What did you do to the rallycar today II

Went to Vegas and got really drunk and took 8th place in Punk Rock Bowling.
Came home to a box from Summit with a plethora of VDO gauges and a bunch of AN-10 fittings. It's like 5 degrees outside though. New P/S pump is ready to be picked up. Trying a remote one.

---

Grant Hughes

Here's an update on my efforts.
car: 4WD "money pit"
Sept. 29th: finish 4th Black River Stages
Sept. 29-Nov 17th: car sits on trailer
Nov 17th: finish 1st Kearney Rally Village
Nov. 17th to Feb.1: car still on trailer ready to go.

Randy,
Way to rub my nose in it. ;-)

My AWD Subarat piggybank is rusting out in the back yard waiting to be stuffed into yet another snowbank at Perce-Neige. Oil changed, new rear brake pads, freshened struts, aligned,nose mostly pushed back out, from Tall Pines (thanks guys!) battery dying. Gonna cut some tires this weekend, unless my wife makes other projects for me.

We are supposed to get freezing rain today, so I left the car and the dog out for a free washing ;-)
Ted

---

Ted Mendham
www.rensport.net

Here's an update on my DSM AWD 'investment'

Sep29th BRS: DNF on the second stage due to motor failure

Sep29th-Feb1st: Car sits in garage torn all apart while I slowly rebuild the motor again. Even the turbo was trashed. Lesson...don't shim an oil pump maybe?

Should run today or tomorrow. Fingers crossed. Mabye if I finish Sandblast I can sell the investment for 1/10th the cost into it....then build a 2wd car for 10 times more than I could ever sell that!

That sounds alot like Mark Malsom.
Drove the car at Cog in 06. Sat in the garage for 6 months or so. Went to CORE for some fun driving one day. Back to the shop and sat outside for a few more months. Two hill climbs, then back to the shop to sit for a few more months.

I am hoping to be at that point with my car. I'm trying to build it right and bulletproof so that I can ignore it between events, except for maybe a little verbal abuse here and there to keep it in it's place.

---

Grant Hughes

Got her running! Seems to run strong and sounds good...but I'm not so confident anymore. It would just amaze me if this thing holds up!

I changed the oil basically after the motor warmed up the first time. Even though I had the head and block cleaned there were still bearing particles everywhere. Oil looked good. Hopefully that helps. I'll re-torque the head studs and change the oil again before Sandblast.

Hopefully it's right...I'm tired of tearing this car apart.

frumby Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Got her running! Seems to run strong and sounds
> good...but I'm not so confident anymore. It would
> just amaze me if this thing holds up!
>
> I changed the oil basically after the motor warmed
> up the first time. Even though I had the head and
> block cleaned there were still bearing particles
> everywhere. Oil looked good. Hopefully that
> helps. I'll re-torque the head studs and change
> the oil again before Sandblast.


Change oil and filter again in 50 miles
Again in another 200.

Oil and filters are cheap.

I use 20w50 Shell Rotella-T, marketed as diesel oil but is also rated as a gas oil.
Comes in gallons, good enough for motors that arte run hard and cost 15-20 times what our engines cost and do 5 times the miles UNDER LOAD.

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Interesting on the oil John. I have just been using cheap 10w30 to break in, then 'better' castrol gtx 10/30 to run with...because I haven't known any different.

So would you say the Rotella stuff is better than a synthetic? Do you run that after the motor is broken in, or just at first?

I'm def concerned about the small shiny bearing bits everywhere. Steam cleaning didn't seem to do the trick like I thought it would. Spent some time cleaning out the journals in the head with compressed air and carb cleaner, but I know there's alot more in there. Best I can think of is changing the oil like you say.

I wish I knew for sure why the last motor let go...I guess learning to build motors right costs $$ in mistakes!

frumby Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Interesting on the oil John. I have just been
> using cheap 10w30 to break in, then 'better'
> castrol gtx 10/30 to run with...because I haven't
> known any different.
>
> So would you say the Rotella stuff is better than
> a synthetic? Do you run that after the motor is
> broken in, or just at first?
>
> I'm def concerned about the small shiny bearing
> bits everywhere. Steam cleaning didn't seem to do
> the trick like I thought it would. Spent some
> time cleaning out the journals in the head with
> compressed air and carb cleaner, but I know
> there's alot more in there. Best I can think of
> is changing the oil like you say.
>
> I wish I knew for sure why the last motor let
> go...I guess learning to build motors right costs
> $$ in mistakes!


Duuuuuuuuude, unless you used a gun bore brush, ya know like you'd clean a 5.56mm M16 barrel, and scrubbed the MAIN OIL GALLERY you will have sheet floating around, further, really you need to clean ALL the passages like up the main bearing parent bore in the block up to the main gallery and any where you can get a BRUSH in.

And you gotta clean the brush in between.
Now its been 4-5 years since I looked at one of them thar Misterbitchy thangs, but don't those bastards use STEEL balls plugged into the end of the block, then peened as a plug?

And don't they use steel balls pressed in and peened in in the goddam crank as well

Knew there were concrete reasons I disliked those things.

