Eastern Creek, 26th & 27th November 2011.

Well this race meeting was a disaster. We qualified in the absolute wet and my best was a 2.31. YUK! All weekend my best was a 2.06.

Billies engine is now getting a bit tired, it has lost it’s punch. I am now getting passed by cars which I was previously able to keep in front of.

During our second race on Saturday there was a bad accident and one of our mates was injured. Thankfully he is now on the mend. Every race on Saturday was red flagged.

Sundays racing was in the dry. Much better! Unfortunately we had an incident during our last race, which was also the last race of the weekend. The guy in front of me stopped dead instead of going around a spun car. Guess what? BANG! Not happy Jan! Right up his bum! The worst part is my engine hit the back of the radiator, which had to be repaired. The damage is now repaired and I am concentrating on maintenance.

I have started to get a new engine block ready as I have found two cracks in my engine. I will run at Wakefield Park on the last weekend of February, after which I will pull my engine out and do a freshen up.

I have been a bit busy lately, which caused the delay in this post.

Eastern Creek 25th-26th June 2011.

This is my first meeting since February, so I had been looking forward to this weekend. I left home at 7am Friday morning, Bob followed as he is racing this weekend also. We arrived at the track at about 11am. I’m not goung out today but Bob needs to fine tune his car. I make sure I’m ready, buy some fuel and fuel up the car. Check tyre pressures and wheel nuts. Check the oil level and water. Make sure the strainer is clean. I take Billie to get targeted, she is due this meeting. We pass scrutineering ok and go back to the pits. Now is time to relax. I’ve forgotten my camera, I won’t have any pictures this weekend.

Practice. We are 2nd practice. I check it all again. During practice I can’t use all of my cornering speeds. I have huge understeer and can’t do anything about it. What is going on? I persevere and then the red flag comes out. A couple of guys have spun at turn 5. That’ll be the end of practice. We have completed 4 laps. My time? I don’t want to know. 2m 7secs. YUK! Why was I so slow? I rechecked my tyres, the back left has about 15psi in it. No wonder! I’ve got a flat! The flat was fixed, the car checked again then the long wait for our race.

Todays race is a relay. 25 laps. Each car has to do at least 10 laps. I’m teamed up with Bob in his Mustang. This should be good. I go out first with the others and go for it. What a difference some air in the tyre makes! I’m not quickest, but I can feel that Billie is enjoying this. Several casualties it seems, I can’t keep up with Phil or Bob but that’s ok. I run around amongst the Cortinas and Minis, having a ball. Woops! Off the track around turn 8, Dave gets past, he goes off at turn 9, I go past him. Love it! I’m watching the pits for the pit open sign. There it is, 2 more laps, hang on, I’m getting some fuel surge now. I’m glad I don’t have to go longer. Into the pits and change-over with Bob. That’s the end of my racing today. We came seventh overall, pretty good. I bettered my best lap here twice, I’m now down to 2m 2.8 secs. That’s .6 of a second. That’s good! And Billie is still going! And my diff is quiet! I pack up and leave things ready for the morning.

Sunday racing. I’m at the track at 7am. Pretty cold and foggy! Racing starts late. We are 2nd out this morning. I have a great time, dicing with Cortinas and Minis again. I’m watching my oil and water as much as I can. The oil never gets below 35psi. That’s good. The cooler weather helps this as well. I’m keeping in front of the blue Cortina, even pulling away. We have 5 laps, they shortened this race by a lap because of the delays caused by the mfog this morning. On the last lap I get fuel surge again, this lets the Cortina slip past over the line. Oh well, next race. I am getting more constant with my times, 2′s, 3′s and 4′s. Very good!

2nd Race. The ranks have thinned out quite a bit now. I start from grid spot 14, my best all weekend. 6 laps this time. Away we go! I’ve got no hope of keeping with Phil, his car is flying this weekend! It turns out he broke his own lap record twice in the last race. I keep up with the Morris and Cortina, dicing with them and having fun. Oops, off I go at turn 8 again. This lets those guys get away and lets Dave in his Imp catch up. That’s ok, I know we’ll have a good race. I pull away on the straights and he catches on the corners, Billie is handling better, I’m getting better. This is how we finish the race. We survive another weekend. My diff is still quiet, I have a split in my extractors and I improve my best time again. By another .2 of a second.I’m now down to a 2min 2.6 secs. Not as quick as some of the others, but I get quicker each time. That’s good.

