[SECC] FW: [corvairsc] HSCC Night #2 - Long

Fri Jul 8 19:48:58 EDT 2005

Here's the long story from the 2nd night series autox.  Autocrossing a
Corvair on wet asphalt just sucks.

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From: BEllison at bbafiberweb.com [mailto:BEllison at bbafiberweb.com] 
Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2005 12:08 PM
To: corvairsc at yahoogroups.com
Cc: MBarnett at bbafiberweb.com; JTempleton at bbafiberweb.com
Subject: [corvairsc] HSCC Night #2 - Long

Still no official results yet, but here are my excuses this time.

On the drive up, my speedo is still off, so on 25, I'm just keeping up with
traffic letting most of the cars go around me to make sure I stay under the
average.  When we hit the big 3 mile hill just before reaching NC, all the
other cars slowed down.  I'm wondering why.  I kept my same rpms all the way
up that hill, and zoomed by all of them, although I did have to press the
gas a little harder.  :D  It was fun zooming by about 5 cars and trucks
since you could tell they didn't have the power to make it up that hill at
speed.

Stephan, Louan, and Adam came up to watch.  It's appreciated.

It's essentially the same course as the last time, when I ran a 52.6

Lots of people come by to look at the Corvair engine.  I had several of the
young guys tell me "I've never seen one before" as they walked around the
back, looked, pointed, walked away and smiled and shook their heads.  I even
had one young guy come by and say, "You've definitely got the cool factor
going on."  Made me proud.

Once again, we're with the 2nd run group.  It drizzled 90% of the time.
Most of the cars were having a hard time, except for the 4 wheel drive
subarus.  Their 4 wheel drive seemed to fair well for obvious reasons.  The
vettes and the one viper just had too much power and could not control it.
I'll be surprised if I didn't beat the viper.  Frankly, the guy just
couldn't drive.  There are hardly ANY straights on this course.

Donnie and I agreed to not stage together so we could watch each other's
times.  It was rainy and nasty so the Bujitors wanted to leave ASAP, but not
before they saw a Corvair run.  Adam wanted to hear loud mufflers so I went
first.

Here's where the good part starts.....Lights on bright (becomes important
later).  Come out of the gate, goal is to stay in first thru the 1st box due
to my larger tires.  Every else is shifting to 2nd before it.  I hit the
brakes way too late, and slid my nose past the first cone.  "Great, 5
seconds into it, and I've ruined the first run.  Might as well run the
course pretty easy and see how really slick it is out here."  Backed up,
went through the box, hit 2nd and took the rest of the course pretty easy.
Rear end wants to break loose several times, but I counter steer thru it and
let off.  This time, I down geared to 1st for those 3 > 115 degree turns.
That felt a whole lot better, but coming out of the turns, I still put too
much power to the rear and it wanted to sling around.  I got to the finish
line, and as I crossed, my dash and headlights blink and my engine
hesitates.  HUH?  Then a 2nd time for a full second +.  But it all comes
back up.  I meander thru the red cones (DNF if you hit one past the finish),
and head on the back road to go back to staging area, and the car drops dead
in it's tracks.  No power, no lights, nothing at all, engine's not running.
Hummmm?  I figure I lost my belt, AND my battery.  Pop the lid, and I hear
something bubbling.  It's pitch black under some trees.  Did I run it all
the way with no belt, and the oil is bubbling?  Nyah...the gas boiling?
Better step back if so!  I stand back, and think.  Nyah...felt down, and my
belt was definitely off.  I yanked the battery.  It moved about 6" and
sparks flew.  I got ticked at the tech inspector for a second.  It was so
loose, the tray had come out from under the battery.  I tightened it down by
hand with the wing nuts.  At this point, I realized the sound - my idler
bearing was still spinning - just flat flying!  I let it run since I was
worried about other stuff.  The spark was coming from the wire that runs
from the battery positive to "the horrible plastic thingy".  It was
completely disconnected and flopping around against the battery.  I.e.
Horrible conditions for the engine and electrical, just begging for a fire.
In the pitch dark, I found a place to wedge the cable end into the battery
post.  I cranked her up, no fan belt yet, and headed for the pits, coasting
the last 50 yards.  Got my tools, grabbed my spare belts which I'd yanked
from the convertible that afternoon, and one's too long and one's too short.
DOH!  I didn't want to put the original on, but I looked it over, and
reinstalled it.  Drove back to the staging area.  Checked.  It's still on.
I'm wondering at this point why I didn't get any dash warning lights.
Checked my alternator connection - seems fine.  Oh well.  Donnie says I ran
a 62, 10 secs off my last time even with the back up.  I'm okay with it.
Donnie Runs a 62 or so.  I get to hear it, but I don't get to watch being a
little busy at the time.

Run #2.  Went much better.  Kept it under control much better.  59 sec run.
I'm pretty disappointed - really thought it would have been better.  Belt
came off again.  Reinstalled it.  Getting worried about how to get home.
Donnie runs again, it's slower - a 63.

A guy comes around with a flashlight, wanting to know who's slinging oil.  I
look under my car and see nothing.

Run #3.  it's going much better now...until....I hit the wet oil patch at
the lower end of the course, and can't get it under control.  Rear end
slings around so my time is ruined.  I straighten her up, and continue thru,
no problems.  Lost the belt again, and again no light.  DANG IT!.  Drive to
the pits, pack up my stuff.  Back up to the staging area to watch Donnie's
last run.  Again it's slower with 63+.  He could drive a lot more
aggressively.  He never even got close to getting sideways.  I find some
lights where I can work, and reinstall the belt.  I realize my problem.  In
the dark, I didn't even think to look - I was going on all feel - so I
missed putting the belt under the upper belt guide at the fan.  <total
embarrassment>  It's a wonder the belt took the abuse and didn't
disintegrate.  DUH!  

As I reinstalled correctly, a guy comes walking up to me and says, "This is
my first time here, and my son's never seen a Corvair.  But I wanted to let
you know, my first job was working at a Corvair shop."  So we had plenty to
chat about.  After he left, I found that my jumper wires had come loose from
my idiot light.  DOH!  Reapplying the jumper, it now tested fine.

Donnie followed me til 25 breaks off of 26.  The drive home was uneventful.
They got started a lot earlier, and we finished somewhere just after 11pm I
think.  It was 1am for me getting home due to my belt and my talking.

I'll be out of town for the next one, so Donnie will have to update you next
time.  Just checked again - no results on the website.

Barry

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