More novice questions....

[1969zeitler]

Ok... My list IS getting smaller.....

I can't find these items on any of our Vendors sites. Anyone know where to get them?

Rear bumper. Looks like there are many different styles but they all bolt to the transaxle. Anyone have a spare?

Rain Light. What do you use? Are they always RED. Use LED or single bulb?

I am looking at buying a used 3 layer suit. Looks new and only used for 1 or 2 races. It is SFI-5 rated. Problem is.... It has HONDA patches and embroidery all over it. Can these be removed without leaving un-safe holes in the nomex? Very good price, the right size and it is cheaper than a SFI/1 suit. I also will need to add a SCCA Patch. Does it have to be Nomex thread?

Thanks again.

[problemchild]

Rainlight: Walmart, Harbor Freight, K-mart, anywhere you can buy cheap red marker lights. Spend a few bucks extra and get a version with LEDs. Should work until you knock it off one day.

[1969zeitler]

I guess I made it more complicated than it needed to be. Did not know it was that simple.... thanks.

[remmers]

yeah, we just bolt on one of those red trailer side markers to the back of our car and that's our rain light... and our oil pressure warning light too, for that matter.

[FV80]

Roger,
On the suit - there should be no problem if you remove the patches CAREFULLY. Don't YANK the threads out - cut them till they pull easily ... and be VERY careful cutting them as well. (sewing people have this neat little tool with a rounded tip a bit larger than a sewing machine needle that cuts individual threads nicely - should be able to pick one up at most any place that sells sewing supplies .. possibly even Walmart).
I always use nomex thread to sew on patches, but AFAIK it's not REQUIRED anywhere in the rules ... just common sense to use it if you have it. I doubt that using regular thread would have any real impact to the effectiveness of the suit ... but why take a chance? I ordered one spool of nomex thread 25 years ago and still have most of it left <g>.
Steve

[1969zeitler]

Got a nice trailer side marker light from Lowes. Hooked it up to my switch and it works just fine. Thanks! I got that 3 layer suit with all the sponsor patches on it. I will try to remove them and get the SCCA patches sewn on. Thanks again!

[fvracer]

Steve - your comment about using the Nomex thread for sewing on patches. I'm thinking it might be safer to have cotton thread holding on the patch so that in case of fire the thread will burn and the patch will fall away rather than having Nomex thread holding a flaming patch on the suit. Most of the patches that I have seen look flammable and some look like they have some kind of dried adhesive or coating that looks extremely flammable. I would think that any cotton thread that caught fire would go out where it penetrated the Nomex and in any case it seems safer than flaming patches.

Doug

[shark32]

To remove the existing patches, you need to use what they call a "seam ripper". You can find them at Walmart, Hobby Lobby or Hancock Fabrics. My wife is a quilter and has several. Use the cotton thread. I agree with the previous post. There usually is some kind of adhesive on the patch so let it fall off in the event of a fire.

Barry

[cendiv37]

I second the above (again). Use cotton thread so the patches fall off if they burn. I've read that often the worst burns occur under the patches right through an intact suit .

Frankly I don't see how we can be required to wear flammable patches, but we are.

Just wear as few as possible and use cotton thread.

my $.02

[Matt King]

The only thing I would add is that some brands of nomex/carbon-X socks are thicker than others. I have a pair of carbon-X socks that are similar to old-school tube socks in size and thickness. Plus I always wear mine over regular cotton socks, which adds bulk.

[G.B.]

A thought on rain lights.

While a single-bulb ‘Dollar Store’ light might seem bright enough in your garage and satisfy Annual Tech, can it be seen, when it really matters, on a wet track through a ball of spray?

FV generally the slower class in mixed-class races, for your own safety it is imperative the faster cars can see exactly where you are in amongst all the spray that is inevitable in a wet race. As that same spray makes your mirrors useless so you cannot see them coming.

I believe multi-LED lights should be mandatory.

[Matt King]

Check this out:

http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/bigpic ... RecID=5603

The one car that can be seen in that photo happens to be mine, which didn't do ME any good, because I couldn't see anybody's rain light ahead of me. It's shocking that SCCA allows a 59 cent marker light to satisfy the rule for a rain light. They are less than worthless!

