8.4.2011

Thursday, August 4th.

The day before NJMP Lightning.

After blowing out a rear Moton shock at Pocono, Hugh sent his shock to be revalved and repaired. Turn around was extremely quick, thanks to the skillful workers at SRP Engineering. Unfortunately, a questionable compression knob did not allow the shock to compress enough even on its softest setting, possibly making it nearly impossible to control when hitting bumps on the track. So both rear shocks this time were sent back to SRP to be fully inspected.

Cecil had his engine replaced with a unit from an '97 M3 with relatively low miles. He was prepped and ready to go to NJMP in very little time at all.

Richard Hunter's Acura Integra R suffered from low compression in cylinder #2, which cut down the car's power considerably. Schoolboy planned to run the car anyways though. New rear wheel bearings and an oil pan gasket were installed as well as a full transmission flush and fluid change. After running the car for a bit at the shop, Hugh, Rich, and Griff realized that something was obviously wrong with the motor, as it basically sounded like a Subaru flat-4 motor rather than a high-revving inline-4.

With a bit of inspection, Hugh found one of the valve springs had completely cracked and gone soft causing major ticking and not allowing the car to idle properly. The head will soon be removed and sent to the machine shop for any repairs and replacements.

Luiz Serva went to NJMP early on Friday to get a 'Test & Tune' day in since he has not raced in GTS3 since NJMP back in mid-April. Everything was going well until his engine woes from last year reoccurred. The car began to run rough which made the valvetrain a possible culprit. Unlucky Luiz, there is always the next race!

-GG