel.”

The average speed was 201.420 mph, making it the second-quickest finish in league history.

“I’m bloody delighted,” Franchitti said.