8/11/13
LeMons Again!
In between Elkhart Lake and Monterey, I was invited back to do a LeMons
race with my friends at Team Punisher. A new(er) engine was installed
in car # 405 after it coughed up a rod cap in Monticello. The
spectacular video can be seen here. I met the guys in Danbury at 7am
rode down in one of the tow vehicles bringing two car down to
NJ Motorsports Park in Millville NJ.
Friday was all about building our paddock space, unloading all the
gear, and getting the cars and drivers through tech.
Lemons racing is often about show more than go, even though there is
some serious racing going on out on the track. Some teams have made
creating some fantastic cars into an art form.
One group managed to find a $500 dollar Rolls Royce! It looked great on
the track but pushing all that weight around the track didn't make it
go very fast.
The guys from speedycop.com definitely out did themselves with an
upside-down car. The amount of talent to pull this track car off was
pretty impressive!
Our 917 car won its class last April so we hung all our hopes and
dreams on this car. New brake pads were installed with the best set of
tires. We were bumped up to "B" from "C" class due to our win, but we
felt we could handle the faster run group. The 405 car remained in "C"
because of its DNF.
The race started in Saturday and 917 immediately started having
transmission linkage problems. It took three pit stops to finally
secure the linkage from popping off, but it set us back into 20th
place. The 405 car was holding its position near the top of the field,
so we kept pushing. JJ, driving the 917, picked off car after car, and
towards the end of his run, made up several positions. Soon, both cars
were in the top 10 when disaster struck.
Car 405 radioed in to tell us the car was parked and leaking fluid. The
flatbed dropped the car off at our paddock space and it soon became
apparent from the large hole in the block that we broke another engine.
Mark, our head mechanic, discussed our options with the team.
Between the broken engine and other spare pieces we had in the trailer
we had enough parts to put together one engine, but we all knew it
would be a long night of work. Without a second car, we would lessen
our chances of a good finish and drivers sitting out the race so it was
soon decided as a team to start building another motor!
The blown engine would have to be removed and stripped of one piston,
while the donor block would have to be separated from its bad head and
holed piston. The good head he had in the trailer was readied for the
transplant, and anyone who wasn't getting their hands dirty was
cheering us on with beer and food!
At 1 o'clock in the morning, we had our Frankenstein engine installed,
but she refused to start. We double checked all the connections and
second guessed our sleep deprivation looking for a mistake. As the
diagnosis wore on for almost an hour, the party atmosphere started to
subside when we didn't have any answers to give to the revelers. As the
paddock darkened, Mark and I started to face defeat when we talked over
our issue. We guessed our problem could be related to a bad crank
position sensor, and looked in our pile of parts for a good one. It was
our last ditch effort to make this car start. I can't tell you how good
it felt when that motor caught and fired up under our lone
flood light. We were making a lot of noise at 2am in the Paddock, but
knew there were smiles on the faces of all the racers in their tents
because we all shared in this moment!
The next day, I was slated to drive first. The Frankenstein motor ran
surprisingly well, but we decided to limit revs to 5000 rpm due to the
mis match of used parts, and lack of confidence this motor would hold
together. I had a couple off track excursions trying to get a feel for
the car and the "Thunderbolt" course in NJ. I traded seats with our
second driver so he could get a chance at the wheel, but soon we
received word the 917 car had stopped running. We all knew what that
meant, and waited for the the tow truck to confirm out fears. From the
oil and coolant on the bed of the flatbed, we knew the fate of the 917
car, and sure enough #2 connecting rod was poking through the block.
Car 405 soldiered on with it's cobbled together engine and finished the
race, so we were very happy with our results. Everyone would have loved
to have won, but our personal achievements as a team made me proud. Now
we just have to build from there.
Looking at the broken pieces there is definitely an overheating issue
with the rod bearing on piston #2, Some members on the team think it's
a oil starvation issue and want to baffle the sump, but I think we
should work on getting more oil flow to the #2 rod bearing. What do you
think?
If you're going to be in
Monterey for the Concorso/Quail/Pebble Beach Weekend, feel free to stop
by the Third Annual Tomyang.net Cocktail Party at Quail Lodge on
Thursday August 15th from 5:30pm-8pm. There will be food and a cash bar
to kick off the weekend. It's a great time to meet some of the people
from website, and make plans for the rest of the weekend. See you there!
Reminder: If you have a Ferrari
related project, car, or idea
you'd like to explore, I'd love to talk to you. I can also help if
you're thinking of buying or selling. This website represents what I
love to do, and I would be happy to help guide you through the Vintage
Ferrari world so if you'd like to do
something together, let me know. It all begins with an e-mail!
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