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.

NC Mountain Drive in a MGB

A first for me since the 90s

Highway 66 and 89 are some fine roads if you ever want to take your sports car out for a spirited drive. Lots of fast swooping turns and tight switch backs. Plenty of people along the way to wave at and a few quirky General Stores to stop off and grab a cold drink.

That is what about five of us did this morning as part of the regular meet up of Winston-Salem area MG owners. It was a blast and the first outing of that kind for me since the 90s. Man oh man was it fun and the whole time I imagined that, "if only I had a BGT, then the whole family could be with me right now."

It was a good time, with good people. I made a movie about it. Pretty funny, but I tapped into this muvee software that is on my computer. It's really cool. The quality is a bit poor, but what can you expect with a cheap digital still camera. Enjoy!!

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=38815994

Oh, and as a special bonus, I picked up a special package on the way back to get my car - my son.

Going off-topic

I just realized that this is an incredibly boring blog, but since no one reads it, it really doesn't matter. However, tomorrow morning has given me a great reason to go slightly off topic.

There is a good friend of mine who owns MGs who is making a great effort at getting local Triad area MG owners together on a regular basis. Nothing organized, like a club, but simply a, "hey let's meet up and go for a drive, have breakfast, or share some tips" everynow and then.

Anyhow, tomorrow we are meeting up at 9 a.m. for a group drive into the mountains. Now, I am attending these gatherings, but I don't own a street MG, so I am that one random guy that shows up in a Ford. And, though I miss not having a street car, I still enjoy hanging out with like minded people and their beautiful cars.

So going back to my buddy - he owns two MGs and asked me earlier this week if I wanted to drive his blue '75 MGB during tomorrow's drive. I said yes - of course - but what is really cool about it, is that I have not driven a street stock MG since the 90s.

I am really looking forward to it. I'll get some pictures and post a follow up tomorrow.

A Slow Lap around Carolina Motorsports Park

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=38449732

I did get some video of my first of only three laps. Little did I know what the day held for me, but this particular lap was plaqued with a stuck accelerator pedal. So I eased my way around, went into the pits, got it unstuck and then completed my other two laps.

On another positive note, the exhaust has been fixed. I picked it up from the professionals yesterday. So, no more homemade exhausts from me for a while. It turned out to be much cheaper to have it done by someone who knows what they are doing.

Successfully unsuccessful

Well, to avoid a lot of the nasty details, this past weekend I did my scheduled test day to ensure that we worked out the bugs prior to our July SCCA race.

It did not go very well. Well, actually depending on how you look at it, it also went very well. But what I thought was going to be simple arrive and drive, turned out to be a three lap fiasco, followed by a full morning and afternoon of tuning, tweaking and then ultimately throwing in the towel.

One very important issue was solved - tire rub. However, three issues popped up - distributor or coil is shot (being sent off to Jeff S. for repair as I type and I don't currently have a spare), exhaust needs to be tweaked (I cooked the pain off part of the rear valence because of a poor design on my part) and engine oil cooling (the oil temp gauge is pegged at 300 degrees - should be around 210 - thanks to poor air venting). All easily fixable, but requires time.

The end result is that I in no way can solve for all of these issues in the 1 1/2 weeks leading up to the Road Atlanta race and to try would most certainly result in a complete waste of resources. I know that this is not uncommon, but because I am new, I am learning this along the way. It is a brand new car that requires tweaking and adjusting until the sweet spot is found. At that point, it will run. Unfortunately, we are just not there yet.

I did have a great time though despite the disappointment and have to say thanks to a number of forum member's from http://www.mgexperience.net/ who were there to help and offer support.

Thanks to Hap, Kevin Hart and Torsten for your efforts, expertise and time. We all wanted to see the car run and for one of those three laps, it did pretty darn good. Also thanks to Jeff Schlemmer who took our call on the weekend for ignition advice.

I have since withdrawn from the Road Atlanta race and will circle up with the calendar to determine next steps. I have a few people thinking through fixes and next steps including my dad who is already designing a box to provide the air needed to the cooler.

The development continues - and so will the posts.

