Author Topic: TFA Racing Lakester "tweak" diary  (Read 98002 times)

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Offline entropy

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Re: TFA Racing Lakester "tweak" diary
« Reply #45 on: June 03, 2014, 08:20:03 PM »
The car is looking great. We were hoping to sell it to someone who would do it justice. Looks like we got the right guys.  The canopy is awesome!

hey Chuck, thanks for the words!   :cheers:
Don is a really good fab guy and it is coming out great.

Offline Chaz

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Re: TFA Racing Lakester "tweak" diary
« Reply #46 on: September 11, 2014, 11:30:36 PM »
Word on the street is you had an awesome time at WOS ! Tell us all about it! I hear tell the car performed well.

Offline entropy

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Re: TFA Racing Lakester "tweak" diary
« Reply #47 on: September 13, 2014, 06:42:29 AM »
Word on the street is you had an awesome time at WOS ! Tell us all about it! I hear tell the car performed well.

hey Chuck!
TFA Racing did indeed have an awesome time at WOS!  
Car ran great, nothing broke, made 8 passes, we had a ball.
Don & I & TFA Team members Brother Bob & Bill & Jake came together as a Team, we all learned a lot.
   (As a "special student" I got an extra, hands-on, last-pass lesson in throttle control at the 5 which i will not forget)
As soon as i gather some pix, I'll post 'em.

Thanks to you Chuck for building/providing us with such an excellent starting point.
Thanks to Tom Burkland & Rex Svoboda & Stainless Steele for patiently and enthusiastically answering a myriad of questions.  
   (I think I determined that Tom probably sleeps from 1-4am, maybe less...)
Thanks to my partner Don Davila for inspired & tireless fabrication.
Thanks to USFRA for again hosting such a great meet!  WOS feels more like a family gathering than a formal event.
 :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

TFA Racing WILL assuredly be back in 2015!!
Karl
« Last Edit: September 13, 2014, 09:20:12 AM by entropy »

Offline SPARKY

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Re: TFA Racing Lakester "tweak" diary
« Reply #48 on: September 13, 2014, 09:33:27 AM »
ahhh does that mean you had never driven an OLDs Toranado down hill too fast, on a curvy gravel road :? or over an icy bridge?????????
« Last Edit: September 13, 2014, 10:05:00 PM by SPARKY »
Miss LIBERTY,  changing T.K.I.  to noise, dust, rust, BLUE HATS & hopefully not scrap!!

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."   Helen Keller

We are going to explore the racing N words NITROUS & NITRO!

gkabbt

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Re: TFA Racing Lakester "tweak" diary
« Reply #49 on: September 13, 2014, 08:55:56 PM »
Karl, REALLY GREAT to meet and talk with you at WoS. I, like you, enjoyed the meet and WILL be back in 2015!

I thought I hade more pics of the TFA lakester but this is the only one I could find.



Gregg Adams


Offline entropy

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Re: TFA Racing Lakester "tweak" diary
« Reply #50 on: September 14, 2014, 07:05:32 AM »
ahhh does that mean you had never driven an OLDs Toranado down hill too fast, on a curvy gravel road :? or over an icy bridge?????????

bahahahahahahahahahahaha, nope never drove a Toranado over an icy bridge, but I owned a 71 Cadillac ElDorado cov at one point.  Does that count?

Offline entropy

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Re: TFA Racing Lakester "tweak" diary
« Reply #51 on: September 14, 2014, 07:06:48 AM »
Karl, REALLY GREAT to meet and talk with you at WoS. I, like you, enjoyed the meet and WILL be back in 2015!

I thought I hade more pics of the TFA lakester but this is the only one I could find.


Gregg Adams
gregg,
thx much for stopping & chatting and the pic :cheers:

Offline entropy

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Re: TFA Racing Lakester "tweak" diary
« Reply #52 on: September 14, 2014, 08:50:51 AM »
I have posted 10 pix in "World of Speed 2014 Picture Post" thread (it took me about as much time to make that post as Don spent fabricating the canopy :-D http://www.landracing.com/forum/index.php/topic,14391.msg261676.html#msg261676
Karl
« Last Edit: September 14, 2014, 08:53:02 AM by entropy »

Offline SPARKY

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Re: TFA Racing Lakester "tweak" diary
« Reply #53 on: September 14, 2014, 09:26:50 AM »
lol  A '71 El DoDo does count--

-I almost went over the side of a mountain with a '75 Toro learning that the FWD that pulled me up and around the curves when I was hard on it going up ---almost killed me as I came down---it wanted to go straight ahead when I got out of the throttle it plowed straight ahead----I had to get back in it; to get around the curve and then put it into neutral to get slowed down and stopped so that I could clean the car out and let the adrenaline wear off!!!!!!!!
Miss LIBERTY,  changing T.K.I.  to noise, dust, rust, BLUE HATS & hopefully not scrap!!

