North Suburban Sports Car Club’s Official Newsletter Nov...

The Rod Knock North Suburban Sports Car Club’s Official Newsletter Nov/Dec 2016

Rod Knock Club & Racing News November/December 2016

So you’re gonna need to put a motor-powered hob-bycraft into seasonal storage. Welcome to the club. Doing it correctly and methodically now can save a ton of aspirin later. Is it a boat? A car? A race car? A trailer? A motorcycle? A snowmobile? An ATV? A lawn mower? Some common issues apply, so some common solutions do, too. This newsletter won’t be a preachy list of to-do’s with warnings of dire consequences. Well, sort of, but take the approach I advocate to business seminar attendees: If you walk away with 1 or 2 good ideas that will make a real difference in your life, then I’ve done my job. Don’t swallow the whole bottle, just take a pill at a time. First, dire consequences: I have ruined an entire fuel supply system in a 1981 VW Scirocco because I didn’t admit to myself that the project would take so long. “I’ll get’r running this summer” was the battle cry. Fuel system damage from precipitated alcohol in “modern” gas crystalized and clogged critical hardware and put me into an expensive clean or re-

Winterizing Rationale

place loop that still isn’t over. A specialty parts organization in a Detroit suburb has benefitted greatly from my plight. My garage is unheated, so cycles of heat, cold, dry, and humidity have caused havoc with oxidation in unseen locales. Fluids that sit and stew in place over time can acid etch delicate components that normally depend on fresh lubrication and an active lifestyle. I think parts of my own body have succumbed to this problem over the winter, too. Even stray rodents are an issue to address. They love wire insu-lation when their more favorite foods are absent. And, they find a favorable environment in auto interiors to make themselves comfy for a long, cold semi-hibernation. I’m sure you’ve seen ripped and fuzzy materials mixed with little pellet turds in unusual places. One winter I broke into a box on a garage shelf and discovered a sleepy cute little mousey looking up at me bewildered after being disturbed. He was surrounded by that aforementioned fuzzy de-bris, all cute and smelly. A thorough wash & wax is a good idea. It may be less than per-fect paint work on a race car, but aside from pride, with smooth, clean, slippery paint, you may go faster. After all, skiers wax their skis and surfers wax their boards, right? Here’s the maddening part: You probably know somebody that never follows precautions yet never gets the short end of the stick and shortcuts always work for them. Don’t fret, they’ll get theirs. You be the one that faithfully performs the rituals that pay off in the long run. Reliability is your friend. Treat your toys right and they will return the favor. So, protecting your sidelined mechanical buddies from the ravag-es of weather and deterioration and animals is a large part of the task ahead. Maybe the following gathering of suggestions will help. You may have heard these before. Keep seeking truth. …..Ed

Do you: Change oil? Wash paint? Add fuel stabilizer? Pump up tires? Fill Tank?


Nov/Dec 2016—In This Issue: Pg1 Winterizing Rationale Pg2 Our President Speaks Pg2 MCSCC 2016 Season Schedule Pg2 Our Sport’s Terminology Explained Pg3 Event Results, Member Winners Pg3 2016 Class Winners + Council Champs Pg4 Winterizing - What TO do Pg5 Winterizing - What NOT to do Pg6,7 “3 Questions” Profile: Robert Dudek Pg7 2017 Council Race Schedule Pg8 Rod Knock Tech Tip: Plastic Repair Pg8 Bonus Tech Tip….Carbon Build-up Pg8 Mentor Support Available Pg9 Just So You Know Newsclips Pg9 Brake-by-Wire? Oh No You Don’t! Pg9 Club Officers and e-mails Pg9 Sponsor Logos Pg10 For Sale / MSSCC Safety Suit Raffle Pg10 Tribute to Pete Wilson, SM 144 Pg11,12 NSSCC & MCSCC Awards Banquets

MCSCC 2016 Season Schedule March 19 NSSCC Indoor Racing School BHF

April 16-17 DS & W2W Blackhawk (NSSCC)

May 14-15 HPDE/HSAX/Enduro/W2W Milw.Mile

May 28,29,30 HPDE/W2W/Enduro/HSAX BHF

June 11-12 HPDE/HSAX/Enduro & W2W Milw.Mile

June 17,18,19 Staff VSCDA Blackhawk

July 2,3,4 DS&W2W&HPDE/HSAX BHF (NSSCC)

July 30,31 HPDE/HSAX & W2W Blackhawk

Aug 13,14 W2W & W2W/Enduro Road America

Sept 17,18 W2W & W2W/Enduro GingerMan

Oct 1,2 HPDE/HSAX & W2W Blackhawk

Oct 22,23 W2W & W2W Blackhawk

Dec 3rd NSSCC 2016 Awards Banquet Ye Olde Town Inn, Crystal Lake, Illinois Jan 21, 2017 MCSCC Banquet, NSSCC hosting The Ridge Resort, Lake Geneva, WI

