Merry Christmas

It is vacation time and Christmas is literally around the corner.

With falling leaves, raking, re-doing the guest bathroom and a fairly extensive Winter cleaning, development and play time with the car has been slow at best. I have acquired a bunch of things, but none of them have made it on the car.

Engine and carbs should be done by the first of the year, so that is meaningful progress. I am going to pick them up around Jan. 2. I have also acquired some key spare parts which I will be picking up too. I hope to make the new dash and finish the electronics before having to go back to work on Monday, January 5, 2009.

Combine all of this work with some significant life transition coming soon, and I'm afraid I might again miss the beginning of the racing season. However, I feel confident we will be able to make several marquee vintage events this year.

We sold the Cramper this Fall. I loved that little motorhome, but honestly it cost more to store than to pay for a hotel room at each event. And, now we are not on the hook for gas, insurance, maintenance, etc. etc. So, instead at the beginning of this year, we are going to get a 7.5' x 24' enclosed car hauler. We'll put an AC unit in the top, as well as a microwave, refrigerator and bathroom. With some cots, dad and I could easily camp in it when the ladies are not with us ...

Merry Christmas everyone. More to come in the new year.

Shots from Summit Point. Difference in wheels tells you whether it was wet or dry. Black (ugly) wheels have the wet tires. Superlite charcoal wheels are dry tires. Plus they look good too.

I can't stop

It is the end of the season and for next year, I want to improve several things that could have been executed better the first time around, or there was not enough time or resources at the time.

Yesterday, I rolled the car out to pressure wash from the last race, as well as to clean out the engine bay in preparation for painting. Right now the motor is getting refreshed, a new set of carbs are being built and I plan on building a new dash and re-routing the fuel lines and brake lines through the cockpit.

I'm gonna be busy.

Phase 2 of engine development

This weekend I went to Acme Speedshop to drop off my motor for some winter development. It was a great trip, because we actually broke the motor down together, giving me the chance to participate in the process, see the motor come apart and get a clear understanding of what was in there and how it all worked together.

Now apart, the motor will go to the machine shop to have the head and block decked several thousandths. This process increases your compression ratio, creating a more violent explosion thus increasing your horsepower. We are shooting for 13:1 compression. In addition to increasing the horsepower, I am installing a set of Pauter rods (pictured above) and high tension valve springs in order to sustain a higher number of engine revolutions. This motor should allow me to regularly shift at 7,200 rpm. Acme Speedshop is also going to build me a set of HS6 carbs. The larger carb will be able to provide the amount of fuel needed to feed the thirsty engine. I think I was getting about 7 miles to gallon on the smaller carbs and less developed motor. Of course, fuel mileage is not so much a concern for a sprint racing car verses an enduro car, or better yet, your commuter vehicle.

So, while the motor is being worked on, I am spending my time at home stripping the tub and making some much needed improvements to the fuel system, as well as looking for ways to refine certain functional aspects of the car. As I make changes, I'll post my progress.

Refining my game

I have been doing more welding. This time, I needed a stand to hold an engine for transporting. Whether it is my current race motor, or the spare. I have needed something to hold and stabilize the motor so it would not bounce around or tip over while in transport. This one does the job ok and I will clean it up and paint it shortly.

In addition, I created a bracket to hold my remote oil filter housing. Though it does not make the car any faster, it is a nice touch of professionalism that improves my presentation.

My License Arrived

Well it took 2 1/2 years to earn, but my competition license arrived at my house yesterday. I was excited to finally receive it and as dad says, "take care of it, it was expensive."

A Riddle

What do Summit Point Motorsports Park, Pocono, Watkins Glen, Beaver Run, Lime Rock, N.J. Motorsports Park, Nelson Ledges and Mid-Ohio among others all have in common?

They could be within driving distance if we make the move ...

Just one of the many priorities one must consider in life.

Building a Tire Rack for the trailer

I have always wanted a tire rack for my humble little home made trailer. Hauling around spare wheels - a luxury - is a hassle when you have to put them in the motorhome or Explorer. They take up so much space.

So, with my new found welding skills, welder and design inspiration from my last race weekend, I went to work.

I bought all of the metal, made the cuts and constructed the uprights. I then welded them onto the trailer and connected the cross rails. Then the gussets.

The rack looks great and will hold two additional sets of wheels - practice dry tires and rain tires.

