I sold the RX-8.
That experiment didn’t work out like I wanted. The car made it through the Pine Mountain Hillclimb without incident, but the clutch failed at the SCCA Time Trial Nationals. During the TT Nats, I also found out the engine was hurt. The combination of busted clutch and the need for a new engine and the timing mean the car was going to be in the way for many months.
Or, I could sell it. There were multiple people interested in it, so I sold it as it sat.
With the Mazda out of the way, the Probe was moved back into the garage and I began the process of cleaning it up and killing the critters that had moved into it while it sat outside for a year.
The bottom end of the engine also finally came out of the machine shop and was assembled. We still have about two weeks to go before the heads are done and I can finish the engine, but it’s progress.
While I wait on the heads, I’ve been working on fixing the visible rust on the body. I had treated most of these spots with POR-15 last year, but I had then just covered up the pitted spots with paint. This time I’m properly filling and smoothing the areas with the ultimate goal of using a peel-off coating to re-color the entire car.
After I finish the rust, I need to hit a bunch of hail dents on the roof and hood.
Various engine components have also finally had the residue from the fire removed and I have a decent shopping list of things I need to acquire to put the car back together. Several things were melted and I’ll need to make a trip to the junk yard and hit Ebay and Summit Racing pretty hard.
I’m still targeting the Optima Ultimate Street Car event at VIR in October, with a hope it’ll be ready sooner so I can get some shakedown events in before the main event.