Jeff (blueosprey90) goes racing in his MG A
07-08-2010, 05:56 PM
#61
OK., It's 9:50 P.M. Car is loaded but no rear lights. Have to diagnose since I don't want a ticket. Am leaving 6:00 AM tomorrow morning.
Montecello tomorrow, July 9.
I'll be using the fictitious name of name Jeff Sienkiewicz.
I'll put Ellen Emerson and Aashish Jonnalagoda on my guest list. If anyone by those names comes, you will have to stay in a limited spectator area, and apparently will not be allowed into the pits. No pets.
As far as I know, I'm running at 9:00 am, 10:30, 12:00, 2:15, 3:30 and maybe 4:45. Twenty minute sessions. Hope the car holds up!
Jeff
Montecello tomorrow, July 9.
I'll be using the fictitious name of name Jeff Sienkiewicz.
I'll put Ellen Emerson and Aashish Jonnalagoda on my guest list. If anyone by those names comes, you will have to stay in a limited spectator area, and apparently will not be allowed into the pits. No pets.
As far as I know, I'm running at 9:00 am, 10:30, 12:00, 2:15, 3:30 and maybe 4:45. Twenty minute sessions. Hope the car holds up!
Jeff
07-09-2010, 03:06 AM
#62
Former Moderator
Thread Starter
^ Good luck Jeff and enjoy Monticello. I doubt I'll be able to come with it being a working day and all but wish Disgruntled and you the very best 
I hope Disgruntled will willfullly do the task of keeping time.
I hope Disgruntled will willfullly do the task of keeping time.
07-09-2010, 10:59 AM
#63
Former Moderator
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by blueosprey90,Jun 30 2010, 04:41 PM
Montecello is Monday, July 26th.
After that it is October 4th for the next Montecello date.
I'm not sure I can do July 26th, but there is a "refer a friend" program and we would both get $50 off.
Maybe Mark can be Disgruntled's "friend". That way Disgruntled could try to bum the rest of the entry fee off of him rather than pestering me.
This is my last post, probably until after July 9th.
After that it is October 4th for the next Montecello date.
I'm not sure I can do July 26th, but there is a "refer a friend" program and we would both get $50 off.
Maybe Mark can be Disgruntled's "friend". That way Disgruntled could try to bum the rest of the entry fee off of him rather than pestering me.
This is my last post, probably until after July 9th.
[QUOTE]Monday August 30th
07-10-2010, 12:26 PM
#64
Aashish, Thanks for the link on the BMW track school fror 8/30. It is a little less $$.
As far as racing at Montecello's North Track is concerned, the track gods were not with me yesterday. "The Stig" did not make his appearance!
Got to the track about 8:15 and with driver's meeting at 8:30, and late tech inspection got on the track a little late in my first run. Did maybe 2 or 3 laps and the car died. Sat out rest of session at side of track and was towed off. It was clearly an electrical problem and I assumed a wire had popped off, but a quick check revealed everything connected.
I was fortunate that a Pete, who I had met at Pocono, was there. I thought it might be the coil and went looking for him to see if he had a spare. He agreed to come over and help with the diagnosis, and we concluded that a wire had fallen off the starter switch behind the dash. Pulled the switch and reconnected and was able to get the car started.
Went out for my second run, and car dies again almost immediately -- not even a quarter lap. Pull off again, but not in the best spot. Yellow flag out and then black flag. Towed off thinking I was responsible for the black flag and that I had killed the run for everybody. But my friend Glenn had done a 360 just after I had cut out. So they pulled me off and let the group back on track.
Call for Pete. Not sure what the problem is but we think it's the tach. So we disconnect one of the Tach wires leading to the coil and the car starts up. So I'm ready to race sans tach. But when my third run is ready to start, I can't start the car, so I miss that run.
Call for Pete. He did a pretty thorough diagnosis for me but was not able to come up with any identified cause. We disconnected the hot wire to the tach, and were able to start the car, but were not sure the tach was really the problem. Still possible that something is wrong with the starter switch.
