10/15/2026
So I haven't posted in a bit. Work was a bit hectic as we transitioned from season to winter work and from unlimited overtime, night shift, to straight 40 hours and a 4-10 Mon-Thurs work schedule. Yeah, I miss the OT, but it's a much needed break and the extra time off is very welcome, not to mention being on a normal schedule again.
As far as the car goes, it's going to see some work in the off season. The engine and trans are out and in the garage, car is stored in the trailer for now. Winter plans are to freshen the engine and address a few issues I had during the season, freshen the trans and free up some of the drag it has, and address a couple of issues on the car, although the car will wait until we're back to a bit warmer weather this spring.
On the engine, the season started off with a major fuel leak at the barrel valve, prompting it's rebuild. I had the parts, just had to go through it. However, once reinstalled, the first issues began. As soon as it started, it would milk the oil like crazy, fuel pressure was to the moon, and it ran like crap. After three very expensive oil changes I finally found and fixed the issue, but another issue happened as a result. While the engine does have good compression and leakdown isn't bad, the ring seal isn't what it should be, as they were allowing oil into the combustion chamber and out the exhaust. It did get better when the barrel valve issue was fixed, but didn't go away entirely. With that said, the engine is getting new rings, new bearings, and a good general looking over. I also had an issue of no crankcase vacuum. At startup, it would show about 6-8", but that dropped as it warmed and was actually showing positive crankcase pressure going down track. Yesterday I smoked the engine to see where it's losing vacuum, and two cylinders seem to have more bypassing the rings than the others, and the cam sync distributor that's at the back of the manifold was the largest leak. I was barely able to build any pressure in the engine at all and there was a strong, steady stream of smoke coming from around the cam sync. How I'm going to fix that is remove the cam sync, seal the hole in the intake, move the sensor to the front of the engine, and plug the oil galley where the distributor goes into the block. Problem solved. Also adding high vacuum style seals to the front and rear of the crank, and making sure any possible leak point is sealed. I'm changing vacuum pumps as well, going from the Star Machine sportsman pump to the mountain motor pump. The increased volume of air the pump can move should make quite the difference. The smaller pump vacuum control valve was fully closed and it still couldn't keep up, although the leaks were a major cause of this.
On the trans, I'm just going to check it over, and do a few tricks to reduce internal drag. Nothing special, just some things I've learned over the years that will free up some power that can be put to the track instead of trying to turn the trans.
On the car, I'm installing low drag seals in the brake calipers as the primary brakes have quite a bit of drag on them. I've been told that's common with these brakes and the low drag kit fixes that. The seals the calipers normally have are square cut and the low drag are round. The round seals allow the pistons to retract more than the square seals do and that should resolve that issue.
That's about it for now. Working on another video showing some work on the atv, then on my motorcycle. Livin' The Dream Racing isn't just about racing as the title would imply, it's about living your dreams....and for me that's riding my quad, my motorcycle, and racing. If you check out my youtube channel, please like, comment, share and subscribe if you haven't already, and share it with your friends to help me grow the channel!
See you soon, more updates to come!
Almost forgot, one more thing to add. Car is getting new headers! I'll post more on them later when they get here!