Maintenance Time

After the meeting at Wakefield Park in February I knew I had to do some serious maintenance. I had to prepare another diff as I destroyed another one during the races. I paid particular attention to the bearing preload and backlash. I hoped that it would be ok. I am using 3.55 ratios only now as the 3.36 diffs knock off too much torque low down. I changed the diff, making sure I cleaned out the housing properly. There was a heap of metal in there!

I had Bob check the timing and we decided to check the valve clearances. Lucky we did, as the valve area was covered in milky oil. Bugger! I must have a cracked bore. Oh well. We made the checks and put it all together. I got some chemeweld and ran it through the cooling system. I need to keep this engine going for a while yet. The chemiweld took ok and the engine is running fine.

I carried out all my regular checks, changed over the front brake linings, changed the oil and filter, gave the car a thorough going over.

I have now started to prepare another engine. I selected another block, found the crank that came out of it and took them both in for cleaning. I cleaned out the water galleries and filled the galleries up to the welch plug holes with a cement mix. I had the crank checked and it will live to fight. Good. I have bought a new camshaft to replace my second hand one. I had the main bearing blocks cleaned also. Since I will be running my present engine for as long as possible, I can go no further with the new engine as I need to use many parts from the old in the new.

Wakefield Park, Goulburn. 12 & 13 February 2011.

I had been watching the weather reports for this weekend for some time. It did not look good. Just rain. Great. I left home on Friday morning under a cloudy sky. No rain though. I arrived at the track to find not many spots left, I thought I had left myself plenty of time. I found a spot next to the Wrights. This’ll do. Unpack the ute, then the car. Park the trailer and set up camp. Run the car over to the scrutineers for it’s check up and do my paperwork, all is fine, ready to go. I bought enough fuel for the weekend, (I hope) and do the rounds. A final check over for Billie, then time to relax.

Saturday.  It’s raining. It rained half the night as well, so everything is wet. I had bought a new tent, so all my stuff was dry, beauty! We are 5th practice then 5th race, with another race in the afternoon. I’ve dropped the pressures in my tyres in anticipation of a cooler weekend. Our practice! It’s raining! I borrowed some rainex, hoping it would help, I had to apply it to a wet screen, not sure it would work. It didn’t as it turned out. Out we go! Try to do my best. Super slippery! Tiptoe everywhere. Use as much power as I can, brake as hard as I can. I know I am slow, so is everyone else. Huh? Why am I going backwards off the track? Hard on the brakes, hope I stop. I’ve gone off up the hill, I must have had some compression lock, I didn’t touch the brakes. I hope I haven’t hurt anything. I didn’t hit anything, so that’s good. Wait to get back on, away again. Where’s my wiper? There it is, stuck on the A pillar. The passenger one is still travelling. Wait on, no it’s not. No wipers, how many laps have I done? We have to complete 3 laps to qualify. I’ve done more than that, so in I go. I can’t see a thing, the rainex didn’t work. My qualifying time, 1m36s. Yuk! I’ll be up the back. Time to look at those wipers, the ball has popped out of the linkage. I’ll leave the trim off, in case it happens again.

1st race. Yep, I’m up the back. Who have I got around me? There is Bill in his Vauxhall, Mark in his Imp, Kerry and Cortina, Laura and Sprint, Alex and Mini. I get a great start! Billie just takes off! A huge traffic jam in turn 1. Take it easy, there is plenty of time. The track is dry, beauty! Wring Billie out, I’ve got a 3.55 diff in again. My tyres are my worry this weekend. not sure they’ll make the distance. Billie doesn’t bog down at low revs with this diff. Mark is getting awfully close at times, I get away from him on the straights. I’m right up on the Torana in the corners but I can’t keep with him on the straights. He’s braking everywhere, I just can’t keep in front of him. He does have disc brakes and a 4 speed box though. I’ve often wondered if I can lift an inside tyre, now I know! The race ends, we had 15 minutes. All good! Back to the pits, let Billie cool down, then the pit routine. My time, 1m17.1 secs. I want another half a second yet.

