Team Fokken Dummen Luftwaffe had more fun than should be allowed. We finished what we feel was a respectable mid-field 53rd place after fighting a series of mechanical gremlins. Not bad for a pretty much stock motored 1968 1600 we think.
Day one had us chasing an overheating issue and a slipping clutch. The early morning clutch issue may have been caused by a bit too much lube on the input shaft splines during assembly. (Ooops!) We think some grease might have slung onto the friction surfaces causing the clutch to slip. After a quick trip to the pits and a check of the system hydraulics provided no answers, we attempted to limp the car along just to keep up our lap count. The plan was to inspect or replace the clutch at the end of the day if it made it that far. After nursing the throttle input a while the clutch grip seemed to improve. By early afternoon the clutch seemed fine and never bothered us again.
In the early afternoon we diagnosed the overheating issue as a blown head gasket. We were close, it actually turned out to be a cracked head. With many individuals helping to locate a new head gasket, we spent the next couple hours swapping out heads with the spare engine we had brought along.

While we were in the pits changing cylinder heads, day one was cut short by an unfortunate on track incident. It's believed that one of our fellow competitors may have suffered a heart attack or other medical issue while driving. Court Sommerfeld was in his Volvo 240 Turbo when, without braking or attempting to turn, he made hard contact with a wall. Our heart felt condolences go out to Court's family and friends. After some soul searching by all racers and organizers it was unanimously decided that the race should and would continue.

Day two brought a new series of mechanical issues including all six bolts backing out of the left axle to diff. flange, and the main nut securing the throttle linkage to the carb. shaft falling off. The throttle linkage came disconnected just past the pit entrance. This forced me to do an entire lap with the motor only idling. I putted around the track at about 15 mph trying to stay out of the racing line. Unfortunately there isn't really a single racing line to avoid. The line that works for a Chevy Impala is not the same line that works for a Honda CRX,.... nor an idling BMW 1600. I glanced in my rear view mirror once and saw a mob of cars 3 or 4 wide breaking into two lines as they swerved either left or right to miss me. I made a point not to look again for fear of soiling my Nomex suit.

Because we have a limited slip diff. in the car, when the axle came undone the car still made it to the pits under power, and things were patched up fairly quickly. Aside from a couple bent bolts and a lot of thump-thump-thumping, no permanent damge was done.

With help from fellow racers and others we were able to handle each break down in a reasonably timely fashion. This helped ensure seat time for all 6 of our drivers and gave the car the ability to finish the race under it's own power. I can't say enough about how much competitors help and encourage one another to stay in the game.

Team Fokken Dummen Luftwaffe sends out a giant thanks to Cris Padragas (CJ here) who hand delivered a new head gasket right to our pits approx. 30 minutes after a frantic call out for help was posted to the 2002FAQ board. Cris left his house, travelled to his shop and then to the track to help a group of idiots have fun. He refused to be compensated for the gasket or his efforts and wished us all luck. Thank you Cris! We were able to pass along some of the good Karma on day two when one of the Mercedes teams lost a radiator and we gave them one of our spares. In racing terms it was a direct fit (zip ties and duct tape) and they too were able to finish the race. It felt good to pass along a bit of the good Juju that had been sent our way.

We also especially want to thank Team Autobahn Society for all their help, team spirit and comradarie. Borrowed tools, parts and even an on board camera for our car! It was truly a pleasure to meet and mix it up with you guys. We're just sorry we couldn't provide the paint trading competition we had all hoped for. But we spent the 11 hour drive back to Portland plotting our strategies for next year. We've got a few plans to improve the car and come back as Team REALLY Fokken Dummen Luftwaffe.

At the end of it all we were really happy with the results. Each of our team members got to drive the car. everyone of us had a blast, and the car crossed the finish line running. Prior to the weekend four of our member's only 02 experience was test driving our car around the neighborhood. Three of those members had never competed in a motorsports race of any kind. What a way to get to know an 02 and a little bit of racing! Good times!

Thanks again guys, Bret @ Team Fokken Dummen Luftwaffe
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Bret @ Glass from the Past
www.caferacingparts.com
971-207-2824


Last edited by Fiberglass on 5-13-08 04:59; edited 5 times in total