1 (edited by FJ40Jim 2010-10-23 01:20 PM)

Topic: What's in a logbook?

What kind of info should be in a race car logbook?

Our crapcan has been running off & on for almost 3 years now, and I'm forgetting what was done, when, by whom...

Jim C.
If God meant for us to race, we'd all have baggy Nomex skin.
08TMS.09NL.10GM, SP, NL.11SP, NL.12SP, VIR, NL.13GM, NJ.14NJ, VIR, WGI.15AB.16GM.17NCM.18GM.19...

Re: What's in a logbook?

Logbooks? What, is this the SCCA?

If you insist on recordkeeping, you should probably list events run, whenever you notice something needs to be fixed, whenever you fix it, and just for the hell of it the names of every idiot who runs it into something.

Driver, Pit Monkey, Rod Buster and Engine Fire Starter
Team FinalGear

Re: What's in a logbook?

The number of teeth used to cut the lumber.
How many board feet got from each Log
Amount of Jack consumed after felling.

Re: What's in a logbook?

http://www.kitezh.com/gkw/images/logbook.jpg

"Real ZomBees prefer Bacon"
IOE(x2) MGB/SAAB 96, Judge's Choice, Class C Win, & 2011 Hooniverse Car of the Year!
MRolla, Stick Figure/Animal House, Free Range MR2, SAAB Sonett, "The Death Flip"
2008 Exoskeleton Jag Fiasco, Concours d Lemons - Rue Britannia, worse British car.

Re: What's in a logbook?

OK, since this going nowhere useful, let the derailment continue:
It's Log, Log, it's big, it's heavy, it's wood.
It's Log, Log, it's better than bad, it's good!

Everybody, sing!

Jim C.
If God meant for us to race, we'd all have baggy Nomex skin.
08TMS.09NL.10GM, SP, NL.11SP, NL.12SP, VIR, NL.13GM, NJ.14NJ, VIR, WGI.15AB.16GM.17NCM.18GM.19...

Re: What's in a logbook?

FJ40Jim wrote:

What kind of info should be in a race car logbook?

Our crapcan has been running off & on for almost 3 years now, and I'm forgetting what was done, when, by whom...

Log books or any form of record keeping can save you money and more important from breakdowns..
If you start to save extra pit stops becuse of better preperation  your record keeping will be well worth the effort. 
  How long do parts last?   If you keep record you'll be able  to set up trends..
New Fan Belt every 6 races..
Brake pads last  32 hours of track time at X race track.. only 26 hours at Y race track and need replacing after 16 hours at Z race track..
Every time Bob drives the car you have to replace the head gasket during the race..
  Larry does a lousy job of race prep and Bob does a perfect job etc..
  Gene has damaged the left front fender 9 times in 12 races..
The rearend hasn't had any fresh gear lube in 9 events, 
  Keep track of lap times for various drivers,
If you try to remember everything you'll sooner or later wind up at a track and not remember that your car likes tires pressures of.........
and the left front should be cambered at X. 
  Keep record of track conditions too.
It does no good to have data for a hot dry day when it's wet and cold..
If the car is overheating could part of the issue been wind direction and speed
  A heavy tailwind adds a lot of heating burden on the car..

Re: What's in a logbook?

So that begs the question, how do you organize your log book? Do you have event preparation spelled out with all the details? Some of us have never had a log book before.

Re: What's in a logbook?

http://www.toddlamb.com/logos/SM_SETUPv3.pdf

you need something like this to put in your book. Keep several with you and document any changes while you do them.

2010, 26th @ CMP, 2011, 10th & 5th at CMP, 2012? (MIA), 2013 Spring CMP, 53rd, 2013 Fall CMP 44th, 2014 Barber 14th, 2014 CMP 46th, 2015 CMP 57th, 2015 CMP 80th, 2016 CMP 16th, 3rd in B class, Winner Judges choice, and First car under 2.0 liter Alex's lemon aide stand winner. 2017 WRL, Road Atlanta 43rd, 2017 NCM 9th O/A , 1st in B class, 2018 CMP 13th O/A 3rd in Class B

Re: What's in a logbook?

Y'all are awfully ambitious. We like to keep it simple, and fix stuff when it breaks/explodes/bursts into flames...

Official photographer/Team Police Brutality|Speedycop & the Gang
Lackey-mechanic-whatever/NSF Racing
Sycophant/Judge Phil, Jay Lamm, Kim Harmon
Galaxie Driver/not Parnelli Jones

Re: What's in a logbook?

ronman wrote:

Y'all are awfully ambitious. We like to keep it simple, and fix stuff when it breaks/explodes/bursts into flames...

It's gottat be pretty tough keeping a logbook when you're busy building cars/ running for parts throughout the race.

Silent But Deadly Racing-  Ricky Bobby's Laughing Clown Malt Liquor Thunderbird , Datsun 510, 87 Mustang (The Race Team Formerly Known as Prince), 72 Pinto Squire waggy, Parnelli Jones 67 Galaxie, Turbo Coupe Surf wagon.(The Surfin Bird), Squatting Dogs In Tracksuits,  Space Pants!  Roy Fuckin Kent and The tribute to a tribute to a tribute THUNDERBIRD/ SUNDAHBADOH!

Re: What's in a logbook?

EriktheAwful wrote:

So that begs the question, how do you organize your log book? Do you have event preparation spelled out with all the details? Some of us have never had a log book before.

