Event Tech Inspections

[gran racing]

A part of what has made the ARRC a championship caliber event has been the racecar inspections (at least in previous years). I recognize that it’s not realistic to tear an engine apart, but there surly are items that can be checked. I also understand that depending upon which items are being inspected, it may involve additional costs. Todd also brought up the fact that inspections would also require additional volunteers to complete the tasks. Last year it really wasn’t feasible to perform these inspections, but why not this year? I’d like to use this thread to discuss what ways in which we can incorporate additional inspections to help ensure cars are legit.

To cover any additional costs to have these compliance checks, I’d be more than happy to pay an Improved Touring compliance fee of say $20 - $30.

Another idea is if a car is found to have an illegal part, impose the fee upon the car owner just like what would happen in a protest. If the tested part is legal, use the compliance fee to cover the associated cost.

Based on conversations from this year’s ARRC, checking proper gearing isn’t terribly difficult.

I’d LOVE to see a cam doctor at the event and be utilized. Maybe the national office would be willing to loan one?

Jake Gulick has mentioned this idea in the past: have several items that could be evaluated in a hat and the top X finishers would pick one or two.

Many inspections can even be preformed on Saturday – it’s not necessary to do this all on Sunday. What are other people’s thoughts on the subject? Any ideas how to expand upon the inspections?

[Andy Bettencourt]

Great idea Dave. I would love to see:

Cam inspections
Throttle body inspections (where applicable)
Air intake inspections (air intake source verification, Air metering device in place and functional, etc)

[tom91ita]

minmal intrusion and we could help each other as far as i am concerned.

if someone had a whistler for compression ratios, i would have no problem doing the checks on a "buddy" system where i and the person that finished behind me do mine, etc. i would help/witness the one in front. this might minimize the tech people required.

the above is somewhat "out of the box" but i also think could promote comradrie.

checking gearing the day before, fine.

for NASA nationals and doing the whistler/C.R., tech had wrenches there and we pulled the plug, etc. if we do the whistler, i would rather do the day before since the engine was quite hot after the main race.

pulling a cam the day before, not so fine.

i have never had a cam out of my car. i don't know if it is easy or not but do not want to find out the day before the main event and be re-assembling when the primary social hour takes place.

i also am not opposed to a $20 fee if it ensures viability of the event for 2008 or might be pledged to either tech equipment for the region or to be set aside for 2009 to ensure profitability for the future.

[gran racing]

if someone had a whistler for compression ratios, i would have no problem doing the checks on a "buddy" system where i and the person that finished behind me do mine, etc. i would help/witness the one in front. this might minimize the tech people required. [/b]

That's an interesting idea - I like it. Maybe the top 5 cars work as a group to complete and perform this on their cars together. If there's a car in question, an official gets called over.

[RacerBill]

I agree with Dave that we should be bumping tech up a notch or two this year to add real 'professionalism' to the event. I am not sure that I have the technical expertise to do some checks myself, however, the idea of teams working together sounds good.

I also like the idea of providing for a random specification to be checked, second place would draw for the first place finisher, third would draw for second, etc.

I think that impound should include the top five places and all five be required to present the cars with open hoods.

While I would not like to see anyone penalized for unauthorized preperation, I would like to see a tougher tech advertised and promoted to discourage the more creative teams before they arrive.

A real win-win situation would be for everyone to come thru squeeky clean!

[R2 Racing]

We talked at great length about this last year, but I think it was all in the original discussions that got accidentally deleted.

I'll say what I said then. There are A LOT of "visual" things that can be checked for that are easy, quick, inexpensive, and non-invasive. They are rather quick, visual inspections that IMO are just as important as checking engine things. Ride height, camber adjusters, non-oem suspension arms, intakes, safety equipment, legal roll cage contruction, splitters, washer bottles (ok, that was a joke), etc. The ARRC checks the engine stuff, where they're better suited to do so in terms of man power, equipment, time availability, and having a convenient location to do it. At the IT Fest, we won't have any of that. IT CAN be quick and cheap, but still carry some serious weight to it. In my eight years of racing, I have yet to see suspension or ride height or anything like that checked, ever.

[shwah]

I like what Kevin is saying. I have one friend that has had ride height checked, but he has run about 10,000 ITB races.

[Gary L]

I like what Kevin is saying. I have one friend that has had ride height checked, but he has run about 10,000 ITB races. [/b]

Which would contrast with my experience in MWDiv; in my second ever IT event last year, there was a quick ride height check of the top 3 finishing IT cars in every class, on their way to the scales. BTW, it doesn't take any equipment (nor a lot of time) to do this one... level ground and an empty (4.9") Coke can works nicely.

