We’ve always been PCA/NASA/or Chumpcar guys but last weekend we had a chance to come support one of the best guys we know in his return to SCCA racing.  Mike Lyle rolled the Honey Badger (sporting an updated look) out at Heartland Park after a shakedown at Hallett.  The car really lives up to the name.  Mike was running in GT2 and ran in front of everyone he should have been close with and a few he didn’t have any business beating. Weather was great and …

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Haven’t blogged in awhile as we have been slammed trying to get cars through the shop. We have been doing a ton of A/C work with the weather turning nice, in addition to some big and small projects. A 993TT in the shop for a really stiff clutch pedal. Since the clutch was replaced a few years ago, that points us to the slave and/or hydraulic accumulator. After trying both with no luck, the only other option was to drop …

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Apr 29 2013 wes Editorial No Comments

I’ve been using a treatment on my old crusty R comps to bring them back to life and have always wondered if they really did anything.  It always felt like they did but I didn’t know if it was placebo effect or not. I decided to find out.  I put on a lab coat and glasses, dug out the Type A durometer, grabbed a clipboard and went to work finding out. Here is a freshly minted Hoosier R6… And here …

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Apr 10 2013 wes Editorial No Comments

We’re going through another set-up from another shop that just couldn’t get the Webers right. Trying to do all the carb work on the car with homemade stuff won’t work.  But if you are looking for a quick baseline before deciding where to go with the car, or making changes to fresh carbs, these tips can help.  As always check plugs, cap, rotor, timing, compression, fuel pressure and valve adjustment before try to put a good tune on the carbs. First change we had to make to these were the …

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Apr 10 2013 wes Editorial No Comments

When you suddenly can’t open your door from the outside on an X5 the typical issue is that the mechanism that the outer handle goes into has broken.  When this one came in that is what we found. Remove the door panel, somebody had been here before and broken nearly all of the clips When you fix this it’s important to get the BMW style clips with the rubber bushing on them if you want the panel to stay snug. The two screws to …

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Mar 19 2013 wes Editorial No Comments

And that’s a good thing.  Anyone who knows me knows how much I love the XJ8/XK8.  When treated well they are just great cars, period.  Fast, pretty, great interiors, roomy, and the best ride anywhere. This very tidy 2000 XJ8 limped in with stability management and cruise turned off by the ECU and placed in full “limp mode.” First thing found was a miss on bank 2, cyl 2 (or cyl #6 for everyone but jag) Not hard to run that …

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Mar 19 2013 wes Editorial 1 Comment

  If you have a Jag with the BBS wheels w/chrome trim ring this job is not nearly as bad as it looks.  I would recommend doing it the easy way.  Bring you Jaguar to RennsportKC and come pick it up finished 🙂 These wheels were hammered.  The PO was not kind to them.  I am pretty sure they were vision impaired and should not have been driving. Air inflation port. Pretty simple start, use a regular valve core removal tool …

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Mar 06 2013 wes Editorial 2 Comments

So this is turning into Jag month.  Today we have an XKR that the door opens well, but something is amiss when closing.  We found that while the first microswitch in the door is working when the handle is lifted and the door is opened.  The window drops about a half inch like it should.  But when the handle is released the window returns to the full closed position.  Then when you shut the door the glass catches the weatherstrip and …

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Mar 04 2013 wes Editorial No Comments

XJ8/XK8 series cars have frequent problems with the power headrests.   It is usually because the cable comes out.  That wasn’t the case here.  Somehow the clamp that holds the headrest motor was gone.  I have no idea where it went.  Couldn’t find it anywhere in the seat.  Just gone.  Here’s how you get to it…. Then fab up a new bracket since the old one was MIA. And here it is, solid as a rock: Working like a champ now! …

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