I cheated.. I copied a Buddy who's been racing the same Ferrarri Testa Rossa from the 1950's  His log book is organized for him.   I made minor adjustments for mine..
  His Ferrarri has adjustable valves and my Jaguar uses shims..Like Him,  Following each event I make note of valve clearance and since I have the shim used I know not only when it's time to do a valve job but what size shim I will need. Changes valve adjustment from a several hour project to about 30 minutes.. 
  The valve clearance data also tells me when to do a leak down test. I've found that if the clearance closes up by .001 then it's also time to do a leakdown test.  A combination of leakdown data and oil pressure readings tell me when it's time to freshen the engine..
   Now that chassis dyno's are so common I'd be tempted to periodically run it on a chassis dyno to confirm what the other data is telling me..
  MY Jaguar doesn't have a speedometer his  ferrari does.. so he keeps track of miles driven whereas I keep track of time on the track.. If I wanted to I could calculate my lap time and turn it into miles driven but I've got a big enough datat base for hours that it works.
I write down starting chassis specs, what I set for a given track. If it's the first time at the track I look at details of the track  and try to figure out what settings are likely to work best..
All chassis settings are a compromise. so start with the most important corner first..  (usually the one leading onto the main straight). then look at the next most important corner etc..  Based on that you should have a pretty decent idea of what should work..
Never listen to anyone else. Not only will his car be differant handling than yours he's likely a differant driver than you are.  You can however listen to everyone.. If they are all running a lot of camber on the left front chances are you should as well. IF most have the left front pretty vertical that's a decent indicator. 
  Anyway if I make adjustments during the event I write it on a piece of paper and stuff it in the book when I get a chance.. the trick is to write the adjustment down (and the reason) I've found I'm far neater and more organzied after the event than during the event so that's when I enter all that sirt of thing. My buddies wife does data entry for him during the event.  For some reason women seem to love to do that.. it makes them feel like part of the team and if you heap enough praise on them it has other rewards as well.. (grin)
If you always use the same rim and tire then don't bother entering that data repeatedly.  However realize what options you have.. spare tires for example.. what size are they  not only sidewall size but measure them. Measure the circumfrance.  That changes gear ratios.  low profile tires where you want a lpot of acceration, High profile where top speed is more important.. I have 15 inch rims and 16 inch rims. 5.7 tread width
and 5.3 I used to have rain tires but I used them so seldom they got hard and I threw them out..
The next year all it did was rain! 11 of the 13 races I went to were in the rain. 
  It's those countless details about chassis set up that allow you to go to a given race track witha measure of confidense..
Organize it according to what you find important..
If after a couple of years you don't change something then you can leave that entry blank and you will know that doesn't change for you..
Since you'll have differant drivers in the car it's pretty important to keep a record of their times. If everybody else gets 40laps in their shift and  you only manage 38 take a sharp look at yourself.  (or whoever) theres time to gather a lot of information about the car during refueling stops.. measure tread depth, one spot is fine.. tire pressure, amount of fuel amount of oil(if any) added , water added etc..  You're going to be out there racing. so appoint someone to record data during your stint racing and sleeping..

Re: What's in a logbook?

Alternatively, there is the "Don't forget the gas, dummy" written on the hood method.

"Real ZomBees prefer Bacon"
IOE(x2) MGB/SAAB 96, Judge's Choice, Class C Win, & 2011 Hooniverse Car of the Year!
MRolla, Stick Figure/Animal House, Free Range MR2, SAAB Sonett, "The Death Flip"
2008 Exoskeleton Jag Fiasco, Concours d Lemons - Rue Britannia, worse British car.

Re: What's in a logbook?

OMGuar wrote:
FJ40Jim wrote:

What kind of info should be in a race car logbook?

Our crapcan has been running off & on for almost 3 years now, and I'm forgetting what was done, when, by whom...

Log books or any form of record keeping can save you money and more important from breakdowns..
If you start to save extra pit stops becuse of better preperation  your record keeping will be well worth the effort. 
  How long do parts last?   If you keep record you'll be able  to set up trends..
New Fan Belt every 6 races..
Brake pads last  32 hours of track time at X race track.. only 26 hours at Y race track and need replacing after 16 hours at Z race track..
Every time Bob drives the car you have to replace the head gasket during the race..
  Larry does a lousy job of race prep and Bob does a perfect job etc..
  Gene has damaged the left front fender 9 times in 12 races..
The rearend hasn't had any fresh gear lube in 9 events, 
  Keep track of lap times for various drivers,
If you try to remember everything you'll sooner or later wind up at a track and not remember that your car likes tires pressures of.........
and the left front should be cambered at X. 
  Keep record of track conditions too.
It does no good to have data for a hot dry day when it's wet and cold..
If the car is overheating could part of the issue been wind direction and speed
  A heavy tailwind adds a lot of heating burden on the car..

it's good to know you're not overthinking this whole Lemons thing.

mike - Schumacher Taxi Service
12+-time loser
"Winner" - We Got Screwed, NJMP '11

Re: What's in a logbook?

LOL big_smile

Official photographer/Team Police Brutality|Speedycop & the Gang
Lackey-mechanic-whatever/NSF Racing
Sycophant/Judge Phil, Jay Lamm, Kim Harmon
Galaxie Driver/not Parnelli Jones

Re: What's in a logbook?

If I wanted to I could calculate my lap time and turn it into miles driven but I've got a big enough datat base for hours that it works.

# of laps times track length. At Omaha we did 106 laps at 1.4 miles per lap. I think we had ten driver changes which adds another 14 miles for a grand total of 162.4. That makes our fuel economy about 10 mpg and our radiator water about 7 mpg.