[ReEntryRacer]

I dropped into Laguna Seca a few days ago while I was heading back to Canada after a vacation in AZ. We watched the Audi bunch having so much fun that I have convinced my wife to support me in a long haul back down there this season with my SCCA-legal GT1 car. Its just production-based and nowhere near as fast as purpose-built tube-frame 'real' GT1 cars, but I want to try that track before I get much older/fatter/slower. I have joined SCCA-SF Region in preparation, and see three SCCA events listed, one in early May, another in late June and another in early Oct. I could REALLY use some advice as I prep the car and plan the long trip down from British Columbia. Is there anyone on here that intends to compete in one or more of these weekends? This old 'newbie' could use all the local information he can get! (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)
Larry

[ReEntryRacer]

Things went about as I had hoped and expected at Tech, with my car's Canadian CACC Annual being accepted at face value. Then things started to get interesting.
I suited up for the first Group 1 ITE practice session on Friday morning and prepared to learn as much as I could by finding someone with a similar car and abilities, and was fortunate to find a 4th gen Camaro to follow, driven by Gary Hascall of Fresno who seemed to know his way around the track, which was very handy for me as I had no clue! It didn't help that there were 45 cars registered, in all, out there!

I just wanted to play tag but we were black-flagged after about 3 laps, and I retired without much track time in my first session because I was scrubbing in a set of new front tires and figured they were hot enough and pulled in to remove them. Then my crewchief/daughter informs me that we have an oil drip under the car...location not known yet. I have had problems with the dipstick weeping if the level is a bit too high, so we cleaned everything up and prepared for the Group 3 GT1 practice. Only 26 cars here, but most are missiles going by me at warp factor 5 or so... a little unnerving but expected. I finish the practice with 10 laps and some learning taking place, as my lap times are getting better by a few seconds, but still the slowest of the group. As I exit I get called into Tech for oil smoke visible on certain corners. A small seep has now turned into a constant drool, spraying oil all over the accessory area and driver's side inner fender.

We can't go out for the Group 1 ITE qualifier with a leak, so we clean it all off and add a cloth cuff around the PS reservior lid, and try to get it to leak while we watch with the hood off. It won't do anything! Dry as a bone, so we're ready to try it again. Out I go, 8 laps and I'm satisfied with my improvement as I'm 7 seconds faster than the earlier sessions, and I'm on my good tires, and I'm starting to get comfortable with the track. Still sucks to be the slowest in class, even if I am the newbie... BUT, we again get cited for smoke at cetain corners of the track. This is getting old now...

The best bet is the power steering gear, as the worst oil spillage was around the top where the pressure line enters the case, and the level was down a bit. I borrow an 18mm wrench from Randy Mackintosh's dad, Doug, and find only the remnents of an O ring on that fitting. A trip to a recommended speed shop in Salinas results in a replacement that looks like it will fit. Back to the track, install and tighten, and we clean everything up again and test it as best we can, all looks good! The Friday afternoon Group 3 GT1 qualifier was next, and I just looked at that session as a chance to learn some lines, as I was going to be creamed by the real GT1 cars in any event. I played with different lines and braking points, all of which were just slowing me down. Oh well, nothing ventured...

Oil drooling again! We've eliminated 3 possible causes, and its getting worse! I'm prepared to change the steering box as it might be cracked, as it still appears to be pouring out of the area around the pressure fitting that we are sure is OK, as we have now visited the Salinas auto mall and have the correct GM P/N O rings for that pipe, courtesy of the Cadillac/Honda dealer, as the Chevy dealer's parts dept. was closed. The next morning the Group 1 ITE race was a frustrating challenge, with all those cars, and being passed by cars that I should be able to leave behind, IF I only knew the track better. I was smelling smoke from the first lap and was watching for a black flag with my number each time past the starter stand. A call to my CC/daughter to confirm the race was at least half time, and I pulled off the track to head back to the paddock with smoke eminating from all over the place! I'm not a happy guy at this point.

We call Alan Blaine in Santa Cruz to see if we can get a new steering gear, but as it turned out, he was at Sears Point for the weekend. I call a couple of wrecking yards near Salinas and prepare to hunt for what I need. Then as I make a final attempt to find the source of this disastrous leak, I take the serpentine belt off the pump, and find the pulley all but falling off with the bearing absolutely shot, along with the seal of course! It had been spraying out from behind the pulley onto the top of the steering box, which is right in line with the pressure line fitting, fooling us the whole time.

