Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 25

Thread: Team Stinking Turd

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    raleigh, nc, usa
    Posts
    5,252

    Default Team Stinking Turd

    Well, after a couple of good race weekends, Team Stinking Turd's TR8 finally showed up at Roebling for the Jim Stark double.

    Car loaded ready to race and ran flawlessly the test day, of course. Personal best, finally into the 23s. SLIGHT miss in the very last session but I just thought it was bad gas.....wrong-o!

    TST swung into action on Saturday. We had a huge field, 23 ITS cars. Qual was ok, spun lap 3, qualled 9th of 23. Miss gets a little worse but still nothing awful.

    About 2 hours before race time, DOWNPOUR. I run into the trailer to get out of teh rain. Literally. WHAM...hit head square on tire rack. blood everywhere. Spend rain storm stopping bleeding. Feel ok, so put towels in helmet and off to race.

    Start 9th, get up to 8th, just cruising. Drop two tires off in 2 about 4 laps in, spin. Get back on, pass a bunch of cars, do the same thing 5 laps later. Yee-haw! Then, miss comes back terrible, car nearly quits on in lap. Finish 14 of 23! Woohoo!

    Start dealing with miss in the paddock. Conclude that Pertronix gee whizbanger ignition module was loose and/or bad. Replace. Car starts runs fin.

    Go out for qual Sunday morning. Car runs good on out lap. Get ready for flying lap...on front straight at 110 mph or so WHAM...car shuts off. Thanks Chuck Baader and Russ Boatwright for missing me......

    Coast back in. Scratch head.

    Decide to check timing. Get light hooked up. Timing is a bit off, reach for distributor and POW! Nearly knocked me on my ass! Huh????

    Crew man Roussel takes insulated screwdriver and runs it over top of distributor...arc from top of coil wire!

    MSD wire boot had split, arcing to hood! Nice!

    Replace coil wire, start at back --36th! 19th in class!

    Decide to treat race like test day. Go out, car runs great, pass 22 cars in 10 laps or so, get up to 7th in class, 6th in site......wham! Loose 3rd gear...ok...use torque and just 4th/ 5th.....wham! lose 4th gear.........

    Ride in 5th, maintain 7th place..wham! car cuts off......pull off to the side. Towed in....rotor button broken!

    Now THAT is a Team Stinking Turd racing. Many thanks to crewman Jeff Roussel (soon to be ITS 260z) for the help in nearly pulling an ok finish out of the hat on Sunday.
    NC Region
    1980 ITS Triumph TR8

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    1,717

    Default

    Now that's a hard luck race. I hope you've got a good replacement for your transmission.

    James
    STU BMW Z3 2.5liter

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    raleigh, nc, usa
    Posts
    5,252

    Default

    Funny thing...it wasn't the transmission.....clutch slave cylinder bolts backed out.....

    Crazy weekend.
    NC Region
    1980 ITS Triumph TR8

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    1,717

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by JeffYoung View Post
    Funny thing...it wasn't the transmission.....clutch slave cylinder bolts backed out.....

    Crazy weekend.


    Nuts and Bolts! Jeff.

    Repeat after me, "Locktite Is My Friend!"

    Sounds like lots of little things, with nothing too big to fix. Hope you get the Bear next time, instead of the Bear getting you.

    James
    STU BMW Z3 2.5liter

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    raleigh, nc, usa
    Posts
    5,252

    Default

    Not that I am good about this a lot, but it was loctited. The bellhousing is aluminum and it literally destroyed the threads. Too much flex I guess.
    NC Region
    1980 ITS Triumph TR8

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    1,717

    Default



    Sounds like it's heli-coil time. I've seen that sort of thing when I worked on ancient fork-lift trucks at a mushroom plant. The rear axle was held in by four 3/4" bolts into a solid iron casting. They'd be driven, bang-bang-bang, down a broken concrete road 10hrs a day six days a week, untill the threads would litterally fatigue out of the casting. When I think of how I would get under those things, even with it on jack stands, it makes me :eek: In the end it was a loosing battle, after I quit that job they got all new fork trucks and trashed the franken-trucks I'd kept going. I'm glad I no longer wrench for a living, just for fun when I want to.

    You might want to make sure the bolts are not bottoming out, if the bolts have stretched or the washers weren't in place it might explain the flexing. If there's flex it will fatigue, especially aluminum which hasn't a finite fatigue life.

    James
    STU BMW Z3 2.5liter

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    raleigh, nc, usa
    Posts
    5,252

    Default

    Yup. We do most of our own work, but with a short turn around time to the next race, and because I thought we needed to swap trannies (i.e. lift would be nice), I had a local shop owned by a racer buddy do it for me. Just like you said, too much stress and fatigue on it. Hope the coils hold cause bellhousings for this car ain't cheap.

    Put in a Spec clutch race clutch and pressure plate. Take up is.....different.
    NC Region
    1980 ITS Triumph TR8

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Northeast
    Posts
    7,031

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Z3_GoCar View Post
    ...when I worked on ancient fork-lift trucks at a mushroom plant.
    Andy Bettencourt
    New England Region 188967

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    raleigh, nc, usa
    Posts
    5,252

    Default

    Yeah, I missed that.

    So you did mushrooms at an ancient forklift temple? Groovy dude.
    NC Region
    1980 ITS Triumph TR8

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2001
    Location
    Buffalo, New York
    Posts
    2,942

    Default

    I would say that weekend experience is about par for a proper British racecar.

    Keep at it!

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Margaritaville
    Posts
    641

    Default

    Jeff, in case you had not heard, your weekend was better than the Doyles up here in Indy - the hardtop TR got stuffed nose first into the T15 wall - hard.
    Steve Linn | Fins Up Racing | #6 ITA Sentra SE-R | www.indyscca.org

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Raleigh NC
    Posts
    3,682

    Post

    Damn, that is not good to hear for any race car, but especially not good for TR8s as they are not so easily obtained. Driver is ok I hope?