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."   Helen Keller

We are going to explore the racing N words NITROUS & NITRO!

Offline Tman

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Re: TFA Racing Lakester "tweak" diary
« Reply #54 on: September 14, 2014, 11:31:39 AM »
Glad to see shots of that car on the salt. I watched Chaz and crew for years and I am sure it is a bittersweet happiness for them as well.  :cheers:

Offline Chaz

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Re: TFA Racing Lakester "tweak" diary
« Reply #55 on: September 14, 2014, 05:36:26 PM »
Glad to see shots of that car on the salt. I watched Chaz and crew for years and I am sure it is a bittersweet happiness for them as well.  :cheers:

 Its not really all that bittersweet- Just sweet.  We took that car as far as we could afford to. Karl and Don were a perfect fit. They are experienced and VERY capable. They made it happen!  Our hats are off to them. What an accomplishment!  Its hard to go fast on a budget nowdays. but the cars' success proved to us that front wheel drive, a crate engine and mostly stock and home made parts can be pretty successful. In our calculations we figured the car would top out at 213 MPH. Karl's run was right there. We had a ball building what we did and have no regrets at all!!! We'd engineer and start another one tomorrow if someone would sign the checks for it!

Offline Tman

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Re: TFA Racing Lakester "tweak" diary
« Reply #56 on: September 14, 2014, 06:11:44 PM »
Chaz, I know it is about the building for you. Congrats on seeing your ideas proven!

Offline entropy

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Re: TFA Racing Lakester "tweak" diary
« Reply #57 on: September 15, 2014, 08:14:33 AM »
Glad to see shots of that car on the salt. I watched Chaz and crew for years and I am sure it is a bittersweet happiness for them as well.  :cheers:
... In our calculations we figured the car would top out at 213 MPH...
Chaz,  
I'm thinking your 213mph calculation will turn out to be very close; i'm guessing 215-ish when (if) Don & I learn how to drive better. Maybe even more  :-D

On my last pass, 1st time on the long course, the last mile & exit speeds were 208/209, but i'm guessing there is more to be had.  
1 - My run up in 1st & 2nd showed very sloppy throttle control. I'm thinking we need to push the traction envelope a lil harder, and also consistently run the shift point as high as is healthy for the motor.
2 - In 3rd gear, i tried to be WOT from the 2-3 shift thru parachute deployment, but the Throttle Position log shows many small dips, maybe due to track bumpiness? Gotta concentrate better,
3 - Neither Don nor I are completely comfortable with how the car hunts around the track a bit, so we are both somewhat "throttle-tentative" at this point, not agressive enough.  
4 - other stuff we don't know about

We are told that the car has a great Cp/Cg relationship and that it will mostly correct itself like an arrow in flight, but it takes some getting used to.  I'm kind of a chicken and our motorcycle background makes us alarmed when the handling is anything but rock solid.

Basically we are complete noobs and we would love to hear any tips on how we should drive our car better. In fact, after the event, Don & I changed our 2015 strategy.  
Previously we were talking about going to higher hp/more efficient engine /trans.  But now, after actually driving the car, it is likely we will do some checking & tweaking, but will stay at our current basic config and concentrate on learning to consistently drive the livin' pistol out of it.

Sorry to get carried away...  :cheers:
« Last Edit: September 15, 2014, 08:16:52 AM by entropy »

Offline Chaz

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Re: TFA Racing Lakester "tweak" diary
« Reply #58 on: September 15, 2014, 09:58:29 AM »
 Just about everyone comes back from a run saying that their car feels like its driving on ice and that it dances a bit. We figured that it would take 3 years to sort out all the small issues, and then we'd try for a NASCAR engine that has about 850 hp and can turn 10,000 rpms with reliability. That'd get us near the record we figured. You can probably tell by now that we are not engine builders.( We refer to them as "spacers". They fill up the space between the driver and the transmission) We keep looking for something that comes in a box...
 I really think that you guys had about as successful a first outing as can be had. CONGRATS!

Offline Rex Schimmer

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Re: TFA Racing Lakester "tweak" diary
« Reply #59 on: September 15, 2014, 02:34:19 PM »
Just a thought regarding your front alignment. Are you running any toe in or toe out. Typically toe out can cause a certain amount of hunting also lots of caster is always good to go straight. I was helping Steve Nelson with his V4 Fuel Lakester at the meet and this car has a rear engine and drive, it is based upon a Albatross drop tank that has been lengthen, no rear vertical stabilizer, at best the CG and CP are probably at about the same place. We ran a best of 202.6 got the record over 200, (Red Hat for Steve!) and it runs absolutely straight, no wondering, Steve says he could easily drive it with one hand. He runs about 1/16 to 1/8 inch toe in. Admittedly toe in (or out) causes tire scrub which takes power but it can add stability.

Rex
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