We got out to the lake bed Saturday evening and by the time we had gotten the trailer unloaded and a few things sorted out it was dark. It seemed like a perfect time to take the car out and test the new 38000 Lumen Vision X LED light bar. Wow is it bright thanks to the talents of SHDQ in Gilbert, AZ.
The car ran okay but would lay down as soon as I tried laying into the throttle. We knew we had a fuel problem so we headed back to camp to check it out.
The next morning I checked the fuel filter and found a little of the pink fuel cell foam in the screen. A good cleaning and we though we had the problem licked. Being mindful that if our foam was coming apart we would have to keep an eye on it. The other thought was maybe it was a jetting problem. After a test run the car was still laying down and would not run past about 1/3 throttle. I took it out with my brother to show him what it was doing and thats when it just quit. No loud pop or bang. It would crank but it had no compression.
Will Gentile from Heavy Metal Concepts was running around with a guy in an XJ and they gave us a tow back to camp. I apologize for not remembering your name but thanks for help.
We got the car back to the pit tent and my brother started disassembly. The valve cover came off and our problem was clear. The timing chain had jumped off the cam and was laying on to the cam shaft. There about a million allen head bolts that hold the valve cover and head on so the passenger seat and exhaust came out along with the head. Two exhaust valves where bent and the tensioner for the timing chain was eaten all up.
Some of the people I'd like to thank:
We found Charlene and I 'd like to thank her for giving us the contact info for one of her friends with a local parts supply.
Jim at HCR was absolutely fantastic. I can not say enough good things about him and his crew. Jim overnighted us a set of stainless steel exhaust valves into Indio. Then took our head into a local machine shop his friend owned to swap out the bent exhaust valves. It turned out that there was one intake valve that had been tweaked as well. Jim drove into Riverside to get the intake valve and finish the head. He went way beyond anything I imagined. Thank you so very much.
Joey from UTV Underground for the tow back to our pit tent after bending the second set of valves.
Matt (my brother) for all the help throughout the week on both my UTV and Dave's Ultra 4 car. My brother worked his ass off to tear down and reassemble the motor inside the car while Dave and I where out pre-running the course. Being bent over and wadded up in a little ball while working on the car in no way looked comfortable. He also made up a nice little timing chain holder to replace the one that had gotten eaten up. No an easy task with the limited tools and resources we had with us. The biggest thanks of all. Thank you bro.
Dean Bulloch form D an' P Performance out of Cedar City, UT. Dean got us crank seal and seal collar to fix our Prowler pit UTV that decided to die as well. Dean had a man coming out to the lake bed and hand delivered the parts to our pit. Again way beyond customer service and a huge thank you.
Thanks to Ryan, Jason, Serena and all the staff from SHDQ for help prepping the car and making the necessary changes for the KOH style race.
Thanks to everyone that stopped by to check on us and all the crew with our pit tent partners from John Boring and Alan Woodson's team.
We got the head back on and the car running late Monday night. My brother took it of a slow drive about the pits and would not even let me drive my own car until he had a chance to take it out the next morning for a shake down. It was appropriate because he had done all the work on the car to get it back up and running while I was tending to the big car.
That night we had a fried chicken sacrifice and zip tied a chicken bone to the car to appease the gods we had so obviously pissed off. Next year we are bringing a live chicken because the already dead chicken sacrifice didn't work.
My brother took it out and it drove fine until he would lay into it and load it up. It died again out near the UTV underground camp and Joey gave Matt a tow back to the pit one more time. We knew the time chain and guides had problems and we where hoping to be able to bandage them up enough to make the start line. It was clear the motor had bigger problems and tough decision was made to pull out of the race. We concentrated out efforts on the big car Wednesday and would be spectating during the UTV race Thursday.
I wasn't upset about being out of the race until we went down to watch the UTVs leave the line Thursday morning. I had the number 1 position for the start line and that when it really started to suck.
We will be back next year. New motor plans are already in the works.
The KOH trip has become a great annual trip for me. Living on the east coast, I don't get a lot of chances to spend time with my family in AZ. KOH allows me to spend a week in the California desert with my brother and then I take week of vacation to visit family in southern Arizona on my way back east.
