So you want to be a Street Outlaw? Part 2
Let's go back in time just a couple weeks. We're 4 days away from the start of filming a new season. Both The Crow and The Murder Nova as well as Chief's tow rig are in pieces in the shop. Chief is fresh off a big win at the biggest no prep race in the country. En route to that victory, his little Pontiac motor that could, took such a beating that he had to pull it to be freshened so he can continue beating on it this next season.
The Murder Nova is in a little better shape mechanically, but has ZERO wiring in the car. When I say zero, I mean there aren't even any battery cables on this thing. Most of you will probably wonder why. Why rip the wiring out of a car that seemingly seems to be running as good as ever? Well, over the past couple seasons of hectic filming schedules, the wiring had become a bit of a rats nest. There was a bunch of "we need this to work and we need it to work right now and we'll make it pretty, later" going on and as Shawn describes in the video below, was looking like a fire hazard waiting to happen.
So, how does Shawn fix this problem? Easy...make a phone call to Joe O. at Hyperaktive Performance Solutions, order a Racepak Smartwire, rip out all the crappy wiring and then have our resident wiring guru, Monkey (Jason Gardener) start from scratch. No big deal right? Normally, no. But remember, we're four days away from filming and need to have the car tested before taking on any challenges on the street.
Well, after a couple of very late nights, enough wire to power the space shuttle, and some strange late night group messages that included an albino tree frog that was scaling the shop walls (I was starting to think they were having a party I wasn't invited to), the wiring renovation was done.
It was then time to turn it over to Big Chief so he could do his thing on the laptop. Once he was finished making the IQ3 dash display extremely derogatory/hilarious notes, he then made sure the new Smartwire was able to communicate with all the electronic components it was now powering. All systems are a go and time to head to the track to make sure everything is working as it should after the wiring overhaul.
Upon arriving at the track, a couple last minute adjustments were made to the Smartwire and Fueltech, Kentucky topped off the fuel, iced down the intercooler and set the air pressure in the big ol' Hoosier slicks and then Shawn was ready to get mean on the burnout box. The main goal for the evening was to get Shawn comfortable with the new button configuration for the bump box, line lock, and transbrake and collect what data we could in the process. The evening ended well with what I believe to be the best pass to date on slicks, and he was able to drive it back in the trailer, which is always a huge bonus. Now we're ready to hit the streets and get it ready for whoever thinks they want to grab a lane.