Tracking the 914 - Need some street love too..., Turning this into a regular thing... Options

[infraredcalvin]

Thanks, the whole rig is a friends, the trailer is HUGE, I shouldn't need it this week, but I like having the power, shade and AC that comes with...

I'm still looking for an open trailer - wish that trailex in the classifieds with the green track car was closer...



As for black car, yes, I love it, it brings out the Darth Vader in me. Original color is light ivory, I’m torn with going back at some point, but that’s not for a while…

[BillJ]

I.have EXACTLY the same scenario. Originally white now black.

[infraredcalvin]

Wow, The Thermal Club really lived up to the hype, had a great track day today!



We were the anomaly out there today, most of what they have is new hardware, we had a pre war sprint car, the Samson 911 RSR, 2 speedsters, a 356 abarth, a sunbeam tiger and my 914-6. Obviously Samson took the title for the fasted lap, but the 914-6 captured 2nd (with some coaxing from Samson)…

[campbellcj]

Congrats on a fun outing and I agree you've got a sweet truck/trailer rig! If I ever start tracking my car regularly again I'd love to get a small enclosed trailer. Have had my same old beater open one for 20 years now.

[infraredcalvin]

Not sure if I mentioned previously, but my wife and kids got me a Garmin Catalyst for Xmas, I took it out to Thermal with me for the first time… the track configuration we ran was not in the device, so I set up an new track and let the gps do its thing. I was getting data right away. While it’s not going to tell you where to shave seconds of your lap times, it does pick out the spots where you could shave off tenths. Below is my fastest lap, of course it was the one when I was being coaxed by Samson…. I was overdriving the car and missed several turn-ins and apexes, I was diving deep to try and shave distance between me and Samson…. The catalyst picked these up and identified them as “opportunities”… Cool gadget, I’ll keep messing with it, three’s more functions I haven’t even used.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwE8XTUApJ4

[Justinp71]

Cool! I just got a catalyst last year, they are great and super simple to use, love it. Seems like your 914 could beat that Samson with more practice, but I am sure just getting it out was a blast!

[Charles Freeborn]

Looks like a fun track. Way out of my leaguel / budget...
The Catalyst is a neat unit. I've got several friends that run them. I'm still stuck in the AiM solo camp, as I have numerous friends that use them and we share data files that we can overlay to see where one of us is faster (or slower) than another in specific areas we want to work on. I think the Catalyst can do the same.

[infraredcalvin]

Justin, yeah, not so sure about that, he’s holding back a bit, he runs a lap time about 5-6 sec fastener. He did say he was surprised I could keep up as well as I did. He’s also got big fat Avon slicks vs my r888rs, but yes there’s a few seconds there for me… hopefully next time I’ll be a bit closer..

Charles, for sure out of my budget too, nice to be a guest though! We were messing with the different functions, I like the real time feedback, it’s definately designed for the hobbyist/novice-intermediate track day enthusiast. I’m lucky to have been to a few racing schools and have access to some great coaches, anything the catalyst found I had already mentally picked up on, the difference between this lap and the optimal lap was less than a second, I was expecting it to find a few seconds…

I’m not knocking it, and I’d love to shave a sec off my lap times, but it’s only as good as the driver, and it does identify and help develop consistencies…

[infraredcalvin]

I admit i haven't done a good job of keeping this updated...

Haven't been doing too many track days as of late (daughter in college, and next one headed in a year). I have a friend who bought a house at the Thermal Club, so most of recent track days have been fooling around there...

i also just noticed on another thread, @Shivers and @cali914 had asked about my rear spoiler. it came with the car, so I'm not sure who made it, but it looks an awful lot like this PMS one:

https://patrickmotorsports.com/products/bod...3A4A0Tejbv0L43I

I think I'll be removing it for the street, every f'ng ricer feels like they want to race every time they pull beside me, gotta find some plugs for the holes, and then just put it on as needed for track days.

[campbellcj]

^^^ Looks very similar to the Sheridan spoiler I have. Mounted with removable fasteners as well and currently off the car. I don't really like how 914s look with spoilers in general but it did seem to do some good on track e.g. WSIR turns 7-8-9 where lift is not your friend.

[Shivers]

Not sure if I mentioned previously, but my wife and kids got me a Garmin Catalyst for Xmas, I took it out to Thermal with me for the first time… the track configuration we ran was not in the device, so I set up an new track and let the gps do its thing. I was getting data right away. While it’s not going to tell you where to shave seconds of your lap times, it does pick out the spots where you could shave off tenths. Below is my fastest lap, of course it was the one when I was being coaxed by Samson…. I was overdriving the car and missed several turn-ins and apexes, I was diving deep to try and shave distance between me and Samson…. The catalyst picked these up and identified them as “opportunities”… Cool gadget, I’ll keep messing with it, three’s more functions I haven’t even used.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwE8XTUApJ4

I watched as they built the Thermal Club, would drive by every couple weeks. When I win the lotto. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) I'm in La Quinta, a little west.

[infraredcalvin]

Long time no post, but she's been seeing the road a bit, backtracking a bit I took her to Air|Water back in May '24, the display for displayed cars was disappointing to say the least, i wish they would have at least grouped them.. oh well.

