1990 Troyer Modified Hillclimber

I was thinking track temps were up and power was down.

Back from Okemo II last weekend. Placed second overall. Didn't anything to the car since the last Okemo except replace the cap on the clutch slave cylinder that went missing at the last Okemo.

Had a good event at Ascutney II. Ran a time near my personal best there. The hill was fast and I thought I had a chance at a new personal best when this happened to the internals of the transmission.

I was just shifting to second gear and suddenly there was no drive. Someone at the start said they heard a bang but I didn't really hear or feel anything. The engine just suddenly revved and that was it. It took out all the teeth between the main and secondary shaft. The transmission spins cleanly without any grinding or teeth touching .

In reply to KevinGale:

Ouch! Not much more to say there!

In reply to Stang_guy03:

Yeah right now the plan is to upgrade the transmission. That means I won't be racing at Philo (last event of the year) I could get the transmission fixed before then but since this is the second time I've done this I'm starting to see a pattern. The better fix is to upgrade to a Jerico transmission but that isn't going to happen before Philo. Better to do that over the winter and be ready for next year. Right now I'm looking at a three speed Jerico just because the three speed is lighter than the four speed and I only need three gears at most. Jerico three speed

Anyone need a slightly used Muncie?

What about NASCAR surplus? I've always heard that's the cheap way into a dogbox.

In reply to Kenny_McCormic:

If you have any sources let me know. I have done some online searches. For the most part the Jerico transmissions seem to hold their value extremely well. The used boxes are not that much cheaper than the new boxes.

In reply to KevinGale:

Sounds like a strong plan if not cheap. Hate to hear your not going get to finish your year. I'll put the word out about the muncie. Any usefull info about it for the those that are more pickey.

In reply to KevinGale:

How much is the 3 speed you're looking at?

Seems you can get a Jerico 4 speed, sometimes other nascar 4 speeds, off ebay for $2-$3k, when they come up, I was under the impression a new Jerico runs more like double that.

I know Racingjunk is another place to look.

edit: Maybe Craigslist around Charlotte where most of the nascar shops are?

I paid a little over 3k for my 4 speed Jerico with A LOT of extras (two clutches, slave cylinders, flywheel, bell housing, shifter, etc).

Yeah I'm seeing some 4 speeds in the 2-3k range. A new 3 speed is in the $3200 range. I may go with a used 4 speed but the three speed would be a little lighter. I'm in no big rush since I have all winter to get this done.

Use the lowest gear you can in your rear axle start out in second or third?

Remove some of the torque multiplication from the trans and let the rear axle do that part.

You should be using 4th gear in the trans.

bentwrench wrote: Use the lowest gear you can in your rear axle start out in second or third? Remove some of the torque multiplication from the trans and let the rear axle do that part. You should be using 4th gear in the trans.

Already doing all of that. And the gears that are breaking aren't even subject to torque multiplication. I'm taking out the main gear between the primary and secondary shafts. That is only seeing engine torque plus the inertia loads when the clutch comes out and the tires hook. That extra load seems to be what occasionally pushes things over the edge. If I was less aggressive shifting up through the gears off the line it would help but then I would give up time and there is a lot of time to be gained or lost off the line. I suppose if I wasn't making 520 ft lbs of torque it would probably help as well. :-)

That gear is the first stage of reduction and powers the countershaft.

It sees power in all forward gears but 4th.

So you feel the cause is shock load, not sustained torque?

You could soften up the clutch, Does your clutch hub have springs?

bentwrench wrote: That gear is the first stage of reduction and powers the countershaft. It sees power in all forward gears but 4th. So you feel the cause is shock load, not sustained torque? You could soften up the clutch, Does your clutch hub have springs?

No springs. The clutch is a triple disk 7.25" quartermaster race clutch. Shock/Inertia load is my guess since that is when it went both times (first shift after leaving the line). But I'm also placing more torque through the tranny than it is rated for. Usually I get away with it since it's been a couple years since this last happened. I'd rather upgrade to the Jerico than change the clutch. The Jerico will be lighter and can handle more torque. It also is designed to allow shifting without the clutch which may be handy.

Quarter Master Pro Series Clutch 7.25"

You can always reconcile the Jerico purchase because clutchless shifts result in faster times. So you're not just repairing the car, you're improving it.

Jerry From LA wrote: You can always reconcile the Jerico purchase because clutchless shifts result in faster times. So you're not just repairing the car, you're improving it.

Yeah what he said. I may have to start shifting more the use that excuse. :-)

I think you just need less power. That's the ticket.

In reply to DaveEstey:

Less power is never the answer! More power is always the answer!

DaveEstey wrote: I think you just need less power. That's the ticket.

Technically I think it is less torque. Power doesn't usually kill transmissions, torque does. But I want more not less. :-)

The new Jerico transmission has been ordered. I found a guy who rebuilds and sells used Jericos. He is building me a 4 speed with the following ratios. 1st 2.935 2nd 1.935 3rd 1.333 and of course a 1:1 4th. My basic plan with those gears is to use it as a three speed. I'll launch the car in 2nd and mostly run 3rd and 4th. Of course that also depends on the rear gears I am using for a particular course. But in general I'm not planning on using 1st for racing. That meant I could put in a really low first gear (numerically high) that I plan to just use for those cases where I need to be able to drive the car around slowly. This actually happens a lot in hillclimbs. Driving the car around the pit area needs to be done at a slow speed and I'm hoping the really low 1st will make that easier with less bucking. I've also run into situations on hill during fam runs or transits at Washington where you need to be able to drive really slowly. At Washington I had to stop the car on the hill and let the other cars go for a while because I couldn't keep driving the car at just a few mph. I don't know if the low 1st gear will fix that problem but it doesn't seem like it can hurt. And if nothing else it will probably result in stalling it less trying to get it moving from a stop parking on a hill in staging. The line between stalling the engine and burning up the rear tires can be a fine line and it is worse with higher gears. People tend to think you are being a bit wild if you leave rubber marks just to move the car forward a few car lengths. :-)

The gear chart shows the new Jerico on the left vs the Muncie on the right. I also opted for a slightly lower 3rd gear. That helped even out the gap between gears and I still think it will give me enough range in 3rd at the top end but there is a chance I might have to raise the rev limiter 200 from 6800 to 7000 rpm but I'm willing to do that.

Just donated to the Super Chicken Climb to the Clouds fund.

Super Chicken Climb to the Clouds - MoveYourMountain.org

The Super Chicken is mentioned a few times in this build thread. Lately it has been the car beating me. So why am I donating money so Paul can make his car faster? It's mostly about allowing an amateur to have a shot at winning Mt Washington. Professional Rally guys race at Washington. They always win the event. Nothing against them. Higgins and Pastrana were really nice guys when I met them and raced with them. They don't know me but Pastrana was even really nice when I rudely interrupted a conversation he was having to make fun of the fender he tore off his car. (Sorry!)

But even though the pro rally guys are good guys, I'd really like to see an amateur give them a run for their money. Paul can do that and could really use some support.

We need a "Support Super Chickens" button or sticker or something. I'm always impressed with how easy he makes his times look. His 'record breaking' runs look as exciting as my fam runs feel.

Is that you making a cameo at 2:55 in this launch control vid? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG6_TxwaWlg