Love it

Yep, those critters have a way of reprioritizing things

 

Wow, that's a crazy Hendrick seat- I assume that won't fit in your 7..

 

Congrats on the addition. As a father of 2 young ones it's tough to find time to work on the car, but still possible.

 

Thank you very much my friend


Sincerely looking forward to it - my most important role to date / of my lifetime. I'm also really looking forward to a lil buddy and some smaller hands out in the garage : )

Is that your son in your avatar? Cute pic! Any parenting advice? I feel like we've been focusing so much on the pregnancy, but there's not much prep we could put in for parenting


I don't think it would fit in the FD, but I sure as hell couldn't fit in it! I thought thin and tried to sit in it, but couldn't even get passed the side bolsters. I forgot to ask who it was crafted for, but it was pretty damn nice


I'm going offbrand from my decade plus success with Sparco and am going with an OMP HTE-R seat replacement for the Evo. Will be up for sale soon and definitely fits in the FD, if anyone wants to call an early dibs

We checked out a few seats up at HMS, and got to check out this beautiful E30



Thank you very much! Having fun with your youngsters? I am just hoping to get out to a few track days here and there, so am looking to keep big projects to a minimum.

Any parenting advice?


We're officially one week overdue today, so we're jump starting it all tomorrow. I'll be out of commission for a little while

I'll have some track day and dadchelor party updates posted in between naps, feedings, and the occasional showers and food inhalation

 

Yes, some time ago. Unfortunately, they grow.

They don't come with instructions, but you don't need any. If you did, we'd be extinct. Only advice is time will go quick, so enjoy it will you can (even the bad parts). 18 yrs and they are out the door, but by 13, you don't exist (other than as a source for food/money/internet).

 

Balancing the time with the car/track vs. time with the kids/family is always tough. You're going to have times where either gets neglected a bit, but you can still do both. Don't lose your own passion for the car/track, you'll just have to fight a bit harder to get it to work. Hell, I'm about a year behind on needing to make a project thread on my own street/track build..haha.

Young kids are great and they're crazy stressful too. Just remember that everything is a phase both good and bad, so try to focus on the good aspects and weather the storm on the bad.

 

You weren't kidding about growth! We had our girl, August 9th and she was 6lbs 12oz. She went as low as 6lbs 3oz, and is already up to 7lbs 1oz. She's tiny, but we can see her growth daily. I almost want it to slow down to keep her my little girl forever Yeah, that's not happening - girls going through a growth spurt and eating like it's going out of style!

You're absolutely right on not needing instructions. There's no other option but to figure it out. I've found there are only so many things she needs: food, sleep, a clean diaper, a cuddle, peace and quiet. I mean she'll scream in my face, but it's always a fun little challenge getting her sorted out.

My wife's out running errands now, so I was able to feed her and get her zonked out and asleep while I catch up on the IMSA GTD/GTLM race from VIR (yea, I'm a little behind on my stories...) and this photoblog. All in all life is good my friend - best thing I've ever done!

How old is your child / children now? Thank you very much for the advice - best of luck with your child/children


My wife did a full newborn session, but in typical me fashion, I couldn't resist setting up my own goofy shot for one




You aren't kidding! I took August off for paternity leave and didn't get to the RX-7 until late last week. And all I did was roll it out of the garage for a start! I have found neglecting the FD has come easily - catering to whatever my wife and daughter needs has taken top priority with all my time over the past month. Wouldn't have it any other way though - this time won't last and the FD isn't going anywhere

Thank you very much for the great advice my friend! I know it's going to be crazy ups and downs, but I keep thinking that nothing worth having in life is easy - I know it will be absolutely worth it looking back on the hard times

Shoot me a PM once you create a build thread or dump a few build pics in here. I'd love to see it - always great seeing other track oriented builds! Best of luck with it and stay safe and have fun out on track!


My wife did greenlight one last track day for me this season and possibly an autocross. My younger brother also picked up an Impreza wagon earlier in the year and has been itching for some motorsport fun since I can only imagine how long. He has probably been my biggest motorsport fan since as long as I can remember! He used to draw me Mazdaspeed/Sparco/Mid-Atlantic Trading/Kumho (my original sponsors/contingency partners from back in the day) liveries on a blank FD canvas for my car when he was probably six or so. They used to hang up in the old Garage Rotary Amuse; I'll have to track them down and post up a picture for old time sake. Ridiculously adorable! Crazy to think of how much time has flown by, and that now he's licensed and driving, and now that he wants to race his own car! We're hoping to sign up for an autocross out at Fort Devens with the SCCA in October. Hopefully it comes to fruition

I am also planning on running Palmer Motorsports Park October 29th. The plan is to head out Friday night with the racecar, run all day Saturday, then meet up with the girls and my mother-in-law for some trick-or-treating after. I'm really looking forward to this too, but mostly our first halloween than the track day


In other FD not fully taking the backseat news, I am heading down to Keansburg, NJ in a few weeks to pick up 200 pounds of pure, brand new, RA-937 life renewing / and project refreshing metal! More on that in a little bit - most likely once I catch up on the other updates I've been neglecting


Here's the absolute latest and greatest on the project - rolled out for a start up! Currently rolled back in the garage sitting on a trickle charger


More to come as I get more downtime


Cheers!

 

My first event of the season was back in May with COMSCC up at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (seems like ages ago for me at this point, so please bear with me...)

