dalek
Benchracer Tribe
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2005
- Location
- Orange Alert, NC
Good info on the fuel tanks! As others in this thread, I did check the local yards and found they do like to puncture them.
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Whatever_Racecar Endurance 745T
- Thread starter rb92673
- Start date
Good info on the fuel tanks! As others in this thread, I did check the local yards and found they do like to puncture them.
122power
dude
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2009
Well thats closer for you also. Been there for a track day its pretty fun track. Big wide open power track pretty much. Turn 9 can be fun or scary, definitely hauling thru there. Look up jack willow springs track day iirc. Has a porsche but has good pointers.
rb92673
racecar
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2017
- Location
- San Clemente
Seems like my last update either didn't get made or got lost.
We did some work on the car for quality of life improvements, and to stop over boosting from our 3" exhaust upgrade.
At our previous race at Sonoma we were overboosting with our 3" exhaust and I cracked the hot side. We replaced the turbo with a new Garrett T04E. ATP Turbo did replace the hot side for us. We ported the new Garret to about 27-28mm.
Before
After
It was rock solid holding at waste gate actuator .8 bar setting.
We redid the dash. After racing for four years, it was pretty apparent that the drivers were not looking at any gauge other than the tach. So I wanted to lay it out with the important gauges right in their face, but more importantly big idiot lights to alert the to look at the gauges. We had also installed a RaceCapture data acquisition and predictive lap timer, and I wanted to put the tablet that displays its data in a better location.
Idiot lights for oil pressure, alternator, water temp, and shift lights at 5500 and 6000. I also added a 3 gauge pod later for AFR, boost, and fuel level. You can also see a Pi for logging from MS, the RaceCapture devices, and our big ass clock. Kill switch is covered by wheel and you can barely see the fire pull handle on the left. We also added a bait tank aerator timer for the cool suit system.
The water temp light probably saved our engine at this race. Saturday afternoon, temperature rapidly went up and we discovered that our oil cooler lines had wore a hole in the side of the radiator. Team mate Mo took it home and patched it overnight.
After we got it back on the car, we also discovered the small nipple was cracked.
With the race starting in 30 minutes, we broke out the JB Quick weld. We let it set 30 minutes to set under a heat gun and we installed and joined the race in progress. The repairs lasted the remaining 7 hours of racing. The metal radiator we had in there lasted 12 races and was rock solid, lets hope the new plastic Nissens we installed last weekend holds up as long.
We were not very competitive compared to the BMWs and Turbo Miatas, but we had a good time. The track is very, very fast. I saw 117 MPH at the end of the straight and 110 MPH going in to turn 8 a few times. Most of the time I lifted going in to turn 8. For reference, I don't think I have broken 100 MPH at Buttonwillow and Sonoma.
We did some work on the car for quality of life improvements, and to stop over boosting from our 3" exhaust upgrade.
At our previous race at Sonoma we were overboosting with our 3" exhaust and I cracked the hot side. We replaced the turbo with a new Garrett T04E. ATP Turbo did replace the hot side for us. We ported the new Garret to about 27-28mm.
Before
After
It was rock solid holding at waste gate actuator .8 bar setting.
We redid the dash. After racing for four years, it was pretty apparent that the drivers were not looking at any gauge other than the tach. So I wanted to lay it out with the important gauges right in their face, but more importantly big idiot lights to alert the to look at the gauges. We had also installed a RaceCapture data acquisition and predictive lap timer, and I wanted to put the tablet that displays its data in a better location.
Idiot lights for oil pressure, alternator, water temp, and shift lights at 5500 and 6000. I also added a 3 gauge pod later for AFR, boost, and fuel level. You can also see a Pi for logging from MS, the RaceCapture devices, and our big ass clock. Kill switch is covered by wheel and you can barely see the fire pull handle on the left. We also added a bait tank aerator timer for the cool suit system.
The water temp light probably saved our engine at this race. Saturday afternoon, temperature rapidly went up and we discovered that our oil cooler lines had wore a hole in the side of the radiator. Team mate Mo took it home and patched it overnight.
After we got it back on the car, we also discovered the small nipple was cracked.
With the race starting in 30 minutes, we broke out the JB Quick weld. We let it set 30 minutes to set under a heat gun and we installed and joined the race in progress. The repairs lasted the remaining 7 hours of racing. The metal radiator we had in there lasted 12 races and was rock solid, lets hope the new plastic Nissens we installed last weekend holds up as long.
