In reply to MrChaos :
Honestly it's probably a wash if the 302 has aluminum heads and some light-ish headers. Balancing oversteer with a carbureted v8 on gravel, on the other hand, could get interesting.
In reply to MrChaos :
Honestly it's probably a wash if the 302 has aluminum heads and some light-ish headers. Balancing oversteer with a carbureted v8 on gravel, on the other hand, could get interesting.
In reply to irish44j :
Probably SOFR and STPR, maybe NEFR again, but if we get into Mt Washington we have to figure out how much hillclimb vs. rally to do so who knows.
Ice racing is definitely intriguing, let me know if you plan to go to one.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:In reply to irish44j :
Probably SOFR and STPR, maybe NEFR again, but if we get into Mt Washington we have to figure out how much hillclimb vs. rally to do so who knows.
Ice racing is definitely intriguing, let me know if you plan to go to one.
Will do. pretty dependent on if this winter actually ever gets cold enough!
In case you decide to add to your fleet...
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:In reply to irish44j :
Probably SOFR and STPR, maybe NEFR again, but if we get into Mt Washington we have to figure out how much hillclimb vs. rally to do so who knows.
Ice racing is definitely intriguing, let me know if you plan to go to one.
If your offer still stands and you need some help in pit at an event let me know! I was definitely going to be at STPR anyway along with ESPR this coming season. Was thinking strongly of NEFR as well.
In reply to Sk1dmark :
As of right now the plan is to run STPR with or without Mt Washington on the schedule, so we will probably take you up on that! I'd definitely recommend getting up to NEFR, even if only as a spectator, as well as Mt Washington.
Unseasonably warm weather means muddy roads means getting the car dirty:
It leaked a little oil but it always does, and is otherwise running well. No WMWR this year means it probably won't have any issues over the winter since it likes to develop them about a month before the next event.
I'm kicking around the idea of renewing my NASA membership to enter Sandblast on the Pegaso- I'd consider entering with the car, but two memberships and licenses plus entry fee is a lot for a one day rally, and there's almost nothing else on the NASA schedule this year, unfortunately.
Though I'm not complaining about the weather (got a ton of Raider work today and took the Porsche for a drive), it's not looking real promising for any ice racing stuff this winter lol...
Side note: randomly, a moto-rally person commented on my build thread on Expedition Portal. Her name is Jenna and she ran Sandblast several times (but stopped rally after crashing, hitting a tree, and being airlifted out in 2013). Was riding this 1983 BMW R80ST. Thought you'd appreciate it.
No real rally car updates, but the new tow rig got a test pulling 3 tons of Roadmaster and trailer:
It tows extremely well but needs a hitch with a little more drop to it so it doesn't drag the back of the trailer everywhere.
In reply to MrChaos :
The 2.3L with the iron 2 valve 1 plug per cylinder engine weighs in at 380lbs with turbo and stock flywheel. An all-iron 302 weighs 460lbs(just a bit lighter for the later 302s)...and an aluminum head 302 weighs in somewhere around 390-400lbs. So with an aluminum head 289/302 you gain 20lbs on the front end...you can probably find 20lbs worth of stuff to pull off on a stock XR4Ti to balance it back out. When I weighed my "Folvo" head conversion 2.3l it came out to 360lbs with a big Holset HE351VE on it. An aluminum head 5.0 is certainly a better way to go for some(but not all) reasons.
P.S. This thread makes me want to do something with my 87 XR shell that is just sitting around....a cheap 302 and T5 might be worth it....wonder if my aftermarket Cossie radiator will work with a SBF?
Well, a little bit of bummer news- we didn't get onto the entry list for Mt. Washington this year. The message from the organizers was a loud and clear "we want to see more hillclimbs on your record before we consider letting you launch your car off the side of this mountain" so, on the upside, we know what we have to do in order to get in next time.
Dang!
In reply to Robbie :
Honestly, looking at who actually made it onto the entry list, I see a lot of people who I would put ahead of myself too- I completely understand why we didn't make the cut.