To all members, ‘Thank You’ for sup-porting the NSSCC and to all of our racers, ‘Thank You’ for supporting our events, and, of course, having some fun while you’re at it. To our NSSCC champions and podi-um finishers in the championships of High Speed Autocross and Wheel-to-wheel competition, ‘Congratulations’ on a great effort on your 2016 racing season. Our NSSCC banquet is coming up in 3 weeks time on December 3rd at Old Towne Hall Banquets in Crystal Lake, IL, and I hope to see all of you there. This year it’s our Club’s turn to host the MCSCC year end awards ban-quet January 21, 2017, at The Ridge Resort in Lake Geneva, WI, and we are having a banquet

NSSCC Monthly Meetings held on 3rd Thursday of the month, 7:30 pm in the private room, Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ, Higgins Rd (Rte 72), Elk Grove Village (Board meeting = 7:00pm)

Our Sport’s Language: vo-’kab-yu-,ler-ee \ n

We’ll try to make the unfamiliar familiar with this feature. Often newbies of any endeavor are buried in the terminology of the new thing they’re trying to conquer. That can only offer barriers to progress. So, in an effort to encourage faster and deeper understanding of the way we “seasoned veterans” talk, each issue will offer explanations of a couple of terms you may hear us throw around. Blocking: Aside from reckless behav-ior, drivers can be singled out for pre-venting a driver from passing them safe-ly. The rule is I can only make 1 side-ways defensive move. A second move is considered an attempt to block my com-petitor. A black flag could bring me into pit lane to “talk to the Steward”. That’s bad. Don’t argue. Take your medicine.

Point the Pass: MCSCC subscribes to a method for the driver being passed to indicate to the passing car that, “Yes, I know you want to pass” and “Please pass on that (pointing motion) side of my car”. The passing car is looking for an indication from the car’s driver, but not gonna wait for it. They are, after all rac-ing hard. Help them choose correctly.

planning meeting on December 1, 2016 @ 7 pm. It will be held at the Villaggio

Ristorante, 1242 Lake Street in Roselle, IL. I am extending a wel-come to all that would like to help us in this endeavor of planning and helping out in anyway possible for the MCSCC ban-quet on January 21st. We are also having a race planning meeting for our May 27-28 2017 Me-morial Day race weekend. Again at the Villaggio, on Wednesday December 7th @ 7 pm we’ll plan the weekend’s W2W, HPDE / HSAX schedule of events, special fea-tures, create a budget, and make sure all the details that go into a race weekend are cov-ered. We’ll also simi-larly discuss the new goals and proposals for our October 7-8 two days of HSAX race weekend. This is a brand new format which features auto-

The President Speaks

Dear NSSCC Members

Looking Ahead…..

We have secured the date and location of the 2017 season’s kickoff Indoor Drivers School: Blackhawk, March 18th, 2017

Be there or Be Square

cross-only events, new for the 2017 season. Thank you for your support and have a Happy Thanksgiving and Holi-day Season. Sincerely, Michael Palmer PS: The official 2017 MCSCC event schedule is on page 7……..

Old Towne Hall 2015 celebrants

The Ridge might be a good overnighter!


Bumper sticker:

My karma just ran over your dogma

Correction (addition?) to October’s Tech Tips: Detail cleaning complex wheels assumes that the person having

fun would start & finish with traditional tools—soap & water, sponges, big soft brush, whatever— the major overall cleansing

NSSCC W2W Podiums, Loooong Race @ Blackhawk Saturday, October 22, 2016

1st Place Finishers: Steve Greenhill SRF; Tom and Greg Donlan ST2

2nd Place Finishers: Dave Farnsworth ITGT; Christopher Fergusen ITS; Dave DeFreece ST1; Brian Donlan ST2; James Fogerty EP; Walt Kelley SP; James Griffith UNR1

Sunday, October 23, 2016

1st Place Finishers: Steve Burns ITB; Steve Greenhill UNR4

2nd Place Finishers: Michael Baumet ITB

Special Mention, V/H well represented by NSSCC: Glenn Stazak, Scott Fohrman, Walter Kelley, Bill Oakes, John Wheeler, Jason Ostrowski, Mark Derry, John Salisbury Jr, John Saccameno, Alex Christopher

Also Gotta Mention, way more NSSCC ITB’rs: After Burns & Baumet, Greg & Tom Donlan, Jason Gallivan, Brian Donlan, Joshua Morar, and Mi-chael Donlan …..and, Kieran Gobey was 16th on grid, finished 12th overall!