We were not very competitive compared to the BMWs and Turbo Miatas, but we had a good time. The track is very, very fast. I saw 117 MPH at the end of the straight and 110 MPH going in to turn 8 a few times. Most of the time I lifted going in to turn 8. For reference, I don't think I have broken 100 MPH at Buttonwillow and Sonoma.
rb92673
racecar
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2017
- Location
- San Clemente
So we have a race in less than two weeks with the 24 Hours of Lemons at Buttonwillow. There is a small list of things to do to get ready so I bring the car and trailer home weekend before last to check those things off the list. Get in the car, try and start it up and just get a click from the starter. Try different batteries and even a jump and nothing. Whacked the starter with a hammer, nothing.
2manyturbos sends me out a known good starter and I get it right away. I slap it into the car and...nothing. I get a spare battery and run jumper cables from the spare to the starter and it spins. Jump the engine ground...nothing. Jump the battery ground...nothing. Jumper cable from the battery negative, which is in the trunk, to the side of the starter and it finally works. Both my battery ground and engine ground had failed.
Anyways, everything is packed up and ready to go.
2manyturbos sends me out a known good starter and I get it right away. I slap it into the car and...nothing. I get a spare battery and run jumper cables from the spare to the starter and it spins. Jump the engine ground...nothing. Jump the battery ground...nothing. Jumper cable from the battery negative, which is in the trunk, to the side of the starter and it finally works. Both my battery ground and engine ground had failed.
Anyways, everything is packed up and ready to go.
rb92673
racecar
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2017
- Location
- San Clemente
Race Recap 24 Hours of Lemons Buttonwillow Oct 2022
It could have been better...
We had three drivers for the weekend, so we should have had a lot of seat time...well that didn't work out.
I arrived early Friday morning to the track, got unloaded, fixed a couple last minute things, and registered for the afternoon practice session to see if the car was running okay and to give a newbie driver some time to learn the track. I had put a new tune on the car, but I must have used an incorrect base file as it was running lean at boost. I rolled back the tune to what we used last race and all was good. The car seemed to be running solid. Good .8 bar of boost, and temps were solid on track at ~180.
New driver radios in that temperature light is on, so I have him immediately come in. Watching temps on our racecapture device online, I am seeing it get up to 250 degrees. Thoughts of headgaskets fill my mind. Diagnosis was pretty quick, cap on expansion tank was loose allowing water to steam out. We let it cool and added more water. Car ran well the rest of the day.
We had a new Nissens plastic radiator that I was really worried about compared to our old all metal 3 row. Air temperature was very hot for the weekend. As long as the cap was on and we were moving, it ran at 180-185 all weekend. When parked it would go from 180 to 205 then back to 185. I bypassed the temperature switch in the radiator and set the fan to always run, temps then stayed 180-185 when parked.
Saturday.
Sent newbie driver out for green flag, gave him an hour as it was his first time racing. He came back in with no issues. It is always scary for me sending out a driver for their first time. Second driver in for his 1:45 stint, comes in with no black flags.
I finally jump in the car and I notice there is a large exhaust leak and boost is down a bit. This has happened many times before, so I just kept on racing - full send. I start setting some of my fastest lap times at the track and then I thought I saw the oil light blink. I see it blink a second time and immediately go to our garage. Oil is leaking profusely. This concludes our day of racing four hours early.
The oil leak was caused by the bolts holding the wastegate actuator to the cold side deciding to disappear. The actuator was then just hanging by the rod and eventually wore a hole through the 45 degree AN fitting on the oil return line.
On the hot side of the turbo, the ATP Ultimate wastegate was only attached to the downpipe. One stud had disappeared and the remaining four sheared.
I did not have an extra oil return line, but the RX7 shop on site had AN fittings and braided hose for only $100.
Ported a new hot side and put it on, bolted wastegate on with nordlocks with even more foot pounds, bolted actuator and another cold side on, and put back on the car. I have a Garrett T3/T4 and a clone T3/T4. The Garrett cold side was SAE bolts, which I don?t have as spares, and the clone uses metric. Kind of a mish mash of turbo parts, but I got it back together before midnight. I don?t like the clone cold side as it doesn?t have a good lip on the output side, and it sometimes will pop the hose under heavy boost.
