With the last fuel pump upgrade, the car was actually starting to run well and make decent power. I finally felt it was ready to take to the track to see how it would do. Spoiler alert: it didn’t do well.
Fortunately, even though we are in the middle of a pandemic, NASA hosted a test and tune weekend at Virginia International Raceway. We just had to set up our camps with some space in between. The paddock at VIR is big, so it wasn’t a problem to spread out.
I packed the car with all my camping gear, food, and tools on Friday and set sail for VIR. It was about a three-and-a-half-hour drive, and I arrived at the track that evening and had camp set up before dusk. I have to say, camping at the track is something that I missed.
Saturday morning, I took the car through the tech inspection. The only person I recognized was the Regional Director. It was nice to see and chat with him for a few minutes. After the tech checked everything on the car, I took it back to my paddock space to get it ready for the track.
The test and tune is an open track, and drivers can enter and exit as they please. Once the track opened up, I planned to take the car out for a few easy laps for a shack down and then bring it back in to check it for any issues. I had to drive the car three-and-a-half hours back home, so the last thing I wanted to do was run a car hard with untested mods and have something break.
Once the track went live, I strapped on my helmet and headed out. This was my first time at VIR, so taking it easy for a few laps wasn’t a problem, as I had to learn the track before pushing the car hard. The first few laps felt good. I didn’t feel anything weird with the suspension like the back stepping out or excessive understeer. It actually felt quite balanced. The engine felt and sounded good, too. I didn’t feel any misses or the fuel cutting.
I brought the car back to my paddock space to give it a once-over before taking it back out to push it a little harder. I popped the hood to let it cool down, and smoke rolled out from under it. My heart sank. I looked around to find the source and saw oil all over the turbo manifold. A closer look revealed that whatever material the cam cover was made of was warping. The edge of the cam cover lifted from the head and broke the gasket seal, allowing oil to leak out onto the turbo manifold.
Because of the clearances in the engine compartment, the manifold ended up quite close to the cam cover. I underestimated, or perhaps was utterly oblivious to, the amount of heat that would come off the turbo manifold. There were never any signs of that happening from all the runs I did on the street for data logs during tuning sessions. I wasn’t running the car at full throttle on the street for as long as I was on the race track, either, so there’s that.
When fabricating parts for a car that aren’t readily available in the aftermarket, you expect issues to arise. I just didn’t expect ALL of the issues I have been having with this car. It’s self-induced, so I can’t get too upset about it, but it is starting to wear on me a bit.
It was apparent I couldn’t take the car back on track. I didn’t have any material or tools to fabricate a heat shield, and oil leaking onto a red-hot manifold is definitely a safety hazard. I didn’t want to sit trackside and watch my car burn to the ground, so how would I solve this problem to get the car back home?
After the engine cooled down completely, I cleaned the oil off with brake clean and packed as much silicone as possible around the edge of the cam cover where the oil had leaked out. I waited a few hours to let the silicone set up a bit before attempting to drive home. I stopped a few times to make sure the seal was holding, and I was able to get back home without any other issues. Now, I can look forward to solving another problem. Woohoo!
While I was waiting at the track for the silicone to dry, the regional director passed by on a golf cart and asked if everything was alright. I told him what happened, and he handed me a small bottle of Meguiar’s Ultimate Polish. He said, “Here, this is for your troubles.” I guess the weekend wasn’t a total loss!
With the last fuel pump upgrade, the car was actually starting to run well and make decent power. I finally felt it was ready to take to the track to see how it would do. Spoiler alert: it didn’t do well.
Fortunately, even though we are in the middle of a pandemic, NASA hosted a test and tune weekend at Virginia International Raceway. We just had to set up our camps with some space in between. The paddock at VIR is big, so it wasn’t a problem to spread out.
I packed the car with all my camping gear, food, and tools on Friday and set sail for VIR. It was about a three-and-a-half-hour drive, and I arrived at the track that evening and had camp set up before dusk. I have to say, camping at the track is something that I missed.
Saturday morning, I took the car through the tech inspection. The only person I recognized was the Regional Director. It was nice to see and chat with him for a few minutes. After the tech checked everything on the car, I took it back to my paddock space to get it ready for the track.
The test and tune is an open track, and drivers can enter and exit as they please. Once the track opened up, I planned to take the car out for a few easy laps for a shack down and then bring it back in to check it for any issues. I had to drive the car three-and-a-half hours back home, so the last thing I wanted to do was run a car hard with untested mods and have something break.
Once the track went live, I strapped on my helmet and headed out. This was my first time at VIR, so taking it easy for a few laps wasn’t a problem, as I had to learn the track before pushing the car hard. The first few laps felt good. I didn’t feel anything weird with the suspension like the back stepping out or excessive understeer. It actually felt quite balanced. The engine felt and sounded good, too. I didn’t feel any misses or the fuel cutting.
I brought the car back to my paddock space to give it a once-over before taking it back out to push it a little harder. I popped the hood to let it cool down, and smoke rolled out from under it. My heart sank. I looked around to find the source and saw oil all over the turbo manifold. A closer look revealed that whatever material the cam cover was made of was warping. The edge of the cam cover lifted from the head and broke the gasket seal, allowing oil to leak out onto the turbo manifold.
Because of the clearances in the engine compartment, the manifold ended up quite close to the cam cover. I underestimated, or perhaps was utterly oblivious to, the amount of heat that would come off the turbo manifold. There were never any signs of that happening from all the runs I did on the street for data logs during tuning sessions. I wasn’t running the car at full throttle on the street for as long as I was on the race track, either, so there’s that.
When fabricating parts for a car that aren’t readily available in the aftermarket, you expect issues to arise. I just didn’t expect ALL of the issues I have been having with this car. It’s self-induced, so I can’t get too upset about it, but it is starting to wear on me a bit.
It was apparent I couldn’t take the car back on track. I didn’t have any material or tools to fabricate a heat shield, and oil leaking onto a red-hot manifold is definitely a safety hazard. I didn’t want to sit trackside and watch my car burn to the ground, so how would I solve this problem to get the car back home?
After the engine cooled down completely, I cleaned the oil off with brake clean and packed as much silicone as possible around the edge of the cam cover where the oil had leaked out. I waited a few hours to let the silicone set up a bit before attempting to drive home. I stopped a few times to make sure the seal was holding, and I was able to get back home without any other issues. Now, I can look forward to solving another problem. Woohoo!
While I was waiting at the track for the silicone to dry, the regional director passed by on a golf cart and asked if everything was alright. I told him what happened, and he handed me a small bottle of Meguiar’s Ultimate Polish. He said, “Here, this is for your troubles.” I guess the weekend wasn’t a total loss!
DS
