2012 Nationals Update from CMC#82

[RichardP]

Like last year, I’ll try and keep the group updated on Dan Allford and the Red Shift Racing #82 CMC car from the NASA Nationals. Hopefully things go a little smoother this year…

Dan, Craig and I were all supposed to head to Ohio early this week with some tourist type stops along the way. A big design review at work got postponed to this week so Dan and Craig left on Sunday afternoon without me so I can present at the review. I’m supposed to fly in on Wednesday night to catch up with them.

Dan and Craig successfully got the #82 car to Ohio this morning after driving through lots of rain. I, of course, showed up to work this morning with news that the review had been postponed another week. Not only is the start of my trip compromised, I now have to hurry my ass back to Houston after Nationals…

Since this is Nationals, drama is apparently required. We started the drama early this year with a 5:00 dyno appointment. The car seemed to be running fine but it was down about twenty horsepower, and more tellingly, the ignition signal was dropping out giving erratic readings on the graphs (600 ft/lbs?!?). The number one cause of this is a bad signal from the fragile dyno sensor that attaches to a spark plug wire. A few different wires were tried without success. The dyno’s sensor was working fine before us and, more importantly, after us. Crap.

Since we are a day away from the start of a really big event with an unknown issue, the obvious answer is the shotgun approach. In this case that would be plugs, wires, coil, and of course, the Opticrap. It’s fun trying to explain how to swap an opti over the phone. Anyway, the car is back together and runs. The good (or bad) news is that they found oil inside the opti. It’s good that they found a plausible reason for the issue. The bad is that I’m not sure why it does that and how long it will be before it goes bad again. The other bad news is that they were not able to get splined shaft out of the opti so they had to carefully clean up the one that was in there and reinstall it.

Anyway, tomorrow is practice and of course more dyno runs. Fingers crossed…



Richard P.

[GlennCMC70]

I would remove the vent hoses from the opti and plug the ports (if you have a vented Opti). The vents were added to remove condesation that collected over long periods of time causing corrosion of the cap and rotor contacts. My opti is not vented, and I don't have any issues w/ it.

[AllZWay]

Also...let the car run for a while and see if it will dry out the opti. Water in the opti is likely the culprit.

[michaelmosty]

Thanks for the update Richard, hope the car gets fixed and running as it should.
Kick some ass Dan, we are all pulling for you!!!!

[RichardP]

The car is handling fine on track and Dan is doing better learning the track. Engine still a little off on the dyno and it started missing at high rpm on track. It's coming apart again to replace the opti this time. I'm hanging out at the airport waiting for the opportunity to be helpful...

[AllZWay]

Good Luck and look forward to more updates.

[jeffburch]

Thanks for the updates!

Tell Dan to Cinch it up & Give 'em Hell!!

jb

[way2neary]

Richard, thx for the updates. Good luck Dan,we are all pulling for you.

By the way, if you go to the second floor of the control tower and mention you are with NASA, they will give you a notebook with detailed track notes for every turn on the course.

[RichardP]

The car is back together and seems to be running fine. Dan is just slow so far. I'm impressed with how close together the front of the field is. Maybe we can figure out how to be a part of it...

Another dyno run after qualifying showed we are still cutting out and down a bit on power. A restrictor change got the power back. Hopefully Dan can keep up well enough in the first race to figure out the track. The car staying healthy would be cool, too.

Richard P

[RichardP]

Qualifying races are over. Dan finished 6th both days but he is getting faster. He is confident with two more days of racing he can run at the front...

Rain was threatening for today's race but held off until after the checker. It hit hard after that along with wind. Racing is now resuming now that it's starting to let up.

Race on Sunday. Not much left to do other than hang out, watch, and party...

Richard P