no SC meets in SoCal, so let's arrange some!

The_Ghost

Registered User
I know there are a good number of us in SoCal, who would be interested in a meet?

Where would be good to meet up? I am thinking like a burger joint like an In-N-Out, Tommy Burger, or possibly a parking lot at one of the larger malls such as South Coast Plaza, Block of Orange, Los Cerritos, etc etc.

What freeways is everyone near? I for example, am at the 605/405/22 interchange.

I'd like to meet up with some of you guys and check out each other's cars etc etc, maybe set up group events like drags as a club at irwindale speedway, or a group auto X.

For example, my friends at Cal Poly Pomona are hosting a Solo II autocross practice event as a fundraiser for their Formula SAE project November 4 & 5th if anyone else is interested, that would be a great event to attend since it benefits the Formula SAE program, and it's in our area. Since it is a practice event, it's as many runs as you can muster, but it's slightly more expensive than a normal championship event because you get more runs and it lasts all day.
Here are links to the event info.
http://www.solo2.com/eventpage.asp?eid={31C64DAD-59AB-429F-82D9-E222F4F90F45}
http://www.solo2.com/eventpage.asp?eid={B94A7E38-D01B-410D-BAFC-39902ECAC46F}

Hell, even a junkyard excursion "strip the SC" event would be fun.

Who else would be interested?

Ghost
 
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Meet + Canyon Cruise

Okay then, I've got a couple of suggestions:

How about a meet in Azusa near Irwindale speedway, for a run up to Glendora Mountain Rd? This is a very, very challenging and technical canyon run with no runoff and mile after mile of steep grades and sharp, undulating turns, winding up to the top of (what I believe is Mt. Baldy.)the mountain. This is fun, but it is also very dangerous, I would strongly reccomend that inexperienced folks or those without good, sticky tires and brakes in good working order (this will be VERY hard on your brakes and ABS system) abstain from this particular run.
There are a few fast food places on Azusa Blvd and a couple of grocery stores out there

A slightly less challenging course that's more 'fun for everyone' oriented is Ortega Highway, running from the 405/5 area all the way out to Lake Elsinore. This is a higher-speed course that is a series of s-bends winding back and forth at relatively tame angles until the end of it, when you are confronted with a series of mildly tight hairpins facing downhill. There is an In-N-Out just off the 405 that is nearby, and at the base of Ortega Hwy there is a shopping center that we could meet at.

Another option is off of the 243, I think that's it, either 243 or 241... it's a toll road in Orange County, Black Star Canyon rd.

These are both fairly south towards San Diego, another option is the Mulholland Highway branchoff in the San Fernando Valley that becomes Stunt Road, La Piuma and Tuna Canyon roads. These are also very technically challenging and hard on your brakes. I would probably recommend running these during daylight, as at night, as good as your lights may be, will slightly skew your perception and make it harder to judge braking distances, and occasionally dust gets blown onto the road, causing a very undesirable wheel-lock understeer condition, and will flatspot your tires if you get caught in such a situation. There are very few guardrails here, so being careful is an absolute necessity.
An easier option is old Topanga Canyon road, we could meet at the Krispy Kreme or Tommy Burger in the San Fernando Valley (the Topanga Cyn exit off the 101 fwy).

I can't recall how to get to it right now, but out in the desert there is a very, very twisty bit of red-colored asphalt commonly known as the 'red road'. Since I never drove it myself (I merely rode along with a friend), I can't clearly recall how to get there except that it was out towards the High Desert.

After that, there's also the city of Walnut near Cal Poly Pomona, which has a good number of twisty, run roads out there.

There's also that very, very overhyped place, Neptune's Net that everyone always goes to. I sincerely doubt that we could go there and even find parking, but it is adjacent to a canyon.

If you know of any twisty roads near you that would be good for a group cruise, suggest it here.

As discussed earlier, if anyone is interested in legitimate drag racing, thursday nights, if I recall correctly, are $20 run-what-ya-brung drag nights at Irwindale Speedway.

For Junkyard 'strip-the-sc' events, if anyone would be interested in doing something so crazy, I would STRONLY suggest meeting at the Wilmington, CA Pick-Your-Part lot, as the place is HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE, and I have never gone there and not found an SC, and there is usually an abundance of standard thunderbirds, 89-95, I don't see a lot of 96-97s though, but there are usually 3-4 MK VIIIs.

The SCCA events are kind of pricey but they are fun, ranging from 40-70 dollars.

