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Where's all the racers?

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Not sure this will work, but I found this clip in my photobucket library. One car you might recognize.

[video]https://s1097.photobucket.com/user/blueosprey90/media/2012%20Lime%20Rock%20Historic%20Festival/DSCF0528.mp4.html[/video]
 
VSCCA - Jaguar - HRG - May 31

It was blistering!

Also, it was a somewhat frustrating day.

The place was packed! I was running in groupr 4, the slowest of the VSCCA racers.

My first run wasn't until 10:20, so I was able to check the alignment. It looked pretty good, but I brought the toe in about 1/8 of an inch (probably a little less) just to see if it would make a difference. I can't say there was any appreciable difference in the feel - but I think I may know what that problem is. I think I've been carrying more fuel than in the past. Like today, I started with a full tank. On my first few laps, it feels like the car wants to oversteer, and maybe indeed it is doing that, but I also think the car may be ass heavy. The weight of the excess fuel is overpowering the rear suspension on the hard cornering. At least that's my working theory for today. I wish I had a reliable fuel gauge!

My first run was apparently my best. There were some new drivers, and perhaps some new drivers to the track, so the driving was tentative. I felt that I was going into oversteer on the first few corners, so I too was a bit tentative. But eventually, I did get my tires under me and ran a 1:18.5 on the 6th lap. That resulted in an average speed for that lap of about 70 mph. My nemesis, the #311 Coupe ran a 1:20.

Our second run was a gridded run based on the best practice lap time. So I was gridded 14 out of 29 cars. Right away, I developed a high speed misfire; and I was losing about 10 to 15 mph maximum speed on the straights. I outbraked a few cars to make some passes. I finished 15 out of 34 cars. I surprised myself with a best lap time of 1:17.7.

When I came into the pits, I immediately went to work. I was thinking that the misfire was caused by a fuel starvation problem. I worried that it might be related to the heat, perhaps the ethanol in the fuel evaporating in the float bowls. So I looked to the carburetors. The float in the front fuel was a bit lower than the rear - substantially, in fact. So I made an adjustment so it would float higher and allow more fuel into the float bowl. I also checked the carburetor jets and adjusted them, raising the front and lowering the rear so the were the same depth by micrometer.

I went to the third run optimistic -- oh, I mean delusional -- that I had fixed the problem. Based on my prior finish, I was gridded #15. My nemesis, the #311 MGA Coupe was two spots behind me - meaning he was right directly behind me at the start. The misfire was terrible! I could accelerate to about 3,500 rpm, but then I had the misfire - and I couldn't ever get above it, say at 5,500 rpm. I couldn't even get that high. I lost some positions. The MGA #311 was able to pass me, coming out of Big Bend, I think. I could stay close, but not catch. But I think he got caught up in some slower traffic, so I was able to claw back ahead. I couldn't hold the position though, and after maybe a lap, he was able to pass me on the no name straight. I was like my dead last horse in the 1972 Preakness. I had nothing as we came onto the main straight for the finish! The MGA #311 finished about 7/10 of a second ahead of me. Overall, I finished 19th out of 29 cars with a best lap time of 1:18.9.

So back to the pits. This time I checked the wiring. There were some loose and dirty wires that I addressed. I also cleaned the spark plugs. I changed the distributor cap, as there was a deteriorated "gasket" that may have been impacting the points. I also adjusted the valves, as I was thinking maybe they had fallen out of adjustment. The motor sounded good, and a few runs up the hill in low gear seemed to suggest that the misfire was gone. My nemesis came over to gloat over his victory - oh, I mean to see what i was doing. I told him I was putting in a supercharger as i needed a little more zip at the finish.

I waited until the end of the day and took out a corner worker for "worker rides". Aargh, still the bad misfire! So after it was all over, I pulled the distributor (a scary proposition) to check the points. I run a Mallory dual point distributor, and the points are impossible to adjust with the distributor in the car. The points were very tight, maybe .010" vs. the .022" that is called for in the spec. So I adjusted the points and also installed an old condenser while I had the distributor out. I was able to get the car to start, but did not rev it up due to the late hour. Pulling the distributor may have adversely affected my timing!

