Tips & Tricks
Hints that may be Helpful for Formula car preparation
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Driver getting exposed to the high challenges of the Shenandoah circuit!
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Clyde is the non-professional that does his/her best to try to help!
During my time off from the web-site I decided to re-visit the "Goat Alley Garage"; when I got there Hawkster and Maynard were talking about lubes & greases. Stories were told about people using heavy wheel bearing greases on their steering racks and how the grease would become cured, hard and full of grime, resulting in a difficult, high effort steering unit. Concluding that just a light amount of light weight grease being applied to just the teeth section of the rack. The part that sticks out of the housing should be kept clean and only have "Food Grade" silicone applied to prevent dirt from wearing out the rack end seals. If a product has "petrolium distilates" in it, that product attracts dirt! Most oils, WD-40
Molly lubes all have Petro in them, use that stuff around the house and keep it away from your racecar. BUT, what about the shift linkage? All I can say is that you MUST have a smooth and easy linkage, no jiggling, no partical motions, it has to be done without thinking, just move it and keep racing. Banshee tranny's do not leak but Hewland had to redesign there MK-8 & 9 units to the LD style with the shift finger up on top to prevent the trans fron leaking. If you have a Hewland 8 or 9 you should catch the gear oil that drips from the shift finger; the unit only has 1 quart and if you do not have enough gear oil you wil overheat the gears and at $200.00 per gearset and over $160.00 for the dog rings it destroys your racing budjet. The microwavable soup containers make a good catch container, just loop a piece of safety wire over the shift finger and through the soup container and you will catch the gear oil and you can pour it back in before racing. Back to the linkage; there are 2 methods that I would use; the use of the "Food Grade" silicone at each rod-end, the shift finger and at the shift handle itself but at this end you must do it just before going out to race and use plenty! The other system is all the same except at the shift handle, at the handle, you could use a light grease BUT because it cures and attracts dirt, you have to clean the handle totally each morning of the races, twice on each duel race weekend; before racing on Saturday and again before racing on Sunday. I also think you should cover the linkage handle between sessions. You MUST be able to shift without thinking about it.
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BUMPSTEER?
Just how does Bumpsteer affects how your racecar handles?
It is not magic, it is cause and effect. Because our racecars are made very stiff, when one wheel hits a bump it becomes the controling wheel; if when that wheel hits the bump it carries the racecar and if it changes direction, toe changes in or out, so does the racecar! Your racecar may dart to the left or right because the wheel that hit the bump changed its toe setting. This is not just for the front wheels because the rear wheels also can toe in or out, therefore will cause the racecar to change direction even though you have not moved the steering wheel. While you can get rid of Bumpsteer in both the up and down position, there is one direction that is more important then the other; under braking! When the racecar is getting ready for a turn you first brake, the front dives, like both wheels hitting a bump at the same time and the rear wheels go into a droop setting as the back of the racecar rises. You should totally eliminate any toe change in this position. If the front tires add toe-in settings under braking when you go to steer into the turn the added toe-in darts the racecar deeper into the turn and you may think the racecar is oversteering and start to change anti-roll bar settings -- WRONG! Then add it the fact that the rear wheels may have toed-out which will make you believe you are oversteering and again go for the Anti-roll bar settings. Getting rid of toe change in the rear is easier because you are only dealing with a castor setting, change the castor setting until there is no bumpsteer in the droop position. The front is difficuilt because you are adding in the steering linkage and the steering rack itself. First make sure the steering rack has no play up or down, when the rack is in the center you may think there is not much play BUT when the rack is in the turn position that play is multiplied. If the rack is jumping up and down it will affect the toe setting. Next, understand there are racecars with the steering rods right behind an A-arm which is easier to get rid of bumpsteer but many racecars have the steering rods half way between the upper and lower A-arm. Bumpsteer can always be eliminated, it is harder on some models to the point where some racecars need the rack to be relocated but most of the time you can just shim the tie-rod at the steering arm on the upright. If you do this you MUST use a string box. If you do not know how to set one up, you can call or wait for the next issue. Clyde ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DIRT
Do not let dirt cause you to DNF. In the past the tech inspector would not check your racecar for legality if the racecar had any dirt on the chassis or if there was an oily surface. What had happened was that a racecar was brought to inspection that was quite dirty after the racecar was cleaned a broken chassis was found in the engine compartment. The chassis was rewelded and the driver was allowed to race, had the broken chassis not been discovered what would the total of the crash been between numbers of racecars and the cost of the repairs? Your routine after the race should be very disciplined, wash the racecar, so you can do the rest of the routine and say clean BUT do not clean the racecar without looking for the problem before it turns into a major problem. We just found a rear axle bearing that caused and expensive repair, the dirt jammed the bearing causing a spin into a tire wall that broke a very expensive rear upright. The repair will exceed $1,500.00!
