[Fot] Beaten by equipment

Greg Solow gregmogdoc at surfnetusa.com
Thu Sep 18 12:40:41 MDT 2008


The oil cooler failure was most likely caused by incorrect routing of the oil flow caused by an oil cooler line adaptor that routes the oil through the oil cooler before it goes past the oil pressure relief valve. It must go past the oil pressure relief valve first so that the valve will open and reduce the pressure when the engine & oil is very cold & thick. When it goes through the cooler first, the cold oil pressure has "surges" that travel through the lines & pressurze the cooler  to levels most likely exceeding 200 psi!  A number or years ago we blew up 3 coolers in a row in similar circumstances before we figured out what the problem was!.  
    We now have proper oil cooler adaptor blocks available that route the oil correctly so this will not happen. They are tapped for 1/2 pipe threads so adaptors for whatever lines you are using can be fitted. The plates are machines from billets of 7075-T6 aluminum. They sell for $90.00 without fittings. The oil lines exit the block to the top and rear. The cleanest installation is done using one 90 degree hose end and one 120 degree hose end, then running the hoses forward along the oil pan rail on the left side of the engine. 
                                                                                                        Greg Solow    
                                                                                                        The Engine Room
                                                                                                        Santa Cruz, Ca.
                                                                                                        831 429-1800
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Greg - Lunker Hilyer 
  To: BillDentin at aol.com ; Friends of Triumph 
  Sent: Monday, September 15, 2008 10:28 PM
  Subject: Re: [Fot] Beaten by equipment


  Oddly, turn 1 is the same as before [so I've ben told - never been there before] as is 2- 7 I think. Logical place to call turn one is currently called turn 12. It was more than a bit confusing as they gave the green at 1 and the checkered before 12 of 13. And on different sides of the track, apparently depending on if the person with the flag was right or left handed I guess. Still flat-out thru 1-3 if I ignored the vibration. Turn 7 [I think] is a 300 degree right that looks great on paper but is actually a bit of a bore. Still a very fast track but not particularly challenging in my opinion - 2 sessions and I knew it as well as the first 2 years on my home track of Sandia.


  Greg "Lunker" Hilyer
  TR4 #314
  Albuquerque NM 

  On Sep 15, 2008, at 7:27 PM, BillDentin at aol.com wrote:


    Greg...

    Had you ever raced BRAINERD before?  They just re-configured that track, and (in my opinion) lost their signature corner (old Turn ONE, advertised as wide open in ANY car).  I've not raced the new track yet, and I am interested in comments concerning the new foot print.

    Bill Dentinger


    In a message dated 9/15/2008 7:57:35 P.M. Central Daylight Time, lunkercars at earthlink.net writes:
      Hello all,
      Beaten by equipment...
      My previous posting from Brainard quoted the common wisdom "you  
      gotta' finish to win". Well, I was reminded that you gotta' start to  
      finish. Sunday at Brainard shaped up to be what I would call "ideal  
      conditions"... cold, wet and basically miserable enough that only  
      fools/idiots/& the die-hards like me [3 in 1] would dare go out -  
      perfect. Not sure if excessive oil pressure from the 40ish temp on my  
      20W50 caused it [doubtful] or if it was just it's time, but upon  
      startup for the sunday race the oil cooler chose to rupture in the  
      pits and that was the end of that. Could have by-passed it for the  
      next race but it was canceled due to conditions too perfect for me to  
      even imagine. Oh well - finding out that the top 4 finishers behind  
      me on saturday are all ice racers boosted my ego enough and knowing  
      that they were all gunning for me might not have made sunday quite as  
      enjoyable as saturday.
      Interesting to note that that although I do buy better that 50% of my  
      perts from Moss, 100% of my failures have been from parts they have  
      supplied. Once again, my cheepo nature has proven to be false  
      economy  and bitten me in the butt.
      Now on to good vibrations and bad vibrations. The Beach Boys told us  
      about the good ones but some aren't and never will be. First time I  
      ever felt the bad one was at Watkins Glen. It may well have existed  
      before but my car has never been on a track that fast. So far as my  
      butt and brain can tell, it doesn't come on until somewhere beyond  
      100mph. After getting the driveshaft straightened last week I thought  
      I had surely got to the problem. First couple sessions at Brainard  
      felt good but that proved to be a combination of wishful thinking and  
      not going fast enough. It's still there. For a time at The Glen and  
      again at Brainard I almost convinced myself that it was 4th gear only  
      but I am now pretty sure that it is only dependent on road speed -  
      i.e., it's felt near redline in 3rd and only gets worse as 4th  
      progresses. Scared the speed right out of me the first time I felt it  
      come on, but after many teeth grinding laps with nothing coming thru  
      the block [convinced it's not engine related], the trans. case, or  
      thru the floor, I've lived with it thru the last two races. Doesn't  
      mean I like it and that combined with a bum oil cooler, moody starter  
      [thanks again Moss Motors] and exorbitant entry fees, will likely  
      keep me from going to Road America.
      Any Ideas? The drive-shaft straightening didn't seem to do anything.  
      I've run it on 3 different sets of tires and wheels, so that's not  
      it. U-joints are fine [by all appearances], can't find any slop in  
      the trans. output shaft or the diff, input [pinion] shaft nor any run- 
      out  on the input shaft flange or axles. Defiantly not coming from  
      the front as it is not transmitted thru the steering wheel. Rear axle  
      bearings seem to be in fine shape.
      The engine is fresh and in good balance. The trans. is new to me  
      [close ratio in a TR6 case] but no recognized problems from the  
      previous FoT owner. I have given the original, stock, open. 3.70  
      differential a hard life since it's early retirement but I still  
      can't see how that would figure in. The only unknown is my frozen  
      axle shafts... As part of my recent "freshening", I sent the crank  
      shaft [more on that later], stub axles, front hubs, rear hubs and  
      half shafts  to Controlled Thermal Processing [http://metal-wear.com]  
      to be cryogenically frozen [-300f/+300f in a 68 hour process].  Being  
      unknown voodoo, I'm creating a scenario where the axle[s] have a bow  
      in it [them] causing a imbalance, causing the vibration but not  
      detectable from the flange end - not very likely but I'm grasping at  
      straws here [oh yea, I'm still in the mid-west so it must be corn].
      Please believe me, at this point I am willing to consider any ideas  
      regardless how far fetched. And maybe one [some] of you know what I'm  
      feeling and have the spot-on answer.

      Greg "Lunker" Hilyer
      TR4 #314
      Albuquerque NM 
               
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