Its late Saturday afternoon by now, and a replacement pump is the ticket. Calls to the wreckers North and South on Highway 101 and they think they have the correct version, if I just want to come and find it myself... Into the truck, back towards Salinas while I wonder if we can find something closer and sooner. I'll need the tools to remove and install the pulley as well. I drive past the speed shop we visited the day before, only to find the lights out and the door locked . A desperate bang on the door is met with a friendly smile from the owner Joe Williams and a welcome into the closed Dotseth Speed Shop. He quickly provides the tools we need and also pulls a pump from his shelf that appears to be rebuilt and looks right. Joe makes me a deal I can't refuse, and off we go back down Route 68, which we are getting very familiar with by now.

I work till way too late getting the pump installed because the #%#& thing is not metric, as the original was. Randy and Doug have allowed me to rifle through their supplies while they are away in town, and I find the correct SAE bolts to mount it with, but the two rear bolt/stud threads are still a problem. I gingerly force the first one in succesfully with my impact wrench, and then try the second... with it snapping off clean at the case! A quick fit of temper and blue air, then a mix of JB Weld to seal any possible leak from the reservior. The pump gets filled and tested with a drive around the paddock at 9:30 PM which I'm sure was annoying someone, then the fluids are chacked and the hood goes on. We get to eat if we can find something open in Monterey. We like r.g Burgers now. It really does stand for Really Good, and they are.
I sleep well, thinking how much fun it will be to race the next day without worrying about the damn oil leaking from the power steering.

We roll in to Laguna the next morning with a few minutes to spare, confident that I'll finally be able to enter and finish a race, but first comes the Group 1 ITE Qualifier. I head out and pound around for 4 laps, finally not the slowest car in my class, and with a dozen cars or so behind me in the group when the race line-up is printed. That's better!

My first race on this last day would be Group 3 GT1, and we get an additional race scheduled later in the day as well. I know I can't possibly end up anywhere but last in GT1, but I'm no longer the slowest car in the group, so there will be someone to race with, despite the fact that I failed to qualify the previous day due to the repair sessions. I'm looking forward to this! We wander down to buy some souveniers at the big tent, sure that we have all in readiness. Once my wallet was empty, we wandered back up to the car to get raedy for the race, only to find that my out time was misread (no names here!) by the crew, and the race would start in 4 minutes! I smoked through the clothing change and all the pre-race stuff, a quick radio check and blast off to pre-grid, to find it EMPTY! I hoped it wasn't as bad as it looked, and maybe I was going out on the pace lap... but no such luck! I later found that I was 4 laps down. I was all alone on the track for a while, then the missiles started going past me, with some of them ending in the gravel with huge clouds of dust. I gave it my best shot and had a good time, while staying on the hard stuff and trying to make way for the local hot shoes who occasionally needed the part of the track I was on. I got 10 laps in, with the winner doing 15, which means he should have lapped me only once if I had been out there at the start as I should have been. The car was finally working well, with no distractions (like oil smoke) and it was a good feeling to have that much fun.

They weighed me and held the class for quite some time due to various issues, including 2 cars passing me on a standing yellow. Once finally released, I drove back to the paddock space ready for the next race. But that's where this long tale ends...as I was parking the Trans Am, the power steering simply stopped working! I was stunned! The hood came off, and for once there was no oil anywhere. I removed the drive belt, and spun the pulley: no connection to the pump rotor whatsoever! The so-called rebuilt pump had sheared the drive and that meant I was now officially at the end of my adventure to Laguna Seca. After winning my class at every one-hour race this car started (14 total) in the last 2 years at my home track, a system I had thought bulletproof had done me in. Murphy is alive and well. The long 14 hour tow back to BC gave me time to consider if it was all worth the effort, time and money. I have to say the best parts of the trip were not related directly to the on-track sessions, but to the nice people we met everywhere we stopped, especially the Mackintosh family. Will I do it again? I'll wait for the fuel and hotel bills to arrive before I'll say for sure, but I want to.

Thanks again to all who helped this old, fat, slow amateur have an experience of a lifetime! I'll post some pics later perhaps.
Larry Bell