Look for us next year at the finish line. Thank you all again.
The car ran okay but would lay down as soon as I tried laying into the throttle. We knew we had a fuel problem so we headed back to camp to check it out.
The next morning I checked the fuel filter and found a little of the pink fuel cell foam in the screen. A good cleaning and we though we had the problem licked. Being mindful that if our foam was coming apart we would have to keep an eye on it. The other thought was maybe it was a jetting problem. After a test run the car was still laying down and would not run past about 1/3 throttle. I took it out with my brother to show him what it was doing and thats when it just quit. No loud pop or bang. It would crank but it had no compression.
Will Gentile from Heavy Metal Concepts was running around with a guy in an XJ and they gave us a tow back to camp. I apologize for not remembering your name but thanks for help.
We got the car back to the pit tent and my brother started disassembly. The valve cover came off and our problem was clear. The timing chain had jumped off the cam and was laying on to the cam shaft. There about a million allen head bolts that hold the valve cover and head on so the passenger seat and exhaust came out along with the head. Two exhaust valves where bent and the tensioner for the timing chain was eaten all up.
Some of the people I'd like to thank:
We found Charlene and I 'd like to thank her for giving us the contact info for one of her friends with a local parts supply.
Jim at HCR was absolutely fantastic. I can not say enough good things about him and his crew. Jim overnighted us a set of stainless steel exhaust valves into Indio. Then took our head into a local machine shop his friend owned to swap out the bent exhaust valves. It turned out that there was one intake valve that had been tweaked as well. Jim drove into Riverside to get the intake valve and finish the head. He went way beyond anything I imagined. Thank you so very much.
Joey from UTV Underground for the tow back to our pit tent after bending the second set of valves.
Matt (my brother) for all the help throughout the week on both my UTV and Dave's Ultra 4 car. My brother worked his ass off to tear down and reassemble the motor inside the car while Dave and I where out pre-running the course. Being bent over and wadded up in a little ball while working on the car in no way looked comfortable. He also made up a nice little timing chain holder to replace the one that had gotten eaten up. No an easy task with the limited tools and resources we had with us. The biggest thanks of all. Thank you bro.
Dean Bulloch form D an' P Performance out of Cedar City, UT. Dean got us crank seal and seal collar to fix our Prowler pit UTV that decided to die as well. Dean had a man coming out to the lake bed and hand delivered the parts to our pit. Again way beyond customer service and a huge thank you.
Thanks to Ryan, Jason, Serena and all the staff from SHDQ for help prepping the car and making the necessary changes for the KOH style race.
Thanks to everyone that stopped by to check on us and all the crew with our pit tent partners from John Boring and Alan Woodson's team.
We got the head back on and the car running late Monday night. My brother took it of a slow drive about the pits and would not even let me drive my own car until he had a chance to take it out the next morning for a shake down. It was appropriate because he had done all the work on the car to get it back up and running while I was tending to the big car.
That night we had a fried chicken sacrifice and zip tied a chicken bone to the car to appease the gods we had so obviously pissed off. Next year we are bringing a live chicken because the already dead chicken sacrifice didn't work.
My brother took it out and it drove fine until he would lay into it and load it up. It died again out near the UTV underground camp and Joey gave Matt a tow back to the pit one more time. We knew the time chain and guides had problems and we where hoping to be able to bandage them up enough to make the start line. It was clear the motor had bigger problems and tough decision was made to pull out of the race. We concentrated out efforts on the big car Wednesday and would be spectating during the UTV race Thursday.
I wasn't upset about being out of the race until we went down to watch the UTVs leave the line Thursday morning. I had the number 1 position for the start line and that when it really started to suck.
We will be back next year. New motor plans are already in the works.
The KOH trip has become a great annual trip for me. Living on the east coast, I don't get a lot of chances to spend time with my family in AZ. KOH allows me to spend a week in the California desert with my brother and then I take week of vacation to visit family in southern Arizona on my way back east.
Look for us next year at the finish line. Thank you all again.
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