Find a product that works well in your situation and keep those products with you from your working area at home to the race track. PLEASE, use only "Food Grade" silicone to lube all the pivot points on the racecar, anything with petroleum in it actually attracts dirt! Penetrating oil, WD-40, anything with petro is OUT. After the racecar is clean, start it up to warm and look for oil leaks, then after the engine is off open the throttle and take your compression test. After adding the numbers to your records, reset the racecar for the next event. If you have been at the track before, set the chassis the way you had it at the end of the race, this way you can be that much ahead on perfecting the set-up for this race. If you have no record from the track set the chassis back to neutral. You should be able to do this from un-doing the settings from this last race because you have recorded all the changes you made during the race, of course you should keep (record) those improvements; those improvements are for that track and in those weather conditions. The end of the 2011 race season will soon be here and your winter preventive maintence schedule must be started right away. Ordering stuff one item at a time drives the shipping costs up, try to gather a list and order once, many times the item costs less then the shipping!
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Peters Principal.
In the working world, the raceyou get graduated to your level of being incompetent, you then become unhappy, but for some reason you do not go back to where you enjoyed yourself (?)
Once, a long time ago, a driver joined the FRCCA because he could afford to go racing. He was not sure if he would like it but a start up cost of under $8,000.00 was something he was willing to gamble on. So, Barry Marciano found a Club legal racecar for $5,500.00, with some spares, then bought a complete uniform with helmet for $595.00. Joined the FRCCA and signed up for the racing budget plan. Into the Tyro division and raced for the entire season, Barry was fortunate having only spins but no crashes. While he finished third in a field of eighteen,He was hooked and wanted more from racing. He then sold his FRCCA legal racecar for almost what he paid for it and joined a National club. Barry added some money to what he got for his FRCCA legal racecar and bought a newer F/F. He quickly found that he needed new tires at least every other race, next he was told that a pro-built engine was a must. The engine builder informed him of the need for a different clutch and an Aluminum head. Barry then decided on getting another Aluminum head so he could have one on the engine while the engine builder was rebuilding the other head. OH wait, I cannot afford to do a full season, Barry cut back to only four races a year. After cutting back, he also found it was still too expensive. Next came the selling of the racecar. He held out for as long as he could but he had to sell the racecar for a big loss and the engines have not been able to be sold as he discovered, when a driver can afford to spend that kind of money he prefers new stuff not used and unsure of its history. No, Barry never thought of going back to the FRCCA style of racing, where he could afford to do a full season plus having a fuller competitive field, after all, it takes a real love of the sport to not only admit what you can afford to race but also where you can.
I have always respected a driver that just cannot give up the thrill of racing , even after they realize that they will probably not win again.
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Clyde is the non-professional that does his/her best to try to help!
"Blueprinting" While we have a 4 week, mid-season, break it is now time to do the preventive maintanence on the racecar. There are six races left in the 2011 season. It is only three weekends of racing left.
September 3 & 4th at NJMP (Lightening) then October 1 and 2nd at Pocono on the 1.5 mile "Sweeper" layout and the final race of the season will be at the Shenandoah circuit on October 22 and 23rd. I do not know which of the four layouts will be used, as soon as I know, I will post it here. It may be a good idea to let John Heckman know what your favorite layout there is.
