280 @ pod prt2, short vid + pics

Wyn

Wyn

Club Member
prt 2

.... and this is how it ended up

Short Vid Here Mark Watkins 280@ Santa Pod

Vid doesn’t do the speed justice but you get the drift.



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Just below the core plug you can see the hole the rod/piston punched out of the sump !!
Was very lucky to save it so well, big respecta :cool:
 
That must have been pretty scary for the driver!!:eek:

He done really well not to lose control, i guess oil from the sump must have hit the rear wheels?

Well captured Wyn.

Mr. F. is that a costly repair? Such a shame.
 
Cheers George

Judging by the shrapnel that was fished out of the sump afterwards I guess it's not going to be a cheap repair :(

Bits of rings n cylinder bore were on the menu by the looks of it, so it might be a new engine at the end of the day?
 
You don't know how much that will hurt - financially and emotionally! A similar blow up was the end of my active relationship with this very car - I was fortunate to do it in the burn-out and not have to play rally driver with oil under the rear slicks. The "little" hole in the sump is the tip of the expensive iceberg and the innards of the engine are almost certainly thoroughly trashed.

I will undoubtedly hear from Mark soon - a real shame as the newly painted and blower-equipped car had generated huge interest even before it turned a wheel and testing at Avon went well last week. We'll keep you posted....
 
mike, what are we talking to build a motor with that sort of power 8-12k? and of course countless hours chasing around for the right bits.:(
 
Had a response from Mark today after he's had time to mull it all over and let the adrenaline drain away. I think you'll be overjoyed with his positive response and the response the car was getting at the track both before and after the incident! Now, if all you non-members joined up (see that RED Join! button up there), the Club might be able to afford to contribute a little bit of sponsorship to help get this bit of Z history back on the track again quickly....


" OH dear! Well think we broke a rod big time, Engine was producing more horse power than I thought it would and at only 6psi of boost. Rods, block, pistons not much to salvage too much metal in bottom end to say we can get anything out in a usable condition. Don’t know if the cam or Peter Jackson gear drive are ok - wont strip it down till next week, but will take some pics for the Z Club site to show them what happens when you don’t have such a good day.
We only done three runs before the motor let go and all b4 seemed ok - no oil pressure loss, no knocks or any indication of a major failure. First run I drove it off the line and fed in the power not even getting to full throttle and ran a 10.5 at 132mph driving it like a shopping car. 2nd run was balls out off line lifting the wheels 1.38 60 foot and throttle stop came in and we ran a 10.820 @ 125mph. Had to take out at least 1.8 second of throttle to slow car down for the SuperStreet class. Then the third run I was confident that we set the stop right and was out for a 10.90, the rest is history - no bangs just a sudden silence and oh fxxk (120mph will do that) and yes I did think that at the time and with only the width of a 3 lane motorway and 2 foot thick concrete barriers either side I had no where to go then it was all reactions lock to lock to lock. No brakes as front wheels both sides were covered in oil as the sump had holed both sides opposite the brakes.
Scary thing is if it was not for the throttle stop coming in at mid track to slow the car down for the class, I would have still have been under full throttle and even with one or two cylinders out the power of the engine would have kept the car accelerating when the oil hit the back tire’s, but when the throttle stop cut the throttle the engine seized solid.
Supercharger is ok and hopefully the heads, even if the piston was at top dead center and the valves opened they would not touch, pistons have a big cup in them to get compression down to 7 ½ to 1.
Like to say the ride shocked me but was more of a thrill than a shock and missed the barrier so no harm done, can’t wait to get it going again!
Plans are under foot for even stronger parts. H beam rods, new forged crank, 4 bolt block, so then we can run up to 14 psi and we think at that boost horse power will reach 900bhp+
Believe it or not after all that I am one happy 280zx owner, the interest was phenomenal, every 2 mins some one was taking a picture whole families were lining up to have their picture taken next to car. Couples putting their arms around each other asking for us to take a picture for them and best of all other drivers and teams coming up and saying how nice the car was and how awesome it sounded.
We raised over £200 pound at the track from well wishers even a racer came up and gave us £150 and said that’s for sponsorship get it going its to nice to see it just sitting there ( did refuse but they insisted big time). So how can I come away from the track and feel down about it. Bottom line is That’s Racing!
Plans are to be back running by the main event at Santa pod end of May, that means we only miss the one round at Avon park.
Don’t mind if you want to post part or all of this on Z Club site.
All best

Mark Watkins"

What can I say - the man is a trooper! :280Z:
 
Hi
someone suggested a donate button next to the join button and i think it is an excellent idea, if your feeling flush one month you can donate as little as a fiver or what ever you can afford, every little helps said the old lady who pis**ed in the sea

Regards
 
Blimey.. I posted on part one before reading part two.

What a b*mmer. Best of luck to Mark on getting the car fixed, and yes, what a trooper.

TL
 
Great write up by Mark, I am not surprised he had a smile on his face, the guy done wonders in controlling the car, very fast reaction.

Also great to hear that the car produced so much interest, which inadvertantly increases the exposure of Z cars in general and hopefully will mean more new Z Club members in the long run!
 
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