Finally getting around to replying... :-)
--- matt_murray@earthlink.net wrote:
> As of trophy presentations tonight, Tommy Reagan was DSQ'ed in FSP. ESP is
> okay first through ninth. All others were resolved (FML was timing).
Interesting. My co-driver and car owner (Rich Windberg) and I were in
identical situations since
we competed in the same car. Not sure what happened at the Wed. night
presentations 'cause we
left early, but it's weird if only one of us was listed as being DQ'ed. Ah
well, no big deal....
Nonetheless, I'd like to say a little something about what happened this past
week since I, nor
Richard, are/have been/or ever will be cheaters and I'd like to state our case
in our defense. :-)
Let me preface this by saying I am no VW Scirocco expert. I simply co-drive
one with my friend
who _does_ know VWs very well. I know pony cars pretty well, but FWD German
cars are a completely
new thing to me as of this season, so bear with me. :-)
Protested items on the Scirocco were, IIRC:
- Illegal hydraulic cam/head instead of the commonly used solid tappet cam/head
- Modified final drive ratio (we shifted ALOT, which prompted this one)
- Illegal torque suppression device
- Side molding (door ding strip) was removed
- Heater control knobs missing from dash
We were only concerned with the cylinder head protest 'cause after much debate
among other VW
enthusiasts, it was the general consensus that while a hydraulic cam cylinder
head was available
on certain later model 8V Sciroccos (making it SP legal), acquiring
documentation to prove this
was looking to be exceptionally difficult. :-\
Rich and I found ourselves spending the rest of the afternoon on Wednesday in
the protest hangar.
Oh joy! It was a first for me and, I think, for Rich, too. The torque
suppression device was
deemed legal. The items less critical to performance (namely the molding and
switches) were only
marginally addressed because the main spotlight was on the cylinder head. We
had friends
searching high and low (as were we as much as possible), but we were coming up
empty.
Eventually, it looked bleaker and bleaker that we'd get the info we needed to
back it up even
though we had a P/N for a hydraulic lifter from a 198X Scirocco (Thanks,
Gary!). Unfortunately,
that wasn't sufficient evidence. :-( Rather than prevent other folks from
walking across the
stage later that night and knowing our cause was not looking good, Rich and I
elected to be put on
the mercy of the Protest Committee, who then decided to DQ our runs. We
understand their
decision, as without sufficient evidence, they had no real choice but to
determine the head
illegal. I'm sure I would've done the same thing had I been in their shoes.
To say the least, Rich and I are very disappointed this all happened. There
was no malicious
intent and judging by what all the other FSP drivers were telling us, they know
that that was the
case. BTW, a big thanks to all the FSPers who showed us support through this
ordeal. Your
"congratulations" and good wishes were very much appreciated by Rich and
myself!! Reminded me of
the great comradry I've shared with all the guys and gals in CP. Thanks for
that... :-)
Regarding the final drive ratio, I'll say this. It's a stock 5 speed transaxle
(3.8X, I think?).
The reason we're shifting to 3rd gear all the time is simply because this
hydraulic cam/head
doesn't rev and we're running short 225/45-13's. We shift by 6000 rpm and if
we're lucky we can
stretch it out to 6500 rpm, not that there's any power up there. We have to
rely on a pretty
decent midrange torque output instead. That's why we were shfting into third
on the front stretch
on the north course....something I later saw other FSP folks doing, BTW. :-)
We went to 3rd four
separate times on the north course, twice on the south course.
Over the next few weeks, the car will be dynoed in its current state of tune
with the hydraulic
cam/head. Then we'll locate a more desirable solid cam/head and slap it on and
dyno it again for
a comparison. Following that will be a full shortblock build-up (the current
one has over 200,000
miles!) to the extent of the SP rules. We'll dyno it, too. Anyone who is
interested is welcome
to see the graphs. I might even just scan them and post them on my site.
We're very confident
that it'll make more power than our current combo. :-D
Anyway, thanks for letting me ramble. I feel better now.... :-)
Tommy Regan
FSP #45
P.S. I understand that some documentation may have since been found to show
that the hydraulic
cam/head came on '87 or '88 Sciroccos. If anyone can confirm, I'd love to hear
about it! Thanks!
=====
www.reganracing.com
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