VegasNick Posted March 8, 2018 Report Share Posted March 8, 2018 I saw some pics from one race and was curious what horror stories the Champ Tech Inspectors have seen? In my time I have seen roll cages with bars made from fence pipe, exhaust pipe, and even a few PVC sections. I have seen one with a screwdriver on a string used to start the car and once saw a 5 gallon gas can tied in the trunk for a fuel cell. What have you guys seen here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginerd Posted March 8, 2018 Report Share Posted March 8, 2018 5 hours ago, VegasNick said: I saw some pics from one race and was curious what horror stories the Champ Tech Inspectors have seen? In my time I have seen roll cages with bars made from fence pipe, exhaust pipe, and even a few PVC sections. I have seen one with a screwdriver on a string used to start the car and once saw a 5 gallon gas can tied in the trunk for a fuel cell. What have you guys seen here? Screwdriver on a string!?! That’s how we started our car at our first ChumpCar race in 2014 (except it was a metal cable looped through a hole drilled in the handle, not string). Mike Morrison almost fell over laughing when he saw that. That screwdriver came with the car because that’s how the previous owner had to start it! Worked all weekend. Was replaced by a switch panel and push button for the next event. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VegasNick Posted March 8, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2018 2 hours ago, enginerd said: Screwdriver on a string!?! That’s how we started our car at our first ChumpCar race in 2014 (except it was a metal cable looped through a hole drilled in the handle, not string). Mike Morrison almost fell over laughing when he saw that. That screwdriver came with the car because that’s how the previous owner had to start it! Worked all weekend. Was replaced by a switch panel and push button for the next event. hahah! That is awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron_e Posted March 8, 2018 Report Share Posted March 8, 2018 Horror story on the other side: To see if you were running straight water tech dude was sticking his finger in the rad fluid then putting it in his mouth to taste it. Of course there is always some residual glycol and all glycol is poisonous. He was doing this to every car he tech'd, I'm sure he wasn't feeling too well the next day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technical Advisory Committee Ray Franck Posted March 8, 2018 Technical Advisory Committee Report Share Posted March 8, 2018 ^^^^ really , dagg ... I've teched a lot over the years , batteries held down with a hose clamp , bungie , nylon strap or just gravity .. incomplete welds on cages, lug studs to short with only a couple of threads engaged into the nut .. and a few more not so well engineered aero devices .. The worst == my son has a friend that runs NASA spec Miata , we went to see him and his dad run their first race . As we walked up I heard the boy tell my son the car was a little lite . I stuck my head in the driver side of the car and witnessed the dad zip tying a BOAT ANCHOR to the passenger side roll cage . Had to do a little walk a bout and when we returned he asked what did I think about the modification . Well let's just say we had a long talk about the things that can happen on a race track .. Anchor removed and 4 gallons of gass in the tank and they were good to go .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VegasNick Posted March 8, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2018 1 minute ago, okkustom said: ^^^^ really , dagg ... I've teched a lot over the years , batteries held down with a hose clamp , bungie , nylon strap or just gravity .. incomplete welds on cages, lug studs to short with only a couple of threads engaged into the nut .. and a few more not so well engineered aero devices .. The worst == my son has a friend that runs NASA spec Miata , we went to see him and his dad run their first race . As we walked up I heard the boy tell my son the car was a little lite . I stuck my head in the driver side of the car and witnessed the dad zip tying a BOAT ANCHOR to the passenger side roll cage . Had to do a little walk a bout and when we returned he asked what did I think about the modification . Well let's just say we had a long talk about the things that can happen on a race track .. Anchor removed and 4 gallons of gass in the tank and they were good to go .. Holy snap! That's one I haven't seen. I did see 25lbs of lead on an old roller skate once. Some weird cable setup so they could change the weight bias during the run. LOL Good old southern dirt track guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racer28173 Posted March 8, 2018 Report Share Posted March 8, 2018 3 hours ago, Ron_e said: Horror story on the other side: To see if you were running straight water tech dude was sticking his finger in the rad fluid then putting it in his mouth to taste it. Of course there is always some residual glycol and all glycol is poisonous. He was doing this to every car he tech'd, I'm sure he wasn't feeling too well the next day. You might be shocked to discover that Dr. Pepper used to list propylene glycol as one of the ingredients (seriously - it did). I'm not sure when they took it out but it was still there that last time I checked in the late 90s (IIRC). Not that you would EVER catch me sampling fluids out of radiators. I'd be more worried about