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Pastimes : Car Nut Corner: All About Cars -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Phil(bullrider) who wrote (392)	4/10/2000 12:45:00 AM
From: SI Bob	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 5726

As some of you know, this weekend was my first track time of the season, and the time I was getting my required SCCA schooling and race time to get the racing license. Things, to put it mildly, didn't turn out as planned. I was on the track 3 times Saturday and came in early each time, once because the engine barely felt as strong as the one in my street car, once because I was seeing too little oil pressure, then once when I had to be towed in, two laps into my first race. Here's a pic that was taken during the race: bytor.hypermart.net The car turns out to be quite the handler, and an amazing braker. However, it turned out to be quite a breaker, too. Took a while to get used to the Kumho tires (I'm used to Hoosiers), but once I got the hang of them, it ended up being a lot of fun, although I'm not sure the engine was ever making more than about 250 horses. Plugs said it was running a little rich, but it was acting worse than the plugs were telling me. Still, we went ahead and leaned it out. Plugs were happier, but still not much power. On the 3rd lap of the race, I entered the front straight in pretty good shape, and when I was floored in 3nd at 5000 (about 90-100 mph, if memory serves) and about ready to shift, I heard and felt a loud bang and the cockpit filled with smoke. I had the clutch in and the pin out of the halon system immediately and was just waiting for the lights to go out or for it to get warm enough to warrant mashing the halon trigger. I coasted as close to the exit as I could get, and had to be towed back to the paddock by, of all things, a Chevy truck. The indignity of it all! Spectators and fellow participants told me the car at least put on a real good show until it went kaput, and an even more interesting show after. I don't think Topeka will have much of a mosquito problem this year as a result. I'm sure there are Ford afficionados here who already have surmised just what happened to the car, but let me finish it my way. <g> When we got it back to the trailer, I climbed out, noticed the long trail of oil behind me, then popped the hood. Someone looked in and said "The belt's gone. Couldn't you drive it in without the belt?", and I pointed out that the belt was gone because the pulley on the front of the crank was about 3" closer to the radiator than it was half an hour ago. Yep. Broken crankshaft. With the accompanying extreme ventilation of the block. The engine was freshly built by the previous owner, who raced the car rather successfully on the national level, so I figure he knows how to put a 302 together. Still. Something was definitely wrong since it never made much power, and sure shouldn't have broken the crank in its first 50 miles of life. And I was playing it conservative and had put the 6k limiting chip in the ignition, so it'd never been over-revved. So, I'm bummed. And looking for an engine. Anyone know of a good builder who'll give me a good discount on a strong American Sedan engine (gotta be legal) in return for as much advertising space on the car as they want? <g> And do I need to suspend myself for that question? I hope everyone will understand if I'm a bit surly for a while. ;-) I need my track time to keep myself sane, and not only did I not get enough track time, what little track time I got was awfully expensive. Which leads me to my favorite quote heard at the track this time. When I was paying Charlie Clark (one of my favorite people on earth) for a set of racing gloves (I'd left mine at home), I first asked him if he could break a hundred, then changed my mind and said "I'll pay in small bills. Got too many bills in my pocket." His reply: "Oh, racing will take care of that problem." Bob Addendum: I was so upset today about the racecar, but came up with a good way to feel better about Fords. Fired up the old 2N and spent a couple of hours doing much-needed box-blading. And wore my new racing gloves while I did it. <g> Then box-bladed the track and beat the daylights out of myself and the go-kart on it. Ahhhhhhh... That much fun really should be illegal.