A little more on the 2014 Canadian Historic Grand Prix

I just got the Sept/Oct issue of "Vintage Motorsport Magazine" the other day.  This was on the newsstands a couple of months ago.  A well written article with photos by "John R. Walker" on the 2014 Canadian Historic Grand Prix.

A real nice story on Mike Knittle's 1970 Chinook F5000.

Merry Christmas 2014

2015 F5000 Drivers Association Race Schedule (official)

I guess it's official.  This ad was in the lastest issue of Victory Lane Magazine.  The photo is from my collection, that's Laguna Seca in 1975.

F5000 Drivers Association Rolex Reunion update

   Received a update yesterday on the CA event in August.  The pre-screening is done and we have 42 cars from 5 different countries interested in attending.  These cars and drivers still have to be accepted by the Monterey race committee.  This process won't be completed until the end of February.

Happy Thanksgiving

And a snowy Thanksgiving it is.

Radiator support removed

Removed the radiator support, it was very much in the way.  

COTA 2013   Photo George McClure

Radiator

Needed to remove the radiator.  One of the mounting bolts required to be sawed off.  I knew this from last year, had trouble with this bolt and nut.  Now I can clean and inspect the radiator.

November progress report

Haven't done any work on the car since the last post.  The weather has been so nice I've taken advantage and have been working on outdoor projects.  Still a few more things I'll like to do to the car before the holidays arrive.

Race tires removed

Removed the tires from the rims.  Time to inspect the tire rims for cracks.  Then I can polish and repaint for next year.

Clutch disc cracks

No big surprise.  One of the clutch disc has cracks.  It has 4 events on it and that's about it's life span.

I think this time instead of just replace the disc, I'll replace the complete assembly. 

Engine removed

Another one of those rainy days made for the perfect opportunity to finish on the engine removal.

A rainy Saturday

The rain has restricted my outdoor projects, so it's time to work on the race car.  Still working on the removal of the engine.  Most everything has been moved or removed.

More Hershey

8 foot Eiffel Tower made from Erector set. 

Perfect day.

Hershey Hotel on the hill.

Hershey!

It's Hershey day.   Even airplanes are for sale.

It's a start...

Got a couple of hours in the other day.  Working toward removing the engine first.

October progress report

Not much to report.  Been busy with the latest antique show and other projects.  Going to Hershey, PA next week for the big antique car meet and flea market.  I always find something.
Should get some time in on the car next week.  It will be 2015 before I know it.

2015 F5000 Drivers Association Race Schedule (unofficial)

Not official yet, but the race schedule is looking like this:

Road America in July.

Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion in August.

COTA in October.

New driver harnesses for 2015

My driver harnesses will expire at the end of this year.  So next year I will take a look at a different manufacture.

All driver harnesses have a expiration date.  Maybe usable for 5 years?

Back on the stands

In a previous post I said the work on the car would start in September.  Sure enough I placed the car on the stands yesterday.  How about that, on schedule.

F5000 Association update

Received a email this morning from the F5000 association.

F5000 at 2015 Monterey Reunion – Planning for the F5000 group to participate at this August 2015 event is continuing. Look for more information in the coming week on how you can prepare to enter your car for this event and other helpful information to get your car to the Mazda Raceway in Laguna Seca.

Bad dog!

 I haven't done anything with the car yet, but I'm starting to think about the gear set replacements.  Looking through the spare sets, they all really need to be replaced.  I would need 3rd, 4th and 5th.  I only use 1st to leave the pits and 2nd would be on slow tight turns.

The dog on this gear has very little wear.

The dog on the corner is well rounded.  This was a new gear a couple of years ago, but I use for all the tracks I race on(4th gear).  This was the one that was giving me trouble at Canada back in June.

A new dog ring on a gear.  They all should look like that.

Back to antique trucking

Just finished converting the race hauler back to a antique hauler.

I've removed the winch and all the wiring.
I'm going to use the truck just for the antique business.  No more race car hauling.  

Interesting

I follow a couple of forums on other web sites and found this bit of information some-what interesting.
Every once in-awhile they check engine size(know as engine pump).  I think the last time for the F5000 group was back at Watkins Glen in 2009. All was ok.  This was done again at the last event at Road America, below the findings.  The maximum size is 305cid for the F5000 engines.

"I pumped a number of group 6 motors this year at the Hawk as well as six F/5000 motors. Only one F/5000 was over at 320cid. I won't say who it was but he is one of your B/Sedan guys!" 

Long Beach, CA 1975

This is from the Los Angeles Times newspaper dated September 29, 1975.  Reporting on the F5000 Long  Beach Grand Prix race.  The whitish car in the center of the photo is the JB Lola T192.  

Another Long Beach race report this time from the Independent

Oshkosh...looks like New Jersey to me

Oshkosh starts today but it's a trip that I'm not going to be able to make this year.  Other issues having taken priority. But on a positive note, I did clean and wax the plane.  It takes a couple of days and one of those things that you put off doing for years.
Don't have any work plans for the race car in August.  September is when I'll start on it again.

A clean race car

I took a quick look at the car and think this is the cleanest it's every come back from a race.  Really no reason to clean any of the body work  Now I need to setup a schedule for the car overhaul.

Finally back in the shop

Yesterday I removed the car from the back of the truck.  After I winched the car out, I went to winch up the cable and nothing happened.  The switch was clicking but no winch movement.  Glad this didn't happen at the last event. It would have taken a whole lot of people to push the car back into the truck.

Other uses for the shop

There's no rush on the race car so I'll take advantage of the shop. Both cars needed work and this sure beats working on the dirt. Lights and a cement floor, I'm getting spoiled. The Lola is still in the back of the truck.  It will be removed before I leave for Oskosh.