Finally made it out for my fourth run and was able to complete it. The course seemed very technical with 11 turns in 1.5 miles. I ran most of the course in third gear and don't think I got the car over 60. As usual, the car did not run very well and I continue to be unable to improve performance. I thought I was able to figure how to drive maybe 1/2 of the course, but was particularly troubled by two turns. One I could identify by the heavy skid marks leaving the track. The second was over a blind hill corner and it always came up by surprise.
Made a minor adjustment once I got off the track, but when it came time for my 5th run, I couldn't start the car once again. This time I thought that the battery was just dying. I might have been able to jump start it, but I thought that the omens were against me. My transmission dip stick had also came loose and I had lost (and would continue to lose) a lot of transmission oil. So I stay out the 5th run.
Spoke to Pete about the battery and my thought that the battery was not being charged. He concluded that I may have a break in the circuit and pointed me in the direction of a fix.
From the trip odometer, I'm guessing I did only about 19 or 20 miles the entire day. Still, the day was a positive. I didn't hurt the car or myself (and with all the issues I was having, I felt that maybe this was not my day to race). I'm slowly honing in on the mechanical problems. My engine oil leaks are pretty much under control. I have a direction from Pete on how to maybe get my system charging the battery. I have to lean out my carburators as I was running too rich.
Montecello itself appeared to be a very nice facility. A lot of money had to be spent developing it. The track pavement was in excellent condition. Because of all the corners on the North Course, I think it the North Course would be a fun track to drive if you know how to drift. Since all my drifting to date is accidental, the course was very challenging compared to Pocono and Lime Rock. There was no real spectator area, and there was really only one spot to view the section of track we were running. I didn't try to go further into the facilities to see what they were like.
As far as racing at Montecello's North Track is concerned, the track gods were not with me yesterday. "The Stig" did not make his appearance!
Got to the track about 8:15 and with driver's meeting at 8:30, and late tech inspection got on the track a little late in my first run. Did maybe 2 or 3 laps and the car died. Sat out rest of session at side of track and was towed off. It was clearly an electrical problem and I assumed a wire had popped off, but a quick check revealed everything connected.
I was fortunate that a Pete, who I had met at Pocono, was there. I thought it might be the coil and went looking for him to see if he had a spare. He agreed to come over and help with the diagnosis, and we concluded that a wire had fallen off the starter switch behind the dash. Pulled the switch and reconnected and was able to get the car started.
Went out for my second run, and car dies again almost immediately -- not even a quarter lap. Pull off again, but not in the best spot. Yellow flag out and then black flag. Towed off thinking I was responsible for the black flag and that I had killed the run for everybody. But my friend Glenn had done a 360 just after I had cut out. So they pulled me off and let the group back on track.
Call for Pete. Not sure what the problem is but we think it's the tach. So we disconnect one of the Tach wires leading to the coil and the car starts up. So I'm ready to race sans tach. But when my third run is ready to start, I can't start the car, so I miss that run.
Call for Pete. He did a pretty thorough diagnosis for me but was not able to come up with any identified cause. We disconnected the hot wire to the tach, and were able to start the car, but were not sure the tach was really the problem. Still possible that something is wrong with the starter switch.
Finally made it out for my fourth run and was able to complete it. The course seemed very technical with 11 turns in 1.5 miles. I ran most of the course in third gear and don't think I got the car over 60. As usual, the car did not run very well and I continue to be unable to improve performance. I thought I was able to figure how to drive maybe 1/2 of the course, but was particularly troubled by two turns. One I could identify by the heavy skid marks leaving the track. The second was over a blind hill corner and it always came up by surprise.
Made a minor adjustment once I got off the track, but when it came time for my 5th run, I couldn't start the car once again. This time I thought that the battery was just dying. I might have been able to jump start it, but I thought that the omens were against me. My transmission dip stick had also came loose and I had lost (and would continue to lose) a lot of transmission oil. So I stay out the 5th run.
Spoke to Pete about the battery and my thought that the battery was not being charged. He concluded that I may have a break in the circuit and pointed me in the direction of a fix.