Congratulations to all for a spectacular 2-day effort

EVENT RESULTS:

That Looong Race NSSCC members

finish in top 3 spots Oct 22nd & 23rd

Iron Butt Candidates: (Hour & 1/2 races both days)

Steven Greenhill Greg Donlan Tom Donlan

Brian Donlan Walter Kelley

NSSCC 2016 First Place Finishers MC Class Champions in BOLD

Wheel to Wheel Class Winners:

(2016 Final Results not available at press time)

2015 data now, but look in a few days: Go to mcscc.org

Select top left, “Register/Results/Records” Upper right side, select “Wheel-Wheel Results”

Look ABOVE Track Laptime Records for: YE Champ points & Class Champs

High Speed Autocross Class Winners:

AM Rob Roderick BS Greg Nemec DP Dale Szymkowski DS Edwin Smith XM Daniel Speer XP Jeff DuBeau

Next Rod Knock Issue: Organization Skills

Spreadsheets? Lists? Business Plans? Budg-ets? Sponsor Solicitation? Crew? Pit Set-up?


Putting adult toys away for the win-ter is short term storage. If you were taking a job overseas for a year, that would call for long term storage, which would add more complex steps to the task. Short term storage is usu-ally a less-than-six-month period. Even though we are generally fo-cused on short term in this journal-istic endeavor, keep in mind how life gets in the way and be aware of a shift in needs as it happens. See “Sins”, next page, as examples.

Ya got yer basic components: 1. Clean it all, inside and out, degrease gunky areas, wash & wax paint & glass & shiny stuff, so next steps are easier—both to see faults and be less messy. Any heavy water-on-fabric cleaning should be dried thoroughly and not “put away wet”. 2. Mechanical service, Oil, filter, lube cables & hinges & linkages, fine adjustments, identify wear pat-terns. Don’t engage the parking brake if equipped to avoid unnecessary brake lining “freezing” to brake drums. Chock the wheels or leave it in gear (leave yourself a note) to prevent rolling. Fresh brake fluid will avoid moisture contamination in master & wheel cylinders. Antifreeze can cor-rode in an unmonitored bi-metallic motor (iron block/alum head). Empty if indoors, fresh mix if in garage. 3. Electrical service, Con-nections clean, snug, solid, di-electric grease protected, spray drier, coat

wires with pro-tectant to keep insulation sup-ple, identify cracking & aging & loose termi-nals. Battery

tender with float/de-sulfate func-tions. Leads to bat-tery routed under car to allow use of car cover. 4. Treated fuel & levels Fill gas tank with fresh gas to reduce air pockets where corrosion/rust can develop, stability treat to reduce evaporative loss and precipitates, empty carburetors and lines to prevent trapped fuel deterio-ration, turn petcocks off, put covers on vents & air inlets & exhaust pipes to keep humidity out. 5. Tire pressure & posi-tion, Fully inflate, consider overin-flating 10% to account for osmosis air loss, check once in a while to confirm, avoid flat spots with 6 inch rolls, sit vehicle on carpet cushions (large pads may be dampness barrier), away from ozone machines, no tire dressing, note age & condition for replacement. Be sure to fix known leaks now to make spring “wakeup” easier. 6. Environmental protec-tions Garage: use a light poly-cover to protect from dust and humidity and contaminants; Outside: use an all weather cover for exterior protection from animals, on a wood or cement base, high ground, away from pollu-tants & water damage. Covers should close around underside of your adult toy to wrap-protect from air quality issues and live critters. Do not use cheap plastic tarps, they stain & scratch. Even covered toys kept away from airborne toxic or caustic pollu-tants. Shiny or unpainted pieces may benefit from a light coating of WD40. To be safe, stuff a sock or steel wool into exhaust outlets and intake open-ings to discourage live house guests. Dryer fabric softener sheets also re-

portedly work as rodent re-pellent. If you go traditional, keep the mousetraps out-side a closed vehicle. Can’t beat that dead mouse smell as you lap Blackhawk! Put some mothballs in socks un-

Real Estate Laws that suck: If you eat garlic for lunch or dinner, you can’t go to a movie theater until four hours later if you live in Gary, Indiana.

der (again, outside) the car as added mouse deterrent. Peppermint scent al-legedly works, too. Throw some dryer sheets inside the motor bay also for good measure, especially around wiring harnesses. Interior cavities may benefit from de-humidifier silica crystal desic-cant bags., and perhaps add activated charcoal packets to interiors to help control odors. Good luck. It’s time well spent.