Test Day this Saturday

I had been struggling a bit with whether I wanted to do a test day or not. Do I want to spend the money and go to the effort, not to mention the wear and tear on the equipment, tires, etc.?

But then I quickly remember my Daytona experience (the car had issues) and I think -this is my first race and the sponsor and his employees are going to be there - it makes sense to schedule the day to ensure a better showing later this month at Road Atlanta.

So this Saturday, July 5, my father-in-law and I are going to be at Carolina Motorsports Park (CMP) for a Turn One test-n-tune day. It should be fun. We are going to go down Friday night and camp, so we will already be there come Saturday morning - man having a motorhome is nice. The AC will be an added bonus in the South Carolina summer heat. Not to mention a private place to change into my fire proof underwear.

The main priorities - See if we solved for the tire rub, get some time on the motor and scrub in a new set of tires, all the while tightening the nuts and bolts along the way.

I have not been to CMP since September 2006, but I did enjoy the track and have been watching YouTube footage recently to study the track's new configuration. Attached pictures are of the SCCA Performance Driving Experience (PDX) that I did in Sept. 2006. It was a blast and as you can see, the car was still in full street regalia.

Hap will be there, my friend Kevin, as well as the car's previous owner may drop by. Another competitior is participating with me - Dick May, who drives an SCCA HP Bugeye Sprite. Dick has a new rear suspension and is sorting it out. He needs to make sure he has not lost his mojo given that he is in contention for the SCCA Southeast Region's (SARRC) Championship.

On another note, we are registered and paid up for the July SARRC event at Road Atlanta. Registering for my first race was an exciting moment. Two years and 1.75 months later, the dream is coming true.

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!

Where is the time going? I am getting excited about the upcoming SARRC race at Road Atlanta this July. It will be the team's first real race.

The car is on jack stands and I have been going over each nut and bolt in preparation. We pulled the motor again and inspected the bottom end following the school. It looks good, so it went back in the car. Rebuilt the rear suspension - installing new lever shocks from Peter Caldwell and 2" dropped springs. In addition, I cleaned and painted all of the suspension components such as the roll and traction bars.

I also shaved off the metal along the rear fender wells to give the tires more room to prevent rubbing. I reoccuring issue that I hoped to have solved.

What else are we doing - installed a oil temp gauge and sensor, as well as a fuel sender and gauge. Still need to do the electrical wiring for these two gauges. I took care of a few oil leaks where I did a poor job of applying plumbers tape and had to clean up that mess. Oh yeah, something real exciting - Third Wave Advertising - my sponsor - funded a new set of Hoosier Street TD racing tires. They are mounted and sitting in my garage.

On the support side, we had the Camper's - a.k.a the Cramper - roof re-sealed and my wife bought me a generator as an early Father's Day gift. So, now we will have power and be fully self-sustained at the track. That AC will be down right nice in the hot Georgia sun this July.

Shooting for a test day at Carolina Motorsports Park - http://www.carolinamotorsportspark.com/ - on July 5 to get a few more miles on the motor, shake down the rear suspension and see if we cured the tire rub issue. Should be a good time.

It's official, I'm a racecar driver!!

Everyone says, this is just a school, get your time in and pass. And I absolutely agree, but I have to tell you, I want to race. The Daytona school was a blast. It was full of drama, both my fault and not my fault. All the way up to the end, but when the steward of the meet said, congratulations, you can now go racing, you could not wipe the grin off my face.

We had a few teething issues with the new car, so we parked it and I rented a Neon from an owner that was there with another student. Since I was sharing the Neon with another guy my agreement was don't rev it over 4,000 rpm, drive it safe, put your time in and pass the school.

The best thing about that part was that it truly taught me that slow is smooth and smooth is fast. By my second session, in a car that I had never driven, I was lapping faster than the other guy who had been driving it all weekend. And, who did not have the restrictions that I did. Slow was smooth and smooth was fast.