2nd race. Grid spot 14. That’s pretty good! Out for the warm-up lap, warm the tyres and drag the brakes lightly. Grid up and wait for the flag. Up it goes, about 4000 revs, down goes the flag. Slip the clutch, floor the throttle, away we go! Pretty good start, Kerry gets past, let the fast cars go through. I’m not getting in their way! Pitt St! Get in there! Up the hill, trying not to get tangled up, but stay fast and on line, sort of. Lots of brakes, playing sort ourselves out. Get into a rythym, don’t lose it. Another dry race, I’m pushing Billie as hard as I can. I’m watching my gauges, the oil stays on 30psi, the temp around the 200 mark. All ok. Go for it! I just can’t hold out Laura on the straights, Kerry is right amongst the thick of it. Mark is trying really hard and Alex has taken off. My tyres last about 6 laps before they start to go off, after this I just get more understeer. I try to get around as best I can, I just can’t push it. The race finishes, Billie is in one piece, I’m sweating like a pig. My time, 1m 16.6 secs. Beauty! My best time around here, I got my half second! Let Billie cool, change out of my race clothes and start the banter.

Sunday. 3 races. I’ve tightened  up my shockies, half a turn on the front and a full turn on the back. I want to see what affect this has. Everything else looks good. In the 2nd race yesterday I had some fuel surge towards the end, I need to make sure I have enough fuel for each race. I put a bit more in. A bit over half a tank on the gauge. I’m convinced my gauge reads high. Oh well, it is over 40 years old. Getting old, like it’s driver.

1st race. I’ve dropped a couple of spots. No matter. I’m the only car in my class this weekend. Off! Billie gets a blinder! Geez she’s starting well this weekend. I wonder where the club guys are? No time to think of them, get on with it! Up the hill, traffic jam at the top. pretty slow in fact. Same again, Kerry, Laura, Alex, Mark, Bill and the red Torana. all trying to squeeze through. Geez Laura is close, has she slowed? Nope, just a corner. Maybe I can get her at turn 12. Squeeze through on the inside, she blasts past on the straight. My shockie adjustment seems to have worked a bit, I seem to be able to corner a bit harder, not bouncing as it was yesterday. My tyres will probably go off quicker though. They do just that. I find I can get in about 6 or 7 good laps, after that I’m just battling understeer and losing touch a bit. I keep racing as best I can, I have a great dice with Kerry. The race finishes, all in one piece. Good. I’m not worrying about my times today, I bettered my best lap yesterday, I know  I won’t get there today.

2nd Race. There seems to be a few less cars this time. I’m still starting in the teens, so that’s good. Up the back are a couple of fast cars, I’ll have to watch them coming through. Away we go ! Another good start. Racing with the same guys, that’s ok, any racing is great! I’ve decided to push as hard as I can. I know my tyres will go off, I’ll go as hard as I can while I have them. Pushing hard behind Laura and Alex, around the top, down the hill and into the fish-hook. Hard on the brakes, hard left, a great corner! Keep into the apex, flat in 2nd gear, slide around the right hander and BANG! Huh? Why no go? Engine running, gear box working I think, but no drive! Shit! What to do? I know, I’ll coast into the pits. Keep the engine running so I have got brakes, hand out the window and coast into the pits. Clunk our way down the pits, how far will we go? Will I make the end? Not quite. A short push onto the apron and wait for the race to finish. Want a tow? Yes please! So Billie gets towed for the 1st time. Looking under, there is no sign of anything, so up on the jacks. A spin of each back wheel, yep the diff has blown. I’m lucky there are a few club guys over for the day. Assign some tasks and I reckon I’ll make the final race. The old diff comes out, yep, I’ve stripped all the gears off the pinion and the crownwheel gears are like razors. I actually cut one of my fingers on a gear. Bugger! We get the diff changed, a quick test of the gears, ready to fight again! This my old 3.36 diff, I wonder if it will last the distance. To Tim and Dave, thanks for the help and to Byron for the piccies.

