Woods Racing

Live from DMCC!

Bannon — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:04:15 +0000

Well…back at home after a long enough day…like any race day, it’s a good day except when there’s rain. As a smart collective decision, after the rain started it was agreed that Mats would not go back out It’s a good decision that I support and it’s better to keep the car in one piece than risk it for wet racing.

I’ll update this more tomorrow but here some pics from Chris Micheletti.

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3:20pm
Looks like rain over here, there’s a drivers meeting going on…guess we’ll see!

Just checkin in, I’m here a Autodrome St Eustache with the Gold in the Net / Canada Synthetics drift team. The car is looking great and were excited for the day to start!
Stay tuned for pics and info!

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And yet another racing tragedy…

Bannon — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 21:02:50 +0000

Just wanted to pop on here and send my condolences to the family of Shoya Tamiwaza.
He was killed at a MotoGP race this weekend.
At 19 years old, 2 time pole qualifier and winner at Qatar, he was well on his way to a great career in motorcycle racing.
We can only hope that these tragedies become less and less frequent.
It’s a sad day when a sport that brings us so much joy can cause so much pain.
RIP Shoya, your family is in our hearts this Labour day weekend.

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Wish there was more…

Bannon — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 07:20:10 +0000

So I’m back from NY, and this round wasn’t as good as last year.
I mean, don’t get me wrong, upstate NY is beautiful but I guess I chose the wrong route.
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Last year we crossed at Frontiere which led us to go west by route 11. Led us through Saranac lake, up the mountains and all. Passed cute villages, prisons, lakes…but, this way was boring.
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We took the Mercier to the 15 and headed Lacolle onto I89.
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It was way faster, but nothing really to see.
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While I was there, it was nice though. I took Thursday to explore like I do…and saw great things. Went down to Lake Champlain, into Plattsburg, all around the Military Turnpike, Irish Settlement and even an 1812 war museum.
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I was lucky enough to check out Ausable Chasm which is a wicked waterfall with a little tour you can go on. It was definitely the highlight of the trip sight seeing wise.
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When I wasn’t touring the Adirondacks, I was camping at Macomb State Park which is in Schulyer falls. Its a good camp ground, safe, quiet and with unnaturally clean bathrooms and showers…I was impressed…now if they only had hot water in them showers.
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For the drive back, I figured since I89 was so boring, I would take 11 across and see what the GPS says…about an hour in, I hit the “Go Home” button and it took me up through Franklin County into Ormstown.
It pretty much looked like this the whole way…
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I think the highlight of that route was probably waking up the border guard and watching him eyeball the WR04. Otherwise, it was apple trees and well, field.
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I stopped for a coffee at some roadside stand, and if I could remember where I was, I would advise against.

Perhaps I have been pampered with the amazing drives I’ve had this summer…but next year if I go back, ill surely take the long way.
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Below is a photodump from the trip last year…have a look you’ll see what I mean about the views and such…provided, I was in my Jeep last year so was able to go into places I wouldn’t dare attempt in the WR04, but still…

I’ve really learned this year to take a little more time…even if it’s just one day and take a lil longer route. If you’re like me and enjoy driving and seeing scenery, then do yourself a favour and don’t be shy. Turn down that road, stop at the places where you say “One day I’ll stop there”, have lunch up-top a lookout and just enjoy it.

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Almost ready for NY

Bannon — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:31:12 +0000

So the WR04 is packed up and ready. I’m sitting on a porch waiting for the balance of the convoy to finish getting ready.

We’re heading to Macomb NY. The drive there is awesome, I love it…upstate NY, Saranac Lake, the hills, endless wind turbines…it’s great…

Stay tuned for pics along the way!

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And for the 4 cylinder..

Bannon — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:29:43 +0000

Made good progress today, interior is out, lights are gone, now to tie up some loose ends and start the metal work for both cars!

Just a quick note to give you a sneak preview of what we’re tearing apart for the 4 banger class. A ’92 Cavalier!

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A couple weeks of sawzalls and torches…

Bannon — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 04:48:33 +0000

That’s what I’m looking forward to. I have 2 weeks to finish 2 cars for the cornwall fireball enduro. Well, of course, that’s not all I have to do but that’s the time frame.

