Sometimes racecars aren't fun

4.5 hr trip to Columbus. Out of the trailer the car wouldnt crank. Breaker bar turn, nope. Radiator low, yup. Pulled plug #2, nope. #4, nope, #6, Bingo, coolant gusher. Tow home tomorrow. Finish side job Sunday. Pull it apart Monday. In hind sight I thought I had a whiff of coolant last Satirday on the last pass. Did I check it, hell no. Dumb ass.
Doug

Trust me, it could always be worse...
Guess the cylinder filled after the last shut-off. Damn.
Still better than dousing the RR tire under power, had water been able to exit somewhere.

That really sucks! I hauled to LVR a few years ago,,one and done.Broke a small piece in the throttle system.NOone at the track had a welder,3 tacks I would have been good.

Definitely been there.....Sucks, I hear you.

That sucks. Happened to me too a couple years ago. Same thing. Smelt water. Thought it was someone else. Ended up having a cracked head. Racing does suck at times.

Sorry to hear that. Bad way to start a race weekend.

Sounds similar to my day today . At least i only drove one hour . I think i have sucked a intake gasket in , i hope .
Must be that time of year , split the block same race last year
Tex

Well I'm not the only one then. After a big repair job to fix wheelie damage we go out for our first pass with the front tight. It spins at the launch and hops around like a rabbit on amphetamine. Back to the pits and I loosen it up some (6 clicks on ext) Out for the next pass and skyward again, I lift instinctively but get back in it before it crashes down, go for second gear and somethings up, it feels like it's in 3rd ??. Anyway back in the pits we have only 3rd and reverse. And reverse where neutral is. After checking the linkage it dawns on me that I've likely jammed the sprag rollers on the ramps, lifting and getting back on it in 1st is a no no on 727's. Seems lately we cant go 2 passes without breaking something.

Hey Doug
Sorry to hear about your car I was wondering why you didn't make a pass but I'm glad to meet you

At least there may still be time in the new season to investigate further and scrap the heat house to be replaced by a new one.
I would check the valves and push rods on that side of the engine just for keeps.

Man, I feel your pain. Broke some valve springs once. Decided to check the seats. I finished it at 11pm, decided to fire it at CFR, 220 miles from home. Water ran out as I was filling. Well, another 220 miles home!

Man, I wish I had enough parts bolted together in any of my cars to break something. But, yeah, I've been there, too. I feel your pain. Hope it's not too major.

There can only be one cause for that issue that isnt a big pita......the gasket failed near a water passage.

Sucks, i know. Trying to go faster, i lost count on the number of weekends i went home broke! My fault, i would be better off with a milder combo, but,,,,,,,,,,,

Hear ya man! Two years ago I qualified for the NED Bracket Finals as an alternate, the sunday before I broke the trans at a nostalgia race, ran home took the trans out brought it to my friend / trans guy he rebuilt it and had it done two days later I put it back in Tuesday night, worked half a day wednesday and finished it, loaded it in the trailer and left at 5.30 A. M. Thursday for Numidia Dragway ( about a two hour trip) I got there unloaded and on the first time shot the trans went again, my friend towed me back and we tried to figure out what happened i noticed the shifter was way out of adjustment, I reset it and it still wouldn't work and so I loaded it back in the trailer,. I asked my track manager if I could go home and get my D150 and race that( i do pretty well with it) she called the Division director and he said No not after you make a time shot, So i hung out the rest of the weekend to cheer on my track team. Got home and took the trans out and brought it to my friend , it turns out I had the shifter so far out of adjustment that when I tried to force it in to gear it broke the rod in the trans that operates the valve body so it got stuck between gears and fried the bands, He fixed it i put it back in and I checked the shifter linkage ten times to make sure it was correct, moral of the story: even when you are in a hurry, take the time to do it right!

I went from mid nines to my old 11 oh Mill. Took the hood off a couple times in Vegas out of guilt.... sure makes a guy think.

I was wondering why you weren't running today. Walked by your trailer a few times and saw the car just sitting there. That sucks! Any hope that it will be fixed before Dragway 42?

That's a bummer sorry to hear... .

My plan of action is to finish the Barracuda suspension side job in the garage (racecar financing). Then air up the cylinder and see if that pressurizes the coolant system. If not pull the intake and pressurize the coolant system and see if either of the
# 6 ports gets wet. Check lash, then pull the head and inspect. Measure deck height on #6. Tempted to pull the piston/rod even if the gasket or head is the issue. It doesn't a[[ear to have water in the oil. Never had any issue with Cometic gaskets, even after reuse ( these were new 91 passes ago). My bet is that it is the head. But we'll see.
Doug

Good luck Doug!

I totally get where you’re coming from....... but you have a Megablock, right?
Anytime there’s a MP part involved......... it always suspect imo.
I’m thinking....... head? Block?........ that’s a “pick em”.

I doubt it’s the gasket....... but you might luck out.

a friend of mine had his mega block crack in the #7 cylinder down at the bottom where it had been clearanced. Antifreeze in the oil. Birdtracker

Yes, it's a Mega Block. It is the later "supposed good style". Probably over 700 passes on it between me and Jim when he ran it.
Doug

Wow, that sucks to drive so far to have to turn around and come home w/o making a run! Here's hoping for a easy fix!
Glad you found it before making a pass though...be a shame for something to happen to that car!

Oh crap. Hope the damage is minimal.

Bummer, hopefully it won't take much to get her back up and running.

Any luck on finding the problem?

Got it apart yesterday. Very little water in the pan, maybe 1-2 oz. It hadn't been run so it didn't mix with the oil. Checking the torque on the bolts they all were loose. I've never checked torque on disassembly before. But never had an issue either. Every stud I checked the moved 15 degrees at least. Pulled both heads as they both were loose. The was some pitting around the water jacket holes last time it was apart. Dropped the heads off at my Machinist. #6 chamber will get pressure checked. Going to weld up the pits and resurface both heads. The deck height on that rod is with-in .001" of install. Ill talk to Tom Molnar today about the rod for possible damage due to hydro-lock. Also going to call Mickey at Cometic . I used a different style torque wrench last time. Maybe I missed the setting?
Doug

the Cometics are almost the same trouble as a copper gasket...lol
A lot of big name engine builders now are silicone the water jacket holes, some even the whole gasket !
Personally ive only had trouble sealing the upper part on my cometics, and that's because of the Indy block shape of the passages. A little silicone seemed to seal it up. but you can clearly see the passage is right on the embossment. On my sons smallblock, every water hole got a smear of red silicone. No leaks so far...but fingers crossed.
At one point I was draining my water every time I put the car back in the trailer to make sure there would be no water leaks...lol

Update; pinhole in the floor of the #6 intake port. That explains very little coolant in the oil vs the large coolant loss. Most went out the header. We'll get it welded up and back together.
Doug

I glad to hear it wasn’t more serious. Are you going to make it to Pittsburgh this year

Cool! Glad it wasn't catastrophic!

It sure could be a lot worse than it is, good luck with it.