EggBoy racing in Iowa this weekend!

[gas it]

You guys were doing good like always. Do you have a temp gauge for the tranny?

Yeah it stinks that the transmission can't take the racing well. I don't think there's a SHO racing in Chump or LeMons that hasn't had trans problems at one time or another.

I guess a trans cooler is the answer, but how do you get that past tech? The SR72 has the cooler and pump in the trunk and those guys always get laps for it.

 

[-DVP-]

Penalty laps are better than sitting broke getting lapped.


Big thanks to Krek and the whole EggBoy team for having us out. I am going to make more races next year. Shit gets intense, it's ******* awesome. Also thanks to Greg Jones for coming through in a pinch with parts.

 

[Shoaz]

You guys were doing good like always. Do you have a temp gauge for the tranny?

Yeah it stinks that the transmission can't take the racing well. I don't think there's a SHO racing in Chump or LeMons that hasn't had trans problems at one time or another.

I guess a trans cooler is the answer, but how do you get that past tech? The SR72 has the cooler and pump in the trunk and those guys always get laps for it.

Was just in a big discussion about this last night, and not just with respect to SHOs, but a lot of cars that are road raced. Most transmissions will hold up just fine to racing, even when the motor is making more torque than stock. Usually what kills them is how they're used. It's not coincidence that people with smooth technique generally have higher transmission reliability than people who jam gears.

I've no idea whether that has anything at all to do with this case as it very well may not, it's just a general statement. The known issue with >300 ft-lbs on a SHO tranny is a given, but that's usually not the case with a Chump or LeMons car.

Latent issues from previous treatment on a high-mileage car are bound to show up in a long endurance race. Suckage that it happened here and it sounds like it was a **** of an effort going in. Kudos and sympathies to the team.

 

[Vnuk1]

 

[-DVP-]

 

[St Louis SHO]

Finally home from what I think was possibly the most intense weekend I've had in a long time!

We arrived to the hotel at around midnight on Friday after the guys had a test and tune. The car had a misfire under load, I was informed on my way up. We diagnosed that early Saturday morning. Spark plug wires were the culprit. Thanks to James E, and everyone who went and found parts in Des Moines. We got the car together and back out for the green.

Scott got in the car for the first 2 hours, it was raining its ass off. Came out of the road course, and the car spun out. No big deal, right? Gets back in it, then the car decides to keep going straight. Into a tire wall. Oops! Took us about 4 minutes in the pits to get the lights off, bumper off and a few other things off to get it back out. We kept on gaining, kept 4th for a while!

Later that night, James E got in the car. HOLY SHIT, this guy is FAST... He's literally 1-3 seconds faster than ANYBODY at this point. We're shooting for 3rd place spot, when coming out of the road course the car dies. He had radio'd that the car had stuttered a few times. Pressure on! Gets towed back into the pits, I check spark, nothing... Oh shit... So, I swap coils, nothing, swap DIS, nothing. So I get the volt meter out, no power at the Red/Green wire at the coil. FML... So, I tag a wire from the solenoid to the wire at the coil, and get the car back out. We left the pits in 14th place. In about an hour James E made up lots of time. Got the car back into 5th. That's where we ended Saturday.

Sunday morning, first driver out was Krek. Everything was going fine, track was hot. Tire pressures climbed. We ate a couple of tires in the first stint, but were consistent! Pit stops/driver changes put us back just a bit, so we were trying to make up time. When James E got back in the car, he noted that the car had popped out of first, and was notchy a bit. Then, that went away and it was fine for a while. Then, he radios in that it's stuck in 3rd. Oh shit, I'm thinking the PP is broken. But, as he was coming into the pit to have a look, the car just locked up, wouldnt move. Thats where it ended.

1197 laps, gaining spots, hoping to get 4th place, the car broke. I'm 90% sure the oval killed the MTX. The fluid was so hot, it blew the vent off of the case, boiled the fluid. I'm pretty sure that the drivers side input shaft bearing failed, causing the main shaft to sag or the main shaft broke.


Thanks to all of you guys for the support!

Special thanks to the EggBoy team for letting me tag along and help out with this. We all had a GREAT time, and I'd love to do it again!!!

