Congrats Duncan.

 

Back from Round 2 at Knockhill and had a fantastic weekend although things didnt quite go to plan.

Thanks to everyone that came up and wished me luck and said hi - it is much appreciated even if sometimes I might be busy.

The week started poor with oil pressure issues starting on tuesday and despite and oil change, changing a split oil pick up pipe on saturday in the rain as soon as I went out in warm up I knew there was a serious issue with the car. The pre event paranoia had been right.....

Paul and I decided to nurse the car through the day and go just for the most points we could safely get.

I was planning to ration the lapping to get set up right and did very few laps in practice at low boost, then 3 hot laps in qualifying (again at lower boost) but still 3 seconds quicker than last year... and enough to get me 30 points for qualifying in 3rd place. I asked the car for one more lap for the final... just one. that is all I wanted.

I drove it as hard as I could on that lap (still only at 1.6 bar) but giving all I could through the twisties to claw back time I was losing on the straights from being down on power compared to the 750+ bhp cars I was battling with. The car was immense. It flew through the corners - literally and up the straight to finish that lap and then just killed itself. Big ends are gone big style and it is rebuild time.

Still 3rd place is great and I loved it - it puts me into 2nd in the championship.

Dropped the car off at Zen's tonight on the way back after partying quite hard last night with the team and decided to get cracking on taking the engine out to see the damage. It wasnt looking pretty with lots of metallic bits kicking around in the sump and big end number 4 completely missing

Huge thanks to Team Zen for support up there and in getting the work done on saturday to give it a fighting chance of getting over the line, for Steve for sitting in the car in warm up and steady supply of coffee and laughs, Alyn at ASP for emergency oil supplies (cheers Semper ) and Mark at Lateral Performance in anticipation of the new engine internals

It will be ready for Silverstone - fear not

 

Unlucky on the bottom end Duncan, but well done on your result.

Probably too early to tell, but do you think the oil pump failed?

 

Car looked great going round the track! Was going to pop over and say hi, but I thought you looked stressed taking a long drag of your smoke!

Hopefullly see you at silverstone ripping up the tarmac!

Ricey

 

Pickup pipe had a hairline crack. Looks like it was sucking air. Oil pressure was low which led to the diagnosis.

 

Excuse the dumb question here but its merely an exploratory one. The oil issue wouldn't have been caused by using a baffled sump AND the Cosworth baffle plate would it? Maybe not allowing enough oil back to the sump and pick up pipe quickly enough?


At the expense of looking dumb I had to ask as this is the route I'm considering rather than a full on dry sump set up.

 

Was nice to speak at last Duncan.Your car was going great be it low or high boost.
I hope your rebuild goes well and good luck at Silverstone as i won't be there to chat to you.

What is involved with a big end rebuild?New pistons and rings or is it just new shell?

PS...did you get any satay and ribs off Liz?

 

Nope - wasnt the oil pump.

The oil surge at Snetterton before the fully baffled sump would have done the bulk of the damage but I had noticed a drop in oil pressure in the last week and pinned it down to a cracked pick up pipe.

Changing it on saturday prolongued the engine long enough but it would have been great if it lasted a coast down lap

 

Duncan,

Have you worked out what you are doing engine wise for next round?

I have a 2.5 bottom end here I am willing to lend you if it helps with the rush for the next round.
Used but oil pressure was fine when removed.. weisco, crower, acl etc..

Simon

 

Thanks Simon.

I think from taking the engine out last night and having the sump off there seems to be lots that can be re-used from what is in there. I wont know for sure til tomorrow when I split the block as to what damage to pistons and bores but it could have been a lot worse for definite. It sounded like death

 

We were all commenting on how quiet it was sounding earlier in the day too...compared to the evos especially!

 

congrats on the result but unlucky on the let go. hope it's an easy enough turn around. can i come and detail the bay and engine while it's out?

 

Engine is out now Matt ..... go knock yourself out

 

gutted

not hangin' about though eh!!! best of luck with the build!!