After we got it together, my wife helped me paint it and voila. I am proud. My $300 trailer is maturing nicely. Pictures with tires is unpainted. Have also since trimmed the pole.

Culprit unveiled

As you know, a few weekends ago, I was qualifying at Summit Point Motorsports Park for a SCCA regional race in FP.

Summit Point has a nice fast turn 10 and a long front straight with a tight turn one. You have the foot the floor for a long time before you hit the brakes hard. In this particular session, I came down the straight and when I hit the brakes and shoved the clutch in, the accelerator cable stuck and pegged the motor at 8,000+ rpm. I say + because my tach only goes to 8,000 and I am not sure where the motor went.

Anyhow in that sequence of events and my attempts to recover while not hitting anyone or going off track, I managed to explode the clutch.

So, if you ever wondered what happens when you dump a clutch at 8,000+ rpm in a B, this is your answer. I had the heavy duty clutch and pressure plate.

What quickly became the final event

It would not be a race weekend without high levels of drama for the Third Wave Advertising team.

First off, it was not a result I had hoped for and certainly not like what we experienced at Barber. I lost the pressure plate/throw out bearing in the second qualifying session on Saturday, so I viewed the group 8 production car race on Sunday from the stands outside of the carousel.

But the drama began long before we arrived at the track. It rained everyday from Thursday through Sunday – Tropical storms hitting the east coast and hurricanes traveling north on the Atlantic. We got as far as Durham, NC and the trailer started swaying. I always will speed it up a bit and pull out of it, but it wouldn't stop. It never sways much with the camper, because the camper just laughs back, but the Explorer is a bit different.

The swaying built up momentum and it was not too long before I realized that I was in trouble. The swaying got so bad that all four trailer wheels locked – they were no longer traveling forward - and you could hear the tires screeching as it swayed 70-80 degrees from side to side. I could see the entire car in my driver's side rearview mirror. Then the passenger side mirror and so on and so forth. The whole time I was slowing thinking I could minimize damage and getting pretty scared. Also envisioning turning on my side and losing both tow and race cars.

My kids were asleep in the back - clueless - and my wife was dead silent, sitting up straight, stiff as a board. By the time I got down to about 40, I hit the gas and pulled it out. From there on we went 55-60 mph with no more issues.

So, early Friday morning mom and I went over to a truck and trailer company in Manassas, Va., and had an equalizer hitch installed which balances out the tongue weight and eliminates the sway – it worked quite well.

After lunch, dad, my brother-in-law and I arrived at the track. We set up our paddock space, renewed my annual tech inspection and got registered before heading off to eat some of the best ribs ever in Winchester at the Cork Street Tavern (family tradition).

Saturday morning was light showers, so my first session was in the wet. This was my first time back since my October school and since then I have installed a new motor, new suspension, etc. So the objectives were to re-learn the line, find the right shift and braking points and get a feel for the suspension set up. I ran my rain tires and set the sway bars on a softer setting. In the wet I was about 15 seconds faster than my school times and found that my new motor had a lot more legs all over the track, especially on the front straight. The only drama was when finding the right braking points, I hit the brakes too soon going into T1 (at 100+ mph) and nearly beached the car in the gravel trap. While going through the gravel, I found second and surfed across, doing a huge donut in the grass on exit and slowly heading back on track praying that I did not lose my fuel lines underneath the car. I pulled into the pits, dad inspected and back out I went. My wife and sister joined us following this session, so they spent the rest of the weekend with us. Mom and the kids joined us on Sunday.

My second session was in the dry. I could tell with two hot laps and temperature in my tires that I was going to be able to post some competitive lap times. I had already knocked off 4 seconds in the dry turning a 1.35 on the two mile course.
On lap four, I came down the long front straight and the throttle stuck pegging the motor at 8 grand for about 1-2 seconds. At the point I pushed in the clutch with the motor pegged I think the revs were too much for the pressure plate or throw-out bearing and I lost all of the gears. I was able to match the revs, find third and limp back to the pits.

I won't know exactly what happened until I get the motor out. We did not attempt to fix it at the track. It had been pouring and we were paddocked in the grass/mud, so we resigned ourselves to a more leisurely weekend.

When the session ended my times netted me P3 in a grid of 6 F cars, but to no avail, my weekend was done. We packed up some ate barbeque, hung out at the worker party and walked the track. We were able to watch Auburn beat Tennessee – War Eagle.