Winterizing Steps

Restore to Roadworthy:

1. Re-inflate tires 2. Install battery 3. Fill fuel tank if dry 4. Prime fuel lines 5. Check leaks, water,

contamination 6. Remove intake &

exhaust sock plugs 7. Tune-up checklist 8. Oil camshaft 9. Oil spray cylinders 10. Prime oil pressure 11. Confirm brakes OK 12. Test ignition OK 13. Fire it up 14. Smile for selfie

Storage:

1. Wash & wax 2. Oil & filter change 3. Coat battery termi-nals & Trickle Charge 4. or— Battery indoors 5. Fill tank & treat gas 6. Drain carb bowls 7. Oil spray cylinders 8. Paper card in points 9. Tire pressure “plus” 10. Proper poly cover 11. Don’t start it up

Extreme Measures:

1. Humidity Bag 2. Car on jackstands 3. Tires in Bags 4. Pay for storage 5. Climate control 6. Oil spray cylinders 7. Drain motor fluids 8. Paper card in dis-

tributor points 9. Oil cam lobes 10. Hand-rotate crank 11. Don’t start it up


A) Do nothing B) D0 the wrong thing Doing nothing can prove to be decep-tively successful, and often ends up to be the default behavior for many of us. We simply run out of time or are fatally distracted. Much of our luck can be credited to a SHORT time in hiberna-tion, or heck, “we’re gonna tear it down in the spring anyway” rationale. Doing the wrong thing. Put pump gas into a diesel car? Use the whole bottle of gas additive then read directions af-ter the car won’t start ? An oops in mo-tor, electrical, tire, fuel, or location can be harmful or expensive, or both. ISSUE: In a carburetor, a fraction of an inch of space under the jets results in about an ounce of fuel pooling at the bottom when “empty”. When the vehi-cle is “run out of gas” and stops run-ning, the carb really isn’t empty. It still has this residue amount in the bottom of the bowl. That amount can turn to “varnish” and ethanol scum over the storage period. Then filling the bowl with gas in the spring dilutes, sucks up and clogs jets and minute passages in the “empty” carb. FIX: Look for a drain screw at the lowest point of the carburetor bowl, loosen or remove, catch the excess, re-place the drain screw(s). If you can (cycle or ATV may have a fuel petcock to turn off) interrupt the fuel supply, activate the choke, and attempt to start the vehicle. It’ll only run for a second or so, but that may extract any leftover fuel to really clear all small passages and jets. ISSUE: Today’s gas station pump fuels are impregnated with 10% corn alcohol to boost octane and stretch out fossil fuel availability a

few more decades. Sitting undis-turbed over time, gasohol evaporates faster than 100%

gas and absorbs atmos-pheric water, creating mi-croscopic crystalline pre-cipitate particles (clogging jets, fuel pumps) and metal oxidation/corrosion (rusty gas tanks). Note inset photos below of strained old, stale, murky modern gas from a poorly stored vehicle’s gas tank. The wet gas residue mush looked like pea soup. When it evapo-rated it turned into a white powder which choked and ruined the fuel pump & fuel filter. FIX: Race-only vehicles mostly run on 100% gas, so their fuel deliv-ery system exposure to degraded fuels is often less, but never immune from harm. Fuel stabilizers (Sta-Bil, Star-bright) would greatly reduce the speed at which fuel turns from useful to harmful. This is generally a long term storage problem, but you know how projects slip from your grasp, so monitoring, draining, emptying a fuel system may be a smart defensive maneuver. All of this preventative effort depends on how often springtime problem solv-ing & budget busting has been experienced in pre-vious seasons. ISSUE: Some owner/drivers call it “patina”. Some call it “badge of hon-or”, also called “racing scars”. No matter the perspective, dirt, oil, dead bugs and rubber leave nasty stains if not cared for in short order. Dead bugs can do permanent harm to a street car’s clear coat if left in place. FIX: Wash the car in the fall be-fore storage, don’t wait ’til spring. Mild soap & water (Dawn dish soap) can be a good start. WD-40 can help with stubborn stuff both organic and

chemical if the Dawn doesn’t get it all. ISSUE: A battery left alone, installed in place, or on a workbench exposed to sub-freezing temps in a garage for

Winterizing Sins

long periods may crack open, leak, damage internals, or simply be useless in the spring. FIX: Connecting it to a smart battery tender should prevent that damage. It may be even better or more convenient to bring the battery inside, but still charge at least once a month to keep it fresh. And in any case, continous bat-tery charging should be monitored peri-odically, even rested on occasion. ISSUE: Trapped inside a garage, non-clearcoated metals are threatened by melting winter slush deposits splash-ing onto the garage floor contaminating the air. The garage has an atmosphere that surrounds your adult toys. Note how the cold surfaces of your unheated garage and its contents are immediately

coated with condensa-tion when the big gar-age door is opened on a warmer, damp day. That atmosphere is compromised, contain-ing suspended road salt vapors that find their

way to unprotected (no clear coat) met-al surfaces on motorcycles, ATVs, race-cars, trailers. Difficult, deep stains on wheels and motor and suspension parts result. FIX: Cover completely, but not with a cotton sheet. Cotton absorbs mois-ture and a damp cover may do more harm than good. Fairly inexpensive breathable polyester covers are availa-ble for car and cycles and toys that do a proper job of protection from outside dirt and trapped moisture. Too thick or worse, plastic tarps, do not allow trapped humidity to air-exchange out from under. ….Ed

Recycled Wisdom: You may be only one person in the world but you may also be the world to one person.

