Event Report - Classic Adelaide

[MK1_Oz]

I thought I would write a brief event report for the 2015 Classic Adelaide that finished yesterday.

I had my 18 year old step-son, Jacob navigating for me on this event and it was his first time navigating or doing anything like it so we were both pumped and excited. My beautiful wife and other step-son were acting as service crew - a true family affair!!! I was feeling all warm and fuzzy at this stage . I had spent the last 2 years going through the car and making changes to the things that failed previously and to the things that I was just not happy with. This included a complete re-wire. Jake and I did recce on the Monday and Tuesday before the event and were happy that the Smoothline notes were good to go.

Thursday 15th October
No competition today, just documentation and scrutineering. The car passed with only a minor hitch being a non-working front indicator and a small section of ROPS padding that I was advised to add "when I can...". Took ages to clean out the 45 year old indicator bulb holder in order to get a decent earth. Scrutineer happy!

Friday 16th October
The day was to comprise 215km of touring and 89km competitive stretching from Adelaide all the was down to the lower Fleurieu. Recce for day 1 was exhausting so I fully expected the same today although the temperature was somewhat lower.

Our report time was 8:22 meaning we would depart at 8:40, all nice and civilised!! I started the car as soon as we arrived to make sure the battery was not flat as I had been caught out with that on a previous event - all good, even fired up immediately. 8:35 we strapped in and headed to the start ramp that was located on the start line of the old F1 /Clipsal track. We didn't make it. By the time we drove the 800m to the ramp I realised that the digital controller for the electric water pump and fan was not working and that temps were already showing high. I pulled out of the queue and investigated whilst all the other competitors filed past. No dice - internal problem with the controller meaning it just had to be replaced. The 999 sweep car came and went and the day looked doomed. A wonderful chap, whose name I never found out, from the Sporting Car Club of South Australia pulled up in his road car and offered to help. Between us we decided to hot wire both the EWP and the fan just so that I could get back into the event. The car was probably going to over-cool but I could live with that. All done in 15 minutes so we rang the sweep car to find out their location and made the decision to skip the first stage and start on the second - any chance of showering ourselves in winners glory was gone but hey, I'm no dreamer anyway.

We got to the second stage, being Piccadilly, without drama and joined the queue of cars just before the sweep. Happy days. I think Jake was very nervous as this was his first time at speed and I think I had over done it previously by telling him if he got it wrong we would crash. He was FANTASTIC!! By a couple of kms in he was in a rythem which is more than can be said for the driver. Whether its a couple of years out of the car or the fact that I had my son next to me, I was very tentative - this didn't last too long though! 25th out of 40.

We then toured the 16km to SS3 Echunga without drama and stopped in the queue. Apparently a tour car had "gone missing" so they had to locate him before opening the stage to the competition cars so we had a small delay. Upon trying to start the car again it wouldn't fire. No spark. Between turning it off and back on again the deamons decided to play games. I never exactly determined where the issue was but it appeared that a connector between the fuse panel and the coil was either not connecting 100% or was trying to draw too much current. To hot wire the engine fan I took a power feed off the coil +ve but even so that wire should not have been drawing more than 20amps. Although a couple of blokes offered some brief help, they had to leave meaning we were all alone with no tools. More dark clouds. I wiggled a few wires and swapped around fuses and relays and eventually she fired - no idea why but I accepted it and we took off to try to beat the sweep car to the start line. Got there with only 3 cars ahead of us! Given the unexplained issues I was not expected great things on Echunga but other than a couple of coughs the car went well. 21st overall.

SS4 Macclesfield was a short 2km away. Again the car went well although due to the short touring distance the tyres did not cool down and on stage they over-pressurised causing the car to skate around too much. There were a few corners that I just held my breath and hoped particularly the one were I had to break hard into them. The back end tried to overtake a few times. Another competitor suggested that the soft Yokohamas on the back might be going off but looking at them there was no sign of stress. 16th overall. I will post the in-car of the Macclesfield stage once it is uploaded.

A quick morning tea in Strathalbyn followed then SS5 Paris Creek. Although the car seemed to be running OK I was still constantly worried that it would fail. By this time I was flogging the car despite trying to tell myself and Jacob that I was taking it easy!! 18th overall. I got passed by the eventual overall winning Mazda RX7 on this stage at the 3.5km point after he started 30 seconds behind. Awesome car and Adam Kaplan certainly knows how to pedal a car!

