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1Tristan CLIFFE175 (186)
2Malcolm SCOTT118
3Anthony BISHOP65
4Antonio IMPIERI64
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Posts Tagged ‘rebuild’

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Oil Pressure Woes – fixed?
Written by Tristan
Tuesday, 24 August 2010 01:12

I’ve mentioned on here recently about the oil pressure issues we thought we might have been having, and had been optimistic that it was behind us following the mid-season rebuild of the engine.  However, that was not the case…

Pressure Relief Valve SchematicAfter refitting the engine, and having it running late last week, we found that the reported oil pressure (confirmed with a mechanical gauge to ensure the electronic version didn’t have a problem) was lower than usual at idle, and massively high when revving a bit. When I say massively high, I mean about 150psi – almost twice what we want!

So over the weekend, the engine was removed from the car again, and partially stripped to see what we’d done wrong. And we found nothing. The bearings were nice, with good clearance, and all in the right way around. All the oilways were clear, and the head gasket was on the correct way – all very basic things, but when you’re struggling you check everything.  The oil pump was taken off and checked, with nothing apparently wrong. Whilst we were there, we thought we’d make a quick drawing off the pressure relief valve system (as it is different from the TOM’S pumps we have in stock), and that is when we found the problem.

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Last Updated on Tuesday, 24 August 2010 04:40
Mallory Park Preview
Written by Tristan
Wednesday, 18 August 2010 10:30

Mallory TrackmapRounds 7 and 8 of the 2010 Monoposto championship are at Mallory Park, a track that so far seems to suit our Dallara, although I never felt especially comfortable there in the Reynard.  This is probably because the Dallara is a much stiffer car, and remains more composed in long, high speed corners like Gerards.

Last year, it was our 2nd meeting with the car (we skipped Anglesey), and was the scene of our first victory and first pole position with the car – although Timms’ engine blow up removed an element of competition that weekend! However, the pole time was bang on the lap record, so I’m confident Jeremy would have had to work hard to beat it. Unfortunately, we also had a throttle cable failure in the subsequent race, and couldn’t capitalise on that form…

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Last Updated on Wednesday, 18 August 2010 10:31
Work continues unabated
Written by Tristan
Sunday, 8 August 2010 05:51

The engine is now rebuilt, and is back on the gearbox ready to refit to the tub. Hurrah!

Martin is fitting a fridge, oven and hob to the truck to make catering easier (and milk last longer).

And the front wing endplates have been remade in lighter ‘foam’ that should wear rather than splinter, as recommended by Jon Gray of the BRSCC F3 series.

Update: The engine/gearbox assembly is now fitted to the tub, with most of the ancillary connections done as well…

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Last Updated on Wednesday, 11 August 2010 10:13
Engine refresh and “Living the Dream”
Written by Tristan
Tuesday, 20 July 2010 11:47

Despite an amateur theatrical production of Wuthering Heights getting in the way a bit, we’ve got the engine out of the car in into its constituent parts to make sure everything was okay. So far it’s all looking rosy, but the rebuild process will prove if that is the case or not.  Here is a picture of the engine at the moment (block and head not pictured, as they were being cleaned at the time); click to enlarge

The Twitter feed on the right of this page isn’t working at the moment, but if you are desperate to follow me on Twitter or just want to casually glance at my ramblings, then go here. <edit: bodged up a Twitter feed, but it’s not as nice. It does work though, which is an improvement>

The other ‘exciting’ thing this week is a inspirational talk at a local school on “Living the Dream”. I’ve been asked to do a small presentation to some children about how I turned my dream (motor racing) into a reality. Hopefully the children will then want to get involved in motorsport, at some level, later in their lives – either as marshals, mechanics, drivers or simply fans. The aim is to do the talk in the style of a TV interview, and I’m hoping to have the car there too – as such I’m spending my evenings fitting the ‘spare’ engine (from last year) so as to make the car into a rolling structure again. Could be interesting…

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Last Updated on Tuesday, 20 July 2010 03:40
Work for Mallory
Written by Tristan
Monday, 5 July 2010 03:11

We’ve been sidetracked by another Dallara here for some work, mainly to improve the setup, but also to get a gearbox failure resolved and to improve the brakes. But now we can start on our F398 once again. The engine is due to come out over the next few evenings to check it over and give it a mid-season refresh. The throttle body set up is due back soon with modified extension pipes to better support the airbox. The camera system needs to be repaired again, but that’s a case of sending it back for testing/replacement. And I might need a new front-left tyre, as I didn’t do it any favours in the Sunday race, desperately trying to remain competitive despite being down on power.

Oh, and the race truck is back, with new cables for the tail lift. We’ve got the cabin heater and dashboard lights working again. The side door handle has been replaced. And some of the paintwork has been neatened up. We’d quite like to remove the old stickers and have our own put on there, but the old stickers are proving hard to get rid of entirely. And we’ll need to do a practice day with the awning and the packing of the load space. It’ll be a lot easier to learn at home rather than in a rush at Mallory!

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Last Updated on Tuesday, 20 July 2010 03:41
Work continues and a new development…
Written by Tristan
Monday, 14 June 2010 06:23

We’ve been working hard. Not very hard at updating the website (though I still tweet occasionally) I admit, but in the workshop we’ve been busy.

  • The floor has come off, been cleaned properly, slightly modified with a belt sander and refitted. The bulge seems to be better now.
  • The camera was tested, sent off and testing by DogCamSport, and is now back with us and working. All fitted and ready to go.
  • The silencer was inspected, and the new packing is holding up well. Hopefully no noise problems at Snetterton!
  • We have had a chat with Specialist Components (the ECU people) with datalogging and video evidence of the misfire, and we think it’s more likely a mapping issue – the fuelling going rich or lean at various points. So we’ve fitted a lambda sensor, and will be able to log the throttle, RPM and fuelling to see what happens. Hopefully this will help reduce any misfires. We’ll also make sure the battery is fully charged just in case battery voltage is the cause.
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Last Updated on Friday, 2 July 2010 01:52
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