It's been a while since I posted any updates on the Jaggermeister CSL vintage racer. We spent the winter sorting the two issues that really plagued us last year- fuel feed, and over-heating.
Racecraft in Seattle is now taking care of the car. Over the winter Jim Froula troubleshot the fuel delivery system and the cooling system. We also re-branded some of the graphics to a more period correct scheme.
He performed several modifications to the fuel and cooling systems on the CSL and then ran it on the chassis dyno.
Both systems are working as they should now. The new fuel pump and regulator maintain pressure perfectly even with a long sustained pull in 5th gear. He also raised the floats back to where they should be, and changed the jetting a little which gained another 4 horsepower, but more importantly, this got the fuel curve back to where it should be. It was running very rich.
The cooling system changes also worked out as he planned and it was maintaining water temp right at and below 180 degrees. The change he made was to permanently fix the system in the "hot" mode of operation so that the water no longer bypasses the radiator ever. The thermostat was disabled and a freeze plug was installed in the cross over passage.
The true test came 2 weeks ago at the SOVREN Spring Sprints in Seattle. I was gridded in the Bog Bore group with a bunch of Corvettes and Mustangs, a 12 cyl. Jag roadster, and a GT-40 Ford replica.
During the first practice we still had a little coolant spray onto the windshield, but Jim quickly diagnosed a full overflow tank, and once it was drained no more water on the windshield. :lol:
I started race 4 at the back of the grid, and by lap 6 was running 2nd (helped by one of the Mustang drivers who spun off on turn 2). The car performed beautifully, even though I was not geared properly for PRI and was loosing speed down the LONG front straight.
2 laps from the end of the race the car dropped to running on 5 cylinders and I quickly came in fearing the worst. Jim determined that the bushings in the distributor were failing and allowing the rotor to strike one of the carbon posts in the cap. We ran the car in the 5th race, but just motored around at the back.
Next step is a new more robust distributor from das Fatherland, then off to Sonoma for the Sonoma Historics next weekend.
In Seattle I also made my first run in the 1935 315 "Willis Special" which I had purchased over the winter. What a sweet ride! Not an E9, but certainly has the right genes!
I had a camera in the 315 and posted this video to my YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDgVFcWY_LY&list=UUwCqF1cAp-CSUkT23vr6yLA&index=1
Racecraft in Seattle is now taking care of the car. Over the winter Jim Froula troubleshot the fuel delivery system and the cooling system. We also re-branded some of the graphics to a more period correct scheme.
He performed several modifications to the fuel and cooling systems on the CSL and then ran it on the chassis dyno.
Both systems are working as they should now. The new fuel pump and regulator maintain pressure perfectly even with a long sustained pull in 5th gear. He also raised the floats back to where they should be, and changed the jetting a little which gained another 4 horsepower, but more importantly, this got the fuel curve back to where it should be. It was running very rich.
The cooling system changes also worked out as he planned and it was maintaining water temp right at and below 180 degrees. The change he made was to permanently fix the system in the "hot" mode of operation so that the water no longer bypasses the radiator ever. The thermostat was disabled and a freeze plug was installed in the cross over passage.
The true test came 2 weeks ago at the SOVREN Spring Sprints in Seattle. I was gridded in the Bog Bore group with a bunch of Corvettes and Mustangs, a 12 cyl. Jag roadster, and a GT-40 Ford replica.
During the first practice we still had a little coolant spray onto the windshield, but Jim quickly diagnosed a full overflow tank, and once it was drained no more water on the windshield. :lol:
I started race 4 at the back of the grid, and by lap 6 was running 2nd (helped by one of the Mustang drivers who spun off on turn 2). The car performed beautifully, even though I was not geared properly for PRI and was loosing speed down the LONG front straight.
2 laps from the end of the race the car dropped to running on 5 cylinders and I quickly came in fearing the worst. Jim determined that the bushings in the distributor were failing and allowing the rotor to strike one of the carbon posts in the cap. We ran the car in the 5th race, but just motored around at the back.
Next step is a new more robust distributor from das Fatherland, then off to Sonoma for the Sonoma Historics next weekend.
In Seattle I also made my first run in the 1935 315 "Willis Special" which I had purchased over the winter. What a sweet ride! Not an E9, but certainly has the right genes!
I had a camera in the 315 and posted this video to my YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDgVFcWY_LY&list=UUwCqF1cAp-CSUkT23vr6yLA&index=1
