To say this last weekends racing was frustrating is putting it mildly. All weather station predictions were that rain was on the cards for Friday and for whatever reason it never once even looked like rain at all. To some degree even that was frustrating as one now wondered if the predicted clear for Saturday would perhaps now have rain. Anyway at least that was something of which we had no control of and never would either.
As a precaution the rings on the Datti were replaced after the last race and needed bedding in and as such my first session was purely a test session. Everything seemed OK, oil pressures and water temps all fine the only exception being a lack of braking ability. I kept it under 6000 RPM and on my last test lap I stomped on the 'loud peddle' between T3 and T4. Coming out of T4 I noticed no oil pressure and pulled to the right hand side of the track. In hind sight it was not a good idea and I should have stopped completely even though there was no sign of engine noise or any laboring of the engine. Seeing the oil gauge on zero pressure dropped my spirits and emotions and increased my frustrations even more and I sort of resigned myself to the fact that my weekends racing had already come to an end as I would not consider redoing an engine this late in the day. I cruised at idle speed all the way back to my pit not realizing what had actually gone wrong. Upon my return we discovered that the oil cooler adapter had come off from the engine block (with the piping and oil filter still neatly intact and secured) due to the thread having been stripped which essentially meant I was now also guilty of dumping my sump all down the back straight. I duly went to the marshals offices out of my own accord and guilt, owned up and apologized for the mishap. We removed the oil cooler and the adapter and just screwed the filter straight on and bypassed any cooling. I expected the worst and even wondered if filling up with oil was even worth it but without doing so we would not know for sure the extent of any damage. We started up and to everyone's dismay and belief the oil pressure was up at 5 bar pressure and no sign of any engine or bearing failure. I did the last session for the day at 15h15 and everything was perfect other than I still battled to stop. Upon my return to my pit and a debriefing ceremony I again reiterated that the brakes were not up to scratch as per the norm. I was duly informed that oil would take a while to burn off and was likely the cause. In the interim a thorough check was again done and the tappets sounded a little noisy. The tappet cover was removed upon which we discovered a rocker shaft pedestal bolt had stripped in the head. So off to the workshop I went to get heli-coils and whatever else was required to repair the job. In the interim while waiting, the front brakes were checked only to discover there were no brakes left and that being after only 2 races. That was duly replaced with a new set of pads while waiting for me to return to the track. After having then fixed the head gear everything was now ready for qualifying the next morning with a set of brake pads that still needed bedding in. A couple of laps around the pit complex was as best as we could do that evening and I parked the car and went for supper a much happier person for now but still very frustrated at my short sightedness in hindsight.
Saturday mornings qualifying was moved to 07h45 for whatever reason and we were already at the track by 06h15 to do our necessary preparation on both Datsuns. The 140Z was operating like a clock and all that was required was a quick radiator flush and a wipe down of the body. In his qualifying session he posted a brilliant 1:21.9 which gave the 140Z pole position for race 1. The datti on the other hand eventually got down to a qualifying time of 1:28.9 with the brakes still not having been fully bedded as yet but was good enough for the race. I was placed second of the class B cars but with a class C Alfa posting a quicker time than me and thus found myself down in 9th place in the grid out of 27. I had a reasonable start and managed to get ahead of the class C Alfa of Dave Alhadeff from the rolling start but was short of HP on the Scirocco that of Biccari. There was not much pressure on me from behind but that soon changed after lap 6 when I felt I was going slower and slower until I eventually pulled off after lap 7 with a suspected rocker failure. Not wanting to further test fate I duly pulled off onto the Oval between T1 and T2 and secured whatever points I could get having only completed 7 of the 8 laps. In the interim the 140Z ran away from the field and posted his fastest ever time of 1:21.3 and thereby affording him the race win by the proverbial mile. Eventually I was towed to the scrutineers only after the next race upon which it seemed rather odd and soon learned that some very irritated scrutineers were hounding all the clubman cars who had just finished their first race, over the scrutineering bay and were obviously checking each one for any oil leaks. A scrutineer eventually came up to me while I was still parked at the entrance of parc ferme and asked to lift the hood. I duly complied and a small amount of oil was seen on the chassis rail. My issued scrutineered sticker was duly removed and I was told in no uncertain terms 'you can also load your car and go home'. Short and sweet. No option to even repair it for the 2nd heat.
