Jensen Track Outing Number Two

[Harvey]

Olin is far from a rookie. He has been racing for a lot of years He just took a few years off and is now back with the GT. He has been racing Opels and BMWs.

Les Chaney

[Ron Earp]

PM sent Jeff.

Do we have any word on how the J-H is doing, Has the motor come back from the shop yet? How has the TR been doing? Pulling the head on the GT this weekend.....kinda afraid to look.
[/b]

The motor is in pretty good shape, thanks for asking. I know how you feel with your car too, sometimes it drives you crazy. Same with Jeff's too, but that one doesn't frustrate me as much since it isn't mine! :P And, in general, it is far more friendly to work on than the Jensen or your Opel, I'm sure.

The motor spun the bearing but there is no damage to the rod big end, and, the material on the crank basically polished off with 1500 grit paper. Specs on the big end and the crank are exactly where they were when the thing was put together. All the other bearings look perfect, and I do mean perfect. I'm replacing them though, but I'm not pulling the motor down as suggested - if I did it'd cost a lot more than I can afford now and it'd not be back together for months. Sure, if it blows up I lose the $75 in new bearings and labor, but we don't have a lot of labor in it on R&R and I can afford the $75.

I don't think it spun the bearing when I lost oil pressure. I think it spun the bearing when we tried to crank it in the paddock after getting the oiling system back together. When I hit the starter for just a second it made a strange "clunk" noise and didn't start. Jeff heard it too. Then, we hit the starter again and it fired up and ran at idle. I could hear a ticking though, and it got louder. We only ran it for maybe a minute before we decided that was definitely rod knock and we were done. RPM was never over 2000 or so during this period.

Before it goes out to a track event, and oils down another venue, plus costing me a lot of time in towing and gas, we're going to take it to a local asphalt roundy round track and run it for a few hours. They rent out for about $150-$200 for four hours, all you and only you, so it'll be worth it to run the car in.

R

[JeffYoung]

My apologies to Olin -- that car was extremely well driven, whether he was a rookie or not.

Cherokee, I did not manage to catch up with him but his name is Olin Gale -- maybe Les can post some contact info for him here. The car again appeared to run flawlessly at Charlotte.

Andy, I got hit in a second turn accident. I'm concerned one of the frame rails is bent. I'll keep you posted.

FYI -- my new Ron Davis radiator did keep the temps down to 200 degrees for a full session.

[ITBracer]

Jeff- where did you get that rad. is it built to the 8 specs or did you make something else work. What is the size. Keeping it a 200 is great. My aluminum rad runs me about 210-215 during hard session, but if a back off a bit it will come down to 200

[JeffYoung]

I got it from Ron Davis Racing Radiators. Google them and you will find them; if you can't let me know and I'll send you the webpage.

They have a TR8 template in their files. It is the same width and height, but thicker. Really nice work. About $600. Bolts right in too, very easy install. Highly recommended.

Note that the 200 degrees was at Lowe's (pretty much flat out for 1.5 miles), in June (90 deg. plus). In the spring and fall I'm expecting 10-20 degrees cooler...assmuing car is not totalled....

[cherokee]

Jeff that sucks, The TR8 is a body on frame car right? Could you use a TR7 frame or are they different....or would the rules forbid such a change.

I will do some checking with the Opel guys and see if they know Olin. My car died due to over heating I know how hard that can be. I am still stumped as to why it got cooked.

[Knestis]

Sorry to hear that the TR is hurt, Jeff. I saw a barn-car TR (seven, I assume) on the road between here and Rockingham, last time I made the trip, if you want to go on a scavanger hunt...

K

[JeffYoung]

7 and 8 frames are the same (if both are converts). Thanks guys, we will get it sorted. Kirk, I'll e-mail you if Rick Thompson gives me bad news on the frame.

