The 24 Hours of Lemons Forums → Lemons Newcomers → What fails?
Cruel, Riktor. Cruel.
Should probably weld the diff for better traction, and weld the shocks up tight for the ultimate in body roll reduction.
What?!
Is it bad I want to see them bounce across bumps like their on a pogo??
I hear that race cars are supposed to be stiff. 
But, let's try to stay on topic.
Bending that notion back on topic: Things that NEED to move (like suspension pivot points, shocks and springs, engine and transmission mounts, EXHAUST, etc) that are welded up tight so that they can't move WILL fail. If your friendly auto manufacturer felt that a part needed to have some flex in it, there's generally a reason for that. Remove the flex and you have metal bending back and forth which will eventually fatigue and break.
If you're using stock exhaust parts, rusty brackets tend to fail. Exhaust fail = black flag. One of the tech guys at NL suggested putting in a backup strap so that if the primary bracket fails, the backup strap would prevent the exhaust from falling to the ground and breaking. It was a good idea.
Old belts fail. If you have an interference engine and the timing belt fails, that's ultra bad. Timing belts are cheap (but sometimes hard to change) but if they fail on your interference engine (especially at non-idle), you break your engine. So put on a new timing belt.
Old filters get clogged, then fail. Most are cheap to replace and many are easy to replace. Not the fuel filter in an MR2, though, it's in the tank, which you have to drop from under the middle of the car. So that's probably what will fail in our next race because it's a huge PITA to change.
Frayed cables fail. Sucks to have a car that runs but no throttle cable connecting the accelerator pedal to the throttle linkage.
But let's be honest: even assuming that you could figure out everything that could fail on these cars (and that list is almost limitless) the $500 limitation guarantees that you can't fix it all ahead of time. So you have to pick what looks worst/most consequential, fix that as cheap as possible, then cross your fingers. And then borrow parts from other teams to try to get back in the race. That's part of the fun!
Check bearings, studs (ask rx7 guys about that), lubricants and hoses. I don't have personal experience with Lemons but most common failures have to do with cooling... as in coolant, engine oil and trans fluid.
Check bearings, studs (ask rx7 guys about that), lubricants and hoses. I don't have personal experience with Lemons but most common failures have to do with cooling... as in coolant, engine oil and trans fluid.
I'm going to assume you mean both wheel bearings and engine bearings, which brings me to a question:
How much of the wheel/brake system falls under "safety equipment"? All brake components, I assume, and wheels and tires... but would wheel bearings be considered safety?
If you have one of those cars where the brake rotor/drum carries the outer race for the wheel bearing (rather than floating rotors/drums that are more common on modern cars) you might be able to float bearings as safety. Otherwise... the rules don't say anything about bearings being considered safety equipment, so they aren't. (not that anybody's gonna look)
EVERYTHING FAILS!
I'd highly recommend swapping a water pump (murilee already recommends this on some jalopnik posts) and bring tie-rods. try like hell to get less-shitty bushings for your car. don't bother with new, shiny brackets or red polyurethene will be a dead give-away to your cheaty-ness, especially given now that it's mandatory to jack up your car.
Wheel Bearings do not appear to be a safety item.
As long as your bearings are already in good shape, clean and re-pack them.
If you have a unit bearing, not much you can do there.
As Loren pointed out, safety or not, your probably not going to get caught.
Everything fails and everything comes loose!
Prior advice about using a torque wrench on everything is great advice. Use blue loctite, locknuts, etc. when reassembling parts.
When I have the time, I follow my karting days and drill and safety wire bolts and stuff that's prone to come off (and/or stuff that can cause a lot of excitement 
when they come off).
Be extra careful that everything gets done during reassembly. Don't get distracted; finish what you're doing.
If something needs attention at a later date, put a neon wire tie on it as a reminder to fix later.
Be extra careful that everything gets done during reassembly. Don't get distracted; finish what you're doing.
This is HUGE. I'll add don't have "tunnel vision". When you're working on one part of the car, take a close look at EVERYTHING in that area. I can't tell you how many potentially disastrous things I've found while working on something completely unrelated. Thinks like missing swaybar end link bolts, loose ball joint nuts, tie-rod ends missing cotter pins, broken flex pipes, broken engine mounts... all things that can be easily missed in the rush to assemble with the thought of "oh, I'll tighten that up later, let's just get the engine IN the car right now".
