Merry Christmas

Happy Thanksgiving

Getting ready for the winter

I have a lot on the to-do list for this winter.

My eBay special donuts don't last too long.  One has cracked already. Despite being unused, they must have been old in years.

Getting ready for 2109

The shop was a mess after Watkins Glen.  Spent the afternoon cleaning.  Starting to think about 2019.

Photos from Watkins Glen

Here's a few photos taken by Ken Bedford.

Watkins Glen Video 2018

Sunday day 4 Watkins Glen

So it's been almost 48 hours since the last qualifying and I'm ready to race.  Starting at the back, because missing the first race Saturday.  I would have been close the back anyway, of the 17(one other F5000 car) cars in the race 14 were 1990 or newer and much faster.  But I knew that coming in.  So at the start of the race, I passed one of the older cars and by then the rest of the pack was gone.  These are timed races so if there are no problems you should get 20 minutes.  One of the cars in the fast pack blew an engine and oiled the track.  So the cleanup started and our race was over in 10 minutes.
This has been a complaint about the September race for a long time.  That at the end of the weekend you end-up with very little track time.  I was told the Saturday race I missed was only 11 minutes long.
I'll post some photos in the in the next couple of days.  Now it's time to get ready for a antique show in two weeks.

Saturday day 3 Watkins Glen

The fuel pump problem was fixed and the car back together long after the race was completed.  It took longer to locate the problem and repair it.  But there's always today.  Race at 2pm.

Francois, my backup driver.

Francois and Ken, our long time F5000 supporters and good friends.

Friday day 2 Watkins Glen

The morning qualifying session went well.  The sessions are 30 minutes. I'm more use to 20 minutes so that was nice.  Adding the water, corrected the water temp gauge issue.  Noticing a small oil leak toward the front of the engine, not to bad but something to keep a eye on.  The afternoon session was a little slower in lap times.  Started to have fuel pressure problem,  the gauge was reading close to 15 psi, should be 5 psi.  So with high pressure, the pump forces gas through the carburetor and starts to flood the engine.  So today I need to pull the full pump and inspect the fuel pressure relief valve.  Our race is at ten o'clock, hope to have the repair done by then.

Thursday day 1 Watkins Glen

The rain forecast ended up being just a occasional springle.  The practice session went ok.  Did have some concerns on the water temperature gauge.  It would read between 200 and 230 degrees back and forth. I did add about a quart of water.  Being a drain the system for the radiator repair I might not have gotten all the air out of the system.  

It was very interesting being out with so many different type of cars.  Today's qualify will be the same group of cars.

Watkins Glen

Arrived around 4pm yesterday.  Hot, very hot.  From Binghamton to Watkins Glen it was 95.  This was a good test for the trucks transmission.  The new trans oil cooler worked fine, no problems.  We have a good parking spot, evening a tree with shade.  The hotel is about 1/2 hour away.
Today we tech the car and have a practice session around 1:30.  Then a trip to Geneva.

Rest stop in New York.

Starting to pack for WG

Still looking at leaving sometime on Wednesday.

Room for more.

100% ready.

Watkins Glen Race Schedule

The race schedule has changed 3 times in the past month.   Thursday we're out at 1:30 with 3 other groups.  Friday it's at 11:30 and 5:00, also with 3 other groups.  Saturday it's 10:05 and Sunday it's 1:55.  Was going to leave early Thursday morning but the weather forecast is not looking good.  So I think it's going to be Wednesday.  That's the plan for now.

Gears done

That's just about it.  Run the motor and check for leaks.

2nd gear...here

It's been a busy last 7 days.

 A new winch for the trailer.  The day I bought the trailer
I knew this was on it's last legs.One less thing to worry about.

At last I received my much need gears.  There used but look new.
A good ratio for all the tracks.

The truck need a bigger transmission oil cooler.  My smoking problem was the trans getting to hot and leaking on the exhaust pipe.  Only happening on very hot days and towing.  

Here's the solution.  Bigger trans cooler.  The one on the top
is for a newer Ford, but for the most part will fit in my
 truck(old one on the bottom).  This should fix the problem.

The Suburban had a fuel line leak(rusty line).  So all fuel lines running from the tank to the engine needed replacing.  Not a fun job.

Rolex Monterey Motorsport Reunion 2018 – Day Two F5000 race

Watkins Glen update

Everything is on track.  My 2nd gear should be here by the end of next week. 

2nd gear

This was one of the gears that couldn't be re cut.  Never should have tried to use it.

Radiator repaired

I take it to a shop not to far from home.

It was just a small pin hole.  Repaired.

Pressure tested and no leaks.

Next...Watkins Glen

Still planning on going to Watkins Glen in September with SVRA.  This will be a mixed group of cars with maybe another F5000 car.  Two things the car need are 2nd gear and repair a leak in the radiator.  The leak I discovered as I was loading the car on the trailer for Road America.  One can of stop leaked was good the weekend,  but now I have the time for the repair.

The shop is just a little messy.  All my tools and parts are packed for traveling. 

2018 Road America rap up.

Race weekend went well.  Very little work on the car, still had no 2nd gear, but not really missed.  It was good to get back into the car after Mosport.  Hadn't been to Road America for the past 5 years.  The first qualifying session I did a 2:40 and by the end of the weekend I was down to a 2:25.  This match my 2013 lap, but I did do a 2:22 in 2011.  One thing for sure, either do more races or sell the car.  It's a waste of time and money not to race more often.
So the next couple of weeks will be taking care of all those other things that get in the way of racing.  So the plan is to go to Watkins Glen in September. 

I've put the photos in a Google album.  It starts with the trip there, some race photos, the trip in town and more race photos.  Enjoy!
Click here for photos from Road America 2018

Home

I know I always say this, but it's good to be home.   Uneventful trip, the trailer worked well with not problems.  The truck better work well for a 2018 model.   More about the race weekend later.

Road America Sunday report

I can't remember when I had so much fun on a race weekend.  I spent very little time working on the car.  The only repair was the the rear wing end plate.  The rivets holding the plate on started to break and the plate was flapping in the wind.  Removed the broken rivets and installed new ones in less than an hour. The race on Sunday was fun and more about that when we get home.  Got to the hotel around 1am this morning and have another 600 mile to go today.  Looking forward to getting home.

All the drives received a medal from Brian Redman.

Road America Saturday report

This morning qualifying went well.  I kept lowering my lap times and the car is feeling more comfortable.  The afternoon race was canceled because of rain.  So today we race at 1pm.  Looks like good weather.

Friday report

It did rain a little during our practice session so that was cut short.  The afternoon went better, again getting use to the track and more comfortable in the car. See what today brings.  There is more to post plus more photos but got in late last night and really didn't have the  time.