I've started a new thread since the old one was getting...old and long. Here's a link:
Original ChumpCar build/race thread.
We, at Failcar, celebrated the start of a new season with our inaugural race at the Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, IL. We aquired a “new” car from the Slaab Lemons team that was prepped minimally and thrown back on the trailer as our #900 racecar. The #91 needed refreshed gaskets, a new exhaust manifold, and extensive T&A all around. After a tremendous amount of work and a incomprehensible quantity of beer, everything was prepped and trailered for our race.
Friday included a practice session in addition to technical inspection. The #91 experienced intermittent running issues and ran poorly all day, while the #900 had breakup and clutch slip. All things considered these were lesser issues than we typically run into. We buttoned everything up, zip tied our cabling tighter, and replaced some vacuum hoses, which improved things.
Tech Inspection later in the day went by uneventfully. Our extra-cheaty lexan side windows brought more scrutiny than the rest of the car combined. According to the multi-variable linear equation for non-uniform three dimensional solids that Tech Inspector Phil presented us with, our value add is exactly $15.
Saturday morning both cars were ready to go for grid. The green flag dropped, the grid roared past the start/finish line, and the #91 immediately came back in with power loss.
Superb.
No less than 5 team members descended upon the car and immediately began checking spark, fuel delivery, ignition, and timing.
Then, because misery loves company, the #900 decided to pull back into the paddock to join the broken car party. The clutch slip issue had gone from irritating to catastrophic (as our helpful driver described).
A brief team meeting was convened and it was decided that the balance of team would continue to focus on the #91, while I was left to replace the clutch on the #900 by myself.
As minutes ticked over to hours, I realized that the pressure plate refused to let go and Captain Quickfix gave me the greenlight to obliterate the clutch assembly in an effort to remove it. After a brief stint with an angle grinder and channel lock pliers, I was able to pull the old pressure plate/clutch and install a “factory fresh” unit.
For the less car-savvy readers out there: this isn’t how a pressure plate is supposed to look.
The #900 was quite literally thrown back together and put back on track to turn laps. For the rest of the day it was in and out of the paddock with intermittent breakup issues and vague gear selection. Much later in the day, the remaining issues were traced down to a faulty Hall Sensor cable and ruined front engine mount.
In the meantime, the issues with the #91 had been diagnosed to be terminal. After shutting down the car, the engine no longer started. Whilst cranking, it produced new and exciting sounds that much resembled an unpowered locomotive tumbling off the side of a cliff. Suspecting ruined bearings, we removed and disassembled the oil filter. Our worst fears were confirmed when our oil came out with impregnated with shiny bits of bearing material. The #91 was done for the weekend.
If you're wondering what a failed bearing looks like, this is it. Note the exciting ridges where the material literally melted away.
Sunday morning the #900 was fired up again with a spliced hall sensor cable (courtesy of the dead #91) and a new front engine mount. Mark, our ringer, stepped into the car and pulled out an amazing 1:48.2, taking the car as high as 3rd place before pitting back in for a driver change/fuel.
The car was running well enough that I left to refill our fuel jugs while the team captain, Simon, ran his stint. Upon my return I dropped off some 50 gallons of farm-fresh petrol at our pit box before I noticed that the car hadn’t come back around the front straight in quite a while.
Working into the night on the engine mount.
A quick trip to the paddock revealed the #900 sullenly leaking fluids all over our paddock spot as various team members worked to patch it up. The radiator had several pinhole leaks, and the front engine mount was once again ruined because Simon breaks cars more often than most people change underwear. We pinched close the pinhole leaks in the radiator and used a ratchet strap to tie down the front engine mount).
We decided to do a driver change and the team, hiding their mischievous laughter behind hastily raised hands, put me in the car and sent me out. Approximately 3 turns into my out lap I discovered that Fourth Gear no longer existed. In it’s place was a meandering, mechanical labyrinth that the shift lever navigated before violently grinding in protest. Apparently the front engine mount had taken the gear box hostage, managing to take fourth gear with it to the grave some 30 minutes ago. Sending me out with a broken gearbox is evidently what passes for a practical joke amongst my inventive teammates.
Instead of retiring the car entirely, we decided to run 15 minute time trials to see who could drive the car fastest with no 4th gear (as it turns out, Mark with a jaw-dropping 1:49). Everyone stepped into the car at least once, and the honor of driving the broken #900 once again passed back to me. After half a hot lap, a violent *thunk* and a billowing cloud of smoke engulfing the cockpit announced that my brief race had ended.
Our temporary ratchet strap engine mount had failed, the hydraulic engine mount spewed its innards all over the exhaust manifold in a wonderful funeral pyre, and the gear box was now so full of ruined gear oil and shavings that shifting into gear felt like pulling a boat oar through molasses.
The first chapter of this race season, as usual, was a sordid affair. An amalgamation of failures compounded by bringing multiple cars lead to a difficult, frustrating weekend. It has to be said, however, that Mark’s fast lap times were remarkably competitive, which gives us great hope for the future.
We would like to thank all of our friends, family, and fans that came out to support us through thick and thin (mostly thick, if we’re to be honest). Also, a massive shoutout to our sponsor eEuroParts. They provide us with quality spare parts that we sorely need and sent us an amazing sponsor package with hats and shirts. The shirts were very nice and very well designed by our good friend Adam (Captain of the Carbeque and inside man at eEuroparts).
