SIERRA XR8 RACER

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colin davids
Posts: 203
Joined: Mon 19 Nov 2012, 08:49

Re: SIERRA XR8 RACER

Post by colin davids » Mon 20 May 2013, 09:21

flouwford wrote:
colin davids wrote:
sapphire wrote:Hey Collin,are you ready for Sat?
Howzit sapph.We blew a headgasket during practice on tuesday.This was with the new aluminium radiator but i think the damage was done previously with the old rad.Got some buddies coming over tonight to lend a hand so we should be fine for saturday.The car still has a chronic rear brake lockup problem even with the bigger front brakes.Anyone else had this problem on a sierra?I reckon an adjustable brake bias valve is overkill for fine cars so any info would be appreciated.See you there.I'll be the one entering the corners sideways. :lol:
Cheers
Colin

hi colin, maybe a little late already, as you are supose to practise today.
go to Floris de Kock or Herman de Kock (my dad) at the track, he races the red and white mk1 escort. tell him the rears lock up. the saphires has some sort of "resistor" bottle thing fitted in-line to the rears. not sure if the sierras had them, or if your one currently has one. this will definately be a cheaper fix than a bias valve thats around R1400.

he might even be able to help you with one.

Killarney Racer will also be able to show you who the "team Ford" guys are.
sapphire wrote:Hi Collin,i had the same problem.I just replaced the whole master cylinder and my problem was solved.
Gunter wrote:Hi Colin, ironically i had similiar issues with my car yesterday...but i have an inline Wilwood adjuster that i need to just dial in (was just doing a few slow laps to check oil pressure and water temp etc). You can always do the 'bloudraad way' like the grp N boys used to do in the old days and grind 1/2 of the rear pad away. My shipment of Wilwood stuff is about 2 weeks away,there are loads of inline adjusters in the shipment,they are about R800.00
Morning guys
Thanks for all the feedback on the braking problem but as it turns out this was the least of my issues on saturday.During practice the engine refused to rev past 4000 rpm and when i try to force it the temp would go up and it would start to misfire.Back in the pits i found that the no 7 spark plug gap had been knocked closed.Decided to stick to 4000 rpm and get some track experience.There were 29 cars on the grid and i started last. It took a lot of discipline to keep the revs low but i did and finished 21st.In the second heat i started 21st and after four laps i was running 15th when stupidity took over and i started using more revs.Picked up a misfire and temp shot up so i had to pull in.Did a compression test this morning and it shows very low compression on no 7 so i think the piston crown has broken off as i've had this happen before and amazingly the engine still runs.This would explain the bashed up spark plug as well as the excessive crankcase pressure.All in all the day was a good learning experience and we left the track knowing what needs to be improved on the car.I'll be stripping the motor this week and we will be back with a vastly improved car for the next meeting.
Cheers
Colin
FORD CAPRI PERANA NO. 66
FORD CAPRI V8 DRAG CAR
FORD SIERRA XR8
FORD CORTINA 3.0 S W/CHEVY V8
BMW E30 W/ FORD 347 STROKER
1970 MUSTANG MACH 1 MANUAL W/4V CLEVELAND
SUZUKI GSXR 1000
FORD SAPPHIRE 2 LITRE 16 VALVE TURBO

flouwford
Posts: 69
Joined: Thu 07 Mar 2013, 09:45

Re: SIERRA XR8 RACER

Post by flouwford » Mon 20 May 2013, 10:09

Gunter wrote:Hi Colin, ironically i had similiar issues with my car yesterday...but i have an inline Wilwood adjuster that i need to just dial in (was just doing a few slow laps to check oil pressure and water temp etc). You can always do the 'bloudraad way' like the grp N boys used to do in the old days and grind 1/2 of the rear pad away. My shipment of Wilwood stuff is about 2 weeks away,there are loads of inline adjusters in the shipment,they are about R800.00
gunter, please notify me when the stuff gets here.

