Citrus Saturday - Question for Boneman???

[Denman]

Ended up heading over there Sat night but was in fan area. Pretty good show. Nice car counts in all divisions. Question #1 for the Boneman is; what was that smoking problem on your new sprint. Saw it in warm-ups, heat race and I guess that's what put you out of the feature, sure hope you weren't involved in that turn four accident. Main question is how do the TBARA drivers feel about being held until the last race on the program? Many travel quite a distance and I can not see why this happens at Citrus. Guess the extra hot dog sales. Curfew was looking straight at you guys this time. Lucky to get the race in. Like to mention when I saw the #22 Gilbertson passing the #81 Butler for the lead on the back stretch it had to be one of the fastest and quickest moves I have ever seen on a race track. Wow, he was moving. You were doing a nice job in the heat until that smoking issue. Then you get back here and hear the news about OSW. Wonder what the conflict really is? Best of luck to you with that new sprinter.

[backrow]

I have a different view of curfews...It forces tracks to start the show and keep it moving. A certain dirt track in the vicinity of Citrus never starts on time and never gets done until after midnight. No curfew=no reason to keep the show rolling. Curfew=Move along or risk angering the fans and the drivers.

[ocalasp76]

I was one of 3 helping Boney. The leak appeared to be coming from the timing cover gasket. Silaconed it and went back out for the heat and it seem to leak in the plate covering the fuel pump hole. Pulled the plate and silaconed it as well. It held for a few laps and started a very small leak again. Probably not enough time to get a dry seal on the repair. No oil on the track, just a little on the header out of the turns. TABARA will not tolerate any oil leakage for very good reasons....
The car is ready for a full race and so is the driver..
-JIM-

[Boneman]

I can generalize and say that no one is too concerned about being last. We usually are last. or at least toward the end of the show. It was a good night at Citrus; I noticed the stands were full!

Were we close on curfew? To tell the truth, I never look at my watch when I'm at the track. It is "race time" until we are done.

I just got this car and it was my first night in it. We positively identified and repaired one oil leak, but there was another that did us in. When there is oil splattered everywhere, it is hard to tell the source, expecially when the car can't be started easily. Oh well, live and learn. Next TBARA race: De Soto on 5-19!

[Denman]

Yeah Citrus usually draws the fans in, especially when the Sprints are there. As far as curfew, you actually went over by a few minutes, guess they got the curfew extended. My wife and I kept looking at our watches and it got closer and closer then past the time. Big show with all the other divisions. Also a great run by Jefferson from the back of the pack twice to win in the modifieds. We try to get to as many TBARA races as we can throughout the season. We were rooting for you but then the smoke. Hopefully things will be better for you at DeSoto. As I mentioned you were doing great in your heat race until that dreaded smoke. Thanks for the reply. Also thanks to the others who replied as well. Best of Luck to you.

[RSB]

I can generalize and say that no one is too concerned about being last. We usually are last. or at least toward the end of the show. It was a good night at Citrus; I noticed the stands were full!

Were we close on curfew? To tell the truth, I never look at my watch when I'm at the track. It is "race time" until we are done.

I just got this car and it was my first night in it. We positively identified and repaired one oil leak, but there was another that did us in. When there is oil splattered everywhere, it is hard to tell the source, expecially when the car can't be started easily. Oh well, live and learn. Next TBARA race: De Soto on 5-19!

Rex, something that worked for me YEARS ago on a couple of oil leaks. First I sprayed carb cleaner on the areas and let them dry(timing cover and rear of oil pan). Closed off one of the valve cover tubes and connected the shop vac to the other with duct tape. Applied silicone to both areas and turned on the shop vac for about a minute. Let the stuff dry on the way to the track, raced it that night and never got around to permanently fixing it. Never leaked again! They don't call me African John for nothing!

[Frasson118]

John... I've heard of that trick, and thought of using it myself on occasion. I'm assuming you drain the oil first? Or can you create enough vacuum for the sealer, without sucking up a bunch of oil?

[UREZ2PASS]

I was one of 3 helping Boney. The leak appeared to be coming from the timing cover gasket. Silaconed it and went back out for the heat and it seem to leak in the plate covering the fuel pump hole. Pulled the plate and silaconed it as well. It held for a few laps and started a very small leak again. Probably not enough time to get a dry seal on the repair. No oil on the track, just a little on the header out of the turns. TABARA will not tolerate any oil leakage for very good reasons....
The car is ready for a full race and so is the driver..
-JIM-

Check to see if there is a short bolt in the block that leads to the fuel pump push rod. A sbc will leak there. Easy fix, cut a bolt short enough so it does not contact the fuel pump push rod and a little silicone. No charge this time.

[UREZ2PASS]

John... I've heard of that trick, and thought of using it myself on occasion. I'm assuming you drain the oil first? Or can you create enough vacuum for the sealer, without sucking up a bunch of oil?

If you use a wet/dry vac, no problem Jerry.

[Frasson118]

Thanks EZ. I'm in the forklift business, and a lot of little leaks pop up in impossible places to reach without major labor to get near it. This could save my ass in the near future. We don't get ANY luxury of plenty of room to work with.

[RSB]

Jerry, I didn't drain the oil but made sure I did before the next race and did find a few small pieces of silicone.
Ez, it's funny you mentioned the small bolt. A friend of mine called this past weekend and asked me the best way to keep the fuel pump rod up when replacing the pump on his old Chevy truck. He said he put heavy grease on it that usually worked but this time it was driving him crazy! I told him that I used to pull out the bolt on front and jam a fat paper clip through the hole to hold up the rod. He had never even seen the bolt and had no idea what it was for...called me back a few minutes later and said, "that's was F-ing awesome, where do you learn $4!t like that"? Duh....race track.

[ocalasp76]

EZ, we pulled and sealed those 2 bolts in front of the fuel pump hole. They are also the front motor mount bolts on a Sprint. That was one our first fixes.... Also, there is no fuel pump there, only the block off plate. We think maybe the oil pan gasket was leaking there even with the bolts tight(we checked that too)... Pesky leak for sure.
-JIM-

[Frasson118]

How long since that motor had a good heat cycling? Gaskets that sit around a while dont like it. I find more leaks on stuff that doesn't get enough use, than I do on things that get constant use.

[UREZ2PASS]

EZ, we pulled and sealed those 2 bolts in front of the fuel pump hole. They are also the front motor mount bolts on a Sprint. That was one our first fixes.... Also, there is no fuel pump there, only the block off plate. We think maybe the oil pan gasket was leaking there even with the bolts tight(we checked that too)... Pesky leak for sure.
-JIM-

Well then it's official, we are both way smart.

[Boneman]

The motor is a fresh rebuild. I think it has been fired 7 times.