It's been tough this year... It all started when I decided it would be good
to disassemble my car and check the frame for cracks. I did that and found
several places that needed to be welded, made the car more comfortable, and
replaced some rod ends with ones that didn't sound like maracas. I
completed the work just prior to my regions (Southern West Virginia Region)
third event. I got a parade lap and about 5 feet of the course finished
before I shattered a sprocket hub (no spare then, but I have a spare
now...). Second time out was a GEEZ school in Philly and I sheared a 1/4"
key at the end of the first day. No big deal I was able to get the second
day in without my car thanks to some of the other students in the class.
Took the car home and fixed the key, replaced some others and lowered the
front of the car a bit. I checked the camber on the front but I didn't have
enough room in the garage to check toe :-( Other than that the car just sat
there waiting while I did other things (I really hate it when life gets in
the way of my hobby).
I left the house Thursday night at around 21:30, as I was winching the car
up on the truck I noticed a small puddle of oil on the floor and made a
mental note to check it out when I got to Rome. I arrived around 05:00 and
slept for a couple of hours. Found the site and started to unload the car.
I'm glad I remembered the leak because it turned out that one of the oil
injection lines, for the rebuilt motor I put in over the winter, was rotten
and came apart when I touched it. Oh well, I happened to bring along a
spare motor, I just stole one of the injection lines from that unit.
Problem solved.
The reason I left so late at night was to make it to Rome to run the car
prior to the event and verify that the changes I had made were going to
work. Just about the time I finished the oil injection line job, the first
storm rolled through. It rained off and on all day long and I never did get
the car out. At about 15:00 I gave up waiting for a break in the weather
and took my car to tech. Everything passed. Except for a verrry slightly
loose bearing on the right front hub. I tried tightening things up a bit
but it still wobbled just a little bit. Barely noticeable. No one at the
site had a suitable replacement. After 3 stops (Advanced, AutoZone, NAPA)
and about 20 miles of driving the NAPA guy found one at an industrial supply
place. By this time it was about 16:30 on a Friday afternoon. He gave me
directions and I was on my way. Almost. There seemed to be an awful lot of
cars around for such a small town... I called the place (Camen Tech. in
case you're ever in Rome, NY and need a bearing) and one of the employees
promised he'd give me some extra time to make it over there. Paid for the
bearing, put it on the car, passed tech. Tough day. I headed to the
campground, checked in, took a shower and went to bed.
It was a bit cool the next morning but the sun was shining and the birds
were singing. I got back to the site around 07:00, walked the course a
couple of times (I still have trouble playing that back stretch from
Saturday in my head), talked to a few people, met some others in my class,
and had some breakfast. I watched most of the first heat and then went back
to check out the car. Up to this point, I hadn't ever really looked at the
suspension from a distance. As I was eyeing things up I noticed an awful
lot of toe out. No problem. Since I wasn't able to measure it in the
garage I can expect it to be off a bit. I got it adjusted all the way in
on every rod end but one (apparently the threads didn't go deep enough on
that one) and ended up with about 3/16" toe out. I used to like 1/8"-1/16"
so that was OK for now. As I was reassembling the tie rod one of the
spacers fell into the steering arm (it's still there) so I had to dig around
for some washers to make up for the gap left behind. By this time we are
about halfway into heat 2 and I am supposed to be in grid. I gathered my
paraphernalia and get in to start the car. Click, s**t, click, S**T. I had
to pull start it this time but it started with no problems.
I got to my grid spot and was wandering around grid meeting some of the
other FM drivers I hadn't had time to meet (you've already heard why...).
One of the other guys comes by and asks me what the track width on my car is
set to. "I dunno", was my response, I hadn't ever measured the track
because I hadn't ever changed it. We went to look at it and had several
other people look at it and everyone seemed to think it was OK, but I really
wanted to know so I went to get my tape measure. 56" was the verdict and
the rules say 55". Apparently the car has been illegal since I got it and I
(nor anyone else) ever noticed. No problem, everyone agreed to ignore it
this time. It bothered me, but I figured I would worry about it later.
First run the starter worked great. I thought the battery must be getting
weak. I ran a 42.034. Not too bad a run but lots of room for improvement.
Just before I left for the course I noticed the car next to me with several
people around it. When I got back it was in pieces in grid. His starter
had gone out on him the night before and the pull start had broken while
trying to start it for his run. Since I had a spare motor I offered my
other pull start and they got it on his car in time for him to make his last
2 runs.
Second run was better but I know that there was probably at least 1.5
seconds of time I left on the course. I pushed a bit into one of the
offsets, got sideways in the turn around when the car got a little light
going over the crown, and then I was late for the turn in to the final
slalom and had to brake too much to reel it in. My time was a 40.538. The
leaders were into the 39's and I was pretty sure I could get there if I
cleaned up the 3 mistakes (and didn't make any others).