Now even more frustrated I merely complied with such unprofessionalism and neither of the Datsuns along with a few others took any further part (the 140Z also being found guilty of two drops of oil hanging from under the gearbox) of the race event in principal of shoddy attitudes displayed by the scrutineers and on apparent instruction of the C.O.C. of the day.
In the interim I'll consider my further involvement with the club after I have had a good think about who actually pays who to race. (As one clubman competitor said, "in 15 years I've never had to sit out on a race, this is the first time".)
Thanks 'boet' for desperately trying to keep me on the track. In the meantime, PHUKEMALL.
Monday, 25 October 2010
Sunday, 17 October 2010
It takes 2 to Tango!!
The itch was just too much, the in between waiting had become too long, the want almost a must. Besides, I was not sure which way the rules would go for 2011 especially the 'replica' rules and decided to look at another Datti in the interim, this time a 4-door 'boxie' all while the dust settled. The car was a HRCR 3rd overall championship car for 2008 and I always had one eye on the track and the other on this car and eventually took the plunge to buy it at the beginning of August. Everyone including myself wants to have a personal or unique looking car and I started stripping the bodywork of decals and the interior to suit my taste. It took me almost a month with my 2 left hands to do so but patience and perseverance finally paid off and I eventually transformed it to something I liked all while still retaining the exact mechanicals as originally bought.
And so it went from this........................................................to this.
Permission was sought and granted to participate in the last 2 races of the HRCR season of which my first was on 18th September at Kyalami. Not having had the chance to previously test the car I had no idea of its capability although its potential was always a given knowing its previous history. As such 'Mr Datsun Guru' of the fairest Cape duly was to attend the race meeting and came up on the Thursday night. He quickly noticed a few key areas and was soon removing unwanted or unnecessary parts from the suspension and also made some changes in other areas he found somewhat wanting. Mechanically he changed the jetting to something that made a bit more sense, adjusted tappet clearances and set the timing to his specification needs. The Friday morning we were off to the track and our testing commenced. Our first stint was not of the greatest but hey, this is a new race toy and a learning curve was to be expected. Again we made further changes to the jetting and by late afternoon I manged to get her down to a 2:12.5. As certain internal carburetor parts were suspected to be incorrect, we were left with no alternative but to make do with what we had to out disposal. Further changes were again made but as no further testing was possible on the day, it was now left to the qualifying session on the Saturday morning. A brilliant day with cool morning air did the trick and I posted a 2:10.9 for qualifying. During race 1 I again bettered my time and clocked a personal best of 2:09.8. Race 2 saw the mercury a little hotter and also therefore times slightly slower but hey a fantastic achievement for the weekend and for our first time out. We finished 16th overall out of a total of 56 competitors with a 7th overall in class.
My second race meeting was to be on the 16th October at Zwartkops and would also be my last as the northern region season had come to an end. In the interim I painstakingly removed the carburetors and inlet manifold and gave this to a friend of mine who offered to help with the stripping and setup. I ordered the correct parts as instructed and such were fitted along with new bolts, spring washers and the like. After having collected the carburetors I once again painstakingly put them back into roughly the same place I removed them from and tightened all the bolts and fittings. No matter how hard I tried I could not get the Datti to start. After battling for about 30 minutes I eventually got it fired up but man it was rough and sounded terrible. No matter which screws I adjusted on the carbs, nothing changed and I duly killed the engine, covered her up and reported to Cape Town HQ.
Again on the Thursday night before the race, 'Mr Datsun Guru' appeared from nowhere and went about setting the carbs which was supposed to be a 2 minute job apparently. My my, no matter what was adjusted the problem remained and it was decided to strip the and remove the carburetors again so as to better ascertain the problem. Now for those who may think I have a state of the art workshop to accomplish all of this work, well let's just say it is very unique indeed. Pictured below is how we have to make do when you don't have the luxury of an equiped garage at the race track like I have access to in Cape Town.
To top it all, after we had removed the carbs we had a Gauteng thunder storm of note resulting that we could not finish that night (the car stands outside on its trailer) and had to wait for morning. By 06h30 the carbs were reassembled, adjusted and were back on the car and fired up by 07h30. A whole range of screws were adjusted (it almost looked like a grand piano tuner) and within 2 minutes she was idling smoothly and revving beautifully once again. We duly packed the car with all our tools and race fuel, hitched the trailer and off we were to Zwartkops arriving there by 09h30 on Friday morning.