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ROBBINATOR
Posts: 468
Joined: Fri 18 Jan 2008, 12:17
Location: Cape Town

Re: SIERRA XR8 RACER

Post by ROBBINATOR » Mon 20 May 2013, 11:14

colin davids wrote:
flouwford wrote:
colin davids wrote:
sapphire wrote:Hey Collin,are you ready for Sat?
Howzit sapph.We blew a headgasket during practice on tuesday.This was with the new aluminium radiator but i think the damage was done previously with the old rad.Got some buddies coming over tonight to lend a hand so we should be fine for saturday.The car still has a chronic rear brake lockup problem even with the bigger front brakes.Anyone else had this problem on a sierra?I reckon an adjustable brake bias valve is overkill for fine cars so any info would be appreciated.See you there.I'll be the one entering the corners sideways. :lol:
Cheers
Colin

hi colin, maybe a little late already, as you are supose to practise today.
go to Floris de Kock or Herman de Kock (my dad) at the track, he races the red and white mk1 escort. tell him the rears lock up. the saphires has some sort of "resistor" bottle thing fitted in-line to the rears. not sure if the sierras had them, or if your one currently has one. this will definately be a cheaper fix than a bias valve thats around R1400.

he might even be able to help you with one.

Killarney Racer will also be able to show you who the "team Ford" guys are.
sapphire wrote:Hi Collin,i had the same problem.I just replaced the whole master cylinder and my problem was solved.
Gunter wrote:Hi Colin, ironically i had similiar issues with my car yesterday...but i have an inline Wilwood adjuster that i need to just dial in (was just doing a few slow laps to check oil pressure and water temp etc). You can always do the 'bloudraad way' like the grp N boys used to do in the old days and grind 1/2 of the rear pad away. My shipment of Wilwood stuff is about 2 weeks away,there are loads of inline adjusters in the shipment,they are about R800.00
Morning guys
Thanks for all the feedback on the braking problem but as it turns out this was the least of my issues on saturday.During practice the engine refused to rev past 4000 rpm and when i try to force it the temp would go up and it would start to misfire.Back in the pits i found that the no 7 spark plug gap had been knocked closed.Decided to stick to 4000 rpm and get some track experience.There were 29 cars on the grid and i started last. It took a lot of discipline to keep the revs low but i did and finished 21st.In the second heat i started 21st and after four laps i was running 15th when stupidity took over and i started using more revs.Picked up a misfire and temp shot up so i had to pull in.Did a compression test this morning and it shows very low compression on no 7 so i think the piston crown has broken off as i've had this happen before and amazingly the engine still runs.This would explain the bashed up spark plug as well as the excessive crankcase pressure.All in all the day was a good learning experience and we left the track knowing what needs to be improved on the car.I'll be stripping the motor this week and we will be back with a vastly improved car for the next meeting.
Cheers
Colin
Wow......all that and it still sounds like you had fun!!.....now thats my kinda racer.....for sure!! :)

Cheers....Robbie.
EXPERIENCE.....tells you that a Tomato is a fruit.
WISDOM....tells you that it does not go in a fruit salad.
GOOGLE....can help avoid your customer's car from burning out and then been summonsed to court.

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Killarney Racer
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Location: Cape Town

Re: SIERRA XR8 RACER

Post by Killarney Racer » Tue 21 May 2013, 19:03

It was nice to see you out there Colin. Racing is full of setbacks and hassles, give it time and you will be smiling. Rome wasn't built in a day :?

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alvin chetty
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Location: Cape Town

Re: SIERRA XR8 RACER

Post by alvin chetty » Wed 22 May 2013, 17:04

Hi Collin,
the problem with your brakes is that the bias splitter sitting on the left inner fender is off an XR6 which had drum brakes at the back. now that you got discs the line pressure is too high. try to get the original XR8 unit or the bias reducer from the sapphire (small cylindrical) attachment that is fitted to the rear outlet at the master cylinder.

have you stripped and found the problem on the motor yet?

cheers
Google wont keep you out of Jail

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colin davids
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Re: SIERRA XR8 RACER

Post by colin davids » Fri 24 May 2013, 14:14

alvin chetty wrote:Hi Collin,
the problem with your brakes is that the bias splitter sitting on the left inner fender is off an XR6 which had drum brakes at the back. now that you got discs the line pressure is too high. try to get the original XR8 unit or the bias reducer from the sapphire (small cylindrical) attachment that is fitted to the rear outlet at the master cylinder.

have you stripped and found the problem on the motor yet?

