DIY Air-Oil Separator - Crankcase Breather - Black Flag Avoider

So our die hard race fans may remember that one (of the many) Black Flags we received at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2011was due to "Oil streaming down the side of your car like teary makeup down the face of a 13 year old Cure fan upon hearing Robert Smith combed his hair", as seen in this most-awesome photo:

Oops.

Anyway, that was due to having no oil collection bottle on the crankcase breather (among other things, but those were covered elsewhere... suspend your disbelief for a bit and follow me here).

So, this guy at work abandoned his nice aluminum water bottle in his old office, closed on the desk, for about 6 months. Then someone "helpful" put it in the kitchen for a few weeks, as a giveaway. It sat there for awhile, and so I finally opened it... and hooo boy that milk sure does curdle! It actually bent the bottom of the bottle out with it's botulistic-dreams of killing everyone in the office. So, I took it, washed it about 6 times, and decided to hack it to bits. I hate spoiled milk. And I hate to waste a cool spun aluminum-anything even more.

Here is how it unfolded on a quiet Sunday afternoon...

Step 1: buy a copper hose barb and matching cap (be sure to try the threads in the store, those plumbers are NUTSO with their wack-tastic thread pitches)

Step 2: Drill out the cap end to make it a nut:

Step 3: Lightly dent side of bottle to make an approximately-flat area so the hose barb seals ok, drill matching hole, duct-tape cap/nut to the end of your finger because that's the only damn way you could figure out how to thread the damn thing even after a damn pot of damn coffee, and thread it, tighten it to seal.

 Step 4: (not shown) Stuff some stainless steel pot scrubbers (make sure they don't have soap or any grunge on them, must be STAINLESS or the thicker plastic scrubbies) so the oil in the vapor has something to spray and condense onto, then fall gently undamaged-blowby-valve-seals-ly to the bottom of the bottle.

Step 5: Drill out the cap with a one-size -too-small drill and thread in another hose barb, then attach a crankcase breather filter to it. Ta da!

Step 6: Install newly-minted Air-Oil Separator/Crankcase Breather/Black Flag Avoider into rockum-sockum MGB-GT race car and Bobs Your Uncle you are ready for LeMons NJMP 2012! (pay no attention to those zip-ties pulling the bottle holder flanges together, those will be replaced with a metal spring once I make it to Pep Boys auto later this week... honest!)

New Throttle Cable, Finally

Our throttle cable has always been a mess; not sure how it lasted endurance 3 races.

I tried to Tap-and-Dye the end of the new throttle cable so i could positively hold it in the Weber DGV Carb attachment bracket, but I positively failed to thread it. I reek with a tap and dye set, leaving a swath of destruction in my wake whenever I attempt it. I decided to quit while I still had a functioning cable and purchase (with actual money!) a proper cable end/attach/adjuster bit.

Both bike shops in Mt. Airy were closed on Sunday, so I resorted to raiding my backyard stash of old Ten-Speed bikes I had been stockpiling to make my Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race vehicle. Below is the victim, and the two pieces it donated:

The Cable Adjuster needed to be drilled out a bit so the new throttle cable end would fit, here you can see the nice shiny newly drilled inside, and below that the end of the new throttle cable:

Here is the final setup, with much improved throttle feel, less cable wear, less cable-falling-out-of-bracket-and-getting-throttle-stuck-at-wide-open-SCOT!, less badness overall.

Yeah us. Maybe we'll finish a few damn laps this year.

Mirror Mirror On The Wall - YOU SUCK

One complaint from everyone that's ever sat in this beastie of an MGB is that the passenger mirror is too small, hard to position, it wiggles when driving, its face is flat and so doesn't see much, and the driver can't reach it him/herself to adjust it.

I believe we've put on, or tried to put on, a new mirror every single bloody race. I've had it with all the complaints (and to be fair, I was the one that complained the loudest about it).

One trip to Crazy Ray's U-Pick-It, U-Pull-It and ta-da! The biggest, ugliest, nastiest mirror I could find....

"Old" lame-ass mirror on the left, "New" Jurassic Park mirror on the right... OH HELL YES:

 

If I remember correctly, it's off a mid-ninties Astro Van... go ahead, you can say it: "That's Classy!"

