NCCA Challenge of Clubs 2010

[116gtv]

hopefully the ute fix is no big deal  

So maybe the ride height of the blue sedan is the way to go after all?

sounds like a re-wire makes sense - unfortunately im not qualified to give you any advice on that kinda thing..

[Mat Francis]

Blue one is also standard height, just the tyre size and wheel offset that gives the illusion. Still don't think it's high enough, about another inch would make it much more bearable i think. I think i read in the other thread you were intending to motorkhana and autocross your car? If so, i would imagine standard height should be fine. Didn't have issues on the Sunday, it was just on the goat tracks saturday night we had problems.

[redalfaracing]

Provisional results are out for the Challenge of clubs. See below

[Simon Francis]

Hmmm I know where I finished Trail B, dead friggen last!! We turned left out of the start control and 500m later we slowly ground to a halt. My 1st thought was the fuel pump auto cut-off thingy had died but we had replaced that 24hrs earlier. After trying to restart it for a few minute the battery was dead. I got out in the poring rain (one of the perks of being the navigator ) to have a quick check under the bonnet and in the boot to make sure nothing obvious was wrong was made before a call to our service crew (who were on their way to the pub  lol) had them meet us to try and fix the problem. We figured that the battery voltage had dropped so low that the fuel pump switch was cutting it power to it so we hot wired it from the battery and got a boost start, figuring that the alternator would charge the battery back up, we were wrong. A quick glance at the dash reveled the voltmeter showing about 6 (lowest on the gauge) even with the engine running so we decided to head back to service park for some more fault finding. After a few min of head scratching in the poring rain, we decided it wasn't the might to be fixing electrical gremlins and started the drive home, that's when the real fun began.

On the way home we started losing more and more electrical items, 1st the terratrip, then the clock, lights were dimming, wipers were slowing, and the engine temp alarm sensor had a mind of its own and started a nice high pitch squeal to make it even more fun. We towed the car off the freeway into the main street of Gordon and sat and waited whilst the service crew went back for the trailer. Finally at 12:30am we get the car back, stick the battery on charge and decide to fix it in the morning for the autocross.

7am rolls around and we show up to help fix it only to find the car running fine, it turns out the main alternator ground was loose and not making a good contact so we were running the car on the battery all day. We found it by accident when hooking up a loose light wire we found under the bonnet. A few choice words were said by all involved before heading off to the airport for the autocross

On the upside the autocross went faultlessly, I was car 4 so was still pretty much a "road sweeper" for the 1st run but after that run I was 13th overall and 1st in class, not too bad for a little 1600cc Holden Gemini (am I allowed to mention such a car on this forum? lol). As Matt said some rewiring of the Alfetta was in order, aka hot wiring (direct wire from battery to coil for ignition and a wire you had to hold on the battery and starter relay to start it). At the end of the event I was 23rd I think overall and 3rd in class (was beaten by 2 Hyundai excels, oh the embarrassment lol) but only 2sec behind 2nd place so it was close all day, and the cars owner, Liz Gilhome, is still pissed with me for setting quicker times than her, sorry my bad Liz

By far the best part of the weekend was seeing a few alfas out there competing in rallying, I got some very handy tips for my GTV6 rally car build (thanks Greg, no doubt many more more questions will be asked) and seeing the red GTV6 sideways the whole length of the start finish straight at the autocross was an awesome sight, sounded wonderful to

Sorry to hear about the dramas getting home Matt, but glad to hear you got there in the end and the frantic re-re-wiring of the car and the end of the autocross held up to get you home

[Mat Francis]

Didn't get much good video in the end, but here's some of it anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY_v9KHSqLU

[Simon Francis]

Great to see some vids of the alfas in action, gets spoiled later on by yours truly in the gemini but still good the sound of the GTV6 is just awesome. And I apologize for my senseless babbling in the background of some of the vid lol.

Mat that "excursion" of yours at the end looked interesting, especially since that part of the track is flat in 3rd so not exactly slow

[Mat Francis]

Said excursion was performed by the always over enthusiastic Jimmy. As you mentioned, he tried flat out third and it didn't quite pay off. I'm gonna guess that the gearing's a tad different between the alfetta and the gemini? flat out third seemed pretty quick when i got anywhere close to trying it.

[redalfaracing]

great video Mat, would love the shots you got of the GTV6 on dvd some time. I couldn't get anywhere near flat out third even on the main straight. Maybe with the 24 valve???  Try next year.

[Simon Francis]

Sorry Mat my bad. Yeah the gearing is probably a little different, I noticed that to do 100km/h in the gemini down the freeway was around 4000rpm, I know my GTV6 is 3000rpm for the same speed, not sure if the Alfetta would be different. Also the gemini has  5-link hilux rear end under it with something like a 5.35:1 ratio diff, pulls like a train just doesn't have the top end

Gregg flat out in 3rd with the 24v? God help us all that would be some serious speed  and some very big rooster tails out the back, and one very happy driver too I bet