Drive Buttonwillow with Speed Ventures April 10 & 11

[kenalker]

Well, I've developed a coolant recovery tank leak.  If anyone out there has ever serviced one of these, or at least has removed the front fascia of a GEN2, and you are willing to give a little instruction, I'm at 805/685-2030 and I'll be up all night.  I've got the fascia 80% off and I'm stuck.  Service manual doesn't match up and I'm running out of ideas.

Also, if you want to go, but didn't get a spot, let me know and you can probably take mine.

Thanx!
Ken

[kenalker]

I got the fascia off and found the problem.  I must have gone over a speed bump a little too fast (check out the pictures).  The hole in the coolant recovery bottle is bigger than it looks in the picture.  Unfortunately, I already gave up my spot at Buttonwillow (assuming I would not be able to get the fascia removed timely).  I'm going to see if I can locate a Permatex plastic bottle patch kit in town early in the morning and, if successful, call Speed Ventures and see if I can get back in.

It seems like this must be a typical problem with the GEN2 Vipers, or at least the 1996 GTS.  Has anyone seen or heard of this?  If so, anyone know what the solution is?  I'm going to patch and get a shorter fascia mounting screw, but I wonder if a new bottle was made for newer model year Vipers that might have the corner reduced so that it can't get punctured by the fascia mounting screw.  Perhaps they just changed over to shorter screws.

Ken

[kenalker]

Picture #2 attached.

[ViperX]

Hey Ken,

Sorry to hear this.

Looks like a "plastic patch", (Permatex perhaps?) and a shorter screw will take care of this issue.

Hope you can make it.

Dan

[kenalker]

Yep, Dan, you nailed it (no pun intended).  That's just what I did.  The trick was in getting that darned fascia off.  It took hours.  Of course now I can do it in minutes (<30!).

I used a Permatex 09100 Plastic Tank Repair kit.  I later found out that they also make a radiator repair kit that the tech claims has higher temp resistance and is more stable (09104).  From the instructions, the ingredients are identical, so maybe its just marketing to take up more shelf space (although, I suppose proportions could be different).  It is supposed to cure in 8 minutes and be ready to go in 30, but it was still tacky after 2 hours.... hmmm....

In any event, I got the car all back together again just in time to still make the trip, but I'd given up my space and Dave at Speed Ventures wasn't able to get me another spot.  I suppose I should have had a little more confidence in my ability to do yet another late-night Viper fix-it adventure.

I attached a picture showing the patch.  If you look very carefully, you can also see that I cut off the top 1/2" of the offending screw.

[UPDATE 4/23/2010: Hank at Permatex told me that this patch "will hold for some period of time and then spall off; coefficient of thermal expansion of epoxies and plastic differ and different rates of expansion will cause it to pop off; it may work on another type of plastic but by and large will not work long term on polyethylene and polypropylene".  He advised that I send him the receipt for a full refund.  I bought a new tank based on this information and will be replacing the old one that is patched.  (The new one has "HDPE" stamped on it, so it is polyethylene; I assume the old is too).  As a side note, Bolt on the Viper Club of America site used the same patch kit I did and it has held up for three years.]

The weather in Santa Barbara was incredible today (63 degrees and sunny); it felt wonderful.  I hope it holds for you in Buttonwillow all weekend!

Ken

[Kala]

Good Job Ken!

Gotta wonder why that screw was there in the first place....   <B

[NK BREKR]

That's a bummer Ken, but at least now you're an expert at removing the fascia.

Dan,

How did you do?  Did Jonathan prove to be a good rabbit?

[ViperX]

Art and All,

Saturday was very nice, weather wise.  I ran a bunch of 2:00's then finally ran a 1:59 thanks to Jonathan and Kurt Sollbeger (I had two rabbits to chase!) and I had Ross Murray ride with me one session.  Ross can really help a guy improve his driving skills.  Ross coaches professionally, so I was lucky to have him for a session.  He's been working with Kurt for a few years now and it really shows.

Jonathan had car trouble so I managed to get by him fairly easily in the last session (which has never been the case before) but Kurt ran 1:55's in a stock ACR on Hoosiers, which is comp coupe territory.  He can really drive and has an ACRX on order.

I'll post a video of that session when I get a chance (with Cathy's help of course).

We had 4 Vipers come out from AZ and about a dozen total over the weekend.

Sunday the wind started to blow like crazy, so we all packed up after lunch and hit the road.

Hope to see you at Dukes next Sunday.

Dan  <2

[NK BREKR]

Happy to hear you got under 2 min! 

Wow!  Apache is moving, it's going to be a fun watching him and Deadhead go at it in their ACR-Xs.

[PCH VIPER]

Congratulations Dan !!!
Good Job !!!! You are obviously getting comfortable with the ACR now and it can only get better from here.

I was happy to get home, open the garage door and see mine still up on the lift after hearing about the big earthquake that rolled through.

[ViperX]

Thanks Lance,

FYI, a few of us were thinking about your "elevated" car.  Glad it stayed put.

See you at Dukes.

<2

[PCH VIPER]

Yeah, Chris was the first one to text me and instill the worry and fear in me while I was a million miles away from home.  He is such a thoughtful guy.

[Rocketman]

I definitely had some fun out there this weekend; but, I've never seen so many s2000's , Evo's , and WRX's in one place before!  I felt a little out of place amongst them. Especially when I had to point one (or more) by.  It's good that there were some fast Viper drivers out there in the advanced groups to carry the flag !    I definitely do not have the track time or skills that Dan and others here have; but, I bet that my fun factor is still right up there at a similar level !

I look forward to driving with you guys at Spring Mountain in June. 

Jim Schlemm
AZ

[NK BREKR]

Hey Jim,  As long as you had fun and drove the car home it's all good.

[ViperX]

Hey Jim,  As long as you had fun and drove the car home it's all good.

Hey Art,

Pretty good advice for a "youngster" as that's what it's all about.....

<2