Originally Posted by
Fatoldman7
Thanks everyone for your help. It's amazing how much information can be had here in such a short amount of time. I'm sure this forum has kept many people in the sport because of the help that is available to those in need.
This question brought about a trip into some long suppressed memories, and how you went about things before the internet came along. Maybe some of the more seasoned racers might remember how you tackled a question like this back in the dark ages...
Problem: car that cooled just fine, is starting to overheat. Must be mechanical, take everything apart cooling related, check, flush, clean everything, and put it back together. Hope that just taking everything apart, and putting it back together will cure the problem. (as it often does with race cars) No car stills running hot. Maybe it's some aero thing brought about by the changes you've made to the bodywork? Need more information on aerodynamics: get your Classic Motor Book catalog, and order everything related to automobile aerodynamics. Maybe comprehend 10% of what you just read from all of your new additions to your racing library. Next, go to the local college engineering library, and check out all books, and SAE papers relating to automobile aerodynamics. Maybe comprehend 5% of that material. Armed with a vague idea of what the problem might be, you need sensors to verify if you really understood anything that you just read. Take a trip to the local public library to that magic row of green: the big green books (Thomas Register) This would be the equivalent to a Google search today, for all of you young folks. Write down a bunch of phone numbers, and start calling, hoping to get someone that would be knowledgeable and willing to help, most of the time the person on the other end of the phone realized that you where just some clueless hack, looking for some free information, and a few dollars worth of parts. Most of these phone calls would be made from "your" payphone at work, the well hidden one, that everyone knew was off limits on Monday mornings because you be there all morning ordering parts for the next race week end. This also produced a big spike in your next months phone bill because of all the long distance calls, and a few tense moments with your wife/ girlfriend over the large long distance phone bill. Next you mount all of your new goodies, and pay up for the next open practice day before a race week end. Make sure your data logger is in good shape (drink a few less beers the night before) Hit the track looking for verification of you new found knowledge, and maybe some new found speed...nothing, gauges do nothing, maybe theirs not much pressure differential on the short straights, maybe it just happens at the end of the long straights, again, not a good time to be looking at you crotch. By the end of the day, you've almost wrecked your car numerous times, scared your self s__less numerous times, and learned nothing. Go to plan B, tape yarn, and smear oil all over your car, and have some buddies take pictures as you drive your car down the road. A few more tense moments with the wife/ girlfriend when she finds out what your doing. Take your buddies out for beers as payment for taking part in illegal activities, and get yourself plenty drunk to forget the past few months of wasted effort.
I hope I'm not the only one that used to go through this sort of drill?