The Green Machine

There's probably a saying in life, " work hard, live well and play harder".  Robert Green executes this perfectly!!!!

We met Robert about a year ago and all he wanted was a simple inspection and minor repairs based on our findings.  He delivered his car to us personally and waited patiently while we carefully reported the findings.  After a few repairs and upgrades, Robert received his mid-level tuned Noble and happily went on his way.

Robert is a very well respected member of Nobleforums.com.  During his query of converting his Noble to a full race car, he was met with an on-slot of opinions that did not mesh well with Robert's beliefs.  Understandably, he was converting a super rare, 220 in the U.S. only, never to be made again Exotic Car into a race car where anything can happen.  

He and the owner of TurboHoses, Hoover Chan, had a few discussions about racing in ITE (Improved Touring).  We think Hoover was making sure that Robert wasn't on any type of medication and has seen his psychiatrist before his final decision was made.  A strong relationship was forged and the journey began to make Robert's dream come true; owning a REAL race car.

TurboHoses has a huge reputation in the Noble world. However, building a Noble into a purpose built race car was still some what experimental.  Hoover explained that tracking and racing are very different, and making a car that can endure the punishment of racing is a completely different type of engineering.  Robert trusted the TurboHoses Team and commenced them to move forward. 

During the course of the build, hundreds of emails, pics. were exchanged daily/weekly/monthly.  Robert was kept informed by a blog site (http://robertm400.blogspot.com/).  This was very useful as visual aid in discussions pertaining to the build.  Videos were even posted when pictures and text were not enough.  Robert gladly admits that he drives cars, not builds them and Hoover was glad to explain to him anything he did not understand thoroughly.  Hence, 100's of emails and pics.

Building a car that was already assembled can have drawbacks.  The shop takes a risk that something in the past will come forth in the present and/or future.  In the racing world, you have to be prepared for the worst.  Robert's drivetrain were a base level  and not meant for racing.  At a shake out at Fontana, the gremlin of low compression in a few cylinders finally came to surface and ended the day.  At another event, his transmission gave way, then finally, the clutch failed.   Robert believes that now is the time to fix/upgrade everything that should have been done a long time ago, so he was happy in an "evil" way. 

During the winter season, the fabricators and technicians  put forth their effort to build the ultimate track Noble.  Hundreds of hours were spent researching, building, proto-typing and testing the latest and greatest innovations of the racing industry.  One-off products and procedures were integrated into build.   The main idea was to take the knowledge from TurboHoses own Noble Track Car  and use it to transform Robert's Noble to a full "race" car.  The basis was set and now it's time for the next level.

Robert is quite an experienced driver, he denies it, but he's pretty good.  At the track TurboHoses driver's and technicians watch the performance of the driver as much as the car.  Often, drivers are not aware of the internal workings of the components and what stresses them.  It's important that they drive within the limits of the components and use proper technique to not overload components. 

Robert has been an amazing customer and friend.  He has told us that although he loves driving, he loves the build process.  He has been a very patient customer through frustrating times, but once he sees even a simple new part, it really makes his day.   It's amazing to see an oil catch can brighten up his day, really!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

January 2010 will be the testing month of Robert's new race car.  We wish Robert the best in life and the best in racing.  He is one man that has climbed tall mountains!!!!!

See you at the Track!!!!