Topic: 30th Annual Southern Classic run & won

[bear]

Just got back from the Southern Classic and apparently old age, cunning and treachery can indeed still win out over youth, exuberance and talent occasionally.
 
This meeting was a shake down for our big motor before we head to the Ozz titles at Tasmania in a fortnight.

And it's always good to pick up a win at a major meeting just before the titles.
It puts a spring in everybody's step and hopefully has the opposition looking over their shoulder a bit.

The only down side was unfortunately despite all our efforts with this motor we have managed to do another head gasket in the process.

See http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=97075.0

While it didn't fail completely it appears to be leaking from either 2 or 3 into the cam well and pressurizing the sump.
The first two laps of each race didn't seem to be much of a problem but from lap 3 to the finish we where in all sorts of strife.
I had Newmo stuff a rag into his leathers and told him to mop up any oil coming out the catch tank breather each time we got onto the straight.
We now have two weeks to finish our little motor off and come up with a solution to our head gasket issue with the big motor.
Any suggestions will be much appreciated at this stage, the pressures on.
Is o-ringing the head an option?

I think there is some video and pics that our crew took during the meeting.
I will try and post some shortly.

Cheers,
Brian

[scottly]

Pics of the failed head gasket please. Any way to route the oil from the catch tank back into the main oil tank?

[bear]

Pics of the failed head gasket please. Any way to route the oil from the catch tank back into the main oil tank?

We are pulling the motor tonight Scott, I'll make a point of getting a pic. for you.
Not real shore running the catch tank back to the crankcase would be a viable option though.
That would create a closed system with no breather, not a good thing on these motors.
We need to fix the problem rather than the symptom.

Cheers,
Brian

[scottly]

You may simply need more breather. The autopsy should provide some valuable info...

[Retro Rocket]

And it's always good to pick up a win at a major meeting just before the titles.

Well done Brian, good stuff mate....

[Sam Green Racing]

Pics of the failed head gasket please. Any way to route the oil from the catch tank back into the main oil tank?

We are pulling the motor tonight Scott, I'll make a point of getting a pic. for you.
Not real shore running the catch tank back to the crankcase would be a viable option though.
That would create a closed system with no breather, not a good thing on these motors.
We need to fix the problem rather than the symptom.

Cheers,
Brian

Brian, I realise it's not curing the gasket problem but what Scott says is a posibillity without creating a closed system.
Take breather from motor into a baffled catch can with a way out at the bottom for the oil and a way out at the top for the spent gasses/hot air. It just needs to be above the oil tank so it can drain down.

Sam.

[bear]

And it's always good to pick up a win at a major meeting just before the titles.

Well done Brian, good stuff mate....

Thanks Mick.

Cheers,
Brian

[bear]

Brian, I realise it's not curing the gasket problem but what Scott says is a posibillity without creating a closed system.
Take breather from motor into a baffled catch can with a way out at the bottom for the oil and a way out at the top for the spent gasses/hot air. It just needs to be above the oil tank so it can drain down.

Sam.
[/quote]

G'day Sammy.

We where to fagged to pull the motor last night.
But we did manage to drain the oil, flush the fuel system and do a leak down test.
And it looks as though it's #4 not #2 or #3.
So that's the failed head gasket theory out the window.
We seem to have broken a compression ring.
Will know more tomorrow night, we've decided to give our selves the night off.

Cheers,
Brian

[scottly]

Hey Brian, do you know if all the oil is coming from the cam-cover breather or the oil tank breather? (Hard to tell if they are both plumbed to the same catch-can, right? ) I'm guessing your oil tank does not have an adequate oil separator, and the frothed oil from the scavenge pump is overwhelming your catch-can.