Not much has been said about this since this problem has been around for quite a while - we have been having an issue with valve float for about the last year. It's been affecting the car and has been gradually getting worse. The first time we really were affected by this was as early as the San Diego Tour back in March/April time frame. Going uphill at Qualcomm in third gear because you can't use second is really SLOW!
Up until recently, the problem didn't happen until the mid to high 7000 RPM range. However, at the last PCA event which kept us in the higher end of the RPM range, the problem was very apparent now at 7000 RPM. Much lower in the RPM range.
With 3 weeks between events, it was now or never. We flipped the switch and took the car apart to get it worked on. With everything that goes on in the ST world, we made sure to get measurements of everything in case we ever get challenged about the work that was done.
Anyhow, there were some delays in getting the car ready, nothing major, but Jason worked really really hard to get the car ready with Jon's help. The car showed up for our event with the car in one piece and running quite well.
It was just nice to be in the car again after 3 weeks. We were running tires from Nationals and had to take the OPR off the tires. This resulted in some slippery runs at first, but the car settled down as the tires cleaned up.
Jason ended up like Sebastian with a ton of re-runs (without looking for them). As a result, I ended up taking my second run about the time most were finishing their third runs. My second run put me in first place by 0.055 with two runs to go. I'm expecting Will to go faster and try to pass me, but he doesn't.
Jason and I talk about the course and we figure out a couple of places where we want to try doing something differently. It works! By the time I finish my fourth run, I've put a total of 6/10 on Will and the car appears to be working well and NOT using any oil. Woo hoo!
A very big thanks to John Edwards of Costa Mesa R&D Automotive Machine Shop for doing the head work and making sure that we stay in spec.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Nationals awards banquet
Since the race wasn't very fruitful, we now get to have some fun with old friends at the awards banquet. It's at a new place that is about 20 minutes away from the Embassy Suites, seemingly out in the middle of nowhere. Our friends are there and we dig in to the food and mingle a little. I'll let the photos speak for themselves. Thank you to everybody that provided the candid shots ;-)
This was taken by some shitty photographer by the name of Will Kalman.
Last but not least, we close with our signature pose:
Everybody have a safe rest of the year, have fun racing if your season permits, have a safe holiday and we hope to see you back at Nationals in 2012.
This was taken by some shitty photographer by the name of Will Kalman.
Last but not least, we close with our signature pose:
Everybody have a safe rest of the year, have fun racing if your season permits, have a safe holiday and we hope to see you back at Nationals in 2012.
Day 2 Nationals, Lincoln Nebraska
Day 2 shows up nice and dry. The forecast is that it will be in the 90's today with no rain. Today, we run on the East course, which is more similar to what we usually see in California. This is going to be another fun day.
The morning starts out the same, I'm on the opposite course in Heat 1 helping my daughter in her go kart. It's very exciting being a parent watching them go out to race. At the end of 1st drivers on run one, she is in first place! How about that. I'm so excited and proud. Today, the event is running late on the West course and I need to leave before Neelu finishes her 3rd run to get ready for my heat.
Andy has put together a challenging course with some fast sections and some deceptively slow sections.
It's nice to be running in the dry for everybody, but there are some tricky places and it's showing up in a fairly wide spread in times. Hm, how to figure this out?
I put down a good first run and then run into cone trouble in the second run. I decide that I'll be conservative in the slalom where I hit the cone previously. I back off and still wiggle a cone - but that's all I did, wiggle it. I fixed some other mistakes and ended up entering the tight section too hot and give up a whole bunch of time making the last run the slowest of all of them.
The timing slip person tells me that I'm still in the last trophy position, but that doesn't last very long as David Avard comes through shortly and knocks me out of the trophy spot. Next year's goal will be to run much cleaner without giving up the speed.
I like this photo that either Paul or Jane Quinn took for us:
Well, it has been a pretty good year and lots of fun. Thank you very much to our sponsors: Bridgestone, HPD, Bumper to Bumper (for the cool tint). We'll keep on working to improve and bring back better results next year.
The morning starts out the same, I'm on the opposite course in Heat 1 helping my daughter in her go kart. It's very exciting being a parent watching them go out to race. At the end of 1st drivers on run one, she is in first place! How about that. I'm so excited and proud. Today, the event is running late on the West course and I need to leave before Neelu finishes her 3rd run to get ready for my heat.
Andy has put together a challenging course with some fast sections and some deceptively slow sections.
It's nice to be running in the dry for everybody, but there are some tricky places and it's showing up in a fairly wide spread in times. Hm, how to figure this out?
I put down a good first run and then run into cone trouble in the second run. I decide that I'll be conservative in the slalom where I hit the cone previously. I back off and still wiggle a cone - but that's all I did, wiggle it. I fixed some other mistakes and ended up entering the tight section too hot and give up a whole bunch of time making the last run the slowest of all of them.
