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UPDATE: 04/2006

Well, where to start?  Racing requires an abundance of skill, patience and MONEY!

I know that the car still looks the same but under the surface much has changed in a little over three years of vintage racing.  During this period I have accumulated three second place results for each year and much on the track experience.  The first year highlight had to of

been almost turning the car upside down while chasing a car not even in my class!  Lesson learned, Lotus Super Sevens are fast and not meant to be passed by cars in the B Sedan class.  The second year was fairly un-eventful with no major on track problems….except for this small foaming oil problem?  Hmmm  When oil starts coming out of your catch can…STOP RACING!  The oil thing went on for two races until the center main bearing had had enough of it.  It seems that the head gasket had slightly blown into the oil journal feeding the main bearing of the crank.  So this meant that I now had time to build a real race motor.  New everything and 13 / 1 compression.  Put the old head back on though as it was not damaged and went off racing again in May of 2005.

Until, a few too many spacers slipped their way between the wheels and hubs causing one certain right front Cromodora Daytona to come flying off while running 90+ mph in a left hand turn.  Now that was STUPID!  Kind of rearranged the right front fender which was repaired at the body shop last summer and did other damage not found until the next race in September, 2005.  It seems that when the wheel came off and the car hit the ground the header came up and broke the bell housing causing the transmission to try and leave the car?  While going about 120 mph down the straight at TWS we almost became a Whirling Dervish!!  Enough racing for that weekend as the car would no longer even start with the bell housing out of shape forcing a bind on the starter.

So far the season of 05 had not been a good one.  Torn up motor and wheels flying off does not make for a good time.  But then came November when ultimate embarrassment occurred.  Going down the front straight I got passed by a Volvo!!!!  Oh man, I had told my mechanic I wanted one of his killer heads he had bragged about.  I came into the paddock and asked if he had seen the pass.  His reply was “we got to build a head for your car.”

So now the little Coupe has a full out race 1760cc motor that gets tire spin shifting from first to second gear!  I have no problem with 2 liter 911’s, 2002’s and others that could catch me on the straights in the past.  In 06 I have lowered my best times at TWS and Hallett by 4 to 5 seconds at each track.  Other drivers want to know what has changed.  It is really two things in my opinion.  The car is faster but at the same time I do not feel the need to really press anymore.  Remember, smooth equals fast and I am much smoother out now.  Other racers have noticed my line being much better to go along with better times.  Three years of experience probably doesn’t hurt either along with many changes to the car.

As you can suspect, the changes to come on the car list never gets any shorter but for now I am thrilled to be in first place for the season!  Have never been here before.  Now this is really fun!

UPDATE: 09/2006

Steve sends us these update images:

Latest mods include this trick little adaptation for  brake cooling duties. Steve starts with a conical intake attached to flexible ducting hose which then routes the air directly on to the rotor surface. To do it correctly as Steve has done is a tricky job at best given the limited space one has with 124 brakes and 13" wheels. But as we can see, it isn't an insurmountable problem.

  Serious racers require serious seating, a must for safety and correct ergonomics. But

  serious seats also create ingress/egress challenges. Quick release steering wheel hubs

  provide the solution. Not a bad anti theft device either...

Fiat 124 ergonomics don't lend themselves well to racing. Especially if you are tall. It's bad enough in normal driving situations. Nothing worse than straining to reach for 3rd or 5th gear when you're harnessed farther back into that seat driving in competition. Steve shares our feelings about shift levers. They've gotta be in the right place. No luck finding that sacred 131 remote setup? Make your own dammit! That's what Steve did. A nice job making it look factory correct. As opposed to fitting the 131 remote mechanism this piece offers Steve the added bonus of conserving his mint lower console. No cutting up required. Function is very good with short, direct and precise gear insertion. Really nice work Steve!

UPDATED PICS: 03/2007