|
Story so
far...
October 16th 2005 -
Snetteton results
A race car with a sick engine. Despite enjoying the luxury of a pit
lane garage for the first time this event was off to a bad start with a wheel
bearing overheating on the trailer on the way to the circuit, plus Dominic was
all alone as all the other team members were off sick with chicken pox!
The qualifying session was completed in full but Dominic sensed a worrying
noise in the background towards the end of the session which culminated in the
cooling system boiling over in park ferme. Further investigation resulting
in finding the dipstick hanging out of it's tube which probably explained the
lack of oil left in the system. Despite topping things back up bad noises
continued and with the help of Oliver Allen and Nigel England we tried some
different cam followers but to no avail. No race today.
We now plan to take the 2006 season out to rebuild and upgrade the car.
The official Snetterton round of the FSCC results can be found
here.
April 17th 2005 -
Oulton Park results
A race car back on form coupled with a challenging circuit proved to be an
enjoyable comeback for Dominic Ryan.
A rather rushed morning prior to qualifying due to the organisers not
allowing enough time between signing on and scruitineering and qualifying led to
the car not being given it regular check out before action. This resulted
in tyre pressures going unchecked and a mad rush to clear the windows of dew and
misting while being called for the final time for the qualifying session.
However some 9 laps later on the unfamiliar International Circuit and with
one tyre badly overheating, Dominic managed to post a reasonable lap time of
2m14.365.
With the car suitably rejuvenated and tyres adequately inflated, Dominic
trundled off to to business in the race. An unsatisfying start with faster
cars starting from behind on the grid along with difficulty achieving full
throttle led to Dominic being swallowed up in the midst of the class E cars for
the first couple of laps until positions started to settle down.
Dominic now settled down to the business of passing the slower class E
entries and catching up to his rightful position amongst the class C cars.
First to be despatched was Trevor Ladd, then Stuart Morris, Simon Gent, and
James Horner. Closing in on Demetris Neophytou the enjoyable battle was
only interrupted by the occasional class A car overtaking.
A 5th place was secured by a finally reliable car and a happy driver.
An extra bonus was being awarded Most Improved Driver of the day for jumping
some 7 places in the race!
The official Oulton Park round of the FSCC results can be found
here.
4th July 2005 -
project update
Unfortunately this season is again not going to plan! However the
Fiesta is now ready for action again after the mysterious engine idling problems
were traced to a broken choke valve in the carbs along with incorrectly set
ignition advance. The engine now produces a very respectable 126bhp at the
wheels. An added bonus is that the car has also passed an MOT test and so can be
seen of the streets of Essex soon!
As problems are now besetting our tow car, the next planned outing will be
Oulton Park in September.
24th May 2005 -
update
Sadly we've had to miss the Donington Park race as the engine is still
misbehaving. We're also run of of time to apply to join in the Silverstone
race but with luck we may make it for Anglesey.
Pulling the head apart has revealed a massively worn camshaft with a matching
worn follower. After replacing the cam and followers we were still left
with an engine that ran extremely rough and would not idle. Taking
compression readings revealed nothing, however the spark plug on no4 cylinder
was always very wet indicating an ignition/timing problem or fueling.
Assuming that the problem lay with the new cam we put back the old worn cam
with a new follower, but still no change. The ignition system was checked
out as OK and we were sure about the cam timing being correct. Next we
suspected a valve or other fault with the head so that was removed and replaced
with a totally standard xr2 head with original cam; still no joy!
Next step was to put back the race head and new cam and try again.
Thoughts then turned to the carbs which we assumed were OK after a couple of
years of use, but after some investigation it appeared that we should also have
a fuel pressure regulator to stop the carbs overfuelling or leaking from the
excess pressure from the fuel pump. Since no4 cylinder appeared to be
overfuelled Dominic fitted a regulator with some success and the engine ran
smoother but still not perfect.
A double check of the ignition timing and carb choke settings resulted in a
much happier engine so it appears that we're getting closer to fixing the
problem.
Some more tinkering tonight and then prepping the car for a MOT test so we
can test the engine properly on the road will follow.