My first stint again was not anywhere near my expectation but I was at least here to have some fun and intended to do just that. I was then posting around the 1:19 - 1:20 lap time. I had set myself a personal goal for the weekend of reaching a 1:17 lap time and would be most satisfied with that for 2 reasons, one, I was not used to the track and two had I ever raced this car here. 'Mr Datsun' did a spark plug analysis reading and again decided to change the jetting. Again I went out and tested and not before long I was down to 1:17.5. Very chuffed with myself I was still 0.5 seconds away from my goal but would now have to wait for tomorrow as our allotted testing was over for the day. We duly packed up and enjoyed a few hard earned frosties with the boys down at the track bar. Saturday morning we were again up early and got to the track (40Km's later) by 07h00. We fueled the car, set the tyre pressures to suit the crisp cold morning air and then just stood around with a great bunch of racers making idle chatter, everyone a touch nervous for our qualifying session. I was super motivated this being a new track, a new car (well almost) and at the back of my mind a bunch of guys who could seriously peddle fast around Zwarties. I did not want to disappoint, not myself or anyone else for that matter. I sat in parc ferme
deep in concentration going over my race lines and trying to remember my areas of weakness as was pointed out by those a lot more observant and experienced. In the interim, 'Mr Datsun Guru' made some final tyre pressure adjustments.
I took to the track and warmed the tyres and brakes on the first out lap after which I nailed her good and solid. This was my best chance with the cold morning air (9 degrees) to get my goal lap time I had set myself. The car felt good, very responsive, handled well and did everything almost perfectly. I had only put in 4 laps and felt it was the best I could do, at least for now. Almost unbelievably upon returning to the pits, my boet open the door, stuck out his hand and congratulated me, I had just posted a 1:16.2. PGA - Personal Goal Achieved!!
Race 1 was hard, very competitive and I was dueling with 3 much bigger engine cars as well as another Datsun like mine but with plenty Zwartkops track experience. Equally then we were most probably all over-driving our cars with hardly a cars length between us at times, some accidentally running into others, others a little too sideways in corners with some eventually suffering terminal engine failure. I finished 5th in my class. Race 2 was as good but with somewhat less competition due to some DNS's and I somewhat had a much lonelier race. In the end I finished 3rd in my class and for the day I achieved a 3rd place overall which was most unexpected.
I guess one can have the very best guitar and have the talent to play it well but if you don't know how to tune it, it pretty much sounds awful. Yes I drove my heart out and gave it my best shot on a not too familiar track but without 'Mr Datsun Guru' I would still be stuck on the trailer at home unable to have got my car started at all.
Thanks 'Boet'
Also a big thank you to the HRCR for allowing me to participate in their last 2 race meeting of 2010.
And so it went from this........................................................to this.
Permission was sought and granted to participate in the last 2 races of the HRCR season of which my first was on 18th September at Kyalami. Not having had the chance to previously test the car I had no idea of its capability although its potential was always a given knowing its previous history. As such 'Mr Datsun Guru' of the fairest Cape duly was to attend the race meeting and came up on the Thursday night. He quickly noticed a few key areas and was soon removing unwanted or unnecessary parts from the suspension and also made some changes in other areas he found somewhat wanting. Mechanically he changed the jetting to something that made a bit more sense, adjusted tappet clearances and set the timing to his specification needs. The Friday morning we were off to the track and our testing commenced. Our first stint was not of the greatest but hey, this is a new race toy and a learning curve was to be expected. Again we made further changes to the jetting and by late afternoon I manged to get her down to a 2:12.5. As certain internal carburetor parts were suspected to be incorrect, we were left with no alternative but to make do with what we had to out disposal. Further changes were again made but as no further testing was possible on the day, it was now left to the qualifying session on the Saturday morning. A brilliant day with cool morning air did the trick and I posted a 2:10.9 for qualifying. During race 1 I again bettered my time and clocked a personal best of 2:09.8. Race 2 saw the mercury a little hotter and also therefore times slightly slower but hey a fantastic achievement for the weekend and for our first time out. We finished 16th overall out of a total of 56 competitors with a 7th overall in class.