The brakes were kind of squirmy in front and while the front end was off the ground we noticed there was play in the steering rack. Not knowing what to do, nor having any steering parts, we decided to send it.
https://i.imgur.com/K4xGPnv.mp4
Sunday
I took the car out for green flag. Seems to be running good, but before I can complete the first green flag lap, poof the hose connecting the cold side pops off. Come back in, tighten the F out of it and go back on track. If I keep it 3/4 throttle and under 5k RPM it doesn?t pop the hose, so that is the instruction for the day.
Sent rooking out, then second driver. My two garage mates never got their car on track because of Jaguar ECU problems, so I send both out in my car for a stint. All drivers were instructed to stay out of boost and short shift. I finally get it, and notice those instructions weren?t needed as there was no boost anymore. It would get to maybe 6 PSI tops. Full send, 6K shifts, F it. We manage to race the full 6.5 hours of the day and I managed to set a new fast lap time for the car.
On inspection, boost was down because the c-clip came off the end of the actuator rod and wastegate flap was open. Easy fix, but I need to get rid of the c-clip.
We had problems with the radios, some people couldn?t hear, others couldn?t be heard. Racecapture didn?t seem to record anything locally all weekend, and only transmitted to Podium on Sunday. One of my cool suit coolers had vapor lock and didn?t work. We were going through ice like crazy. Did I mention it was hot?
It was an exhausting weekend, but we still had a good time.
It could have been better...
We had three drivers for the weekend, so we should have had a lot of seat time...well that didn't work out.
I arrived early Friday morning to the track, got unloaded, fixed a couple last minute things, and registered for the afternoon practice session to see if the car was running okay and to give a newbie driver some time to learn the track. I had put a new tune on the car, but I must have used an incorrect base file as it was running lean at boost. I rolled back the tune to what we used last race and all was good. The car seemed to be running solid. Good .8 bar of boost, and temps were solid on track at ~180.
New driver radios in that temperature light is on, so I have him immediately come in. Watching temps on our racecapture device online, I am seeing it get up to 250 degrees. Thoughts of headgaskets fill my mind. Diagnosis was pretty quick, cap on expansion tank was loose allowing water to steam out. We let it cool and added more water. Car ran well the rest of the day.
We had a new Nissens plastic radiator that I was really worried about compared to our old all metal 3 row. Air temperature was very hot for the weekend. As long as the cap was on and we were moving, it ran at 180-185 all weekend. When parked it would go from 180 to 205 then back to 185. I bypassed the temperature switch in the radiator and set the fan to always run, temps then stayed 180-185 when parked.
Saturday.
Sent newbie driver out for green flag, gave him an hour as it was his first time racing. He came back in with no issues. It is always scary for me sending out a driver for their first time. Second driver in for his 1:45 stint, comes in with no black flags.
I finally jump in the car and I notice there is a large exhaust leak and boost is down a bit. This has happened many times before, so I just kept on racing - full send. I start setting some of my fastest lap times at the track and then I thought I saw the oil light blink. I see it blink a second time and immediately go to our garage. Oil is leaking profusely. This concludes our day of racing four hours early.
The oil leak was caused by the bolts holding the wastegate actuator to the cold side deciding to disappear. The actuator was then just hanging by the rod and eventually wore a hole through the 45 degree AN fitting on the oil return line.
On the hot side of the turbo, the ATP Ultimate wastegate was only attached to the downpipe. One stud had disappeared and the remaining four sheared.
I did not have an extra oil return line, but the RX7 shop on site had AN fittings and braided hose for only $100.
Ported a new hot side and put it on, bolted wastegate on with nordlocks with even more foot pounds, bolted actuator and another cold side on, and put back on the car. I have a Garrett T3/T4 and a clone T3/T4. The Garrett cold side was SAE bolts, which I don?t have as spares, and the clone uses metric. Kind of a mish mash of turbo parts, but I got it back together before midnight. I don?t like the clone cold side as it doesn?t have a good lip on the output side, and it sometimes will pop the hose under heavy boost.
The brakes were kind of squirmy in front and while the front end was off the ground we noticed there was play in the steering rack. Not knowing what to do, nor having any steering parts, we decided to send it.
https://i.imgur.com/K4xGPnv.mp4
Sunday
I took the car out for green flag. Seems to be running good, but before I can complete the first green flag lap, poof the hose connecting the cold side pops off. Come back in, tighten the F out of it and go back on track. If I keep it 3/4 throttle and under 5k RPM it doesn?t pop the hose, so that is the instruction for the day.
