Towing in style

Last weekend, we were in Va. finishing the trailer and towing it back to Pa. It was a successful trip and I am very pleased with the end product.

Work continued Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning before loading up and pulling out. No real issues ... we lost the tongue jack halfway home and I also learned that I needed to adjust the brake balance inside the truck cab to keep the trailer brakes from locking up. That first couple of lock ups was interesting.

Here are some updated photos to reflect the AC unit, the work bench/storage unit, electrical and decorations ;)

Off to the races

This coming Labor Day weekend is MARRS 9 & 10 at Summit Point Raceway. I'm entered. It is a shake down event and hopefully after finishing the weekend, I will have secured my license for another year. I have not been on track since October of last year when I lost the clutch at the Point.

This weekend I've started packing. I'm really excited.

Trailer update

Since we are going to get my trailer this week, I thought I would record a quick update. During the last few months, my dad has been rocking on the build out of my new 20' enclosed trailer.

We did the floor together, but other than that, he has owned this thing and despite his weeks of travel in service to the country, he has found the time to make it happen.

Here's the short list with some pictures taken around July 4. Most of this has since been painted and finished.

The front section has three areas. A bathroom, which consists of a portable toilet on a riser with a fold out door that meets an accordion door providing total privacy.

The middle section is a table top with shelf and cabinets, as well as a galley sink. Underneath the table top goes the roll around Craftsman tool box during travel and the big cooler when at the races. The shelf will have a small microwave and there is room for a fridge should we go that far. There is also a fluorescent light mounted underneath the shelf.


The third section is for hanging coats and my race suit, as well as multiple drawers for whatever we will need for surviving. When a racer packs to go to the track, we take a lot of stuff, because 1) you are living there for three days and 2) you need anything and everything in case you break something. I have all sorts of spares that I bring with me in tubs. The last thing you want is to lose a water pump and have to go home, losing the entire investment of the weekend.


There are three large two bulb fluorescent light boxes that hang throughout the trailer. In addition along the walls both inside and outside are power boxes. There is a fuse box that handles the power coming into the trailer and enough wiring and outlets to power anything I have and anything my paddock neighbors might have including my AC unit which goes in this coming weekend.


My aunt and uncle did some renovation to their kitchen, so I got some of their oak kitchen cabinets. In addition, mom and dad also did some renovation, and I got the drawers that are near the hanging clothes area. Here is another one of the cabinets toward the rear of the trailer.


Since taking these pictures, dad has built a rolling tool bench with multi-power outlet box, florescent light and vise with a pegboard back that will double as a storage unit while traveling. It is made to go over the front of the car and secure to the sides preventing both forward, backward and side-to-side movement. Storage will be a key factor when packing for the race track.

In addition, he has put a mount in the floor that will connect to my winch, so I can continue to load the car on my own.

I'm real proud of the work dad has done and in three weeks, we'll be camping in this thing, sleeping on cots with the AC pumping. When the ladies join us, we'll retreat to the hotels.

Back together and running

The last several weekends have been a blur of activity. Wiring issues sorted, starter issues sorted, nearly a hundred things resolved, but for the most part, the car is done, running and ready for the next race.

I was very pleased with how everything has come together, and I have enjoyed solving those problems as they have arisen. Now, I look forward to getting the car on track and fully sorted.
This weekend I backed the car out of the garage to see if she would pull forward under her own power, which she did. It had not occurred to me until this moment though, that this was the very first appearance outside of the garage that the Biscuit had made since we moved to Pennsylvania.

We are off to Virginia this weekend to finish up-fitting my new trailer - installing the AC, painting the undercarriage and hanging the dry erase board, Think Racing clock and McConnell family Crest (tradition). It is coming back with us, so I can start loading it for the Labor Day race at Summit Point.

I admit that I get a lot of pleasure from essentially building this car from scratch in three months, but I am also glad to see it together again. I'll probably leave it together for a while now. We are going to move on to dad's car and I want to start studying some of my spare engines, so I can learn to build them myself. I've also thought some about the long-term possibility of adding another car to stable as a "foster" car that I would rent to other drivers. A Sprite or Midget that runs as a limited prep SCCA production racer. It would not be fast, but people could rent it for schools, to maintain their license, or for more experience. That would be a fun little side business and give me more time at the track than I get when I'm paying the bills with a little help from sponsors. I'm just thinking out loud.

Fun times ahead.