My second race meeting was to be on the 16th October at Zwartkops and would also be my last as the northern region season had come to an end. In the interim I painstakingly removed the carburetors and inlet manifold and gave this to a friend of mine who offered to help with the stripping and setup. I ordered the correct parts as instructed and such were fitted along with new bolts, spring washers and the like. After having collected the carburetors I once again painstakingly put them back into roughly the same place I removed them from and tightened all the bolts and fittings. No matter how hard I tried I could not get the Datti to start. After battling for about 30 minutes I eventually got it fired up but man it was rough and sounded terrible. No matter which screws I adjusted on the carbs, nothing changed and I duly killed the engine, covered her up and reported to Cape Town HQ.
Again on the Thursday night before the race, 'Mr Datsun Guru' appeared from nowhere and went about setting the carbs which was supposed to be a 2 minute job apparently. My my, no matter what was adjusted the problem remained and it was decided to strip the and remove the carburetors again so as to better ascertain the problem. Now for those who may think I have a state of the art workshop to accomplish all of this work, well let's just say it is very unique indeed. Pictured below is how we have to make do when you don't have the luxury of an equiped garage at the race track like I have access to in Cape Town.
To top it all, after we had removed the carbs we had a Gauteng thunder storm of note resulting that we could not finish that night (the car stands outside on its trailer) and had to wait for morning. By 06h30 the carbs were reassembled, adjusted and were back on the car and fired up by 07h30. A whole range of screws were adjusted (it almost looked like a grand piano tuner) and within 2 minutes she was idling smoothly and revving beautifully once again. We duly packed the car with all our tools and race fuel, hitched the trailer and off we were to Zwartkops arriving there by 09h30 on Friday morning.
My first stint again was not anywhere near my expectation but I was at least here to have some fun and intended to do just that. I was then posting around the 1:19 - 1:20 lap time. I had set myself a personal goal for the weekend of reaching a 1:17 lap time and would be most satisfied with that for 2 reasons, one, I was not used to the track and two had I ever raced this car here. 'Mr Datsun' did a spark plug analysis reading and again decided to change the jetting. Again I went out and tested and not before long I was down to 1:17.5. Very chuffed with myself I was still 0.5 seconds away from my goal but would now have to wait for tomorrow as our allotted testing was over for the day. We duly packed up and enjoyed a few hard earned frosties with the boys down at the track bar. Saturday morning we were again up early and got to the track (40Km's later) by 07h00. We fueled the car, set the tyre pressures to suit the crisp cold morning air and then just stood around with a great bunch of racers making idle chatter, everyone a touch nervous for our qualifying session. I was super motivated this being a new track, a new car (well almost) and at the back of my mind a bunch of guys who could seriously peddle fast around Zwarties. I did not want to disappoint, not myself or anyone else for that matter. I sat in parc ferme
deep in concentration going over my race lines and trying to remember my areas of weakness as was pointed out by those a lot more observant and experienced. In the interim, 'Mr Datsun Guru' made some final tyre pressure adjustments.I took to the track and warmed the tyres and brakes on the first out lap after which I nailed her good and solid. This was my best chance with the cold morning air (9 degrees) to get my goal lap time I had set myself. The car felt good, very responsive, handled well and did everything almost perfectly. I had only put in 4 laps and felt it was the best I could do, at least for now. Almost unbelievably upon returning to the pits, my boet open the door, stuck out his hand and congratulated me, I had just posted a 1:16.2. PGA - Personal Goal Achieved!!
Race 1 was hard, very competitive and I was dueling with 3 much bigger engine cars as well as another Datsun like mine but with plenty Zwartkops track experience. Equally then we were most probably all over-driving our cars with hardly a cars length between us at times, some accidentally running into others, others a little too sideways in corners with some eventually suffering terminal engine failure. I finished 5th in my class. Race 2 was as good but with somewhat less competition due to some DNS's and I somewhat had a much lonelier race. In the end I finished 3rd in my class and for the day I achieved a 3rd place overall which was most unexpected.
I guess one can have the very best guitar and have the talent to play it well but if you don't know how to tune it, it pretty much sounds awful. Yes I drove my heart out and gave it my best shot on a not too familiar track but without 'Mr Datsun Guru' I would still be stuck on the trailer at home unable to have got my car started at all.
Thanks 'Boet'
Also a big thank you to the HRCR for allowing me to participate in their last 2 race meeting of 2010.
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