I don't want to reinvent the wheel, can you help?

Problems I've had so far at races.

Old flexi fuel line ruptured.
Didn't have proper pcv valve so blow-by pressure in the crankcase sprayed oil out the dipstick tube.
Spliced wire came loose but not separated (This one took a long time to find).
Brake fluid boiled.  (fixed it for next race by using motul)

Problems avoided before the race:

added oil cooler.
replaced wheel bearings.
new belts.
new filters.
new fluids.
new hoses.
battery in good condition.
added various pressure and temperature gauges.

Single handedly our largest challenge... not even our resident rocket surgeon has figured out a solution.

Building a car yet Frenchy?

I solved two of those probelms already.!!!!

   I used to build and sell trailers.. I eventually figured out it wasn't smart to make a trailer that didn't use the spare of the tow vehicle.    Trailers are probably the most neglected piece of equipment in the team..  Plus it looks cool to have the wheels all match and the trailer painted the same color as the truck..
MY second solution was to buy all the food at the last major town before the race track. It was fresh and I never forgot it.. I'd pull into the parking lot with the trailer behind and go in and shop.. I used major towns because they always had discount stores and I'm cheap!

Well here's the issues you can face when racing a 1958 Wartburg with a Subaru engine, porsche suspension and VW transmission.....

what?  noone else?  Yeah I guess our lessons wouldnt be much help.

Except if you have a subaru, bring headgaskets.

+1

+1

I think our biggest failure point was not thinking clearly, being unprepared and in a rush. We didn't sort out our PCV in time and spewed oil out of the engine's front cover. We fixed that, but in our rush to get the car back on the track we didn't get the thermostat cycled open and only had 1/2 as much water as we needed in the cooling system and blew the head gasket. In the rush to get packed and get everything to the track I didn't have time to give the tow vehicle a once over - we broke down in Kansas. I *thought* the trailer used the same bolt pattern as the Jaguar, but the spare Jag wheel wouldn't fit on the trailer. Now I'll get a spare for the trailer.

Plan ahead, get prepared ahead of time, and make sure your team is on the same page as you. That will do more for your reliability than any spare parts you carry.

Race #1: SR20 doesn't like low oil level.  #3 rod bearing cap shot out the oil pan.
Race #2: Old exhaust pipes are like old people.  Sometimes they break unexpectedly for no apparent reason.
Race #3: SR20 alternator pivot bolts are infamous for falling off allowing alternator to quit alternating.  TIme for safety wire.

For a virgin Lemons car at Thunderhill last month:

Track/test Day 1: no problems, or so we thought.

Track/test day 2: black flagged for oil leak onto the header (re-gouped the valve cover gasket), tied rod gave out (later replaced), and clutch died (got a great deal on a slightly used one from OGTS). Also, tranny leak problem. It just required replacing a shifter seal.

Race 1: Serious overheating on test day. Fixed by putting the fan back in. The Miata electric pusher wasn't getting the job done. Also, wrong fan belt. Apparently there are two sizes for the Opel GT and we had the one that was too long. The water pump was probably slipping. Also, oil tranny leaks returned in a big way, and add to that a front mains oil leak. "Fixed" with Brakecleen and paper towels. On Saturday, lost the tranny 45 minutes into the race. It had been suspect. Swapped in an untested spare in 90 minutes and it got us through the weekend, but three driver penalties parked us for the last four hours of Saturday. Also, the other tie rod got sloppy. We finished the race on it and replaced it before Concours d'Lemons for the drive down to Monterey in the car. Also, warped a rotor sometime Sunday, and a loose screw cap on a spark plug gave up intermittent and frustrating ignition problems all weekend, but it got really bad late Sunday. The car lost most of its power in high-G left turns, and eventually all left turns. Figured out the cause of the problem when we got back home. Cheapest fix ever.

Next race - just plug the leaks, replace rotted ball joint boots (the last of the original rubber parts left on the car), revise some of the electrical bits, swap in free rotors from OGTS (slightly used, could not be legally sold), adjust valves, and install an oil cooler. (We finally sold most of the spare parts from the car yesterday. Anyone need any Opel GT glass!) For sure, everything will work perfectly next time.  Maybe except for driver penalties.

If it will hurt the engine when it gets hot it will try to get hot.  Use coolers for everything and make sure that you are not heating up sensitive parts with your exhaust heat.  What works in road conditions will overheat in race conditions.

Street thermostats have no business being on a race car, remove them and plug or remove the bypass system entirely.  If the motor cools too much tape a bit of cardboard to the radiator ( I doubt it has ever happened at a Lemons event )

Don't just twist wires together, use solder on every joint.  Use electrical cleaner to get goo and grease off before soldering.  If you don't know how to solder look for the military standard mil-std-2000A and read it, you will become an expert almost overnight.

Brake fluid-  Use good stuff, bleed it very carefully and check for leaks.  We use ATE Super Blue, it shows up nicely if it leaks and it has excellent characteristics.  To leak check, at every joint put some white paper towel around it ( all at the same time ) and have your strongest driver pump up the brakes and hold them as hard as he can for a full minute.  If the pedal hasn't moved and none of the towels has fluid on it you probably don't have leaks.  If not, fix it.

Don't install any parts without properly tightening ALL of the fasteners unless you tag it.  You will forget things and might miss something important.