Shitbox Rally 2012 - Mario II

[MD]

Sheldon

A good call to go with the Bosch distributor. I have yet to find a local mechanic that knows what to do with a Marelli distributor and what makes things even more shitty is that over time the advance curves springs loose their tension and alter the timing. Very few workshops that I know of still have advance curve calibrating equipment (possibly the high end racing teams do) to plot the advance curves if you replace them.

The Bosch unit does not suffer from these vagaries.Better understood. More reliable. Simpler to service.

[Evan Bottcher]

The stuffed distributor was a Bosch electronic.  When the rotor fell apart it got wedged in the sensor (hall sensor?) with the fine copper winding and four electrodes.  Dead.

Replaced with a Bosch points distributor.  I think you said last year that was a good idea anyway MD - simpler and easy to fix.  We'll carry a couple of spare sets of points.

What next?

[MD]

Aha ! Now I see it all said the blind man..

Just one spare points set will do Evan. (save the bucks) However it is important to match the condenser value to the HT coil. They need to be a matching pair to avoid points burning out too quickly.

If you have the coil part numbers, a local Bosch distributor should be able to give you the capacitor part number. Because the chemical inside the capacitor dries out with heat and age so that it's value changes or it becomes useless, it should be changed now to go with a new set of points.

It wont suprise me if I told you that too last time cause there is a lot of Swiss cheese evolving in the cranium these days and lucky for me I only got two letters to my name.

[Evan Bottcher]

With help from the boys at Maranello Pur Sang we built a VERY SOLID bash plate to protect the sump and exhaust on the car this evening.  I'm sure Stuart could amuse us with a photo of Sheldon almost on fire as we heated and bent the 4mm plate (kindly donated by a fabrication shop opposite Colebrook St).  Sounds like the Strzelecki track is pretty rough and rocky, so the bash plate might see some action.

[alfagtv58]

That is pretty solid!  Do you think it will have a negative effect on the oil temperature now that you have taken the air flow away from the cooling fins on the sump?  Might be alright in the Melbourne cool temperatures, but if you hit some hot days up north......

[Sheldon McIntosh]

Do you think it will have a negative effect on the oil temperature now that you have taken the air flow away from the cooling fins on the sump? 

Almost certainly, but probably a pretty small effect.  I'd rather cope with that issue than a hole in the sump though....

[alfagtv58]

I suppose, its not in competition so it shouldnt be revving at 7000prm all day.




















But then again, I have seen you drive 

[MD]

Perhaps a compromise move would be to remove the plate (only 4 bolts) and make 3 or 4 x 50mm holesaw cuts in the front section which would retain the guard effects and allow some air flow.

[Evan Bottcher]

Like Sheldon said, not too worried. We know the radiator, hoses, thermostat, and fan all are tip top so cooling shouldn't be a worry.

Edit: I should never reply on the iphone.  Meant to say - but thanks for the suggestion.  Hopefully cooling won't be a worry given those other things are in good nick now.

[Sheldon McIntosh]

Perhaps a compromise move would be to remove the plate (only 4 bolts) and make 3 or 4 x 50mm holesaw cuts in the front section which would retain the guard effects and allow some air flow.

That was definitely something I considered when we were pondering how to make the guard, but I was worried that small rocks might be able to get in the holes and wedge themselves between the plate and the sump.  That could prove pretty disastrous I reckon. 

It's supposedly gonna be 30 degrees here in Melbourne tomorrow, so I'll take it for a decent 2 hour drive and keep an eye on the temperature.  If it does run any hotter it won't be too much work to cut some holes in the plate and put some steel mesh over the holes.

Looking at the data we're unlikely to get any temps over 35 during the rally.  Although a few days of 31-32 could be tough on the poor little shitboxes.  Glad I'm not driving a V6......

[Brad M]

Glad I'm not driving a V6......

Hold your tongue,  Stu & I know you are jealous ...

[Sheldon McIntosh]

Hehe.  Happy to keep my V6 experiences to the racetrack, rather than river crossings.  You should be alright with your lifted 90 though, and also good thinking moving the ECU higher, we had water getting inside last year. 

I'm just running through various waterproofing ideas right now actually, I reckon we'll make a better attempt at preventative measures than last year.  Almost certainly going to take a tarp to make a 'blind' on the front of the car to help with the bow-wave, will do a better effort at protecting the dizzy etc.

Jeez I'm getting excited, there's about 1600km of unsealed driving this year, a lot more than last year.  I reckon there will be a lot more dead cars this year..

[MD]

Guys, not to be too anal about this. Just to refine my point. I agree with you that the engine coolant temp will be ok as you say.

My suggestion was about the heat build up in the oil and affecting viscosity and in turn oil pressure which in turn,,,

I should have made this clear but I assumed we were on the same page.

More importantly, I hope the punters are getting behind all your hard work with some finacial follow through. Great to see local business houses providing materials and labour to get your shitbox together.

[Sheldon McIntosh]

My suggestion was about the heat build up in the oil and affecting viscosity and in turn oil pressure which in turn,,,

Yeah right, that sounds interesting, I hadn't actually considered that.  Feel free to expand on the topic.  I'll also keep a close eye on the pressure gauge tomorrow then.  If it helps we did a change to a very thick oil last night, before we put the plate on (but nearly forgot!!).  I'll actually be seeing tomorrow a very experienced rally driver who has rallied an Alfetta sedan in the past, so will seek further advice there.

I should have made this clear but I assumed we were on the same page.

You should know never to assume that with me MD.  I just assumed Evan, Bruno and Giancarlo knew what they were doing.

We still have a little bit of time for any modifications...

[Brad M]

Almost certainly going to take a tarp to make a 'blind' on the front of the car to help with the bow-wave, will do a better effort at protecting the dizzy etc.

Yep get on it, we have ours ready to go, just need to work out the fastening method.