(I've never been on a racetrack before in my life so it's somewhat disappointing that it happened so soon, right as I was getting the feel for the track and the car).
(but *before* that we had a very fast car for a "class 3" -- especially in the rain since our crappy H-rated high-tread tires gripped like a dream on the wet track. LOTS of people were commenting on our speed when our best drivers were on the track).
Here's what I know:
- At first we thought it was an ignition problem. We ran a ratcheting strap across the engine to prevent it from rocking backward into the brake master cylinder (the throttle body fits but when we shift it occasionally rocks back just a bit). The strap was inadvertently run over the front 3 wires and so they had just started to come undone at the boot a little.
- We changed the wires. No effect.
- We didn't get a chance to do the HEI mod, but we did bring an extra disty. The old one was making noise, so it was a good candidate. We changed it out, but it didn't help.
- We took the valve/cam cover off and checked to make sure the cams are spinning properly. They are.
- I'm a crappy racecar driver and my teammates think I missed a shift, causing the timing belt to jump teeth (the KLZE a non-interference motor, right?)
- This guess was bolstered by the fact that there is some damage to both the timing belt cover and the timing belt itself. It's frayed on the outside.
- There are tapping/knocking sounds coming from the engine. With a stethoscope it's hard to identify exactly where.
- We believe we do have spark from the distributor to the plugs.
What things should we check? Is there any hope for this engine?
Also:
[*] The timing belt tensioner pulley is a little bit loose. Not good.
[*] Also we broke the bracket on the accessory tensioner when we did the water pump. We rigged it so it would stay tight but it broke again on the track.
[*] Our plan here is to do some creative tensioning with a C-clamp and a hydrolic jack. Think it will work?
Apologies for not researching this if it's a FAQ. We're a bit stressed/rushed here and we want to get the car running again so we can make laps tomorrow!
(if worse comes to worst, can we safely run it on 3 cylinders?)
Also, apologies for the lack of pictures. I will post some soon when I have time!