Radio Installation

This weekend's project was wiring the radio into the race car. Basically, I took a walkie-talkie and cable-tied it to the roof and roll cage so that it hangs upside-down with the volume knob within easy reach of the driver, and the antenna is unobstructed. Then, I hard-wired it into the car's electrical system so we don't have to mess with batteries. Then, I wired the microphone and headphone jacks on the walkie-talking to the switchboard that's mounted in front of the shifter. I also wired in a "push-to-talk" button within easy reach of the driver. Next, I made an adapter that allows us to plug the drivers' school standard Chatterbox headset into the mic and headphone jacks that are in the switchboard. Now we have headphone and mic built into our helmets that plugs quickly into the dashboard during driver changes. The push-to-talk is within easy reach.

Below is my helper. She thought it was a lot more fun to wear the helmet inside the car while I talked around the neighborhood to assess the range.


The first switch on the board controls the radio. The middle switch will soon be wired to a homemade cool suit system. The 3rd switch will operate a pump that provides drinking water to the driver.

Again, Caroline demonstrates the radio button in the photo below. Note radio mounting in the top of the photo. Also, be sure to admire that nice-looking 5-pane rear view mirror that Patrick installed. That's a Northern Tool special that literally spans the entire width of the car.

Maiden Race

I have to admit, our maiden race didn't go so well. We did not finish. The culprit was a clogged fuel pump strainer that was limiting the supply of fuel to the engine.

We trekked up to Summit Point on June 18th. The car passed tech on Friday with flying colors.

On Saturday, Patrick's first stint in the car went well. After 40 minutes, he came in for a driver change. He reported that the engine was beginning to skip at high rpm. I, Allen, went out for the second stint. The car was running very rough. The longer I drove, the worse the problem became. Intially, I could rev it to 6000 rpm, then only 5000, then only 4000.

I noticed that the battery light was on on the dash and the gauge showed low voltage, so I brought it in, hoping the low voltage was leading to an ignition issue.

Back in the pits, we quickly went to work. Rick worked the phone to locate another alternator while Patrick and I dug into the blazing hot engine bay to try to determine the cause of the problem. We found it - broken wire going to the alternator. Marty rounded up an electric coupler from his buddy, CJ. We crimped it on and were ready to go once more.

We sent Rick out for the 3rd stint. The initial indication was good. We thought we had solved the problem. Before long, Rick showed a thumbs-down as he drove past our pit location. The problem was back.

The long and short of the story is: we thought we had an ignition issue, so we made buddies with a team on Toyota engineers who were also racing a Gen1 MR2. They had a trailer load of parts that they were very kind to share with us. We changed the ignitor and distributor. Both times, the driver initially reported that the engine ran well only to have it sour again.

At that point, we had replaced every part of the ignition. We changed the fuel filter (which was really nasty) and we still had an issue. We were certain that we had a fuel issue.

On Sunday, we tried several other attempted to fix the car. No luck, so we called it a race and went home to investigate further.

Although we were disappointed to have not gotten more track time, we still had fun. Also, we were able to eliminate a lot of possible issues which helped us get to the root cause much faster. We learned that our car has the capability to be competitive too. Our lap times would certainly have put is in contention for a top-10 finish had the car run well and had we executed our driver changes optimally.

We certainly be better prepared for the next race.

Engine Rebuild: May 2010

After a thorough search for decent used engine, we decided to rebuild the engine instead. At least we would know the condition of the internals even though the rebuild would take lots of time. We decided this in early May, and we were scheduled to race on June 19th. That didn't leave us a lot of free nights and weekends. Off to work we went.

With the engine out and on the stand, we disassembled it and found some really ugly rod bearings. In the photo below, note the distortion of two of the bearing shells.

We had the crankshaft ground .0020" on the rod bearings and .0010" on the mains. We honed the block and went back with fresh rings and bearings on the bottom end.

The cam bearings surfaces were a little rough from the rod bearing fragments that must have been force up through the head. We couldn't find a good head in short order, so we went with what we had.

We reassembled the engine, bolted on a new clutch, and had it running with a week to spare.

Shakedown Run #3: VIR with Audi Club

The photo above captures a fleeting moment in history - one of the two laps that MRS2 covered in two days at the track.

Shakedown run #3 did not turn out as we expected. That is the purpose of shakedown runs, however. On lap 2, while Rick was driving MRS2, the rod bearing on cylinder 3 completely gave up and the rod bearing on cylinder 2 was close to suffering the same result.

As luck would have it, we were able to turn to our fall-back option, my Mini Cooper S, for the remainder of the event.