OK lets get busy on the racecar, first change out the brake fluid, for whatever reason the brake fluid attracts water and water in the brake fluid will result in a long and spongy brake feel. If you have about ten or so races on the tranny fluid you should change it. If you are running a Hewland tranny it should have a small drain plug in the second from the rear casing. The manuel calls for a single quart of gear oil, if you are like so many others with the Hewland trans, it leaks out of the shifter rod, if you do not catch the leaking fluid, you will not know how low the gear oil gets and the gear oil is all that keeps the gears from overheating and hurting itself. Catch the drippings and return it to the gearbox.
If you are running a Banshee, that gear box takes two and a half quarts while the manuel calls for three quarts, I have found that the high speed and the high rate of expansion, it is best to run the two and a half quarts.
If you have been doing the right thing and keeping a record of your engines compression and it is now getting lower it is time to do a valve job. Due to the FRCCA regulation for keeping the engine at the
"Blueprint" stage, any good machine shop can do a valve job. If you have any problems locating the Valve springs or gaskets contact Formula Haus as they stock those items.
If you have a list of items you want to change, now is the time to get one of them done, move an instrument, add an oil temp gauge, pour a seat, move a pedal or shift lever location, get a different steering wheel. Do not let "Murphy" get ahead of you, stay on top of the racecar, if you have a problem you could lose two races in one weekend. Due to the economy the FRCCA host two races per weekend and while it saves travel expense it makes for a short season, only seven weekends out of
fifty-two, it is a long time between events and the season seems to be done before you get worn-out. Talking about worn-out if the tire you bought at the beginning of this sesson are showing signs of not making it to the end of the season it is time to make sure the wheel alignment is correct, I have found that if it takes any kind of effort to push the racecar you have something wrong. These racecars do not have horsepower, they need to roll easily. Recall that at Indy they found that if the wheel alignment is out by two millimeter (About .080) at two hundred miles an hour you will lose four miles per hour, so with us just one millimeter will cost us 2 miles per hour, why give it away? While checking the alignment understand that your power does not compare with the strain the racecar puts on the parts, so if you can feel any play the racecar will make it much loser. Also if the tire that is not used as much at this track but it has higher tempurature I would think it is scrubbing too much, stealing speed and making racing fast more difficuilt.
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Clyde is the non-professional that does his/her best to try to help!
GOING FASTER
If you have attended all the FRCCA races this season and have been racing during the 2010 season, then the driving and getting used to the racecar and its feelings are letting you go faster BUT have you been doing your paperwork? The better you are at record keeping the easier it will be to go quicker at each track we re-visit. Insanity is the act of doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result! This is the very same thing the drivers do, thinking each lap will be better then the last one, you must make changes to improve. As a driver you may hunt around and try different "lines" or you may have to perfect the suspension. This is where the confusion comes from "I just had the suspension set, I know it is accurate" and you are right except you are only right on level ground without the tracks bumps and other things like banking or off-camber turns. Therefore, when you make an adjustment on suspension, carb. jetting or ignition timing change; you need to record it so when you return to that track or the weather conditions are the same you know what to adjust so you will have a head-start on doing more adjustments to get the racecar and yourself even quicker. Record keeping or bookwork, and you though you just had to drive quicker, Ha; you need to be an accountant! While I am suggesting you keep records to improve your speed, if you have not been keeping records on your engine from compression to dwell, age of hoses, belts, spark plugs you may be trying to go faster with an engine that is in need of some attention. Let us face it; you cannot go quicker with an engine that is down on power, you need the engine running at full power in order to go quickly. Keeping good oil in the engine and changing it at reccomended times will keep the crank and bearings good for a long time, at least 30 races, not weekends, races, but the cylinder head with the valves and valve springs will need to be closely monitored and attention must be paid to these items as they take the biggest pounding and lose the most amount of power. If you keep up with the cylinder head it will not be too expensive but float a valve due to weak valve springs and you will damage a piston, AT LEAST! There are a few tools each driver should have or know someone that has them; portable tachometer, dwell gauge, compression gauge and a fuel pump pressure tester which can also be use to check for a vacuum leak. Finally, make sure to check that the fuel cell is not coming apart, never polk a stick into the fuel cell to check the fuel level, that only tears the foam apart, some driver think the fuel filter is enough, but the bad foam gets past the filters and makes a mess of the carb. jets. If you do not have a book on your set-ups, you need to start one, it will only help you to go quicker. Racecar driver, bookkeeper, one in the same!
