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My Father
-always with me-
Armond Wickham
1923 to 2006

Dyno days are long days. Up at 3am and on the road to arrive at H&G in Pottstown Pa at 8am for the test. Greg picked up a stomach virus from his daughter's family and had to stay home so it was a one man show for me this time. Gus lets you do all the work so you know what's going on, and that put me in hyper speed mode from the time I arrived.

The previous couple of weeks has also been a grind (pun). After work and on weekends, I've been installing and measuring a few cams in the spare motor that was headed for this day on the dyno. It's headed for the dyno again because the motor never felt right from the beginning. It's hard to describe the way it raced but basically it just never came off the corners with the kind of force I was used to. After discussions with a few motor builders and cam manufacturers, I decided on a cam change.

A couple of the cams that were made available just wouldn't fit. The intake and exhaust valve clearance was less than the minimum and that meant that the valves would hit the pistons at higher RPMs and temperatures.

One cam fit but was so close to the original that the differences in grind didn't show up in the cam card numbers. The final choice was a cam that was enough departure from what had been in the engine that it was worth making the change.

With the cam finally installed and timed, and the motor sealed up and ready to go. I gathered other parts and pieces to test and loaded the truck for the Monday morning adventure.

Upon arrival, it takes a few hours to unload, bolt the motor to the dyno stand, hook up the hoses for fuel and water, header, plugs, throttle, temp sensors, etc. There really isn't anything new from the way it is in the car but it takes time for the adjustments. I had a couple of sets of headers to try and spares of fuel pump and mags, if we needed to rule out a problem there.

Once everything was connected, and the motor was fired up, it was time to check the timing. When changing cams, the mag is removed and I set timing with an ohm meter to see the points open when the rotor is in the correct position. Then tighten the clamp and it's ready to go. Once the engines is running, there are loads on the gears that drive the cam and mag and that squeezes out a small amount of lash. I compensate for the lash with the static setting but sometimes there are differences that move the timing a bit when the motor is running so it gets checked with a timing light and readjusted as needed.

The dyno computer and sensors can be affected by the electrical noise of a racing ignition so my cap and wires are removed from the mag and Gus provides a cap and wires with noise suppression. It all looks the same except for a small plastic thumbscrew knob on top of the cap, like the one that the kill switch wire hooks to on the side.

With the motor running, the timing light showed that the timing was a little too far advanced. I grabbed a 9/16 wrench, loosened the mag clamp and grabbed the top of the mag cap to turn it, like I always do. ZAP-ZAP-ZAP-ZAP-ZAP- EEEYYOWWW.

Gus thought that I would have remembered from last time I was there, that he told me not to get near that knob on top. Well, last time I was there, was about 5 years ago and that little detail had been lost.

That knob is there to connect an external coil. It has a little brass washer at the bottom. With my mag's internal coil that terminal is unused but was back fed with the spark plug's 20,000 volts and I touched the edge of that washer..., AND of course I was firmly grasping the 9/16 wrench on the mag clamp nut with my other hand, that was well connected to the metal of the mag and the engine. Big laugh from Gus on the complete circuit, not so much from me.

If you hate time consuming workouts, this would be a great way to exercise you right arm and shoulder muscle in less than a second. It is similar to the strain you would get from 30 minutes of lifting three hundred pounds with one arm. Don't know why I didn't get the same workout in the left arm but my right arm muscles were still sore, several days later.

So now it was on to testing the motor. We made fuel adjustments, then tried some timing changes (I now knew where to grab when moving the mag) and some other tinkering. Gus was able to smooth out the fuel delivery and get the most power from the motor but looking at the data, it didn't make any dramatic gains. The maximum power was about the same, but there was better bottom end (corner exit) torque and the motor acted more responsive than where we started. I won't know if this motor will race any better than before, until it's in the car. It's the spare and hopefully I won't need it.

I loaded up and arrived home after midnight. The motor work is done so now it's on to issues with the chassis. I have visited VRP shocks and got that set checked out so the next project is deciding what shock rates I want in the Afco shocks, and send them out to Indy for a work over. In the shop, we'll go through he chassis and make more spares.

January update

Somehow, it seems like there is lots of time to get ready for next season during Oct, Nov, and Dec, but when it becomes January, it feels like next season is just around the corner. I'm in pretty good shape equipment wise, but have a few projects that I planned to tackle this winter. One of the things on the list is the shocks.

I took the trip to VRP shocks and spent some time with Vince, explaining the problems I had during the year. He checked the shocks and they were right on the curves. I discussed the problems of feeling like I was not getting enough side bite and he decided that it was all due to wing angle and the 2" wicker that we are allowed, overloading the rear. I understand what he was driving at but I can't see how using less wing was going to get me more side bite. I'll factor in his suggestions but I need more than that.