Sent rooking out, then second driver. My two garage mates never got their car on track because of Jaguar ECU problems, so I send both out in my car for a stint. All drivers were instructed to stay out of boost and short shift. I finally get it, and notice those instructions weren?t needed as there was no boost anymore. It would get to maybe 6 PSI tops. Full send, 6K shifts, F it. We manage to race the full 6.5 hours of the day and I managed to set a new fast lap time for the car.
On inspection, boost was down because the c-clip came off the end of the actuator rod and wastegate flap was open. Easy fix, but I need to get rid of the c-clip.
We had problems with the radios, some people couldn?t hear, others couldn?t be heard. Racecapture didn?t seem to record anything locally all weekend, and only transmitted to Podium on Sunday. One of my cool suit coolers had vapor lock and didn?t work. We were going through ice like crazy. Did I mention it was hot?
It was an exhausting weekend, but we still had a good time.
- Joined
- May 27, 2008
- Location
- Rockland County, NY
Nice diary of events.
Time for Vband on the cold side? Wire lock all the turbo bits
?
Time for Vband on the cold side? Wire lock all the turbo bits
?rb92673
racecar
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2017
- Location
- San Clemente
Nice diary of events.
Time for Vband on the cold side? Wire lock all the turbo bits
Thanks. I used to lock wire the wastegate and manifold to turbo studs. I then went nordlocks and squished copper nuts, but I don't think I torqued them enough on the wastegate. Just to be safe, every fastener is now going to be safety wired on the turbo including the six bolts on the cold side.
As far as the cold side blowing it's hose, I just need to put the Garrett one with a better lip back on, and figure out how to create a lip on the spare.
Nordlocks and A286 studs have been solid on the manifold to turbo for the last four races.
rb92673
racecar
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2017
- Location
- San Clemente
Teammate Mo came down yesterday to help prep the car for Sonoma Dec 3&4. We managed to get through a lot of stuff on the list:
Steering was really loose last race, I wonder if this is why?
https://imgur.com/YPvOYsQ
Inner tie rods were both bad. Luckily I guessed right on Rockauto and we had two new replacement rods.
At the last race, the fasteners holding the ATP wastegate to the hot side failed, as well as two bolts holding the wastegate actuator. I thought good studs, crushed copper nuts and nordlocks were enough to hold the wastegate on, but they are not. When I checked tightness, they were no longer torqued to spec. I think the bolts on the cold side didn't get torqued enough and I may have forgot lock tight. So I went back to safety wiring everything I could. Not the best, but should be good enuf.
The stupid C-clip also came off last week eliminating our boost, so I drilled that out and safety wired it too.
We got some new rear pads and rotors. ST43 was not available, so we are trying Porterfield R4-Es with generic rotors. We still have ST43s in front on the stock Girlings. Bled all around and hopefully we are good to stop.
We also went to change out the fan switch in the plastic radiator and it was just spinning in the radiator and not unscrewing. We now have a leak and cannot get the temp switch out. It was getting close to the end of the day, so we put it back in the trailer and will tackle that next time.
Steering was really loose last race, I wonder if this is why?
https://imgur.com/YPvOYsQ
Inner tie rods were both bad. Luckily I guessed right on Rockauto and we had two new replacement rods.
At the last race, the fasteners holding the ATP wastegate to the hot side failed, as well as two bolts holding the wastegate actuator. I thought good studs, crushed copper nuts and nordlocks were enough to hold the wastegate on, but they are not. When I checked tightness, they were no longer torqued to spec. I think the bolts on the cold side didn't get torqued enough and I may have forgot lock tight. So I went back to safety wiring everything I could. Not the best, but should be good enuf.
The stupid C-clip also came off last week eliminating our boost, so I drilled that out and safety wired it too.
We got some new rear pads and rotors. ST43 was not available, so we are trying Porterfield R4-Es with generic rotors. We still have ST43s in front on the stock Girlings. Bled all around and hopefully we are good to stop.
We also went to change out the fan switch in the plastic radiator and it was just spinning in the radiator and not unscrewing. We now have a leak and cannot get the temp switch out. It was getting close to the end of the day, so we put it back in the trailer and will tackle that next time.
