Track car project - Season 2

vix · 19-04-2009, 17:37

18TH April

We had arranged to go on a rolling road day today so we could see what power the new engine delivered. Also it’s a good idea to see if anything else happens to the engine (ie hoses popping off, coolant leaks) when at full power.

On the way to the garage, we noticed a lot of knocking noises coming from the front, so once we got there, Phil took off the front wheels to investigate.

Turns out that when he had re-fit the original droplinks, he had fit them the wrong way round! Shows how much stress we have been under at the moment then!. So he quickly sorted them out and we managed to get an early run on the rolling road.

The guys set Humphrey up and did one test run to check the fuelling and to make sure the engine was ok. We knew he over-fuelled and hoped to get this sorted today. The first test run went well, and nothing untoward happened, except from lots of fuel being used!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhdYbmEiyt8

The whining noise is the supercharger, I’ll come to this in a mo.

The guys started arranging the first power run, however, about one second into the run, the revs dropped and the mechanic shouted that the throttle cable had come off. It turned out that the tiny screw holding the solderless nipple on to the end of the throttle cable had come out, but fortunately fell into a convenient place, so Phil refitted it and we tried again. Nope, it came off again and this time the nipple was nowhere to be seen. Ooer.

Off the rollers then, and one of the really helpful mechanics began his search for new nipples! Apparently there was a bag of them somewhere! We finally managed to bodge the throttle cable back on, but decided we would go last in case the problem happened again.

Whilst we were socialising, and looking at other cars, we realised that the other superchargers there weren’t making half the noise ours was. This is a tad concerning.

Soon everyone had had their runs and it was time to get Humphrey back on the rollers. Everything crossed, the guys got him up to speed, and managed to get a figure. I think Phil had rather they didn’t, as the figure was in the 140s, about what a standard supercharger engine should be putting out, so basically our big pulley was doing nothing! A few faffs were done in order to sort out the over fuelling, and checked the boost on the supercharger, (we still need to check these figures to see if there is an issue)

Phil decided that because of the really loud supercharger, and low power that there may be a fault with the supercharger itself, and planned to borrow one from our handy friend Matt, who has a supercharger engine sat in his garage. Thanks again Matt!

Final figures were 145.5 at the flywheel and 109.5 at the wheels.

Good things gained from the day were: sorting the overfuelling – we actually managed to drive home at the speed limit without needing to stop for fuel 3 times – and also finding out that the engine can run at full power without things going wrong. Sort of.

Plans are to swap the supercharger over and hope!

Ah well, I’m sure we’d be bored if things were simple eh?

Some other pics:

19-04-2009, 17:37	#20
vix Penelope Pitstop Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 4,426	18TH April We had arranged to go on a rolling road day today so we could see what power the new engine delivered. Also it’s a good idea to see if anything else happens to the engine (ie hoses popping off, coolant leaks) when at full power. On the way to the garage, we noticed a lot of knocking noises coming from the front, so once we got there, Phil took off the front wheels to investigate. Turns out that when he had re-fit the original droplinks, he had fit them the wrong way round! Shows how much stress we have been under at the moment then!. So he quickly sorted them out and we managed to get an early run on the rolling road. The guys set Humphrey up and did one test run to check the fuelling and to make sure the engine was ok. We knew he over-fuelled and hoped to get this sorted today. The first test run went well, and nothing untoward happened, except from lots of fuel being used! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhdYbmEiyt8 The whining noise is the supercharger, I’ll come to this in a mo. The guys started arranging the first power run, however, about one second into the run, the revs dropped and the mechanic shouted that the throttle cable had come off. It turned out that the tiny screw holding the solderless nipple on to the end of the throttle cable had come out, but fortunately fell into a convenient place, so Phil refitted it and we tried again. Nope, it came off again and this time the nipple was nowhere to be seen. Ooer. Off the rollers then, and one of the really helpful mechanics began his search for new nipples! Apparently there was a bag of them somewhere! We finally managed to bodge the throttle cable back on, but decided we would go last in case the problem happened again. Whilst we were socialising, and looking at other cars, we realised that the other superchargers there weren’t making half the noise ours was. This is a tad concerning. Soon everyone had had their runs and it was time to get Humphrey back on the rollers. Everything crossed, the guys got him up to speed, and managed to get a figure. I think Phil had rather they didn’t, as the figure was in the 140s, about what a standard supercharger engine should be putting out, so basically our big pulley was doing nothing! A few faffs were done in order to sort out the over fuelling, and checked the boost on the supercharger, (we still need to check these figures to see if there is an issue) Phil decided that because of the really loud supercharger, and low power that there may be a fault with the supercharger itself, and planned to borrow one from our handy friend Matt, who has a supercharger engine sat in his garage. Thanks again Matt! Final figures were 145.5 at the flywheel and 109.5 at the wheels. Good things gained from the day were: sorting the overfuelling – we actually managed to drive home at the speed limit without needing to stop for fuel 3 times – and also finding out that the engine can run at full power without things going wrong. Sort of. Plans are to swap the supercharger over and hope! Ah well, I’m sure we’d be bored if things were simple eh? Some other pics: __________________