Battery secured

The battery is now secured. This was pointed out to me at Savannah during tech inspection. It needed to be fastened by a metal device. I used a large hose clamp and riveted to a small bracket that was already in the location of the battery. That should satisfy my next tech inspector at Atlanta.

I removed the starter motor. With the headers off, it easy to get to. The starter mounts on the bottom of the engine and is subjected to dirt, sand, water, oil and anything else that goes flying by when on the track or off the track. So it's a good idea to clean and re-lubricate it after a race event.

Gear ratios

Talked to Chuck Haines(he's the guy I got the car from)he handles new and used gear sets for my DG 300 gear box(5 speed). 3 gears sets I already have and 2 I will need to order for Road Atlanta. Chuck has one set in stock and looking for the other. I'll hear from him Monday.

As for the exhaust gaskets, the problem was on the right side of the engine. This picture is the left side. As you can see this one was starting to blow out too. Now is a good time to take a look at the spark plugs. When I removed the one on the left, it had a gap of maybe .010. It should have been .028-.030. In fact if you look in the exhaust port you can see the exhaust valve is shinny from not completely burning the fuel. The one on the right is how it should be.

New exhaust gaskets

Just received the new copper exhaust gaskets, I think these are better suited for my application. Next on the list is to order some gear ratios. I don't have a gear ratio list for Road Atlanta, but the track is similar to Watkins Glen, so I'll start there.

Talked to Jim Coleman the engine builder, had a question on what rpm should I shift at. I had been using 7200 rpm as my shift point. He said it should be 7500-7600 rpm, that way it pulls through the power band, that's good to know before I order more gear ratios.

The work begins

My to do list for Atlanta. When the car went through tech inspection this past event, they noted that the battery needed a metal strap to make it more secure. Right now the seat more or less holds the battery in. No big deal.
Ordered 2 sets of header gaskets, the replacements are heavy duty. Still have that oil leak, I'll work on that today. Another issue was the placement of the my rear view mirrors. Need to rotate them downward more, I was seeing more sky than road.

More photos and videos

A real fast water cooled Super Vee


Plenty of room for parking.




Video
A couple of laps, the last slow lap was a cool off lap. It's a fun track, I think with the right gear ratios, I could have gone a little faster. Now the focus is on Road Atlanta, my next event, April 30.

Home again.

Just a short note. The race(Sunday) went well, no problems and completed all 12 laps. But I do have a list of items that must be taken care of in the next 2 weeks.

Left Savannah around 3:30pm yesterday and arrived home at 8:00am today. I'll get some photos added to the blog later. Now it's time to unload the truck and get the car back in the shop, and maybe get some sleep later.

Going faster...but working harder

Saturday

The morning qualifying session was going well until I was blacked flag for going over the noise limit. So I could not complete the session, but did drop my lap time by another 5 seconds.

So back on went the muffler end pieces. Went out during a hardship practice and didn't exceed the noise limit. But I was hearing a exhaust leak. When I got back I found a exhaust manifold gasket piece missing and also a sizable oil leak, both I believe are related.

Had two hours before my qualifying race to repair the problem, but no replacement gasket' so it was off to the local auto parts store. The had one and also a valve cover gasket that I think was leaking the oil.

I had to remove the exhaust header to replace the gasket. Fortunately no problems arose and the job was completed. But I could not replace the valve cover gasket, so I just tightened down more and crossed my fingers.

Made it to the grid in time, the race was uneventful and the leak had slowed. I'll do a little more work on the car today, and see how it goes. One last race today.

Another good day

Friday

The morning qualifying session was cut short to remove a couple of cars who got together in turn 4. But with the time I had did make a small improvement over Thursday best lap.

The afternoon session had perfect weather, mid 70's. No problems had surfaced in the morning session, but 1/2 way through the afternoon session the tachometer stopped working. I stayed out for a few more laps but didn't want to take a chance on exceeding the rpm the engine was designed for. But I did improve about 4 seconds.
Looked at the tach after I got in, when I turned on the ignition it was working again. Oh well.

Today the weather looks like a repeat of yesterday. I have a qualifying session at 8:45 this morning and a qualifying race this afternoon.

A good day

We had 3 sessions yesterday. In the first session, my main focus was on the mechanics of the car. I really was anticipating a problem, but none surfaced. After the session. went over the car and everything looked good. I now had a lot more confidence, and could work on getting more comfortable in car. In the second session my lap times improved, and it was now all coming back. I was having fun now.

That's Ted Wenz sitting on the tire, he's will known in the racing community for his engines and on occasion, drives a F5000 car..

One nagging problem was engine rpm, it should have no problem reaching 7500, the best was 6100. I suspected the mufflers were to restrictive. If I removed the baffles from the end of the mufflers, this should fix the problem and not increase the noise level too high.

Session 3

Bingo! It felt like the engine had a extra 150 HP and no problem bring it over 7000rpm.

Today their will be 2 session, both are qualifying.

Savannah, GA

Arrived at Roebling Roads race track at around 3pm.

Very nice location and the track looks like fun. I'm all ready for Thursday.

Hillsville, VA

Got a late start yesterday, but now a little more than 1/2 way to Savannah. The weather is like summer. Should arrive at the track later today. Once there we can setup the tent and get ready for the event.

All Packed and ready

The last day packing. Figured on 3 hrs, and it took all day to load the truck. Anyway, it's done.

Retrieved the last of the decals for the helmet, so that's completed also.

Packing for Georgia

That's it, I can't find anymore things to do the car. Placed a cover on it and started to pack parts and tools. Not many spare parts for the car to worry about, really just a nose.
Been watching in car you tube videos of Roebling Roads race track in Georgia. The track is only 2 miles long, but looks like a lot of fun. I'll find out in less than a week.

Last on the list

After 3 years of restoration on the car, I too needed some restoration. The first time in the Lola, I knew I would have to lose weight. I could barely fit. I had certainly put on the pounds since my last race(1994). So last June, it was off to the gym and on a diet. Dropped 50 lbs and the cardio is much improved.


My first time in the car(2007)

I'm Ready!

The suit

With keeping in the 1970's theme. I've added a couple of 1970's patches. From a early photo, I know Ron Dykes(driver 1974-75) had a Justices Bros. patch on the back of his suit. I found a old Justice Bros. jacket on ebay and purchased it and removed the patch.

Speaking of Ron Dykes, he's going to try to attend the Road America event in July. It would be great to get some photos with him in the car.