Because we were sharing the car, I got bumped from Group 3 (HP, FP, SM and other small bore cars) to Group 2 (Large bore cars). This meant that yet again, I was going to be doing more driving in my mirrors as I was engulfed in faster cars. This bothered me, because I knew that in the B, I would have been a contender and more importantly been in a position to truly race other cars. Now, it would seem that I would be out there doing laps waiting to get lapped. The best part of the weekend was during the third practice start which kicked off my five lap race. I was already familiar with how poorly a particular RX-7 was driving, as well as an ITA Neon. And this was confirmed during the two practice starts. So when the final start came, I had already figured out how I was going to get passed those two guys. I went outside knowing they would brake too early. After all, speeds at that point were nothing compared to the race, because we had just got the green. By going deep, I was then able to take the line going through the International horseshoe and complete my pass of two cars. For the next three laps it was a blast. I swapped positions with the RX-7 about four times. A few mistakes on both he and the other Neon's end and I had the space I needed to keep my position. I crossed the finish line in my SSC Neon having gained two positions. It was the best.

As for the B. It hauls. For the 1.2 mile course 3/4 is flat out in my car. With my suspension and Hap's motor I was posting times that were faster than Group 2. There is some work to do, but I learned a lot about the car, including some changes I need to make. The problems also gave me a chance to learn from Hap as he instructed me on paddock rituals related to the care of the car and how to work through a problem using its symptoms as a guide.

The garages at Daytona will spoil you, the people were great, weather amazing and I made some new friends. The car drew some attention and there was always a crowd in our space talking with Hap. This weekend was an eye opener for me in that Hap and Dwight - my "car owner" - are pros. These guys have won championships and competed at the highest levels as contenders. I just soaked it all up. I know that I won't sit on the grid at the runoffs, but that does not mean that I can't take the discipline and knowledge with me to the vintage circuit. Oh well, I could go on. Thanks for the well wishes. I passed and am official. A dream come true. Now its time to see what it is like for real.

The women were not with us this weekend and normally I ask them to own the pictures, so I don't have many, but I will post some. Also, not many of the car since it only completed about 10 laps :)

This is it!! The last post until after the Daytona School

I would love to post pictures of the car on the trailer, packed and ready to go, but the truth is, the week ahead is a hectic one.

Work is very busy right now and I am leaving on Wednesday for a trip to Chicago. So, the car has to be done, on the trailer and the Explorer packed tomorrow night, so I can leave for Chicago and dad can come down and take the car to Daytona.

So, tonight, I will finish the alignment and make sure that I have my tools, spares, etc. ready, so Tuesday I can load and cover for its Thursday departure to Daytona.

Then Friday, I fly to Daytona direct from O'Hare and meet up with dad and Hap from Acme Speedshop - who also is flying in that morning.

Hopefully "The Biscuit" and I will successfully complete the course and return ready to go racing "officially" in May at VIR.

So, thanks for following along. Wish me luck and I will tell you how it went when I get back. I'll post some video too as I am going to be using a new race cam for the first time.

SHE RUNS!!

I had the distributor in 180 degrees backward, so I was firing the piston at the wrong time. Anyhow, she runs sweet. Loud and quick with the revs.

Now, we are just doing some final things in preparation for the school in about a week and a half.

Not running yet.

She is not running yet. Everything is in order, but it is timing related. I just got some great advice and have a friend coming over tonight to assist. We have it licked this evening.

We are a week and a half away from the driver's school. I really have not thought about it much, nor prepared myself mentally, because I have not gotten the car running yet.

Hopefully, it I get it started, I can move on, start packing and organizing parts and tools and prepare mentally for the school.

Then it is off to the races.

The Engine is in, but the beast has not awakened.

We got the motor in over the weekend, but have yet to fire her up. I am certain it is a combination of issues that I am slowly solving.

At first we had no spark, and then I noticed this evening that the valves needed adjusted again. I will check the initial start up timing tomorrow. If all goes as it should hopefully she will start.

If I can get her started and running smoothly enough to run the first couple of initial heat cycles, it will be good enough for our trip to Daytona in two weeks.

That is the pressure point. Daytona is just around the corner. This baby needs to run.

Engine is at home and waiting for installation this weekend. It looks amazing. I had a great time at Acme Speedshop this past Friday and I cannot wait to get this thing in, primed and started up. The neighbors are excited too, especially when I set the timing while reving the motor at 5,000 rpm :)