[Ron Earp]

7 and 8 frames are the same (if both are converts). Thanks guys, we will get it sorted. Kirk, I'll e-mail you if Rick Thompson gives me bad news on the frame.
[/b]

If it is destroyed then we can build a coupe! Then there will be no more running away of 2nd Gen RX7s on the straights and other such nonesense.

But, I doubt it is non-repairable. RT can pull it out if bent in any way - he fixed his #99 and that thing got whacked!!!!!! Got any photos?

R

[lateapex911]

RT sent me pics of his 7...or should I say his "4"?? LOL. It looked to me like he pulled the entire front end off and welded on one of his "backyard" car front ends lock stock and barrel. Nice work, I am sure.

Jeff, so sorry to hear the TR8 got bent. The rules are funny about the chassis, but as long as your VIN remains, technically (I think), you're good to go with the same log book.

[Ron Earp]

RT sent me pics of his 7...or should I say his "4"?? LOL. It looked to me like he pulled the entire front end off and welded on one of his "backyard" car front ends lock stock and barrel. Nice work, I am sure.

[/b]

He did, and the car looks fabulous. I've seen it since and it is actually nicer than before since he repainted it. RT can do some mean body work, that is for sure.

R

[lateapex911]

He did, and the car looks fabulous. I've seen it since and it is actually nicer than before since he repainted it. RT can do some mean body work, that is for sure.

R
[/b]

yea, and he's a heck of a nice guy, and I hear he can shoe pretty well too..

[Ron Earp]

yea, and he's a heck of a nice guy, and I hear he can shoe pretty well too..
[/b]

I've seen him drive once or thrice, sometimes I've let him by too - you know, just to even things up and all! :P Or wait, maybe that was him lapping me.......

Jeff called after leaving Rick's shop and the front end is bent, unfortunately. Prognosis is that it is fixable though, so that is a good thing. Just hate to hear about stuff like this for essentially bad strategic judgement calls during races.

[lateapex911]

Ron, Re that:

Who says a human mind can't bend metal???

[slickS14]

Hey Ron / Jeff, My 240 is still for sale....Just quit playing with the limey cars and come to the darkside.... Sorry to hear about the car and that I didn't make it over to your paddock to say hello this time..Chris

[JeffYoung]

Given my weaknesses as driver, I can't run anything with less than 8 cylinders. So no 240SX for me.....seriously, your car looked great this weekend. Great to see it win on a "power" track. Sorry we missed you as well, and good luck selling the car. I can't believe someone has not snapped it up yet.

[srollman]

Jeff,

I was sorry to see your misfortune at the track this past weekend. I wasn't far behind you when it happened. Certainly not the way anyone wants their weekend to end.

On a positive note, Neil and I finally made it through a weekend without any major mechanical problems. Now we just have to figure out how to make the car (and the driver) a good bit faster.

Best regards,
Sean

[JeffYoung]

Sean, it was great to see you guys back on track. Wasn't sure if we had lost you guys for good.

The car was fast in the infield -- once you get the motor sorted, you are well on your way to some good finishes.

Shunts and bumps are a part of IT racing unfortunately. We all try to avoid them, but they happen. I'll get her fixed and get back out as soon as I can.

When is Dark Helmet (the 190) making its debut? Call me sometime -- 919-286-8011 -- we'll get a beer in Raleigh.

[Ron Earp]

The Jensen and motor went South to Atlanta this weekend to visit Judson Manning, the Lotus 907 guru in the Southeast. Number 4 was too far gone to salvage, it was out of round on the big end fro mthe heat as some predicted. So, no easy fix there. Plus, mains #2 and #3 had issues as well. The motor is coming apart and Judson will redo it so that we'll be able to run it around the September time frame. I have to say, this has been a long road that is nowhere near finished, but we'll get there one day. I'll report back once we're all back together and know that we're in good shape for the next outing.

Ron

[JLawton]

Ron, repeat as necessary:

"But it's a really cool car. But it's a really cool car. But it's a really cool car!!".