Race report 7-18-14. A rather frustrating night.

[mmb617]

I was kind of anticipating that I might have problems, and it turned out my fears were justified. Last time out I couldn't get the car to go into third gear most of the night. Upon inspection I found a totally trashed clutch cable that wasn't always fully disengaging the clutch. This was one of the cheap parts store cables and the sheath was collapsed at the clutch end where it's relatively close to the header. I know I need a quality cable but the only spare I had on hand was another of those cheap ones so I put it on. Right away I knew it wasn't going to last long as I had to set the firewall adjuster almost all the way out on it immediately. The inner cable part was too long before it even got stretched. I did hope to get a few weeks out of it though.

Things started well enough. I had a pretty good bog on the first time trial as the track was really hooking, so I upped the 2 step pill from 2800 to 3100 for the next run and that did the trick. I hooked good and ran without problem for the next two time shots which were an 11.93 and an 11.95, right about what I expect in the summer. But then on the final, qualifier time shot the not wanting to go into third gear problem returned. I did have a decent light at .020 so I got the first round bye rights. There were 7 cars in our class so I did get to run a bye, which is fortunate as I once again couldn't get into third gear.

Here's the bye run.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCNd...ZnnRj0-7ArVgRw

For the next round I turned the firewall adjuster out as far as I possibly could. I also dialed up to 12.15 so I could take more time on the 2-3 shift, as sometimes if I shift it really slow it will go in.

I was matched with a guy I didn't know who was dialed 13.20 so I was giving a second head start, but I caught him right away. Turns out he had broken something and didn't even get to the 60' mark. I ran it out through third gear before dumping and amazingly it went into third without much drama. I thought I might be alright for the final after all.

For the final I was up against Dave, who has a mid 10 second car. I kept my dial at 12.15 so I could baby it into third gear. Dave doesn't usually hit the tree real hard so I figured I had a decent chance of getting enough margin there to let me drive the stripe at the end. The plan almost worked as I hammered him at the tree, my .019 to his .142. That should have given me the easy win, but once again I just couldn't get into third gear. In the video you can hear my thoughts on that situation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXV6...ZnnRj0-7ArVgRw

It really frustrates me when I feel I've done my job as a driver but I'm let down by a failure of my equipment. Sadly that's all to common when racing on a shoestring budget like I do.

A little side note on something that left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. When my wife went to the goodie booth to collect my runner-up winnings she was behind Dave and he was telling someone that he didn't feel there was any competition in the stick class. When he saw her behind him he immediately shut up. I take it he doesn't think any of us can beat him? Now I feel obligated to prove him wrong. We'll see how this plays out in weeks to come.

On a more positive note my good friend Dennis was at the track last night for the first time since real early in the season. His 10 second Mustang is still in pieces but he came to run his DD Nissan Altima in the sport compact class just to get something in the way of a racing fix. He found out that between the CVT transmission in that car and the lag in throttle response due to the drive by wire, cutting a good light was out of the question. If we ran a full tree he could have "moved up the tree", but with the pro tree we run he couldn't compensate for the lag between his hitting the gas and the car actually moving. Did we ever give him a ration of crap about the .409 light he cut the first time trial. Somebody mentioned he should deep stage and he informed us that he had done that. He worked at it during time trials but couldn't get the lights below .1xx which isn't going to get the job done.

First round of eliminations he dialed 17.10 and got lined up with a 10 second car. We were watching and saying how with that big a head start sometimes the other driver gets antsy and red lights. Well we were partly right as the other car did red light but not how we thought. He left when Dennis did! I think he probably pushed through the beams while spooling up. We were all bowing to Dennis as he returned to the pits. His glory came to an end in the next round as he went red. He said he left before the tree fired on purpose since he knew he couldn't cut a competitive light if he waited. He hoped he could time it just right by waiting till both cars were staged and guessing when the tree would light. He felt it was his best chance to win. That's a never say die attitude.