Wet sludge

Dried to powder


NSSCC Members can answer some ques-tions that help describe their racing passion and history and offer commentary about their cars and experiences. Robert Dudek, who has been most recently competing a red Spec Miata in Council W2W events, uses those questions to guide us through his won-derfully varied and successful career in track wars over a quarter century. We were most recently reminded of Robert’s positive impact on NSSCC and Midwestern Council, when we presented Eric Barnes’ profile in Sep-tember’s Rod Knock. As an instruc-tor and mentor Robert has been there for scores of new drivers, offering constructive advice and encourage-ment that’s grown our HSAX program. He’s also a pretty good friend. He’s also a pretty good driver with an incredibly diverse resume of places raced and classes driven and first places finishes all over the country. Let’s start there.

Yep. A quiet, unassuming Renais-sance Man. Cool. Scene 1, Take 1: Turn 5, Autobahn North track in Joliet, MCSCC HSAX, a silver C5 Corvette straight off the course without any braking launching up and over the tire wall with dramatic results. Towed back to the paddock, able to drive onto the trailer under its own power. Turns out there was no program in the computer to react to a 100+ mpg approach to

“3 Questions” Member Profile Robert Dudek

a corner under heavy braking while simulta-neously turning right. So the computer did the next best (?) thing—fail to offer braking at all. Robert Dudek’s reaction was typically stoically calm, rational and determined. No one hurt, so analyze, determine, don’t repeat. Don’t re-peat. In July 2002 John Churchill wrote a profile on Robert. Here are some of those observa-tions. Ever since he was a youngster he’s been racing – coaster wagons, bicycles, slot cars. His

first motorized ride was a go-kart at age 12. Racing morphed to drag cars at Union Grove with all the other high school gearheads. His choice was a ’65 Karmann Ghia, no e.t. was discussed. MCSCC came at the ripe old age of 21. An insight from the question, ‘who’s your personal hero?’ The answer was Dan Gurney, “who did it all and then some”. In his first

Indy 500 he drove car #93, and that’s why Robert has been using #93 for the last 45 years. The next page shares Robert’s favorite memory. Interestingly, when asked what was his least favorite memory, it was the number of blown

On the prestigious Circuit of The Americas, Austin, Texas

how long have you been racing ? 45+ years of W2W and Hi-Speed open track events…. 15 years W2W with MCSCC: FV, V-Sedan, FF, A-Prod., Showroom Stock, C-Sedan or GT3 ) 5 years Road Racing karts with IKF and WKA 20+ years Hi-Speed open track events Past 15 Years: MCSCC Instructor, NASA Instructor, Speed Merchants Instructor, Edge Addicts Instructor

what clubs MCSCC NASA SCCA Speed Merchants Chin Northwoods Shelby Club F-Body Edge Addicts 3 - Balls PCA CASC ( Canada ) ECTA WKA IKF

what is your best advice for new comers leave your car UN-MOD'D until you can tell which changes actu-ally make a positive difference any do overs more time and money for more track time

what W2W / HSAX classes run '96 MCSCC CS Champ / class track record '97 MCSCC DS Champ '98 MCSCC BS Champ '99 MCSCC BS Champ / class track record '00 MCSCC BP Champ '01 MCSCC AS Champ '02 MCSCC AS Champ '03 MCSCC AS Champ '04 MCSCC AP Champ / class track record '05 MCSCC AM MM / class track record '05 MCSCC YS class track record 05 NASA TTD Midwest Region Champ '06 MCSCC XP Champ '07 MCSCC XP Champ / class track record '08 MCSCC XS Champ / class track record '09 MCSCC SM Champ / class track record '10 MCSCC AS Champ / class track record '13 MCSCC DP Champ / class track record ’14 MCSCC DM class track records '15 Ohio Mile Class record


motors over the years. If ya gotta make an om-lette, don’t you have to break a few eggs? As John expressed in his article 14 years ago, we owe a big thanks to Robert for his cumula-tive effect on North Suburban and the whole of Council. He’s brought a classy style to his con-tributions to club administration as well as a professional approach to his racing.

