Two new racecars in NZ

The racing season is on again the weekend of the 28 & 29 September. It is the "Icebreaker".

I have mentioned some time ago that I am now the proud owner of a HANS device and that racing is full-on this season on all the tracks.

So I have started 2 months ago to do all the little pre-checks and a scoop to get the air onto the oil cooler which in my mind will work a treat (optimist), spanner checks, brake checks etc.

Then............I won't be racing after all. I bought another house and as Murphy wanted it to be, that will be the weekend I am moving in. (I have reasonable proof that Murphy is actually a woman, a man can't ever give you that much grief.)

Johan has put in some hours on his car and it looks like he is going to be race-ready. He will keep the Renault flag flying and then we should be racing together on the second race of the season about a month later. It will be really good to have two Gs on the starting grid again like in the old days.

Regards, Frans.
 
Hi All,

Sunday the 3rd was race day. Moving house didn't help at all because there are plenty to do before everything is to your liking and I was far from ready. However, I stored the race car at my son's place and Saturday morning brought it over to my new "workshop" that wasn't like the old one yet. I found the race toolbox and started prepping as much as I could. The front disc pads were stuffed with about 1.5mm friction material left. No chance for new ones so I took the rears off and they looked a little better. I fitted the rears to front and vice versa. That felt ok. The right front tyre that I took out of my scrap heap in February, or there abouts, looked even worse than scrap. It just had to do.

So, prepared I wasn't but racing I went.............

It turned out okay as I qualified 11th out of about 20 cars and with the start I took a few places as normal, but they overtook me eventually because they are quicker than me. Except for one because I finished 10th after a huge tussle with the 11th spot Cortina.

The second race became a real tussle between 4 of us. Myself, the Cortina running a stroked 1750cc SOHC engine. It looks the same as the 2000 Pinto SOHC but it is 1600. Not very wellknown and I only learnt about this 1600 a few months ago. A 2002 Alfa 147 that was 2000cc, and another Alfa with the smaller 1770cc engine. Well, the tussle got serious and in the end the 4 of us crossed the finishing line in less than a second of each other. Three of us seperated over 0.129 seconds.

Me, I was last in that group but cause by one of the Alfas that hit me in the right rear and almost turned me around. Luckily I could save it but it cost me a split second to re-arrange and I got close but couldn't quite make it.

The last race was withdrawn because the brakes didn't make it. Towards the end I had to compensate hard with the steering wheel to stop in a straight line because the car was pulling to the left and the RF tyre is now totalled and dangerously delaminated.

But it was good and the adrenaline was flowing full speed.
 

Attachments

  • Puke.jpg
    Puke.jpg
    30 KB · Views: 253
  • ACC1.jpg
    ACC1.jpg
    253 KB · Views: 257
:eek: :eek:

On the edge there Frans. Great result and I'm glad the damage isn't worse.

Did you get my email about a meeting in Perth?

Cheers, John
 
Hi Frans,
Well done, at least you kept the Renault flag flying.
Did Johan get out on track?
Co-incidently, I also just heard about the 1600 pinto motor recently

Henry
 
Hi,

I found some photos on the net. Not close-up but something to look at.

Frans.
 

Attachments

  • Puke2.jpg
    Puke2.jpg
    198.8 KB · Views: 251
  • Puke3.jpg
    Puke3.jpg
    178.9 KB · Views: 237
  • Puke5.jpg
    Puke5.jpg
    173.2 KB · Views: 253
  • Puke6.jpg
    Puke6.jpg
    104.4 KB · Views: 232
  • Puke8.jpg
    Puke8.jpg
    149.1 KB · Views: 227
  • Puke9.jpg
    Puke9.jpg
    115.1 KB · Views: 248
I can't wait to go racing.

You have been such a rev up Frans.
 
The Blue with white stripes always looks so good.....

Ray
 
"L" plates?

That is my "Avatar". My first ever race in ZA I was stopped at the pit exit with "Are you a learner?" and because it was my first time on the track they tied a meter long bunting tape to the bars in the engine cover as a sign for the other drivers that I am a rookie and might not be aware of them around me.

That was okay because they do it with everybody, except that I won the race. So, yes I am a learner and will always be.