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2003
- Location
- Denver, CO
Awesome thread. I'm getting a 740 wagon ready for some western region Lemons racing too. I guess I need to start a project thread. And damn, I guess our number choice 745 is already taken....
We are over a year into the build and a couple track days done. Hoping to do our first race in June 2023 at High Plains Raceyway. We are still finding all sorts of weak things to break every time we go out.
We are over a year into the build and a couple track days done. Hoping to do our first race in June 2023 at High Plains Raceyway. We are still finding all sorts of weak things to break every time we go out.
rb92673
racecar
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2017
- Location
- San Clemente
I registered for the Sept HPR race, but not the June. 745 should be available for June. I really don't think I will make the Sept either, but a teammate is really pushing for it. Lemons doesn't reserve numbers, it's first to register gets it. When the calendar comes out every year, I register for all the races I might go to. You don't have to pay until about 3 weeks before the race.
Happy to offer advice.
rb92673
racecar
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2017
- Location
- San Clemente
Well the car is as ready as it is going to get and tomorrow I am headed to Sonoma for 24 Hours of Lemons. Weather looks miserable, high of 52F and rain. Running with two drivers since my third driver is sick.
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2003
- Location
- Denver, CO
Good Luck out there at Sonoma. I'm always having conversations with my team about a trip to California to race in the winter. Get out of the cold and snow here and go west. Maybe Buttonwillow someday.
What's your strategy with 2 drivers? And how many drivers do you typically have?
rb92673
racecar
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2017
- Location
- San Clemente
Well it wasn't exactly warm. It rained almost all day Saturday and the morning of Sunday.
I don't recommend 2 drivers, it is exhausting. One driver comes out, refill fuel, new driver goes in, repeat many times. For a normal race, 4 drivers is a good start, for a 24 hour race I recommend 5 drivers. My driver from last weekend wants to go to the HPR 24, not sure I will be able to do that though, so if you need a clean driver who knows Volvos, I got a guy for you.
I don't think the car will recover by then. If you need an arrive and drive, let me know.
Even though we were short on drivers, we managed to place 19th overall out of 126 cars, and 10th in class B. Car managed to run the entire time. Only a windshield wiper failure and a black flag took us off track. It has something funky going on with the suspension/steering in front and I think the wastegate disconnected itself at the end.
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2002
- Location
- Rockville, MD
2 drivers sucks if you are trying to be competitive. 4 is a great number, 3 is manageable. I think the key is to not have to drive twice in one day.
We like to not have our driver going in be involved with fueling and the driver coming out just holding the fire extinguisher. Stuff like that makes a big difference during the hot summer races.
We like to not have our driver going in be involved with fueling and the driver coming out just holding the fire extinguisher. Stuff like that makes a big difference during the hot summer races.
rb92673
racecar
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2017
- Location
- San Clemente
Fortunately it was not hot. I did overheat myself after my first stint on Sunday. I had on too many layers and then the sun came out. After I dumped 14 gallons of fuel into the car for my team mate, I almost passed out. Had to lay down for a bit and hydrate.
I would never try a two man team at a warm track like Buttonwillow or Thunderhill.
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2003
- Location
- Denver, CO
Whew. Impressive nonetheless. I was curious how difficult that might be with 2 people. Now I have a little knows.
rb92673
racecar
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2017
- Location
- San Clemente
A quick note on our brake compound change in the rear. We have always ran Raybestos ST43 pads in front and rear. Girlings in front, ATE in rear. We have always felt there was too much bias in the rear. ST43s are on backorder so we ordered some Porterfield R4-Es on the suggestion of Porterfield.
The brakes were fastastic, even in the rain.
The brakes were fastastic, even in the rain.
122power
dude
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2009
I did buttonwillow by myself....dont recommend it unless your are in a good state of mind and motivated to do so along with your health status. Takes a lot out of you. I did take a lunch break in middle of day and when I think i needed one though. Think I lost like
8-9lbs that weekend just in water weight. Was fun and dont know how I did it but I wont do that again probably, lol.
Ive ran in a friends car and we had 3 drives and works out pretty good time wise. Its about 2 hrs per driver give or take a few and one less stop, unless you can do your stops super fast.
Lemons has no rule on pit times driver swaps, LD has a 10 min stop requirement and a 2hr max per driver rule.
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