Robert Dudek... Renaissance Man

Blue #93 Another world-class track

I've run at the following tracks : Circuit of the Americas Barber Motorsports Park Blackhawk Farms Road America Autobahn Country Club ( North, South and Full ) Grattan Mid-Ohio Putnam Park VIR Watkins Glen Road Atlanta Sebring Iowa Speedway Milwaukee Mile Mid-America Tail of the Dragon NCM ( Corvette Museum track ) CTMP ( Mosport ) Ohio Mile Gingerman ( Forwards and Backwards ) Daytona Indianapolis Motor Speedway

what has been your greatest reward finishing 10th out 150+ karts at a WKA National at Road America what has surprised you the most the politics

From the Editor: Words de-scribing the Navy plane photo included, "the pilot allowed me". I asked in response, ‘Does that mean you were in control of the plane? You must have done some flying, eh?’ Robert: “When we took off the pilot asked me if I had any flight experience. I said I had ground school and 4 hrs of ‘pilot in com-mand time’ in the air. The pilot answered ‘OK, take the stick, but, if I tell you to let go - LET GO!” Way Cool.

any special recognition / thanks ( men-tors, friends, etc. ) thanks to everyone that was faster than me which was / is a great inspiration to improve other issues new and dear to your heart a politically inappropriate answer (That’s sooo Robert!....Ed)

Breaking News: MCSCC 2017 Race Calendar March 18th Blackhawk Farms NSSCC NSSCC 2017 Indoor Drivers School

April 29-30 Blackhawk Farms LSCC Sat: Racing School #1 / Sun: W2W Club Race #1

May 27-28 Blackhawk Farms NSSCC Sat: HPDE + HSAX #1 / Sun: W2W Club Race #2

July 1,2,3 Blackhawk Farms MSCC/SCCR Sat: HPDE / Sun: W2W Club Race #3 / Mon: HSAX #2

July 29-30 Blackhawk Farms SCCR Sat: Racing School #2 / Sun: W2W Club Race #4

August 26-27 Milwaukee Mile GLSCC Sat: HPDE + HSAX#3 / Sun: W2W Club Race #5

Septmbr 23-24 Road America LSCC Double Weekend, W2W Club Races #6 + #7

October 7-8 Blackhawk Farms NSSCC Two-Day HSAX Race Weekend—Details forthcoming

October 28-29 Blackhawk Farms CSCC The Looong Race Weekend, W2W Club Race #8


lows you to hot-mush it into a plastic cracked or broken seam, swallowing it structurally, then releases to allow cooling and hard-ening. The staple

remains embedded upsidedown in the repair creating reinforcement to the new joint. To finish, snap off the visible breakaway staple legs. There are two versions available at www.ccnstore.com. The CCN 750 Hot Stapler ($199) is a lighter, cord-connected trans-former that comes with 75 breaka-way staples in 3 styles. The heavy-duty Portable Hot Stapler ART77P ($299) is a com-ponent integrated hand-held and comes with more staples, a light and two heat settings. A Deluxe Kit ($400) is also available with even more staples and a carrying case. The author imagined that the heavy duty model would pay for itself in a shop setting or when shared by a club. Restocking staples costs $28 per packages of 25, and the staple styles are called Wave type, Flat, Inside Corner and Outside Corner. The

Rod Knock’s not really in the busi-ness of endorsing products unless we’ve had first hand experiences, but I could-n’t help but pass this one along for your consideration. Motorcycle Consumer News contrib-utor Alex Frantz (April 2015 issue) had good results with a Collision Center Network Hot Stapler on broken bike panels and the like. As I read the back page “Innovation of the Month” article, the device made more and more sense for an active motorsports crazy to

include in his/her race event packing. Picture a modified soldering iron that holds and heats a wavy staple, then al-

Wave type seems to have been the author’s favorite. Now it seems to me that after many McGuyver repairs with duct tape, riv-ets, JB Weld and a myriad of glues, this method presents some distinct advantages and may warrant further investigation. However, we’re voting with our credit cards at this point, so this may be a Christmas List item or timely financial support from your sponsor. It should be noted that Alex Frantz was introduced to this miracle tool at the Long Beach International Motor-cycle Show where the makers were doing demos on busted motorcycle fairings and Legos. The claim is that broken plastic pieces bonded back to-gether are even stronger than original. Truth be told that most of my plastic

repair opportunities are found in my garage, but I believe there have been moments in my home-owning past that this gem would have been a blessing. And think of the opportunities where you can help out a neigh-bor in distress. Just don’t loan it out or it’ll go missing.