- James

 

[SHOspazz92]

You guys were doing good like always. Do you have a temp gauge for the tranny?

Yeah it stinks that the transmission can't take the racing well. I don't think there's a SHO racing in Chump or LeMons that hasn't had trans problems at one time or another.

I guess a trans cooler is the answer, but how do you get that past tech? The SR72 has the cooler and pump in the trunk and those guys always get laps for it.

Yea, but that car is also a full bolt on, cammed 3.2 MTX with ported heads and over sized valves... I pray for the day that it gets the peoples curse award.

-Sam

 

[jayro]

Man, that stinks!! When I was watching the times I was thinking that all it would take was luck to swing your way just a touch, and you guys would end up on a podium. Too bad it swung the other way. How many races did the trans have on it? Would working in some kind of a cooler help? Even a trans in pretty good shape would be put under alot of stress running lap after lap after lap after lap for 12 hours at a time. I dont think Ford was thinking endurance racing when they put it together.

 

[Sho Amo]

You guys are one **** of a team. Keep up the good work guys!

 

[St Louis SHO]

The trans was fresh as of this winter, it had 5 races on it. Like I said, I'm pretty sure the fluid temps killed it. They have been changing the fluid after every event. I'm looking into a fluid pump/extra capacity. I'd love to double or triple the fluid capacity...

Endurance racing is mostly luck and driver skill thats for sure. If you've never been to a ChumpCar race, get your ***** out there and see how serious it really is! I love this shit!

 

[SinisterSHO]

could it have been a combination of the heat thinning the fluid, and running an oval, parts not getting enough lubrication?

 

[Shoaz]

The trans was fresh as of this winter, it had 5 races on it. Like I said, I'm pretty sure the fluid temps killed it. They have been changing the fluid after every event. I'm looking into a fluid pump/extra capacity. I'd love to double or triple the fluid capacity...

Endurance racing is mostly luck and driver skill thats for sure. If you've never been to a ChumpCar race, get your ***** out there and see how serious it really is! I love this shit!

Does the car have a quaife? If not I suspect that the only way to get it hot enough to boil synthetic transmission fluid (which I hope is what gets used) is if a bearing is failing or something else is happening to create excessive heat.

Otherwise, just putting a vertical hose on the vent to give some column height will allow it to be overfilled without puking too much out. A cooler isn't a bad idea, either, especially with a quaife or Wavetrac, but even with a Quaife I removed my cooler and never had issues, even in 105F ambient. That wasn't endurance racing, but with an open diff there shouldn't be enough heat in the tranny to boil a synth fluid unless something awful is going on.

 

[St Louis SHO]

No Quaife here. We have been running Royal Purple. Any thoughts on a Banked track starving the fluid from one side of the trans?

 

[krek]

On behalf of Team EggBoy I can not thank James, Dillon, Matt, Rob and Jeremiah enough for everything they did this weekend. I had the time of my life at this race.

We gave it our best shot... sorry we couldn't post a better result for the SHO community.

 

[Ishodu]

As long as the diff gear is getting fluid it should sling it around the trans James.

 

[gas it]

Was just in a big discussion about this last night, and not just with respect to SHOs, but a lot of cars that are road raced. Most transmissions will hold up just fine to racing, even when the motor is making more torque than stock. Usually what kills them is how they're used. It's not coincidence that people with smooth technique generally have higher transmission reliability than people who jam gears.

I think you're right on how they are used. Pausing between up shifts helps the syncros. It's an endurance race and shifting faster isn't gonna make you win. But taking it easy on the trans, clutch, and the motor, not running to redline in every gear, should make it last thru the race.

It will be interesting to find out what happened to the transmission.

 

[gas it]

Yea, but that car is also a full bolt on, cammed 3.2 MTX with ported heads and over sized valves... I pray for the day that it gets the peoples curse award.

-Sam

The SR72 doesn't run in Lemons anymore, just Chumpcar.

 

[trainguy1989]

With all the trouble you guys had out there, y'all did amazing!! What a team effort! Congratulations!!

 

[Vnuk1]

 

[krek]

James and crew not only worked on the car half the night prepping it for Sunday's battle, they washed the entire thing using a bottle of Windex and paper towels!