NASA press release
 

Davidson Racing and Bauer Post Entries for USAF 25 Hours of Thunderhill

No, there's no massive V8 hiding in our 25 hour car.

That's quite a typo.

But seriously: You're taking Catfish to Thunderhill? Hope you've had to to pull all the body molds you'll ever need. :D

Two take-aways:

REALLY, don't believe what you read in the news--It's amazing the bad (edit--incorrect) news that's been written, and then copied and aggregated, just about the little Catfish. Apply this to your local news, and about 25% of what you read is probably crap.

And as for the bodywork, we're screwed. Luckily Ron Cortez has a Costco-sized account with the local helicopter tape supplier. :)

so true.

Thunderhill Catfish pictures
 

I can't believe that we actually made it to Thunderhill, let alone started and finished. The car was literally bare frame, no wiring and only the engine and driveline installed on Thursday--the first day of track practice. A mad thrash took place--including fabricating the entire interior, wiring the entire car (including driving lights), installing all the suspension and pulling together the needed parts for the race. Craziness. When we got to the track, half the wiring was still left, the fresh engine needed to be heat cycled, the wheel and tire package literally needed to be checked to make sure there was no obstruction with the bodywork--it was the first time the wheels and tires had ever been fitted.

To finish a 25 hour endurance race is a big IF, even when you're prepared. Our car--without suspension testing, corner balancing, setup or even a proper alignment finished the race and even managed a decent best time of 2:03. Our FIRST TIME ON TRACK was when we pulled out onto the front straight, four hours into the 25 hour race!

Oh, we also somehow walked away with a 3rd place in our class--attrition.

Next year.....just wait. :)

More T-Hill pictures (night shots)
 

Here are some more shots during the race. It got real cold at night, but luckily it didn't rain.

T-hill in the morning
 

Oscar Jackson said that 2am is the "witching hour"...if you make it past 2am, chances are you'll finish the race. Personally I felt like we'd make the end of the race when the sun came up.

The car looks amazing on a race track - I think this is where it belongs! This shall be my next big purchase after buying a house.

Looks awesome Cordycord, well done!

Now stop messing around and get back to us on the ....

The 5 bolt hubs

the telemetry

etc.........SERIOUSLY!!!!!

:) I'm working on the 5 bolt setup with a "Monster" company right now, and we've got the final boards DONE for the data acquisition system! This is the board that will be going into production, so it looks like we've got some testing to do in the next couple of months.

Hmmm, I wonder if I can fit Christmas into the schedule...

Looks great! Contrasts

I think I'll be refinancing mine to keep in on the track. :)

:rolleyes:

PIXAR / DISNEY!!!! Monsters Inc. ? I need to be working with a "MEGA" company soon, as we could have squirted out a bit more horsepower out of our Catfish on the track...

ITB's...don't be hatin'
 

I rehabbed the throttle bodies and picked up the horns and intake manifold from Techno Toy Tuning. The silver anodizing with the krinkle powdercoat finish on the throttle body look schweet! Next, I've got to decide how far I'm going to prep the engine for this intake...

That's not a turbo.

That would be a better photo if the budget calipers were not in the frame.

lol so much hate constructive criticism :D

OKOKOK the bracket that holds the cable is nice as well as the air horns.

Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering

Boost leads to glory?

yeah, now get on chat, i have things to discuss with you.

Hey those calipers are functional.

I've never seen anything so trick. I had to look up what those were. It's this piece of electronic wizardry that tells you how small something is. Like a tape measure, but more deadly. Another part of this thread that blew. My. Mind.

http://images.tribe.net/tribe/upload...b-37d5d5d11b98
:bowrofl::party::bowrofl::party:




So when does this thing go on sale cord?

And will it include LED screws? Cause that would be hot. You could light shit up with those.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ld-1503122-jpg

Those cheap-ass calipers read in mm/inch and fractions. While you'd swear I was a kid running after the ice cream truck when I see the Snap-On van, I've also got an unnatural attraction to Harbor Freight.

And ITB's. I know it ain't right...

T3 builds their stuff STOUT. Those horns aren't spun, but are cnc machined. The lip is solid.

are the TBs molded plastic or just PC'ed black?

Just wait until you see these on the disco ball I'm installing. You will eat your sarcasm.

That's as close to krinkle black that my powder coater had. If I had a do-over, I'd spray paint krinkle coat next time. And I probably wouln't have exploded the ITB's. What a PITA.

i dont like crinkle. it's hard to clean and always collects towel lint as well as dirt/gunk. lose lose.

Most of my fabrication tools are from harbor freight. Well...at one time, then I replaced one at a time as funds allowed, assuming the HF part didn't impress. I.E. I will continue to use HF autodarkening helmets cause they rock, and expensive helmets suck.

CNC lathe horns are easier & cheaper to make than spun horns.

Wow, that must have taken a long time. Turned out fantastic IMHO.

Posting these two pics back to back for my own benefit because I keep scrolling back and forth. :)

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ld-0602125-jpg

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...5295-small-jpg

ITB's all done
 

Thanks Tim,

ITB's are a gear head's wet dream. There's just enough mechanical-ness to really cause trouble and consternation on many levels. It just ain't right if it's easy.

What ever happened with this? Is there anything MT can do to help?

