Switching from Asphalt to Dirt - Help Wanted

[T48]

MegaMang, your question about plastic on the belt begs the question of whether or not you could sheath the wiring harness as well. 

Love the Pam idea, and no John, I didn't misunderstand about the Mud Off, I understood it was a preventative measure before racing.  I was just referring to the fact I figured it would take a pressure washer after every race to clean her up.  The suggestions for the Mud Off, baby oil, Pam, etc. sets my mind at ease about a lot of this.  One of my biggest concerns was the damage the dirt and mud could do to the engine, brakes, belts, wiring harness, the whole nine yards.  I was afraid that over heating on the track due to the dirt might be a major concern.

All of the suggestions and discussion is very valuable to me, please keep it coming.  Even if I'm not jumping into the discussion a lot, rest assured I'm taking notes and learning.  And I'll jump in everytime I don't fully understand or have another question.  This is going to be an adventure, I have a feeling!

[justfreaky]

That plastic seathing is dirt cheap (excuse the pun!) to free.
I plan to cover my wiring, even though I will be running pavement.
Just helps to protect the wiring.

Steve

[JGRacing]

Be careful about using the pressure washer around all of the exposed wiring on these cars (and also the ignition box). 

Also, another idea on tires.  Not sure if anyone does this much with legends cars, but its really common now with late models and modifieds.  Take a belt sander or angle grinder and knock a thin layer of rubber off the tread of the tires after each use.  It will get the hard outside layer off the the tire and also will square up the edge of the tread so they will bite better.  I would only do this with tires that have full tread because the cut tires would not have much left to work with.  With how strict they are with tires, I would not use one of the grinding wheels you will see in catalogs (it leaves little cuts that might tick off you tech guy).  Using something fairly course should leave a relatively smoth surface.  If you don't go to crazy with the grinding, it should not cut down much on the tire life.  Make sure the tire is attached to the car or something solid.  It's amazing how hard a belt sander can shoot a heavy tire at your legs if its not attached to something (speaking from experience).   

John

[justfreaky]

JG,
 What scares me most is that you would know that from experience!
 

 I think Barb and Clarence have the tire thing working in their favor.
I do agree with you about protecting the wiring and electronics.

Steve

[JGRacing]

The tire didn't hit hard enough to cause any damage, but it sure did hurt. 

[MegaMang]

The lad that was running my car last season took it dirt racing a few times.  He was saying that fenders were taking the most damage out there.  The track got rough enough at times, and when the mud built up on them, they would start cracking.  Make sure you spray them down good with the mud off.  The fenders on my car do have many cracks around the edges.

Mike

[T48]

Just wanted to update you guys.  We took Tweety out to practice at the local short track yesterday, but she never went on the track. *L*  It was a mess after all the rain and really wasn't safe for the car.  So we watched late models and some mini stock - and watched parts fall off their cars and tires go flat.    One late model nosed into the front straightaway wall smashing the whole front end in and then completely flipped.  The boy was lucky to crawl out of that one.  So.................the owner tells us the track will be in better shape in a while.  We'll look at it again then.

BTW, a friend of ours did put his Legends on the track for 2 or 3 laps, it was very rough and he came back to the pits with a shock knocked off.  But he sure gave it a shot. Kudos to ya, Jeff. 

[FFmedic]

I've got a  guy helping me set my car up for dirt.  We went with softer springs on the right and especially real soft on the right rear.  As for caster camber, I'm not sure what he set them at.  Havn't scaled it yet, so I'm not sure on cross weight.  I would definetly recomend Mud Off or other brands, it definetly worked on my racing mowers and I will use it on the car.  I used Gutter Guard on the grill.  Made it tight and when its full of mud, you just wipe your hand down it and the mud will break off.  I'm pretty sure no one up here cuts their tires.  As for the windshield use some sheet aluminum to make a frame/opening and line the back with some 1/2 x 1/2 wire mesh.  And if you have your oil filter up front, you might want to move it back to the fire wall or build a shield around it.  I myself am going to buy a thicker walled oil filter.  Baldwin filters (##???) make a heavy one and Napa Black (#1515??)  is also a heavy walled one.  Reason I'm going with the filter is the guy who is settting up my car raced for over 5yrs and never punctured a filter, he ran the heavy walled ones.


Joe

[JGRacing]

I used the same System 1 filter for two seasons on my street stock then on my modified and always had great luck with it.  The one filter survived 2 cars and 3 engines.  It is really sturdy, has cooling fins, and can be taken apart to look for debris in the screen.  All I ever had to do was replace the O-rings once a season.  It mounts like a normal filter and comes with adapters to fit different motors and remote adapters.  If my car didn't already the inline rebuildable filters, I would go with one of these again.     

[Shawnben]

I use a system one filter also. Well worth the price.

[justfreaky]

I use Oberg.

http://www.obergraceproducts.com/index_files/Page576.htm

They are a bit pricey, but with a little searching and time, can be found at a reasonable price.

Steve