They did do a cool QR link to a site (Bramo?) where you could post history and a few photos, it's still up, definitely needs the bugs worked out, but cool concept for car shows.

https://www.bramo.co/cars?id=QxTXcarzDaSZva

[infraredcalvin]

[infraredcalvin]

I went to take the car out a few weekends ago, thankfully i had the frunk open so i could give the car a onceover prior to driving. The fuel pump was leaking badly.

The past few track days I noticed once things got warm, my fuel pressure would drop. I would notice something different as my AFRs would get slightly higher, but I've been running rich, so it wasn't a huge concern. i tried to emulate on the street, but I don't think I was able to run it hard enough to get it to happen. Regardless, I had been considering a new pump anyway, and with the fuel smell (weeping fuel lines), it was time to refurb the fuel system.

When the leak happened I ordered a new one and did a minor disassembly of the old one. Looks to be corrosion, and a new rubber seal, I'll rebuild it and set in in the spare parts bin.

Over the weekend I put in the new pump, she fired up as normal, but just leaving the parking lot of my shop I thought I noticed a bit more pep. Quick run to the gas station and $5 a gallon later, she felt pretty good, like I gained 25 or more butt dyno hp????

I jumped on the toll road near me and did a 1 offramp full throttle run. She's definitely got more, especially up top. Hmmm time for more fine tuning, she's still rich, so there's probably another 5-10 hp to be easily had.

So, was she not getting enough fuel? If so wouldn't my AFRs be lean? Nothing else was touched. AFRs seem to be about the same as before.

[Justinp71]

How old is your AFR gauge? I recently found out these wide band oxygen sensors don't really last that long and probably even shorter on our rich running carb cars. They get really hot and I think they are subject to cracking if they get warmed up and slapped with cold condensate. I am thinking how I can get mine to turn on once the motor starts.

I am using a 14point7 O2 sensor now and it clearly states to turn on the oxygen sensor after the car starts, which I don't even know how to do that yet. Maybe they just state it so they can deny more warranty claims. I will tell you I have that sensor new and an older AEM, the AEM has been out to lunch sometimes. They have been getting inline sometimes once everything is warm. I am just getting thru start up on my EFI so learning new stuff everyday... good luck.

[brant]

We run av gas with lead
A sensor lasts about 4 race weekends

I always carry a spare
Change often

I’ve been told you can burn them hot with a propane torch to clean off the deposits. Tried that once but easier to just replace. Sense of security knowing the AFR is accurate as I don’t want to go lean at red line

We also installed a 30 second delay relay in ours so it only powers the gauge after warm up

I also recalibrate every race weekend

[infraredcalvin]

I use the Innovate stuff (LM2, AFR gauges, data log, pressure sensor, etc). I know they have their issues, but I got sucked into their system a while back, I've gotten comfortable with how they work. I have an afr on each bank, I swap the sensors every so often to verify they are consistent i also just recalibrated them 2 weeks ago. They have a warmup procedure built in, about 20-30 sec. I also have some other known good sensors I can stick in there and verify as well, I'll be sure to do that too.

New development yesterday, took her to a local C&C, then for a brief canyon drive. On the way home she stated bogging down, got really rich (8 on the AFR) and smoking heavily on one side, as I pulled over I there was smoke coming from the engine compartment, so I flicked off the pump and ignition and costed off the road. I jumped out with my extinguisher, looking down into the lid for fire. I didn't open it as I didn't want to introduce any more oxygen until I knew what was going on...

When things settled and I saw nothing on fire (about 5 min) I opened the lid to see the anodizing on one air cleaner hat scorched yellow with heat, I could also hear the fuel boiling, touching the hat it was really hot while the other seemed normal... had her towed back to the shop. I think I dodged a big bullet...

Time to pull the tank and go through all my fuel lines... I'm thinking I'll rebuild and clean my carbs again too...

[Justinp71]

We run av gas with lead
A sensor lasts about 4 race weekends

I always carry a spare
Change often

I’ve been told you can burn them hot with a propane torch to clean off the deposits. Tried that once but easier to just replace. Sense of security knowing the AFR is accurate as I don’t want to go lean at red line

We also installed a 30 second delay relay in ours so it only powers the gauge after warm up

I also recalibrate every race weekend

Good info. Interesting, is your 30 second delay in the ECU? Does your ECU turn on the o2 sensor?

[brant]

It’s not
No ECU- no fuel injection

It just a little two inch square wired in line to the power for the AFR system

So when I turn the car power on there is a 30 second delay before my system (also innovate) powers up

[slivel]

When things settled and I saw nothing on fire (about 5 min) I opened the lid to see the anodizing on one air cleaner hat scorched yellow with heat, I could also hear the fuel boiling, touching the hat it was really hot while the other seemed normal... had her towed back to the shop. I think I dodged a big bullet...

Time to pull the tank and go through all my fuel lines... I'm thinking I'll rebuild and clean my carbs again too...
[/quote]


From your description, it appears that you had a fire that was contained within the air cleaner. And yes, you did dodge a bullet.

I'd start looking at dead floats or leaking float valve dumping way too much fuel in that bank. Don't just assume that the floats are good. They should be weighed and be within spec. If the carbs are Webers, the float weight in grams should be stamped on the float arm. Source for this is "Weber Carburetors" by Pat Braden. HP Books printed in 1988 so it may be out of print now.