fhturner

Well, had a blast driving (and instructing, too, come to think of it) at Road Atlanta this weekend, but my 3-day event ended a little short, due to an apparent broken timing chain. Last session on Saturday, was powering up and over the hill out of T5, and got a bit of a "pop"...then nothing. Coasted around to between T7 & T8 and then had to sit and watch Wayne and the others whizzing by every minute-and-a-half or so...

And Khoi had greater-than-usual oil leaking/smoking issues, so he had to park it also. Not sure if there were any other "402-ed" Z06-en out there, but the two of us weren't having much luck.

Still, it was great to see some of the track buddies, and hang out. Wayne, wished we could have chatted more...between having a 2nd student assigned (w/o my knowledge!) and working on my car, I didn't get to see you much. And our schedules didn't seem to coincide much either, Khoi, so sorry about that. But thanks a ton for the rotor, bud!

Hopefully we can get our beasts track-worthy again soon. Hope to see y'all in the near future! I'll post a vid or two when I get a chance.

Fred

P.S. What other CF members were there that I didn't get around to seeing/meeting?

varkwso

Fred - sorry to hear about your motor - I can show you a picture of what a LS1 looks like when it "pops". Khoi's original motor died without a whimper at Rockingham - I hope his current one gets sorted out soon! I really hope it is not bad with yours or Khoi's this time....

My engine reinstallation in the 99 has hit every snag in the book - most cured by $$$. The 02 ZO6 displayed a bad left rear bearing today. That may have been why I flatspotted a tire on that wheel at RD ATL last month...it is also the side I "armcoed" at Barber . So it is looking like I may be three days at Roebling without a ride of my own this weekend...

I know what you mean about tons of people and not much chance to socialize - one advantage of drinking beer and eating BBQ with NASA on Sat nite

fhturner

Hey Jeff!

Yeah, I know what you mean about "cured by $$$". Just never seems to stop, tho! Appreciate the sentiments about the motor. I'm just hoping I didn't do damage or too much damage to the valvetrain. Here's what it looked like (or more importantly, what it sounded like):

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/77850704/sit...st_stopped.mov

Timz06

Hard to tell from the vid, are you sure it is a mechanical problem? Rather than fuel or spark? In any case, hope it is not serious!

fhturner

Yeah, we pulled the coil packs and valve cover off the passenger-side head, and watched the rockers and valvesprings while turning the motor over w/ the starter...

No rocker movement = no pushrod & camshaft movement = broken timing chain

varkwso

at least it turned over

fhturner

Yeah, cross your fingers that the lack of audible carnage and the fact that it still turns over means that I got off easy...

trumper Z06

Hey Fred,

Hoping it's just the chain... your engine's turning over & no BAD noises when it shut down...

I had two students too... and was hoping to sign off my "A" student Saturday... but I held off letting him solo until after lunch on Sunday.

How did Brad's 1st race go... I left ~ 3:30 pm Sunday afternoon.

Cya @ the track,

Trumper

fhturner

Ah, you left about 15 min before I did...explains why I couldn't find you when I was saying my goodbyes.

Man, Brad's race on Sunday was pretty cool. He was so happy and pumped about it! After the frustration of spinning in the Saturday race, it was great to see him so excited on Sunday after winning his class! Congrats to him for winning on his first racing weekend. Even though he's a Bimmer guy, I think he's more a part of our Corvette brotherhood than he is BMW!

FT

Markatl

Sorry to hear about your car. Hope it is nothing serious. I was in the white Z06 pitted across from Wayne. Guess we never got gridded close to each other. Had a great time playing with Larry C in the yellow C6Z on Sunday though.

Looking forward to the vids!

Mark

fhturner

Ah, yes-- that's a sharp looking car! Like the wheels offset against the white paint. "NASA Pro Racing" or similar sticker on the back, correct? Were you at Barber back in May or June?

