First let me confirm that I am reading this correctly, because it is slightly ambiguous. It is 14 hours 15 minutes, right? Assuming that I am correct in that, I will say the following.

14 hours is a long time to not check the oil. I know that Enzo the 949 winning car normally uses almost zero oil, and we still checked it every 5-6 stints, and it used about 3 quarts for the 25hr. The other car was known to use a little oil, and proved that it did.

I cannot say that I personally have ever been in a car while a bearing goes, but in a car that I would guess probably has essentially straight through exhaust, I doubt that the driver would have much chance to hear it.

I am not saying that the only answer is low oil, I'm just throwing it out there, caus I don't know of much else that would cause an otherwise stock-ish looking motor to just destroy itself.

What were the gauges saying shortly before/after the engine died? If you had gauges for them, what were the water/oil gauges reading, and was that higher than they had been running?

 

Lemons/Chumpcar Miata handling tip..

Kyb GR2's + BMW 5 series bumpstops stacked in the front. No springs & no fsb. (effective spring rate of ~7-800 lbs.
Kyb GR2's + "front" H&R race springs on the rear. No rsb. ~300 lb rear rate.

We placed placed 10th in October's Chumpcar 18 hour enduro at PIR out of ~90 cars. Would have podiumed had it not been for some electrical gremlins. Car handled, dare I say, amazingly for what it was?

 

I think I have witnessed the solution to engine cooling woes.

An 8 valve 2.0l VW engine

Ran for us at Chump Car Laguna Seca for 7 hours after one of our drivers stuffed it in a tire wall and cracked the end tank on the radiator. we had no spare but No pressure and half full of coolant didn't seem to make a difference in our 85 Golf GTI.

We lost ~30 minutes swapping a motor mount that broke loose on impact as well and finished 8th loosing 7th on the last lap when the fuel pump came loose in the tank and it stopped going up the Rayhaul straight on the very last lap.

Same car finished 8th at PIR but I wasnt driving it there.

Bob

 

Yes, 14 hours and 15 minutes (race was 14:30 in length)

We ran 7 hours on Saturday and 7:30 hours on Sunday.

I checked the oil after Friday practice, and Sunday morning (added 2 quarts).


I wasn't driving when it let go, the driver didn't give any indication it was failing other than an engine that ceased to run and smoke coming from under the hood.



Gauges! We ain't got no stinkin' gauges!!!

Seriously, only gauges we had were the stock instrument cluster...and you know how useful that is.

 

LOL I gave you an OP gauge and a water temp gauge...come on now.

 

Yes, Todd, you did.

I even cut out a frame to hold them, it just needed to be welded in and then wire the gauges.

We just didn't make time to get those in.

I doubt they would have given the driver at the time any indication of potential failure. I think he was just trying to not get run over. :P

 

Barracuda? Small fish.

 

I know you guys are jealous of the wheels.

 

Cool at any rate. I'm making plans to do the april race with you guys.

 

Sounds like you were probably about 2 quarts low... again...

Endurance racing really is fun. I'll have to do one from the driver seat some time. It looks like you guy had as blast, and only needed just that little bit extra, and it would have been a really, really fun weekend.

 

It already was a really fun weekend. We were taking bets on whether the engine would last the weekend. It was an abused car when we got it, so this was a timely demise.

Already found a replacement engine, so that will go in before the next LeMons race in February.

It may or may not be a Mazda powerplant. :P

 

are there rules in the LeMons series about alternate engines?

 

That car truly is a heinous piece of ****. I love it

 

Any of you down for a good time, we will probably have an extra seat or two for the race in College Station, Feb 11-12 >

http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/yeehaw12.aspx

PM me for details and availability.

Note - I will probably not be driving this weekend, but will most likely be down to crew for the team.

 

Depends on how crappy they are or the track record they have in LeMons.

The Miata and BMW E30 are said to be made of cheat, and are almost always thrown in the top class with BS laps.

There are 3 classes A, B, C and an "experimental" X class.

The organizers of LeMons have stated they'd love to see an Iron Duke (GM 3800 V6) or old flathead out running...

I'd imagine either of those engines in a Miata would place the car in either the B or C classes.

 

Okay, I will be driving this coming race in College Station, and we do still have a seat available for anyone interested.

Feel free to PM or call me.

 

Sounds like a blast.

 

TWS was...awesome!

I had a great time. Both stints I found a car to run lap after lap with.

1 of those I actually got on video.

 

I trust there were no cooling issues to speak of at the race since it decided to drop down into the low 30's. It was good racing with you guys out there and I love the writing on the dash bar.

How much drag did that flag make the second day? I was amazed at how fast that 35 datsun was with Troy in the car running his fastest lap of 2:02.

 

Well...Day 1 we were getting into 5th just after the start/finish line.

Day 2 with the flag posted high, I was able to carry out 4th until I needed to brake for turn 2.

I'd say the flag cost us 5-10mph on the straight, and the video is the first stint of day two, so I had the flag "handicap". The 240Z was still quite a bit faster in the straights...even without the flag. That is a nice car for a LeMon!

...and no cooling issues at all. It was actually working too well. Notice in the video it never got about 1/4 up the gauge.