As you may know my car had the engine go "ka-boom" in July. (That's techie talk for having the #5 rod bolt come off at 5000 rpm with the expected consequences.) After a number of discussions with my wife regarding options, I had Jerry Woods build a new engine for me. I asked for stronger, but basically stock to give an engine that will take track abuse but not need frequent re-building. The new engine has stronger rod bolts, rods and valve springs and the rest of the parts are stock (no fancy cams).

After it was built the exhaust I had was bolted up with the existing ECU and the engine was broken in on the engine dyno. After the break-in, the dyno was run and we got all of 240 hp at the flywheel. The aftermarket chip that was in the car was causing the engine to run rich too. After evaluating the options, I opted for a MoTec system and a new exhaust. Having been down the exhaust road before I was quite anxious to see the results. I was told late last week it was producing 293 hp at the flywheel with the new system (so I was relieved that the extra money had produced some extra hp).

I picked up the car on Thursday night as Jerry was trying to get a few last minute tweaks to the idle finished. I decided to take the car even though it wasn't 100% as i was assured it was up to the task of a couple days at the track and the final tweaks could be done next week.

I ran my first session in a few months at Thunderhill on Friday morning. The car pulled really well but was unstable under hard braking. So, I quite the session early and changed the tires to some new MPSCs and replaced the brake pads as they were getting thin. New Pagid orange up front and black in the back. I then went out for the first real runs.

My "normal" times at Thunderhill are 2:15-2:17, depending on the weather and other factors. My best was high 2:14s. With the new tires, pads and engine, I went out and rolled off three 2:07's in a row. Can you say happy camper? I had a great weekend and competed in my first 4 races. The last one was the best as a Ferrari 355 and I battled the whole race, to the delight of both drivers.

So, the Turtle is back together and back on the track and doing its job of providing for my entertainment.

 

That is FAST! Now, that's what I call money well spent!

 

Tom,

thanks for taking my friend out and instructing him. He has a great time..

-fong

 

Fong: Hope your car issue is minor, I know how mechanical issues can ruin an otherwise great day or weekend. You'll have to tell Benz that I was getting ready to sign him off to solo, so it should happen at the next event. It wasn't until about the second session I found out it was your car and not his (and it's a damn fine car!). Since my run group was out of sync with you guys I never got to visit - I didn't even know you and John were there until just before lunch.

 

Congrats, Tom! Glad to hear the turtle is back on the track, and a little less turtle-ish!
Brian

 

CONGRATS Tom!!!

 

Fantastic, Tom!

You got a mild JWE engine that "only" dyno's at 294 hp at the flywheel! I can't wait to get back on the track to see you and your "turtle".

 

Tom,

Congratulations - that's a significant improvement - Wahoo!!

 

yeah, we are pretty close friends, so I let him take the car out.
It seems he had alot of fun..did you know you guys started a fire on the second spin. He kept telling me about how the turtle was going sideways and he was hanging onto the harnesses for dear life.

John is always at track days, just that you cant tell cuz he is always ther ewith a different car.

-fong

 

This is great news Tom!! A huge HP delta as well! How much of the old engine were you able to salvage?

 

Fong: Second spin? I only made one mistake (not reminding him to brake and shift to 3rd for turn 2 - so he went too hot, got scared, lifted and spun). I did not make that mistake again (nor did he). His "spin" (to my recollection) was only a 180, but I did have to remind him to put both feet in. I was happy he understood as we had not discussed it previously. And I never had the Turtle sideways. Yes, I get a slight slip angle in 5a, but nothing extreme.

Chris: Well, the valve covers, intake, and a few other bits. New (used) case, new pistons, etc.

 

That's great Tom. Do you still qualify as "stock" with all that extra hp?
What exhaust setup are you using?

c

 

Hallo Tom.
How about MOTEC and her setting?

Paolo

 

Sounds like your "mishap" has had a happy ending.

Does this mean you're going to have to rename your car "The Jack-Rabbit"?

Marc

 

My car remains the Turtle. It may be a snapping Turtle now thought.

I decided to do the engine the way it is as I could no longer see a path to run the car in PCA stock or equivalent class. I was shooting for and "improved" class in PCA or POC but that would have been an issue due to some of the mods from the POs or that I did before I thought about racing. This engine will allow me to run in a new class for '06 that will be in PRC called GTL. I have to re-examine the rules for the various groups to see where I land with the new engine.

I hope to have the dyno plots tomorrow, so I'll post what I can later this week. They will be doing some final tweaks to the MoTeC this week. I may do a dyno run on the same dyno as was used previously to get comparative data (just for fun).