SAAC-35- 8/27-29- Preview

[Cobra #3170]

Time to buy a Lotto ticket!
I attended SAAC 35 and had a great time, a very well run event with lots of track time.
I did have a problem however, every time I took my car out I would warm the tires for about 1 1/2 laps and then get after it, at high throttle angles in 3rd and 4th gears the car was shaking so much that it was blurring my vision so I would come in after 5-6 laps. On Saturday I went out again and the car was a little worse, at any rate after the first session the car would not go into gear with out grinding. I checked the travel and bled the slave but got no improvement. I decided to skip the second session and just go out one more time in the 3rd session on Saturday. Several people commented that I looked like I was afraid of the car, I told them that yes I was! In the 3rd session I really got after it and used most of the available HP on the straights to prove that I could handle the vibration, ran 6 laps and came in. Fortunately this really stupid move was not rewarded with a major failure. When I checked the system today I found that the flywheel had a crack all the way though one of the six spokes going to the clutch drive pins. When the clutch was depressed the clutch deflected away from the throwout bearing and would thus not disengage. The morale of the story, when something seems not right, it isn't, so stop what you are doing. I am such a dope for running but it was so tempting I went anyway, never again!
Another rather interesting fact, my car was using 1 gallon of fuel per lap and it isn't fat in the mixture department, I went out six times and used 40 gallons of fuel in about 40 laps.