I pushed it until it broke.

[cygnusx1]

Finally after 5 years of slowly increasing boost, tuning, and reconfiguring injectors and ignition systems, I hit the limit of the old power plant. It's a junkyard L28ET with over 160k miles on it, that has been running boost levels 10, 12, 15, and finally 18psi with a larger turbo. Yesterday the engine had enough and blew a head gasket.

Here is the final run...and what a good run it was. She was pulling like a freight train at the track with the Porsche Club and the NYZCC. It was my first time in a solo class, mixed with instructors and top level club drivers. The NYZCC, and CTZCC had a bunch of Z cars there, all of which impressed the Porsche Club. We were happily invited back to future PCA events. A random PCA member loaned me his truck and trailer so that I could run my Z home over an hour and a half away!

I am running stock suspension geometry with eccentric control arm bushings, street tires, Tokico 1" lowering springs of unknown rate, Illuminas, with ST 1-1/8" and 7/8" swaybars. The motor will be rebuilt over the next couple of months.

see video below...

Edited April 13, 2011 by cygnusx1

[cygnusx1]

I re-processed the video with improved lighting, and 720p resolution. You can actually see the gauges now.

[Pomorza]

That's a sad thing to see, the head gasket blowing. The race was really intense to watch. How did you mount the camera there?

[cygnusx1]

I'll have to get photos of how I mounted the camera. Basically it's a vertical aluminum post that I mounted to a rear strut tower bar. The top of the camera is near the hatch glass. Under the glass I stuck on some foam tape, so that when the hatch closes, the foam pushes down on the camera. This dampens vibrations.

The motor is almost all apart and looks fine, other than #4 and #5 head gasket fire rings. They got pushed out, and #4 exposed a water passage, which led to me shutting down the car. Since the motor is old, it will be rebuilt, as will the turbo. I should be done in a few weeks.

Then I need to think about a roll cage and harness...

Edited April 13, 2011 by cygnusx1

[John Coffey]

Wear gloves when you're driving on the track. If you're ever in a wreck and there's a fire, you'll be grateful.

[Patcon]

I watched you video. It was good video compared to alot of in car videos that come through you tube. I wanted to ask how hard you were pushing the car. It is hard to tell from the video but it seemed like you weren't revving it up very high and I couldn't tell if traction was an issue in some of the corners. I asked because there was one Z that came by you and walked off. I didn't know if that was a unique Z or whether he was just flogging it?

Thanks, Charles

PS Maybe one day I will make some time and try to get out on Road Atlanta. Thanks probably my closest road course...

[cygnusx1]

I was hitting about 125 on the straight, and running 1:12 at Lime Rock. That's not blazing, but it's not slow either. I was not at my limit, no cage, no fire equipment and no suit, so I was keeping it real. The gold Z that went past me was sporting a modified LS1 V8 powerplant. When he went past me, my car was already misfiring from the hole in the head gasket. I had the motor up around 6500 rpms quite a few times. It's a factory stock L28ET longblock with lots of miles on it. This was also my first time not in the beginner group. It was a mixed group with top level and mid level drivers. I was entry level to the group, so I let a lot of cars by, and then tried to work on my lines and braking. That Cadillac has over 550HP! There were some Porsche drivers behind me that wanted to know what was in the car, because I was pulling them on the straight.

Edited April 13, 2011 by cygnusx1

[Patcon]

I wondered about the gold z becuase it pulled away so quickly. I also saw the Cadillac... I totaly understand about the reality factors involved on how far to push. No slight intended, just curious. It is sometimes very hard to tell these things from video. Looks like fun...

[grantf]

Really cool vid. No way my car can handle like that.