<VV> CMP Kershaw SCCA race week end.

[Rick Norris]

Well folks, we arrived back at Corvair Alley about 8:30 this morning. We woke up at 1:00 AM, couldn't get back to sleep so we hit the road for home. Lots less holiday traffic too. 

The Monster Memorial double regional race week end put on by the Central Carolina Region of the SCCA at the Carolina Motorsports Park this week end was a total blast! The only thing missing was more Corvairs and Corvair folks.
I entered this event to maintain my Regional Competition license and to get some more badly needed seat time in my car.

Having just finished the Walter Mitty week end in April I was lusting for more racing fun! 
I certainly had plenty of that!

I wasn't sure how the weather was going to be as it rained on us during the trip down and most of the day Friday with an hellacious thunder storm Friday night. It was one of those that you could hear the air sizzle after a strike. It woke us up during the night.

Not to worry as both Saturday and Sunday were free of rain but the temps and humidity were indicative of the South. Not good fat guy weather!
It made getting your driver uniform off a real chore. Bob said he may have to have his surgically removed!

My original plan for the event was the same as last year. That was to just pedal it around, stay out of trouble and finish the races to satisfy the license requirement.
That went out the window about three laps in to the first practice. The slicks were warmed up and my engine was running really well.
I thought to myself, there are other races I could run if I don't complete them here. I built the car to race so lets do it and have some fun. I really hammered on it. I don't mean I abused it. The OT-30 cam really likes to rev and since I reset the limiter to 6800 it feels better as the revs mount. My secondary carbs were kicking in noticeably. 
I was shifting at 6000 which seemed to work best. I did get on the limiter several times during the Sunday race when I was trying to run somebody down or keep someone from passing me at which, I was successful most of the time! Red mist? That's when I turned my fastest laps.
Oil temps never went past 210 and the heads stayed within range. Not sure of the exact numbers on my CHT gages. Brakes worked all the time with out a hitch. I was diving in some corners hard when I was trying to pass and locked them up more than once. Went off track too! The Hawk pads felt the same all week end. Haven't checked anything yet.

No video as my HeroCam took a dump and is now trash! If I was at the gun range I would have used it one more time.

I did put my o2 meter on the headers for one of the practice sessions to see what the air fuel ratio was. On the primaries read 16:1 and when I kicked in the secondaries at full throttle it read around 12.73:1. I was guessing a drop of two sizes for the primary jets which the good Dr. Yenko confirmed. 
Also I had installed the excellent new throttle linkage sold by Roger Parent. ( rlparent at cox.net ) This is the best new item for our Corvairs I have seen in a long time, especially 140's and the sloppy worn out secondary linkage. It is stainless steel where possible with bellcranks cad plated and all Heim joints. It comes partially assembled with good instructions. Once it is installed and adjusted it stays put. It is very smooth in operation. So much so that the double throttle springs required by SCCA are not noticeable. The $245 price for a 65 style 140 set up is well worth it. He has them for the two carb engines also and I will purchase a set for my 67 110 HP.
I can't say enough about this product. High quality and well engineered. Go here to see it.
  http://corvaircenter.com/phorum/read.php?1,340830,340830

After the race on Sunday I was paid a visit by the sound guy who informed me my new merge collector headers at full song tripped the meter a tick or two above the limit. He said next time they would require everyone meet the limit as set by the SCCA. I think it all sucks for air but, I always have my SuperTrapps handy.

I will have the car cleaned and inspected for the next event which at this point looks like the Oylimpics. I suspect I dented my headers when I straddled the dragons teeth rumble strips in turn 14 or, when I almost went around in turn 11 or.........

Photos to follow.

Rick Norris
#36 Sunoco Corvair
www.corvairalley.com