Look really seriously I'd not trying to spread doom and gloom but DO THE OIL CHANGES, and snip open the filters. Peel open the pleats and look for "signs".

Daily drive the car every excuse you can, and rack up some miles, and keep changing the oil and opening up the filters, use tin snips and spread out a lot of newspaper.
But open those pleats up and look down in the roots of the pleats.

You don't think about wasting another entry and tow and time off till you can do a filter inspection and say "I hornest to goodness didn't see the meeerest hint of sparkly silver shit in the filter."

And yeah I've used Rotella 20w50 in my rally cars in the woods, as well as daily use. Unless you're in consistent sub freezing your ass off temps the 20 is thin enough.

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

yea, makes sense...i figured incorrectly that a 'professional' clean would do the trick, but next time I'll do a very thorough job myslef. I'll change that oil pretty much after every drive then.

Too late on those entry fees. Sandblast is next weekend...but I can def drive it a bunch until then.

JV--

I've only seen the Rotella in 15w40, and as a synthetic 5w40 version, too. Seems most of the truck oils (Chevron Delo, Mobil Delvac, Shell Rotella, Castrol Tection Plus, etc.) are 15w40. As much as I hate to say it, Wal Mart usually has several of these on the shelf, usually in 4 or 5 quart jugs (sometimes in 5 gallon tubs!). I've run it in my 2.3 turbos, although some say run thin stuff because it gets around the engine faster. And others say thin stuff breaks down faster, especially at high temps with a turbo. Whatever, I figure just don't run 20w50 in Maniwaki in February and don't run 5w20 in Arizona in August, and you'll be OK.

I just run 5 or 10w30 in the normally aspirated Subrats I have, whatever's on sale at the auto parts store that day.

There are probably a dozen website forums directed to discussion of motor oil, if you really want to waste some time. Seems motor oil discussions can become like religion, politics, or SS.com!

---

Andrew Steere
Lyndeborough, NH
KB1PJY

I think I gotcha all beat...I sold our rally car Thursday !!

john vanlandingham Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Duuuuuuuuude, unless you used a gun bore brush, ya
> know like you'd clean a 5.56mm M16 barrel, and
> scrubbed the MAIN OIL GALLERY you will have sheet
> floating around, further, really you need to clean
> ALL the passages like up the main bearing parent
> bore in the block up to the main gallery and any
> where you can get a BRUSH in.
>
> And you gotta clean the brush in between.
> Now its been 4-5 years since I looked at one of
> them thar Misterbitchy thangs, but don't those
> bastards use STEEL balls plugged into the end of
> the block, then peened as a plug?
>
Yes, I agree with John on this one; good advice. Clean, claen, and then clean some. We also repeatedly wipe down the cylinder bores with ATF until we get a wipe that comes up clean; you would be amazed the amount of dirty crud that comes out of those tiny cracks. Like John says, do a coupla oil and filter changes this week.

>
> Daily drive the car every excuse you can, and rack
> up some miles, and keep changing the oil and
> opening up the filters, use tin snips and spread
> out a lot of newspaper.
> But open those pleats up and look down in the
> roots of the pleats.
>
> And yeah I've used Rotella 20w50 in my rally cars
> in the woods, as well as daily use. Unless you're
> in consistent sub freezing your ass off temps the
> 20 is thin enough.
>
Jason, I can't decide if I would go with 15W40 or 20W50 for Sandhills. The lighter would be better for the waether (cool), but having the power on all the time pushing that deep sand will get everything scorching hot, so I guess the 20W50 will be better. You have plenty of time to get things warmed up on the first transit to stage 1.

Never use cheap oil for break-in; We use Castrol GTX for break-in and the first rally, and then switch to Mobil 1. (Don't use synthetic too early or it will prevent good ring seating.)

And, yeah, I know about being nervous. After my shimmed oil pump experience, I was very nervous too on the next rebuild and rally beacuse it was just circumstnatila evidence. But everyting was fine; hope this one does it for you!

Regards, and see you at Sandhills,
Mark B.

heymagic Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think I gotcha all beat...I sold our rally car
> Thursday !!

Good, that means you can get yer kid in something good, plentiful and cheap, Gene.

AND TONS OF GROWTH POTENTIAL.

Like a fawkin 240 Volvo, everything your old Rat-soons wished they could be, but never were.

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

john vanlandingham Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> heymagic Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I think I gotcha all beat...I sold our rally
> car
> > Thursday !!
>
> Good, that means you can get yer kid in something
> good, plentiful and cheap, Gene.
>
> AND TONS OF GROWTH POTENTIAL.
>
> Like a fawkin 240 Volvo, everything your old
> Rat-soons wished they could be, but never were.
>
>
>
>
> John Vanlandingham
> Sleezattle, WA, USA
>
> Vive le Prole-le-ralliat
>
> www.jvab.f4.ca

Boy I'm not remembering getting beaten by Volvos very much....of course then, like now, they were very scarce at a US rally ...I truly hate European cars. I was considering a Volvo in Seattle that had a 350 Chevy though.

The replacement car is already here, a shiney blue Impreza...but we are done rallying. RallyX , hill climbs and track days for us. Cheap and easy, kinda like the girls on Cops...