I need to figure out what I'm going to do about the recurring problem getting into third gear. I feel 90% sure it's because of the clutch cable, but it's odd that it's only third gear that won't go in at all. I did notice it doesn't go into second as clean as it should, but it always goes in although it grinds a bit. Even shifting into first gear from a stop just doesn't feel right sometimes. I think all of this is because the clutch is dragging, but I'm not 100% sure.

I think the first thing I need to do is install a quality clutch cable, I'm looking at the one from MM. Then if I have problems I'll switch to my spare transmission and if the problem still persists it has to be either the shifter or the driver is too old to drive a stick car anymore, and I'll need to look into a built AOD.

[IDMooseMan]

Interesting evening, Mike. Sounds like Dave need an "attitude adjustment" real soon.

[mmb617]

I ordered the Maximum Motorsports cable as I've been impressed with the high quality of everything I've bought from them so far. And it's made in the good old USA, a big plus in my eyes. I'm hoping that's the end of my shifting problems.

Here's the pic from the Beaver website that tells the story of my final run.



Dave has been on a tear lately with 5 straight wins, I have to give him that. But I can say from experience that you go through periods where it seems you just can't lose as skill and luck both are on your side, then just as quick it goes to you just can't win as all the breaks go against you. It doesn't pay to get too cocky when things are going well, as the flip side is lurking close by ready to bite you in the butt. I know I've had my share of luck - the good and bad tend to even out over the long haul.

[Ray Dog]

Originally posted by mmb617

I know I've had my share of luck - the good and bad tend to even out over the long haul.

So true Mike, some times your the windshield, and some times your the bug.

[IDMooseMan]

I agree with you on that sentiment, Mike. Being a good loser is important and it teaches humility and respect. Being a good winner is just as important for the reasons you just mentioned. Besides, how a person handles winning speaks more to his/her personality. Karma is a bitch, AND she has a memory. Dave's losing streak will come around soon enough. It's okay to enjoy the "winning" moments, but to talk smack about your competitors, that's just poor sportsmanship. Someone who acts like that is not what I would call a "friend."

I realize I don't know the guy, I'm not a racer, and forgive me if I'm speaking out of turn here. If Dave were talking smack about the others in the class while they were there, that's one thing. That's what friends do. They give each other a hard time and BS with each other. Talking like that when the others are not around, well...that's just isn't friendly, IMHO.

[mmb617]

Well I got the new MM clutch cable today and it's a perfect example of the "you get what you pay for". I've never had a decent clutch cable on the car, always used those el-cheapo parts store ones. The difference is apparent just to look at the MM piece. It screams quality, from the way the ends are attached to the way the cable slides through the sheath like butter. It's also made in the USA. And big bonus - it's a good foot longer than the parts store ones allowing me to route it in a way that's much less constricted and no where close to the headers. The pedal even feels a lot lighter. I should have done this long ago!

Just taking a test drive through the neighborhood it feels good but of course I couldn't make a full power 2-3 shift to really test whether that was my problem all along. Guess I'll find that out Friday night.

[IDMooseMan]

That sounds encouraging. I look forward to hearing how she did under full-power shifts.

[martin0660]

The last "nagging" not wanting to find third gear problem I had, this is what we found ,,,



It got "worse" so when I opened it up it was bent. I think it had been bent a while, then bent more.

cough / dog rings / cough ... you know you want it, it would change your life also cheaper than a built AOD

[mmb617]

Interesting picture Bob. I never even look at the top cover assembly other than to make sure the shift forks aren't cracked. Those plates are pretty beefy, you must be a real brute to bend those! Guess that's one more thing I'll have to keep an eye on from now on when I crack one open.

cough / dog rings / cough ... you know you want it, it would change your life also cheaper than a built AOD

I salivate like Pavlov's dogs hearing a bell at the very idea of a real transmission. I checked into the price of a new straight cut gear, dog ring G-Force last year and was told $3k. I do hope to swing it someday, but can't say exactly when. I could cut the price some by giving them one of my T5's to retrofit, but for that kind of money I'd want all new. Plus I don't want to give up one of my working T5's as they would probably last forever in pure street use.