So I'll go back tomorrow. My first practice is at 9:00 a.m. But I assume that I'll be gridded in position #19. If I've resolved the misfire - a big IF - I should be able to deal with the #311.

On a side note, it was hard to work on the car. Everything was super hot, even after more that an hour to cool down. I was lucky I had thrown a glove in with my tools, because it was almost impossible to handle anything under the hood!

My other nemesis - but only due to the respective relative value of our cars, the #239 1959 Ferrari 250GT, was having a rough day. She broke died twice and had to be towed in. She's been gridded behind me. We used to run about the same times, but I guess even with my misfire, I'm a little faster. Probably she has her own misfire or even more serious trouble.
 
You'll have another Coupe to deal with tomorrow. My friend, Storm had problems with his MGB-GT V8 so he towed it home and will be returning with his black, #330 MGA Coupe for Saturday. That Ferrari is, of course, Lulu Wang's. She and her husband have quite a collection of cars.
 
I think Storm was running in Group 5, or maybe even with HRG. I was under the hood most of the blistering day, but between fainting spells I walked over to his trailer a few time, as he smartly had it parked on the grass, and I needed to cool down. But I missed him - which was a disappointment. I was wearing my Vintage racing Today tee shirt, and since he is such a star in that film, I thought he might sign it for me. :encouragement:
 
Yeah, the Zapata film. Good stuff! Team Zapata has at least 3 MGAs and I don't know if you've seen Carl George's MGA (he's sort of the "mayor" of Zapata Racing)......but it has a very unique "half-trunklid" ("bootlid"?). I should have taken a shot of it when it was open.

Last event at the Jefferson 500 we ( "Joisey Boyz" including Storm) paddocked between the MG Vintage Racers and the Zapata Racing Team. It was a hoot.

Zapata MGA w/ "half trunklid"
mccabe-jeff-500-static-86.jpg
 
VSCCA – Jag Event, Day 2.


Saturday morning, I'm out at 9:00 a.m. Car ran pretty good, with just a slight misfire. I don’t think I was pushing hard, and my best time was a 1:18.5. Since the only thing I hadn't adjusted on Friday was the coil, when I came in I replaced my NAPA coil with a Lucas Performance coil.


Then I go out for the second Saturday run and misery returns. This is it:




You don't need to watch the whole painful video. Misfire very apparent at 0.17 when I try to accelerate for the green flag and at 1:01 as I try to go up the no name straight. If you can see my tachometer, I have a very hard time getting much over 3,500 rpm, and it sounds terrible as well. It was like I was running on three cylinders. So just about the entire field gets to pass. Best time was a 1:20.9


So I come back in. I roped a fellow Honda S2000 enthusiast into helping me put in a third coil and then pull the distributor to double check the points. We tweaked the adjustment a bit. Then we went to see my nemesis to ask to borrow a condenser. But I’m running a different distributor, so he showed us a trick to test the condenser. My friend supervised the testing of the two condensers that I had, and we re-installed the condenser that I had taken out on Friday.


As I start the car up to go out for the third run, its not sounding too good even in the paddock. So I’m starting to worry that I’m doing damage to the engine. Still, I go out and it's just as bad. My best time on that run was a 1:20.061.


So for the last run, I decide just to mix in some 110 octane fuel. I also changed three of the four spark plugs, just to keep myself busy more than expecting a cure. Because, now I’m back to believing that my ignition is OK and that my problem is fuel starvation – caused by the extreme heat perhaps.


On track for my final run, I feel that there is no change - except, suddenly on the last two laps, the misfire does abate by about 50%. I ended up a lap down, but did manage a 1:17.891, probably in the last lap.


In hindsight, I shouldn't have run under the misfire conditions. I’m concerned now that I’ve done some internal damage to the motor. It's quite possible that with the extreme heat and my higher than historical revving of the engine, that the exhaust manifold heat was boiling the fuel in my float bowls. I just hope I haven't figured that out too late. I could have burned a hole in the piston or in the exhaust valve. I'm not sure the car sounds so great anymore, even at idle; and when I started the car to put it on the trailer, it started with a big puff of blue smoke, something I had never seen before. Perhaps that signifies a broken piston ring.