That reminds me. I have to talk to Vince down the block to see if I can get my pressure washer back. Thanks for reminding me. ……...Ed

1. cap: a friend of Odysseus entrusted with the education of Odysseus’ son Telema-chus 2. a: a trusted counselor or guide b: TUTOR, COACH—men-tor-ship \-,ship\ n 3. a: colloquial v NSSCC usage—i.e., [to mentor] of or pertaining to darn valuable

insight and assistance of mind, body, and vehicle to promote safe, fast, fun racing b: a strong breath mint n [email protected] can connect you with an experienced club member that can answer, obfuscate, and open horizons.

NSSCC Mentor available: \’men-to(e)r, ‘ment-er \ n [L,fr.Gk Mentor]

Rod Knock Tech Tip: Plastic panel repair, A new solution …..

As a blooming driveway mechanic I cut my teeth on carburetors. They’re remarkably simple in a complex sort of way. After digesting the theory, parts relationships and operating dy-namics they can be diagnosed and op-timized by a discerning screwdriver. Then someone had the idea to com-puterize, pressurize and spray gas into the motor’s manifold instead of rely-ing on vacuum. OK, more precise, better drivability, but perceived as a bit higher “tech” level. Then even more control, better out-put and faster throttle response from

direct injection, in which the gas bypasses any path through a manifold all together. Very popu-lar now-a-days. But it

did introduce a maintenance item the modern driver needs to be aware of: po-tential for valve train carbon build-up. Now that the gas is entering the combus-

tion chamber directly, it’s not washing valve backsides and valve stems any-more. Seems that this is decidedly increasing the number of instances of deposits, impeding flow and proper valve sealing. Performance com-plaints and “Check Engine” lights are the result.

Bonus Rod Knock

Tech Tip

It may be a simplification, but read your owner’s manual. A relatively new item with service intervals has been on the maintenance schedule charts for a few years now: fuel system cleaning.

Also really good gas should be a priority, perhaps a “top tier fuel” - a gasoline that exceeds EPA detergent stand-ards. The website, top-tiergas.com, describes the self-policed industry standard and lists the

brands that comply. There’s also am-ple techweenie info for those of us that sleep with slide-rules under our pil-lows. Now, here’s the question for us rac-ers: Should we put it in our racing type vehicles? Is there any harm? …...Ed

Bad Good

mailto:[email protected]


President, Michael Palmer [email protected]

Vice President, John Saccameno

[email protected] Treasurer, Scott Durbin

[email protected] Secretary, Mitch Lelito

[email protected] Competition Dir./Club Steward, John Saccameno [email protected]

HSAX Competition Director, Eric Barnes [email protected]

V/H Competition Director,

Jason Ostrowski [email protected]

Membership Chairperson Jim Kane [email protected] Rod Knock Editor Larry Noble [email protected]

2016 NSSCC Board

“The Rod Knock” is the official news publication of The North Suburban Sports Car Club. The publication is provided to North Suburban Sports Car Club members as part of the annual membership deliverable and commitment from the Club. material published herein may be reprinted provided that usage is credited to the author, and North Suburban Sports Car Club. Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Board of Directors of North Suburban Sports Car Club, the Midwestern Council of Sports Car Clubs, or it’s Bod.

Article submission is encouraged and accepted in MS Word format via email. When submitting photos or artwork, please request the material to be returned if that is de-sired. Electronic copies of photos should be sent as attachments. Questions and comments should be directed to the Rod Knock Editor: [email protected].

Source: Associated Press Reporting September 15, 2016: Ford: Profits Down Spending billions on innovative electric & autonomous vehicles while embracing “mobility”, affect short term profits, but pay off in the long run. Wall Street was briefed on new electric & hybrids in 2020, full autono-my in 2021 (20% of total global sales by 2030) fulfilling the profit promise. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Source: Associated Press Reporting September 15, 2016: Ford: Production to Mexico All U.S. small car production is moving to Mex-ico. Focus and C-Max join Fusion & Fiesta. Fear not American workers. New products will take the current product line’s place at the Michigan Assembly plant. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Source: Associated Press Reporting October 9, 2016: Ford: Ceasing Australian Car Production after 91 Years Ex-cop Road Warrior Mad Max must be sad. No more Aussie Falcons. 600 Workers are sad-der. 6600 Jobs will be vacated by GM & Toyota in 2017. Manufacturers cite high production and export costs. Ford will retain engineering and design staffs. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Source: Bloomberg News Reporting October 15, 2016: Ford: Mustang Production Shuts Down for a Week A 32% sales de-cline will bloat dealer lots, so, a stop-production order is presenting a paid time off opportunity for 3700 workers. Camaro sales beat Mustang’s in September for the first time so makers offer sales incentives to make it all interesting. Booyah. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Source: Bloomberg News Reporting October 15, 2016: Suzuki & Toyota Partnership? High costs of going it alone in the auto in-dustry? Get married. Suzuki just divorced VW in September 2015. Hmmm …..Ed

Just So You Know…..