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Clyde is the non-professional that does his/her best to try to help!
EXPANSION
Expansion affects many items that will change your racecars set-up. When the water expands, the heated water goes into the overflow container, then the driver puts it back into the radiator only to have to repeat this over and over (?) The engine and tranny oil also expands and overflows into the catch container, as long as you have the oil lines properly routed, do not return the overflow to the engine AND above all do not have a the same overflow container catch the water and oils. Water and oil makes a bad and damaging mixture. Seperate containers will prevent this bad mixture from being sucked back into the engine, if the engine "runs backward" after shutting it off, detination. This can happen from cheap gas, too much timing or overheating.
When you adjust the wheel bearings, be sure to leave room for expansion, if you do not, the expanded bearings will run tight, slow you down, it takes horsepower to move tight bearings and cause the bearings to overheat and burn out or worse, seize up.
Brake fluid also expands when it gets hot, but with no place to expand to; the expanded fluid puts pressure on the brake calipers, putting pressure onto the brake pads. The added "drag" on the pads steals horsepower and slows you down but it does speed up how quickly the pads wear out. Adjusting the proper master cylinder play is very important, I am not talking about brake balance which is also very important as you must have the proper pressure from front to back, I am talking about having enough clearance for the expanded fluid to do so without putting pressure onto the calipers. I have found that having the racecar jacked up, I then extend the Master cylinder rod until I feel a slight drag on the brake rotor, I then mark the rod and turn it back to loose 1 and a half turns. I then proceed to do the other master cylinder in the same manner. The amount of play is usually fine BUT you must check to make sure all brake rotors spin freely after your first practice, as you may need to loosen the front a small amount as the front brakes do generate more heat.
Expansion is also the reason you should warm-up the engine, tranny and brakes during the first laps on track. All the components are working properly when at their designed clearances and those clearances are at operating tempuratures.
Clyde
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There are 5 foods That you need to handle.
These foods help you go to sleep; Warm Milk, Natural Cherries, Bananas, Toast, and Oatmeal. So if you eat Oatmeal with bananas and toast for breakfast you are putting yourself to sleep! (?) I suggest you use these foods to go to sleep the night before the races. Stay away from them on raceday. Some drivers have a problem with motion sickness, Ginger, either food or drink, has a proven record of helping to get rid of this problem. Another way to get upset on raceday is to eat too much or drink too little. Do not make yourself uncomfortable by not paying attention to when you will be on track, you do not need to get into the racecar only to find out you need to use the bathroom. There are many things going on during a race event, you MUST have a full plan of the days activities from racecar work to eating and social stuff. Drivers remember you are living a dream, but you could turn that dream into a nightmare if you do not take control of your race day.
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Clyde is the non-professional that does his/her best to try to help!
Clyde Sez
What is next? Family, presents and then the New Year parties, Awards and the Super Bowl, OH, by the way, getting the racecar ready for the 2011 season! How and when will you have time? It boils down to the most important thing in racing, DISCIPLINE! You must train yourself to be that while racing plus it must be part of your caring for the racecar. In addition you must record each improvement, and the conditions for each day at each racetrack. Racing in the FRCCA you do not get to race at the same track more then about twice a season so your records are the only thing you have to pre-set the racecar which will help have a better day at the event. If you do not have a pit crew, then the records are a MUST.