So at this point, my plan is as follows: First I'll do a compression test and hope for the best. If that checks out OK, I'll look for some rigid insulation to add to my heat shield; and perhaps I'll wrap the exhaust manifold and maybe the fuel float bowls with heat wrap insulation. Then I have to try to check my fuel delivery system.


The only other option is bad ignition wires – but I doubt that.


But here's an interesting picture, much more arty than usual. Photo by Robert Rightmyer, Valley Visions Photographs


 
Oh the pain......my ears and your motor. Maybe it's just me, but if my cars not right, I don't even go out. If something occurs once the race starts, I find it's best to return to the hot pits to figure it out before something really serious happens. I find no enjoyment in running my car at less then 100%. I hope you figure out the misfire problem before the next race weekend.

I ran my battery down when I left the electric fan on after returning to the pits after qualifying, which left me out of the first race on Saturday at SOVREN's Spokane Festival of Speed. Our second race was cut short ( 1 lap) when 4 FV's collected each other at the start of our split grid race.
I was experimenting with 2 GroPro's on my car for this very short race.

 
Oh well.....best of luck solving the MGA misfire. It was fun to see all those familiar racers (at Lime Rock). I love that well-worn Bugatti with the Ford Model A engine that passed you on the first uphill.
Whenever my old MGA would misfire I would always throw a new set of plugs in it. It seemed that once a plug had fouled, it was impossible to "clear" it. My street MGB is a bit like that too. My Spridgets seem a bit more forgiving about worn/fouled plugs. Also, check the cap and rotor (the newer rotors are notoriously bad) and double-check valve adjustment. The float bowls in my race-Spridget are wrapped with high-temp insulation (held on with safety wire). Othewise, the car would run terrible on hot days.

Doug:
While I'm not familar with west coast curcuits, that one looks like fun. We have a couple of those old Volvo PVs racing with us. They are usually not much for handling but they are very stout motors.
We race with FVs in my group too (they're too slow to run with the other open-wheel cars).
I have some good races with them, but I'm always afraid I'll hit them.

If you slide to about 5:30 in this video you'll see me and my pal Harry (in his red FV) going back and fourth endlessly.


Nial
 
383387_4836422598856_1813480800_n.jpg

That was Sandy Leith leaning into the Uphill. (Edit: I guess you have to double click to get it to full size)

Ben Bragg passed me in the Old Grey Mare at the start. During the weekend, he buzzed past me several times and I always visualized a cocktail in his left hand and a smoke in his right - but he doesn't smoke.
 
blueosprey90 said:
That was Sandy Leith leaning into the Uphill.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I don't know the owner, but I recall hearing someone talking about it while a bunch of us were looking at it (at LR Fallfest). Apparently it was semi-abandoned for a long time. Now that I think about it, I believe it's actually a Ford Model B engine. Anyway, the thing is glorious!


blueosprey90 said:
Ben Bragg passed me in the Old Grey Mare at the start. During the weekend, he buzzed past me several times .......
Click to expand...

Yeah, those old flathead Ford V8 specials can surprise you. I've had plenty of races with Pete McManus in the Alligator and he really runs away from me on the straightaways.
 
I'm still here.

Been very busy. Still have all those PVGP videos to watch.

Haven't had the MG on track since that misfire weekend in early June (Oh, the pain!).

Early season visions of going to VIR never materialized, so i went to Watkins Glen for a two day HPDE in the S2000 (honda) for my fix.

Now have done what work as I am capable of, and plan to run at Lime Rock next weekend.

Have to up my game! I've seen the entry list. My best lap time ever is about 10 seconds slower than what look to be the mid pack cars.
 
Wow! That could have been really bad for Rick and his Healey. Some races never learn they need to check their mirrors often.

Here's a video from my group 3A grid in the Rolex Monterey Historic Reunion 2 weeks ago at Laguna Seca. This was shot by a Morgan racer who started mid-pack. I arrived at pre-grid late ( they move our start time up 10-minutes with little announcement) and was held back until all 39 cars took the green and past start/finish. I make my pass at 8.40 minutes in and go on to pass 25 cars to qualify 14th, I didn't even have time to start my camera for this one. In our feature later that day, I lost 3rd gear a lap into the race and had to take a DNF. Good time though.....

 
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