I know the dog rings are supposed to be pretty durable, but would also guess that when they need freshened it's rather expensive. Any insight you can give me on this? Is it unrealistic to expect such a transmission to go several hundred passes before needing work or should they be refreshed every off season?

While we're talking transmissions another thought occurred to me. Perhaps my shifter is contributing to my problems. It was on the car when I bought it 9 years ago so I have no idea how old it is or how many thousands of shifts it has on it. It's certainly past it's prime.

As it turns out I have a $200 gift certificate from G-Force transmissions/Long Shifters as it was part of the prize package I got for finishing 2nd in points last year. It expires the end of this year and I'm not going to be able to use it towards a new transmission by then so I'm thinking I should redeem it towards a good shifter. Couldn't hurt.

How things go tomorrow night will determine my next course of action. Here's hoping for a smooth shifting night, for a change.

[n20capri]

Good luck Mike looking forward to seeing how you make out. Oh and show Dave who's boss! lol

[martin0660]

Those plates are pretty beefy, you must be a real brute to bend those! Guess that's one more thing I'll have to keep an eye on from now on when I crack one open.

Yes, also had NEVER looked at those before this event. I was chasing random third misses and started to question myself as well ... It finally would NOT go in, and we found this (I expected a blocker issue).

I checked into the price of a new straight cut gear, dog ring G-Force last year and was told $3k. I do hope to swing it someday, but can't say exactly when. I could cut the price some by giving them one of my T5's to retrofit, but for that kind of money I'd want all new. Plus I don't want to give up one of my working T5's as they would probably last forever in pure street use.

I think the last I talked to Bubba he told me $2100 for the same straight cut / dog ring set I have, that included new sliders. One good thing about fragging stuff the way I did last year, I have several all new castings (cases, tail shafts, top covers), two extra upgrade main shafts, plus other good bits like the bronze forks, biller cluster supports, etc ... So I can build a live spare with parts and only need the gear set. (I made an edit here, first typed "blockers" and edited to "sliders", lol it's really funny how fast these shift without blockers )

I know the dog rings are supposed to be pretty durable, but would also guess that when they need freshened it's rather expensive. Any insight you can give me on this? Is it unrealistic to expect such a transmission to go several hundred passes before needing work or should they be refreshed every off season?

No not yet. I was synchronized until I fragged the 2nd one last season then put this one in late season. Made about 25 passes on it and left it. I started this season at Mason Dixon and broke the lugs off third gear on the third pass. Of course I thought my goodness this is going to be expensive ... Sent the gear to Bubba, he told me the 3rd was a very old design and he could weld a ring on it as an upgrade, they did that for like $150 plus ship. So figure that per gear as a wear part when it happens. (For reference my current trans I bought from a friend new in box, but it say for 5-6 years from when he ran pure street). The new teeth are huge compared to the old design.



I will obviously keep you updated on what I see, but it's going to be a while. Only a few passes last season, and just a few this season. Next year I should be back home enough to actually race.

While we're talking transmissions another thought occurred to me. Perhaps my shifter is contributing to my problems. It was on the car when I bought it 9 years ago so I have no idea how old it is or how many thousands of shifts it has on it. It's certainly past it's prime.

It's funny, I had a Pro 5.0 on my car when the problem above started happening (random missing third). I pulled it off and found the nylon ball in the bottom almost gone and the springs was "dead" compared to a buddies I compared it to. I really though I had found the issue there, picked up a MGW a buddy and installed it ... felt great on the street, said ok we got this now.... went to race and missed third the first pass I had NEVER heard of someone wearing out a Pro 5.0 shifter before, but mine is beat. VERY happy with the MGW now so I've not looked back.

Good luck this weekend.

[IDMooseMan]

Good luck, Mike. Can't wait to hear how your weekend went.