VARAC Presents the Canadian Historic Grand Prix 2014

Looking at 2015

 Mike, Nancy, Rick, Rudy and Ed. (L-R)

I was 99% sure that Mosport was the only race for us this year.  After the gearbox problems, I can say it's now 100%.  The car really needs to be disassembled and inspected.  That's going to be the project for this winter.  In 2015 I would like to return to Canada for the Canadian Historic Grand Prix.  Had a great time and got to see a few friends I would have missed if my option was to stay home.

Next on the to-do list is to fly to Oshkosh.   My last trip was in 2009.  It's toward the end of July and as always, the weather will dictate my travel plans.  Looking forward to the fly-in and I'll blog from Oshkosh.

Steve and that guy on the right.
Steve took the photographs for the F5000 group at Watkins Glen

Ken, Steve's brother. 

Loose roll bar

This is what a normal roll bar support mount in the rear of the car looks like.  The rod attaches the roll bar with the lower A-arm.  

This is what happens when the bolt (top arrow) falls out.  The rod drops and gets tangled with the drive shaft. 

The rubber doughnut on the drive shaft continued to pound the roll bar rod. I had just tighten that bolt the day before.  This happened during the last race on Sunday.

Aerial View - CTMP Canadian Historic Grand Prix 2014

Interesting idea, but should have been closer to the cars and followed them a little longer.

Here's a link to photos from our race group.
More photos from all race groups.
More photos.

Back in the U.S.A.

Got home last night.  Crossing the border back to the US was a breeze.  As soon as the border officer knew that a race car was in back of the truck, the conversion turn to that.  The truck ran fine for the 1000 miles we covered, and with the exception of my gearbox woes, it was a great trip.

Already have my first project.  Must have had a big storm during our absence.  Some large branches came down on the power line to my shop. 

Mosport Report-Sunday

The first race was in the morning.  My gearbox started to have problems on the pace lap.  I came in and parked the car.  Looks like I'm removing the gearbox again.  I replaced the dogs with a couple of not so bad dog rings.  Also re-adjusted the shift linkage again, I don't believe it was correctly done yesterday.

The afternoon race was later in the day which gave me the time to complete the job.

The second race would last 30 minutes, really not sure if the gearbox would make it.  

In the end ,the car completed the race just as it lost 3rd gear.
There's many more stories and photos about the weekend to follow in upcoming blogs. .  We head back to home later this morning.

Mosport Report-Saturday

Saturday morning started with removing the gear box and inspected 4th gear.   4th gear was damage and no longer usable.  Also the dog ring was damaged.  I had a replacement for both.  I was still concerned about the shift linkage.  Replaced both dogs and 4th gear, and then tried to shift the car into 4th.  Still the same result, won't shift.  So the gearbox still wasn't completely together and I started to look into the shift linkage as the start of the problem.  Sure enough the the shift rod linkage had moved out about a 1/2 inch.  So the gear wasn't making full contact and grinding.  Made an adjustment on that, and now it's 2 o'clock and need to get  ready for the race.  To make a long story short about a couple of laps from the end the shift linkage move again and I came in a couple of laps early.

This morning I'm re-readjusting it and drilling a hole and placing a rivet in it.  Today we have a race in the morning and a 30 minute this afternoon. 

Mosport Report-Friday

There was a 30% chance of rain, only got a sprinkle.  The weather will be nice for the rest of the weekend
I missed the morning practice session.  The car needed a few adjustments and a real good going over.  The afternoon qualifying went well, knocked off a few more seconds.  Our race group had only 5 cars, so there's not a lot of racing.  The afternoon race lasted just a couple of laps at first, one car hit the wall and did some damage.  Not to bad but I think there done the weekend.  3 of 4 laps under the yellow and I started to notice I was having trouble with 4th gear.  Once they cleared the wreck car, the raced continued.  That's when 4th gear was just about unusable.  Did finish the race.  Today it's gearbox day, might be a dog ring or a linkage adjustment. Still lots of racing left this weekend.

Mosport Report-Thursday

Thursday turned out to be a non-weather event.  It never rain the whole day, that was a relief.
The race track is challenging with it's blind corners and lots of elevation changes.  One thing for sure, this track was made for F5000 cars.  Ran 3 sessions yesterday.  Each session I learned a little more and went a little faster. All went smoothly with no problems.
Today it's practice in the morning and 2 qualifying session in the afternoon.  Added a few photos to the album, but really have been to busy to walk around.  Today should be a little less hectic.

Mosport Report-Wednesday

Arrived at the track around 6pm last night.  We setup the tent and a few other things.  Holding off taking the car out of the truck because of the rain.  Today the weather is looking not as rainy.
Today is practice and instruction from one of the Mosport staff.  We'll see what happens with the weather.

Made it to Canada!

More on the crossing later. Right now it's pouring rain and we are having lunch at a service center. 

Watertown, NY

We arrived in Watertown, NY last night around 10pm. If all goes smooth at the border we should be at our hotel this afternoon and then at the track at 5:00. 

Leaving later today

We moved our departure time to later in the day.  We'll overnight close to the border and cross tomorrow morning.  Weather wise it's not looking very promising.  The prediction for the past week has been rain on Wedsneday, Thursday and Friday.  Even if I did have a full set of rains tires, I would never go out on a track that's new to me. Now in a Formula Ford, that's no problem.

Just a little more time

Well, didn't get it loaded on the truck Saturday.  Just plum ran out of time.

Still sitting in the shop Sunday morning.

Sunday noon, I really need to get this loaded up today.  The weather forecast is rain for Monday.

Finally at 6pm.
 My time-management needs some tweaking. I really thought this would all be done Sunday morning.  Still more to load, but just about all the race car support is on the truck.