Last race. I’m not starting last due to some guys coming in before I had my diff episode. Not many cars this time, some guys must have gone home. I’ll push hard while I can but I don’t trust this diff. Gosh it’s loud. Kerrys with me, I’ll circulate with him. There’s no-one behind us. Laura is in front, she’ll pull away. Go around as hard as I can, Try a few different cornering styles and see how we go. The tyres are going off quicker now, I’ll have to get a new set. Billie seems to be behaving a bit better in the tight corners though, the shockie changes I made seem to have made a difference. We finish the race in one piece this time, in to the pits for the last time, another great weekend of racing finishes!

The guys come over for a natter session and to help me pack up.  Get the trailer, load Billie and start thinking about maintenance. say the goodbyes and head for home!

Tasman Revival Meeting 26-28 November 2010. Eastern Creek.

I had been tossing up whether to enter this event at all. Eastern Creek in summer can be very hot, with all the concrete in the pit area the heat seems to permeate everything. Regardless, I entered. I left home at 7am on the Thursday. I wanted to make sure I was ready for the weekend ahead, not leaving anything undone. I was travelling alone, so I needed to make sure I was ready. I arrived at the track at about 11. Unpack the car and gear, park the trailer and get set up. I was able to get my paperwork completed easily, no car inspection needed, got my sticker and all is ready. The fuel truck is open, so 40 litres and $132 later, I may need another drum to get through. We have practice, 3 6lap races and a 10lap feature race. All set up, drivers briefing at 5pm, so I go catching up with people.

Friday, 26th.  I get to the track at about 7am. We are down as practice No 6, at 10.25. I go over the car. Plenty of fuel, I still have about a quarter of a tank of unleaded in, so I put about 10 lts of avgas on top of this. About half a tank all up. This will see me through practice. Check and adjust tyre pressures. Wheel nuts. Oil and water. Make sure there is nothing in the car except for my gloves, balaclava and helmet. Check boot and put key in the lock.

Time for practice! Out we go! About an hour late. Oh well. My plan is to do a couple of easy laps, then some fast laps then a couple of cooling off laps. It’s pretty hot, I don’t want to destroy the car. After 2 easy laps, the car is going good, no funny noises, it’s a pleasure to have a quiet diff. What? Lots of yellow flags! A slow lap. Red flags! Bugger! Steve in his EH overtakes me. Naughty boy! We all go slowly back to the pits. Just before the entrance, Steve waves me through, realising the blue he made. Line up in the pits, turn the car off, the temp gauge goes over the top. Well this stuffs up my strategy completely. We are told we’ll have 2 laps. So hit it! I end up with a time of 2m 8s. Slow. 40th on the grid. Yuk. I was hoping for better than that.

Friday afternoon, 1st race. I am still a bit nervous about getting away properly, I don’t want another broken axle. So I stuff up the start. Very slow away. Bugger again. I get past Ian, Laura is flying in her Sprint, she must have been practicing. I’m trying to keep up with Ralph in his Alfa. The track is hot, the car is hot but the temp and oil seem to be stable. 30 psi and about 190-200 degs. I’m trying to push through turn 1 and to get more speed around turn 2. Flat in 2nd around 3, pull top over the bridge and hard on the brakes for turn 4. Back to 2nd and flat, drift through 4 and flat out. Try not to lift for turn 5, drift over to the concrete and top. Flat, brakes for 6 and into 2nd. Try to get through here flat, full understeer! Back off and back on the gas, pull top under the bridge and drift around 8 using as much power as possible. Hard on the brakes, pull 2nd and around turn 9. Hard on the power, top gear and full power. Back on the brakes, back to 2nd and try to drift around 11 and 12. Flat in 2nd, 6900 revs, top gear, watch the gauges, all good. Over 120 on the speedo, back off at my marker, no brakes where I can, grab my balls and drift through turn 1 and full power as soon as I can. And another lap starts. I finish the race in 31st spot. Behind Ralph and Laura, in front of Steve and Ian. My time? 2m 3.4977secs. My fastest time here, by about .1 of a second. Cool! As it turned out, my fastest time of the weekend.