Third run I got into the car and Click, s**t, click, S**T. No big deal,
plenty of people around. I had someone pull start it for me and on the
first pull the cord broke :-(. No problem I'll get one of those jumper
boxes and jump the car. I had to hunt a bit but I found one and hooked it
up. Click, s**t, click, S**T. Steve offered to pull my spare starter off of
his car so I could use it but by that time my mechanical would be up.
Steven Rosenberg had offered me his car earlier so I hopped in, well, I
squeezed my fat butt into a skinny butt kind of car. He's also a little bit
shorter than I am so it was pretty cramped. Faster than my first run but
not my second. Oh well, at least I got to run in a well setup, more
powerful car. (He has a Rotax 500, I am still using the old Kawasaki 440).
Got weighed in impound right at 750 (my min weight) and made a mental note
to put more gas in for Sunday.
The problem with the starter turned out to be a heat shield (which I had
moved in the rebuild) touching the post on the starter and grounding it out.
I stuck a screwdriver in between and pried it apart and the car started
right up. There were a few things in the way, but after removing them,
repairing/rerouting the wire, pounding in the heat shield, and fixing
another questionable lead I was back in business.
Almost. One of the comments that most FM drivers have had in the recent
past about my car is how loose my drive belt looks/feels. I've run the same
belt for almost 3 years and it has always been that way. It worked pretty
well but since it was the only belt I had ever experienced on my car I had
nothing with which to compare it. Everyone suggested a shorter belt since I
was at the adjustment limit for the car. Jeff Blumenthal happened to have a
used one that he gave me to try so I put it on. It was getting late so I
didn't try it out that night. In the meantime Steven Rosenberg had a pair
of new tires mounted on his wheels and he gave me his old ones, which were
in better shape than my good ones. Out of curiosity I checked the offsets
on my second set of fronts and they were different than the wheels that
actually came with the car, in the right direction :-). Over to the Hoosier
trailer to get the "new" tires mounted. Tom (Mid-Atlantic Motorsports) said
he'd have them by Tuesday, I requested Sunday. He said he'd try :-).
After a great meal with some of the other drivers, a couple of beers, and a
good nights rest it was off to the races (err, timed event...). I arrived
at the site, did a quick walk of the course, then another, and went to get
the car ready for the day. Took the cover off and checked everything out
that I had worked on the previous day. All looked good. Started to move
the car so I could test the new belt and just about fell on my butt.
Usually I can move the car very easily but the new shorter belt was too
tight and I was unable to make it roll. I got out the rolling jack and
moved the car around so I could go straight out. It had a little bit of
trouble turning the motor over but I think the battery was just weakened
from the previous days fiasco. The belt seemed to work pretty well. I
stopped by and thanked Jeff and went back to my pit spot. The previous day
Larry Shauf had offered his battery charger if I needed it so I rounded him
up and put the car on the charger. In the meantime I rounded up the tools
to change the belt back if I didn't like the way it worked (it only takes
about 5 minutes to complete the job).
Now the good stuff starts...
I knew almost immediately that I wasn't going to need the tools. It wasn't
a night and day difference, but the mid range throttle response was much
crisper. It's one of the things that I had always felt my car lacked after
driving other peoples cars. Especially the ones that had been setup
professionally. First run was a 37.317+1. I picked off a cone on one of
the offsets coming back. When I was walking the course it seemed like I
would be able to keep the throttle full on and control my speed with the
brakes only. That didn't work. I actually ended up having to lift twice on
the way back. At this point Art Trier was wandering around grid looking for
rags. He'd busted a brake line :-(. He'd run a 35.745 on his first run but
his pedal was spongy. We found the leak and he proceeded to fix it.
Second run was much better and put me closer in times to the leaders in the
class. I ran a 35.336, which if the guys already in front of me didn't get
any better was good enough to move up in the standings a spot. I still
hadn't nailed the turn around right and I bobbled the car on the very first
slalom a bit, so I felt like there was more time on the course for me. The
leaders in the class were all in the 35's (except Steven who couldn't resist
hitting cones on his first 2 runs :-( ), so I was feeling pretty good about
my runs so far.
Third run went very well. I didn't bobble the slalom, I wasn't late for the
offsets, I did the turnaround well, and just barely had to lift on the way
back. 34.821. I was pretty calm through the run but when I got out of the
car my hands were shaking. I love adrenaline! It stuck as the fastest time
for the class for that day and I went from 7th to 4th (A trophy spot :-) ).
Art ended up getting his brake line fixed using tools and help from everyone
around and then the other side started leaking. He declined offers to run
in other cars so his first run was his only run. He would have only had to
go about .08 seconds faster and he would have had that last trophy spot.
The car weighed OK, and we were released from grid. Got the car loaded up,
walked around some, and worked the course 5th heat. Went to the trophy
presentations and talked to a few more people. Left the site about 16:30
and made it home around 00:30.
Peru's next. I hope I can get the time to loosen that belt before the 3rd
of July.
Ron Madurski
FM 124
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