We then had a ridiculously long tour of 80km down to Yankalilla for lunch (huge thank you to the Yankalilla Cricket Club) followed by the equally ridiculous 43km SS6 The Cape. I was the last car in the field still and could not afford any lost time if I wanted to keep ahead of the sweep car. This is a super super fast stage consisting of pretty much all 9's and 10's. I predicted that it would be a car killer and there definitely were quite a few cars by the side of the road. My car had the oil temp rise to over 140 so I backed off from the half way point to save the car. 27th

SS7 Myponga was a short 4km stage around the Myponga reservoir. We came 1st overall!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well ok, all but 5 of the field cleared this stage so it sounds better than it was.

57km back to the Bunnings Mile End carpark for an hour's service then onto Gouger Street in Adelaide for the street party. I had the pleasure of parking next to the Audi Quattro Sport S2 (replica). What a nice bit of kit. I don't think the RS200 made it that far as I believe they had a wheel fall off and some electrical parts melted somewhere late in the day. 2 Group B cars together - ahhh my childhood comes flooding back!!!!!

[MK1_Oz]

Saturday 17th October
Day 2 was 145km touring and 61 competitive and started very early with a 7:20 report time. I arrived nice and early so that I could put a switch in the electric fan wire to prevent over-cooling. I also moved the +ve feed for the cooling fan from the coil to the alternator to see if I could stop the weird electrical issues (rev counter moving wildly every now and then and intermittent misfiring). When pulling to a stop, the engine revs had been holding high at 2000rpm and sometimes 3000rpm. If I let the clutch out in gear and start to stall the engine I could get the revs back to idle. I had a quick play around with the linkages but still cannot work this one out. It has previously been suggested that the advance springs in the dizzy may not be playing ball. The electrical changes made the car run very well although at high revs it still seemed to be running out of puff - maybe too much/little timing advance?

SS8 to 10 are favourites of mine as I grew up in this area and know the roads well . SS8 Anstey Hill is only just under 4km so was over in a flash. 17th and only 6 seconds from clearing it.

SS9 Chain of Ponds is 7km of awesomness. The car was running very well and I was getting very keen. I was pushing (punishing??) the car hard and taking a few more risks. I stuffed up a turn 2 right as I knew wifey was watching and wanted to put on a show. My effort at oversteer turned into understeer and an embarrassingly wide exit into the dirt . Must have made up for it elsewhere though as 11th overall.

SS10 Montecute is normally the best stage in the world. The organisers this year however decided to move the start up a little and end it a heap earlier which is a travesty. No matter, we attacked it with gusto and got another 11th. The lad by now was really into the swing of it and I had complete confidence in his calls. I was more comfortable and was no longer concerned about breaking down. The set up of my pedals meant that heel and toe changes needed me to use the top side of my foot which by now was raw and hurting.

SS11 Deviation Road was downgraded to a touring stage. Nobody knows why but the general consensus is that there were not enough volunteers to run it. Shame but these events do rely on the volunteers hugely. At this point I would like to that any volunteers reading this no matter what events you work on!! Thank you!!!

Morning tea followed at Nairne. What an awesome spread put on by the Nairne Cricket Club - a mahoosive thank you - I even got to have the cup of tea I was gasping for. SS12 Nairne is a flowing and fast stage. Although the rear end of the car was making some strange noises on fast hard corners we went for it. If something fell off I would worry about it then!! I had been under the car and could see anything loose so I suspect some bushes somewhere in the 6-link have worn. I also noticed by this stage that the adjuster cable for the brake bias had twisted and snapped. Worse I think the bias has become nearly all front meaning that the car was so squermy under heavy braking. I was hammering hard into a virtual chicane trying to catch the Sierra Cossie that was by then only 200m in front and nearly spun it trying to get down to the required 60km/h!!!! I was clearly going to have to be very careful for the last few stages. We caught and passed the Cossie on a fast 8 right 12th overall.

SS13 Stirling 1 was a must do for me. It is my local area and another viewing spot for my wife. Due to the crash of a non-competitive Ferrari there was a significant delay leaving most of the competition crews sitting in the sun hungry, thirsty and hot. We eventually got underway only to find that the organisers had left the Ferrari in place meaning a 4 left was half blocked by it. Further down the road, the notes said the straddle some rumble bumps before another 4 left but upon reaching said spot and 130km/h we discovered that the organisers had placed water filled barracades over the rumble bumps! My wife reported that many many cars got thrown by this and there were a few near misses! There was also a local who insisted on driving his tractor down the course just before the cars arrived! I managed to stall the car on a 2 left and it took a short while for it to want to refire - maybe 10 seconds lost 22nd overall.

Lunch in Stirling the SS14 Stirling 2 repeated the previous stage. 12th overall with no stalling.

The last stage of the event used the iconic Mt Lofty stage but in reverse. The organisers again had decided to severely shorten the stage which was disappointing. I guess they had their reasons. At only 3.4km it was over in a flash. Again I managed to stall it on a 2 left and it took even longer for the car to fire. I rolled 200m down the hill before it played ball. Second last to end the event.

