Will Goldfinger be a competitor?

[RAD2LTR]

Re: Will Goldfinger be a competitor?

One of the crew chiefs told me the next day "If that race was one lap longer, Dreadnaught would have won."

Exactly. Voodoo's carb was essentially being held in place by the linkage and gravity, and even though Strega was running when it landed, it didn't go home for months indicating that needed serious work/new engine to leave.

A win is a win, but that said I think Jay got lucky. Had Voodoo not had the carb issue, they would have walked away the winner, and Strega may not have even finished.

Jay is a great pilot, but he flew a lot further than Steve, and up till the carb issue showed itself, Jay had no chance of winning.

Hopefully in the not so distant future we will get another showdown, along with PM, Furias, 232 and Rare Bear all in the hunt as well.

Will

[marada mx3]

Re: Will Goldfinger be a competitor?

...............
Hopefully in the not so distant future we will get another showdown, along with PM, Furias, 232 and Rare Bear all in the hunt as well.

Will

I hope so too, but fear unless a new owner for 232 and RB appears, we won't see those two any time soon.
Fingers crossed though!

[Bob]

Re: Will Goldfinger be a competitor?

Exactly. Voodoo's carb was essentially being held in place by the linkage and gravity, and even though Strega was running when it landed, it didn't go home for months indicating that needed serious work/new engine to leave.

A win is a win, but that said I think Jay got lucky. Had Voodoo not had the carb issue, they would have walked away the winner, and Strega may not have even finished.

Jay is a great pilot, but he flew a lot further than Steve, and up till the carb issue showed itself, Jay had no chance of winning.

Hopefully in the not so distant future we will get another showdown, along with PM, Furias, 232 and Rare Bear all in the hunt as well.

Will

That sounds like a great story, but the carb on a merlin is on the bottom of the motor, unless it flies upside down gravity is not going to hold it in place.

[Reever]

Re: Will Goldfinger be a competitor?

That sounds like a great story, but the carb on a merlin is on the bottom of the motor, unless it flies upside down gravity is not going to hold it in place.

That is a very good point!

[RAD2LTR]

Re: Will Goldfinger be a competitor?

That sounds like a great story, but the carb on a merlin is on the bottom of the motor, unless it flies upside down gravity is not going to hold it in place.

Fair enough. I didn't see it personally, but I got the info from a reliable source. I was told the carb was very loose. That was why they lost power with a lap and a half to go. The engine was fine. The carb was the issue.

The end result, Steve was lucky to get it down on the ground, on the runway safely. Jay was lucky that Steve had an issue, and the race wasn't any longer. I'd still like to see a rematch with both pilots and planes running 100% right to the end.

Will

[gp70442]

Re: Will Goldfinger be a competitor?

Jay was lucky that Steve had an issue,

In a lot of cases, to win a race a lot of things have to go right, AND you have to have a little luck.

Sounds like it just wan't Stevo's day. Can't take anything away from Jay and Team Strega.

GP

[Desertdawg]

Re: Will Goldfinger be a competitor?

Suggestion

Why don't we break out this Strega vs Voodoo discussion into it's own thread, moderators?

The original Goldfinger subject is a good thread in its self.

[Leo]

Re: Will Goldfinger be a competitor?

To add to the off topic nature here, how does a carb get loose? Failed gasket? Failed Flange? Otherwise I would think that with everything safety wired it would be virtually impossible to get it loose without a major part(s) failing.
Not being provocative, genuinely curious.

[Bob]

Re: Will Goldfinger be a competitor?

To add to the off topic nature here, how does a carb get loose? Failed gasket? Failed Flange? Otherwise I would think that with everything safety wired it would be virtually impossible to get it loose without a major part(s) failing.
Not being provocative, genuinely curious.

Hey Leo

Well, there are 8 bolts for mounting the carb. They are safety wired and, because of the hot and cold nature of carbs plus the vibrations, they use locktite more than likely. Also if the bolts stretched from a carb backfire the motor would have pretty much stopped. If by some chance the bolts did loosen, the motor would have been in a very lean condition. In a lean condition it would stop running or melt-burn pistons quickly. It would have been an almost instant mayday.


The cause of Voodoo's issue was, as it was when it did the record passes, valve train related. That is the Achilles heel of the race merlin.


flame away

[Leo]

Re: Will Goldfinger be a competitor?

I would think that any significant vacuum leak at that area would be an instant loss of a lot of power and/or the torching of pistons, valves, etc. from an over lean condition.
I had an engine suck a manifold gasket (due to a loose bolt) on my car once during a drag race and the result was very catastrophic and very final. The hole was about 1/2 inch long by 1/16" tall.
I also had a Mustang with a Pinto 4-banger in it (a 79) that started running a little rough. I drove it that way for a few WEEKS until I finally got around to checking it out and found the carb barely attached. why it ran at all I don't know, and after I replaced a gasket and tightened it I drove it 50,000 more miles!

[Bob]

Re: Will Goldfinger be a competitor?

I would think that any significant vacuum leak at that area would be an instant loss of a lot of power and/or the torching of pistons, valves, etc. from an over lean condition.
I had an engine suck a manifold gasket (due to a loose bolt) on my car once during a drag race and the result was very catastrophic and very final. The hole was about 1/2 inch long by 1/16" tall.
I also had a Mustang with a Pinto 4-banger in it (a 79) that started running a little rough. I drove it that way for a few WEEKS until I finally got around to checking it out and found the carb barely attached. why it ran at all I don't know, and after I replaced a gasket and tightened it I drove it 50,000 more miles!

I wonder what the pinto motor would have done if you were racing it. I bet it would have survived being such a low performance motor. Do you think the old smog equipment helped save it from failure?

[Reever]

Re: Will Goldfinger be a competitor?

Anyone remember when Stiletto backfired through the carb at the Shafter race? That was an instant mayday. Someone had a photo of the damage done to the cowling right under the carb. Very interesting.

[Leo]

Re: Will Goldfinger be a competitor?

There have been several that I have seen over the years. A "sneeze" is usually a pretty violent event, blowing induction trunks and cowlings off.
A leak without the violence of a backfire would be insidious in that it would probably lean you out before you had any indication and then be too late. Not sure what instrumentation they carry that would indicate it but I am sure they have something.
If so, what a balancing act to stay somewhat competitive while nursing that thing along!

[Ron Lewark]

Re: Will Goldfinger be a competitor?

Last year after the race, my grandson went down and talked to Stevo to have him sign his race cap. Stevo said he couldn't get the engine to run long enough to make the pits. That race and the one Tiger ran on Sat the year before are two of the best I've seen in recent years.
Ron

[Race5]

Re: Will Goldfinger be a competitor?

I guess Mike is going at least somewhat super stocker with it. The wings have been clipped.