Out with the old (interior). In with the new!

cstreit · cstreit's Garage

Well I finished phase one of the interior re-do on the racecar. It had been painted with "trunk-paint" which is a textured substance similar to those fake stone in a can products. Never thought it looked good.

There were 5 layers of stuff on it, clearcoat, trunk paint, THICK primer, original paint, original primer.

The stripping took 3-4 applications of a gel based heavy duty stripper, a lot of scraping and elbow grease...

I refinished it with a zinc primer, then an enamel paint, and hardened clearcoat. Unfortunately there are not enough flat areas to wet-sand the interior, so the surface had orange peel. Couldn't do it without "burning the edges"

Completed the radio install as well. I left the trunk paint on the footwell for durability. Next stage, remove the goo off the ceiling and paint that...

Here's the old interior:

...and here's round one of the new...

Thomas Owen · 08-29-2002, 07:54 AM

Nice work Chris. It is amazing what some people do to these cars over time. Hard work really paid off here.

tchanson · 08-29-2002, 08:18 AM

Looks nice, Chris.
Are you going to be at RA this weekend?
Tim

304065 · 08-29-2002, 08:25 AM

Looks nice, just like the guys at Gunnar Racing!

I did the same thing to the floor of my car, I swear its worth a second a lap. . .

cstreit · cstreit's Garage

Actually we're going to Gingerman this weekend. Racing on Saturday... Was going to race the 10 hour enduro on Sunday, but the car I was going to drive met the Kink at RA during The BRIC.

I pulled out 3 plastic shopping bags of material from the interior. Weighed in about 15 pounds. Figure I added 5-10 pounds back in.

One of these days I'll have to make TRAC///

Jack Olsen · 08-29-2002, 09:47 AM

Chris, have we all mentioned that we're extremely jealous of you and that car? Beautiful.

cstreit · cstreit's Garage

Thanks Jack,

...but as they say, the grass is always greener... I'd donate a body part to have a 3.6 in my car ala Black Beauty...

I had to take 4 weeks off to sort out the wheels and rain tires situation and needed something to keep busy. I found myself wandering around the car looking for projects that I could complete in the time I had, without spending big $$$... THis was it...

zuerchers · 08-29-2002, 10:34 AM

chris,
what is that thing on the center of the floor, behind the gear shifter, that looks like a cell phone?

Jack Olsen · 08-29-2002, 11:01 AM

I'd guess a radio to the pits.

cstreit · cstreit's Garage

You never know when you can get lost out there.... "Hey, it's Chris, does turn 3 go left -- or right?"

It's actually the com unit. You don't see wires to the steering wheel talk trigger and to the Helmet...

zuerchers · 08-29-2002, 12:46 PM

very cool! i'd like to install one with a direct link to round table pizza.

katigbr · 08-29-2002, 01:02 PM

Chris,
Nice job! Always like the blue/on white scheme you had on the car. The interior really looks great. Very clean, its got that cold, professional feel about it.

Rick

cstreit · cstreit's Garage

But BOSS, I TRIED to deliver the pizza in under 30 minutes, but I just couldn't CATCH the guy!

RSupdate · RSupdate's Garage

Great job !!! Looks very purpose-built for sure.

304065 · 08-29-2002, 07:39 PM

Hey Chris, not to get too OT here, but what kind of stuff do you and the spotter talk about on the radio?

I have my guy watch the track for:

1. All the flags-- when they throw the green after a yellow and I'm in between flag stations, is where it's particularly useful;

2. Cautions- "Yellow at turn 10" type of stuff so I can keep the hammer down until the appropriate flag station;

3. Time differential on next car in class back: "3 Seconds" once a lap.

4. Incidents the spotter sees that I dont, e.g. "Turn two, spun car, go high!" go to the outside of the track.

Am I missing anything here? Might be worthy of a thread of its own.

cstreit · cstreit's Garage

John,

Well that's exactly what I HOPE to use it for. I've had the setup for two years now, but haven't used it for several reasons...

1) It has 8 pre-programmed channels... I don't know if I'm allowed to use them, or if I have to request a frequency. I want to try and start using it though, will just scan the freq's for openings...

2) THe BIGGEST problem is that the external microphones aren't working properly. These mics which came with the system make voices so faint, they are worthless. If you use the built in mic (in the unit) they sound great. THe mic for the helmet (and pit radio) are just not picking up very well. I wonder if they're the wrong resistance or something.

I wrote RELM to try and find out, but no luck so far...