Here's some extra-long race footage with a lot of standing yellows of Mark, our quickest driver:
Original ChumpCar build/race thread.
We, at Failcar, celebrated the start of a new season with our inaugural race at the Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, IL. We aquired a “new” car from the Slaab Lemons team that was prepped minimally and thrown back on the trailer as our #900 racecar. The #91 needed refreshed gaskets, a new exhaust manifold, and extensive T&A all around. After a tremendous amount of work and a incomprehensible quantity of beer, everything was prepped and trailered for our race.
Friday included a practice session in addition to technical inspection. The #91 experienced intermittent running issues and ran poorly all day, while the #900 had breakup and clutch slip. All things considered these were lesser issues than we typically run into. We buttoned everything up, zip tied our cabling tighter, and replaced some vacuum hoses, which improved things.
Tech Inspection later in the day went by uneventfully. Our extra-cheaty lexan side windows brought more scrutiny than the rest of the car combined. According to the multi-variable linear equation for non-uniform three dimensional solids that Tech Inspector Phil presented us with, our value add is exactly $15.
Saturday morning both cars were ready to go for grid. The green flag dropped, the grid roared past the start/finish line, and the #91 immediately came back in with power loss.
Superb.
No less than 5 team members descended upon the car and immediately began checking spark, fuel delivery, ignition, and timing.
Then, because misery loves company, the #900 decided to pull back into the paddock to join the broken car party. The clutch slip issue had gone from irritating to catastrophic (as our helpful driver described).
A brief team meeting was convened and it was decided that the balance of team would continue to focus on the #91, while I was left to replace the clutch on the #900 by myself.
As minutes ticked over to hours, I realized that the pressure plate refused to let go and Captain Quickfix gave me the greenlight to obliterate the clutch assembly in an effort to remove it. After a brief stint with an angle grinder and channel lock pliers, I was able to pull the old pressure plate/clutch and install a “factory fresh” unit.
For the less car-savvy readers out there: this isn’t how a pressure plate is supposed to look.
The #900 was quite literally thrown back together and put back on track to turn laps. For the rest of the day it was in and out of the paddock with intermittent breakup issues and vague gear selection. Much later in the day, the remaining issues were traced down to a faulty Hall Sensor cable and ruined front engine mount.
In the meantime, the issues with the #91 had been diagnosed to be terminal. After shutting down the car, the engine no longer started. Whilst cranking, it produced new and exciting sounds that much resembled an unpowered locomotive tumbling off the side of a cliff. Suspecting ruined bearings, we removed and disassembled the oil filter. Our worst fears were confirmed when our oil came out with impregnated with shiny bits of bearing material. The #91 was done for the weekend.
If you're wondering what a failed bearing looks like, this is it. Note the exciting ridges where the material literally melted away.
Sunday morning the #900 was fired up again with a spliced hall sensor cable (courtesy of the dead #91) and a new front engine mount. Mark, our ringer, stepped into the car and pulled out an amazing 1:48.2, taking the car as high as 3rd place before pitting back in for a driver change/fuel.
The car was running well enough that I left to refill our fuel jugs while the team captain, Simon, ran his stint. Upon my return I dropped off some 50 gallons of farm-fresh petrol at our pit box before I noticed that the car hadn’t come back around the front straight in quite a while.
Working into the night on the engine mount.
A quick trip to the paddock revealed the #900 sullenly leaking fluids all over our paddock spot as various team members worked to patch it up. The radiator had several pinhole leaks, and the front engine mount was once again ruined because Simon breaks cars more often than most people change underwear. We pinched close the pinhole leaks in the radiator and used a ratchet strap to tie down the front engine mount).
We decided to do a driver change and the team, hiding their mischievous laughter behind hastily raised hands, put me in the car and sent me out. Approximately 3 turns into my out lap I discovered that Fourth Gear no longer existed. In it’s place was a meandering, mechanical labyrinth that the shift lever navigated before violently grinding in protest. Apparently the front engine mount had taken the gear box hostage, managing to take fourth gear with it to the grave some 30 minutes ago. Sending me out with a broken gearbox is evidently what passes for a practical joke amongst my inventive teammates.
Instead of retiring the car entirely, we decided to run 15 minute time trials to see who could drive the car fastest with no 4th gear (as it turns out, Mark with a jaw-dropping 1:49). Everyone stepped into the car at least once, and the honor of driving the broken #900 once again passed back to me. After half a hot lap, a violent *thunk* and a billowing cloud of smoke engulfing the cockpit announced that my brief race had ended.
Our temporary ratchet strap engine mount had failed, the hydraulic engine mount spewed its innards all over the exhaust manifold in a wonderful funeral pyre, and the gear box was now so full of ruined gear oil and shavings that shifting into gear felt like pulling a boat oar through molasses.
The first chapter of this race season, as usual, was a sordid affair. An amalgamation of failures compounded by bringing multiple cars lead to a difficult, frustrating weekend. It has to be said, however, that Mark’s fast lap times were remarkably competitive, which gives us great hope for the future.
We would like to thank all of our friends, family, and fans that came out to support us through thick and thin (mostly thick, if we’re to be honest). Also, a massive shoutout to our sponsor eEuroParts. They provide us with quality spare parts that we sorely need and sent us an amazing sponsor package with hats and shirts. The shirts were very nice and very well designed by our good friend Adam (Captain of the Carbeque and inside man at eEuroparts).
Here's some extra-long race footage with a lot of standing yellows of Mark, our quickest driver:
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