Club Cranky at the Glen???

mrmustang · #1 (**permalink**) 10-07-2002, 05:47 AM

Ok boys,

Now that it is Monday, and you have sobered up, fill us in on JM's cryptic email about 4 blown up engines???

Yours in Fords,

Bill S.

Pete C · #2 (**permalink**) 10-07-2002, 06:57 AM

He is right it's time to share. Post pics and gory details!

Cheers, Pete

John McMahon · #3 (**permalink**) 10-07-2002, 10:31 AM

...it was a Bad Day at Black Rock.

Four moders were lost....

Cranky, me, Hank Dondero and Bill Connelly's Mustang.

Don't know the extent of anyones elses damage, but it looks like my Crankshaft snapped probably near the first journal since the Harmonic Balancer was just hanging there.

Happened at the last turn going into the front straight. I nailed it, the motor died and I'm done for the season.

Pete C · #4 (**permalink**) 10-07-2002, 10:37 AM

Sorry to hear about your breakdowns but if there is a silver lining, better that problems surfaced at the end of the season than the beginning. Sounds like you guys are gonna put in some time at the end of your wrenches. Again a silver lining; it will keep you out of trouble and away from the gin. Then again, maybe not, my experience is that such jobs require frequent lubrication!

Cheers, Pete

Roscoe · #5 (**permalink**) 10-07-2002, 11:45 AM

Man...that track just eats up motors.

John: Sounds like the exact thing that happened to Bill K's 5.0 last time out at the glen.

And after spending 6 weeks getting my engine back together YOU WANTED ME TO GO?

Roscoe

John McMahon · #6 (**permalink**) 10-07-2002, 01:30 PM

Roscoe,

Well, my motor lasted three full seasons plus however long it was run before I bought it. Failures do happen when you run a motor consistently at 7K RPMs. So I can't complain about that.

Bill's failure was a little more catastrophic. I did not oil down the track. I think the crank either had some kind of crack in it already or maybe it wasn't getting enough oil. It just broke and died, it had been running really well before that. I was running some of my best speeds yet at around 145 MPH on the back straight.

These are things that just happen with consistent use at high RPMs. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Hank Dondero · #7 (**permalink**) 10-07-2002, 02:46 PM

Whaaaaaa! Whaaaaaaa!

The Glen can be a killer. If your not geared correctly you run out of revs before you do track. (I was just touching 140 on the back straight with a good run up through the esses and bumping 6000 rpm). That appears to have been my problem anyway.

Pete, maybe out of trouble, but not away from the TnTs.

Now, for next year ...........

Hank
FFR 1776-II

RACER X #99 · #8 (**permalink**) 10-07-2002, 02:50 PM

After 3000+ track miles the track turd finally got flushed down the toilet.

I'll be back,

Cranky

Jamo · #9 (**permalink**) 10-07-2002, 03:21 PM

Damn shame guys--but you sound like you ran your hearts out, which you did all season. Stop with the Wannabe Racers BS--when you break things in the middle of running on a big track--I call that REAL racing. Congrats on having so much fun this year.

Jack Zupan · #10 (**permalink**) 10-07-2002, 07:27 PM

Since this thread is started I'll log on to say thanks to all you guys who were at the Glen. You were friendly and gracious and made me feel right at home. I had just a great time even if I wasn't driving my Cobra. I can't believe I didn't do this years ago! It is amazing how much you learn in such a short time. I've been thinking about the weekend all day. The way things went for some of you guys I was getting worried and questioning the wisdom of driving to the track. I have to say I was a little nervous about breaking parts about noon on Saturday and thinking about how I could get me and the car back home if something went wrong. Luckily all went well and the day finished uneventfully for me.

Hank I hope you have some luck with Ford. John you helped get me to the track and introduced me to everyone. Thanks.

Best Regards to all at Club Cranky

Jack Z.

a427sc · #11 (**permalink**) 10-07-2002, 08:57 PM

Well, the cats out of the bag now. A total of 4 small blocks bit the dust, and a turbo Mazda didn't look to good either. All gave their best to the cause, doing many, many (well almost all, sorry Hank) miles in the pursuit of the perfect lap, and they died in the sadle so to speak.

But there were also those who carried on with honor and speed. Peter B's GT350 sb and Terry Shanks supercharged (not blown) small moder survived and will run another day. Barcalounger Joe R's car started out down the dark path on Friday, but was revived and protected by the halo from the old FE holley he borrowed. Said Joe, " Since I put that old FE carb on, it ain't never run so good. What else you boys got that I can stuff in there to make run better." or something like that. "It ain't primer, it's dove grey" Paul Formanek's FE ERA had a minor scuffle with a distributor gear. He said it had less teeth than a back woods grandma, but dug into the rusty parts box and cobbled up an old Ford dual point and got it runnin by noon Friday. An amazing job of determination and junkyard wiring. And me, except for a bobble with a Hurst shifter spring clip (which I had a spare for, I don't know why), it was "pour in the gas-drive the car, pour in more gas- drive the car. A single tweak with rear tire pressure, with the help of my able tire checker Cranky, and it ran like a scalded snake all day long.

It's too bad that the damage was so extensive to those guys, but I bet visions of strokers and trick heads and roller cams are starting to surface, pushing back the hurt. Wait till next year...