This was a season ender for me. I will have to pull the motor and transmission in order to fix the car and do not want to rush to get that done for the next race weekend. And, other than a set of carbs, I probably won't make any huge investments this winter. This winter will be focused more on disassembling, cleaning, painting and modifying various elements of the car. I will work to improve existing elements such as moving the fuel line out from under the car, getting a new pump, regulator and modifying the battery boxes, as well as corner weighting the car. I have a bunch of other very small ideas for just making the car easier to work on and better looking mechanically.

Thanks to the folks at Third Wave Advertising for their friendship and support. Three races with two seconds are not bad results. Maybe we can get them a win next year.

MARRS this weekend

We are headed to Summit Point Motorsports Park this coming weekend for the DC Region's MARRS 8.

I'm looking forward a real race weekend at the Point - my home track. We are in good shape, and the car is just about ready. Hopefully we will be competitive against a VERY competitive region.

I really enjoyed my time on track during my first school last October. The car is completely different than nearly a year ago when we were there last, so I anticipate much faster lap times. They better be if I am to keep with the leaders.

Here are some pictures from Barber.

My supportive team

I don't talk about my family much, because of the public nature of this forum, but I can't help but to highlight how great they have been through this entire process.

My wife has been unbelievably supportive, even though this is not something that is of great interest to her, allowing me the time I have needed to get the car built, the schools passed and now the first race weekend behind us.

Thank you honey for loving and supporting me.

We made the news.

Link to the Birminham News Web site with a photo of me going through the turn 5 complex.

http://blog.al.com/engine-block/2008/08/scca_alabama_region_at_barber.html

Mission Accomplished!!

I had always been told that I took the hardest path to start racing - build your car – which I did from scratch - and it would take some time to get positive results, well outside of a little early drama, those positive results finally came this weekend and I have qualified for my SCCA regional.

We arrived early Friday afternoon and unloaded the car, set up the paddock space and went through registration and tech.

The first issue we struggled with was timing, one of the first things we did Friday was confirm that the TDC mark was dead on and it was. When we timed the car at where we needed it - 32 BTDC - it was so retarded, it would barely crank and run.

When we got it where we thought it should be, I went out for my first qualifying session on Saturday. I had never been on this track, had the wrong differential gearing and was short shifting in order to properly break in the new motor. The motor had no real time on it to this point.

We had her dialed in for qualifying, but when I went out it would not run and I did my customary three laps and ended up parking it along the second straight getting flat towed back to my paddock space.

We were sure we knew the problem, but when investigating found that the freshly rebuilt #5 rocker arm had snapped. Thought for sure we had bent the push rod and possibly botched the cam lobe.

Luckily when we pulled the pushrod it was straight and the lifter was fine.

Hap and dad were machines. We drained the radiator, loosened the head, pulled the rocker assembly, pulled the carbs, pulled the side vent to check the lifter. Rebuilt the rocker assembly, re-installed everything, adjusted the valves, ran her through a heat cycle. Re-torqued the head, re-adjusted the valves and got her humming. All is three hours. With 10 minutes to spare we headed to the grid. Dad said she sounded the smoothest yet, Hap said he had a good feeling and me - well my previous four outings had me skeptical.

Got the green gridded next to last - I had not posted an official qualifying time - and she sputtered. The pack left me. The carbs cleared out and we were off - good oil pressure and cool water temps.

I had passed 14 people when the checker dropped and finished second in class.

Pretty much after that drama and then having the car run great for the race, we adopted let’s not fix what isn't broken mentality. We did a lot of checking and looking over, but not any changing.

Sunday's qualifying went well, with each session on track I improved on my time, I qualified a little over a second faster than my best time in Saturday’s race.

When the race rolled around and the green dropped the car lost power for the first lap. I pulled into the pits knowing that I had thrown the race away. While on pit lane the carbs cleaned out and it sounded great, so I went back out – still on the same lap – and just started running.

From that point I began to run down several cars and work his way up thru the field again. I finished second when the checkered dropped and my best time in the race was 1.6 seconds faster than the winner and the fastest FP car on the track for the Sunday race.

That last race was hard, because I knew I had a shot. But when I pulled into the pits I also knew I lost it. So when Hap sent me out to run laps (I needed seven to count) I learned vs. know what it means to drive in anger. Honestly, I shed about two tears of frustration and then dialed it in. Four wheel drifts, on the edge, driving the best that I could - and staying out of the way of the baby grands and Spec Racer Fords.