Half day at work Friday before track day, cleaned, packed, and liveried up, trying to beat the early beach season traffic through New Hampshire



Made it up to the track with a lot of time to kill. Spoke with the Security Guard for a while about his time stock car racing, about how he was looking for a new car but it would have to come with divorce papers, and tried to work in a track walk (no go there as they were prepping the track for the next day). Made it out to The Hungry Buffalo for arguably one of the best burgers in the area, chatted up some of the other COM regulars, walked around and checked out the sites, then settled in for a nice workbench night of sleep (there are hotels in the area, but sleeping trackside right next to the FD has a slumber party feel to it)





New curbing around the North Chicane - apparently they weren't fans of the occasional unwanted lawn mower services


Similar view as last year from my garage bay (we are creatures of habit):





T90 class competitor, but I loved this lil Clown Shoe (more on it in a few posts)



Tucked in for the evening


Huge thank you to my sister for the sleeping pad birthday present - great improvement over last year's work bench evening


Not a bad set of bunk mates for the night


A little bit of rain on the tin roof added some nice white noise

 

Nothing beats waking up trackside with everything set up and the car ready to go. No scrambling - just get out to get teched in and find as much coffee as possible!

It didn't take long for the garages to fill up. My friend Klay (R35 GTR from the Fall 2015 NTD day at Palmer) setup with some new hardware:

New double tiered Voltex wing (Type 5?)


and front splitter making for a more aggressive / sexy look!

Can't get enough of his Advan GTs! ("Oh your TE37s have GTR facing... that's cute - my wheels have concavity and lip for days!")



followed by some of Klay's friends - Matt with a monstrously powered setup R35 (mid 600hp I believe..) The all-season tires might be a bit of a weakness out on track (the car's daily driven - lucky!) - we'll see



and Anthony with a beautiful new Cayman GT-4



We also ran into Anthony ("MrNSX") with his NA1 (who I met and saw last in 2014 at a Fort Devens autocross)



and Dan with his NA2 (who I met at Larz Anderson last fall)



and Jacob with his getting prepped for road racing STi (peaking out behind the NA2)



As for the track day, I don't have many documentary pictures. I kept my head down and game face on and focused on perfecting my lines, acceleration and braking transitions, heel/toe primarily coming into T1 transitioning out of the oval into the infield, and trail braking primarily setting up for getting into the fishbowl / T6 to T7. I had my mind set on getting everything right as best as I could to hopefully get signed off for my competition license with my instructor Dave.

Session 1 went well as I got reacquainted with the FD for the season and NHMS. Great feedback from Dave for where I could tuck in my lines, carry more speed
Session 2 dial it in more; less about speed, more about cleanliness
Lunch and coffee
Session 3 headed out solo
Session 4 I focused on keeping it clean, connecting my braking, turn in, apex clips, and acceleration points. It all came together as Dave had a smile and handshake for me when I picked up my log book with Recommend License! (!!!)

"Incredibly fun ride!" raves Dave LeMoine of COMSCC; "Competition licensed" signs COM's Chief Instructor Will Martins



Doesn't seem like much maybe, but it felt like a lot of time and work to get licensed. Now on to some solo fun out on track!


Fun group photo - not a bad line up for upper New England


and tucked back in at Garage Rotary Amuse

 

Congrats!

 

I like the volks and how concave they are.

 

Thank you sir!



The +22s were about as aggressive of a set up as I could run to get 285s all around. I like them as well

Klay's GTs look perfectly made for the GTR

 

Anyone up for a cool and crisp New England track day at Whiskey Hill?



I really need to start watermarking my wife's pictures!

 

Love your car and this thread, keep it up!

 

Thank you sir - more to come over the next few weeks


Here's a teaser until then



Cheers!

 

damn, can't believe i never seen this thread, subsribed! amazing build

 

Update?

 

Beautiful car and great photos

what tow hook are you running?

 

Thank you - have fun this season



I'm sorry, I've been neglecting this thread for a while


Usually I'd prefer to do full writes up with pictures, but I'm not sure when I'll be able to get to it. Bear with me on the minimalistic approach, and I'll do cliffnotes with some high level pictures for now with full stories to hopefully follow eventually:

Carpet and sound deadening removed


A new set of heat cycled tires on standby


Track day at Whiskey Hill Raceway with Tommy, Klay, Jacob, and Anthony


My last lap of the season under a full course yellow


Dadchelor party go kart session

Brand new 13b


Winter go karting session with the gang

Heading to WGI this weekend for an AER endurance race with the McParland Motorsport S2000 and planning for my first track of the season June 3rd at Palmer


Thanks for the compliments! It's a Rennenmetal rear tow hook

 

Nice, i actually prefer these short updates.

What's up with the new engine? You buy it as a spare?

What's next on the mod list?

 

The new engine is a spare for now, and the engine currently in the car (Mazda reman with 47k miles) will be built as a backup once it's pulled

Next on the mod list is a new fix mounted seat


How's your season going? Your FD is coming along really well with the new suspension and single turbo setup

 

I see.

Thanks! Haven't done any events yet, trying the cars ready for Deal Gap. I might do an event in June. Still need to get the cars tuned though.

 

man... your fd is so sexy I think I hate you !!!!

 

update!

 

Nothing to report on the RX-7 unfortunately