In reply to jetstar15:
In reply to jetstar15:
The main shifter is now installed. The hole behind the shifter is where the reverse lever comes up. That isn't installed because I had to weld on an extension. The lever worked fine outside the car but in the car there was less range of motion so I needed a longer lever arm. Paint is drying on it.
The shift lever itself here is a fancy custom carbon fiber setup that my friend John Reed made for me. He was working at a place that made carbon fiber hockey sticks and the shaft here was a second they were throwing away. John cut it down and made it into a shifter with a nice wood knob.
It is that time of year again. New rubber for me and some tires for the Super Chicken to test.
Edit: Paul ultimately didn't use these. Given the Audi drive train he is using he couldn't make 15 inch wheels work.
Earlier I talked about how you can't get take offs these days because it isn't cost effective to take them all but my secret tire supplier is willing to let me just take what I want. It is a sweet deal.
I have a good start on a wall of rubber. If I bring in some of the ones from outside I could probably build walls for a few rooms.
The driveshaft is back in place. The Jerico seems to be slightly longer than the Muncie but the yoke doesn't bottom out so it should be fine. It is however close enough to bottoming out to make me nervous.
I'm also charging the new battery. I added remote terminals for charging and jump starting. With the battery inside the car it is a pain to get at the remote terminals make it so much easier.
While I was installing the driveshaft I noticed that the pinion angle was obviously bad. Being under the car I could see that the angle for the transmission didn't match the pinion angle even by eye. So I disconnected the shocks so I could set the rear end to ride height and adjusted the angle of the rear end. I must have set this wrong a while ago. Wish I could blame someone else but I'm sure I got it wrong.
While I had the shocks disconnected I ran the suspension through full travel to make sure the yoke didn't bottom out and it is fine.
The tires really look big when the suspension is compressed.
This thread is all sorts of epic. Thanks for keeping it going Kevin. One question I have is where do you source your spare parts? i.e. front clip and wheels. I've looked around and besides racing junk I really can't find any good places/forums for info and parts for these things.
MattW wrote: This thread is all sorts of epic. Thanks for keeping it going Kevin. One question I have is where do you source your spare parts? i.e. front clip and wheels. I've looked around and besides racing junk I really can't find any good places/forums for info and parts for these things.
The clip on the car has been replaced twice now. In my case it is a part you can order from Troyer. However I don't do that directly. I take it to a local guy (Rusty Ball) who has a shop that does this kind of stuff. Getting the front clip aligned correctly is tricky and a lot easier done by a guy who has a jig and lots of experience. That said it certainly isn't something that couldn't be done in a garage. But I have also seen Rusty cutting off a clip that someone else attached incorrectly. :-)
Bumpers are another order item from Troyer. I usually just have Rusty order one for me. However they are just bent tubing. The modifed shown for sale previously in this thread had a bumper that Erik fabricated himself. The bumpers are cheap and it's just not really cost effective to make one in my opinion.
Northeast Race Cars is a place that sells Troyer stuff. You can buy a complete chassis and various parts.
Wheels can be ordered online in a few places. I just picked up two last night from Rusty to match the other ones I bought from him a couple years ago. Just wanted a matched set. Used wheels are often available at swap meets if there is a local modified series. But buyer beware they may not be round. For online places a search for wide 5 wheels usually will turn up something like this Basset Wide 5 Wheels
Tonight I raised the car about a quarter of an inch ride height. Hoping to bottom out a few less times at Ascutney. Last time I think the frame touched pavement 8 times on my fastest run. The course is getting rougher or my springs are sagging. Either way a little more ride height is in order.
I also installed valve stems in the new wheels and mounted one tire. 3 more to go.n One nice thing about modified wheels and tires is they don't need balancing. The wheels and tires are both manufactured to tight enough tolerances that I've never needed to balance a tire. So I can just mount them by hand.
Someone was asking earlier where to find modified parts. One place is this facebook group.
