JeffersonRaley

heh heh - I'll keep an eye out. My new head should be here in 2 weeks, so there is a chance I'll have the car back on track in time to run TWS one more time.

Thanks for posting. You've definitely convinced me to buy a HANS, but I have to say there are easier ways to do it! It is still shocking how hard that car pulled. Watching the speedo climb still cracks me up. It would have been amazing to get more time so that you could really lean on the tires. You were learning the track quickly. But mostly I'm just glad you're recovering - and also that it didn't happen in turn 7, 6, 1 or 15.

I agree with Dave W. Mine (Birkin) just has rubber washers to absorb vibrations. Most other cars I've built use some sort of rubber lined clamp. IIRC some of the Japanese cars I've worked on bolted the radiator housing directly to the frame, but I always use some sort of vibration isolation.

Good thought. This head doesn't use dowels though. I think a quick resurfacing would solve the problem. I've pretty much convinced myself to get the better Massive head though. It just feels so unproductive to put a car back together without making it faster.

Thanks ropaSeven

Unfortunately the surface has quite a bit of roughness - nicks from where the mechanic set it down on hard surfaces. I could probably get it resurfaced and use the current head. It is possible that I'm looking for an excuse to buy a better flowing head with bigger valves.

No, not like the massive head Vettel has after last weekend.... Massive Portwerks heads. I have not been able to get the head to seal on my Duratec, despite using a Cometic MLS and ARP studs. At this point I either need to get my head machined, or just replace it. And if I replace it I can get moar powah. So, you know, that seems like the way to go. That is, depending on what sort of experience people have had with Massive.... If not them I might go with Burton Power or Premier. But I'd rather not have to ship from UK.

It is surprising to me too, and I was in it. The impact was incredibly hard. Easily the worst impact I've ever felt in 15+ years of racing and instructing. I think the difference is that this impact was from the bottom of the car hitting the ground, so there were no crumple zones to get damaged absorbing impact. Shane got the worst of it because the suspension collapsed completely on his side. I had at least a few inches of suspension travel to soften the blow, and I am still very sore. So let that be a lesson to us all. When given the choice hit something soft like a port-a-poty rather than something hard like the planet.

That was the most exciting ride I've had in a while - even before we launched off the track. Shane's a hoot to ride with, and the car is nothing short of astonishing. Glad to hear you're feeling well enough to get on the boards Shane. Keep up the healing. Funny thing - I can still tell you the exact notes I was planning to give you on T15 and T14. I guess I can clear those memory slots since TWS gets demolished in June.

want! I voted

I spent some time researching this before I bought my Seven. My interpretation was that as long as the car was a replica of a legal production car, you're fine. Anything that wasn't had to register as an "assembled car" and have all of the required safety equipment for the year it was assembled. That made me worried about Atoms, Zenos, etc. Emissions is one thing, and fairly easy to pass. But it would be prohibitive (and dangerto add airbags. I agree that it is weird for such a red state that theoretically should be against government overreach. My experience of Texas is that they are all for banning things typical suburban housewives don't approve of (low production cars, gay marriage, marijuana use, buying alcohol on Sundays, recycling, science, literacy....) Wait - did I just jump a political shark? I love my state, but I also live in Austin.

No red mist at all. Shane was driving extremely well and not over his head. The car just broke.

Thanks Mike. I'm mostly just very sore - really got lucky on that one. I think Shane feels pretty bad about it (on top of the obvious physical pain). In reality he did everything right and saved us from much worse injury.

Those of you who know XCarGuy/Shane may want to send him a note to wish him well. He had an accident in his Seven this morning and sustained a pretty serious injury. He'll be ok, but it will take some time for him to recover. It isn't for me to give any of the details, but I can say that I was in the car when it happened. Shane did not cause the accident, and he reacted exactly right. We both could have been hurt pretty badly if he had reacted differently. He's a very impressive driver, and I hope to ride with him again once he recovers.

@Papak - I just dealt with this over the weekend when replacing my head gasket. The bolt that locks the crank should be sufficient. Note that you may want to replace the diamond washers that lock the valve timing gear to the crank and the pulley to the crank. There is no keyway on either of those, so if the diamond washers are worn they may not lock things down properly, leading to BOOM. Another thing, the locking bolt only prevents the crank from turning clockwise, not counter. You can actually see it hit the flat part of the crank counterbalance with the timing cover off to make sure you have everything happily at TDC. Reading this, now I wish I checked whether I still have balance shafts when I had the motor apart! I didn't even think to look...

