Toddski Posted August 27, 2006 Report Share Posted August 27, 2006 Hi All, The Rolla did its first hillclimb yesterday (complete with Rolla Club stickers - thanks Trendact - and GT6.COM stickers - thanks Nick) - it passed scrutineering luckily and behaved itself for the whole meet. Not bad for a stock car with only new shocks and springs and cheap Yokie road rubber. Times weren't great (I've got a lot to learn about driving fast, especially in a FWD), but I had fun. The first meet I raced at I got a best time of 55.41 in a tarmac spec 12A RX7 - this was my second ever meet and I got a best time of 58.39. Think a decent Whiteline adjustable rear sway bar is on the cards. No dramas at the meet, only on the way there - the slide control for the heater (cold -> hot) broke. Popped the bonnet when I got to the track to check for leaks and there was coolant all over the place - thought my race was over before I started. Checked it all out and it looks like the expansion tank just overflowed. Car was running a little warmer, maybe a mm or two past the centre, but not enough to worry about. Could be the electric fans aren't coming on... Lots of great cars there, lot of very friendly people - a number of people came over to chat about the Corolla (pointed them all at Rolla Club). Only other Corolla there was a 20V powered AE86 Sprinter being run by a bloke from Wollongong - ended up chatting to him for quite a while. Very nice sounding car - quad induction noise, nice! I think a lot of people couldn't believe it didn't have a turbo or supercharger (he beat all the cars in the next capacity class in his type). Anyway, got a few things to sort on the Rolla. Still have to replace passenger CV shaft (will need to take it somewhere as the hub nut defeated me), probably need new gearbox output shaft seals, distributor seals, check the fans/cooling/heater, get the brake booster fixed and see if I can sort out a better drivers seat. Not a surprising list for a car with 350K kms on it. But I will race it again, I had heaps of fun and I just know I can go quicker... Once I sort my lines out... Next race is Sept 24th - hope to see some of you there. Cheers, Todd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolla__Boy Posted August 27, 2006 Report Share Posted August 27, 2006 Nice write up, sounds like a good day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trendact Posted August 28, 2006 Report Share Posted August 28, 2006 (edited) Sounds like you had fun :lock: You can do a Hill Climb on the 24th and a Khanacross on the 23rd before the hill climb..... ;) If the old Excel driver seat will fit the rolla you can have it. Edited August 28, 2006 by Trendact Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toddski Posted August 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2006 Sounds like you had fun :D You can do a Hill Climb on the 24th and a Khanacross on the 23rd before the hill climb..... :D If the old Excel driver seat will fit the rolla you can have it. Might have to come have a look at the Excel seat... Good excuse to see the rally car anyway. Will miss the khana - probably duck out to the QBN swap meet instead (that and the fact that two days of motorsport will see me in the doghouse). Some photos of the Rolla in "race" guise... A visit to Thomo looks to be on the cards - the car was occasionally blowing coolant out the overflow bottle overflow pipe - a bit of investigation shows it may be either a BHG pressurising the coolant system or a lazy radiator cap. At least a quick check for exhaust gas in the coolant system can confirm or deny... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolla__Boy Posted August 30, 2006 Report Share Posted August 30, 2006 Run it with the cap off, if it looks like you shook up a bottle of coke in the radiator, buy a headgasket. Or start with buying a new cap, since they are cheap as shit. Is it using water when driving around town? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toddski Posted August 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2006 Run it with the cap off, if it looks like you shook up a bottle of coke in the radiator, buy a headgasket. Or start with buying a new cap, since they are cheap as shit. Is it using water when driving around town? Thanks for the advice. Will have to double check water usage - didn't seem to losing anymore than what it dumped out the overflow. Think I might have worked out the problem - the fans on the radiator are not working. Car got warm in traffic at the airport, temp gauge was still high when I parked (but not quite to panic point) popped the bonnet and no fans. The overflow bottle was pretty full on Sunday when the problem started, so I'd say it just spat out the excess due to hotter water. Hopefully just a fuse on the fan, will have to work out where it is. Or could the fans not working be because all the water has gone - will have to double check that, water level looked OK this morning. Why are cheap cars never cheap? :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolla__Boy Posted August 30, 2006 Report Share Posted August 30, 2006 Check that the fans are still plugged in too, If all else fails, run an aftermarket thermo, Supercheap auto had some good ones for f@$k all a while back, wait for a sale and grab one. If the fan wasn't working, that would explain it spitting some water out, most likely not BHG, but sort it out before it gets too hot too much, or you will blow one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toddski Posted August 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2006 Check that the fans are still plugged in too, If all else fails, run an aftermarket thermo, Supercheap auto had some good ones for f@$k all a while back, wait for a sale and grab one. If the fan wasn't working, that would explain it spitting some water out, most likely not BHG, but sort it out before it gets too hot too much, or you will blow one Took it to Steve (Thomo) - it's on my way home and I figured it was a good excuse to say gday and have a chat. Turned out the fan switch in the thermostat housing was kerf@$ked. Thanks again Steve for your help. I know where the Rolla is going for all future work... And thanks for the help and suggestions too Geoff. Damn good forum/Club this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolla__Boy Posted August 31, 2006 Report Share Posted August 31, 2006 Steve is the man :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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