May 25,02 Focus Day @ MotorSport Ranch - Page 3

Joe Z · #41 (**permalink**) 03-04-2002, 03:12 PM

Hey John,

Count me in 100%!

Joe Z

jrussell · #42 (**permalink**) 03-04-2002, 03:13 PM

Clay,
The "possible" is David McKenzie's Son, who races an FFR along with his Dad, lives in Austin and "apparently" wants to join us, but I have not had any contact with him, nor has he posted, etc.
David is also "computer challenged" and we have to rely on John Ross as the information conduit for both of them.
Maybe we can get John Ross to secure $190 that will hold a spot for both of them, and at that point both of them are in!!
I DO plan to limit the field on this first event, with 20 being the minimum and probably 26 to 30 being the cut-off.
I want to make this a success, and have room to grow for next year.
I have not been able to make contact with Jack today, but have left him a message that we ARE going to do this, and what questions need to be answered.
Stay tuned, don't touch that dial, more earth-shaking news at 6:00pm!!
John Russell
SPF#586

SPF#647 · #43 (**permalink**) 03-04-2002, 06:20 PM

John,

Count me in. I'm planning to come up from Houston with the wife and kids. It sounds like great fun.

I'll see if I can round up a couple of more folks from here to make the trip.

Mike Miller
Houston

jkbedell · #44 (**permalink**) 03-04-2002, 09:08 PM

John, give us an update on this event. As I browse the web site, I see that the Porsche club already has the track May 25.

bwcobra15 · #45 (**permalink**) 03-04-2002, 09:22 PM

According to the Motorsport Ranch calendar at http://www.motorsportranch.com/calendar.html the Porsche club has the track the weekend of May 18 & 19, 2002. We are planning on being there May 25th.

jkbedell · #46 (**permalink**) 03-04-2002, 10:26 PM

Your right Bob, sorry, I was looking at the TMS schedule earlier and got them mixed up.

Snakecharmer · #47 (**permalink**) 03-05-2002, 09:03 AM

Yikes,

I blew my motor on Sunday. Nice pile of brass in the pan so it must be a bearing. I'm going to pull the engine this weekend and get it back to Coast High. It's under warranty so they are going to ship and fix everything at no cost.

John, even if the car isn't back together, I'm in for the entry fee and I'll be there with my stop watch rooting you guys on!!

Charmer

P.S. Thanks Drew and Gary S. for the latenight phone time!

scr11 · #48 (**permalink**) 03-05-2002, 09:14 AM

Damn Stretch, very sorry to hear the news. What the heck happened? How many miles were on the motor and what was Coast's response to your call. I'm very interested in how they approach this.
Sorry man, I know it sucks.

Scott

jkbedell · #49 (**permalink**) 03-05-2002, 09:17 AM

That bites Stretch. I guess the good news is that you made it through the Austin event. That would have really sucked if it happenned during or before the event. Keep us up to date.

Snakecharmer · #50 (**permalink**) 03-05-2002, 05:20 PM

Coast High has been great so far. They really sound like they want to make this all better. They are honoring the 30k mile warranty with no questions. I really appreciate good customer service and they this is a good example. Plus, everyone on this planet deserves a chance to fix an unintentional mistake before they are judged.

The motor has about 1900 miles on it. Doug and I have been worried about the oiling in this engine from day 1. It seemed to have worked itself out during the first 200 miles but obviously, we were wrong. Some part, or clearance setting, just wasn't right.

No biggie. I'm actually looking forward to being able to stand inside the empty engine bay so I can clean out all the remaining grass and dirt from the last event at the Ranch

Charmer

scr11 · #51 (**permalink**) 03-05-2002, 05:50 PM

1900 miles and then it blew? What type of oiling problems did you have? Too little at all rpm's is my guess. I wonder if Coast had installed any of bearings in a different manner than the rest. You may or may not find out depending on what they say following the tear down.
So, for the benefit of others out there, what do you think happened and how might others avoid the same situation?
What a headache.
Good luck on the rebuild. Perhpas they'll get it done quickly (and correct) for you.

Scott

jrussell · #52 (**permalink**) 03-06-2002, 04:02 AM

Stretch,
This is a bummer of sorts, but at least you do have a "warranty" to help defray the costs on this deal. It will be interesting to see what actually went wrong, IF they are honest enough to be truthful. I have my doubts, considering the problems Doug had from the get-go, that they admit what let go and why. I guess the bottom line is that they are going to fix that bad boy, & I will bet you are going to be at the Ranch in your car.
Hey, you STILL owe me a ride!!!
Keep us informed.
John R.

Snakecharmer · #53 (**permalink**) 03-06-2002, 08:52 AM

Scott and John (and other interested parties),

My feeling is that one of the crank journal-to-bearing clearance was off and that the bearing was slipping around a little. This would explain the slight fluctuations in oil pressure on day one. If the bearing found a temporarily comfortable place to sit, it would explain why the problem seemed to go away. And also why it came back when I really pushed it hard. Joe and I inspected the crank and one of the rod pairs seemed to be a little loose but I didn't want to pull the caps. I'll let CHP do that so they can be sure to find the reason for the failure.