No worries - apparently we're fine as long as we're not in an RX7.

Scary. I am guessing it was a loose fuel line. I've had a couple of cars catch fire while I was on track, but nothing remotely like that. One was my old 1st gen RX7 with old apex seals. It would dump enough fuel out the exhaust to light the rear bumper. The other was my current 1st gen RX7 with a 302. The exhaust set the passenger floor paint on fire. Maybe I should by fire systems for my cars....

@KitKat - thanks. I went ahead and replaced the Redline pan with an AT Power dry sump when I rebuilt the motor. I've checked all of the other fasteners, and have started the (slow) process of safety wiring key bolts. Everything else is getting Locktite as I put it back together. Yesterday when I pulled the crake pulley off I discovered that TMW had left out the diamond coated friction washers. These are absolutely critical to Duratecs since there is no keyway on the timing chain sprocket. Glad I found that one the easy way!

AstroBob - glad you're enjoying the R888s. Great tires! I've always been a fan of Toyo R compounds. In my experience the R888s are better at their peak, and the RA1s are more consistent over many heat cycles. RA1s show almost no degradation in performance until the cord starts peeking through.

Wow - I didn't expect such a response. For the record, I second everyone's comments about Dick being a nice guy and helpful. I also second, third and forth the comments about his mechanic taking shortcuts and doing a poor job. I'm removing the head today and the new gasket should arrive today or tomorrow. So hopefully I'll have it back on the road & track shortly. Then I'll definitely take you up on a MSRC meetup XCar. I'm a member at HHR too, so we could do a day there as well.

I have hesitated posting this for a long time because I really didn't want to damage someone's reputation unfairly. On the other hand, I don't want to hide useful information from the Seven community. Last year I bought a used 2010 Birkin. Unfortunately the motor ate its bearings at a track event about a month into ownership. I decided to have a shop do the work since I had a lot of other car projects on my plate at the time and wanted the car back fast . I also wanted to add a dry sump, forged internals and higher compression pistons. I chose Texas Motor Works to do the work since I live in Texas. They originally built the car, and my logic was that their experience would help ensure a fast and high quality job. TMW subcontracted the work to their normal mechanic, with terrible results. The work took 5 months, including months of "it should be ready this weekend". When they finally said the car was ready to pick up, I arrived to find that it was still being reassembled. Despite taking so long, there were many examples of shoddy work including: - Oil pressure on the dry sump pump set far too low (10 psi at idle) - Oil cooler did not fit under the nose cone - Oil leaks in front timing cover - Bolts had been RtV'd into the timing cover to plug holes that were leaking oil (didn't work) - Electric water pump ran constantly, even when key was out - Electric cooling fan wired incorrectly and never came on - Missing bezels and interior pieces - Various gauges not connected - Various loose bolts (like engine mounts) - MAP vacuum line not connected to ECU - Alternator was loose (causing it to fail a few weeks later) - Alternator electrical connection was broken and zip tied in place - After less than 1000 miles the head gasket is leaking I am sure there were other things that I've forgotten to list. I've fixed most of the issues since the car came home. This week I'll replace the head gasket and hopefully that will be the last of it. I know a lot of you know TMW well, and Dick has always been friendly with me in conversation. I may even continue to buy parts from him when I can't get them from BirkinDirect. But his mechanic will never come near my car again.

Thanks KitKat and ropaSeven. I ended up buying one from Dick since he still has them in stock and is close to me. The new alternator is on the car and I should be able to do some more testing at Harris Hill Road this weekend.

KitKat - Did you ever find an answer for this? My alt just died today.

I think the Zenos is a really interesting option. Similar in concept to the Seven, but with aero that doesn't try to get airborne at high speed. A 40/60 weight distribution is pretty much perfect (definitely preferred over 50/50). I suspect the Zenos is a lot safer in impacts too. The Zenos is heavier, so I'd have to budget for a bigger motor to stay in the 5lbs/bhp realm. I figure the way I'd spec mine it would be $50-60k, which isn't all that much more than I have in my used Birkin.

Thanks guys - planning to call Dick on Monday if I get a break between meetings. Was hoping to order the parts this weekend and neither TMW nor BirkinDirect-USA have online ordering.