Events - 2007
3rd Feb - Harvey (short course)
Well we didn't manage to get the car to the Harvey shortcourse due to the many bits it's in. In fact, it would be very difficult to get the car in any more bits than what it's currently in; as there's nothing on the frame due to it being painted. Anyway, it's always a pity missing a short-course event, because it's a good chance to get the car on the track and do a bit of testing (at the very least) without the need to take vast quantities of spares, fuel, etc. The best I can do is give you a pick of the scenery...
3rd Mar '07 - Yealering (long course)
Car wasn't ready in time (painting still in progress)...
12th Apr '07 - Hyden 400 (long course)
Well it's all a bit sad...
2006 finished on a low note when the engine stripped the timing belt which resulted in the removal of the block from the frame. It was then decided to paint the frame (something we'd been planning on doing ever since getting the car), which resulted in a complete strip-down. Whilst a bare frame, a few dented bars were replaced, a couple of upper front arms modified to provide some less camber and the rear barwork revised somewhat to allow for a bigger fuel tank. Also on order was a new Motec SDL dash, a new ally fuel tank and a bunch of other bits and pieces. Painting was delayed a bit by high temperature/humidity (not having access to a booth was a problem); and didn't really start until mid-January. This was basically finished by mid-March and the reassembly started.
Of course, it's impossible to put a car back together without fixing something, so the following also got done:
- Rebuilt both torque convertors (short and long course versions)
- Replaced the busted timing belt, tensioner and timing belt covers
- Replaced a bunch of Heim joints around the car
- Replaced a rear axle seal (sounds simple doesn't it?)
- Replaced some steel pulleys on the engine with ally versions to reduce spinning weight and increase the flange height (to stop belts skipping off)
- Moved the battery and lengthened the cables to suit
- Replaced a bent upper left control arm (tree impact at Hyden 2006)
- Installed the new fuel tank, bracing and associated lines
- Re-tuned the engine to run without detonating on straight BP Ultimate (98)
- Replaced both master cylinders with new CNC units with bigger bores (to aid pedal travel issues)
- Repaired a bunch of panels and painted appropriately
- Split the gearbox scatter shield to aid fitment and removal from the car
- Replaced all bearings and seals on both reduction boxes
- Replaced the front reduction box gearsets and changed the ratio in the process
- Cleaned up everything (including removing about 2kg of dirt from the engine valley)
Last assembly finished at 10pm on Thursday night 5th April 2007, 13hrs before the finish of scrutineering at Hyden. Completely filling the new tank at the servo at 10:30pm saw a significant leak. Back at the workshop, the tank was emptied and out by 12:30am Friday morning. The 1" crack combined with the remaining 10hrs before the end of scrutineering meant all realistic possibilities of getting to the race were remote at best. Needless to say, focus is now on making Brookton and putting on a good show. At least the car is pretty much ready to go now...
As a consolation, we did end up getting to the race; just with a camera, not the car. So I've updated a few of the photos and hopefully will get around to doing the stats sometime soon.
2nd Jun - Brookton King Of The Hill 260 (long course)
(Jez's take on the recent Brookton race and a completely rebuilt car)
Finally we got to kick up some dust...
After a rebuild process that took on a larger scale than originally anticipated, we took the reborn Rodeo out for a run over the long weekend of June 2-3. The rebuild has seen us have every part, nut and bolt taken off the car. The frame has been painted, gearbox checked, new torque converter, new bearings in the ratio box, new rear axle seals, new fuel tank, supertrapps added to the exhaust, new timing belt, all new pump and fan belts, new brake master cylinders and all calipers overhauled, new rose joints all over and some new wiring and switches.
The original launch date was for Hyden at Easter time but the fuel tank drama saw to that. You would assume that meant we would easily make Brookton 6 weeks later wouldn’t you! Not so, as we waited for the tank to be repaired we sorted a few more of the little things that were passed over during prep for the Hyden race. After a few anxious moments the fuel tank was fixed and reinstalled in the car with less than a week to go! We were ready to tackle the King of the Hill.
With the major alterations and overhaul we expected to chase our tail all weekend finding lots of little problems. Even though we had spent time on the dyno, the track always finds those loose bolts, etc. The reconnaissance went well with few problems. It was interesting to get back behind the wheel after not driving the car since August last year. It is a little hard to get a grip on, as it is so different to anything that I drive day to day. The prologue was on Saturday afternoon and we ran a creditable 5th outright. That put us higher up the start order for less dusty run.
Overnight we tweaked a few things and changed the ratio to enable a higher top end. The race format was to be 5 26km loops on Sun morning and a further 5 loops on Sun afternoon.
The morning race saw us put in a good start to lap one, but then we had some problems with the power steering. The car would turn left well but struggled without any power assistance to turn right. It was an intermittent problem so I struggled on as best I could. As the lap progressed I had problems with the brakes and came into the pits at the end of lap 1. Once that was resolved we headed out again only to lose a vacuum hose on lap 3 (easily resolved with a cable tie – the old 50c part), however whilst we were resolving that issue we noticed the fuel tank leaking. We limped back to the pits.
With the help of our newly acquired pit crew (thanks Quentin and Mick) we pulled the tank out during the break and put together a fix that would last out the race. We put it together and headed out for race 2. We were seeded up the field and had a good dust free run. We put in some consistent lap times and didn’t find any more problems. The power steering issue did return and needs some attention. The car handles the bumps so well; it was great to get some track time for Steve to appreciate the balance that the car has. Even with the problems we had we put in the 3 best lap times for our class and managed a 5th outright and first in class in race 2. I would expect to improve on that next time we head out to a long course.
Next event is the Harvey Short Course on the 7th July and we are heading there with the intention to challenge for outright positions. Thanks to Morgon for all the effort he has put into the rebuild. Thanks to Quentin and Mick for coming to their first event. Thanks to Steve for his efforts during the rebuild and getting out there again.
See you at Harvey...
We have some new video from the new ChaseCam recorder and I am sure we will get it onto the website soon. Jak came up with his camera and he has some great photos at www.angstrom.com.au - thanks Jak.
