TRC Lydden -August

[Eric Falce]

Have just received the tickets for Brands 30/31. Only one car is listed in T/R race,Tim has not received his yet,is there an up to date entry list anywhere!

[Rod Birley]

Should have it on my website soon, 18 entries at present. Rolling starts not standing as shown in the finals. Where were you last night ecktic???

[Eric Falce]

Dont ask.I have a niece over from Canada,she just bloody sits,has very little conversation and I was keeping wife Penny from throtling her,not even bloody nephews come to ones aid when you need them,to buisy playing with horses and Jaguars,very sorry I missed it,promise will make up for it.

[Rod Birley]

Even Jason Watkins made a rare appearance, and Graham Richardson got unexpectedly very wet!!!!thanks to Mr.Watkins and Mr.Farr.

[Eric Falce]

As I said,I will make it up somehow,I know what I would rather have been doing instead of wet nursing.

[Tim Falce]

well i drove round West Kingsdown for an hour last night but it was difficult to find without an address :-((

[carrera]

Entry should be waiting for Nicola in the morning. See you at the weekend.

Rolling starts, have not done one of those for a while.

[Shawn]

Hi Guys. Just updated the website with the entries received for this weekend at Brands.
You know, the one with Rods name in it. (keep getting told off for mentioning it on here)

[Flat Out Farr]

Originally Posted by falcemob

well i drove round West Kingsdown for an hour last night but it was difficult to find without an address :-((

can't believe that! With Mr Richardson's yucky yellow Skoda parked in the drive, Borough 19 stickers on various cars there; me in my luminous yellow and orange trunks, and the delectable Mrs Birley in her swimming outfit? well! what a treat you missed. And Graham getting dunked in the pool.

[chezza]

Sounds like it was a good evening...shame I had to miss it!

Should see you guys out to play at brands and I might make the trip down to lydden too.

[R59]

Looks like I won't be at Lydden after all (racing).

No Dave, not diff oil. Engine oil, more to the point, keeping it in the engine.

After pouring something like 10litres of oil in the tank over the course of testing yesterday, and emptying about 5 litres out of the catch tank, leaving about 3 in the sump tank, I have some serious head scratching to do.

The rear brakes keep staying on, nice cherry red discs after four or five laps, so there's more to sort out there - a change of master cylinders should fix that.

Jumps out of 2nd gear on overrun. Might just be gear linkage, worst case, gearbox repairs!

Garage 5 at Snetterton looks like the coast of Alaska after the Exxon Valdiz went aground!

Apart for the binding brakes, oil woes, and gearbox grief, it does go rather well.

Now to find some time to work on it.

[djinvicta]

Oh Good Lord! Dare I comment? Fun racing resumes with Pete Thurston from the back of the grid at Brands on Sunday. Rob; Shake your hand (and wipe the oil off); hope to see you Sunday, in the best possible taste; cannot say anything can I? Team Dangerous has lived up to its name. Love Wayne (Jims brother)

[R59]

I won't be there Sunday either - it's my boy's christening.
I think I have the solution (don't put any oil in it?) - just waiting for final confirmation from the engine builder in the 'states.

The rear brakes problem is a little more interesting. They seem OK in the garage, you pump them up, they release OK. On track, they gradually stay on more and more.
Obviously, that's heat building up the pressure. The question is why is the piston in the master cylinder not returning properly when I'm on track, yet it's fine after dozens and dozens of pumps in the garage.

I think I'm just going to replace the master cylinders out of sympathy for their age!!

Rob.

[Al Weyman]

Wanna buy a nice big wing fully baffled race wet sump Rob! What transmission are you using, Muncie? Have you done a leakdown test on the engine because it seems you may have unwanted back pressure in the block to chuck out oil like that. Are you using a Weaver pump as I have an original manual here for one of those.

[Al Weyman]

Rob I have scanned this in from the Weaver manual, you probably know all this but it may help if you have overlooked something obvious.....

[R59]

Thanks for that Al. Useful to those that don't know anything about engines.

This one has proven to be a bit of a pain.

Keep the revs down and it's fairly fine (under 6500). Remember that this monster revs to 8200 and it throws it out starting at around 7000.

I use a Wulff three stage pump (as used by some of the NASCAR teams & engine builders).

Here's how it was set up when it really threw it out badly -

Oil tank to pump. Pump to filter, filter to block.
Two scavenge from oil pan to pump, single return to tank.
Tank has two scavenge return fittings - the second was used to vent to the catch tank.
Rocker covers vent to top of oil tank.

After 2 second thought, I realised that using the second scavenge return port on the tank may be the problem, so I removed the line that went to the catch tank and plugged the port in the tank. The two lines from the rockers to the oil tank, now go directly to the catch tank, and the catch tank is now connected to one of the two ports on the top of the oil tank - the other being plugged.

It took twice as long to dump half as much oil, so it was an improvement!

After consulting the engine builder, he says that it should be plumbed as follows:

Oil feed to pump, then out of pump to filter, then to block.
Two scavenge back to tank. Plug the second scavenge hole in the tank - it's not required. The two holes in the rocker covers - plug them! Then vent the oil tank to the catch tank. The scavenge part of the pump will draw air when it's not pulling oil, and that creates a vacuum in the block. If the oil tank is no more than 2/3 full at idle, only wind should exit via the breather.

He says that NASCAR teams used to use up to 6 stage pumps to draw more vacuum, as this helps seal the rings, and leads to improved top end power.

I shall be re-plumbing the motor as soon as I can, and then testing it.

The gearbox is a M21 Muncie (no ring on the input shaft) with a M/R Racing set back shifter. It only jumps out on down-shift, so I'm hoping that it's a spot of adjustment (rosejointed linkage), rather than a rebuild of the gearbox.

Rob.

[Al Weyman]

Could well be an adjustment with the Muncie as I have had that using Hurst shifters. If I remember rightly on the yellow car I am just finishing off (just sprayed the bonnet tonoght and fitted the CTCRC mandatory door bars so very nearly there) You still had to be quite deliberate with your downchanges as they are only a truck box after all. I have M21 Close Ratio box in the car.

This is how Weaver suggest you install the 3 stage pumps on a small block chevy.

[Rod Birley]

Late news: Last years champion Jason Watkins has entered, wishing to redress the balance in class D!!!! Also look out for former class C champion Andy Wickens who is down to drive a Renault Megane?

[andypipe]

Originally Posted by andypipe

If anyone has got trouble getting their cat to the circuit, I can help out as I now have a towbar fitted to my truck. Just get in touch

Cat should read car, but the offer still stands if anybody needs it

[chezza]

Hmmm...the miserable sod is working on saturday, so I need to decide whether to come down on my own or not!

[Rod Birley]

Yes you must go, no excuses.

[chezza]

Ok, I think you've twisted my arm!! What time does the racing start then?

[Rod Birley]

Practice from 9 am, racing from midday (2 races) then lunch break with historic vehicle parade. Racing continues at 1.45.

[ss_collins]

I'm working on a weird wonka esque machine that makes oojmaflipas work better with mk2 sprokelwotsits.

[chezza]

Riiight....!