pethier

At the LOG, the autocross turned out not to be the scored-and-trophied event that we have come to expect from LOGs, with classes and rules made up pretty-much on the spot. (Actually LOG43 gave us more warning about stuff than usual). No, the autocross at LOG44 was essentially an autocross practice day administered by Chin-company personnel. For those as ignorant about Chin as I was until LOG43, they are a company which contracts with racetrack owners to administer track days and parade laps. I do not know if they have offered autoccross practice days for other outfits. I paid 30 dollars to LOG44 as an entry fee to "an autocross". This is not what I got, but this time out it was better than I expected. The upsides for entrants: I did not have to work the course. A guy from Chin was sitting in a side-by-side ATC (faster than a golf cart). If he saw someone hit a cone, they held the start and he motored out there and reset the course. I got to see my time right away. Two guys from Chin were at the start line minding the timer. The timer, sensors and finish-area display box were run on radio, so there were no wires to run into. There was virtually no waiting time to make a run. There was virtually no limit on the number of runs. They were open from noon to 4:00. They didn't care if you had a number on your car. They actually just asked me if I had paid for the autocross. They never checked a list or asked my name. They may have glanced at a wristband I had been given. Since this was the first time I had actually got a chance to go around the cones since there was a Zetec in my seven, it was great to get out there and feel all the torque I had expected. Getting the advantages of the improved cylinder head would have been nice, but the junkyard engine with the Hayabusa injection was doing the business. Thanks again to savagete2860. They had no apparent restrictions on ride-alongs. Downside for entrants: They didn't keep track of anything. There were no classes, no trophies, no awards, no mention of us autocrossers at the banquets. They had no loaner helmets. The guys at the start told someone who asked to go to the track-day desk and rent one. As this was a Chin track day, I assumed that would be 50 bucks a day for an SA helmet. I gave the "asker" the key to my truck to get one of my extra helmets for his SO. I actually had a third helmet for folks to ride with me. ===== This might actually be a way to get more Lotus cars into autocrossing. No whining about having to work. No whining about tiny amount of driving time. Way cheaper than paying for a track day. ===== Discussion about Chin probably deserves its own topic. The Glitch in the next post...

It is now obvious to me that Steve, the builder of the Birkin, (who is now building it into an electric car) followed the Birkin instructions to set up the clutch. The shop transferred the hydraulic clutch system into the Caterham which had used a cable system. The action turned out to be quick, and there was a lot of pedal travel left after the clutch was fully disengaged. After over half a century driving standard-shift cars, I didn't know this was a problem. The is a bolt with a locking nut on the aluminum bell housing which can be adjusted to provide a hard stop as soon as the clutch is disengaged. This bolt was turned all the way in. I assume that a stop was done on Steve's Birkin at the pedal end of the mechanism either by accident or design and Steve autocrossed the car for decades with no trouble. Since I didn't know any better, and the professionals who should have known better didn't, that bolt on the bell housing never got turned out to block the throwout lever at the appropriate place. I seized the engine by using the clutch in the normal manner. I had by this time taken the car to a tuning shop, which had always been the plan. When the engine seized, I brought it back to the tuner, who suspected I had rotory-welded the thrust washer (which I had in my ignorance assumed was a bearing). Tuner suggested I get a junkyard engine to get me through the season. As he dug into the engine, he was surprised to find that the oil pump, which is on the crankshaft on these Zetec engines, had taken the hit. To clarify, it is not that the pump failed and the engine seized due to oil-pressure failure. The pump itself seized and prevented the engine from turning. This is entirely a clutch setup problem which did not harm the clutch but harmed something on the other end of the engine. This engine will come apart and be cleaned and balanced over the winter. The junkyard engine is in the car with the Hayabusa injection working. The clutch throw has been properly limited with the bolt on the bell housing so this can not happen again.

That's the source of my Zetec woes. I had a shop put the Zetec/T9 combo out of a Birkin into my Caterham. It is now obvious to me that Steve, the builder of the Birkin, (who is now building it into an electric car) followed the Birkin instructions to set up the clutch. The shop transferred the hydraulic clutch system into the Caterham which had used a cable system. The action turned out to be quick, and there was a lot of pedal travel left after the clutch was fully disengaged. After over half a century driving standard-shift cars, I didn't know this was a problem. The is a bolt with a locking nut on the aluminum bell housing which can be adjusted to provide a hard stop as soon as the clutch is disengaged. This bolt was turned all the way in. I assume that a stop was done on Steve's Birkin at the pedal end of the mechanism either by accident or design and Steve autocrossed the car for decades with no trouble. Since I didn't know any better, and the professionals who should have known better didn't, that bolt on the bell housing never got turned out to block the throwout lever at the appropriate place. I seized the engine by using the clutch in the normal manner. I had by this time taken the car to a tuning shop, which had always been the plan. When the engine seized, I brought it back to the tuner, who suspected I had rotory-welded the thrust washer (which I had in my ignorance assumed was a bearing). Tuner suggested I get a junkyard engine to get me through the season. As he dug into the engine, he was surprised to find that the oil pump, which is on the crankshaft on these Zetec engines, had taken the hit. To clarify, it is not that the pump failed and the engine seized due to oil-pressure failure. The pump itself seized and prevented the engine from turning. This is entirely a clutch setup problem which did not harm the clutch but harmed something on the other end of the engine. This engine will come apart and be cleaned and balanced over the winter. The junkyard engine is in the car with the Hayabusa injection working. The clutch throw has been properly limited with the bolt on the bell housing so this can not happen again.

