Tires here, gears not

The tires are here and I'll mount them next week after the show. However, the gears and dog rings are not. The company that makes the dog rings is out of stock and the machine they use to manufacture them is waiting for replacement parts. So they're not sure when they will be back up and running. Still waiting on the gears from England.

So plan "B" is to leave the gears out and just place the cover on back of the gearbox for the car show. Then Monday pull everything apart and wait. I'll get the dog rings from another source.

Getting ready for the car show

A lot easier getting ready for a show than a race. The Watkins Glen event is being hosted by "Historic Motorsport Productions" (HMP), a new vintage racing group started by Bobby Rahal last year. I talked to Michele at HMP and she's sending me brochures, some give aways and the ability to purchase discounted tickets for the Watkins Glen race. Now I have a little more promotional material for the car show. Think it's going to be a fun show, and I heard the weather is to be sunny.

HMP site:
http://www.legendsofmotorsports.com/

Goodyear tires on the way

Got a phone call yesterday from SascoSports http://www.sascosports.com/ They have the Goodyear tires I use and should have them here today or tomorrow. That was a close one, I had talked to tire dealers on the East and West coast with the same results, "on back order". I really had started to accept the idea that my old tires might see another race. Now to find out where my gears and dog rings are.

Waiting for parts

We'll, this week I hope to receive the gears and dog rings. I still have 2 weeks before Watkins Glen, so time is on my side for now.
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In the meantime I'll check the valve adjustment, and install the new spark plugs.

Car show next Sunday

I'm going to bring the Lola to the "Memorial Motor Madness" Car Show in Hackettstown, NJ on May 30. It's a big show at the M&M Mars factory parking lot. Their 100's of cars, trucks and a little bit of everything. The show is only 10 minutes from the house and a good place to promote the F5000 cars and the race at Watkins Glen in June (10-13). So let's hope for sunny weather.

Car show web site:
http://www.hackettstownrotary.org/carshow2010.php

Looking for Mr Goodyear

The Goodyear tires I need are still on back order. I guess it's just a wait and see for now.

Cleaning

Not much I can do until the dog rings and gears arrive.

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Cleaning up all the odds and ends that have been getting covered in oil. I'm starting to think that the oil tank is not large enough for this application.

Weekend off

No work on the car this past weekend.
Waiting for the gear set will keep the rear of the car disassembled. So this week do a little de-greasing, order the spark plugs, pickup oil and the oil filter and buy race gas.

Gears

The hunt is on again. I'm still trying to get the proper gears for Watkins Glen. Watkins Glen and Road Atlanta are similar tracks so if the gearing was not right at Atlanta, I know it's no good for the glen. Chuck Haines might have found a gear set, it's in England. I won't know until next week if it's available. Another lesson learned, if you see a good used set on ebay, buy it.

Oil tank

Besides the problem with the oil overflowing into the catch can, the top of the oil tank was leaking. This was making a big oily mess at the back of the car. It was requiring a lot of time and paper towels to cleanup after every session.

Removed the oil tank, plugged the lines and added some cleaning solvent and turned it upside down. The solvent leaked out at the cap.

Sure enough, their was a hole that someone drilled as a vent. In this application you don't need a vent hole. In fact the idea is not to let oil leak onto the track. That is what the catch cans are for. To hold excess liquids.

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Soldered the hole closed, this should stop the leak.

Gearbox

Disassembled the gearbox and other than the dog rings, I noticed no other damage. So I'm assuming that's the problem and will order 2 new dogs today.

If you're shifting the transmission and hear a grinding, the dog ring is making the grinding noise against the gear. The teeth on the dog ring lock on to the side of the gear.

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Dog ring

Monday and it's back to work.

Started on the routine maintenance, oil and filter change. Going to install a new set of spark plugs for the Watkins Glen. The engine runs on the rich side and the plugs foul easily. Hoping by the end of the day the I'll have answer on the gearbox problem.

Happy Mothers Day.

Happy Mothers day to all the Moms out there.

3rd gear?

Just got the car back in the shop, wasn't planning to start until mid-next week. But the more I thought about the gearbox, the more I figured I better get started on it now. If 3rd gear turns in to a big problem, the gearbox will have to go back to Indiana to repair.

More Mitty photos

Found a few photos from Sunday's race on another web site.
Sunday's F5000 race photos