 

Should be back together by early next week ready for some running if for Silverstone next weekend

 

Hopefully it's just crank and shells that are fubared. Good luck with the rebuild mate.

 

making any changes whilst engine out duncan? guess not much time for that mind you

 

Not much time indeed

The engine was stripped yesterday and the damage from this incident isnt quite as bad as it sounded but still unfortunately quite significant. Therefore any changes in spec are most likely enforced rather than upgrades. However... while it is out

One thing I can say is that the bores look fresh as a daisy even after 16,000 miles - Paul is checking for roundness today but from first impressions look like they have done around 1000 miles.

There are other issues that are very confusing but I wont go into detail until fully investigated.

 

I have finished my report on Duncan's weekend on the Team ZEN blog site now, its more detailed than the lazy one Duncan did Only joking mate!

http://www.team-zen.co.uk

Really looking forwward to Silverstone!

Liz @ZEN

 

Just had a read through great write up Liz ,
should be at Silverstone myself

 

After 2 solid days on cleaning everything up, repairing (time-serting) 14 stripped threads in the block - it is now all together...

Everytime we bolted something on, the last bolt would just strip the little thread it had, so it had to all come off again, block any open ports to stop swarf getting in and use another insert.

Anyway it is worth it in the end.


Block halves joined:



Shelf full of engine bits..



Richard busy doing his thing:



New fuel rails courtesy of Carl Davey:



And lots of aeroquip hose/fittings:



on the stand and having heads on:



Zen's new mystery engine builder



Forgot to take a pic of it all together, will do that today but it will go in tonight.

Massive thanks to Team Zen for working with me til the early hours of this morning getting it to this stage... above and beyond.

Now in a Zen like state of knackeredness

 

Great progress there Dunc.

Good luck at Silverstone, I shall pop in and say hi.

 

Engine now in:



Just some plumbing to do and it will be finished and ready.

Paul would not let it be less than perfect so ALL threads were cleaned in the block and ALL components and ALL nuts, bolts, washers, pipes were 100% grit, grime, and general muck free.

This is what has taken the time tbh and I have become a dab hand at using the parts washer and although at times I am sure I was holding up the rebuild, it is good to get in and do stuff yourself.

Home stretch now...

Looking forward to seeing how much better the engine breathes now that the valve clearances are spot on.

Changes to spec:

Crower Rods (Lateral Performance)
Mahle Pistons (ZEN)
ACL Race Bearings (Lateral Performance)
Cosworth Timing Belt
Carl Davey Fuel Rails (Carl Davey, specialist Subaru Impreza parts supply)
HEL aeroquip fittings and hose (HEL Brake Lines - Stainless Steel Motorcycle Performance Brake Line And Brake Hose Kits)

it will go brum brum later today and then the long list of thank yous will start so please excuse me for that as it will be huge !!

 

It is alive and running and ready for Silverstone

Huge thanks go to (in no particular order):

Paul, Liz, Richard & Tim at Zen Performance for the countless hours work outside of normal working times (well outside of ) so as not to interfere with pre-booked customers. I can not believe the committment and dedication to getting this done and not only that, a refusal to take shortcuts that could compromise the final quality.

Mark at Lateral Performance for supply of crank, rods, bearings, gaskets, seals and anything else that was needed to make it live it again and for going well out of his way to get a set of rods to me on saturday night.

Ren for spending a day helping and cleaning.

John Stevenson for sending spare rods over (unfortunately we couldnt use them)

Carl Davey for the fuel rails - they look and fit superbly and required no modifications for them to slot straight on.

My wife Rachel for (nearly) putting up with me not being there for the last week of evenings and nights..

See you all on Sunday !

 

Well done on a another fantastic result mate.

Made up for you

 

Thanks Frayz

I have written my report now while it was fresh in my mind:

Sooooo close to a first win at Silverstone @ RaceDynamix | Time Attack Widebody Subaru | UK

 

Congratulations on the result...how close was Shane's time to Pro?

 

Still quite a bit off.

 

Congrats Duncan

 

outside the class upgrade rule then...should be quite a battle over the final rounds in that case; good luck