April 17th 2005 - Brands Hatch report
Dominic Ryan suffers a disappointing failure in his Fiesta XR2 at Brands
Hatch. The Essex driver achieved a disappointing 17th place on the grid in
the qualifying session held in good conditions and with several drivers flinging
their cars into the gravel trap at Paddock Hill bend. Dominic nursed the
car around for several laps in qualifying with what emerged to be cam follower
problems resulting in an extremely noisy and low power engine. The cam
problem was patched up during the lunch break and fingers were crossed as the
engine was restarted with success and no noisy tappets.
With
classes C,D and E again being oversubscribed for the main race these classes
were given their own race separate from classes A and B.
With the red light fading Dominic was persuading the repaired Fiesta away
from the line and making good progress on the cars in front some of which were
depositing their unpleasant cargo of gravel on the track from the earlier
qualifying session. As the emphasis of this race was to try and bring the
car home in one piece Dominic settled into position around Paddock Hill and over
the course of the next couple of laps disposed of a couple of class E and D cars
as he played catch up with the rest of the field.
Sadly this was not to last as on lap 10 the engine suddenly let go with a
horrific racket and a hefty drop in power. Dominic nursed the car back to
the paddock but our suspisions about the cam problem have been raised again.
We shall pull the head apart over the next few days and get cracking with fixing
and improving the engine in time for the next event at Donnington Park.
The official Brands Hatch round of the FSCC results can be found
here.
March 28th 2005 - Mallory park report
Dominic Ryan produces a creditable performance in his Fiesta XR2 at Mallory
Park in Leicestershire. The Essex driver achieved 6th place on the grid in
the qualifying session held in good conditions and with no incidents. With
classes C,D and E being oversubscribed for the main race these classes were
given their own race separate from classes A and B. This enabled Dominic
to achieve a grid position higher than normal which usually translates into a
better result than normal assuming a good start.
With the red light fading Dominic was already thrusting the Fiesta towards
Gerrards Corner and making good progress on the cars in front. As braking
for the corner commenced a class E car of Alan Willets emerged from the
thundering herd, brushed alongside flipping the drivers mirror forward and
rendering Dominic with limited vision for the rest of the race. This
incident disturbed the cars balance and Dominic was forced to concede some
places as he was forced to the slippery outside of the corner.
Track position improved over the next few laps with all class E cars dealt
with and Dominic was slowly making inroads into the lead of 'Jimmy' Neophytou
with only the distraction of passing lapped cars disturbing this progress.
However the 20 minute race ended with some 21 laps completed and Dominic
finished in 6th position.
The official Mallory Park round of the FSCC results can be found
here.
March 14th 2005 - rolling road session
The Fiesta has passed it's 3rd rolling road session without a hitch!
After being laid up for nearly 6 months over the winter after it's head gasket
ordeal, the car fired up fairly happily after what seemed an eternity of
cranking to get to oil pressure up before adding fuel and sparks. At Track
n Road we adjusted cam timing and tweaked the ignition timing and fueling
settings on the carbs resulting in a respectable 132bhp and a nice torque curve
to match. It was possible to extract a bit more power but we've chosen a
more reliable setup for what hopefully should be a reliable season!
We've now entered the first race of the season at Mallory Park on the Easter
bank holiday Monday, and since we're going to be on TV this year some tarting up
of the car is in order. Watch out for updated pictures!
January 20th 2005 - update
After the winter it's been time for the Autosport show at the NEC which is
traditionally time to start preparing for the next season. After the head
gasket issues we've decided to get the car on the rolling road to check the cam
and ignition timing and try some new fuel additives. We also need to come
up with some soft of cheap livery for the car as the metallic grey is a bit
dull!
Dominic's new MSA National B license and BRSCC club membership are sorted.
We intend to continue in the Ford Saloon Car Championship class C for 2005 and
after our brief chat with the championship coordinator at the NEC it looks
likely that we will be getting extensive TV coverage this year - so better get
the car looking good!
The provisional calendar has been released and details will be posted here
soon.
|