There’s a lot that goes into prepping these cars, removing windows, interior, wiring, airbags, and its a ton of fun.

I was away from the shop this weekend but my dad snuck in to help. Removed some more wiring from the Acura, the rear Windsheild and a couple of other lil things here and there and I thank him for that. Mark from Garrant Industries also dropped off the metal tubing ill be using for a roll cage and also the screen mesh ill be using for the window covering. Mark and his team have always been big supporters of us here at the shop and we can’t thank him enough.

So ill keep you posted this week about more of the build(s) and also stay tuned for a another road trip write up…this time, upstate New York!

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Prepping the Derby Car

Bannon — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 13:40:15 +0000

So as you know, we’re racing in the Cornwall Fireball Enduro this year. It’s a lot of work, but well worth the fun. 200 laps of racing mayhem in this last man standing oval circuit, let’s hope we can stay in one piece for a good part of it.

You saw some pics earlier of the 1993 Legend, and we’ve continued on the quest of race prep.

We’ve pretty much got the interior stripped out of it…
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All the lights and sunroof removed, prepping for a roll cage (thanks to Garrant Industries!)
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We had some things to address though, the car when it got here…was…slow…and I mean slow. Ran some tests on the system and wasn’t getting spark in a couple of cylinders. A quick plug change fixed that and also a fuel filter helped out some also.
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Cooling seemed to be an issue as you can see here:
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But we flushed all that out and replaced it with proper coolant. I imagine there is a head gasket issue so I will throw some block seal in it to keep it alive during the race.
So this upcoming week, stay tuned for more build pics, roll cage, window area, and tying up the loose ends!
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Oil…and beyond!

Bannon — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 02:13:15 +0000

So as I said in an earlier post…had some oil changes in this week, and both blog-worthy.
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Fabien brought in his Kia Coupe…and let me tell you, as much as an American/Domestic gearhead I am, this car speaks to me. It’s compact, has a decent 2.4, looks awesome with its red ext/black leather int and connected to the pavement with the black mags…it’s quite the head turner.
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It’s actually a small import, that looks mean, looks menacing and has quite the attitude.
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On the mechanic side of things, the car was put together properly for basic maintenance unlike the sunfire’s and such. The filter is in a good spot, you can view all the bushings/brakes/end links…etc easily and it gave me no trouble at all.

We chose Amsoil’s 5w20xl and a wix filter for this application and should easily see over 7000km’s on this change.
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I really like this car and couldn’t stop staring at it…what would my friends say if one of these stayed parked in my garage with my name on the registration????
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Project Alley Cat!

Bannon — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 00:01:02 +0000

So, I previously referred to this project as Project Mouse Hunter, but once Chris (the owner) saw it, he gave me one of those looks. We came to a quick agreement that it will now be called Alley Cat.
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So here we are.
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We got it started, new starter was needed, and since then oil has been dumped and replaced, overall inspected, and cleaned up a lil.
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We’re planning this build so it’s not a rush, but to give you a hint, the 5.0L H.O motor will remain with some added “enhancements”, suspension will see a drop with shocks and springs, body will be smoothed and painted and of course, the various other maintenance items such as ball joints, tie rods and fluids will all be fixed up.
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The things we do to go fast…

Bannon — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 04:41:07 +0000

So ya, just topped off another week here and things are moving along.
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Lotsa oil this week, well that’s nothing new, but also started work on this year’s Cornwall Fireball Enduro car.
Picked up this 1993 Acura Legend and am in the process of converting it into a lean mean derby machine.
Now, when the car got here, it had no brakes, head gasket is gone, cooling system was full of sludge and it had no power at all. I mean, NO power, but the sunroof worked!
I flushed the cooling system, changed the plugs, removed the airbox and charged the battery and I can finally chirp the tires from a stop. By the time it’s done, there will be nothing but an engine, seat and steering wheel. Nothing flammable or breakable.
Stay tuned for more of the build, its quite fun! Also, gonna load some pics of the cars we had in here this past week..

Cheers!

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