So the plan is that we are going to move some weight around in the car to change the balance some and I'm going to try some different ride heights that worked well in the last two races last season and I'm getting backup sets of shocks ready.

I had used Afco and Pro shocks before the VRP units and had sorted through the 30+ shocks to find a handful that dyno'd near correct and useable. They worked ok and may agree well with some of the things that we learned last year. I am sending a couple of sets of Afco's to a trusted person in the Midwest that will dyno and rebuild Afco's to spec. That should provide a backup shock plan with pieces that will work as labeled.

This whole shock thing is probably less critical than I had thought. Other setup adjustments like height and tilt may be more key, but the shocks have to be right in order to control the transfer, or it just screws things up more.

Even though last season was a setup disaster, I did learn some new things about how various adjustments affect the car. I plan to apply that to some different combinations focused on gaining the lost sidebite. Chassis work will come later this winter, after I get the spare motor issues resolved.

The spare motor I had built last year was a dog. It was low on power and didn't tune up well on the dyno. It burnt valves when I first raced it and never felt right. So after much discussion, it appears that  what is needed is a change of cam.

A discussion with Jereco Competition Engines, where the heads came from, sent me back to Huggins Cams to get a cam reground to new specs. When I finally got it back in mid January, I put it in the engine and degreed it in, only to find that there was not enough valve to piston clearance, no matter where I set it.  I want to stay away from cutting deeper pockets in the pistons for valve clearance because it reduces compression and it has been a struggle to build the motor with compression at a high level. A lower compression level will reduce power.

Every motor is different and sometimes you just have to throw parts at it to get a better result... and that's tough to do when you don't have limitless funds or the everyday experience with a variety of motors. Jimmy D has been a great help and gave me some cams to try that will make changes where we think the motor needs help and still fit in the compression space without cutting pistons and reducing compression. I don't want to spend the money on another cam that won't fit so it has been a great relief to borrow things to try.

Motors are quite a puzzle with infinite pieces to try and no way to calculate an improvement. The reality is that I will be going to the dyno in mid February and I basically get one shot at a cam choice. At the dyno, it can take all day to get everything mounted and hooked up and then dial in the fuel, timing and exhaust. Changing a cam can take me a couple of hours on a hot motor and there may not be time to do that and get it buttoned up and running again so we can dial in the fuel again. Another day on the dyno (if available) is another expense I want to avoid.

I expect that no matter what we do, we should see an improvement based on how the motor dyno'd before and what direction we need to move. The first cam choice was blind but now we see how this one performs, the next guess should be better.

So the next few weeks will be to focus on getting the motor ready to go and then it's off to the dyno in Pa.

December update

           Check out the "Racing 2009" page for the ASCS banquet update.   

So begins a new season.   I passed up the Harrisburg - Silver Springs - flea market this year but decided to go to the Kreitz flea market while we were at Teresa's parents in Pa over Thanksgiving.   Fewer sellers than 5 yrs ago but still plenty of parts and pieces.   I had a list with a couple of dozen things I was looking for but always find unexpected things.    It's hard to pass up really good stuff at twenty cents on the dollar.    The big surprise for me was a set of electronic scales at a give away price.    Everything checks out ok with good calibration and accuracy.   This is something I've wanted to have in the shop for decades but never could afford it.    I've been close to buying scales before but more direct needs always snagged the funds.  I hope that working with scales will help us sort things out and learn what some of our adjustments are doing.   It's only a tool to see static weight at the shop but should help us be more consistent.

Also on the winter list is reworking the spare motor.    I have discussed the problems with a couple of motor builders and teams and have a couple of ideas of what changes to make.   The motor configuration is pretty standard and the only thing anyone can think of that will make a change is the cam.    So I have called Steve Huggins and have a new cam coming that will be what has been suggested by him and one of the Pa motor builders that I've worked with.    After the new cam is installed in the spare motor,  I plan to go to H&G for a session on the dyno.    Each motor only has only seen a few races since freshened so I should be in good shape for this season.

I found a really good deal on an ATV that is a little larger than the 90cc Polaris that we've been using.  The Polaris 90's are used by   many outlaw teams but ours just can't get the car up a hill.  The one I picked up is 180 cc and had a broken transmission case.   I pulled the motor and replaced the case (a $50 part) and now it runs great.   Even with the larger motor though, this ATV doesn't seem to have much more low end power than the Polaris.    So I'm thinking I will sell both ATV's and get something else with more power.   But I need to keep the ATV small enough to fit in the space on the trailer and not break the bank.

Happy Holidays to all.