Power Sports Tuning Community Blog List

Project: War Pig - Ouch!

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 19:21:24 +0000

Things didn't go very well for the old War Pig on our last trip out.

I can't say enough good things about Midwest Crankshaft in Green Bay, WI... he fixed my broken crank while I went out to breakfast, so I could take it back home with me instead of driving 3 hours round trip, twice.

Project: War Pig - Plug Wires

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 20:32:39 +0000

I've always had trouble with Polaris plug wires coming loose from the plug... sooner or later a hard landing knocks one loose.

MSD makes a cool little plug wire "retainer" that works with their plug caps... but their wires are way too big to fit in the stock Polaris coils.

My next attempt to fit them involves trimming a small amount of insulation off the plug wire where it screws into the coil... and then using heat shrink tubing to lock them in and seal them up.

Project: War Pig - New Heads

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 20:53:19 +0000

Sled ran great for the first time out. The EGT's are still a little bit out of whack at part throttle, but not nearly as bad as they were with the Yost tubes in.

Still need to re-tune the primary clutch for the titanium spring. Seems to engage really smoothly but it's only pulling about 8300 rpm at WOT... and it needs to be up around 8800 - 9000 rpm.

I bought some lightly used "Thunder Dome" heads.

I don't think too much of their chambers... but I think it will be cool to have interchangeable inserts so that I can try a couple different designs. The inserts are "round" so I can make them completely on the lathe... rather than having to mill the area around the bolts.

Project: War Pig - Bye-bye Yost Power Tubes

Sun, 31 Dec 2006 18:54:10 +0000

Today, the Yost Power Tubes are coming out for good... just too much trouble to tune with them in.

Yesterday I installed the titanium primary spring and adjusted the "Heavy-Hitter" weight system to get my engagement back up to 5k rpm (actually it's 4,999... but that close enough! )

I assembled a pair of Ni-MH battery packs so that I can run the wide-band oxygen sensor on the trail without wiring into the sled (for power). These packs should give 2 hours each... which better be plenty!

I also ordered some hi-capacity Ni-MH "AA-cells" for our Collett Communicators... which should get us about twice or 2.5 times the running time on those.

As soon as my new hyfax arrives, I need to pull the suspension and find out how many of my lightweight track clips are bent... and tearing up my $120 hiperfax slides.

Marlin's Blog - Initial Inspection

Sat, 16 Dec 2006 16:59:00 +0000

Well we will be competing next year in the British Superkart series
Superkart

At the moment there is a KTM 250 powerplant, but I have a couple of onda CR250 engines from previous projects that may make an apearance in the chassis.
Its a Zip bandit chassis with adjustable antiroll at the front. Full long circuit bodywork (its got a large rear wing!!) But it all needs freshening a little.
Adjusable bias Kelgate calipers onto vented discs (see photo)
I'm in the process of stripping down to bare chassis and rebuilding.

Marlin's Blog - Kart Racing

Mon, 11 Dec 2006 13:47:26 +0000

Having driven many forms of transport on 2, 3 and 4 wheels and having briefly tried a shifter kart a good few years ago the decision was taken to give competative karting a try.
So I have aquired a 250cc single super kart.
I will post pictures and the rebuild as it happens.

Project: War Pig - Parts Is Parts.

Sat, 27 May 2006 18:33:07 +0000

I know what you're thinking. But, yeah, I do expect this to work!

Project: War Pig - Time To Get Serious!

Sat, 27 May 2006 18:32:57 +0000

This will be a separate "category" in my blog... building a low dollar, accurate chassis dyno. I'm going to try using different text colors for the varios sections here... not sure how that will work out!

The plan is to have an inexpensive system that can be rapidly installed/removed... and gives good, repeatable results.

Initial requirements include recording speed, rpm, horsepower, EGT's... and the ability to graph them all and export them. Additionally, I would like to capture the A/F ratio, intake air temperature, and the belt temperature, if possible.

Being able to view the data in "real-time" during the test would be nice... but right now that's a "luxury" item. Being able to record a dyno run and analyze the data afterward would be fine.

Project: War Pig - Last Chance To Run The Pig?

Tue, 21 Mar 2006 21:24:33 +0000

QUOTE

Despite our best efforts we cannot make the race tracks.

As of Saturday March 11, we had both the quarter mile and 660� lanes pretty well groomed, and we just needed them to freeze. Instead, Sunday temps hit near record highs, causing slush and Monday we got 24� of snow.

I'm really glad I decided not to drive 5 hours and stay overnight!

Project: War Pig - Too Many Aftermarket Parts!

Thu, 23 Feb 2006 15:04:47 +0000

It looks like the main problem was with the installation of the Yost Power Tubes... but the EGT's are still off by 100+ degrees compared to being within about 10 degrees of each other last year.

Unplugging the lines from the Tempa-flow unit brings them right in with about 20 degrees across all three cylinders... but I can't figure out why. I blew through the Tempa-flow lines and none are blocked or kinked... and none seem to be leaking vacuum either.

They all draw off a common manifold, so I don't understand how one carb can be different than another... unless the float heights were off or something (checked everything I could think of).

I'll run it up north this weekend (trails closed at 10 a.m. yesterday eliminating my chance to test run the thing before we go) and then decide what to get rid of.

It looks like either the Yost tubes or the Tempa-flow are going to have to go. They might each work independently but they sure don't seem to work very well together.

I'm actually pretty decent at carb tuning... but with the Tempa-flow constantly trying to adjust the mixture and no baseline with they Yost tubes installed; I feel like I've been chasing a ghost for two weeks.