Sears Pointless Work Update

Work continued on cars this weekend and we made some good inroads.  That is quite the feat with the current weather in our area.  It might be braver for the team to travel to get to the shop, than to even drive the cars on track.  So many thanks to the team for making this happen.

As for the work, both cars got some good attention.  The big issues on the Z is our fight with various wheel bearing all four corners.  Several weeks ago our teammate  "The Count" made it to the shop and help replace the left rear bearing.  During that weekend we also thought the left front bearing was shot.  However, on closer examination the bearing was not the problem, it was the whole spindle had sheared loose and allowed the wheel to freely wobble.  No, that is not good.  Since then left side has been replaced.

Then seeing how catastrophic that could have been the right side got some preventative maintenance, and that assembly was replaced this weekend.

While doing this job, two issues were learned.  First, the damage is not hard to occur, and it has been only luck that we have not had this trouble before.  The second is that the rebuilding of this assembly and by extension the replacing of the front bearing is a lot harder, and needs specialized tools than first thought.  So, the answer; acquire two entire assemblies, build them up, and have them ready if needed, so the job can be done trackside.

The Z also received some attention in the cooling department.  From this last race some induced rubbing of the fan shroud by the crank pulley, caused damage to the structure of the radiator.  It does not look like the damage got into the radiator tubes, however seeing the aftermath of an unnoticed radiator leak from the team's second race in Reno, a new radiator was installed.  Attention was paid to the fan mounting bolts that caused the damage, so some alternate retaining brackets were designed to mount the fan.  Now we just need drivers not to encourage a narrowing of the distance between the fan and the crank pulley.

The D also got a lot of attention.  The first items was to address a shifting problem.  Reports from late on Sunday had several drivers have gear selection troubles.  One thought is the syncros.  A second is the wearing out of the shifter.  The shifter was taken apart, and it was noticed that excessive wear was present.  So parts where changed in hopes that corrects the trouble.

A second upgrade was from the oil containment system of the shifter.  The original shroud was ripped, and resulted in oil occasionally spraying the driver.  To solve this a zip lock baggy was installed to prevent oil spray.  The new solution come with thanks to Z-Chef for the inspiration and a worn-out oven mit.  This upgrade is thought to also help with a possible flame suppression if it ever came to that.

The upgrade to the rear differential is also completed.  Driveline to half-shafts were all replaced and updated to the 1.8 spec.  Since a lot of work was put into getting to this point, on the day of installation the truly hard part was getting the original spindle nuts off the mounted half-shafts.  It took Lugnut stopping on the breaks, Torch wedging the rotor with a bar, and Muddy with unfathomable long cheater pipe torquing way.  Yes, a Breaker Bar was harmed in the loosing of that stubborn nut.  Just after the grand loosing, Z-Chef came to take lunch orders.  This brings drive-thru to a different level.

(Note or almost warning on the new differential.  It is stiff.  It is not as stiff as the lock differential, but during the test drive inside tire chirping was whitenessed when pulling out for a test drive.)

The D also got some more alignment treatment.  After hammering, pulling, bending, and prying we think the cars balance has been restored.  Here is the scales result to prove the balance.

Now we just need to await the results of the alignment treatment to see if we have truthly recovered.

With the major repairs done on both cars we can know focus on the punch list for the race.  I should have that procured in the next weeks and we are on our way.