Castle Combe Track Day, Tuesday 14 April 2015

[Mad Mart]

I'm all ready for tomorrow (apart from making some rolls). Aiming to be there between 7:00-7:30.

[80Sprint]

And me. Just a bit nervous of a long drive, track day and then getting home. Just hope it all goes well for everyone. The weather looks decent at least.

[Dolly-Nut]

2 of our 3 cars are ready! The other one not so much I just hope my brake pads and wheel bearings hold out
See you all bright and early.

[Mad Mart]

Well I made it home...just. We all had a great day (I think) and I think that some of the Dollies actually drove home. Hopefully Dan and his band of followers managed to get their Dollies back in one piece (I'll let Dan tell his story).

My Sprint had performed faultlessly all day until right at the end of the last session. I was coming up to the pit entrance when some nasty noises started coming from the engine. So I quickly dived in the pit lane and switched the engine off. I had good oil pressure and the engine was running at a normal temp. I tried starting the engine again but it sounded very big-endy. I topped up the oil and that made it a bit better but the damage was done. I decided to limp the Sprint home (40 miles). I did it ok and got home about 6:15pm. but the last mile the big ends really started to make a noise. Another job.

All that aside, is was good to meet Mike and Rob (and of course Dan & Steve).

[covcourier]

I should have been there but due to being so busy with work, I finally had to concede late yesterday that I wouldn't be able to come.

Hope everybody enjoyed it. Wish I could have given more notice of my non attendance so that someone else could have used my booking but until 7pm last night I was still planning on being there.

[xvivalve]

You might be in the market for some decent bearings this time round then Mart?

[Dolly-Nut]

Well my day ended after 5 laps with what I thought was headgasket failure but having got the engine out today and the head off it's actually melted a piston, more specifically #2 on the inlet edge. The bore is also damaged along with a scored #3, I didn't check the others. I'm confident it needs a rebore or binning so I just ripped it out. I'm now trying to decide what to do about rebuilding, replacing or converting.

My other car who was driven by my friend rob also experienced a failure of which he shared with Mart The engine came out of that one no more than an hour after getting home (just!). The sump was full of shell and the remains of the big end were hanging out the rod cap. Crank and rod damaged beyond repair.

A good part of the day was my fantastic purchase of an Acclaim last week which I did around 20 faultless laps in (albeit with it boiling once and leaking a lot of oil). It actually turned out to be quite nippy doing 1:39 laps quite easily on worn out road tyres and 75hp!

As it stands both cars are now outside my front door without engines. A replacement will be dropped into one tomorrow.

[80Sprint]

Sorry to hear of everyone's engine issues. I hope you get them sorted soon. I loved the exuberance of youth when bits of coke can were cut up to try and manage an exhaust issue and replacement cars coming over the horizon.

After making my Sprint look more like a Jap drift car exhaust following a not unexpected db failure at 104 I finally got on track. 3rd run out of 4 was the most fun sticking to the back of the BMW 6cyl 2.5 Triumph. I wanted to go for the overtake but was not confident enough not to stack it in the next bend. Here lied the problem of a lack of track experience and some fast drivers on track but I still enjoyed every minute which was my main aim along with bringing the car home in one piece.

It would not be a dolly day without some issues though. Fuel leak between one weber and the inlet manifold after the third run which I believe may be due to over fueling/float as it only seemed an issue running it hard on the track. The traffic home was a nightmare and took me 2 3/4 hrs. On track and on the road the car sat at 88-90 deg all day but as soon as I was in traffic it can't cope and starts to rise to 100 . I pulled over for 5 mins which helped as the traffic moved and again it was fine on the move. Need to sort that as I am not confident it won't boil over.

Lastly I saw the back of the Triumph BMW again as I saw him on the hard shoulder. I pulled over to help and it was a TR8 in front who had a similar issue as mine but the electric fan relay had died so a wiring diversion sorted that.

Great day and nice to put some more faces to names. Oh and I did enjoy watching Rob and the green TR8 go for it.

[TahitiSPRINT]

Did you make some videos Mart?

Can I ask what engine oil you were using? Did it contain ZDDP?

Hope your engine will be restored fine without too much hassle

[Mad Mart]

I got a couple of sessions on tape (I think) and then my camcorder kept getting c31:23 error. So until I get it repaired...

I just use Halfords Classic as my oil and filter gets changed very frequently. It does contain ZDDP, about 1% apparently. It wasn't the oil it was more lack of it.

[Carledo]

Well my Vauxhall powerplant performed faultlessly all day, the only time I opened the bonnet was to show the engine to its many admirers!
The only thing that stopped the days perfection for me was a leaking n/s/r hub oil seal (now fixed - thanks for the tip Mart, the gearbox seal was perfect for the job) It turns out I was worrying about nothing, I drove all day on track, drove 100+ miles home, changed the seal and the diff was STILL full of oil when I checked after the job! But I'm off to Long Marston dragstrip for a RWYB day tomorrow and now I can approach the inevitable burnouts with total confidence.
I've got dashcam footage of all 6 sessions I took part in including several shots of Mart leaving me for dead and some footage of just about all the Dollies except Dans two which didn't last long enough for me to catch them! I'll put some of the choicer ones up later but it takes my computer about 2 hours to upload 2 minutes of film so it may be a while.
I also bought all 41 of the pro photos of my car in action and I'll get some of those up as well.
Glad to hear everyone got home in one piece, especially Mart. And Dan, I have a spare Carlton lump if you want to make your Toledo last more than 4 laps (runs and hides )

Steve

[Dolly-Nut]

And Dan, I have a spare Carlton lump if you want to make your Toledo last more than 4 laps (runs and hides )

Steve

Not enough power

I've already built a replacement bottom end which is in and running fine. I'm awaiting on a sump gasket to get it back on the road.

[Carledo]

Photos, If it works!











Steve