I'll dump my quickest lap to a QuickTime here shortly and upload it. A nice 4-sec drop from my previous best-- guess you can do that when you haven't been to a track much yet!

I'll make sure to come say Hello at our next mutual event.

Fred

Z06cool

You can say that again.... After I pulled off into the grass at Rockingham and a spectacular burst of grey and blue exhaust, it died real quick. Wouldn't even turn over. So, best of luck with the engine Fred. Think you'll have it back running in time for Barber? Remember, that rotor was conditional you show me "your" track.

For me, busy day chasing Gremlins.... But had some fun laps too. Too bad there was only passing in the straights for Group A.

I asked my instructor for critique around T1-5 and he said I drove it faster and smoother than he could so he couldn't really help me I guess that's a compliment. He wanted me to do the instructor clinic next time around and absolutely loved the TORQUE. Got the meatball black flag first session on Sunday and pitted in. Even parked, it was smoking like crazy.

varkwso

Guess you ought to thank Wally for getting all those old bad habits out of your head at VIR. And you are ready for instructor as soon as you grow a set....

Markatl

Yeah, that my car. Thanks! I was at Barber Memorial weekend for the BMW school.

Come by and say "hi" anytime.

Z06cool

Trust me Jeff, you don't want to see my set...

speedneed

Thanks for all the great instructions. Your "A" student appreciates all your input's. I had a great time. Looking forward to my next event a Road Atlanta to refine everything.

Speedneed

RacerX-1

Fred,

So what’s the verdict? Valves? Are the pistons OK? Did you locate your chain replacement?

I found my problem… 2-parts. One of the O2 sensors was bad, and the tune wasn’t as good as it could be. The car dynod at 360 whp. Oh, I also found my overheating issue. Not that they wont all overheat when driven hard but mine seemed to do it faster then others. Anyway the AC heat exchanger was so clogged you couldn’t see through it.

I have the front end off to fit a different radiator, oil coolers, and an Accusump. I’m considering using a different AC cooler, maybe a pair of them to give more room for a future aftercooler. I’m keeping the AC but it doesn’t need to be as efficient.

I had a great time with all the Corvette owners at Road Atlanta and barber, looking forward to the next event.

Rob

fhturner

Hey Rob!

Been meaning to email you, but haven't had much news to share. Only just rolled the car off the trailer yesterday...haha. Haven't torn into it yet, and may not this week-- headin' over to Petit on Wed evening. You gonna be around for that? Let's get hooked up if so.

I believe I will go w/ the Comp double roller. There's a company in MS that sells 'em on eBay for around $160. Thinking also about going ahead and doing a FAST90 intake, throttle body, and maybe something like a Callaway Honker so my Beast will breathe better. If I'm gonna have your buddy tune me up, I guess I'd better optimize the breathing now.

Air conditioning? Who needs that?!?! No such impedance in front of my radiator! Glad you figured out what was causing both issues. How'd you know the O2 sensor was the culprit?

Make sure to take some pics for us! I got TPIS to send the correct fittings for my oil cooler, so I reckon I'll be installing that along w/ the timing chain swap and head pulling. I'm really interested in an Accusump also...

It was great hanging out w/ you over those 2 weekends! Look forward to running some more...maybe we can keep our cars from overheating (and snapping timing chains ). And thanks so much for your help w/ my car. I was quite in awe of your garage facilities and ability to weld back my header in between sessions!

Talk to ya soon,
Fred

C6400hp

What the deal with LSX engines popping timing chains on track? Did you have underdrive pulleys on it? There have been several modified LS engines that have had the deal with the timing chain on road courses, from 427 s to just H&C stock displacement. Whats going on here?

fhturner

I'm not sure what the deal is exactly, but my guess/assumption is that the stock LS2 chain isn't beefy enough to handle (a) the big-*** camshaft ("Texas Giant") I have and (b) the stiffer Comp 921 valve springs on my AFR heads. Maybe it just wasn't up to the load in my case... But I'm no mechanic!