What Happened to Adam ???

[Bubblecar]

Okay, so I show up on Sunday and drive all the way from Toronto, just to see my fellow Nissanite dominate the evil Honda empire.

And what do I get for all my troubles, nothing but to witness the shear domination of the event by the Honda Dynasty .

Adam, Adam, Adam - where were you?

Nick

:confused:

[ADAM]

hi nick.....so here is the story....



was on my 4rth hot lap going down about a 1/4 mile straight..was near
the top of 4rth gear at about 150kph....just nearing the finish
line..had the throttle pegged...all of a sudden i get a HUGE power
surge...and i get RUBBER OUT OF 4TH..i look down at my boost
gauges..one is reading normal and the other is at approx 27psi of
boost....at the same time i let off the gas..and now am braking for
the corner..i turn the corner..and am coasting down the next straight
with just enough power not boosting at all...and BANG..i hear this
pop..or maybe clunk..and all hell brakes loose...white smoke comes
pouring out....black smoke...blue smoke..all kinds of smoke...can't
even see behind me....still going about 100kph....i see the next
marshall station so i start to slow down and pull over...smoke is
just wafting out of my hood......AHHHHH i think its on fire!!!!....i
stop..turn the motor off.. get my harness off..pop the hood...open
it....AHHHH fire...i yell to the marshalls.....so i
run into my car..and get my 2 1/2 lb ABC extingusher.....the fire is
at the back of the motor near the downpipe...i pull the pin and spray
one short burst....then the fire jumps back to life...ahhhhhh....i
shoot again and again in 2 more controlled bursts..using up the rest
of the fire extinguisher....the fire is OUT....whoah.....that was
close........

coolent was everywhere.....smoke was still pouring out...steam..and
now fire extinguisher dust as well.....by now the tow vehicle is
there..with extra fire extinguishers...just in case....

so we hook the car up and tow it back into the pits.....

in the pits i start to look at the motor a bit more closely....what
was on fire was all of the wires at the back of the engine
bay...particularly the o2 sensor and connector..were completely
burned up..plus a few other connectors and wires......AND ALSO THE
BOOST LINE THE CONTROLS THE BLITZ BOOST CONTROLLER..it went into full
boost mode!!!!! cause it was not sensing any boost cause the line was
melted CLOSED... (at least i know now that my T3/T4 turbo peaks out
in flow at about 27psi of boost :) ) so i start the motor up again to
make sure it is not siezed...it turns over and lights up..ok...thats
not bad...however...every.. putt..putt... of cyl 4 coolent comes
out...AHHH..looks like the head gasket blew...(i hope..either that or
a hole through the block or head? will find out next week)

in any case here is what i think happened.....

1=heat started a fire in the o2 sensor....
2=flames or heat melted/caught on fire the wires that had the boost
line in them..
3=in 4th at WOT the engine easily produced enough flow for the turbo
to max out...due to the wastegate being totally closed now since it
was not getting a signal..
4=hit approx 27psi boost..for 1-2 seconds...car tires spin...engine
over revs a bit..i get off throttle...
5=fire still burning....either the extra heat from the fire..or the
over boost blows out gaasket on cyl #4..and coolent sprays out over
manifold..causing huge plumes of smoke...

6=racing day over ..... :)

things i have learned...

1=going to heat wrap EVERYTHING plastic like a mummy on the turbo
side of the engine....
2=going to cut holes into the hood..(several) with grating behind
them to help get the heat out...aka ralley car style...
3=have on order that eribuni head light NACA duct as well....this
combined with 3 large holes in the hood should allow the very hot air
to escape....

4=NEVER underestimate HEAT management in a turbo system that is used
for racing......i am so stupid in this area..this is the 3RD race
that i have been put out due to HEAT issues..and it will be the
last...swiss cheese hood or whatever its gonna take...

thats about what happened...plus pratte's motor also went BYE BYE as well...so it was a bad weekend for CSP

[Dave]

yup, my engine completely seized on my first hot lap of the day. Obviously something broke on the rotating assembly. Not sure what. Anyway, time for a stock ITR bottom end so I can do some racing instead of wrenching :)

[ADAM]

so the question is.....

does hanif have enough points and events to take CSP?

dave?
hanif?

who is ahead now still?

[Dave]

You were ahead of Hanif on total points as of SMP a few weeks ago and Hanif didn't run this sunday and isn't running the last weekend at SMP, so I believe your 1st place finish in C/SP is safe. Congrats!

[ADAM]

well thats a crappy way for CSP to end the season....

ok...next year we have to have all our crap sorted out.....ok...

hanif...turn it into a full race car..

dave....build an engine that holds together...maybe with lower revs...

me..take care of heat..and put in a race suspension..

[ADAM]

so we can get on with the REAL task at hand....


BEATING THE V8's

ha ha ha

i guess we can throw in that silver 996TT as well

:)

[Chris P]

The Vetts and 996TT OWNZZZ you

PS, yeah, this was a pretty crapy weekend in the car reliability department. I really hope the damage is minimal.

[Dave]

sounds like Avi, Andrew with his RX7, and a few others had reliability issues too. Ugh...

[Dave Barker]

Guys , I am one of the organizers for the OMSC wkend in Sept and we are toying with a new rule, that being that if you break on the track and hold up the event requiring a tow truck , oil dry etc. you MAY be required to buy a round at the bar of the organizer's choice on Saturday for all competitors who show up . Spinning off the track and requiring a tow back on are to be considered exempt ... for now. We also had a number of mechanical break downs on Sunday which were difficult to deal with when we were running such a tight schedule. We don't want a repeat of last time at the Pro track where some people didn't get all their runs. For those of you with high tech machines , don't worry : I'm sure that there will be enough of you that the bar will provide you with a discount !! ( Am I setting myself up for a fall or what??)

[Shaman]

LOL Dave!

Adam, if you and Dave are prepared for next year I will be also, should be an interesting year. Lessons learned here should give you some food for thought.

Don't count on beating the V8s, though. I just sprung for a six-piston set of APR brakes since my Wilwoods were flexing too much and I had half the braking I did in 2000 with stock brakes with racing pads. That, a 80lb redux and my spanking new rebuild with about 20rwhp more over a broader curve (tuning + cam + head updates) and the hi-bias Torsen T2-R should all add up to some reasonable speed. I also hear there are some other car changes in ASP. You will have a new target. :)

Dave: two words for you - high octane. If you're not getting predet, you shouldn't have these problems.

In all seriousness, sorry for your problems. Welcome to the world of modified cars.