As for meeting dates/times

I am thinking a monthly meet would be cool and offer better chances for people to plan ahead so that we get a decent attendance number. (like more than 3 people, but I'm cool if even 3 people show)

Saturday Morning/Afternoon/Evening
Sunday Morning/Afternoons/Evening
Thursday Nights
Wednesday Nights
Tuesday Nights

What works best for everyone?


-Ghost

Post Script:
For those of you who don't already know, this weekend, OCT 28-29th, Mazda is holding an event called ZOOM ZOOM live. It is FREE, and you will be able to aggressively drive the Miata, CX-7, RX-8, Mazdaspeed6, Mazdaspeed3 and other Mazda models on an Auto-X style course. I am going on the morning of the 29th, you can sign up at http://www.zoomzoomlive.com for free. This might be fun to meet up at if anyone else wants to mess around in new mazdas for free. after all, it is a ford company.
 
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Im also down for a meet! My bird is under construction at the moment but Ill still show up for some beers!:D I think its a good idea for us to get to know each other.... aint we a club??? I like the idea of kickin it at a burger joint or something like that for starters.... so far there is three people. Darkstar_one said he's getting laid off so he aint got no excuses!LOL "PReDiTR91"
 
see that's what i'm talkin about
I am not sure where would be best to meet,
I'd like to figure out where everybody lives so we could set up a centralized location.

Thus far:
Burbank (101?)
Pacoima
Los Alamitos (605/405)

and I believe darkstar is from South Central Los Angeles?
 
Try using the member maps, each chapter has one.
http://www.sccoa.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68541

Paul


Could somebody with a faster computer check this and come up with some centralization? Every time I try to open it, it starts to load, and then immediately crashes firefox on my antequated 2.3ghz piece of bargain-basement junk. After the 4th time, I'm giving up. I am unsure where the best location would be, since everyone seems to be either north or south.

Additionally, the other problem with the member maps is that people leave. Not everyone listed on the member map is still around or at all active on SCCOA. One of the few things it DID display before crashing was that there are 105 SoCal members listed, and I know for a fact there aren't 50 people still active in the SoCal chapter.

I am thinking perhaps using Azusa might be a good idea since it's about 30 miles from everywhere, so far as I can tell, unless anyone has a better idea.

alternately, I am pretty sure that Mulholland Hwy or Topanga Cyn might be pretty fun. I think this might be the best choice since I'm fairly familiar with the area and there are a ton of canyons to choose from in the immediate area.

Alternate meeting place suggestions would be much appreciated.

Paul, are you coming back to CA or are you remaining in NY?

-Ghost
 
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Could somebody with a faster computer check this and come up with some centralization? Every time I try to open it, it starts to load, and then immediately crashes firefox on my antequated 2.3ghz piece of bargain-basement junk. After the 4th time, I'm giving up.
Use IE, it works fine, I've had problems with it crashing in FF also.

Additionally, the other problem with the member maps is that people leave. Not everyone listed on the member map is still around or at all active on SCCOA. One of the few things it DID display before crashing was that there are 105 SoCal members listed, and I know for a fact there aren't 50 people still active in the SoCal chapter.
This is your starting point to find the members locations and contact info. You will have to make the effort to contact the members and see if they are interested in gathering, some may even if they do not own their SCs any longer.
Paul, are you coming back to CA or are you remaining in NY?

-Ghost
Neither. With the exception of a 1 day stay on the 22nd of Dec. I hope to not be in California again until my wedding in 11/07.

Paul
 
. Darkstar_one said he's getting laid off so he aint got no excuses!LOL "PReDiTR91"


hey OMAR! OUCH! THAT HURT!

then again we can meet by Preditrs house. and do some racing! there is like a whole mile of straight street with NO COPS! seriously! i smashed on it with the buick and topped it out at 75!

omars neighborhood is so dead at night! its depressing driving to his house after u get off the freeway!
 
