Re: A great place to get bad news...
I know for the VW axles I get the oem rebuild kits. Are these not available or just not a option?
It is an option -- and I've used it in the past. But as I get older, and the cost of the kits (for Porsche -- so there's a premium) goes up, the new axles come to seem prudent. We'll see. I always hold on to the old ones, although today I trashed about six axles going back to build dates of 1998. I'll rebuild these if I have time and can thoroughly inspect the balls and the cage for wear.
a tow truck is always better than having several tow trucks to pick up the pieces, am I right?
Glad you caught it in time. What resolution do those cameras shoot in and do they handle shock decently? Might be an inexpensive solution to a gopro until I can afford one.
The cameras shoot true 720p. The nice thing about a GoPro (or others of that ilk) is a screen where you can see what you're shooting and also review what you've shot. These are blind until you move the chip to your computer. And I don't know if the image quality is as good as the GoPros. But for what I do, they're great.
One of those special moments in shop life. If only those could be captured in a bottle and used again.
I can identify with the windshield deal - busted the windshield on the Falcon during shop construction.
A garage/shop is the place where we see the highest highs of our 'car guy' lives and also the lowest lows.
(Unless love/career/kids or any of that outranks the relationship between a man and his car. I'm not prepared to pronounce any kind of final judgement on that.)
EXCELLENT! What we have here is a pre event tech inspection. The kind all should go through prior to taking one's car onto the track. Been doing it for 25+ years now and have replaced many "questionable" components that "maybe could have lasted but were replaced anyway".
Job well done!
Thanks. I always do a basic nut-and-bolt check. The lift makes that a lot easier. I keep a checklist on the computer so that the 100th track day has the same thoroughness as the 10th. (For the record, I'm well past the 100th.)
How much work was it to move your engine?
Well, the guy who built my car did it -- so for me it was easy. But the **** rod had to be shortened. The mounting points for the transaxle and engine had to be moved. There were a couple of other fine adjustments with the clutch and throttle, if I remember right. The base for the torsion bars had to be cut out, as well -- which meant other reinforcements to the chassis. But I was also going from torsion bars to coil springs, so that was an opportunity to shed some weight.
That's great but didn't you get some seat time in something exotic when the last one let go at the track? I guess you can't count on that happening every time.
You have a good memory -- of something I'll never forget. Yes, that day I got to do the remainder of my laps in this seat:
Driving a friend's car. Bucket list item checked.
Glad you found the issues before they grew. Tech inspection before racing is wise.
Is there a link to the cameras or am I going blind?
It would also be interesting to see video quality from the new cameras if you don't mind sharing.
By the time I post them, they've been processed down (basically copied and recopied), partly because I'm lazy and partly because I use the free editing software that came with my computer.
But here's a pair of clips that show them being used. One is mostly the forward/in-car cameras, combined:
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lYiko8lJnhs?list=UUaV32MkrMyaz9Kq2IXnD2FQ&hl=en_US" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
One includes the rear-view:
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/szAXVhZtpdU?list=UUaV32MkrMyaz9Kq2IXnD2FQ&hl=en_US" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
(But again, these don't show you the quality of the raw footage.)
I got the wide-angle ones from
this ebay seller
Bad news - but admit it. You loved the fact that you knew what to look for, found it, and fixed it on your own. That is why hard corps Garage Journal guys (and gals) have garages. "Smudge of grease"? On Jack Olsen's Porsche undercarriage? If your garage is any indication then I can understand why your alarm went off.
Well, I looked for it because two years ago it ended my day at the track -- so it's one of those things I look for, now. But I'm going to disagree with you about the clean undercarriage. It's pretty dirty around the transaxle, especially. It's magnesium, which is soft -- and it's 35 years old -- so it's soft and a little leaky. Plus, there's all the grease from the CV failure from two years ago. That stuff is just about impossible to clean up.
Here's a clip where you can see the clean underbody cover, and also get a glimpse of the dirty transaxle:
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XS2HV2kNVHo?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
But yes, I'm probably a little proud of myself for catching it.
These cameras are readily available on ebay, I know a lot of guys who use them for track cams, especially mounted to the front splitter or other outside location - and especially since the investment is so low if you lose one.
But how do you start them all when mounted all over the car?
I sync them on the computer, so they don't need to be started at exactly the same time. And the new software for them allows you to set them to start recording as soon as you turn them on -- which is a lot simpler than how they used to be.
Good thing you caught it.
I agree there is nothing like alone time in the shop fixing something that needs repair. It's like meditation to me.
I agree. I like my day job just fine. But there's no substitute for having the time and the ability to repair your own car -- especially one you trust at very high speeds.