Well, it seems I have been appointed to give the listers a run down on the second installment of our Black Rock(Nevada)madness, so here goes...

Rex crashed at my place Friday night. After I was woken up to "Gee, trains are loud." by Rex, at 3AM, we got moving. After meeting up with Steve from Red Bluff at 4AM, we headed for Nevada.

Driving was mostly clear and easy, except when we hit the higher elevations (6500+ ft.). A few snow flurries, lots of water on the road, and a little ice slowed us down, but just for a bit.

Sometime around 7AM or so, we were in Reno, and headed for the lake bed. A fairly non-eventful run...Rex bounced his speed limiter once, Steve toyed around a bit, and I drove mellow, being that I was half asleep at the time. Although I must say, the cows on the side of the road looked rather friendly...if not outright stupid. :)

8:30AM. After driving through Gerlach(local town) and noting the town billboard with "British 750, American's 531", we kept on toward the lake bed(now only about 5-10 minutes away). Our orignal point ofentry was blocked off due to muddy conditions, so we traveled another 5 or 6 miles up the road to another access point. Upon hitting the lakebed, one thing struck us - mud. Lots and lots of gooey mud. Lucky for us, the mud was only about an inch deep, but it seemed to stick to everything. As the search for a suitable location for base-camp ensued, we ventured from our now-dirty Neons a few times. The first time, we grew a few inches, with mud sticking to our shoes. The second time, Steve and I decided to go out sans shoes...ever step onto freezing mud? It isn't fun...nuff said...

After selecting a spot(and off-roading in the Neons a bit) we set up camp as best we could, and use some Rex Scates Brand AutoCross Markers (TM). These consist of balloons or mylar strips on straws...aside from the course we laid out being a bit confusing(I'm used to pretty orange cones, damnit!)at first, the overall runs were cool...

It was about a 65 second course one way, starting with a slalom, a nice sweeper, a chicane, and a couple of decent straights. Running it backwards dropped the times to about 58-60 seconds(two laps). After 3 or 4 runs, what little traction there was on the lakebed was gone, and ingenuity in driving style became important. Let's just say that I have more appreciation for concrete and asphalt now. :) For anyone who is interested, I should have some VHS footage(in car and out of car). I need to check the tape tonite.

Anyways, I broke my rear motor mount on the course. How? Well I had placed some high pressure(stiff, VERY stiff) tubing around the strut shaft of the rear mount. When I did this, I had to compress the mount(to get it back on the car) with my jack. I basically lifted the car off the ground by the mount-point for the strut. This in turn weakened a little rubber grommet/sleeve that runs through the strut brace mounting bracket(it attaches to the tranny with 3 bolts). The rubber sleeve in the bracket sits in a metal ring and is press-fit into the bracket. I broke it loose, and when I'd start to move the car with the clutch, I would get a NASTY pop...at first I thought it was the tranny, but further beating on my car(No, I was not happy) revealed it to be the rear mount. A couple hours later, with some help from Rex, JB Weld, my tools, and my spare mount(brought it with me!) I had the problem fixed up. Meanwhile, Steve was snoozing off...:)

After doing some exploring and whatnot(the Thrust and SoA people didn't run Saturday) we blew off fireworks, cooked dinner, and crashed out for the night...(I slept in my car with the heater on every few hours! :) ) I'd estimate it got close to, but not quite below, freezing when you figure in the wind chill...Rex slept out in his sleeping bag...brave, brave man...

The next day involved blowing off lots of fireworks(since the SoA people asked us to stay off the lakebed, since they were running that day. We took off around 1 or 2 to get a better view of the potential runs from a higher vantage point.

Up we went along a nasty dirt/rock road. Rex made it just fine. Steve put a nice dent in his gas tank. I, on the other hand, didn't see (or perceive to be a threat) a nasty rock. Lets just say my gas tank holds about 1.2 gallons less(you were off in your estimate Rex :( ) and my passenger side rear floorboard has a hole in it the size of Montana. Damn cheap,soft metal...oh well...some spray-on undercoating, duct tape, steel mesh and waxed paper(to keep the not-quite-dry undercoating off my underside of my carpet) fixed the hole on the inside(after I beat it into place as best I could using my fist...damn rock!). Body filler and undercoating spray comprise the outer seal. I trust the inner repair more than the outer, but next time it rains, we'll see how well I did.

Once we were at the top, the local white trash patrol came over to say hi, and asked if those Neons were rentals(wait wait wait...a RED SC with GTS stripes would be a RENTAL? oh GEEEEZE...go talk to your sister/mother, would ya?) After they realized we were a car club, one hick ran to his Chevy and pissed on the tire, marking his territory, of course...hmmm...yeah.

Steve and I went down the road and cleared off rocks and made our way back down, and Rex soon joined us. Apaprently no one was going to make any further runs that day(someone made a few earlier, not sure if it was SoA or Thrust)...and home we went...

Not much else of note...I swear my Neon is never going offroading again(a new gas tank is about $280 from CC for the metal tank...the plastic is about $290!!!!)...I need to repair my gas tank or replace it...anyone have any ideas? Steve said some places can pressurize them and pop the dent out, but this is a pretty big dent...I'd say 1/5 to 1/4 of my total lower surface area is a dent...anyone?

Overall, aside from the mucho damage Tar/Jellybean/Hellybean suffered(yes, my car has three names...and three personalities, usually based on weather and outside ambient air temp.) I had fun...the drive was cool...the lakebed wasn't as dry as I'd hoped, but it was totally drivable, as long as you didn't mind mud everywhere(I think Rex, Steve and I left with about 100 lbs of mud in the wheel wells...some of it dropping out at 75 mph on the highway...talk about a depth charge! bwahahahahahha). So, who wants to plan the NEXT BANEON rally/trip? I liked our run to the gold country(we need to find that stop sign and get a picture of it guys!), since we had more people, and more people would have made this more fun.

There are pictures to come as well...develop them Rex, I will scan them and put them up...there may also be a video, depending on how things came out...

Questions, comments, or insights on our insanity? :)

Ed