[TQ29m]

DAD, the last one I built for myself, the one I am running now, when we can, I painted with Rustoleum Sunrise Red, took 6 cans, and I can go anywhere and get it, and after being built in 1998, and raced since, it still doesn't look bad, I think all the others I built were powdercoated, and have been several times since. I make all my panels out of pre-painted aluminum, so the only other thing is the fuel cell, this one was last painted, by a pro, in 1996. Now, if someone else were paying to have their name on the car, that might be different, but til then, it's what I want! I kinda think this thread has a smell to it, if your know what I mean! Bob

[PatrickMead#13]

Originally Posted by TQ29m DAD, the last one I built for myself, the one I am running now, when we can, I painted with Rustoleum Sunrise Red, took 6 cans, and I can go anywhere and get it, and after being built in 1998, and raced since, it still doesn't look bad, I think all the others I built were powdercoated, and have been several times since. I make all my panels out of pre-painted aluminum, so the only other thing is the fuel cell, this one was last painted, by a pro, in 1996. Now, if someone else were paying to have their name on the car, that might be different, but til then, it's what I want! I kinda think this thread has a smell to it, if your know what I mean! Bob

Sunrise red must be the color of choice because I too, took that approach 2 years ago and soon to be doing it again..... Rustolem is easy to touch up and if a hard crash happens, it makes finding cracks and bent tubes easier too.

[PatrickMead#13]

Originally Posted by diana Hello All, I am looking for some good old fashioned, honest, down to earth advice on setups. Bailey 1000 cc For example the car is totally stripped ready for powder coating and now we are putting it back together. What I want is a step by step procedure of putting it back together and establishing a base line setup. Include all info / car on jacks or ground/adjusting ride heights, blocking squaring , scaling , tire pressures , stagger Bird cage timing , shock numbers,dry or wet track conditions. Remember small things that you take for granted others are not aware of. This will most likely take more than one evening to prepare. There are a lot of different techniques to accomplish the end product. I would like to hear from all. I'm pretty sure there are a lot of other racers who would be very interested in this topic. Lets all get together on this and help everyone especially the new racers out there. It's a shame to waste all the talent and experience locked away in so many of your minds. I look forward to hearing from you and a sincere thank you from myself and the millions of racers who will read this. Merry Christmas to all.

With my Bailey, I always use the motor plate as a reference for squaring the front and rear axles. I also use plain 2x4 pieces for blocking. Just lift the car up with the blocks between the lower frame tube and the axle, slide the bar stops on with the adjustment bolts 50/50 in the stop so you have room to adjust up or down. Run the bolt down to where it just touches the torsion tube and tighten the lock nut. Remove the blocks and set the car down. On my car, I run 3" on the front, 2 1/2 on the right rear, 2 5/16 on the left rear. That's what was suggested for my car. It works just fine for me. Main thing is to setup the car with a recommended baseline from Bailey and adjust from there once you get to know how the car reacts. Starting out on the track, do one small adjustment and note how that one change made a difference. I have ran my baseline noted above for 2 years on 3 different size and banked tracks. Shocks are what make it all come together for me. One thing to remember, locktite your pinch bolts and I put a bright paint mark on the nut/bolt to help indicate that the nut has moved. If your car is a 4 bar rear. Timing your cages should be done after all alignment and blocking is done and put your "race weight" in the car. Either buy a cage level or for the poor folk like me, run a tad bit longer bolts on your cages because then you should be able to use a regular level. Just make sure your top and bottom bolts are level over each other. After you're done timing the cages, double check your axle alignments incase you knocked it out of whack. Adjust one rod longer and one rod shorter to help keep the axle from moving. That should get you in a drivable ballpark to get you track time, experience, and be patient learning how to use your baseline setup. One thing I must note about my car is I only run non-wing but Floyd's baseline should be pretty close. Pick up the mini sprint guide book and jimmy sills midget DVD. Very helpful info and will give you a better understanding how to properly setup a car. Good luck and Merry Christmas!!!

[diana]

Thanks Pat,
I appreciate your opinion and advice. Also it is refreshing to see that there are still some racers out there
that are willing to help there fellow racers. If we are going to help our class grow we should at least appear to look like we
will help steer the new guy in the right direction. What do you think Bob!!!!!!!!! I am sure you asked a question or two on your way up to being the
fantastic , generous , respected racer that we all know you are.
Merry Christmas.

[jjones752]

Pat did go the extra mile. I apologize if I didn't sound helpful; all I was trying to say is, once you've established your baseline (based on your chassis builder's recommendations) you can't really rely on other people's setup changes to work for you. We may be running the exact same chassis with the same bars and shocks but that doesn't account for the infinite number of variables like constantly changing track conditions, driving styles and on and on. One of the variables that hasn't really been mentioned by anyone but me is that any modifcations that may have been made by you or someone else will likely alter your chassis' dynamics to the point that it won't respond the same way. For example, my chassis was allegedly built by someone who is no longer in business and the car has been "rubbed on" by at least three other sets of hands; where am I supposed to go for a baseline? There are books and DVD's out there (most that have been mentioned in this thread) that have excellent information which will help immensely. Jimmy Sills' DVD is full of the stuff you're asking about, especially the bit at the end where he talks over real-race videos and describes what his and other driver's cars are doing, who's setups are and aren't working and what to do when it's not. That being said, experience is still the best teacher; find your baseline, then get out there next year and enjoy the process. While you are at the track is also the best time to seek out the expert advice, too, because what's happening at that moment is an important part of the equation. Hopefully in a few years you'll have learned enough that the newbies will be coming to you.

[PatrickMead#13]

Originally Posted by diana Thanks Pat, I appreciate your opinion and advice. Also it is refreshing to see that there are still some racers out there that are willing to help there fellow racers. If we are going to help our class grow we should at least appear to look like we will help steer the new guy in the right direction. What do you think Bob!!!!!!!!! I am sure you asked a question or two on your way up to being the fantastic , generous , respected racer that we all know you are. Merry Christmas.

No problem at all. We all should still be learning as new parts and technology evolves. If those of us "in the know" keep all the information to ourselves, then it would get to the point where nobody else would be able or want to join in and that would just stink. If someone beats me, I want it to be on the track and not because they couldn't get their car going and sits in the pits. When someone finishes better than me, it just makes me step up my game and work harder to get up front. I'm pretty sure that's the whole point of racing anyways......lol

[jjones752]

Nicely put Mr. Mead; sure hope we get to mix it up a bunch of times this coming year and see if your new-fangled water-cooled Yamaha can handle my oily old Suzuki....

[PatrickMead#13]

You'll like how torquey that oil zuki will run.