If this community is to survive, we have to eventually get back to topics other
than the terrorist
actions this week. Sniping at other listers and allies is a sign to me that
that time is now. Here
is my contribution.
One of my competition engines is a +0.020" full race engine (~310 degrees
duration ~0.5"
lift, 1.5 rockers etc).
I had done 2 meetings since the last stripdown where bearings and rings were
done, head and crank
were crack tested etc.
I had used this engine in my bugeye in the races and rallies before the
rebuild. After the rebuild
it was in the Midget.
I took the car to the Australian National Sprite challenge, held in Mallala in
Sth Australia. At
that meeting (3 days over Easter), we had two days at the track, one day in a
motorkhana in the
streets of Gawler. I posted some videos of this event on the AHSDC website
earlier in the year.
A couple of years earlier a friend let me drive his car at an earlier national
Challenge. So this
time I offered to share my car. We towed it across (8 hrs drive).
It was hot at Mallala on the Friday when we had practice, driver training and
regularity. We did
lots of laps between us and the car ran smoothly. We only had < 10 minutes
until the track closed
and my friend took the car out for the last time.
I watched on in horror as I could see fluid leaking from the car and he spun 3
times (on the fluid
no doubt). He did 4+1 laps (1 "cool down"), and on the last hot lap there was
no longer any fluid
leaking. Ouch.
He hadn't looked at the temp gauge.
What happened? Well the alternator had come loose and actually fell off and was
lodged b/n
the engine and the front shock. The water pump was not being operated and the
engine had boiled
all the water out of the engine. It was ***HHOOOTTT***.
Of course my friend was ashen faced when he realised and I was not exactly the
brightest light
at the party that night.
We left the car to cool down overnight and took a look in the morning.
Bolted everything up, added coolant and with the spark disconnected, tried
turning it over. It
turned over freely. Changed oil, started the engine and it sounded OK. Went for
a drive up
the street, and apart from a little blue smoke on overrun, the car seemed OK.
Amazing.
We talked about it and decided to complete the weekend and strip the engine
down after
the event. It was a once-a-year event and we had come a long way.
Well, after quite a while the engine was stripped down and apart from a broken
top ring, the
engine was fine. No cracked head, no cracked crank etc. Not even a hone seems
necessary.
It will get bearings and rings of course.
Absolutely amazing. He had done 4 laps on full noise on a hot day.
Why? Synthetic oil. We used Mobil 1 and though the engine was extremely hot,
the oil did not
breakdown like a conventional oil would have. It continued to provide
lubrication and via the oil
splash and oil cooler, some heat was dissipated from critical areas. The oil
had clearly got hot
but had not broken down.
My wife once ran our family car with a holed radiator for not much further
distance and of course
under much less load. A premium brand mineral oil in that engine turned to
molasses and broke
down complete - engine was toast.
I have no affiliation with any oil company. I have been an advocate of
synthetic oils for quite
some time based on the data alone - now I have the personal experience to back
it up!
Mike
|