Saturday 27th. Early at the track. The car pulled up with no problems yesterday, so normal maintenance this morning. Of vital importance is the water and oil and the radiator strainer. I clean out the strainer, I must take a photo of the crud Iget out of it. Tyres, wheel nuts, plenty of fuel. Another hot day ahead. 1st race. I get a great start! But I let a couple of guys in at turn 2! Gotta get more aggressive! I’m getting caught in between all these 4 cylinders! Alfa, Cortina, Mini. Bloody buzz boxes! I get away on the straights but they catch me on the corners. I need to concentrate on my cornering styles more. Doesn’t matter, I’m having amazing fun! Hhmm. My steering box feels funny. It’s getting really hard to turn left. I even have to back off a bit. This I will have to check out. Back to the pits. Up on the jack and stands. Bob has turned up so we decided to tighten the box a bit and see how that goes.

2nd race. I start from 31st spot. I get a great start again, I’m in front of Steve in his EH and also Ralph. We get 2 laps then the red flag is out, all back to pit row. There are a couple of cars parked in dangerous spots, so they stop the race to clear them. Out we go, they grid us up again. I get another great start, in front of Steve and chasing the others. We get 2 more laps. I’m pushing hard, max revs where I can, watching everything I can think of. I have to keep in front of Steve. I go through turn 5 hard, I see Steve in the mirror in a cloud of smoke and steam. Bugger, what happened? I finish the race in front of Ralph, so I can give him a bit of stick now. Steve has a rod through his sump. His weekend is over. I finish in 31st spot. Bloody consistent.

Sunday 28th. We only have 1 race today, our 10 lap feature, last race of the day. So I get to the track a little later. About 8am. I make sure the car is ready for it’s race. I buy another drum of fuel, half in the car and I get to take a bit home. My club has the presentations at lunch time. I got 1st in my class! My 1st glass! Cool! It looks like it will be a wet race. It starts raining before our race and doesn’t stop. So our race is declared wet. Those lucky enough to have wet tryes can use them. My tyres are shagged. I don’t have wets.  I have worn tyres. This should be fun! I get a good start, I set myself an aim to get Laura. There are 22 cars racing. The spray is blinding! Tiptoe through turn 1. Apply power, spin the wheels. Turn 2, turn 3 and slide, no power. That is slippery! Turn 4 and slide, turn 5 and slide. I have NO grip. I get round a couple of laps  like this and try to get any speed or grip that I can. The front runners are now lapping us. I let them through and keep battling. I’m just behind Laura. She is sliding as much as me, but can use her power on the straights. I reckon I can get her at turn 12 and maybe hold her out on the straight. Last lap, I try to get as close as I can to Laura and use as much as turn 12. I’m right on her bumper coming onto the straight, I’m holding Billie flat, into top and pass Laura on the left. She musn’t be able to get power down. I pass her just before the line. Yahoo! Beating another Ford! What a race!

 What a weekend.! Such amazing fun! I have a few quick chats, pack up my stuff, get my trailer and pack up. Say my goodbyes and start for home.

My list: Check my steering box, It’s definitely binding, I have a spare at home. I have to reseal my manifolds, there is a definite exhaust chuff at the manifold face. Apart from these 2, just regular maintenance. Next meeting? Wakefield Park, 11-12th Feb 2011.

Astor Motel Day, Wakefield Park, 15th October 2010.

This is a Friday meeting, run by Wakefield Park itself. A good chance for some fun racing and still have a casual day. There were three categories racing, our group which included any regularity cars and Marque sport cars. The other groups there were Formulas Ford and Vee. A wet day and windy by the end. We had 14 starters, enough for good racing but not too many considering the weather. We were to have practice then qualifying, the four races. Good wet weather practice. It rained on and off all day so a good variety of conditions were thrown at us.

Practice was very wet. Not raining much but a wet track. No traction at all through the corners. phil and Bob had their EH’s out as well so I was hoping to be in the ball park with them. not exactly keeping up, but I could still see them. Most corners had a stream running through them, so very careful putting any power down. My diff is noisy again and my car won’t pull out of the slow corners due to the slower speeds. The guys later comment about the black smoke coming from ny exhaust, my engine is fuelling up at low revs and then it can’t clear itself. I got through practice ok, a few slides here and there, still in one piece.