McFEz

Turk · #12 (**permalink**) 10-07-2002, 09:11 PM

Cranky and company...
I am sure you guys will be back and back with a vengence.
Sorry to hear about your trackside troubles, but that is what winters are for. Right?

Good luck with the repairs and the inevitable upgrades.

Things are not going all that well here on the left coast either. I think I broke a nail yesterday while cleaning the radiator hose clamps.

John,
When you break the crank does the block pay a price or is the damage confined to the crank only.

You too will be back. Good luck!

TURK

Pete C · #13 (**permalink**) 10-07-2002, 11:17 PM

Sooooo...McFEz, Let me see if I got this straight. The sbs blew up and the bbs continued to race? Go figure?!

Cheers, Pete

RACER X #99 · #14 (**permalink**) 10-08-2002, 04:49 AM

I waited all summer for McFez to get his car back in racing condition so that I could give him a run for his money. By 10:00 am Fri. morning the Crankmobile was dead. Who would of thunk it could happen?

Next year I'm going bigger, perhaps a 358ci sb to make up for the new found power of the Fezmobile.

Turk,
Perhaps this year you could start a collection for the Club Cranky members that need a little cash for repairs????

Down but not out ,
Cranky

Roscoe · #15 (**permalink**) 10-08-2002, 07:53 AM

Hey McMahon!

Are we talkin FORGED crank now?

Roscoe

John McMahon · #16 (**permalink**) 10-08-2002, 08:51 AM

Jack Z,

Glad you came out and got your feet wet with us. It sounds like you had a blast learinging the course. Hopefully nest year you can run your SPF at the Glen with PDA. I'm not sure if PDA is going to enforce a full roll bar next year, so they may be the way to go for Cobra owners wanting to get some track time.

Turk,

Hard to tell, I have heard differing opinions about the block. I think it depends where it breaks. Judging on the angle of the dampner, it looks like it may have snapped at the first journal near the front. But others are also saying it could have flailed around inside and taken out the lower webbing on the block.
I plan to drop the oil pan this week end for a look see.

Roscoe,

If its just the crank, it will be top of the line. But if its the whole motor...I gotta wrestle with the numbers. I had planned on moving to aluminum heads over the winter anyway. These guys were trying to talk me into pulling the 351 out of my Cobra and sticking it in McStang...NO WAY!!!!

Pete C,

Gotta say Paul F. and McFez were running them BBs real hard...all weekend...with minimal problems. I was glad to see McFez break his Watkins Glen curse and run w/o any breakage. Even with all the SB breakage though, I think McFIA (aka The Barco Lounger Racer...aka Joe Rodimista) still was at the top of his game hitting about 150 on the back straight with his SB and looked like he was awake while doing it!

As I understand it, there were only 2 or 3 die hards left on Sunday afternoon. If their cars survived, they did not! PDA was running extremely long sessions, about 45 minutes each and we really did get a lot of seat time at this event. So by Sunday, many were too exhausted to drive anymore. They were averaging about 3 hours a day on the 3.5 mile course.

That's a lot of track time.

...now where's my credit card???

Terry · #17 (**permalink**) 10-08-2002, 09:06 AM

As in the past the Glen showed us why it's called New York's Thunder Road. Even with my brake problem it was still a blast!! Good food, friends, fast cars and a great racetrack!!! Who could ask for more? Can't what for next season.

It's easy to sit back and poke fun at the misfortunes of others that tested their metal as well as that of their cars. We push our cars to their limit and as you have read beyond. I'm not the fastest car out there, but I push the envelope a little further each event. There’s nothing like flying down the main straight, braking hard for the turn, turning in and feeling the suspension load-up as you hit he apex and power out to the edge of the track. It's a roller coaster ride you control. Until you have done it you don't know what you’re missing. As our new Club Cranky member said as he left Sunday morning, "It's the most fun he had with his clothes on".

Enough said, see you at the track!

Terry

DanElam · #18 (**permalink**) 10-08-2002, 09:47 AM

Terry, e-mail bounced. 804-342-7400.

Super-Snake · #19 (**permalink**) 10-08-2002, 07:37 PM

glad to hear all of you had such a good time at the Glen. I was bumming all weekend knowing how good the weather was and that you guys were up there. hopefully next year i will be able to make it up with you to atleast one Club Cranky Event.

john:

sorry about your misfortune. hopefully its something minor. keep us posted. you will be glad to know we finally figured out what was wrong with my car. The cam gear sensor was on its death bed and finally croaked. Along the way it killed the head gasket, cracked the cylinder head, killed the ignition, fried the wires, and killed the plugs. But.... we were able to fix it and get the car running strong. Hopefully after this fix the car will become the check air pressure and fill her with fuel car I always hoped she would be. lets keep our fingers crossed. til the next track day....

-dan

Slick67 · #20 (**permalink**) 10-09-2002, 06:43 AM

John and Cranky "aka uncle"

I heard about your weekend from my dad. I read what John said and he's right. The engines are worked hard on the track and no engine is going to last for ever. Just look at how many engines i went through in my second full season in the micro. It was about 3 engines every 4 weeks or so. I got to be good friends with the speed shop guys snice i was always there. I even started to get the 20% discount from them. I did get good at changing them at the track and or rebuilding them there. I did enjoy it before it blew, but you know what they say about that "they always run the best before they blow". Well have to pack now im going to Korea.

Slick

P.S. By the way i know a really good engine builder if your looking for one