Overall we finished 26th although without the time penalty for the missed stage it would have been 14th. In the handicap early classic event without the time penalties we would have been on the podium!!!

It was a fantastic event but sadly over in a flash. Back to normality and saving up for next year!!!!

A HUGE thank you to all the volunteers and to the SSCSA blokes who offered help to me.

[MK1_Oz]

Quick pic:

[MK1_Oz]

YouTube:

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

[Danny M]

Good to hear you enjoyed yourself
What sort of oil were you using and what sort of cooler are you using
When are you going to put a standard water pump back into it

[Cam]

Great report, really enjoyed it.

I know you've done most of the work yourself and it's often a steep learning curve sometimes. Can empathise with the roller coaster of emotions you go through when you've worked so long and hard to get to an event and things start to go wrong!

Sounds like some real positives there though and hopefully you can sort all the little niggles before next year.

[MK1_Oz]

[Danny M]

Glenn forget talking to DC and just ditch it for a decent standard pump!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Put a bigger pulley on it with a t/stat and never think about it again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wouldn't be using that oil I'd be using an Ester full synthetic.
Was the cooler on the return line to the dry sump tank?

How did you go compared to Nick Lenthall?

[MK1_Oz]

Day 1 we were pretty evenly matched but day 2 once my car was running well I seemed to consistently be ahead of him so I am happy with that!

My car seems to run out of a little bit of puff at high speed/revs which isn't helping. There was one long straight and uphill section that the car topped out at around 150 and 7000rpm. Strange as I would have thought it could get better than that. Max speed was 185km/h on another stage. I think the dizzy may be at fault or maybe it has too much (too little???) timing at high revs. Seems to pull great in lower gears all the way to 8000rpm.

If I go standard water pump (if I recall there are a couple of types of standard) do people just use an adjustable thermostat/switch to operate the fan??

I didn't think full Pinto's were to be run on a full synth oil> I guess these race engines have much greater tolerances so its ok?

The old oil pump was between the pump output and the engine. If I redid it I think I might try to put it in the return line and at the rear of the car (if I can sort out some suitable airflow). Not sure if the return line is suitable. Guess I would use the oil stat again.

[Danny M]

Most synthetic oils kill the camshafts except for the Ester based synthetics which is Redline or Motul 300 Chrono.
Just control the fan on a switch as it will only need it if the cars stopped.
Putting the cooler between the pump and the engine generally leads to the cooler splitting due to pulsing from the pump rotors, putting it onto the return line sorts that out as the pressures are much lower and you want to be cooling the oil so that the temps you are seeing are the temps that are getting pushed through the bearings. As far as the oil stat goes no one serious uses that crap anymore as they play up

[SFE]

Logic says the oil cooler is plumbed in on the return line from the scavenge pump to the oil tank (dry sump systems). This gives maximum efficiency for the cooler with the oil at its hottest straight out of the engine and the greatest temperature difference between oil and air temperatures. Also one less restriction on maintaining good feed pressure into the engine. There should only be the oil filter between the pressure pump and oil feed into the engine.
The Cosworth recommendation is that the oil temperature should be 100C maximum measured at the tank. Note this figure was probably quoted for a mineral oil, I'm not sure if a synthetic may be any different. It goes without saying that the oil should be warmed to at least 50C before high speed hard running too.
Hope this helps,
SFE

[jpayne]

Irrespective of the oil temperatures the whole weekend of related events was a great spectacle.
I missed Oz on friday night, found his car surrounded by spectators oggling it at the Gouger street party event, but he was into dinner when I called.
Sunday was the Adelaide Motorsport festival sprint event around par of the old F1 circuit and show of maybe another 600 cars. everything from F1 cars and old F1 drivers (not together) to austin sevens and everything in between. Some great race cars and some poor race drivers too.
Good atmosphere and very well run.
If it happens again get to it, great event.

JP

[wayovermyhead]

Great work mate. Well done on getting through it.

More pics if you get a chance?

[MK1_Oz]

Pretty much all I got this year.....

[gazz]

Knew i had a photo of you in there Glenn,
Well done.

[MK1_Oz]

cheers

[jpayne]

Oz, how did the trailer go?

JP

[MK1_Oz]

I bought it, overhauled it, converted to lecky brakes, painted etc and still have not used it!!!! lol

I got a permit to drive the car to and from the event and to the wheel aligners. Looking to do a Mountain Motorsport tarmac event in Victoria in Feb so shall find out then!

[Matt1975]

Great read thanks for sharing.

Matt

[Damion Parkin]

Thanks for sharing. Sounds like fun.