The Kraken - A Restoration & Modification Diary
10-06-2013, 09:40 AM
#227
So much for trailering to the track... Went to load the car and discovered that my 10" rears, with their particular offset, are too wide by 1/2" for my trailer. Argh. I know a 928 fits since my brother's was on this trailer when I bought it. But his was sporting manholes at the time. So, fortunately my dad was already planning to join me on this voyage. He drove the SUV full of gear while I drove the Kraken. Of course, it would have to be near record heat on the east coast today, and me with no AC and psycho loud brakes. That was a tough ride. But we made it in one piece. Check in is tomorrow evening so we'll be finding something fun to do tomorrow during the day.
10-09-2013, 06:35 AM
#228
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
(Preview version of the Glen trip since I will be doing a full write up for Flussig)
The Kraken survived the Glen once again, though not without trying to send me home early. Last fall, despite ambient temps below 60 degrees, the car ran hot enough that the expansion tank, being old and brittle, developed cracks and leaked coolant onto my exhaust manifolds. Made it through the weekend, but got meatballed on the last run.
At VIR 5 months later, again in cool ambient temps, the car ran hot to the point of overheating. And I blew a power steering hose. I missed some of day 1, half of day 2, and all of day 3 there.
Over the subsequent months, among other things, I replaced the radiator and expansion tank, as well as reinstalled the belly pans and front spoiler.
Fast forward to the Glen... on lap 4 of run 1, the car started running hot, and then I got a coolant level warning in the dash. SONOFAB$!@;?
I said lots of fun words that Pablo will enjoy in Flussig. I assumed it was running crazy hot again and that coolant was spitting out of the reservoir onto the exhaust. Coolant is generally a terrible thing to dump on the track because it stays right on top of the pavement. Very slick, worse than oil. My situation is normally not a huge deal for the track since it hits the exhaust and burns off. Looks like a tire rub. In this situation, though, I also suddenly lost a lot of grip from my rear tires. Limp back to the pits and there is zero coolant in the reservoir. And the leak is coming from the drivers side. My first thought was that I'd cracked my aluminum radiator somehow.
On further inspection, though, I found that the alternator fan was nicking the lower radiator hose to the point of cutting it wide open! Thank The Lord I came prepared with the hose I needed. Swapped it in, refilled the coolant (all water + a bottle of water wetter) and waited out a well-timed monsoon that washed off the track for me.
People were understandably pissed off at me for dumping fluids on the track, though I didn't realize at the time that's what was happening. A series of miscommunications between the flag workers and my instructor resulted in my not knowing all of my coolant was flushing onto the track. The rain thankfully saved everyone's bacon.
Got the car back on track in more ways than one. But this time, the Kraken ran beautifully for the rest of the trip! A miracle. Ran below the top white line the entire time on track, despite hitting 130+ mph in the back straight (5500 rpm or so in 4th).
This was also my first time in the white run group and man those folks can drive! I got passed by cars with half my horsepower while I was learning a new line my instructor preferred, and getting used to not shuffle steering at speed. I also shifted a ton more than last time. I had a very different instructor this time. Much more aggressive about attacking the track. Anyway, I got passed by a Mini S! Hard to swallow, but proof I have a lot to work on. In the later sessions, I managed to not get passed as much, and did some passing myself. Definitely got quicker throughout the laps.
To finish off the trip, my dad drove my car on the original Glen circuit, which goes through downtown. We only had to make 1 u-turn. Can someone confirm that the second to last turn puts you onto a ridiculous downhill slope?
Hopefully some of the videos came out. GoPro was weird the whole time. Sucked down the battery a lot faster than before. I don't have an SD reading machine here so I won't know until I get home tomorrow.
Huge props to Thom Berkowski who graciously donated his garage space to me when he couldn't make the trip. In total we had 6 928s in the mix, including Jason, the proud owner of Gary Knox's track car, and Michelle, Ed Standke's wife, driving one of their many 928s. I'll post more pics from home. Exhausted but overjoyed at how well the car did on track.
The Kraken survived the Glen once again, though not without trying to send me home early. Last fall, despite ambient temps below 60 degrees, the car ran hot enough that the expansion tank, being old and brittle, developed cracks and leaked coolant onto my exhaust manifolds. Made it through the weekend, but got meatballed on the last run.
At VIR 5 months later, again in cool ambient temps, the car ran hot to the point of overheating. And I blew a power steering hose. I missed some of day 1, half of day 2, and all of day 3 there.
Over the subsequent months, among other things, I replaced the radiator and expansion tank, as well as reinstalled the belly pans and front spoiler.
Fast forward to the Glen... on lap 4 of run 1, the car started running hot, and then I got a coolant level warning in the dash. SONOFAB$!@;?
