Road Racing, country club style: NASA at Autobahn

[steve]

get back on track with my college education.

That's an excellent idea Kyle!

I wish I would have been paying attention. I would have loved to run down to Joliet and watched or helped out last weekend. I bet I could have dragged a few of the locals like Ed and Mitch out too.

Steve

 

[4BangR-x]

You're in luck steve, the Drive the Autobahn double regional is this weekend~~ wOOt

 

[Slow old poop]

I sent the story that leads off this thread to my new boss, Leonard Moore. He used to race Trans Am and sponsored an Indy Car. Here's what he said:

-------------------
Great story--typical race weekend--all you need is a spare everything. The AMS group sounds like they were trained at MII [that's Moore Industries Inc., my new employer--Rich]. Beautiful response. I had the same thing happen to us at Indy--Roger Penske came over to our garage, congratulated us for making the show and offered any kind of support we needed. Very special guy and day.
Keep the shiny side up.

-----------------
How'd you like to have a boss like that?

And he's comparing AMS to Roger Penske! If the AMS guys are watching this thread, they should be proud to have an ex-Indy car owner compare them to Penske.

Rich

 

[AMS stampy]

Sorry I didnt get in on this thread earlier. I was dog sick yesterday, still kinda am today.

Thank you very kindly for the nice words. I hope to see you guys back on the road really soon

Eric

 

[stealthTT]

Sorry I didnt get in on this thread earlier. I was dog sick yesterday, still kinda am today.

Thank you very kindly for the nice words. I hope to see you guys back on the road really soon

Eric

Thanks Eric and I hope your feeling better soon.

Eric always had a minute to help us and was the one that offered to pick up any parts we needed and bring them to the track for us. He's a real asset to AMS.

I might have to bring the Stealth over for some fine tuning on the dyno. I was really impressed by how your EVO's ran!

 

[stealthTT]

Well, Rich dropped the car off at AMS this morning. I just talked to him. When they removed the tranny, they found three broken mounting points. We found the front ear on the motor side at the track. One of the top ears on the transmission side was broken. Finally, the rear bolt had sheered off. They welded everything back up.

They also found the clutch disk was on it's way out so they replaced it. Likewise with the throwout bearing and lower metal cover. I'm also told they replaced the alignment dowels since they were fubared from the 3 mounting points breaking.

So Rich is preparing to load the car on the trailer. And he'll get to play again in about 3 1/2 weeks at MAM.

 

[mavisky]

I'm guessing that sheared rear bolt was the main issue. I accidentally left that out a couple years back and snapped the front ear off of the block within 5 miles of driving.

 

[Zero Bar]

Finally, the rear bolt had sheered off.

I had this exact came thing happen to me just a couple weeks ago, do they think it was related or caused by one of the other mount failures?? I looked over mine but didn't see anything obvious, I'm gonna go double check everything now.

Good to hear the car will be fine and running again soon.

 

[Slow old poop]

I had this exact came thing happen to me just a couple weeks ago, do they think it was related or caused by one of the other mount failures?? I looked over mine but didn't see anything obvious, I'm gonna go double check everything now. Good to hear the car will be fine and running again soon.

I don't "launch" the car, I don't speed shift it, and I don't downshift to slow the car. It was drag raced once in its life, but that was last year on the old motor. So I am at a loss to understand how the rear bolt sheared off (which led to breaking the front ear off and putting a hole in the tranny near the ear).

o A worn-out front motor mount? (AMS replaced it with a polyurethane bushing)
o An ACT 2600 clutch? (puts more pressure on the engine/trans connection than a 2100)
o The rigors of road racing?

In the immortal words of Emily Latella, "If it isn't one thing, it's another."

Rich (much poorer since visiting AMS)

 

[stealthTT]

I wonder if one of the mounting bolts vibrated loose? I think we should loctite everything vital on the car. Rich has had a couple of other problems resulting from bolts vibrating loose since installing the 2.3 stroker. Or there's always safety wire. I wonder if you can buy safety wire in bulk.

 

[Slow old poop]

Rich (much poorer since visiting AMS)

Having work done at AMS in Chicago is a true EXPERIENCE.

The lot is full of Evos from all over -- Texas, Florida and, of course, Illinois, all there for mods and dyno tuning. The dyno is booked through the end of September because Martin, ace tuner, has gotten a rep. He recently tuned an Evo to 1,000 hp, the limit of the dyno. A bunch of DSMs were there for work too, but mostly Evos.

Sitting in the waiting area, you see all sorts of folks coming to get their cars worked on, or to buy race parts, cans of methanol, intercooler parts, and so on. You also see some real nebbishes, who don't have a clue about cars, but want AMS to work on their cars.

The mechanics are unbelievably competent. They know everything about DSMs, and are willing to share their knowledge. Your DSM could not be in better hands.

They are expensive, though.

I understand AMS has gotten a bad rep from some folks, for one reason or another. In my view, if you take a 2.0L motor up to the 400-500 hp range, you have to expect some failures along the way. Just because it is possible to mod and tune an engine into that range, it doesn't mean the engine will last. Even Ross pistons and Eagle rods will break under enough stress. And, when you add the stress of racing on top of all that, you break things -- like when I sheared off the transmission mounting bolt.

You have to pay to play. That means spending a lot of money for expert work, and being prepared to pay the piper when things break. Because they will. Believe me, I know.

For DSM road racers in the Midwest, it looks like AMS is the best we have. Bring money, though. Lots of it.

Rich

 

[mavisky]

I've made a habit of loctiting all sorts of stuff on my motors. Transmission bolts are on the top of the list.