[brian]

It never ceases to surprise me just how much knowledge, and the willingness to share that knowledge, is on this forum. Not only do I learn something every visit, I really enjoy our group. And, it makes me proud to be in Formula Vee. Where were all you folks when I started? Here's to a great 2010.

[Ed Womer]

Roger,

Don't by anything except an LED light for a rain light. They use hardly an energy and actually work better. For those of you who looked at the picture someone posted showing a car with the Afterburner light, I highly recomend it ( I need to mention I do sell them ) but every time I attend a race where we need to turn on the rain light, I always have people come to me after the session asking about where to get them and I have them with me to sell. I use mine in the flashing mode like F1 has there's, and from what I hear you can see me in any kind of spray or fog like at the runoffs. I did sell two at the runoffs after the foggy morning sesion since I turned mine on for the conditions.

The reason the Afterburner works so good is it is made with the same LED's that they use in outdoor viewing screens and are much brighter than regular LED's.

As for the bumper, you might need something that will work for your car since just about every car has different versions because of chassis, exhaust and shifter placement. Being a car builder I also sell them for my car and if aplicable for your car I would be happy to provide you with my version.

Ed

[jmattox]

This is sorta off topic. Are you going to Savannah driver school? Linda and I can volunteer to work a corner and perhaps lend a hand between sessions if you need it.

John Mattox
fv42
ibfiziks at hotmail dot com

[jpetillo]

I just purchased this Harbor Freight Hitch 12-LED Brake light. It was $7.99 today. After seeing the price of the Pegasus one, I had to start looking elsewhere - limited budget!

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... mber=92043

The Pegasus light (the same one that SRacing and Ed sell, I believe, but cheaper) is a lot better quality light, but this HF one is cheap enough to consider it.

In the house, the HF light is blinding. I could use it as a red wide-area flashlight. I compared it side by side with my current rain light, which is a cheap marker light. The LED light just blows the marker light away. It's too bright to look directly at in the house. The LEDs are very directional, though. The LED light started to fade at 30 degrees, but was still better than the marker light up to about 45 degrees. It was still visible at over 60 degrees, but the marker light won out by then (the marker light is just a bulb in the middle of a bubble - same viewing from all angles). At 60 degrees, you'd be pretty much next to the other car. If I shut off the lights in the garage, the marker light shed a barely noticeable amount of light on the wall. The HF LED light lit up the wall.

The Pegasus light claims 30 degrees of viewing, which the HF one seems to definitely have. I measured and took pictures. But without having both, I really can't really compare which is better. The HF one has lenses in front of each bulb to disburse the light. Maybe that's why it seemed to work so well. Whether the HF one is vibration resistant and weatherproof, who knows. It's not potted - just a circuit board with LEDs under a lens. It's sold to stick into your hitch when you're not towing.

I measured the current draw and this one was 101 mA, so a little over 1 W of power draw.

HF also makes a marker light with 9 LEDs for $5.99 retail. It may have had a better viewing angle from the look of the lens, but it was NOT supposed to have the bright brake-light LEDs. I'm sure this is still better than a regular marker light.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... mber=98394

Like everyone said, the LEDs really should be mandatory - they are that good. John

[SR Racing]

We have 3 LED Rain Lamps that we sell that are all excellent for racing. Allthough the cheaper LED units from truck stops and Harbor Freight, etc. are probably adequate.

http://sracing.com/Store/Electrical/Electrical.htm

While LUMENS of a particular color determine brightness to the eye, the actual wavelength is critical in rain and fog. That is why the actual racing rain lights are much better. They do not use a red lens which desturbs the wavelength. The difference is remarkable in the fog/rain.
As far as current draw (power usage), it is a non-issue. A typical Vee battery will power one for several days.

[jpetillo]

Jim, you're right, the wavelength is critical. The red end of the spectrum bends least through water drops, and is the color of choice. The purpose-built rain lights with white-colored LEDs that show red light have all their power going into the red spectrum. I think that's why they may work better, and not because the cheaper lights use red lenses and put you into a different wavelength.

Just so folks know how good even the cheap LED lights are, each one of the 12 LEDs in the cheap light was brighter than my old marker light, which also used a red lens. The ones that Jim sells would be even better.

John