cheers
Killarney Racer wrote:It was nice to see you out there Colin. Racing is full of setbacks and hassles, give it time and you will be smiling. Rome wasn't built in a day :?
Morning
Firstly thanks for the support killarney racer.The fine car bunch was very helpful at the track and it was good to finally put a face to a name.Alvin,the deceleration valve i am using is in fact from the xr8.My donor car had the old type valve but i found this one in a box inside the xr8.This is where it gets tricky though because the old type valve fits with the thick end forward and that is how i fitted this one.Looking at it now though i am almost sure my other xr8 had the tapered end forward.As you know my cousin Grant has two xr8's so i'll check it on his cars tonight. We have pulled the motor and removed the heads.A two inch chunk of the no7 piston crown is awol.This is obviously due to detonation when the engine overheated so now it's rebuild time but it also means that we did both races with 7.5 pistons so it should go a lot better next time with all 8. :lol: I appreciate your input Alvin and i'm sure your expertise will come in handy for future races.
Cheers
Colin
FORD CAPRI PERANA NO. 66
FORD CAPRI V8 DRAG CAR
FORD SIERRA XR8
FORD CORTINA 3.0 S W/CHEVY V8
BMW E30 W/ FORD 347 STROKER
1970 MUSTANG MACH 1 MANUAL W/4V CLEVELAND
SUZUKI GSXR 1000
FORD SAPPHIRE 2 LITRE 16 VALVE TURBO

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alvin chetty
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Location: Cape Town

Re: SIERRA XR8 RACER

Post by alvin chetty » Fri 24 May 2013, 16:57

OK, if you don't come right let me know and I will take a pic of one of my "original" cars valve and send it to you. I removed the rear end from the car that we going to enter and am fitting the complete diff from the car that I bought in Athlone from Tony. I am changing the ratio to 3.7 and then we will visit you and compare and see what needs to be done to pass scrutineering. we can maybe do a test run on the N7 with you :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
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colin davids
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Re: SIERRA XR8 RACER

Post by colin davids » Fri 24 May 2013, 17:18

alvin chetty wrote:OK, if you don't come right let me know and I will take a pic of one of my "original" cars valve and send it to you. I removed the rear end from the car that we going to enter and am fitting the complete diff from the car that I bought in Athlone from Tony. I am changing the ratio to 3.7 and then we will visit you and compare and see what needs to be done to pass scrutineering. we can maybe do a test run on the N7 with you :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Thanks Alvin.Your stroker with that diff ratio should sprint very well but i'm not the one you should be testing against. Gunter has the quickest and most powerful machine in fine cars by a long way. His chevy is in a class of it's own when it comes to horsepower.Watching that car fly down the back straight is a sight to behold.I had to endure all kinds of ford/chev v8 taunting from passersby in the pits because my car was off the pace.Hopefully this post has stirred the pot sufficiently. :mrgreen:

Cheers
Colin
FORD CAPRI PERANA NO. 66
FORD CAPRI V8 DRAG CAR
FORD SIERRA XR8
FORD CORTINA 3.0 S W/CHEVY V8
BMW E30 W/ FORD 347 STROKER
1970 MUSTANG MACH 1 MANUAL W/4V CLEVELAND
SUZUKI GSXR 1000
FORD SAPPHIRE 2 LITRE 16 VALVE TURBO

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alvin chetty
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Joined: Wed 19 Dec 2007, 14:59
Location: Cape Town

Re: SIERRA XR8 RACER

Post by alvin chetty » Fri 24 May 2013, 17:33

did you guys take any pics, if so pls post them here.
I don't think we can tackle Gunther or any one of the front runners with a 347. Its not a powerful motor and that's clear when we were watching those mustangs with the 347's getting whacked :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Gunter
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Location: Cape Town

Re: SIERRA XR8 RACER

Post by Gunter » Fri 24 May 2013, 19:07

Thanks for the compliment Colin , but she is not really that powerful, I was suprised when I weighed the car on saturday, was only 1240kgs...less than I thought - my lumina racecar is 1500kgs,I thought the old Chevy would be + - the same weight....think this helps with the 'speed'. Fine cars is a great class, and the 1:30 cut off rule is a very good thing, stops fancy/fast cars making a joke of the rest of us....I was a naughty boy and overstepped the mark on lap 2 of the first heat(did a 1:29.1) ,but have already put a plan in place for the next race(Gonna take off the semi's and run on old tyres that I am about to take off my Vito!!)
RACECAR spelt backwards spells RACECAR.....

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