As far as wiring it goes, well, there are many many wires and supposedly you tell them apart by something called "color", though I've never believed in such a crass concept.

I tracked down the connectors on the web and ohm'ed it out; wired it up; fabricated a sturdy mount for the control switch:

 

 Spot the new Joystick! The driver can easily reach it...

 Mirror mount, outside view; this actually took the most time I believe:

 Mirror mounted, inside view:

Here are the wiring diagrams for 1997 Chevy Power Mirrors. The passenger side mirror that I grabbed must have been a replacement because the colors match a drivers side mirror, at least that's what the people I live with tell me...

More Fuel Pump Coddling - Vibration Dampeners

Installed a set of "Vibration Dampener Mounts" (Lord Mounts) that I bought from Pegasus for $4.99 each; part 3048-02 10-32 Male-Male Shock Mount, .75 dia x.62 high. Probably could have gone one size larger, but it seems pretty stable. Next step for the fuel pump area is fabricate metal mesh to go under the pump to keep road debris from molesting it...

Bogging Down Exiting Corners - Weber DGV Accel Pump?

During our last few races (ok, all of our races), I've noticed the ol' chap tends to hesitate when exiting corners. Up till now I've assumed that's just the carb being slightly dirty or temporarily starved when stomping on the gas (right after holding your breath through the tight corners).

It's been nagging me for a year now; something's wrong, but not sure how to troubleshoot it without having someone hang on the hood while we drive around the track?

Then I stumble across this little gem of a description from the Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies catalog:

Accelerator Pump Diaphragm Assembly, Weber 32/36 DGV

 
If your car bogs down exiting corners, your accelerator pump may not be pumping! When the throttle is opened all the way from idle, the accelerator pump should deliver a shot of fuel directly into the carburetor throat. If this shot is not visible (with the engine off), the diaphragm may be ruptured.






You know what today is? DAY I GOT COOKIE!!!

Problem may still be elsewhere, but boy does that description fit! With all the crap and junk and dirt and bits and crud and grime and filth and rubbish and mud and garbage we pulled out of the tank and carb and filters at 24 Hours of LeMons Summit Point Capitol Offense 2010, it is very possible this contraption is hobbled.

Thanks Pegasus for the schoolin'. Order placed.

[UPDATE 2012-04-08] Either we don't have a Weber DGV, or Pegasus sent us the wrong part... either way, it don't fit no way no how. We need the part shown in photo above; the part we received was not 'square' and the brass pin in the middle was mush skinnier and was not spring loaded.

Bob found and took out the old part, and it looks like there could be a little leakage around the circular shape of the rubber is.

We put the original piece back in until we get our hands on the unobtanium accel pump...

Brighter Brake Lights, for those about to pass us (eg, everyone)

Last year we added some old-time beehive-style brake lights (re: cheap). Watching the car on the track I noticed the brake lights were a little lame in the daylight, and I've finally got 'round to fixing that.

 Here is the difference in brightness between the standard bulb and the SuperBrightLeds.com part 1156-R19-WV:

 

The "bulb" itself (actually 19 LEDs and a circuit board) is a tiny bit taller/wider than the red lens... 

... so to make the retaining snap ring hold the lens properly, I de-nubbed the lens to allow more 'grab' area between the ring and the black base (as seen in photo 2). [ note: if you are extremely bored or have a snap ring fetish, you can see the retaining snap ring in photo 1 if you zoom in on one of the lights; it's the silver that goes around 7/8th of the circumference.]

De-nubbing:

The punchline? Naturally after doing all this hacking resulting in just-ok results, the exact same beehive brake lights are pre-made with LEDs by SuperBrightLeds for the same price as the LED bulb alone! Although, to be fair, their assembly is sold as a marker light and only has 6 LEDs, whereas my hack has 19...

Light, seeking light, doth light of light beguile

In preparation for the ChumpCar's 14 Hour race at VIR- the beautifully named "St. Guinness - Patron Saint of Perpetual Indulgence Challenge Pint Race", we've added some (non-Lucas) headlights to the MGB-GT.

While they may be cheap, at least they're weak so we won't notice nor care when they finally get smashed up. You may call that "Planning Ahead"; we like to call that "Not Really Giving A Flying Fark."

Lights are Pilot NV802CP Off Road Lights, 100 Watts (I'm guessing total; they don't actually say).