During this off-season make sure you inspect all the welds, most of the racecars are anywhere from 36 years old to 22 years old! Hey, some drivers were not born when your racecar was built. Check all the axle and wheel bearings, any high spots or discoloring is a sign to change that item. Doing this now saves money and allows you to have a more relaxing raceday. Let’s face it if you do 10 races and you DNF at just one, then you have reduced your hobby by 10%. The percentage goes up with fewer races, 4 events and 1 DNF equals 25% loss of fun. Remember, there is no refund for DNF, therefore all you lose is enjoyment. Now is the time to spend extra time on inspecting. Check everything you can and what you cannot have someone with knowledge do for you. Also, do not overrev your engine due to an incorrect Tachometer, or overheat due to an inaccurate gauge, you can check the gauge by submersing the sender in hot water, when the water starts to boil the gauge should read 212 degrees, if not get a new gauge AND check it as well! Check the brake rotors for cracks, using a pointer and a solid item turn the brake rotor to check if it is too warped, (more then .010) then using the same indicator check the rims for the same problem. If the rim has only a single spot that is too high or too low, mark the rim so you do not use those spots for your wheel alignment. Set yourself a goal to finish each item starting from one end and going through to the other. A record of each item you have finished must be kept also date when you did it so items that get done twice a season is noted as well as if an item seems to need too much attention, the record will show that and perhaps need a closer looking at or replacement before it causes that dreadful DNF. Enjoy your time off; time off from driving and time into being a repairman. Take your time and working clean, when done right you will be dirty on the teardown but you will be able to stay clean when you reassemble. Learn when and where to use locktight and anti-seize compounds. Taking care to do this properly will help in next off-season inspection process. Take your time and enjoy the pride that comes with doing it yourself.
Clyde
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Clyde is the non-professional that does his/her best to try to help!
Winter Work
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How many events did you attend? How many events could you afford? I am hoping that the 2011 season will be better attended; there will be fewer weekends, so hopefully, there will be higher attendance per race as more racecars breeds more racecars. It is always more fun to race against more competitors. Have you ever heard the saying “pay me now or pay me later”? What it really means is that you can pay a little at a time and do preventive maintenance or you can pay plenty later when things go “Ka-bloomy”. Sooo, have you been taking compression readings after EACH race? Are you willing to, at least, change the valve springs or do a complete valve job this off-season? When was the last time you changed the water & oil lines and how about that little belt that drives the water pump? Not counting time all these items will not add up to $500.00. Break the engine and you will not be racing for a long and expensive time. Gear oil and shifting rings are less expensive then DNF due to miss shifts and over-revved engines. When was the last time you re-packed the CV joints and the wheel Bearings? Also, how sloppy has the shift linkage gotten? You will need another driver to tell you this as you have gotten used to the excessive play. A full frame-up rebuild is more time consuming than expensive plus you really feel comfortable knowing you have gone through the entire racecar which winds up allowing you to race quicker. If you decide to do a full frame-up rebuild do NOT powder coat or paint the frame with a dark color, both hide the developing cracks, you want to catch the crack before it is broken into two pieces. When you take the racecar apart be sure to tape the INSIDE flaps of any cardboard container that you use to store the parts, those little parts always find their way under the flaps and you will be cursing “Murphy” all reassemble time. Many boxes and many labels makes the assemble time plenty easier. ALL the pivot items; suspension, pedals, & steering must move freely with NO binding. Use loctite on bolts & nuts, use anti-seize on parts that are inside other items, chassis, adjusters but NOT on items that pivot. Remember that items exposed to the outside that need lubrication must not have lubes that attract dust, Use food grade lubricates; only use grease where there are seals. When painting any of your parts be reminded that “Rattle cans” have come a long way, just ask Andy Graham as he always paints his stuff with them. Finally, if you have not worn your spec tires out store them in a dark & damp place. If you do not have a damp place, then place a glass of water in the center of the wheel with the tire lying on its side, NOT standing up. If you are planning a new set of tires for the 2011 season, then dismount the tires as soon as you can and clean all the rubber off the bead of the rim, That will help the new tires to seat better and hold air longer. Maybe the new run of spec tires will stop the rear tires from losing air so quickly.
Clyde
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