[The Glademister]

2015 SCCA Solo Nationals. The best of the best competing for class championships. No stupid PAX to worry about. Pure autocross on the tarmac of Lincoln Airport. There's two courses in use and a test n tune course. We arrived on labor day and I had registered for the Evo school on the test n tune course. Not that I needed an instructor in this car but more for ease of getting many runs in an hour. I ended doing only six to save the Hoosiers for the main event. After the test n tune I noticed some fuel dripping from the drivers side Weber air cleaner. I took off the filter and there's fuel collecting on the butterflies. At idle, fuel is dripping very steadily from the two jets. When I turn the fuel pump off, that stops however. Not wanting to disassemble the carb before the first day competition, I decide to run the car by turning the fuel pump off at idle. Just before launching switch it on. Not the best situation, but a temporary fix. I also changed motor oil that afternoon to get the gas tainted oil out.

My class ran 4th heat on the west course on Tuesday. A tight, technical course that made you really look ahead and stay on line. The car ran good but I couldn't get a clean run in. My best time on the third run was with one cone. After my heat, a mechanic named James Bricken with Gruppe 9 Autowerks in San Antonio had heard about my carb problems. Offering to help, he opened up the offending carb, inspected the floats, made a little tweek to the needle trigger and the problem was solved. Autocross is so great in that others are always willing to help.

Wednesday we're on the east course and it's a different animal. Long, flowing with big sweepers. The speeds are much higher than the west course and I know I'm going to be spending time in 3rd gear. My second run on that course was my best and it just seemed that everything went right. All the up-shifts, down-shifts, throttle inputs and steering were spot on. I was really racing and felt as one with the 914!

In grid, the XP class was a bunch of great guys. A diverse set of highly prepared cars like 240Z, Lotus Elise, MR2, etc. All of those had extensive wings and spoilers. A lot of the drivers were curious why I had such a under-prepared and under-powered car in class. Of course I explained my problems with DP weight and why I thought it would just be fun to compete at 1653 lbs. XP weight. My goal for the event was to not be last in class. I finished 14 of 19 competitors and was pleased. I think I also surprised the other competitors on that finish. James watched my runs on Wednesday and said the car could be two seconds faster if "I would get serious". He said he thought the engine was very strong for a 2056 build.

We've got one more event before end of season and that will probably toast the tires. I'm not making any major changes to the 914 before next year as I've got an on-going 931 restoration in progress. I guess I'll just keep having fun









https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFN7A77gQDM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh6yW_n4Vh4