There should be a rallycross next weekend, although it's supposed to be "no mud" or cancelled so I'm skeptical. Drove the car today to make sure it feels ok, and since I have a phone with a thermal camera now, check out the hood ventilation- pretty easy to spot where the turbo lives:
Running with the hood open:
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:Well, a little bit of bummer news- we didn't get onto the entry list for Mt. Washington this year. The message from the organizers was a loud and clear "we want to see more hillclimbs on your record before we consider letting you launch your car off the side of this mountain" so, on the upside, we know what we have to do in order to get in next time.
Luckily for you, there are quite a few hillclimb events not far from you. 
In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :
Those thermal images are ridiculously cool! I love how you can see all the details in soft focus.
What phone do you have with an IR camera? I had no idea such a thing existed.
In reply to TVR Scott :
CAT s61- I tend to break phones so I went for the construction grade option.
Decided to get out for BMR's first event this year, at a new venue. I did basically no prep other than airing the snow tires up, and drove the car to the event since it was less than an hour away. Pretty soon, Josh (irish44j) and Shawn and Katie (moxnix and katya) showed up- I pulled around and parked next to Josh after he unloaded his car:
When it was time to get our first runs started, the Merkur wouldn't start- battery seemed dead, odd since it drove there just fine and started that morning. Josh gave me the first of several jump starts for the day:
Shawn and Katie's Miata had similar issues, and despite a battery swap they never got to do any real runs in it. I was lined up just ahead of Josh in the run order:
It was really, really slippery out there, but luckily things didn't rut up too badly so at least this seems like a good future site for the perpetually-venue-challenged BMR. I got very slidey and mostly drove as sideways as possible:
At one point I tried to see if even more wheelspin would help and ended up doing a nice slow donut. For our fourth runs, Josh and I switched cars- as always, I felt like his BMW was very nice and controllable, although this was the first time he's driven the Merkur. He seemed to like it, actually, which was a surprise to me, since I was hoping it would cure him of ever wanting one.
For the afternoon, Josh and Shawn switched to their knobby Maxsport grass tires while I sat around doing nothing:
My car needed a jump again, but the afternoon runs were a lot grippier so that was fun:
The coolant temperature still climbs faster than I'd like to see, considering everything that has been done to help it, but at this point I don't care unless it actually boils it. Sara (kodachrome, codriver, SWMBO) also dropped by and took a few rides in the car, and tried out her new hans device and helmet- everything seems to work pretty well with the new belts and stuff. She also suggested that the coolant temperature sensor might just be in a really hot place, and given how unbelievably hot it was reading at NEFR without having any real issues I'm inclined to believe that.
Everybody packed up, we went home, I'm still figuring out what's up with the battery. Will update once I determine what exactly is wrong there.
It's looking like this battery is cooked since it drops down to under 11v as soon as a tiny load is applied. I called in for an exchange and Odyssey doesn't make this particular battery any more, so that seems like some sort of sign. They're giving me a slightly lower capacity replacement and a credit for the difference.
So how does one amass enough hill climbing credd to be accepted at Mt.W? This sounds like a multi year process with a proven top '5' record ?
In reply to 759NRNG :
Potentially, although a lot of the same people who organize the Mt. Washington event are involved with New England Region's hillclimb program so I would bet that those particular events count a bit more than others. Ideally I'd like to run the MR2 for hillclimbs, but it needs belts and seats to be legal.
rabbitfarmer here might be a good guy to ask. He was/is into hillclimbing in VT.
I put in the fresh battery that I got under warranty and that seems to be doing well. Getting in and out of the back to swap the battery reminded me repeatedly that the hatch is really heavy, so I did a bit of cutting:
This chunk of sheet metal, double layered in places, used to hold the rear wiper mechanism- it weighs a decent amount. This was probably the last piece of low hanging fruit in terms of weight reduction for the car, since the hood and front fenders have their bracing cut out also.
Truly unprecedented times we live in- no no, not the pandemic. Out of nowhere, the struts that went out for a rebuild in... 2017?!!! came back. Huh.
They'll sit on the shelf until I bend or damage one of the ones I built to replace them, then I'll swap them in. In the end, Delta Vee made things right by waiving a huge amount of the cost for me- I had considered these lost a long time ago so I'm happy to have them back and ready for action.
In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :
Wow... that's bad. At least they gave you a good discount.
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