From the Motor Trend test drive: “A family sedan race car engineers and drivers would design for themselves” The 2017 Alfa Romeo Gulia receives praise for 100 millisecond beautifully matched paddle shifter shifts - technol-ogy not US available due to only 1% market and expensive EPA certification. Here we go, computer controlled this, control-by-wire that, a techweenie mar-vel. Performance takes precedence. But there are tradeoffs. Example, steering. There’s no dead spot on center and no progressive ratio. Meaning, if you don’t give it your full, undivided attention on the freeway, you’ll be in the next lane before you know it. The hard-core fans will love it. The daily commut-ers, not so much. There’s also virtually no feedback from the front wheels in

A Technology Comment, No Fluid Path Necessary

the steering wheel. And optional: brake-by-wire sys-tem. (whaaaaat?) The Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes are very powerful and stood up easily to track abuse, but they feel artificial. The pedal stroke is very short, and although the resistance is progressive, it gives you no feedback whatsoever. Rather than a “feel” when you’re on the edge of ABS intervention or if the pads are getting hot, you’ve got to take other cues from the car. When you’re hurtling into a tight cor-ner on the track, good pedal feel great-ly increases confidence, and that’s missing here. The average commuter is of course unconcerned with pedal feel, but will take exception to the grabbi-ness of the aggressive pads. Consola-tion prize: the pedals are set up per-fectly for heel-toe downshifting. Sorry, but I prefer a braking system of wet tubes and not compromised by a sudden loss of battery power…..Ed












Rod Knock Classifieds

“Rod’s List”

Oh yeah, so whatever happened to the mo-torcycle? I finished all the work, put it back together, decided to wait to try it until Spring. It is better to store it dry over the winter—less chance to mess up the clean, new parts in the carbs. So, watch this space—there may be a 1980 Suzuki GS550E showing up again. Only this time the ad will be specific in terms of running (it is fairly fast) or not (well, not as fast then). In any case, it will be priced accordingly. Unless I redecide to make it into a café racer….Ed

Time is running short to get MCSCC benefit raffle tickets for a driver safety suit that covers shoulder-to-toe (helmet not included). Contact MCSCC Presi-dent Lynn Serra before year-end banquets and join in the fun. Only 5 bucks

per ticket, 5 for $25. Good Luck!

So far, most of the “for sale” items listed this year have been offered by your Rod Knock editor Larry Noble, Rolling Meadows. 847-253-7381. [email protected]. Our intent was to start a footprint in the newsletter for your selling needs. A cleaner gar-age. Fewer parts to step over in the basement. Clear out the last project’s leftovers. Anyway……So, 2 more gems left over from a past project for your consideration:

Here’s where you come in. Have any items you’d like to list in our Club’s newsletter? Just e-mail description, price, photo(s) and contact info to [email protected] at your convenience. Use Larry’s contact information above if you prefer. Hey, this has a better chance for money than winning the lottery.

GM engine parts from the same 1977 Corvette

Complete with hardware, views on the left are of the original ignition wire/distributor shields that hide and protect. The plastic sculpture on the right is the air cleaner duct that mounts on the radiator shroud, caressed by the hood as it gulps onrushing air. Sorry, don’t have the wire/fabric duct that clamps to the metal air cleaner snor-kel. I’ve seen these pieces on e-Bay for ridiculous amounts. These parts are pretty much ready to reinstall. $90 for it all?......Ed

$25 $80

You may have seen the Klaxon notice from Michele Salamun, but we thought it ap-propriate to reprint it in the Rod Knock as well since Pete was an NSSCC member: It is with great sadness I must inform you that our friend, and long time council member, Pete Wilson passed away in his sleep the evening of Thursday November 3, 2016. Many will remember the Miata he raced with us, as well as his Bassett Hound which accompanied him to the drivers meetings and around the paddock. Funeral services were held Thursday November 10, 2016 at Community Church of Fontana in Fontana-On-Geneva Lake, WI. With deepest sympathy to Pete's family & friends, Michele Salamun Klaxon Editor

https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/b/[email protected]


NSSCC Banquet December 3, 2016

MCSCC Banquet January 21, 2017 This year, NSSCC is the Hosting Club!

54 Brink Street, Crystal Lake, Illinois—2nd Floor Door opens 6:00pm, Appetizers 6:30, Dinner 7:00

Awards & Slot Cars 8:00 ….. $30.00 per person Details or Special meal needs: Rob Roderick 224-622-0459

Questions: Michael Palmer [email protected]

RSVP by November 27th—RSVP Form next page Or contact Scott Durbin 312-952-9133 [email protected]

The Ridge Resort W240 state highway 50

Lake Geneva

Wisconsin Watch for more details

Scott Jason Mike Eric John Rob Eric

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