Thanks for checking Chris. This little girl is in foster care, and it's a painfully slow process. We're waiting for the procedures to play out, and hope that at the end we'll be adding a little girl to our family.

Very cool car. Hoping you will offer up a body. I can do my own chassis/interior.

First pit stop
 

This is the first pit stop, and literally the second time the car had gas in it. It might look like a normal stop, but at the time there was no fuel gauge in the car, and the vent hose line was acting up. Luckily we didn't have any serious issues with fuel, other than Mark Mitchell getting doused with a bit during the race.

The nice part about racing ESR was being able to use a dry brake system, so our tank could be completely filled in no time. Still, it took some time to get the system down. The bad part about racing in ESR is having to race in the same class against $250k factory Audis and fully sorted Normas with enough downforce to race around the track upside down if they wanted.

Shelly puts the Catfish away
 

That's one weird looking kitchen.

That is so sweet! I never expected this to rise to such high quality standards!

Huh?
 

'Splain that to me Lucy, I just don't get it...

Woman, place she belongs, etc.

Champion chick
 

That woman is a national autocross champion. I think I'll let her slide...

Thanks!
 

Thanks fox.:).

We're trying to improve the car every day.

Does she even lift?

Skoal, long cut
 

I'd like to say that she's got a bad Skoal Long Cut habit, but she's just a cute mom who plays with her kids, puts on her helmet, and then goes out and crushes the dreams of any man who thinks he can bend a cone faster than her.

NASA WERC race in Sonoma--Catfish update
 

From Ron Cortez at AIM Tires in Sonoma comes a Catfish update:

First NASA West Coast Endurance event of the year, Sonoma Raceway Feb. 10. Catfish finsihed 1st in class and 5th overall.
Rob Rodriguez at the wheel ran a flawless race. Thanks to Nico for a great job in preping the car and for Rob's flawless drive.
Also to Greg and Ted for their pit lane expertise. Wish it had been a bit longer. Don't know why they call 2 hour races 'enduro' as that was only 1/2 of our regular stint in the 25 hour. But, track time is expensive. Thanks to NASA for yet another well run event!

For you Miata folks, Same engine and trans that we ran in the 25 hour. Have not even changed the spark plugs! We've also had 2 test days since the 25 hour in December. Oh, we did change the MOTUL oil after the 25, but it really didn't need it even without engine oil coolers or trans/diff coolers.
After the 25 we had 50% of the front brake pads remaining and 75% of the rear pads remaining. So the car is very easy on brakes.
Thanks again to MOTUL lubricants, Achilles Radial tires, AIM tire, Huffaker Racing (engine),ACT clutch/flywheel, plus Joe Carr Racing and Rob Rodriguez for their fabrication and inspiration during the thrash to finish the car before the 25 hours.

Nice, Cord. The car looks good in motion. I'm kind of surprised you are willing to go wheel-to-wheel with what I assume is limited production bodywork!

Do you have any pictures from this most recent event?

Catfish racing in Sonoma
 

Thanks Jack! The whole intent of the car is to get it on the track and drive it. This car was ordered by Ron Cortez, owner of AIM Tires (Toyo race tires). He's got a shop at the track at Sears Point, and volunteered to be the first guinea pig for the car. We tack-welded our latest frame iteration together and shipped it to him along with a set of bodywork (hand-sanded by ME) from the temporary tooling, and he took over. It's now his car, and he's committed to racing it at the entire NASA Western Endurance Racing Championship. The car is underpowered compared to the other cars in the class, but Ron's got some superb drivers and will be developing the package as the year progresses.

As it stands now, he's taking the "European" approach to car setup; suspension first, and then engine. "Amurricans" build the fire-breathing engine first, and figure out the suspension later. :)

I found some pictures of the car in action via Head-On Photos - Northern California's Premier Motorsports Event Photography Provider. Here's the link:

NASA Pro Racing - Feb

Its because you need a trubo mate.

+1

Catfish pricing is finally released
 

Pricing for the Catfish is finally on the website, here:

Pricing |

The car's not done, but everything is in place. Once all the final molds are made, production is next.

We've got a pretty interesting introductory special, so take a look. :)

Wowza, much cheaper than expected, sounds legit. Hope this takes off for you in a controllable manner, you've created quite the buzz around Catfish. Any orders already placed?

I already have enough projects and you throw this out there. Great price and I am seriously considering it.

Thanks Curly. :) I've got a few 'friends and family' orders lined up, but today is the actual first release of pricing. The car won't be ready until early Spring. This will give people plenty of time to think about it, email/call and ask questions, save up a little dough, talk their significant other into the purchase, etceteras.

We're full steam ahead on the final production molds and tweaking the frame a bit...and we're already planning our next model. It should be an interesting year. :)

Definately a great price. If my Miata is ever damaged beyond repair, I now know I've got a better replacement choice (or a 7 replica).

Great pricing
 

I visited a friend yesterday who is doing a "resto-mod" to his fastback Mustang. I told him that the Catfish kit price was $13,900, and he told me that he paid more than that for just his Mustang suspension. :) Add in the introductory offer, and I think it's a smokin' deal too. :)

I'm looking forward to the first person with a built Miata getting a Catfish. Taking off that "extra" 600lbs should really turn this car into a track monster.

This looks very interesting! I am going to keep an eye on this.