Gulf record attempt this Saturday

[Graham T]

Any one else entered for the world record attempt of the greatest number of Gulf Oil liveried vehicles assembled and on track, taking place at the 6 hour race meeting at Snetterton this Saturday.

I,m out in the Sports and GT race and then, if still running, part of the record attempt.

There are loads of fantastic and varied vehicles that i know of coming but even i have no idea on the final turnout and eagerly look forward to seeing them all.

 

[Paolo-LoveGT40 Modelworks]

Snetterton is a REAL british track.
graham, cant u make any video of your races in the '17? will be too cool (if possible).

 

[Graham T]

Paolo,

You must be a mind reader.

I,m trying to fit and learn how to set up an inboard camera at this very time, and just came in for a tea and read your reply.

I am OK at building race cars but when it comes to setting up and working video and electronic gizmos then i,m way behind. Still i,m sure someone at the circuit will know what buttons to press and remind me to switch on before the practice or race. I would like to get the sound right as well. Not quite as noisy as it has been before, as i,ve finally had to make up new silencers to get through the scrutineering easier.

No promises but i will do my best for this weekend and the rest of the season.

Regards,

Graham.

 

[Paolo-LoveGT40 Modelworks]

I have some friends using street tuned m3e92 in expensive trackdays (mostly at the ring).
They use very small cameras very easy to fix to the roll cage.The price is not too high, sometimes they also resell cheap in italian bmw forum. Would be great to documentate what u do under the Gulf flag Graham,I remember your pics and your car is a real DREAM, even more cause u seriously race it in the greatest historical tracks.

Will try find the link of the digital camera and post here...saw it some times ago.

The sound of incar is a pleasure for all car fanatics btw.

 

[Paolo-LoveGT40 Modelworks]

link is this one. Done by italian company and very very easy to istall and use:

Kit Bullet Full HD 1080 | Videocamere CameraCar | Auto - Performance Parts | performancequipment

 

[Andy Green]

Hi Graham,
I'll be at the event on Saturday as one of the 4 drivers racing the Clan Crusader in the 6 hour race. Unfortunately it's not in Gulf colours (it's actually red), but it would it would still be a good opportunity to meet up.
Regards
Andy

 

[Malcolm]

Having spoken to the organisers, this 6 hour race seems to be a superb endurance event for the little teams. Really hope it gets more entires than before. Have a great weekend guys.

 

[Graham T]

Thanks all for comments. Camera was fitted with no problems and was passed by scrutineers.

Time for race and my colleague leans in from other side to connect battery leads to control unit, as i,m already strapped in and cannot reach it myself. He manages to snap off the clip on catch to the battery pack !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So that was a waste of effort .............. still you would not have wanted to see and hear the engine let go on the second lap !! It had been running somewhat roughish during the week and it had been put down to some carburation problems. Practice was not good and engine was misbehaving and not pulling well. No wonder, as in the race, number five head and piston destroyed with valve seat breaking up and head off exhaust valve. £££££££££££££

Expensive and messy. Mad rush to try and rebuild for next round in 3 weeks.

Bloomin race cars !!??!!

 

[Randy V]

Sorry to hear of the demise of your mill Graham... Glad that you are safe though and the car will race another day...

Having had to drive through my own oil at speed during an engine detonation - this is not fun...

 

[Graham T]

Thanks Randy,

luckily no oil came out but i have totally annialated the head and piston, etc, in number 5 and i,ve got to strip the whole engine right down and rebuild. This is not going to be cheap as any of you with Porsche knowledge will understand and my budget with both cars this season is going through the roof !!!!

I do not know what it costs you in the USA for race entries but for me it is £698 per race entry in the Heritage Series so this engine rebuild is a crippler!!

Graham

 

[Paul Brameld]

Good job the video camera was not working. The expletives would have needed deleting !!!11

 

[Graham T]

Good job the video camera was not working. The expletives would have needed deleting !!!11

Very good Paul.

I did not swear but i did say "Blast it". The most annoying thing for me was that it is my first DNF since 1969.

 

[Mesa]

That is a seriously expensive race entry fee.

 

[Randy V]

I do not know what it costs you in the USA for race entries but for me it is £698 per race entry in the Heritage Series so this engine rebuild is a crippler!!

Graham

Not sure what the charge is for Vintage events, but SCCA Regional Events run between $250 and $400 for Single to Double or Triple race weekends. National Events are around $300-$350 for a Single.

Sad to break a long standing finishing record like yours...

 

[Thierry B]

In France, we have Roscar championship (created for club racing)
there are 6/7 meeting a year. (Magny-Cours, Dijon, Val de Vienne, Ledenon, Nogaro,...). special event at magny-cours with night racing....

30 to 40 races cars (porsche, ferrari, lambo, corvette, lotus, saleen, mosler)

fees for single meeting : 750Euros.
(30mins qualif, 2x1 hour race), free practice the all day.

the all season : 3200€


Ok, it's not FIA organization, but it's really fun...

 

[Graham T]

A couple of pictures to show what happened to the engine in the race. Not the clearest of views but you get the message.

 

[Randy V]

Ouch....

Looks like an exhaust valve... When that happens, the first thing I look to (outside of an over-rev) is bad valve springs or lost keeper.. If a lost keeper, it sometimes leaves tell-tale tracks inside the valve spring retainer's keeper recess.. While it's probably beat up, the cylinder bore looks remarkably intact!

 

[Thierry B]

Yep,

a lot of work....:worried:
I hope you have not to open the cranckcase to find all missing parts.

bon courage

 

[Graham T]

Randy and Thierry,

Springs and retainers all in place. Close examination seems to point to valve seat fracture and working loose, taking head off valve which in turn acted as hammer and annialated head, piston and although picture does not show it, the cylinder as well. Piston is solid in barrel as it has taken such a hammering. The connecting rod may even need replacing but i have not got round to checking its alignment and crack testing yet.

So many hundreds of visible pieces of metal floating about that a complete engine strip is needed as well as a removal and thorough flushing through of all the oil hoses and cooler from one end of the car to the other !!!!! The last thing i wanted to do was to have to split the crankcase and take right down as it had been such a good strong engine.

Potentially a very costly rebuild as anyone with Porsche engine knowledge will know.

Regards,

Graham.

 

[Charlie Farley]

Sorry to see your bad news Graham.
Very similair event happened to my brother's BRM Elan Twin Cam.
Valve seat just popped out. Luckily it was just ticking over,
but even so, noise was hideous.
I know only a little about how much work you have put into your car,
but i appreciate its a work of endeavour over love! Or is it the other way around ?
Look forward to meeting up again soon.