From the trip odometer, I'm guessing I did only about 19 or 20 miles the entire day. Still, the day was a positive. I didn't hurt the car or myself (and with all the issues I was having, I felt that maybe this was not my day to race). I'm slowly honing in on the mechanical problems. My engine oil leaks are pretty much under control. I have a direction from Pete on how to maybe get my system charging the battery. I have to lean out my carburators as I was running too rich.
Montecello itself appeared to be a very nice facility. A lot of money had to be spent developing it. The track pavement was in excellent condition. Because of all the corners on the North Course, I think it the North Course would be a fun track to drive if you know how to drift. Since all my drifting to date is accidental, the course was very challenging compared to Pocono and Lime Rock. There was no real spectator area, and there was really only one spot to view the section of track we were running. I didn't try to go further into the facilities to see what they were like.
07-10-2010, 08:58 PM
#66
Former Moderator
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by blueosprey90,Jul 10 2010, 03:26 PM
Aashish, Thanks for the link on the BMW track school fror 8/30. It is a little less $$.
As far as racing at Montecello's North Track is concerned, the track gods were not with me yesterday. "The Stig" did not make his appearance!
As far as racing at Montecello's North Track is concerned, the track gods were not with me yesterday. "The Stig" did not make his appearance!
Just kidding
You have been driving admirably well considering you are out on track without the benefit of having an instructor riding shotgun. I know you've been out in the instructors cars, but it does not come close to how valuable instruction is when you are driving (although I stubbornly refused to listen to Doug
)Monticello is supposedly a very technical course, and I think you'd gain a lot if you get seat time in the S2000 with an instructor at this track. Were the other cars drfiting? I was under the impression that drift does not equal the fastest time. So, pay no attention to people that try to look fast. The BMW CCA school is one day only and they may not have as many runs as SCDA offers. If you wanted to get a lot of seat time, sign up for SCDA and come back with BMW CCA and use that day to re-affirm what you've learned.
The MG A seems to be living up to its brit roadster reputation.
Do you think any of the electrical issues you had came from any repairs you performed on Thursday PM. Glad you were able to be out there for one whole session. Is Glen ok? Was he allowed to go back out on track after?
07-11-2010, 08:01 AM
#67
Glenn (the last "n" stands for Negroni!) was ok. He just spun out and didn't hit anything. He was surprised that I didn't see it since I had been right behind him - but I had cut out and was coasting in to find my trackside parking by then.
Glenn had a real posse in attendance, including Eric who also has a Formula V. You didn't see him at Lime Rock since he blew an oil line the first day. Since then he threw a rod doing an autocross so wasn't running at Montecello. In the 4th run (which was the one I completed), Glen lost his 3rd and 4th gear. It turned out that the bolts holding his transmission to the mounts had lost their nuts. He was going to forget about any further racing, but since I had my collection of miscellaneous tools, a jack and some nuts and bolts of various sizes, Eric jumped in to organize repairing the problem successfully. So Glenn got out again for his 5th run.
As far as the drifting is concerned, I didn't see any of that in my group, only in the faster groupings. Considering that most of these cars are running on 5" tires, and given the track's hard curves, I saw several rear ends kicking out.
I don't think that my Thursday night "repairs" had anything to do with my track time failures. If it is the tach that is somehow shorting me out, I have had problems with that from day 1.
Mark, don't worry about my lack of track time. I figure that a short day at the track is far better than a good day at work.
Glenn had a real posse in attendance, including Eric who also has a Formula V. You didn't see him at Lime Rock since he blew an oil line the first day. Since then he threw a rod doing an autocross so wasn't running at Montecello. In the 4th run (which was the one I completed), Glen lost his 3rd and 4th gear. It turned out that the bolts holding his transmission to the mounts had lost their nuts. He was going to forget about any further racing, but since I had my collection of miscellaneous tools, a jack and some nuts and bolts of various sizes, Eric jumped in to organize repairing the problem successfully. So Glenn got out again for his 5th run.
