Larry Colen wrote:
>
> I had a fun day at Thunderhill yesterday.
>
Grrrrr... I will forever regret being a few miles away but not being
able to take up Larry's offer of running at Thunder Hill!
>
> When running at speed, my temperature guage would just peg itself at
> the hot end. With the new sensor, it does seem to read a bit hotter
> than it did with the old sensor, and the car never messily overheated,
> but I'd like to improve the situation before the Labor Day race.
OK, here is my weekend racing/sprint day coolant story...
I was without the 'B in the week leading up to raceday on Sunday because
I was having its fancy rollbar (half-cage) designed, built and fitted
but managed to pick it up on the Saturday afternoon - hardly enough time
to do all the fiddling one usually wants to do with a car before racing
it.
When I had dropped that car off, I was losing coolant and it seemed to
be coming from the vicinity of the radiator cap. So I fitted my
emergency spare top hose (just in case) and pick up another cap and a
new top hose (just in case). I fit the new radiator cap and head off to
the track. At the track the new top hose appears to be leaking around
the ends and, as it isn't a perfect fit anyway, I fit the NEW HOSE and
head out to do my practice laps.
5,500 rpm in third gear and with the back end slipping out a bit around
a very fast right hand curve... I am confronted with a windscreen full
of coolant and a cloud of steam. Of course this distraction throws me a
bit so I promptly do a 180 slip and slide off the next turn (an
immediate left hand sweeping curve) and find myself sitting in the
infield in a cloud of dust and steam.
THE DAMAGE: a BURST top hose and a fractured top pipe!
THE MORAL: A cap may show the correct pounds pressure - but check the
length of the spring. Don't rush your raceday preparations.
I borrowed another top hose and correct cap and finished the day with my
fastest times ever (filling her radiator after every 4 lap sprint). I
was told it looked pretty spectacular from an audience perspective,
anyway :-)
Eric
'68MGB MkII
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