Most of you know I took the zed over to the ring to put her through her paces. What a place, we were staying within 20 feet of the track and had balcony seats to watch the fun between racing ourselves.
So I fitted the M52TUB28 to Vixen in an attempt to give her more power, it was very evident that I didnt have enough so half way through the weekend I was thinking of either dropping in a V8 or adding a small turbo.
Moving on to the last day I was using my last couple of laps up, on my second to last lap I setup my ring app to time myself, I was well on pace to hit the 9 minute mark till I pushed her a little too hard. There's a part of the track thats like coming down a 20 story building while turning hard left, then climbing the otherside 30 stories into a U turn, It was all to much for the little zeds oil system. These sumps are not baffled so the oil was pinned to one side allowing the crank journals to get starved of oil by the time I reached the top of the hill the zed sounded like a German bomber!
I quickly killed the engine and dived into a safety area on the track and waited to be collected. Luckily for me the ring staff were happy I got out the way quickly and didnt charge me, I only had to pay the truck guy for dragging me off the track.
So once at the yard I had a quick look round the zed and she looked good, I got away with no damage only internals. When I started the engine it was clear the big ends were totally shot! So glad it all happened on the last day.
So the zed is still in Germany just waiting for the RAC to collect her. They've assessed the damage and agree with me, Once it's been signed off they will collect it, they have said I should get a call tomorrow.
Costs I hear you all say: not as bad as you think. The crossing was £146 return, tank of fuel each way from Folkstone to Germany £60 then a tank a day on track, Laps are £30 a lap and I bought 10, Recovery fee was £230 including storage fee's. Accommodation was £95 each (5 of us).
I'm not 100% sure what to do with the enigne, Part of me wants to rebuild the bottom end and a part of me wants to stick the M54B30 in with some ARP bolts for later boost. Either way once the car is back It wont take long to get her running again. Swapping the engine half a day or rebuilding it maybe two days.
We'll see
So I fitted the M52TUB28 to Vixen in an attempt to give her more power, it was very evident that I didnt have enough so half way through the weekend I was thinking of either dropping in a V8 or adding a small turbo.
Moving on to the last day I was using my last couple of laps up, on my second to last lap I setup my ring app to time myself, I was well on pace to hit the 9 minute mark till I pushed her a little too hard. There's a part of the track thats like coming down a 20 story building while turning hard left, then climbing the otherside 30 stories into a U turn, It was all to much for the little zeds oil system. These sumps are not baffled so the oil was pinned to one side allowing the crank journals to get starved of oil by the time I reached the top of the hill the zed sounded like a German bomber!
I quickly killed the engine and dived into a safety area on the track and waited to be collected. Luckily for me the ring staff were happy I got out the way quickly and didnt charge me, I only had to pay the truck guy for dragging me off the track.
So once at the yard I had a quick look round the zed and she looked good, I got away with no damage only internals. When I started the engine it was clear the big ends were totally shot! So glad it all happened on the last day.
So the zed is still in Germany just waiting for the RAC to collect her. They've assessed the damage and agree with me, Once it's been signed off they will collect it, they have said I should get a call tomorrow.
Costs I hear you all say: not as bad as you think. The crossing was £146 return, tank of fuel each way from Folkstone to Germany £60 then a tank a day on track, Laps are £30 a lap and I bought 10, Recovery fee was £230 including storage fee's. Accommodation was £95 each (5 of us).
I'm not 100% sure what to do with the enigne, Part of me wants to rebuild the bottom end and a part of me wants to stick the M54B30 in with some ARP bolts for later boost. Either way once the car is back It wont take long to get her running again. Swapping the engine half a day or rebuilding it maybe two days.
We'll see
