Dialing back the car a bit

[mhoward1]

I know we have discussed this before, but after seeing the continued issues the new Spec cars are having I am once again thinking of turning the wick down on #43. Yes, the new cars are fast, really fast, but how many engines had to be replace this year?

I am thinking about trying out ST3. We will still loose top speeds to the Vettes on big long tracks, but in my experience we can run with the nose to tail on the tighter ones. If I do go that route, then I also would need to decide do I remove parts on my fresh build, or sell the engine in its entirety and just build a new one that is in the ~260 WHP range.

Thoughts?

[johngeorge]

Say what? dial back? why???

The engine replacements this year have been due to stock cranks breaking, which was discussed at length during Nationals.. The consensus was rules change for 2015 to allow forged cranks, that should fix the bottom end weakness of the stock cast crank bringing reliability back to the series. There is nothing wrong with the rest of the package.

Marty, why are you talking about running ST3? have you even run FFR Challenge race this year?

[mhoward1]

John,
No I didn’t run any FFRC races this past year. Financial and family changes have changed significantly here and at the moment I don’t have nearly the amount of disposable income or time as I have had the past few years. While I still want to run, I need to be more frugal with my decisions and rebuilding or replacing multiple engines just isn’t in the cards. How many engines and/or rebuilds have you gone through in the last 18 months? 4? Unfortunately you are not alone either. Last year everyone said the new rockers would fix the issues, but it just moved to the crank. Yes, part of the reason I posted this was also to start a conversation about what is the plans for the series in 2015, and have honest evaluations of the changes so far and how they have affected the reliability.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the need speed and power the cars has, but with two significant breaks myself (First the trans, and then the oil leak in testing that cause a spin) these cars are currently not the proven bullet proof runners they were before. Maybe I will wait a bit to see if the forged crank will fix the problem, but I have also heard way too many local Mustang, AIX and CMC guys say these blocks are best at 260-270 WHP.

If that proves to be a reliable number, then that is a very nice fit into ST3. That’s also a class where I have a few friends running as well, and we all know that the social aspect is a big part of this.

Bottom line, it will be great if the 2015 upgrades fix the reliability issues, but it also means another investment into this engine. I may wait to see how it pans out. In the mean time I can dial back the existing one (limit RPM, etc) and run local lower classes and work on the other parts of the car. As it is I still haven’t sorted out the handling, but that’s on me not the cars themselves.

[johngeorge]

Marty, I totally understand the family and financial challenges poses on our racing and struggle with the same issues myself.

I want the Challenge Series to grow, and thrive, any talk about moving/talking about other classes (ST3/2/1/Vintage/etc) goes against that. I urge everyone to stay on topic. I am 100% confident the 2015 rules will address reliability concerns and will once again have a reliable engine formula needed to help grow the series.

Summary of my engine issues: dec 2013 engine blowup at RA was just old tired engine, over 2 seasons with a late model restoration el-cheepo shortblock $900. Im actually surprised it lasted as long as it has. The next engine (2014 start of season) was a great DSS 306 block I bought off ebay for $1000 delivered, unfortunately I had Mark put on the same Fluidyne balancer that was off the blown engine, which turned out to be a bad part bending the stock crank in the DSS 306 block. Trying to limit the $$$ Wayne was kind enough to let me use one of his used tired shortblocks (already had 3 seasons on it before I started using it) which ran flawlessly May NJMP, June Thompson, July Limerock, beginning Aug Road Atlanta, but failed for Nationals end of August. Nationals I sourced another shotblock from a local mustang junkyard which sat for a long time as it had a ton of blowby not having time to swap out the seized piston rings, down on power but finished the Nationals race! As for rockers, no one has ever broke rockers since the fix (moving to larger rocker studs) was implemented back in 2012.

[mhoward1]

Sometimes I wonder if it would have been worth it to completely jump into a radical change vs the incremental changes that have been made so far. If the series had changed over to the Coyote motor back in 2012, there would have been a few existing drivers who would have complained because of the large cost but the new speed and the chance to run with a much more modern engine with a proven motorsport history may have appealed to some new drivers. The way we have worked it is we had a significant upgrade, then several incremental upgrades to address issues because we have been breaking new ground. The issues and the yearly changes have turn off some of the existing drivers, and kept some people that may have entered away. Not to mention, it might have been cheaper in the long run. Water under the bridge now though.