Technical tips:
Pre-season car preparation
Author: Shane Hart | Mick Motors / Exelite Racing
21 December 2009 | Press Release

Hi and welcome to the first edition of technical tips. The committee have asked for a few "experts" to put pen to paper for a little bit of advice. Sorry, I drew the short straw. I am not an expert and I hope I never stop learning tech tips and ways to go faster, so if you or your car preparer have different views let me know so we can both learn something.

Lets start with car preparation for the first race meeting.

Change of calendar year puts some components out of date, so check harness and fire extinguisher. Both okay, so pull out your extinguisher and give it a good shake to unsettle the powder. Check belts for fraying or stretch marks and correct operation of the buckle, even if the dates are fine. Nobody wants to test them out, but it could happen (just ask Grant Bromley)!

Next grab your brake pedal and check pressures. Pump the pedal up and hold pressure. If it goes down you have a leak or the master cylinder is letting go. Check your brake pads especially the front ones for wear. Check the brake rotors for cracks. Everything fine, then flush the brake fluid. It absorbs water and cops a hard time, so flush it out totally. While your there, flush the clutch system too.

Steering and suspension gets a work out so feel for free-play in rose joints and steering components. Cracks on high stress components like rear trailing-arm mounts and calipers need to be checked.

Empty fuel tank out to get rid of junk accumulated over the year. Get a 2lt soft drink bottle while your there and a piece of dowl and mark a fuel dip-stick. Rip out your fuel lines and replace them with EFI hose as it doesn't react with unleaded fuel as badly. Replace fuel clamps with EFI parts as the band doesn't bite the hose. Check the Carby and fuel pump as any fuel stains indicate a leak.

Fuel leaks + heat = FIRE

Check oil leaks next. Don't tell me you have none, because its a VW - they all leak! If it doesn't leak, its out of oil. Replace hoses and use decent clamps again. Check wiring and go over connectors. Give it a slight tug, see if it comes off. If there is any movement, replace the connection. Better still, touch each connector with a little bit of Silastic, as it glues them together but will still come apart easily when you want it too.

So you have spent $100 and a few hours on your car.... could save you a DNF and makes you a little bit more confident.

Any problems or anything you would like us to cover let us know. We all have different ideas and theories, so if we all worked together we go faster and have more fun!

See you on the track.
Shane Hart