One of the things on my list was to find the oil leak I have. Something is leaking oil and coating the underside of the car. I found a likely culprit. I cut away a little excess RTV to get a look at it and this is what I got.
Oi! Where is that at? Manifold?
In reply to MattW:
Yup, Between the intake and the block. The RTV gasket gave out. Took a while to find it. It's been leaking for a while and getting gradually worse but it didn't do it at an idle I needed to rev the motor up to probably 6000 rpm to get it to happen. Part of why it took so long to find it. I would find evidence that oil was leaking but it didn't happen when I started up the car in the garage. The fan (which was off in the movie above) and the airflow at speed just blows the oil all over the place so it was actually pretty hard to figure out where it was coming from.
OK this is not the view of my engine I wanted with the first event less than a week away. As I suspected trying to seal the leak by applying RTV externally didn't do it. I gave it 24 hours to cure but it still blew out and started leaking again. So off with the intake. I have new intake gaskets on order but I think I can reuse these. Hopefully before the end of today it will be back together.
There are much worse views on an engine. In the grand scheme of things, an intake seems pretty minor.
However, good luck in getting it back together!
GPz11 wrote: There are much worse views on an engine. In the grand scheme of things, an intake seems pretty minor. However, good luck in getting it back together!
Yeah you're right. This is minor. No broken parts for one! Got everything cleaned and taking a break before reassembling.
My main competition (The Super Chicken) has worse problems. I was told that there was some problem with the new engine and it would not be at the first event. I've had those type of problems before and I'll take this one.
Still I wish Paul luck and just to prove it I'll plug his crowd sourcing page again. If anyone wants to be part of a shot and a amateur winning Mt Washington Climb to the Clouds pledge some money. No amount too small.
KevinGale wrote: OK this is not the view of my engine I wanted with the next event less than a week away. As I suspected trying to seal the leak by applying RTV externally didn't do it. I gave it 24 hours to cure but it still blew out and started leaking again. So off with the intake. I have new intake gaskets on order but I think I can reuse these. Hopefully before the end of today it will be back together.
Seems to me I remember of a tip to help prevent the intake end seals from blowing out. You dimpled the block rail with a hammer and a punch. Looks like current theory is to dimple and use Permatex Right Stuff.
The oil leak has been contained. Now to change the oil and a few other minor things and I'll be ready for the first race of the season next weekend.
Kewl, post some YouTube vids of your runs when you get back. Never get tired of watching those. Lol
MattW wrote: Kewl, post some YouTube vids of your runs when you get back. Never get tired of watching those. Lol
I'll try to remember to use the GoPro. To me they all start to look the same.
Off the jack stands for the first time since September. Ready to roll on the trailer tomorrow to head for Ascutney. Hope I can figure out how to shift the new dog box.
Permatex right stuff was the preferred leak stopper when I worked on Land Rovers. If it will stop leaks on them, it will stop leaks on ANYTHING.
In reply to KevinGale:
Light er up.
Will they still hold the event if it snows or will everyone just break out the skis?
Back from Ascutney. Overall a good weekend.
The new Jerico dog box was wonderful. No problem at all shifting up or down without the clutch. I even started shifting in one spot on the hill where I never did it before just because it is so easy.
The car ran well and I posted a nice fast run on Saturday and was at the top of the results. But Sunday morning the car suddenly died in staging for the first run of the day. It was clearly a fuel problem. I grabbed tools and with help from Luke Moultroup and Butch King we disconnected lines, pulled the fuel filter and even took apart the pump but to no avail.
We towed the car back to the pits and I worked on it some more. It seems like the pump is Ok. I think there is some problem with the fuel pickup inside the fuel cell. I'll figure it out before the next event in three weeks.
Luke won the event. His first event win. First of many I think.
Anyway here is the video of my fastest run on Saturday. https://www.youtube.com/embed/wprZ5fNHG-8
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