Track conditions

[PKRWUD]

Originally posted by ultraflo
What kind of temps do you record monitoring the cylinders on the sprint car? ...and where exactly are you pointing the gun? At idle, I'm usually around 700+ degrees.

I've been using a digital EGT on the #7 cylinder and have seen as high as 1500+ degrees, normally in the 1400's though... I've been wanting to buy a heat gun, and the more uses that can be uncovered for it, the more I feel I need one Not that using one for tuning the motor would seem all that effective, but I'd like to hear more about it.

I'd like to keep a log of the track and tire temps on each run in my notes next year.... the more info I have to look back on at the end of the year the better.

This is the first year I've ever kept a log book, though I only kept track of shock, strut, and clutch settings, tire psi, fuel and timing maps, fuel psi, bottle psi, how many passes are on the tires, tranny, and motor, and, of course, the timeslip info...

I actually use it more for adjusting the throttle plates at idle and off idle. I aim the laser at the header pipe about 1-2 inches from the head, for each cylinder, several times during the first 5 to 6 minutes after we fire it in the pits. Cylinders 1 & 2 (small block Chevy) rarely get hotter than 200 degrees, while the middle two on each side get to 550 degrees in 3 minutes. Cylinders 7 & 8 run around 450 degrees. Again, this is at no more than 2200 rpms, and we run straight methanol.

Since we use a hilborn injection, we have 8 throttle blades which have to be synchronized, and you can tell when they're off because the temps will be different.

We also use the gun to read tire temps. If they're more than 150 degrees when he comes off the track, we're running too low a gear (usually 6.86's), and I will swap in a set of 6.76's (Winters quick change).

As far as keeping a log, you really have to. We record our shocks, stagger, where we blocked the frame, how many turns we put into the torsion bars, how much fuel we went out with, and how much we came back with. How far out the right rear tire was from the body, air pressures, gears, etc. Then we note the track condition, the tide, and how we did. In theory, this will make future races easier to set up for. But, the one factor that never gets charted is how many people came by and convinced the driver something needed to be changed.

other advantages of having the Fluke 65 is the ability to know exactly what temp a t-stat opens at, or how accurate a temp gauge is.

Best of all, you can always claim the coldest beer from 6 feet away!

Take care,
~Chris