Still Struggling 06/30/2010
 
So yet another race is in the books, with yet another lackluster finish. I didn't realize slumps could last this long, but I guess they can. 

I was so psyched about getting my new engine and testing it out a few weeks ago. Then I had electrical problems and didn't even run. Then last week I found and fixed the problem, only to have the car run flat and sound like crap. Turns out that I broke 4 mouse springs in the valvetrain. I couldn't even rev the thing up past 7000... on restarts no less. I don't know what I'm doing, but the damn car WILL NOT GO. 

When I first bought the car, I had no issue getting it to go. But it's been on a slow decline ever since, and I really can't blame any of my engine builders. They build nice stuff, but there's something else causing it to be slow. I'm just tired of running in the back, I thought I'd be past this by now. I've put a different carb on it, and fixed anything broken, so I guess I'll have to take it out again tand either embarrass myself again, or get something right.

Brent
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So I decided to take the car out the second I got the new head on the car. Hey, with new parts, it's good to bring it out and work any bugs out. I certainly worked bugs out, but not in the predesignated areas.


I went out for the 2nd practice, because I was late and missed the first. But I ran around under caution and everything seemed normal. As soon as the green waved, I took off like I've done tons of times before. I went off into turn one, got to the gas point, and the car dies. It shuts right off, starts backfiring, the whole bit. I shut it down, push the clutch in, and coast it back to the pits. We get it back to the pit, I'm looking all over it for something visibly wrong. I don't see anything, so I decide to try and start it. It fires. So now I'm confused, why would a car shut off for no apparent reason.


Panic mode set in almost immediately. The cam timing hasn't slipped, the carb is working, and I suck at diagnosing electrical problems. So I changed out the module, the coil, even the distributor at one point. I even went as far as disconnecting the tach. For some reason, I got it running again, but the problem was, I still didn't know what was wrong. I missed all of the remaining practices, but I was starting last in the heat. Good enough.


The heat race would have to serve as a competitive practice, and I wasn't short on aggression early. I was going without a tach (which was not working properly at the time), so shifting was a little subdued. But, the green flag dropped, and the #70 cut out of line in front of me. I followed, pushing that car down the front stretch. I thought to myself, "pushing people is far more fun than being pushed around". But heading through turn 4, I got punted and spun through the infield. Needless to say, I wasn't too happy to be spun out running for almost last place... in a heat race... in the mini stocks. But I did the gentlemanly thing and refired to save a caution. On lap 4, the car shuts off again. I shut it down and coasted into the pits again. 


Now I'm just as confused as I've been all day. I tried a few more things, but nothing worked. I decided that I had enough and loaded up the car. There wasn't anything I could do. Once back at the shop, it took me 3 days of work to find and address all of the problems. First, the wiring harness was an absolute rat's nest, so I rewired and loomed the ignition system. Next, I bought a new ignition module to remove that variable. Then, I searched the remaining wiring in the car and found multiple wires bad, including the power lead to the ignition switch. Apparently the lead wire to the switch was rubbing on the interior of the car, and had worn through the insulation, causing the power lead to ground, killing the motor. I fixed all these things, and tested it. The car fired first shot. I reset the timing, and we're ready for next week, hopefully without all the headaches.


See you then.
Brent
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