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yeah! lets meet at omars house!

you know up until right now when i yahoomaps'd it, i had no clue where the hell pacoima was, except that juicy cotoure (sp?) is from there. (I know this from being stuck in the juicy store with teh girlfriend for over an hour with nothing to do or look at except read the script on the wall "once upon a time in a far away land called pacoima...")

ohhhhhhhh shieet! you're in the valley right in the middle of all teh canyons! like, right at the edge of it, too.

i am SO down for a meet except I just lost my damn harmonic balancer! DAMN YOU, SC!!!!

my sc would be down for a trip to the valley for a meet w/everyone, since I got my SC from the valley in may at the Lowe's on Topanga Cyn at Roscoe and it hasnt been back since. It looks different now than it did then, and runs a lot better... it's very much a different car.

sorry for the spazfest a paragraph ago, but it's okay, im chillin now. i got excited for a sec about carving canyons since im gonna buy some new high performance rubber to replace the crap that's on my 18s. >:]

yeah, the damn balancer went so now my sc isnt running and I need to fix that asap.
anyone want to help me do it? hm? hm?
i expect that if and when i locate a balancer i will probably end up paying someone to do it due to the use of an easy-out, and i dont know how to use one of those. :( that and i dont have air tools and i am hardcore afraid i am gonna botch this ~~~~.

-ghost
 
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hey OMAR! OUCH! THAT HURT!

then again we can meet by Preditrs house. and do some racing! there is like a whole mile of straight street with NO COPS! seriously! i smashed on it with the buick and topped it out at 75!

omars neighborhood is so dead at night! its depressing driving to his house after u get off the freeway!

Thats right!!! They actualy do race on that street (we will not mention!) ;) By the way thats against the law:p If you would get off on Osborne St theres a peter piper there, youll see a crew of camaros kickin it there. The route you take is nothing but junkyards so I guess it is pretty dead!LOL It is a good spot though....
 
Hey Ghost I live on the edge of pacoima close to tujunga were youll find your canyons you love so much! My project car will be for racing down were Ds_0ne was talking about but we wont mention so I dont know much about the canyons. I plan to smoke a few chevys,imports, & mustangs if I ever finish!!! & yeh its an automatic!LOL
 
How did I miss this thread?

I would love to go do a Canyone run, but I need to replace my PBR's and I need better rubber.

The SCCA event sounds cool and I would pay for it, but it's kinda short notice. :(

We can always also do a Speedzone meet.

BTW Gost do you go to Cal Poly?
 
No, I'm not smart enough to go to Cal Poly Pomona.

I'm more artsy than mathematical, I enjoy sitting around coming up with concept bodykits and whole redesigns of cars. I also like writing, but I'm not good enough with math to do anything further. Unfortunately, I lose. One of my friends goes to Cal Poly, and I'm just an avid SCCA fan. I am, however, extremely interested in the formula SAE program and the insanity of it is that I want to take some of the classes... their custom-designed intake manifold (since the air has to pass through a 20mm restrictor plate) gives their motor a very weird torque curve, as it goes up, hits a wall, then it acheives resonanance and the torque curve goes back up again. The professor had some downright ingenious ways to maximize power output, despite the 20mm restriction.

I cant pull off the SCCA event since I have to replace my harmonic balancer. However, I could theoretically be ready within a few weeks.
i finally got a hold of a new OEM balancer and the crankshaft pulley that's matched to it.

I love canyons and stuff, and I've become a die-hard fan of GMR since I discovered it, I started out in the Mulholland Highway area in the San Fernando Valley along the canyon walls near the getty center and around malibu, and now I've actually got some equipment that's right for the job. W-rated, new, wide tires, 18" wheels, forced induction, extra cooling capability, ABS, all the right ~~~~ for the job.

lets try and get something nailed down. hey, omar, how's your stuff doin and how far are you along on that gi-normous motor of yours? got it into the bay yet? (how is that going to handle, btw?)

anyways... yeah.
lets do a speedzone or meet near omars house or somethin. omars place would be cool since its dead there, according to darkstar.

-Ghost
 
lets try and get something nailed down. hey, omar, how's your stuff doin and how far are you along on that gi-normous motor of yours? got it into the bay yet? (how is that going to handle, btw?)

anyways... yeah.
lets do a speedzone or meet near omars house or somethin. omars place would be cool since its dead there, according to darkstar.

-Ghost

All I have is the short block with the heads put together. Im having some money troubles right know so I havent been able to buy anything! I have an 18 month old son so every time I try doing something to the engine he's right there tring to help me! I have everything to rebuild my AOD, just need the tourqe converter, need a better driveshaft, & will use a rearend off a mark 8. That peice that darkstar is talking about is lonely at night, people like racing there so about the no cops, just cause you cant see em....;) Youll see them on friday & saturday, I dont know if they still do but for a while they were blocking off a peice of that street on the weeknights to stop the racers. So lets meet at peterpipers! beer & pizza!
 
yeah I have a section of old route 66 near my home 10 miles of open highway
i practice launching and also try out top end on the 3 mile straightaway .
 
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