Things that you forgot to tighten WILL fail.
Things that you didn't take the time to notice were already failing WILL fail.
Attention to detail...
If you have time and a service manual I would recommend disassembling everything one your car... one area at a time. As in... ONLY the front right wheel/tire/suspension/brake. Then reassemble it and move to the next corner. Work your way around until you get to the drive train. If you have the knowledge and desire... rip it out. Inspect everything IN the engine bay and once put back together... rip the engine apart.
Unless you have ripped transmissions apart I wouldn't suggest it unless you have a working spare. Everyone messes it up atleast once.
Clean the cooling system! I've seen lots of teams put in a huge rad, oil cooler, etc. then just drain and refill......get some acidic cleaner (vinegar is cheap) and get the lime out! Really helps and prevents the goo, flakes, dead rats etc. from clogging the new rad...
As an owner of said '98 Olds minivan with 3.4, the Olds version would be a good choice as its got the biggest sway bars. They called it a sport van, in the sick way marketing people think up this crap. Driving this thing for many years I can assure you its not a sport van, but it does handle sort of well, for a crappy front heavy van.
The engine issue to look for is the intake manifold gasket repair, maybe bring one with you. 3.4l gm V6 are notorious for this. I don't know if they ever really fixed it, it was sort of probably a secretly designed way to bring you back to the dealer in 60k -100kmiles so you could buy a new one. The problem with this old Big 3 logic was if you had this blow on you and then found out that it was chronic problem for years and they did not really address it or recall it, chances are you didn't go back for another...but I digress.
Lower it, cut off the top and remove glass for less top weight, use short wheelbase model.
I hope you don't have engine issues, I've done engine work on this and I think I'd rather have spray foam put in my craftsman tool chest than try to work on that thing again.
Oh yea and I fantisized at one point of getting two of these vans, removing the engine cradle from one and cutting a huge hole in the floor and mounting the second engine/trans in the back, just weld the steering part fixed, route cooling hoses to roof mounted radiator, reinforce the frame and weld up a new frame for the cradle to bolt to and volia! You have a twin engined van, guaranteed (nearly) to finish the race with at least one of the powerplants working! This plan cannot fail!
I even thought up making a enormous roll cage and making a lot of seats, putting our entire team in the van all in racing suits and helmets for the ultimate in entertainment, until Lemons told me 1. I was very sick and 2. No, are you f'ing crazy? Our insurance will hardly cover 1 person per car! (something like that)
The engine issue to look for is the intake manifold gasket repair, maybe bring one with you. 3.4l gm V6 are notorious for this.
That's good to know. (Un?) fortunately the intake manifolds come off as part of the head gasket repair (which, it seems all the U-Bodies in my budget need) so that's one less thing to worry about.
my understanding is that the aftermarket headgaskets and manifolds/ manifold gaskets are redesigned & upgraded to alleviate the gasket failure problems the V6's are famous for.
buy a cheap minivan (or beretta), change some gaskets and go race.
I do not see how this plan can fail.
Fel-Pro brand are thicker and have a sealant to cure this...same for 3.8 Ford
Don't forget the fleshy parts! In our car 2 out of 4 drivers failed!!
Just entering a Lemons race is an epic driver failure. But, certainly worth consideration here.
Don't forget the fleshy parts! In our car 2 out of 4 drivers failed!!
Well shoot! There's no limit to what I can spend on them, is there? Muahahaha!
Nanker Phelge wrote:Don't forget the fleshy parts! In our car 2 out of 4 drivers failed!!
Well shoot! There's no limit to what I can spend on them, is there? Muahahaha!
No...
Unless you can heel-and-toe like Fangio, having your rookies change down early in the braking zone then motoring through the corners can save a lot of wear and tear...When I started, I found braking, blipping the throttle, changing gear, turning in and looking up track at the same time while surrounded by faster drivers a little over the top. Hell, I still do, which is why I love Lemons...
When I started, I found braking, blipping the throttle, changing gear, turning in and looking up track at the same time while surrounded by faster drivers a little over the top.
newb
The 24 Hours of Lemons Forums → Lemons Newcomers → What fails?