The timing slip person tells me that I'm still in the last trophy position, but that doesn't last very long as David Avard comes through shortly and knocks me out of the trophy spot. Next year's goal will be to run much cleaner without giving up the speed.
I like this photo that either Paul or Jane Quinn took for us:
Well, it has been a pretty good year and lots of fun. Thank you very much to our sponsors: Bridgestone, HPD, Bumper to Bumper (for the cool tint). We'll keep on working to improve and bring back better results next year.
Day 1 Nationals, Lincoln Nebraska
Boy, this is an interesting start to Nationals. I'm woken up at around 3am by a large racket outside the hotel. I get up and take a look and it's pouring cats and dogs. I can also see lightning in the sky. I wonder how the event will turn out.
It turns out that the rain had sorta stopped by morning. However the rain stopped late enough that the ground was still very wet. Neelu was running on the East course in the first heat. I was over there helping her as Jason prepared the Civic for the West course in heat 2.
As you can see, it's pretty wet still. The rain did not dampen Neelu's spirits one iota.
Anyhow, it turned out to be a one run day with the course drying out as each run finished. We have the opportunity to run the more challenging and transitional course in the wet under constantly changing conditions. It's a course that doesn't really permit wide open throttle through just about all of it, but rather modulation and patience. Add in varying conditions on the surface and it definitely made it a very challenging morning.
Our times are there, top 10 raw times, but the pesky cone jumped out of nowhere to keep us out of the top for the day. This is going to hurt for tomorrow.
Angela is still getting used to the Civic, but is enjoying herself tremendously. Her runs are in the dry and she excited.
It turns out that the rain had sorta stopped by morning. However the rain stopped late enough that the ground was still very wet. Neelu was running on the East course in the first heat. I was over there helping her as Jason prepared the Civic for the West course in heat 2.
As you can see, it's pretty wet still. The rain did not dampen Neelu's spirits one iota.
Anyhow, it turned out to be a one run day with the course drying out as each run finished. We have the opportunity to run the more challenging and transitional course in the wet under constantly changing conditions. It's a course that doesn't really permit wide open throttle through just about all of it, but rather modulation and patience. Add in varying conditions on the surface and it definitely made it a very challenging morning.
Our times are there, top 10 raw times, but the pesky cone jumped out of nowhere to keep us out of the top for the day. This is going to hurt for tomorrow.
Angela is still getting used to the Civic, but is enjoying herself tremendously. Her runs are in the dry and she excited.
Day 0 Nationals. Lincoln Nebraska
Monday is day 0 for us. Time to get the car unpacked, check for damage from the trip out from California, get the car tech'd and then head off to our practice sessions. The unpacking and inspection is uneventful. The car appears to have arrived undamaged.
While we are tech and registration, we start running into friends from the East Coast and start chatting. It makes waiting in line for tech a lot quicker. It's nice to see some old friends again. The Schoonmakers are long time C4 drivers that have been tempted over to the dark side to run a Civic on street tires in ST. It's nice to see them and what their car is like too. We also get to see interesting vehicles like this 'Lotus'
Neelu is with me for her first Nationals event, courtesy of Rick Jung providing a competitive ride. There is a chance of rain on Tuesday, so Rick has the rain tires out and is getting them ready - just in case.
Practice sessions are uneventful. We test the car out and this time, the car is behaving a lot better than it has in years past. The car isn't bottoming out and feels good. Times are competitive and we have no complaints. Angela joins us to check out the car and get some seat time as well. She is excited to be driving the Bridgestone Civic.
After everything checks out and we've had our course walks, we pack up and head out for dinner at the Firefighters Hall before heading off to the museum to look at more cool cars.
It's race day tomorrow, so we stop in at the museum, but we don't stay as long as we'd like. We need to get back to the hotel, rest and prepare for race day.
While we are tech and registration, we start running into friends from the East Coast and start chatting. It makes waiting in line for tech a lot quicker. It's nice to see some old friends again. The Schoonmakers are long time C4 drivers that have been tempted over to the dark side to run a Civic on street tires in ST. It's nice to see them and what their car is like too. We also get to see interesting vehicles like this 'Lotus'
Neelu is with me for her first Nationals event, courtesy of Rick Jung providing a competitive ride. There is a chance of rain on Tuesday, so Rick has the rain tires out and is getting them ready - just in case.
Practice sessions are uneventful. We test the car out and this time, the car is behaving a lot better than it has in years past. The car isn't bottoming out and feels good. Times are competitive and we have no complaints. Angela joins us to check out the car and get some seat time as well. She is excited to be driving the Bridgestone Civic.
After everything checks out and we've had our course walks, we pack up and head out for dinner at the Firefighters Hall before heading off to the museum to look at more cool cars.
It's race day tomorrow, so we stop in at the museum, but we don't stay as long as we'd like. We need to get back to the hotel, rest and prepare for race day.
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