As far as the drifting is concerned, I didn't see any of that in my group, only in the faster groupings. Considering that most of these cars are running on 5" tires, and given the track's hard curves, I saw several rear ends kicking out.
I don't think that my Thursday night "repairs" had anything to do with my track time failures. If it is the tach that is somehow shorting me out, I have had problems with that from day 1.
Mark, don't worry about my lack of track time. I figure that a short day at the track is far better than a good day at work.
08-04-2010, 10:28 AM
#69
In other news, I think I got my electrical sorted as of last night. I couldn't find a bulb for the ignition light so had to order from Moss Motors. Since the minimum order is $10.00, I also purchased a LeMans style front valance that was on sale for $80.
So the bulb worked, but stayed on all the time. I tried to test the generator on the car as per the workshop manual, but my "results" were not like anything described in the manual. So I pulled the generator off to take it apart to examine the brushes and to see if I could see anything obvious. The brushes both looked fairly unused but chipped and abused and the wires had broken clean off. So I had to order new brushes, but since the minimum order is $10, I also ordered a hand brake cable. Someday I might need to slow down or stop!
So last night I put the brushes in and since I don't know how to bench test the generator and since I expect the generator to work, I put the generator back on the car. Start her up and the ignition light stays on. AARGH!!
So I come in to do some "research" and end up looking for a John Twist video. He has a good one and advises to polarize the generator any time it is removed or the battery disconnected. He shows how to do that and I take careful note of the procedure. Out to the garage to do my thing for five seconds, then start the car and Eureka! the ignition light goes off indicating a charging battery. I hook up the tachometer and things look ok. I'll try to do a real "test" tonight (i.e., fiddle around with the wires while car running).
One of the wires from the generator had also been loose on the back of the control box. I soldered that up but will double check that connection tonight as well.
On the John Twist video, he demonstrated how if the generator was not charging and the ground lead was pulled off the battery, the car just died. Maybe I was having some short with the loose wire on the control box or loss of continuity in the battery connections that had me shutting down at Montecello.
So now I'm thinking maybe I should go back to Pocono on August 27th with C.A.R.T. (Connecticut Autocross and rally Team). Aashish, you in?
So the bulb worked, but stayed on all the time. I tried to test the generator on the car as per the workshop manual, but my "results" were not like anything described in the manual. So I pulled the generator off to take it apart to examine the brushes and to see if I could see anything obvious. The brushes both looked fairly unused but chipped and abused and the wires had broken clean off. So I had to order new brushes, but since the minimum order is $10, I also ordered a hand brake cable. Someday I might need to slow down or stop!
So last night I put the brushes in and since I don't know how to bench test the generator and since I expect the generator to work, I put the generator back on the car. Start her up and the ignition light stays on. AARGH!!
So I come in to do some "research" and end up looking for a John Twist video. He has a good one and advises to polarize the generator any time it is removed or the battery disconnected. He shows how to do that and I take careful note of the procedure. Out to the garage to do my thing for five seconds, then start the car and Eureka! the ignition light goes off indicating a charging battery. I hook up the tachometer and things look ok. I'll try to do a real "test" tonight (i.e., fiddle around with the wires while car running).
One of the wires from the generator had also been loose on the back of the control box. I soldered that up but will double check that connection tonight as well.
On the John Twist video, he demonstrated how if the generator was not charging and the ground lead was pulled off the battery, the car just died. Maybe I was having some short with the loose wire on the control box or loss of continuity in the battery connections that had me shutting down at Montecello.
So now I'm thinking maybe I should go back to Pocono on August 27th with C.A.R.T. (Connecticut Autocross and rally Team). Aashish, you in?
08-04-2010, 10:33 AM
#70
Former Moderator
Thread Starter
^ Not yet sure about the 27th. Im glad though that you seemed to have ironed (soldered) out the kinks.
So does MG A have a name yet?? If not, Im just going to start calling her Ol Betsy
So does MG A have a name yet?? If not, Im just going to start calling her Ol Betsy