And wrapping the exhaust with the lava rock wrapping won't work for you .?? It makes the exhaust touchable !! STEVE
And the water / oil lines also ?? STEVE
To all of the supporters and followers of this project:This has been a
VERY difficult decision for Chris. And, frankly, things are not quite as simple as they sound. No photos have been posted yet, and they might help "visualize the issues", but some further explanation can help . . . . . .
A/ The K16 is physically
MUCH larger the the "A" series "Grenade" it replaced, even though the K16 is very compact for a 4 valve engine. The increase in engine size decreases the space available for the
larger volume of accessories for the K16 engine. And this does not account for 4 throttle bodies Vs a 2 choke carb, etc, etc . . . .
2/ It has ended up being a 5 pounds of . . . . "stuff", crammed into 3 pounds of space. This, of course, can be accomplished. But there are always dividends paid for "detail attentiveness". This has been difficult
to accomplish on the separate development track we used to try and save time and effort.
d/ "Detail attentiveness" is going to require rethinking, perhaps re-locating, and perchance re-fabricating some accessories or support systems. Sounds simple enough, but it requires time, and time is the thing in
which we have the least amount available.
z/ Anybody who has ever gone off racing ill prepared, (so that's pretty much everybody . . .), and then has had an opportunity to go prepared, recognizes the difference. And the difference in time, trouble and
results,
is readily apparent. This is a lesson most racers do not need to learn twice . . . .
Since one of the things in question here is the risk of an oil system related failure,
and an oil fire possibility, the time needs to be taken to have the oil lines properly proof pressure tested after assembly. For everyone's peace of mind. Chris has already had one oil line failure, on FrankenSprite. It just wouldn't do to repeat that scenario. It is always the smartest thing to recognize your own limitations, and have something done professionally, if you are not confident in your own ability. I can not agree more. I value "smartiness" over "stupidy", all the time.
I'm glad Chris has the "courage" to be smart, in spite of our desire to attend SpeedWeek.
Mark