So, with two second place finishes for the weekend and having turned the fastest FP lap for the race, and was within a tenth of the fastest FP lap turned all weekend I am no longer a rookie

Barber Motorsports Park is a awesome facility and is a great handling track with lots of elevation changes. Mr. Barber doesn't do anything slack.

You can read more about it with some pictures at

http://www.mgexperience.net/phorum/read.php?41,890415

We are off to the races this weekend!

(Sorry for the poor spacing - the format won't change despite my best efforts)

This weekend is a double race weekend at Barber Motorsports Park just outside of Birmingham, Alabama (http://www.barbermotorsportpark.com/).

It will be my FIRST official race weekend. The last three outings have jaded me a bit toward the cynical side about my odds for completing a successful weekend. Daytona school, CMP track day and the dyno test and tune were all important learning events, but not ones that I look back on with great fondness. However, each have netted a key learning in the development of the car, so they were not complete losses - just really, really expensive.

So, I spent the past two weeks working on the cooling system and replacing the rocker assembly. The car is firing and running well, but there is still one issue on the table as it relates to the car's timing and its affect on the water temperature. We will address it at the track.

Dad flies in Thursday night and we leave early Friday morning. Qualifying and races on both Saturday and Sunday. Then the long drive back - hopefully adulation filled.

I'll bring the cramper over early this week to fill up the water tank, check the tire pressures and oil and start packing it up for the long weekend.

I am pretty excited. I have been studying a lot of track footage, so I know my way around. I have never turned a lap at Barber, so when you combine the car issues, first race jitters and foreign territory, it is making for a anxious event. Still, steaks with dad on Saturday night at the track will be fun. The weather looks good too.

Here is a lap in a radical - My car is not this fast ;). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwThod-UvgM

On the Dyno

Well, we took another baby step toward getting the car sorted out. Hap scheduled a dyno run for me at Top Dead Center Auto in Spartanburg, SC.

As you followed, we had a less than stellar test day at CMP in July, though we solved those issues that only the track can reveal - tire rub.

So this time, we decided to take the less costly and lower involved dyno route to finish out the tuning process. So, Kevin Hart and I met Hap this morning for the runs. It was another mixed bag.

We got the timing dialed in and the fuel to air mix is good. But the computer never captured any data from the runs, so no hp numbers, no torque numbers, etc. But we discovered that there was a hidden issue with the rocker arm assembly that first revealed itself in Daytona.

So, there is some work to do. We also saw some dangerously high water temps with no real explaination as to why. I have some work and investigation to do.

Here are two links to short videos of the runs.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=40912549 http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=40916394

And two pictures of the car on the rack and out front of TDC Auto.

New Addition

I have been looking at a number of cars for opportunities to buy, strip and sell so as to afford my hobby. In addition, I really wanted another GT, especially having crushed Pricilla last year. She was beyond restoration, so I don't regret that decision, but of all MGs, my favorite are the GTs.

My buddy Kevin has a former business partner that has three GTs in various conditions located in Advance, NC. Of those three was this one. A white '69 MG BGT.

This car has a solid body - rust exists in the normal locations - but serves as a strong starting point. The bonus is that it has a highly coveted overdrive transmission. Sale of the overdrive will nearly fund the entire purchase price of the automobile.

I don't anticipate restoring this car anytime soon, but when I am ready, I'll have a great place to begin.

Sweet metal fabrication

Another problem I had at CMP was extremely high oil temperatures. One of the culprits, we believed to be very poor air flow through the oil cooler.

I relocated mine to below the shelf from its stock position. But I did not provide any air deflection, so most likely the air went the path of least resistance, passing around the cooler and not through it.

I was at my parents house in Northern Virginia last week and Saturday was play in the garage day, so dad and I made this.

He has a slightly shorter one for his 10 row cooler. Mine is 1 3/4" taller with 16 rows. It is a sturdy aluminum and is designed to connect to the oil cooler in the back using the stock mounting points and there is a bracket for the front.

Once I get home, I will mount it and do a few other things to ensure an air tight fit, but this is a great beginning. I'm real pleased with how it turned out.

Dad gave me the patterns that he made, so I am going to make a few more to sell for some extra money.