trace amounts of motor oil than trace amounts of antifreeze (the motor oil coming from a head gasket leak). And then there is radiator stop-leak, that used to have lead in it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technical Advisory Committee Ray Franck Posted March 9, 2018 Technical Advisory Committee Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 1 hour ago, VegasNick said: Holy snap! That's one I haven't seen. I did see 25lbs of lead on an old roller skate once. Some weird cable setup so they could change the weight bias during the run. LOL Good old southern dirt track guys. I acquired an old late model that a guy converted into a GT1 SCCA road racer the stuff that guy did to that car was criminal. . When I cut the last piece of butchery off it I kept the piece and hung it on the wall , he also had 120# of lead mounted with a 1/4 20 bolt and a sheet metal screw, priceless .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mender Posted March 9, 2018 Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 2 hours ago, Racer28173 said: You might be shocked to discover that Dr. Pepper used to list propylene glycol as one of the ingredients (seriously - it did). I'm not sure when they took it out but it was still there that last time I checked in the late 90s (IIRC). Not that you would EVER catch me sampling fluids out of radiators. I'd be more worried about trace amounts of motor oil than trace amounts of antifreeze (the motor oil coming from a head gasket leak). And then there is radiator stop-leak, that used to have lead in it.... I poured a compound made from a highly reactive metal and a poisonous gas directly onto my meal tonight - then ate it! I do this every so often because I like to live dangerously, and yes, it tastes better too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technical Advisory Committee mcoppola Posted March 9, 2018 Technical Advisory Committee Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 11 hours ago, mender said: I poured a compound made from a highly reactive metal and a poisonous gas directly onto my meal tonight - then ate it! I do this every so often because I like to live dangerously, and yes, it tastes better too. Sounds yummy! Please share what that compound might be... (If others already figure it out, it's early here, and I'm a little slow in the A.M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommytipover Posted March 9, 2018 Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 Sodium Chloride Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VegasNick Posted March 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 13 hours ago, okkustom said: I acquired an old late model that a guy converted into a GT1 SCCA road racer the stuff that guy did to that car was criminal. . When I cut the last piece of butchery off it I kept the piece and hung it on the wall , he also had 120# of lead mounted with a 1/4 20 bolt and a sheet metal screw, priceless .. Sounds about right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VegasNick Posted March 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 Ever see anything like this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhr650 Posted March 9, 2018 Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 15 hours ago, Racer28173 said: You might be shocked to discover that Dr. Pepper used to list propylene glycol as one of the ingredients (seriously - it did). I'm not sure when they took it out but it was still there that last time I checked in the late 90s (IIRC). Not that you would EVER catch me sampling fluids out of radiators. I'd be more worried about trace amounts of motor oil than trace amounts of antifreeze (the motor oil coming from a head gasket leak). And then there is radiator stop-leak, that used to have lead in it.... Propylene Glycol is perfectly safe to consume, it is in all kinds of food and drinks, and is the pink stuff that Walmart sells to winterize the fresh water system on RV’s. There are handful of Propylene Glycol engine coolants out there normally marketed as high end waterless coolants, although I have had good results with just running the Walmart RV antifreeze back when I raced motorcycles. The green stuff that most engines run is Ethylene Glycol and quite toxic, something you really do want to avoid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technical Advisory Committee mcoppola Posted March 9, 2018 Technical Advisory Committee Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 2 hours ago, VegasNick said: Ever see anything like this: Yes, I did. On my first dune buggy frame I ever built at age 16. It was arc welded together and looked similar in some areas. The welds did however hold up when we crested a hill at the Silver Lake Sand Dunes at nearly full speed, and went 1/4 of way down the back side of the hill airborne, before hitting the right front wheel and then landing upside down! Years later, when I got my first job as a fabricator, we sand blasted the frame for repaint, and 2 of us stayed after work with a couple TIG welders going, and "buttered in" all the welds to fix them. We both woke up the next morning with welders flash (not pleasant). Come to think of it, he's the same guy that I had this conversation with a while after that. me: "Man, did we do some stupid shiitt when we were younger." Him: "Yeah, but it made us who we are today." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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