Author Archives: Gary Elliott

Late Model Ready…Thanks Ron Easton o/o Oakville Trailers

Gary Elliott Motorsports Posted on by

Not getting my Late Model till mid April really made things hard for me the past few weeks. Over that time I had different people put a few hours to help. some an hour, some 2 or 3. My son David was crucial to me having a chance to be ready. He helped with some tedious things. I was able to do a lot myself, but certainly not as much as having one or two extra good hands.

Ron Easton offered me to come to his shop Oakville Trailers on Friday to finish off the list I had.
I think he thought it was going to be front end set up. On Thursday night after a long day at work David came over to help with the chassis set up and scaling but a long list still existed to be ready for the opener. I took that list with me on Friday.

Ron was the main help, spending all day Friday doing fabricating with the hood mounts that were too low, fixing the bump steer camber and caster, the radiator shroud. I secured the lead and worked on the body items still left to do. Windshields secured, brake bias installed, seat leg protector installed and securing the lead. Then on the hoist Ron welded the headers and had to weld the rear shock mount and trailing arm bracket that were both not secure. The spring pocket fell out of the car at my place on Wednesday when I was working on another list.

Anyway Ron allowed me to stay at his shop, Oakville Trailers until 9:30 at night, he also never stopped working on our list. When I left, there was still a list to do, but things Lloyd and I could knock off before we went to the track.

I thanked Ron a few times and he said “I didn’t want your steak to end”. Just an awesome thing to say, thank you again Ron.

I don’t have a picture from the opener but the story is on my message board in Diary of a Season 2016. Thanks for dropping by our site and yes season #48 has officially started.

Engine Runs…Chassis Scaled…Thank You David….Next Ron Easton For Set Up

Gary Elliott Motorsports Posted on by

The past few days have been good but hectic. I have been very fortunate to get some help here and there. Over the past 2 weeks I have been able to get help from Lloyd, David, Brian, Ron and tonight I was at MacDonald’s in Waterdown and asked 3 young boys, friends of my grand children if they would give me a hand. Ryan, Josh and Bradley helped move tires around, and do some slugging that saved me a lot of time and a ton of energy. I have been by myself for much of the work, but there are things I can’t do alone and I am blessed to get help from different people at different times. There is still a lot to do.
Today I will be at Oakville Trailer and Ron Easton is going to help me get most of the rest of the list done. Using a hoist and welder will be perfect . The list for Friday is quite long, but having Ron’s help will be incredible for me and I am very appreciative for his offer.
The 2015 Flamboro Speedway Late Model Champion, that would be my son David, (pictured here), came over to help with the engine on Wednesday night. Most of the engine things I had done, but it takes 2 to get the car running and we did it.
Tonight David came after work and we scaled the car. I had drilled the lead, and had much of it in place but we needed to rob the Modified to get the Late Model where it should be weight wise. He sure was a huge help to me.
I am hoping to have the car ready on Friday for opening night Saturday at Flamboro Speedway although there is about 6 hours work getting the trailer geared up, tools loaded and spare parts.
Sure looking a lot better now…..more soon. Thanks for visiting our site.

List Gets Smaller Then Gets Bigger…..5 Days Till The Flamboro Opener

Gary Elliott Motorsports Posted on by

It’s been a tough go this year and especially now trying to get ready for opening day. I have a lot left to do on the car and now down to 4 days.
Some things left are installation of…..rocker panels, body braces, led, plug wires, return springs, oil temp gauge fitting, the annoying brake leak that keeps coming back, exhaust, start the engine, pad the seat, roll cage padding, fire extinguisher, hook up RF shock, breather for quick change, get rims picked out, tires, test radio’s and then send for lettering.
I had to cancel the lettering scheduled this week because the car wasn’t close and it still needs a lot of work. This list might not seem bad, and really it isn’t except I am by myself. The worst part is just when I get started I find something else I need to get an item marked off the list.
My goal is to make opening day, run for Flamboro points and keep our streak going…..at 753 consecutive nights now. More soon.
Thanks for visiting our site.

Getting The Drive Line In Before The Body Goes On

Gary Elliott Motorsports Posted on by

Ran into some issues this weekend with wrong parts and problems with the water pump. I remembered when I bought my first 604 the passenger side timing cover bolt had to be ground down so the water pump would clear and fit tight against the block. I did grind it down, but unfortunately not enough. Three hours later, after removing the belts, pump and then grinding the bolt down even more, the pump fit and did not leak. Things wouldn’t have been so tough if I had one person with me to do the fan belt for the water pump, I needed 4 hands for that job.
David and Eddie helped on Saturday for a while, and Billi and Abby helped on Friday.
The Mod has to wait for any TLC until the Late Model is done. The season starts in 6 days for the Quaker State Impala…..I will be starting much earlier for 2017….like in 5 months.

