on September 16, 2014
Needless to say, we’ve been busier than we can imagine. We’ve got our tow rig all set up and ready to make the haul 1,200 miles to Ensenada – and then some!
Last week we were able to fly-in Mr. Art Savedra, who handles roll cage certification as well as class compliance. To be honest, we were sweating this a bit – if the roll cage needed major work, or if there were other major class compliance issues, it may severely throw off our schedule.
Art is very thorough. He did a special electrical resistance powder test on all the welds surrounding the passenger compartment, to check for full weld penetration. He also ultrasonically tested all tube wall thickness. And whaddaya know? We passed chassis inspection no problem. No alterations needed to the cage! Huge sigh of relief. Only a couple small things are needed as far as finishing up our safety stuff.
For those of you who get the pleasure of Meeting Art, he is a great guy – more stories than you can imagine. He and his family has raced in Baja for over 30 years and surely knows his way around a Class 5-1600 Beetle. If you ask him a question, he’s already got the person on the phone who knows the answer. We happened to run into a bit more luck flying-in Art, as he has friends who reside nearby in Golden, Colorado who just so happen to work for BFG pit services. Well, we had to take all of them out for some of the best pizza in Colorado.
In my opinion, the car is the easy part, it’s building the network, and people connections that is a bit more challenging, but pays off much more. Getting build advice from Baja champion Eric Solarzano and logistics advice from Art, and friends of friends Belinda Eastman and George “Geo” Jackson. We can’t say ‘thank you’ enough.
The car is 98% complete. Spares collected also 98% complete. Now to figure out all the logistics plans, pit plans etc. (and maybe get some more testing in soon). And what do we do when Hurricane Odile washes out the Baja peninsula? Or when flooding closes down I-15 into Las Vegas? Tons to think about!
