Every office cubicle should have a pair of rusty VW rims.

Remember those two rusty rims that Larry Zimmerman donated to us? Now they look like this:

A few minutes with the grinder and another few coats of Rustoleum gloss white and they are race ready. Thanks again, Larry. We really appreciate it. (FYI, Larry drives the bright yellow Baja bug around Felton, so wave if you spot him).

Everyone uses their gas bbq grill as a mobile work bench, right?

I pulled everything out of 1107 Sunday and started cataloging what needs to be done to prep for the Hawthorne 250. Main things are fixing the oil leak (probably a big deal), replacing the brake fluid reservoir (it leaked everywhere and we had very little brake pressure), checking the wiring on our transponder and installing a replacement spare (Scott and I really taco’d one on the last lap of the Fallon 250 night race).

A handful of photos here.

And we’re off like a herd of turtles. (Photo courtesy Megan of Two Larrys Racing.

At least once or twice a race, someone says “Hey! Herbie!” when they see 1107, usually on the trailer at a stoplight or when we’re stopped to get gas or something to eat. For the first time, in the parking lot of the South Lake Tahoe Safeway, a woman holding a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other yelled “SLUG BUG WHITE!” Totally cracked me up.

Here are some photos from the Fallon race.

A treasure trove of ovals.

I got word that someone in the San Lorenzo Valley had “a barn full” of Volkswagens. A little bit of sleuthing and earlier tonight Richard and I went to check out the situation. We’re compiling a shopping list. A handful of photos here.

Picture proof I actually work on the car.

We’re starting to button up 1107 in advance of this coming weekend’s Xtreme Outlaws 250 in Reno. I painted fenders and the replacement engine deck lid. Crusty replace a split polyurethane front beam bushing and sorted out where to hang the battery-powered impact wrench that should greatly reduce the time it takes to change a tire.

A little bit more wiring to do and Bob’s headed over to tune the engine. Richard is dropping off the 215s with our sponsor, Dixon & Son Tires, to get them shaved. They should be back by tomorrow. We’ll be running a Spot Tracker unit this race so folks should be able to follow our progress. We depart Wednesday and pre-run at 8 a.m. Thursday, staging out of the former home of the Mustang Ranch.

A handful of shots from Sunday’s work.

It’s amazing how much you can stuff in the back of a VW, including Bill “The New Guy” Rickard.

The Yerington 300 is Memorial Day Weekend and we’re continuing buttoning up 1107. Bill is working on a complete rewiring. Crusty has been working on reinforcing the frame and repositioning the oil breather so it won’t spray oil all over the engine compartment and Bob came by to reinstall the transmission.

Crusty has also reinforced the fuel cell box, reworked the front bumper and mapped out what needs to be done to relocate the battery on the pan. Engine should go back in on Tuesday.

A gallery of photos here, mostly of wires.

Dented, but undaunted.

Work day today with remarkably little to do. Crusty had already pulled the engine, Bob pull the tranny and Richard brought a slide hammer to massage some remaining dents. This coming week Crusty and Bob will make some adjustments to the spacing of the rear skid plate, adding some bushings to increase the distance between the place and the engine and headers, Billy “The New Guy” Rickard will replace wiring going into the engine compartment. Richard will spend some time this week on other prep work. Crusty’s also going to be doing some reinforcement on the FuelSafe fuel cell. Realistically, we could have the car ready as early as this coming weekend for the May 28 race in Yerington, Nevada.

Some photos from today’s work.

Bob Messner displaying the $20 cash money, 12-pack of PBR and the fabulous recycled bowling trophy he got for dominating Bug Invasion I in No. 1177

Back and sunburned from Bug Invasion I. Try as we might, we couldn’t flip 1107. We did DNF twice with blown fuse and fan belt issues, but “Bullet” Bob Russell got third place in the second moto. The great thing about racing Class 11 is the camaraderie (also the breakfast burritos, polish sausage, ribs and tri-tip).

I’ve got video from all three races that I’ll be posting shortly. For now you’ll have to settle with a photo gallery.

Lastly, thanks to everyone involved with VORRA for being so supportive of the return of Class 11s.

P.S. Watch for “Bug Invasion II – The Bugs Strike Back” in 2011.

Scott and Scott confab on the tranny.

Richard, Scott ‘n Crusty spent Tuesday with Scott Sebastian at MetalCraft in Sanger. Sebastian took the parts from our assorted broken and junkyard-scavenged transmissions and built us the first of what will likely be two or three. The first one gets installed Saturday.

A handful of shots here.

One week til Bug Invasion I at Prairie City. More news to come on that tomorrow.

Under the lights. Also under Crusty’s deck.

Two weeks til our second race of the season, a VORRA short course race that is also “Bug Invasion I”. Richard, Crusty and I spent the day working on the car. Richard focus on hammering out dents from the rollover, Crusty and Richard worked on straightening out the frame, from the rollover, I scraped off decals, damaged as a result of the rollover.

Road trip planned for Tuesday to Sanger to meet with Scott Sebastian with MetalCraft to build one or more transmissions. I hope Richard, Scott, Crusty and Bob enjoy that 4 a.m. departure time.

A handful of photos from today’s work.