06-23-2010, 09:41 AM
Friday was an open track day and it was clear from the start that we had a comparatively very fast car! About mid-day we started having overheating issues. Coolant was getting forced out of the cooling system and it was pretty clear we had a bad head gasket. Nick and Jeff were able to locate a replacement about an hour away but then after they were on their way back, the guys paddocked next to us were from Cometic and they GAVE us a full head gasket kit! We just had to run their stickers.
We started on the repairs but confident in our abilities to fix the problem we decided to take a track walk. In particular I wanted to show the team just how much crown is on the Shenandoah Circuit. Many turns you just take tight and stay on the beneficial camber rather than taking a traditional line. This is especially important because in racing you're making most of your passes on the inside line.
![[Image: track%20walk.jpg]](http://www.mingis.com/Lemons/track%20walk.jpg)
No track walk is complete without booze...though by the Johnson turn we realized we needed bigger cups.
![[Image: carousel.jpg]](http://www.mingis.com/Lemons/carousel.jpg)
Here we're checking out the carousel. Jeff Kiersh is noticeably confused![Smile Smile](https://rtr-pca.org/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif)
Once the track walk was complete we had to finish working on the car. In retrospect maybe we shouldn't have started drinking so early....
![[Image: fixing%20gasket.jpg]](http://www.mingis.com/Lemons/fixing%20gasket.jpg)
![[Image: fixing%20head2.jpg]](http://www.mingis.com/Lemons/fixing%20head2.jpg)
At about 2 am the car was back together and we turned in for a few hours sleep.
We started on the repairs but confident in our abilities to fix the problem we decided to take a track walk. In particular I wanted to show the team just how much crown is on the Shenandoah Circuit. Many turns you just take tight and stay on the beneficial camber rather than taking a traditional line. This is especially important because in racing you're making most of your passes on the inside line.
![[Image: track%20walk.jpg]](http://www.mingis.com/Lemons/track%20walk.jpg)
No track walk is complete without booze...though by the Johnson turn we realized we needed bigger cups.
![[Image: carousel.jpg]](http://www.mingis.com/Lemons/carousel.jpg)
Here we're checking out the carousel. Jeff Kiersh is noticeably confused
![Smile Smile](https://rtr-pca.org/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif)
Once the track walk was complete we had to finish working on the car. In retrospect maybe we shouldn't have started drinking so early....
![[Image: fixing%20gasket.jpg]](http://www.mingis.com/Lemons/fixing%20gasket.jpg)
![[Image: fixing%20head2.jpg]](http://www.mingis.com/Lemons/fixing%20head2.jpg)
At about 2 am the car was back together and we turned in for a few hours sleep.