I said lots of fun words that Pablo will enjoy in Flussig. I assumed it was running crazy hot again and that coolant was spitting out of the reservoir onto the exhaust. Coolant is generally a terrible thing to dump on the track because it stays right on top of the pavement. Very slick, worse than oil. My situation is normally not a huge deal for the track since it hits the exhaust and burns off. Looks like a tire rub. In this situation, though, I also suddenly lost a lot of grip from my rear tires. Limp back to the pits and there is zero coolant in the reservoir. And the leak is coming from the drivers side. My first thought was that I'd cracked my aluminum radiator somehow.On further inspection, though, I found that the alternator fan was nicking the lower radiator hose to the point of cutting it wide open! Thank The Lord I came prepared with the hose I needed. Swapped it in, refilled the coolant (all water + a bottle of water wetter) and waited out a well-timed monsoon that washed off the track for me.
People were understandably pissed off at me for dumping fluids on the track, though I didn't realize at the time that's what was happening. A series of miscommunications between the flag workers and my instructor resulted in my not knowing all of my coolant was flushing onto the track. The rain thankfully saved everyone's bacon.
Got the car back on track in more ways than one. But this time, the Kraken ran beautifully for the rest of the trip! A miracle. Ran below the top white line the entire time on track, despite hitting 130+ mph in the back straight (5500 rpm or so in 4th).
This was also my first time in the white run group and man those folks can drive! I got passed by cars with half my horsepower while I was learning a new line my instructor preferred, and getting used to not shuffle steering at speed. I also shifted a ton more than last time. I had a very different instructor this time. Much more aggressive about attacking the track. Anyway, I got passed by a Mini S! Hard to swallow, but proof I have a lot to work on. In the later sessions, I managed to not get passed as much, and did some passing myself. Definitely got quicker throughout the laps.
To finish off the trip, my dad drove my car on the original Glen circuit, which goes through downtown. We only had to make 1 u-turn. Can someone confirm that the second to last turn puts you onto a ridiculous downhill slope?
Hopefully some of the videos came out. GoPro was weird the whole time. Sucked down the battery a lot faster than before. I don't have an SD reading machine here so I won't know until I get home tomorrow.
Huge props to Thom Berkowski who graciously donated his garage space to me when he couldn't make the trip. In total we had 6 928s in the mix, including Jason, the proud owner of Gary Knox's track car, and Michelle, Ed Standke's wife, driving one of their many 928s. I'll post more pics from home. Exhausted but overjoyed at how well the car did on track.
Last edited by Courtshark; 10-09-2013 at 10:59 PM.
10-09-2013, 07:42 PM
#229
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Just made it home from NY; I drove home on my Toyo R888s, thinking it wouldn't rain today; I was supposed to spend the night tonight in another part of NY. Well the forecast changed, calling for rain tomorrow, so I had to boogie tonight. Those tires are insanely loud on the street! As are my squeaking brakes.
I'm exhausted, but working on loading pics and videos. Stay tuned...
I'm exhausted, but working on loading pics and videos. Stay tuned...
10-09-2013, 08:20 PM
#230
Just made it home from NY; I drove home on my Toyo R888s, thinking it wouldn't rain today; I was supposed to spend the night tonight in another part of NY. Well the forecast changed, calling for rain tomorrow, so I had to boogie tonight. Those tires are insanely loud on the street! As are my squeaking brakes.
I'm exhausted, but working on loading pics and videos. Stay tuned...
I'm exhausted, but working on loading pics and videos. Stay tuned...
10-09-2013, 10:31 PM
#232
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
10-09-2013, 10:33 PM
#233
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
We had SIX 928s there! Should have been 7 but for Thom B having a late torque tube issue crop up on him. I just finished watching all of my videos. My audio isn't as good this time, but my times are definitely better. Starting at about an average 2:48 lap, my last video'd lap was 2:35. 13 seconds! I'm still insanely slower than a lot of folks out there, but it's still a blast. Can't recommend it highly enough.
10-10-2013, 10:24 AM
#236
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Video #1; sound improves at 2:46. This is from my last run of the event. The wire is providing power to the GoPro which was sucking down battery for some reason. It failed to stay connected during this run, so I only got about 13 minutes of footage. And hopefully once it finishes "processing" it won't be blurry.
10-10-2013, 01:20 PM
#237
Drifting
Ahhhhhhanother good event.... anyone nervous about attending one, I've done this since 2004 in this car 2-3 events a a year and haven't had any major issues besides standard wear parts.
You think white is fast, you should see the guys in cup cars and those Caymans passing me.....
Anyone wondering what is on my headlights, Angry Bird Duct tape.....
gary Knox was there with us on Big's old Merc..... This was Gary's last school before his DE retirement..... maybe.....
You think white is fast, you should see the guys in cup cars and those Caymans passing me.....
Anyone wondering what is on my headlights, Angry Bird Duct tape.....
gary Knox was there with us on Big's old Merc..... This was Gary's last school before his DE retirement..... maybe.....
10-11-2013, 05:16 PM
#239
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
My first attempt at an edited video; couldn't figure out how to overlay the audio tracks of engine and music. Working on it.
Only 928s are allowed to pass...
Only 928s are allowed to pass...
10-11-2013, 06:16 PM
#240
Former Vendor
Very nice job on the videos Mike.A most wonderful event even if I only ran one session on Monday. Mikes car ran very well and he has progressed nicely and I could see a difference from last year!
Now you just need to get some boost and take the thrill to the next level.
Now you just need to get some boost and take the thrill to the next level.