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Hey, Chaz, it’s been a while!! I typically contact George at one of the following email addresses, though I have no idea when he’ll be back at his computer:
@jibco wrote:
Isn’t PPIR just a weak roval with ~5 corners on the infield? I’d wager they have a lot of weeding to do before any laps.
Jeff, I forgot to mention that there’s a good map of the roval course here:
http://www.nasarockymountain.com/nasa_forums/showthread.php?t=2297NASA is running a race weekend at PPIR over Labor Day:
http://www.nasarockymountain.com/nasa_forums/showthread.php?t=2269In-car video (from the “old days”) of a 944 on track:
http://www.whapp.com/sm/ppir_944_may2003.mpgBIG video (you’ll want to right-click and download) of an SRT4:
http://www.whapp.com/sm/SnymoITESRT4Highlights.wmvHPR does sound more kart-friendly, and when I talked with some of the local SCCA folks last winter they seemed pretty eager to develop better relationships with the karting community. I think NASA is all tin-top racing, but if people want to stay in open-wheel, SCCA is certainly one option.
I’m wondering about front bearings, too. I assumed they were sealed and should be replaced when they feel “rough.” But at IMI we had an outside wheel bearing fail (on a hub) and of course lost the wheel. Same thing happened at a race at TTAC last year. I’ve now replaced the bearings in all our hubs, and in the future plan to do so at the beginning of each season. But I wonder what the frequency of replacement really should be?
No fair, Jeff–I just called and got the $109 rate! (Maybe the difference is that I got 2 queens). Anyway, it did go smoothly. Thanks for the heads up and arranging the discount, Stacey! :dance:
I’d agree with all the prior comments. Consistency is far more important than dead-on accuracy. Make sure the dial face is easy to read (seems obvious, but I have one brand-name gauge that’s a pain to read.) I’d suggest a 30 pound range, because you may need to go more than 15 pounds, especially in the rain. And you can break a 15 pound gauge if you attach it to a tire that heats up and comes in with 20+ pounds of air in it (ask me how I know–and, BTW, this is a good reason to get a good brand that will do warranty repairs!) Finally, the air tank is probably much more practical than trying to lug along an air compressor, and they’re cheap enough you won’t regret buying it if you later go with nitrogen. (I recently heard of a person who converted a fire extinguisher to be a real compact air tank for last minute adjustments on the grid–sounds interesting, but I rather doubt it would get you by if you have a leaking tire.)
Not sure what you’re looking at Chris, but Rotax Masters is listed on the Classes page on the CRE website (category # 6). It’s usually been a good-sized class–I assume the relatively light turnout at the first race this season may have been due to it being a club rather than RMC race.
Now, as to replacing the brushes: I understand that the Leopard starter is the same as the Rotax starter, so I think this should apply. The tricky part is figuring out to hold the spring-loaded brushes in place while putting it all back together. If you do a search on Ekartingnews you’ll find various strategies, but what’s worked best for me is to use a hemostat (i.e., roach clip, but you didn’t hear that from me) to hold the brushes in place just long enough to get the rotor (commutator?) in place. Once you’re close, the commutator will usually hold the brushes enough that you can gently maneuver them the last 1/4″ with a pick, screwdriver, or whatever. Why a hemostat? Because it’s really small and narrow, and there’s not much room to maneuver in there.
The other tip is to be very careful to hold the shaft in place when you’re putting the whole thing back into the case. The powerful magnets can very easily pull the shaft right past the brushes, and you get to do it all over again. Probably good practice, but you won’t be thinking that at the time. I hold the splined shaft with a vise grips to make sure it doesn’t get pulled through.
All of this is of course harder to do at the track, so it doesn’t hurt to have a spare starter ready to go. Or go the external starter route….
ROF,
Arrow cassettes take standard 40mm bearings–no problem. The slots that Jeff and Rick referred to are there, they’re just a bit less obvious than in the Shockwave cassette in Jeff’s post.
The only thing I’d add is that the bearings may not swivel easily in the cassette. If so, insert the axle just a bit into the bearing and use the leverage to get the bearing to begin to move.
We started with a trailer that was somewhat longer than the HF trailer and came with 8″ wheels. It held up fine with a season of trips to CRE (~200 miles round trip) at about 65 mph. So they will work, but I agree with everyone else that the 12″ wheels make more sense.
I think the quality of the foam in the neck braces may make a difference. A lot of them have real soft foam that I suspect has little effect on safety. Azusa makes a collar with “NASA” foam, which doesn’t compress easily under a sudden load, though it’s quite pliable under gentle pressure. I got some of this foam for our other neck collars to get the same effect. The only down side is that it’s affected by temperature–it’s hard as a rock early in the morning in early spring and fall. (Just need to remember to let it warm up in the sun before going out.)
Broken bones heal–broken necks don’t. (Although from what I’ve read, the primary purpose of neck braces is actually to protect collarbones from the impact of a forward-moving helmet).
Brian,
Was that Ascot Raceway in Gardena, CA? Wow, I grew up in Gardena but never went there (my parents were definitely not into racing, so neither was I back then)–I had no idea they raced karts there. Got married and moved away in ’76 and thought the track got gobbled up by urban growth not long after?
Amen, Greg! Push-to-pass added a lot of excitement, and it’s too bad that Road America and other great road courses are off the table. But all that might change next year, if open wheel racing can finally regain a toehold in Nascar-land.
More details here–sounds like it may actually happen, after weeks of rumors and counter-rumors.
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/report-champ-car-indycar-deal-done//P1/
