I KNOW, RIGHT?!?!?

It's not completely horrible!!

Cragars would make me do dirty things to it however.

At one time I ran MGB Rostyle wheels on my Datto, and it actually worked visually.

Then the wife wanted her wheels back and I've since gone with early Silvia/200SX steelies with BFG RT/As for regular use, and vintage 4-spoke Cragars with vintage BFG R T/As (SIZE "B"!!) for the occasional show.

Am I the only one who thinks that would be badass?!?

Heh-heh-heh...

That cost me a whole bunch of dinners.

My '59 Baja bug really was as easy as that. There was no rear apron to mess with, so it was one wire, the throttle linkage spring and the fuel line, then 4 nuts, only one of which was a little fussy (above the starter I believe). Then I'd squat & yank it onto my thighs and waddle over to the nearest bench/stump/curb. It took longer to find the right page in "How to Keep Your VW Alive" than to actually do.

One of my favorite books ever BTW.

:D

(Yawns, rubs eyes, notices lead pic) "Well good morning beautiful!" Heh-heh--heh!

I've got my most-often-used motor specs written on the underside of my hood, with things like spark plug gap, the order of which valve to lash when another is open, head bolt torques etc. It makes doing things quickly a lot easier and less prone to mistakes. You can know every part of a car and memorize every spec, but in the race pits when people are running around like chickens with their heads cut off it is all too easy to get distracted. Having a quick reference really helps to re-focus and keep things moving while making sure it's right.

I also have tire pressures on each fender so anyone on the team with a free hand can check them, plus each pit-station on the car (front, rear, left/right side) has a small cheat-sheet of what that crew member is responsible for. It has cut our pit stop times down by at least 2/3rds.

The writing on the dash in the lead photo serves as an instruction manual for all the n00bs. Nearly everyone who drives it is a newbie to both the car and racing, and in this car strategy and staying out of trouble is more important than going fast. We can't win on speed, but we can keep turning laps while others sit in the penalty box and/or waste hours swapping motors/repairing damage. "Slow down, check gauges, watch mirrors and flag stations" are what keep us out of trouble. When something bad happens, one of those rules was not followed.

On a related note, I find it interesting that I leave the car outside on the sidewalk with instructions on how to steal it, and yet it is still there every morning.

Mine helped me strip a dozen layers of paint and bondo off my MGBGT, and spent hours in the blaster cabinet making shiny parts. It was nice having her around, learning, spending time together.

She is no longer interested in such things, but understands why I am and can conversate with me about it...

She also knows that wobbly squacking sound is a soon-to-be-bad throwout bearing and prefers fuel injection to my carburetors.

Just enough overlap for us to be on the same planet.

I refuse to let any idiot other than myself change my oil.

There have been a few times where due to time constraints, lack of available space or whatever that I have had places do it for me, and without fail every one of them has done something horribly wrong. Even at the dealer.

I'm talking stripping/cross threading oil plug threads, forgetting to tighten the filter on my brand new pickup (I pulled over to investigate the smoke several blocks down the street), starting up my Polara to check for leaks, before realizing he forgot to put oil back in it (with me screaming to shut it down) tearing off the exhaust on my MGBs by driving them on a lift or over a pit with high guards (after being warned not to because it will tear off my exhaust), using the wrong grade of oil, even when I bring my own Castrol GTX 20-50, and of course not changing the filter while trying to charge me for a new one.

It's more aggravation than I care to put up with.

The only thing they CAN do consistently is grab a greasy rag and smear the insides of my previously spotless windows, even when I leave a big conspicuous note that says DO NOT CLEAN MY @#$% WINDOWS!!!

(smear) "oops..."

Every @#$% time. I attract idiots like a magnet.