Frans
 
Hi All,

I still haven't fixed the body damage yet!! But I was going to start fixing it today. I wanted to turn the car back to front in the garage and noticed the temp up high. I turned the car off and started my investigation. Everything looked good at idling and the temperature stayed normal but I wasn't satisfied because the water level remains constant always. I took it for a spin around the block, the long way and all seemed good. Back home I felt the hoses and they were harder than normal, the reservoir bottle in front showed me the damage. It was higher in the level. Then I knew there were issues.

So I quickly removed the head and started a search to find the spot. It was a water jacket in the head. These water jackets are drilled at an angle and on a standard head they will match the gasket perfectly but as you skim the head over the years this opening starts moving along. I know to look for it (Ray knows about this as well) because it caught many guys out in the past. So when I assembled the head after the last rebuild, or shall I call it re-weld, all was fine and the port was covered. This was a standard gasket.

I am now sitting with a catch 22 situation. The standard gasket doesn't last because the fire ring gets burnt eventually. The bigger bore handmade gasket that I fitted 2 races ago doesn't close the water jacket up enough and leaks through after 2 races as well.

I haven't decided what to do yet as some of you may come forward with a plan. I was thinking in the lines of tapping the hole and screwing an aluminium stud in there and the filing it flat, finish with water paper, and re-drilling it again. Whatever the solution, IT IS NOT ALLOWED TO BE SKIMMED AGAIN. :cry::cry::cry:

On the 1st photo, you can clearly see the 0.5mm cover that failed between 3 &4. 2nd photo is the same one, and the 3rd one shows the other side between 1 & 2 where I can still get away with it.

It looks like the next money spent, will be on the spare head so the I can get my reliability back.

Regards, Frans
 

Attachments

  • Waterjacket.jpg
    Waterjacket.jpg
    211.8 KB · Views: 254
  • thumbnail_IMG_0091.jpg
    thumbnail_IMG_0091.jpg
    330.1 KB · Views: 238
  • thumbnail_IMG_0093.jpg
    thumbnail_IMG_0093.jpg
    428.8 KB · Views: 246
Not sure if this would work but I would be tempted to move the water jacket hole by using a rotary burr and then getting a good aluminium welder with a TIG to build up the area next to the combustion chamber.

Obviously the head would need to be heated up before welding and also would need machining after but it may save the head for a few more years.

This is my :2cents: worth, happy for anyone to point out the negatives.
 
Yeah, I was thinking along the same lines as Col. Mill a channel to connect the current position of the hole with the original and then put in a small Aluminium tube in the channel, tig weld that in and resurface the head, just a very shallow skim. The tube is necessary because you can not fill the channel with weld and still keep it open and drilling afterwards would need a very shallow, nearly horizontal angle.
 
I like the tube idea but not the welding. Do you think that a tube inserted with epoxy can work? It needs to increase the surface a little and that it would do.
 
I like the welding idea more then epoxy getting loose and blocking channel somewhere else?
 
I thought about epoxy stuff too but by the time you clean up around there so the epoxy bonds properly, you will be inside the cylinder so you might as well do it right.

Come to think of it, I would mill a channel with a ball end nose mill so I get a round bottomed channel connecting the current opening with the original one. Then lay down the piece of tube in the channel, weld it (TIG) and then drill (I would actually drop down with and endmill for better accuracy) the side of the tube where the original opening was. Then resurface head, etc.
 
Hi,
I had my first race for the new season and as Murphy wanted it, it was pouring down. The only rainy day in about 3 weeks and that was the day we raced. The race was called in wet, and we went out to qualify just before the big rain came down. After qualifying everything was stopped for a couple of hours to see if there were any improvement. Nothing, so our group decided to call it a day and this became a non-points race day.

A lot of us stayed behind and went out un-officially because the day suddenly dried out and all our races were in the dry!!

I found a few photos on the net.

Regards, Frans.
HD2.jpg
HD3.jpg
HD1.jpg
HD2.jpg
 
Nice pic's ! Frans.glad you had your fix.also like the red alfa 75.is it a v6.?
I will be racing at the bend on Sunday and the forcast is for 100% of 10 to 20 mm rain.
 
Hi potentz,
Yes it is a V6. Apparently it raced in Italy in some or other Alfa Cup racing series because he imported the car from there. It is Gary Langsford as you can see in the window and here is a photo of the entries in my race.
HD4.jpg
 
Top