Roll Cage Sponsor: TJC Design Studio

In one whiskey-fueled night Comrades Davin and Rory, along with TJ and Alfred from TJC Design built our entire roll-cage. (It was mostly TJ, Alfred and Davin) The next morning, when I came to help clean-up and retrieve the car, they had already finished cleaning the shop and delivered the car to my house. Incredible. They are also craftsmen of the highest order. They can cast out-of-production parts and make metal do beautiful things.

Real Race Driver Sponsor: Holly Classics

Another great sponsor has decided to sully their good name by sponsoring our race car. Holly Classics , has thrown in some much needed gas and hotel money. Holly is owned by John Hollansworth, a man whose contributions to auto racing and and the car hobby are numerous. He's a true car guy and a great friend.

Now we Won't Burn to Death Sponsor: Classic Instruments!

Classic Instruments makes the best aftermarket gauges on the market. Providing clocks, clusters and dash panels to some of the worlds best-known car builders, these guys are obsessive perfectionists. We're lucky to count the guys at Classic Instruments as friends. In fact, we can now count them as the kind of friends who will dig deep and buy us 2 complete racing suits from Crow .
With gloves. And Boots.

Check out their site.

Vodka Sponsor: Valentine Vodka!

Just when things were starting to look bleak for Natasha, Valentine Vodka stepped up with a monster sponsorship; cash and a case of the finest craft-distilled-in-Detroit VODKA. The days of drinking the swill from the corner liquor store are over. Check out their site and treat yourself to some world class booze.

Engine Open, Mild Setbacks Begin

When we removed the valve cover, everything looked good. Maybe a little too good. It looked like a freshly rebuilt engine. We briefly considered leaving well enough alone and closing it back up. That is until we noticed some slack in the old timing chain. "HMMMMMMMMMMMMM" we all said. So we pulled off the oil pan.














Here's what we found in there. It looks pretty good, right? Like a fresh motor. But wait! What are those little flecks of metal on the oil screen? Why are there more flecks of metal in the oil pan?

Maybe we should remove the timing chain cover and have a look...

Oh man! Both of the chain tensioner shoes are completely f'ed, better head over to Autozone and...

So, there's that. And maybe some of the valves aren't as "sealy" as we'd prefer. So.

Here we are, a few short months from race day and we're still short a hell of a lot of parts and a hell of a lot of cash to acquire said parts.