Houston (Spring) 09
Project Yellow Racing + Overheating + Head Gasket Change + Electrical Randomness = Fail
Once again into the breach….
“But this time was supposed to be different!” – Justin Rausch (Walking up the paddock after we decided the car was toast at MSR Houston, telling Ben about how this weekend was supposed to go.)
Crap can racing can be a blast, we had an unbelievable time in Houston ’08. With the clutch changes and sleepless nights it made for a long miserable weekend that resulted in an amazing high when we finished. This time we had all the mechanicals sorted out early, ok so maybe it was a week or two before we had to pack up but I’m the one not counting. The previous problems with the clutch were traced back to a missing oil seal inside the transmission housing and a bad bearing in the transmission housing. The good news is that transmission removal is now second nature to us and is no big deal (Total removal and installation time 2.5 hours, and that includes beer runs). Learning to actually disassemble the transmission internals was a new experience, however with some patience and a service manual it’s not difficult. The hardest part for the transmission repair was trying to get out the old main shaft bearing outer race which is pressed into the housing. 1.5 hours and a carbide Dremmel cutter later it was split with only minor damage done to the housing. With the bearing out the new seal just slid in behind the new bearing with ease. Also on the cards was a head gasket change. The Honda CRX has a reputation for popping head gaskets so as a precaution we decided to make the best of our time and some awesomely good weather in Colorado (50’s and 60’s in January and February) to take a little precautionary action. After about a week we had the head removed, cleaned and prepped for the new gasket. Installation went smoothly a few learning experiences along the way but for the most part uneventful.
After some downtime the car was started up and tested at our Circuit de Itsuckes (Full Course), otherwise known as the apartment complex parking lot. After a few laps the car got hot and started to boil over. After a few checks some loose hoses were found as well as more air in the cooling system. (in literature this statement is known as foreshadowing) After a few more checks and some first gear 3500 rpm laps around the “track” the car stopped getting hot and behaved normally. Attention was turned to our major upgrade which was to lighten the car. After shedding about 55 lbs. out of the car it was time to fabricate a seat brace to stiffen up out seat a bit more and a camera mount. Our crack machinist Ben knocked out a piece that truly fixed the seat in place and should pass tech with no problems.
Now since we had a few hours to spare before the car had to be rolled onto the trailer, we turned our attention to finishing the team logo and other decorations that we didn’t get to last time.
Thursday was our travel day just like before. Other than worrying about the oil that was blowing onto the truck (an oil change in the wind tunnel that is in front of my garage was the culprit) and the random law enforcement agents while traveling through the small Texas towns, nothing eventful happened. Well other than seeing the Sherriff who lost his way. This deputy had left his light bar on after making a stop. As we approached we had to wonder f he was telling us to go around or what signal he was trying to give. As we started to pass he sped up and moved into a turn lane only to dart back to the highway. He then proceeded to pull into the Sherriff’s office parking lot, HE MISSED HIS OWN OFFICE! We spent the rest of the time mocking each other telling stories and killing the 16 hours that it takes to drive from the Project Yellow Racing Technical Centre in Colorado Springs to Houston. After arriving in Houston we spent a couple hours draining the remaining coolant out of the car and replacing it with water, then spent some time trying to get the air out of the system. After the coolant flush it was time to get some sleep, six hours seems like forever when looking at our last race experience.
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