I say "pushed it hard", but I've never driven it without the 6k rev limiter in it so it's never been subject to extreme RPMs. Even then, I rarely hit 6k as the motor seems to feel better shifting between 5200 and 5500 rpm during fast excelleration.

Apart from the fluctuation in the beginning, the oil pressure has been really strong. It operated between 50 and 65 psi, unless it's hot and at idle which drops the pressure to 40.

I expect that Coast High will tell me exactly what went wrong due to the history that we've had with this engine. If I'm not satisfied that they've found the reason and explained it well, I wont take the motor back.

It will be a week before I can get this thing crated and back to CHP so it may be a while before I have any news. I'll keep everyone up to date.

As I said before, I'm confident that CHP will make this right.

Charmer

4RE KLR · #54 (**permalink**) 03-06-2002, 10:25 AM

Charmer,

I can say one thing for sure you certainly have the right attitude about this. I like your statment that "Every person one this planet diserves a chance to fix a unintentional mistake". I will quote you on that. I wrote it down.

We should all be so patient. With that positive of attitude I would jump through hoops for my customers. Why don't you move to Dallas so I could build you a 6,000 square foot home with a 2,500 square foot garage. Customers / clients with attitudes like yours are rare these days.

Keep us informed.

Ferrari Killer
Steve Parks

Snakecharmer · #55 (**permalink**) 03-06-2002, 02:12 PM

Thanks Steve, that's nice of you to say. I'll keep you well informed

Stretch

jrussell · #56 (**permalink**) 03-07-2002, 01:41 PM

To all attending.
WE HAVE SECURED THE DATE- MAY 25TH, 2002 AT MOTORSPORT RANCH!!!!
Please send your checks for $95.00 made out to Jack Farr as soon as possible to me,
John Russell
5354 Monticello Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75206-6038
In the event of inclement weather, we will re-schedule the event at no penalty to us.
This is a BIG step for the TCC, so PLEASE send me your checks as soon as you can. I am really fired up about this event, and since Jack has recently built an FFR to race at his track(if any of you did not know, Jack Farr owns Motorsport Ranch) ,we need to sign him up as a member of our Club.
Thanks to all or you that have supported this event(Stretch, they WILL get the engine fixed & back to you in time to make this!!), so please mail the checks as quickly as possible.
My check #5112 for $95.00 is the first, so who is going to be #2, and WHO is going to be #20??
Thanks, & YYYIIIIPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
John Russell

Snakecharmer · #57 (**permalink**) 03-07-2002, 02:09 PM

GREAT JOB JOHN!!! Thanks for spending your time getting this set up for the club

This will be an event to remember! Another great TCC tradition being born.

As for 2nd to 20th, you could always ride with me John and then you wouldn't have to worry about it.

This is gonna be a blast!!!

Stretch

Joe Z · #58 (**permalink**) 03-08-2002, 09:17 AM

Way to go, John!

I'm putting my check in the mail today. I only hope that Stretch will have his car running before May 25. Good luck, Stretch!

Joe Zsebenyi

little greg · #59 (**permalink**) 03-09-2002, 04:45 PM

Would love to be a part of this neat training / fun event but I have company in town who are leaving that same afternoon. Sure hate to miss something like this but thanks for putting it together

jrussell · #60 (**permalink**) 03-09-2002, 05:41 PM

Ladies & Gentlemen:
Here's the current Roll Call of Attendee's..With checks in hand.
1. John Russell ( This is a no-brainer!)
2. Keith Williams
3. Joe Zsebenyi 3/11/01 (Joe Z)
4. Dick Flesher 3/12/02
5. Chip Mello 3/14/02
6. John Ross
7. Clint Henderson (Hello World)3/15
8. Stretch Williams
9. James Baldwin 3/16/02
10. Gary Morris
11. Matt Tice 3/17/02 St. Pats. Day
12. Lawrence Bell 3/20/02
13. Mike Miller 3/24/02
14. Clay Fugate
15. David Mckenzie
16. Mark Mckenzie 3/26/02
17. Rick Orsini 3/27/02
18. Bobby Worley
19. Colin Clark 4/17/02
20. Keith Schmidt- 5/15/02 A WINNER &
also taking John Ross's place due
to a blown engine.
21. ??
Yeah, I know it is Saturday, but I got Keith's check today, so he is in the #2 spot. Stretch, this is what I was referring to earlier in the thread. All that come to this will be #1 in My BOOK!!!!!!
I will update this as the checks come in.
Thanks again to all of you that participate, and this is going to be the best deal you will ever get to learn to drive your car at speed in a wonderfully controlled environment. They do rent helmets at the track.. about $10 or so.
John R.