[lateapex911]

That's funny Kev, becauseI have watched your car get it's ride height checked...

[tom91ita]

how about something similar to typical where we all park with our hoods up and in addition to the usual BS'ing about how the race went, we collectively inspect each other's cars with a checklist of the items Kev noted?

i would welcome other eyes looking at my car and the entire point would basically be friendly fact checking and helping make sure we are all safe / legal. and if any of us get a friendly notification here and do nothing before the ARRC, we should expect paper.

i think if we go into this with an expectation that we are all there to help each other, it will be kept pretty much social in nature and not confrontational.

[lateapex911]

I was wondering, since this is a pretty big event, and it's participants have shown an unusual desire to show off their legal cars, if we shouldn't create an area of the paddock, (opposite where Phil had his tire rig, right in the middle)right where the cars come off the track, set up a tent (I'll provide if you want) and some scales (ditto, they've been used by SCCA pro at events), and check the top 5 cars for weight and ride height (a 4.95" block of something stable with a handle is all that's needed there), and roll every car into the area for a hoods up BS session?

Honestly, when i went to tech last year to be weighed, i stopped off at my trailer on the way to grab a drink..I could have easily had some weights to toss in the car, or who knows what. The scales are a long way off, and there is no real control of the cars once off the track.

(No worries, guys, my 16oz drink didn't make the difference..i was 30 or 40 over!)

[R2 Racing]

That's funny Kev, becauseI have watched your car get it's ride height checked...
[/b]

Do you have anything constructive to add? Actually, I think I do remember somebody taking a block of wood on the end of a stick and jamming it under my car sometime recently. Did they do that at the '07 ARRC? Wait...I didn't get impounded at the '07 ARRC. Hell, I don't know. Whatever. It's still a good idea. :P

I personally do not like the idea of the competitors policing eachother. I went through that with NASA and hated it. People have close friends within the race, which means those friends have biased opinions (i.e. a pre-chosen "side"). Unbiased officials with a right vs. wrong job to do is the only way.

[lateapex911]

Do you have anything constructive to add? Actually, I think I do remember somebody taking a block of wood on the end of a stick and jamming it under my car sometime recently. Did they do that at the '07 ARRC? Wait...I didn't get impounded at the '07 ARRC. Hell, I don't know. Whatever. It's still a good idea. :P
. [/b]

Actually, it was at the 06 ARRCs...all cars got the block of wood treatment. you were probably busy accepting too many congratulations to notice...

[dominojd]

Actually, it was at the 06 ARRCs...all cars got the block of wood treatment. you were probably busy accepting too many congratulations to notice...

[/b]

Actually this year at the ARRC they had 1n 1.5 pvc Y with a piece of pipe sticking out of the Y part and were jamming it under cars.

[shwah]

Which would contrast with my experience in MWDiv; in my second ever IT event last year, there was a quick ride height check of the top 3 finishing IT cars in every class, on their way to the scales. BTW, it doesn't take any equipment (nor a lot of time) to do this one... level ground and an empty (4.9") Coke can works nicely.
[/b]

Well he does race in Mid-Div. Maybe that exlpains it. Regardless I like the idea of checking what can be checked easily, and maybe pick one more significant 'wild card' on the weekend of the event to check.

Cams would be awesome.

[gran racing]

Could someone explain what the process is to check cams using a cam doctor? Even for me, it doesn't seem all that difficult to take a cam out of the car although I could be wrong. (I'd want to do that after Sunday's event in case I'm proven that it's harder to put back in properly. LOL)

[Gary L]

Could someone explain what the process is to check cams using a cam doctor? Even for me, it doesn't seem all that difficult to take a cam out of the car although I could be wrong. (I'd want to do that after Sunday's event in case I'm proven that it's harder to put back in properly. LOL)
[/b]

Let me guess... your mechanical experience is limited to overhead cam engines, right???

[gran racing]

That's putting it mildly! I can usually take stuff apart then put it back together again without there being too many extra parts.

[TAC]

Dave,

Thanks for starting this topic. Our chief of Tech is reading your comments and ideas.

Todd

[924Guy]

Let me guess... your mechanical experience is limited to overhead cam engines, right???
[/b]

Doh! Good point!

Even on my SOHC engine, it's not that easy to pull the cam... does the cam doctor require removal of the cam then, or only access? It would be easy to set up a dial gauge on the cam while installed...

I'm also interested in hearing how the cam doctor works... didn't get to see it happen at the 07 ARRC...