The Rolling Stone’s Hit “Time Is On My Side” Doesn’t Apply Here

Gary Elliott Motorsports Posted on by

More progress, but now that things are going together, more problems are popping up. That’s not uncommon when putting a car together before the season starts, but usually in the past I had 10 weeks…..we have less than 10 days now.
Special thanks to Brian Watson for his help on Thursday night and my son David, coming over today and getting some problem issues resolved. Still a long list but things are slowly being knocked off.

Coming Along Slow But Steady

Gary Elliott Motorsports Posted on by

Special thanks to Ken Bayliss, Lloyd Lariviere and brothers James and Jason for helping get a few things off our list today.
We couldn’t complete much of it because of missing or failed parts. The brake reservoir was leaking, never had one of those leak before, so the brakes couldn’t be bled. The water pump was hitting the bolt on the timing cover, naturally the one that was just sealed by GM. There is no fuel pump mounting plate for the Crate engine, or push rod, that has to be ordered and I
can’t find my release bearing, hopefully it might be at the high school, making the completion of the engine assembly not possible.
Good news is that Josh Watson is making great progress on the painting of the entire Mod panels and the LM parts.
We need a good week now because the Late Model is schedule to go for lettering a week Monday at Creative Edge.

Things Getting Done For Both Cars On A Few Fronts

Gary Elliott Motorsports Posted on by

This weekend should be a big one for us as we try to get a bunch off our list. The panels for both cars are being painted now by Josh Watson. His Dad Glen Watson has been a very successful Super Late Model racer for years with OSCAAR. This picture shows the red panels now painted green……note the Quaker State sign in the back ground, Josh set that up, pretty cool.
I am proud to have Josh do the painting for our Modified and Late Model, can’t wait to get them back and then send it to Creative Edge for lettering.
We will hopefully get the drive line in the Late Model this weekend as well as the wheel bearings packed, brakes bled and lead in stalled.
Special thanks to my crew member Lloyd for coming to help this weekend and Ken Baylis and his crew for offering to give us hand on Saturday. More soon.

New Engine For Late Model Now For Some Serious Assembly & Prep

Gary Elliott Motorsports Posted on by

I know it’s filthy….but that’s okay right now.
Picked up the Late Model from Jason Legge on Tuesday night. Then Wednesday I took all the Mod panels and some Late Model parts to Josh Watson for him to paint. Got the new engine from Bennett Chevrolet today. Now to cram over the next few days.
Thanks to my grandson Gehrig and his friend Ryan who stopped by to help me get the engine off the truck and move some things around. Also want to thank my CVM racing buddy Brian Watson for giving me a hand Wednesday night getting the Late Model unloaded.
Nothing like help from great friends and family.
Saturday and Sunday, if all goes well. we will get a lot done. More soon…….thanks for visiting.

Late Model Finally Home……..Now The Marathon Begins

Gary Elliott Motorsports Posted on by

I picked up the Late Model from Jason Legge who has been very helpful to me this winter. We have a long list of things to do. We don’t want to miss any scheduled events, it’s important to keep our streak of 753 consecutive nights going.
The next few weeks will be intense, but it’s the only way to be ready for opening day.
The list is quite long, can’t really post it here but some things include getting the nose and fenders painted, picking up the engine from Bennett Chevrolet in Cambridge today. Installing all the bolt on parts, a complete maintenance of the car, all fluids and install the drive line.
The body panels, being painted by Josh Watson will be done the middle of next week. If all goes well, the car will be ready for the body panels to be installed and be completed by the following weekend, April 30th. It then goes to Steve Lyons for lettering on May 2nd. Steve Lyons, will do his magic, he hopes to have it done by Thursday or Friday, opening day is May 7th. Going to be close, going to be tight, but the good news is that Lloyd and I will get some much needed help from Ken Bayliss who answered my posted plea on face book for help……thank you Ken, our racing family is awesome. More soon. 🙂

Mod List Getting Smaller……Thank You Lloyd

Gary Elliott Motorsports Posted on by

The past few days have knocked off most of the first list for the OSCAAR Modified. Lloyd came down and we got the wheel bearings repacked, a complete nut and bolt, the brakes bled, the led painted, the chassis painted and an oil and filter change.
The body panels will hopefully be dropped off to Josh Watson by Tuesday as well as the Late Model parts to be painted. Once those are installed it goes to Creative Edge for lettering then a final scale.
When the Late Model gets here we have a fairly big list on it that includes all the things on the Mod, as well as installing the led, assembling the new engine bolt on stuff, water pump, clutch, starter, carb, prime the engine, install the distributor, wires, power steering etc. Top up all the levels, add water. Then install the drive line and the painted body panels. It then needs to be started, and once that gets a thumbs up it goes to Creative Edge for lettering. The Late Model season starts before the Mod…..things are very tight right now, but we still look good to be ready for opening day and keep our streak going.
Thanks for visiting, more updates soon.