Qualifying. This is the first time I’ve done a separate practice and qualifying. Line up in the dummy grid, it doesn’t matter where. We had a relatively dry track this time. I decided to get as best a time as I could while the rain held off. We had 10 minutes. Turn 2 was very slippery, across the top and the fish-hook the same and turn 12 onto the straight also. Even though we’re not racing I’m having fun with Greg in his Cortina. I can see that he is having as much fun as me. A few of the others also, judging by the spins and off track excursions. I qualify with a time of 1m 19s. Not quick, but good enough I thought. Grid spot eleven for the first race.

Race 1. I take my spot on the dummy grid. It is raining. Out we go, being very careful not to stuff up on the formation lap. On the grid, wait for the track to clear, watch the lights. Red light on, revs up, red light out, GO! Wheel spin! Back off, second gear, more spinning wheels, into the turn. Everyone is in the same boat, so do the best you can while not doing anything stupid. I’ve got Bob in front, Greg in his Cortina and Laura in her Fairlane behind. Laura is being very game, we go through the fish hook side by side. She gets in front, I’m right behind and very nearly bump her off in the right hander. Now she pulls over, I wonder what happened. Greg and I go for it as best we can. It is VERY slippery. He gets in front at turn 2 and we got for it up the hill. Down the other side, me pushing as best as I can, he locks up and slides off the track. I go past with a smile and watch him cross the track and into the grass on the other side. I know he’ll be back. We continue on, a dry line is starting to form. this is great, some corners are slow, others are dry, letting some power to be put down. I finish in 9th spot, my best time is 1m 32s. Three seconds behind Bob. What Fun!

Race 2. More rain! More than before. Sliding everywhere. Noel in his Torana has pulled up at turn 12, I see Warren pull in as well. Trying to be quick, the rain doesn’t stop and rivers are running across the track. I see a few guys spin on and off the track. I try to be sensible, feed the power in carefully, brake early. It is a good chance to test my cars’ braking in the wet. I’m impressed actually. I’m pushing the brakes pretty hard and they don’t lock up. I’ve got David in his Torana behind me. I know he’s trying to push, I just don’t know how hard he can. We finish the race, he is 1 second behind. I see him after the race, his smile is as big as mine! I know he was having fun too! My time? 1m 35s. I far beyond worrying about times today. All about practice and car control in the wet.

Race 3. This time I’m starting in spot 5. I’m moving up the grid! Only because the guys up the front are pushing hard and spinning off. Away we go! I can’t get traction, feather the throttle and grab second gear. More spin, back off and through turns 1 &2. Up the hill, Greg and Dave are there, as well as Peter in his MG. This is one quick car. Peter gets past us all and I try to keep with him. I am able to. He is braking early, I have to watch this . He has more poke down low than me but I can keep with him. I can’t imagine what he is thinking, I can’t see the back of his car in spots, I am that close! To me, this is what racing is all about, trusting the other driver as well as yourself. We finish the race like this. Peter in front, Greg behind. My time: 1m 33s.

Race 4. We’ve made it to the last race of the day! Every race wet. That’s ok. We’ve had a fun day. I start again in spot 6. Greg is able to open up a bit of a lead this time. I’m pushing as hard as I’m comfortable with, but I can’t keep up with him. I found a hole in my bottom radiator hose after the last race, so I won’t be pushing this time. The car won’t get hot today anyway. We’re down to 8 starters now. Plenty of room on the track for everyone. I’ve tried a few different tyre pressures today. It is definitely better with less pressure in the wet. We finish the race safely and trundle back to the pits.

A great day, even with the weather. To me today was a good chance to see how the car handles in the wet. It is a good opportunity to test the braking and to see how far they can be pushed without lock-up. The car is in one piece with a minor repair and regular maintenance to do. One thing though; I’ll be changing the diff and returning to a 3.55 ratio.

Next meeting: Tasman Revival: Eastern Creek, 27th-29th November.