    TST gets on a roll some weekends, and other weekends not so much....Roebling was a not so much weekend.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    raleigh, nc, usa
    Posts
    5,252

    Default

    Dang, really sorry to hear that. That car actually had a lot of history (It was Morey's?). Was a Showroom Stock car back in the day -- bought off the lot to be one by Morey.

    Is it fixable?

    Quote Originally Posted by Racerlinn View Post
    Jeff, in case you had not heard, your weekend was better than the Doyles up here in Indy - the hardtop TR got stuffed nose first into the T15 wall - hard.
    NC Region
    1980 ITS Triumph TR8

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2002
    Location
    Black Rock, Ct
    Posts
    9,594

    Default

    Jeff, your car ran fine at many points during the weekend, which means you are better than par for the green monster! Sorry about the bogeys. And your head. Wrap that rack with foam dude! none of us are smart enough to lose that much brainpower and blood!

    Did the wrecked TR8 run at Nelson ledges back in the 80s? if so, it was our arch rival on our RX-7 2 car 24 hour team!
    Jake Gulick


    CarriageHouse Motorsports
    for sale: 2003 Audi A4 Quattro, clean, serviced, dark green, auto, sunroof, tan leather with 75K miles.
    IT-7 #57 RX-7 race car
    Porsche 1973 911E street/fun car
    BMW 2003 M3 cab, sun car.
    GMC Sierra Tow Vehicle
    New England Region
    lateapex911(at)gmail(dot)com


  15. #15
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    raleigh, nc, usa
    Posts
    5,252

    Default

    I think that was actually Ted Schumacher's car, which is rusting away in a field in SC, but Morey Doyle (the driver of the yellow car that wrecked this weekend) co-drove that event with him.

    They told me one time that they had an agreement between the two of them on how many times they could use the woefully inadequate brakes.......

    Have you been racing that long Jake?
    NC Region
    1980 ITS Triumph TR8

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    1,717

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by JeffYoung View Post
    Yeah, I missed that.

    So you did mushrooms at an ancient forklift temple? Groovy dude.
    It's actually grovvier than that. half the buildings there were built by the Japanese. It was an internment camp during WW-2. You know most things grow with seeds, mushrooms are spawned. I second what Jake said about the tire rack. I saw where at the Air-Force academy they hung foam nerf jets from the ceiling to remind the newb's to duck.

    James
    STU BMW Z3 2.5liter

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Cary, NC
    Posts
    66

    Default

    Jeff, I think you have a legitimate reason for a special request to ITAC. You should be allowed to run a fiberglass hood to prevent the coil wire arcing to the steel hood. Obviously there is a design flaw in the car that you should be allow to fix.
    Jeff Roussel
    Soon to be ITS Datsun 260z

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Margaritaville
    Posts
    641

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by JeffYoung View Post
    Dang, really sorry to hear that. That car actually had a lot of history (It was Morey's?). Was a Showroom Stock car back in the day -- bought off the lot to be one by Morey.

    Is it fixable?
    I don't know if it was Morey, Morey Jr, or Andy. All three were there and jumping between the two TR's and their "new" SSC Neon (which also got some light rear bumper damage) between the two days. Right front tire was pretty well pushed back. They had a hell of a time getting it loaded on the trailer. Ended up lifting the whole car up with the wrecker and dropping it on the trailer.
    Driver was fine (whichever one it was - I saw all three helping load it)
    Steve Linn | Fins Up Racing | #6 ITA Sentra SE-R | www.indyscca.org

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Mar 2002
    Location
    Black Rock, Ct
    Posts
    9,594

    Default

    Jeff, thankfully, NO, I haven't been racing that long. i was just out of college and crewed for a team that ran the 24hrs. On the second year i was in charge of chassis and tactics. We beat those British bastards by streamlining our service stops from 2 stops, (1 for brakes at 12 hrs and 1 for bearings at 18 hrs to one stop at 12 hours where we replaced the entire strut assembly. we practiced it and got it done in about or less time than the brake change.)

    Strangely, they went further on a tank of gas, because the RX-7 pick up starved at just under half a tank at nelson. What a dump that place was, but winning was very fun.

    I'll never forget being pitted next to Car and Driver, and it was Jean Lindamoods first race. She was a hoot.

    I ran 5 or 6 races in '93 before moving west to study design at the Art Center in Pasadena, then started up again when I moved back east just before 2000.


    Oh....and Jeff, I you had cross treaded that bugger Young style, you never would have had the problem!
    Last edited by lateapex911; 05-06-2008 at 12:42 PM.
    Jake Gulick


    CarriageHouse Motorsports
    for sale: 2003 Audi A4 Quattro, clean, serviced, dark green, auto, sunroof, tan leather with 75K miles.
    IT-7 #57 RX-7 race car
    Porsche 1973 911E street/fun car
    BMW 2003 M3 cab, sun car.
    GMC Sierra Tow Vehicle
    New England Region
    lateapex911(at)gmail(dot)com


  20. #20
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Posts
    48

    Default

    I have seen your electrical gremlins before. Do yourself a favor if you have not and run a good large ground cable between the battery and the cylinder head. You would think the headstuds etc would be enough of a ground, but I saw a spitfire go through a similar scenario and grounding the cylinder head solved it. We also fixed a VW IT car that had a high rpm miss by grounding the cylinder head. I read this in Circle track years ago. On V8's they ground both cylinder heads. The ignition system depends on good grounds. Electricity seeks the easiest path to ground. Insure it has that path. It won't hurt and if anything it may help.

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •