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PostPosted: July 8, 2015, 11:34 am 
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Joined: August 12, 2012, 6:38 pm
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Location: worcester county, Massachsetts
OMG, there are two really nice tracks now very near me, within an hour, and thompson speedway in thompson CT is 35 minutes. my problem is money and a place to build/keep a track vehicle.

track days/racing is not at all inexpensive, and I'd have to build another vehicle specifically for track days. but I only have one bay of a rented garage, that is currently so full I have to move stuff around with every step.

still, I have two ideas for track machines, another reverse trike optimized for track use that meets various sanctioning body safety rules (yeah yeah don't bother admonishing me against it now the idea is in my head) and, of course, the nascent Bloody Hell.

anyway, its fun following your adventures with the sprite, its really quite a cool little ride.

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PostPosted: July 8, 2015, 1:24 pm 
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Joined: August 19, 2014, 5:17 pm
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Location: England
If you find five minutes to spare this is funny.
Edit. A friend of mine used to install these v6 engines in the cars for PUG performance and we never let him forget this:)

Bob



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNK2fYTltsw

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PostPosted: July 8, 2015, 5:38 pm 
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Always Moore!
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Joined: November 9, 2007, 3:40 pm
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Location: Pittsburgh, PA
I love that one. Great looking Bugeye...err Frogeye.

Honestly I like the wrench time but its all to make sure the car runs reliability all weekend. The nice thing about Spridgets is that they're everywhere so there are always spares around if that part isn't in my trailer. If someone brought a bare tub to the track, I'm willing to bet you could assemble a car.

I've found the vintage clubs to be the hot ticket right now in terms of cost vs. seat time. I'm a member of VRG and they put on a fun weekend for a reasonable price. The average entry fee is around $450 for the weekend and they give enough seat time that by Sunday afternoon I'm *almost* tired of driving. They tend to do an event per month in the summer so there are plenty of opportunities to get on track. I guess I'm lucky to have Pittrace, Nelson Ledges, Summit Point, Mid Ohio, Watkins Glen, and Mosport all within a 6 hour drive so there are always options.

I'm convinced that a Spridget is probably the best way to get on track for the least investment. Decently prepped cars aren't overly expensive (there are quite a few that have plates and are street legal) and they're easy on consumables. I did 5 weekends last year and 2 this year on a set of R888s ($170/tire from Tire Rack). I'm still on my first set of front pads though I've gone through a few sets of rear linings due to not originally having a residual pressure valve. Levels of engine prep are all over the board but you can run a relatively stock 1275 with a hot street cam and have enough speed to have fun as there are always a few cars running at the same pace as you.

Plus I haven't attended an event this year that had less than 30 cars in the small bore class. There are currently 40 cars registered for this weekend.

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PostPosted: July 9, 2015, 9:29 am 
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Joined: September 22, 2005, 8:12 am
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Location: 4AGE in S.E. Michigan
Andrew
You should also look at Waterford. It's slightly shorter then the ledges, and is will suited for small bores. Lots of vintage races. Dave W


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PostPosted: July 21, 2015, 9:33 pm 
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Always Moore!
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Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Will definitely keep it on the radar. Some friends are trying to convince me to head to Grattan next month. Looks like another fun track.

I'm happy to report that the new engine's first outing went well:


Last year Pittrace (formerly Beaverun) announced that the long awaited South Track would be ready in time for this year's PVGP - they succeeded in doubling the length of the full course and having it ready for the event this year.

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PostPosted: July 22, 2015, 8:34 am 
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Location: 4AGE in S.E. Michigan
That was a h#ll of a good run at Pittrace. I would say that the new motor is differently making a lot more power. It looks like the driver also got a tune up :D
If you go to Grattan next month, watch out for the offcamber lefthander on cold tires.
Dave W


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PostPosted: July 23, 2015, 5:40 pm 
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Always Moore!
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Thanks Dave. Will definitely do if Grattan ends up on next month's calender.

I'm not going to complain on the engine. The one I started the year with was stock and I only tossed a new set of rings and bearings in it. I'm sure the bores aren't the roundest or straightest and I'm pretty sure it has the low compression pistons. I should have gone with the Kent 276 street cam instead of the APT 276 one for that engine - the Kent has a maximum rated RPM that is 1,200 more than the APT, more lift, and more duration on the exhaust. Overall it would have been better suited for what I'm doing. On the plus side there was no need to run a rev limiter since the engine can't physically rev past 6,000 rpm in 3rd or 4th gear.

I still don't know about the driver though. ;)

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PostPosted: July 23, 2015, 8:15 pm 
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Location: Mount Airy, NC
If you're not going to take credit for improved driving then at least take a pat on the back as the engine builder. :cheers:

It is easier to look like Hero Driver when your car handles well on the straights.

When you lightened the rods did you also weigh the big ends? We would make a fixture with a rod pin so the big end would sit on the scale. That way all rods weighed the same and all big ends too. How about getting the rotating mass balanced? Feels great to not worry about getting out of the way of fast cars doesn't it? Also feels great to BE the fast cars. :twisted:

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PostPosted: July 23, 2015, 9:42 pm 
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Always Moore!
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Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Yeah but passing in corners is a lot more satisfying since it requires work. ;)

One of my friends did a great job on the machine work. I gave him two nasty, rusty blocks with ugly bores and he returned clean and freshly machined blocks with round and straight bores.

Don't laugh....I did the lightening and balancing on the rods using the HF postal scale. I used string and a paper clip to make a hangar. My friend double checked my work using the proper tools and the weigh and balance was right on from rod to rod for one set. The second set had one rod that was off by a gram or two (a minute on the belt sander fixed it). He also balanced the rotating stuff (neither required very much).

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PostPosted: July 25, 2015, 2:32 pm 
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Always Moore!
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Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Meant to mention this before -
robbovius wrote:
Hey Andrew, talk to me about your air-oil separator...........

.........how well does your separator work?


After 5 weekends I finally emptied it and a little oil poured out (less than a pint); it seems to be working. The rest of the engine compartment isn't soaked in oil so I'll take that as a good sign.

I am getting a little oil out of the filler cap but I suspect it is at least partially due to the high RPMs pumping too much to the head. I'm going to remove the rockers, install a restrictor, and see if that helps. Right now its just enough to get a little oil on the top of the valve cover.

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PostPosted: August 7, 2015, 9:24 pm 
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PVGP weekend #2 update - Schenley Park had a hiccup or two but the Sprite continued to run well.

Being mid-July and Pittsburgh it is always hot and humid. Hot suits me just fine - humid not so much. But wait...it gets even better when you get to sit on the grid in a suit and helmet. Interestingly enough my OMP 3 layer suit is just as cool if not cooler than the el-cheapo 1 layer G-Force suit I used to use for track days (more fun factoids - you can also get approximately 11 G-Force suits for the price of one good suit and I'm guessing the good suit works much better). I really need to invest in a Cool Shirt at some point. Fortunately we didn't see rain this year like last so there wasn't the sudden post-storm humidity spike to deal with.

Saturday's schedule consistent of practice in the morning and qualifying in the afternoon. The optional British Heritage race was in between. Sunday's schedule was morning practice and the afternoon feature race. Since the car was running well I decided to run the British Heritage session - its fun getting wheel to wheel with some of the prettiest and greatest cars ever built in the UK.

Unfortunately the Sprite decided this would be the session to act up. To make a long story short, the right rear wheel cylinder decided to puke out its fluid. The left rear failed the weekend before at Pittrace during a practice session. I originally called one failure a fluke but for two to occur its down to either 9 race weekends is the cylinder life or the new found power means more energy to dump into the brakes at the end of straights (the higher ambient temperatures probably didn't help either).

So with qualifying a little after that session, it was a rush to fix the brakes. I had a cylinder and a rebuild kit; replacing the cylinder meant breaking the line loose and having to undo a snap ring while a cylinder rebuild could be done without removing anything aside from the destroyed linings. I rebuilt the left cylinder the weekend before with success so decided to go the same route. Unfortunately the forward piston was a bear to install and in the process the seal was damaged. We only figured this out while bleeding when fluid was dumping onto the ground with the bleeder closed. This was definitely some fine quality Team Slotus action!

With no qualifying time on Saturday it meant starting from the back on Sunday in 19th. I find running by myself to be boring so at least I got what I asked for!




I didn't know this until after the fact but the PVGP also did a live webcast of all sessions. There were more cameras on the top of the hill but something must have happened to them as they only had footage near start/finish.


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PostPosted: August 8, 2015, 12:28 am 
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Location: Charlotte, NC
That looks like an awesome track to race on. How long was it?

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PostPosted: August 8, 2015, 11:31 am 
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Nice job! I thought the PVGP was supposed to be a friendly parade. That smoky MGA locked up trying to stay ahead at least twice. Too much fun.


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PostPosted: August 8, 2015, 1:14 pm 
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Nice driving, Andrew. :cheers:
With a venue like that, I could get interested to get back into racing. What a great event.
What group was that? Red? :rofl:

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PostPosted: August 10, 2015, 11:42 am 
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We are Slotus!
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We only figured this out while bleeding when fluid was dumping onto the ground with the bleeder closed. This was definitely some fine quality Team Slotus action!
Hey! I resemble that remark!!!
Good race report, Andrew... PVGP sounds like a hoot! Cool video, too. Do ya think if I told 'em the Slotus was a 1978 Pinto (and I painted it red) that I could enter next year???
:cheers:
JDK

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