Many moons ago on the ShopTalk email list, members warned not to use Simple Green on aluminum at all.

Where do you get carriage bolts that are not made of cheese?

A Twink? That's a restomod. And I suggest you put the flag on the front. The streets are different than the dunes at Pismo Beach. :-)

I know that one.

Don't you own Visegrips?

I don't know if Panasport wheels are available in 14", but the Yokohama tires are available in 185/55R14.

I strongly suggest 15" wheels because of the tires. I have Caterham Prisoner wheels on my car. They are 6.5 x 15. The tires supplied by Caterham were 195/50R15. The exact size is available in the Yokohama A052 tire, which I believe to be the ideal tire for these light cars for street and autocross. They stick when cold and will last a long time on the street on our light cars. It just so happens that I was just offered a set of five Prisoner wheels by a member of this list. I didn't need a second set, but he tempted me with a set of ROH wheels from Australia in 8 x 15 and I could not resist. When I had my 1979 Caterham I wanted to suplement the 13" wheels and I bought Panasport wheels in 7x15 from Tire Rack. If these are still available, they would meet both my preference for 15" and your preference for Minilite looks.

I believe my Mintex pads have arrived. My car is with me, and it runs now.

Thanks!

When it does not start, does it crank over briskly?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pethier/albums/72177720328862955 for some pix

Anybody here that I gave my card to, phone me.

Good place to get no-ethanol gasoline here?

Do you have a partner for a drive today?

Do you mean the transfer of the 1700 Super Sprint stuff from my F-150 into a van? I think Fred ran in the autocross?

I don't recall if I met you there at the concour. Yeah, I left my placard at the hotel. 74PHIL was car 69 for the concour, but had 7 on the side. When I ws down by the Lotus 7 area, people would ask me "Where are the Class 2 cars (Lotus 7 Replica)". I would point out to them the orange flag on my car, which could be seen at that great distance.

This was the first time I got to go around cones with the Zetec/Hayabusa. What a hoot. I now believe that I need to show up at a regular autocross with a full fuel tank. As it neared 4:00, 74PHIL started missing. I think it was fuel starvation. I stiffed it out until they closed down. I had no problem motoring over to my rig to pack up. For MAC test days I will have to plan on refueling during the day. I should be OK for a regular autocross if I start with a full tank.

I had three helmets with me, and all of them were in use at the same time. I showed up at the site with one of my enclosed M2020 helmets. Right away there was a couple there with one of the new Lotus cars. He had a helmet and she did not. He asked about a loaner and they said you could go and rent one. That was probably 50 bucks, judging from Chin last year. I told the guy, "Here is my truck key and my trailer key, If there is not an open SA2020 helmet in the truck, it's in the trailer". Somewhere in there, I spotted Tanner, the driver who had delivered Jim Clark's 49 to the LOG. I asked him if he wanted some autocross rides. He said he had no helmet. I told him that was not a problem and to get in. We drove over to my rig and I got him my other enclosed M2020 helmet. Back over to the autocross pad. We dropped off his backpack. After a bunch of runs, we drove over and I asked the "keys guy" to pick up Tanner's backpack for us. Deposited Tanner where he needed to be. Back to the site and gave more people rides.

It was supposed to rain, but it never really did. Right after the concour, I put the doors in in their bags and an hung them in the trailer. I drove autocross runs with the top on and educated riders on how to get in. Right near the end, when it became unlikely that either hard rain nor bright sunshine would happen, I took the top off for the convenience of a Caterham owner that was going to ride. They really should have advertised the "autocross" for what it really was. They would have gotten more takers. It really was a no-work autocross practice day. They didn't assign numbers or record times. You just lined up, ran, read your time off the box and lined up again. There were always two or three guys there who may have been working for Chin. One would sit in a side-by-side and if someone hit cones he would zoom over there and reset them. I didn't even bother keeping track of how may runs I got.

Order better mirrors from Demon Tweeks in Wrexham.

Hitting the road tomorrow. See you all in Pittsburgh!