I Spent the weekend of 09/18-20/2015 down at CMP in Kershaw SC with Team E30/6 (consisting of Slant Six Mad Scientist Lou Madsen, Car Custodian Jason Ernst, the Very Talented Mina Ingraham, and myself from left to right) for the 2015 24 Hours of Lemons Fall South event. The mighty Dodge 225ci Slant 6 Powered (and ‘65 A904 push button Auto Trans) 1987 BMW 325i # E30 (rechristened a 225i), completed 325 laps of the 2 mile, 14 turn CMP course on its way to a Class C win! 26th overall out of 112 cars. A good time was had by all and no small animals (that I know of) were hurt in the course of this victory.
In addition to the trophy and $500 in Nickles we were “rewarded” with an upgrade in class to B for the next event… Anybody have a line on some cheap but serviceable used Spec E30 suspension goodies?
Jason, Lou, Mina, and I really had a great time getting this done. Endurance racing, even at this lowly tong-in-cheek level, is truly a team sport. Firstly it would have never happened without Jason taking on the care and feeding of the car. This time race prep included a A904 cable shift trans rebuild the week of the race, and the chasing down of tires both before and during the race, and Jason came through in his own inimitable & sleep deprived way. Lou set the pace for the team, laying down a fast lap that put a second on the B Class winners best effort (2:04.xxx), and while he would like to squash more bugs with the side windows (if there were any) than the windshield, he managed to (mostly) keep things reigned in to keep the tires on the car, while bringing precision and expertise to the setting of valve lash, trans adjustments, carb jetting, and fluid levels. Mina, covered the lions share of the entry fee this time around and laid down fast & steady times in both of her stints, displaying the focus and consistency that has also made her an STUL SCCA Solo National Champion this year. Me? I just provided water, Gatorade, and other libations, moved heavy objects, threatened to eat funnel cake, and flogged the car to the best of my ability for a total of 3.5 hours. =8^D
Dave
