MSR-H Gator-O-Rama 2013 Wrap-Up
LowFlyin'
Moderator
We had another race in September of last year at MSR-Houston.
We're Fraunch!
New front splitter!
I had gone through the engine, fresh bearings and we were ready to rock.
Car performed great at the autoX a week before, but the clutch pedal was feeling a little funny. We knew the cable was old and had already acquired a new replacement. I went to change the cable out before loading the car on the trailer and the release lever is sloppy and the clutch is no longer being disengaged. Yay! Last minute trans pull!
Got through it. Buttoned up, ready to go!
After arriving at MSR-H a few hours behind schedule due to the late night trans thrash and losing a trailer tire within the first hour of leaving the city, we got our paddock setup. OU was playing a big game that weekend and one of our drivers didn't want to miss the game!
The Tape-R runs fantastic during Friday practice. And we get through tech and BS swimmingly. The Tape-R was finally classed in B!
20 minutes into the race (this was a full 24 hour race), the engine started overheating.
Came in, the radiator was low so we filled it and got back out on track. 20 minutes later, overheating again. I noticed it was only overheating when I was following another car and when I would pop out from behind the temps would come back down. For this race, I also installed an oil cooler and it was mounted in front of the radiator. Came in again, topped off the radiator and moved the oil cooler out of the flow of the radiator. The next driver came in around the 15 minute mark.
So, headgasket. Damn.
Get the car up in the air and start tear down. The head bolt nearest to the passenger side on the firewall was free spinning. There's our guy.
The local box stores didn't have the proper tap, so we were SOL on trying to fix it the right way. One of the other EF teams had a couple of broken engines in various stages of completeness. They had a box full of head bolts, and there just happened to be a M14x1.5 set in there. Back to the box store, grab a cheap tap&die set and jb weld, and back to the track. Tapping goes slow, but we make progress.
I was sure the tap was going in square, but after installing a bolt, I was probably close to 20° off. That wasnt' going to fly. On the verge of throwing in the towel, I had a "fuck it" moment. Bored out the one head bolt hole in the head so the larger bolt can fit through, put the new head gasket on, and bolted down the head up to the problem. Took the new head bolt and used it as a tap and tightened it down as far as I felt I could without risking the block. I'm a little under 2mm short of the bolt seating. Pull the bolt out, throw a washer on and mix-up some JB weld and use it like thread locker. Get everything torqued to spec, bolted the car back up and we are on the track 7 hours later.
The car is flying! Other than one of our drivers getting disoriented during the night due to fatigue and some ridiculously bright lights from a competitor, the rest of the race went without issue. We ended up finishing in the top 50% of the field.
We did acquire a cow due to the overnight visit to the penalty box.
I am absolutely dreading tearing that motor down, so hopefully it will die a spectacular death and I won't have to even consider it! lol
We're Fraunch!
New front splitter!
I had gone through the engine, fresh bearings and we were ready to rock.
Car performed great at the autoX a week before, but the clutch pedal was feeling a little funny. We knew the cable was old and had already acquired a new replacement. I went to change the cable out before loading the car on the trailer and the release lever is sloppy and the clutch is no longer being disengaged. Yay! Last minute trans pull!
Got through it. Buttoned up, ready to go!
After arriving at MSR-H a few hours behind schedule due to the late night trans thrash and losing a trailer tire within the first hour of leaving the city, we got our paddock setup. OU was playing a big game that weekend and one of our drivers didn't want to miss the game!
The Tape-R runs fantastic during Friday practice. And we get through tech and BS swimmingly. The Tape-R was finally classed in B!
20 minutes into the race (this was a full 24 hour race), the engine started overheating.
Came in, the radiator was low so we filled it and got back out on track. 20 minutes later, overheating again. I noticed it was only overheating when I was following another car and when I would pop out from behind the temps would come back down. For this race, I also installed an oil cooler and it was mounted in front of the radiator. Came in again, topped off the radiator and moved the oil cooler out of the flow of the radiator. The next driver came in around the 15 minute mark.
So, headgasket. Damn.
Get the car up in the air and start tear down. The head bolt nearest to the passenger side on the firewall was free spinning. There's our guy.
The local box stores didn't have the proper tap, so we were SOL on trying to fix it the right way. One of the other EF teams had a couple of broken engines in various stages of completeness. They had a box full of head bolts, and there just happened to be a M14x1.5 set in there. Back to the box store, grab a cheap tap&die set and jb weld, and back to the track. Tapping goes slow, but we make progress.
I was sure the tap was going in square, but after installing a bolt, I was probably close to 20° off. That wasnt' going to fly. On the verge of throwing in the towel, I had a "fuck it" moment. Bored out the one head bolt hole in the head so the larger bolt can fit through, put the new head gasket on, and bolted down the head up to the problem. Took the new head bolt and used it as a tap and tightened it down as far as I felt I could without risking the block. I'm a little under 2mm short of the bolt seating. Pull the bolt out, throw a washer on and mix-up some JB weld and use it like thread locker. Get everything torqued to spec, bolted the car back up and we are on the track 7 hours later.
The car is flying! Other than one of our drivers getting disoriented during the night due to fatigue and some ridiculously bright lights from a competitor, the rest of the race went without issue. We ended up finishing in the top 50% of the field.
We did acquire a cow due to the overnight visit to the penalty box.
I am absolutely dreading tearing that motor down, so hopefully it will die a spectacular death and I won't have to even consider it! lol
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