Prior to the event, we resolved several issues:

1. We relocated the battery to front of the car
2. We stopped the oil leak around the oil filter housing
3. We installed a sweet new exhaust system (see below)

That's right, friends. That's the whole exhaust from manifold to the exit point at the rear of the car. For you exhaust system aficiandos, you are seeing correctly. That is, in fact, a Cherry Bomb glass pack welded on to the factory pipe. That is the shortest route we could find to channel the exhaust to the rear. I'm sure we save 30 pounds in the process, and she sounds oh so sweet!

Shakedown Run #2: VIR with TrackDaze

Another good run for data collection on the MRS2.

We have some work on the car before we track again. Here's my list at the moment:

• An ignition issue surfaced. After 15-20 minutes, it would start skipping over 5500 rpm or so. It did it with 1/2 tank of fuel, so believe that we're not running low. I ran to the Advance and bought a new coil. I installed it, and ran for 15 minutes (my last run). I didn't experience the issue. In spite of that, I think we should change the wires and plugs just for good measure
• We have an oil leak that we need to fix before the June race. It looks like we're losing oil from the front of the engine - maybe from the oil cooler lines or something like that. I didn't climb under the car to look. I simply added more oil. At this point, we're losing about 1/2 quart per hour. I'm guessing it will be the front crank seal or cam seals - but that's just a guess.
• We need to replace the muffler. In my last run, the car got really loud. When I returned to the pits, I saw that the one remaining pipe exiting the muffler was gone. The baffling inside was misplaced. Some holes have broken through the body of the muffler. It's a mess. After lunch, I went back to the car, and the missing pieces of muffler were lying on the car. I assume one of the corner worked picked it up off the track and brought it back to me:-)
• We need to check the axles. I put the crappy old tires on the car and drove it from the paddock back to the storage area. On the way, I heard a bunch of clacking in the rear. It was quiet under power and noisy off power and at partial throttle. My theory is that the axles are bad and that I didn't notice the noise on track because I spent 90% of the time on the power. It could just be the crappy old tires, but we need to check the axles.
• The clutch hydraulics are leaking occasionally. The master is most likely the case, since it is a rebuild. The reservoir was nearly empty in the morning. I topped it up. The pedal was fine all the second day.
• I had trouble securing the battery with the rubber mount that I had. I know we want to move the battery to the front, but I think we should do it before we run another school. Right now, the battery is held down with a Harbor Freight racheting tie-down strap. It works, but is less than ideal.
  

In total, I put at least 4 hours of hard use on the car. The brakes are great. There's some skill required to apply them without premature lockup. You have to roll them on somewhat slowly to transfer the weight. Otherwise, you lock them before they get a chance to bite. In my Mini, you can hammer the brake. The car is noseheavy and has ABS. The MRS2 is just different. The mass is behind you, and there's no ABS. It has taken me some getting used to. Right now, we're running the Carbotech XP9 compound on the front and the XP8 on the rear. The 9's are more aggressive. Next time, I think we should do 8's all around. They're cheaper too.

This time, I got enough seat time to really get acquainted with the car's handling, and I am pleased to report that the car is a blast to drive! It is really quick in the corners. In the corners, you think, and it just goes there. It will rotate nicely off throttle. In slower corners, it has a tendency to understeer a little. One technique I really enjoyed on the slower corners was to bang the car into the inside curbing which tends to kick the tail-end out when exiting the corner. Turns 4, Oak Tree, and the right-hander at the top of the roller coaster are prime candidates for this "technique."

She's coming along.

MRS2 Moves to Her Spring Home

In preparation for the coming track season, MRS2 left the suburbs today and moved to her rightful home, America's motorsports resort, VIR.

The good folks at VIR have made room for MRS2 in the raceplex right before the guards' station on the right, at the entrance to the track. She will be living there for the next two months until time for final preparation before her first race on Father's Day weekend at Summit Point.

We'll miss her, but we know she will be cared for.

'10 Track Season is Under Way

The 2010 season kicks off for MRS2 on March 1st and 2nd with TrackDaze. This will be her second shake-down run, and we hope that we have resolved all mechanical issues.

The Trophy Wife has been hard at work in the off-season, making sure that her figure is in peak form so she can fully flaunt her spring wardrobe.

MRS2 has acquired quite a few fine accessories during the winter. These include:

• a 6-point AutoPower rollcage
• a new AutoZone radiator - China's finest
• a Cobra fiberglass racing seat
• 5-point harnesses
• Wilwood cockpit adjustable brake proportioning valve
• Carbotech XP9 and XP8 brake pads for the front and rear

In the photos below, you can see how nicely appointed she is inside.