Capriracer's Page

Good news, I was able to get it on the track and have some fun. It did not start out as I had hoped but ended up very well. I thought I found the smoking gun on the Weber 48’s Thursday night, however I could not verify because it was too late in the evening to fire it up. Friday AM at the track the 48’s just would not accelerate. The engine would die once the throttle was depressed hard. I tried all the spare parts in every combination I could think of. One of the problems is I did/do not have extremely different parts, so it is hard to say if it is the carbs or the setup. I moved on to plan “B”. That is I switched to my 45’s. I changed the parts in them to better match the engine, and tada it ran like a champion. I made it out on track for a session. After the session I thought the 45’s needed a few changes from what I felt on the track (got to love that seat of the paints tunning). I was all strapped in ready for the last session of the day when I tried to get the car into gear the shifter arm broke off in my hand. I got on the phone to a buddy to hang out at his shop so I could use his welder. Once I got there, he was standing there with a complete shifter in his hand. He asked, “Do you know anyone who would want this thing?” It’s as close as I have ever gotten to kissing a man! I was amazed he would have one. My sons and I were able to have a nice sit down dinner and get back to the Hotel early. Saturday AM we arrived early to the track and installed the new shifter. I found the shifter cable adjusting nuts had come loose. This prevented the pressure plate from disengaging when the pedal was depressed (not enough pedal throw). Therefore, Friday afternoon when the shifter broke I was trying to engage the transmission with no clutch. I thought it was strange it would not go into gear…I made the first session of our group and the car ran very well. It pulled hard off the corners, and my year old tires held up well. I could tell it was still tight and somewhat flat in the mid-range. I took it easy most of the time, however I did push on it for a few laps, let me just say I will not be the slowest car on the track anymore. My son had a soccer game Saturday afternoon and my wife and kids had ticket for a show on Sunday. We packed up after the session on Saturday with no oil or water leaks, yea, the car appeared to be in good working order ready for the next event. Being I spent the last few weeks, day and night getting it ready I plan let it sit for a week or so. Once I get back to it, I will change the water, inspect some of the oil and finish a few things. I need to order some more Weber parts, finish the exhaust system and give it a good cleaning. The next PAS event will be on the East track Fab. 1-3, hope to see you there. I plan to be running in the race group then.

As of Monday things look very good for Friday. I need to finish up all the little things now. So unless i run into some major issue I should be out on Friday. It will have been one year to the day that I took the car off the track to do "some work". It has new hood, thanks for the hood pin reminder, new rear end, new motor, along with many other improvements. So Friday will be more a check out day then a full out race day. When do you expect to have your back on the track? Is your dad still racing?