Good Morning Friends,
Made the pull up to Connelsville National leaving at noon for the six hour
run. Got on the PA turnpike and at the entrance ramp saw a fellow class
competitors car parked. I stopped to offer assistance. The tow vehicle (89
Blazer) had blown its torque converter, thrown fluid all over the place and
ignited, starting a pretty good fire in the engine compartment. Todd had
called his crew and they were bringing another tow vehicle to pick up the
race trailer and he had already made arrangements to have the Blazer towed.
We loaded up most of his gear into my motorhome and his mother caught a
ride with me the rest of the way to the track. Todd would be along in a
couple hours.
We got to registration and signed in my competitors mother on my crew, so
she wouldn't have to wait to get in! Had a good laugh about that twist.
Through registration and find there were a total of nine EP cars
registered. The best turnout I'd seen at a SCCA event.
I had new EGT guages installed along with a pressure gauge on a ducted
airbox that I've been playing with. I was hoping to see a bit of positive
pressure in the box at speed. I 'd been experiencing a high speed miss only
in 4th OD and was starting to think that perhaps there was sufficient
pressure in the airbox to overcome the 3-4 lbs of fuel line pressure. This
idea was reinforced by the cars ability to pull well up to 7200 rpm in 3rd
od and 4th direct. I took along a new high volume fuel pump to be installed
if I needed it.
Well the practice session was going along pretty well, I had run about ten
laps and was really starting to work into a rhythm. The "miss" now seemed
to be a small and somewhat infrequent burst of power, perhaps. I can't
describe it really. I would be running along pretty normally and the sound
of the engine would change for a brief moment. It felt more like a surge
than anything else. It only happened in 4th od. All I can think of is that
there must be some type of system resonance where the car speed and the
harmonics of the airbox and duct all seemed to work together once in a
while. I never noticed any positive pressure on the guage....
Anyway, I came out of turn three, a long ,full power, left hand sweeper
then into a short straight and, whoosh!...a ball of fire comes out from
around my feet and back across the cockpit. I react by hitting the brakes
hard, no traffic around. The car starts to rotate so I ease off on the
brake petal and resolve myself to the fact that I really can't get out of
the car until I bring it to a stop. And I'll have to do this with a major
fire going on in my footwell. I pull the fire bottle cable but don't notice
much difference. Then I remember drivers school where they tell you to park
the car near a corner worker if you are on fire. I drive straight to a
worker in turn four all the time thinking that I want to get out. It must
have been Todd's mishap the day before, but somehow I think the small
transmission leak that I've had all season has become a major one and the
exhaust pipe has ignited some trans fluid. Anyway it seems like a very long
time before I get to the corner worker, get the harness unfastened and get
out of the car. Flames are coming from under the hood now. I get out and
first check my legs. They are fine, the suit is singed and the shoes feel
hot. The shoe laces are melted but nothing is burning. Then I go over to
the corner worker who hasn't made a move. I ask him if he has a fire bottle
and he tells me no, that they are sending the fire truck. In the meantime,
a couple workers from back on the straight section are headed over with a
bottle. We lift the hood and they discharge the bottle into the compartment
without any real abatement of the fire. By now the fire has burned though
the right front fender, the passenger compartment is going, all the plastic
guages are melting.....
Then it occurs to me that, in my haste to get out, I had not turned the
fuel pumps off!
The fire truck finally got to the scene. It seemed like forever and I
haven't felt so helpless and stupid since grade school. The car just sat
there and burned. AUGHHHH.....
Back in the paddock I find the brass fuel feed tube to the rear float
chamber had broken (vibration?) at the point where it is pressed into the
float chamber lid. It looked like the hose came to rest on the Tilton
master assembly and spewed fuel down through the openings for the petals.
Damage is pretty much limited to body panels, rubber and plastic, wiring,
dash, mirrors and guages. The steering wheel is history. Without close
inspection, it appears that the carb bodies and intake are not distorted.
The paint is burnt off the tub. And all of the plating and anodized
aluminum is corroding. I suppose all the braided lines should be replaced.
I'm sure I'll find more when I get into it.
I hope to make the July 4-5 National at Lime Rock.
I'll post an update on the axle project in a day or two.
With a singed ego in Virginia....
Chip
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