The Cal-look Lounge

With the issues this weekend with the long amount of time lost due to mainly oil downs we need to be more conscious of our own cars, I have made a few different oil trays now and they don't need to be expensive or complicated, with one on Tar babe and Jo's red car this weekend we knew if we had an issue we wouldn't be the ones spoiling the racing for others.


On Jo's car it hooks around the gearbox mount at the front and bolts to the traction bar drop arms at the back, we have run this for 4 years and thankfully never had to need it, on Tar babe is even simpler and just hooks up with springs which wrap around the gearbox mount and traction bar, but can even wrap round the header and takes less than 2 minutes to fit

Both of these would work on a street car or race car just as well.

Some events/tracks already require them for various classes and with the disaster that was the Oil down from the Renault sunday morning it will become more likely to become compulsory everywhere sooner rather than later.
I wasn't even racing and I was pissed off with all the time lost due to some selfish individual who still drove down the whole track and shut down area even though it broke after about 200ft

cheers Richie

If anyone is interested in making something I will put a couple of pics up of what I have done or there is a company called FTD in the states that makes custom diapers to your engine which aren't expensive, but are really more suited to a race only engine as they retain the ehat more

Hi Richie,
I was looking at the catch trays on Jo's car and Tar babe before the Renault went pop. They make a lot of sense. That 2.5 hours of waiting has given me massive sunburn so for that reason I think they should be mandatory ;D

Lee

Total agreement, the sunburn is reason enough  >:(

yeah ive had one fitted to my car from when i shut the track last year for an hour  i made mine to go each side of the block but would like to take a closer look at yours as it looked a better design than mine so pics would be great

I use the one from FTD and can post picture later.
A really good product....

I just had a crank bearing broken and the oil came out of the clutch area,
which couldnt be taken by the oil tray....;-(

Cheers,
Basti

would be interested in seeing some photos please

regards Ron

We were discussing adding a trans tray as well at the weekend, I am going to add one to the new cabrio as it has a habit of burping a tiny amount of oil from the breather on a hot day and twice the track crew has seen a drip after the burnout and stopped me running

cheers Richie

I got to check the valves etc on Jo's car today so will take some pics while I am under there and put them up

cheers Richie

makes you feel sick when you are the reason a couple of hundred racers cant race for an hour or so....
a good fire in the fireup lane is a good conversation piece though and doesent shut the track ..... its more like waiting on the jet car  :D

It doesn't need to be complicated, this goes from valve cover to valve cover, and from pulley to flywheel, has a 2inch lip all round as is required in some USA race classes, and is lined with fire resistant absorbant material to catch any mishaps!!!!

cheers Richie

Totally, I don't want to be that person, of course good quality hoses and connections help :P :o ;D

And the hoses the right way round ;D

I need to make a new one for this season, so every pic of what you guys have made for inspiration is greatly appreciated!

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Amazing, it suddenly decided to attach, but here is my full under tray/diffusor, you could turn a required add on into a similar construction, less drag, more speed and downforce, also a noise reduction was an extra bonus, static tests at 102 db, drive by is only 98db, well under the required specs for circuit racing, the con is the car is harder to handle/maintenance wise, but it all comes off quickly for service, this is a mk 1 and developing all the time, no use ripping it off on track side kerbs, so even driving style needs consideration, but the car is going ever quicker with it, the front end needs up dating now, plus I don't get oil downs on my back tyres or the track surface. Regards, Spanner.

(http://hr2012.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/depend_protective_underwear-sm.jpg?w=300&h=295)

Is that your personal choice when you drive the Hunsaker car?  ;D 

cheers Richie

Yeah, I think they're issued to all the team these days..  ;D

I was having a similar chat at shakey and ended up strapping a microfiber cloth between the solid mount and bellhousing. 

But for me the tray on Jo's car won't work as I have a removable rear end and there is no strength to hang a traction bar.    Perhaps a bracket that bolted to the solid mount and to the exhaust bolts?

Common leaks are pushrod tubes, valve covers and rear oil seals/back of engine.

I for one don't want I be the cause of a track closure but with a beetle it's inevitable that I may end up with a drip or leak from time to time.   

Making a tray that works take some cardboard, tape, a knife and a couple of minutes. Then you copy it by bending some thin plate. All in all about two hours of work. A lot less compared to what it takes to clean up the mess after you on the track. I personally would like to see a rule that says that flat 4 engines are not allowed on the track without one.

-BB

Steve

that's why we use springs wrapped around the header on some cars and on cars that you cant use that method like my old cabrio I have tabs up from the tray that go up to the type 3/bus mount/threads on the case

Kalle,

 why discriminate against flat 4 engines? everyone should have one, I never understood the 11.50 cut off at SCC, I would guess its the slower cars that cause more of the stoppages

cheers Richie

Steve

Like this, at the front I drilled to holes in the solid mount and had 2 quick release pins in there to fix it on

cheers richie

Because we leak more than the others. The 11.49 cut off is common for most races in the Nordics but I agree, every car no matter ET should have one.

-BB-

That is what I need.   Lucky for me I have bus/type3 mounting holes. 
Are these something you sell?  Or would it be easy to make.   I can bend it but then sticking the tabs. I can't weld Ali. 
Would you just use double sided tape as it's so thin?

Rivet or but and bolt them on?

Steve as Lee put, that is the simplest way and has stood up well

I have thought about making some, I got a shear/guillotine and a brake/folder now so would be neater and easier, those were just done in a vice

\cheers Richie

Do they not influence the handling of the car?

Hi Eddie

 Not that I have noticed but my cars dont go straight anyway :D  I think oil under the tyres would influence the handling more ;)

cheers Richie

Here is what I use from FTD...

Cheers,
Basti

Here's a link to FTD for anyone interested

http://www.fasttimedesign.com/


cheers Richie

They are nice if you have a race engine and do not want to spend time making a tray.

Best rgs
Kalle

Do they heat soak the bottoms of cylinders/heads even more?

A race engine without cooling would need all the air they can get I would assume?

Anything with the  'balistick' tag will cost ya! , Bonding is so overlooked and underestimated, I do most stuff I used to spend hours drilling, bolting, welding, For those that can't weld it's a huge plus, oil cooler ducting, foot plates, all maner of brackets, i started repairing broken stuff 'in the field' with it, then found it stood up better than the original, fibre glass wing repar patches etc are on for good, I would bond that above type of catch tray at the corner folds, even the mountings, you won't shift or break them, do a test piece if you need convincing,  tiger seal is a good one, you just need positive holding tools while stuff cures, I have dozens of wee spring clamps from the 99p shops, even clothes pegs work for small stuff, the only downer is getting parts in the right position straight off, you won't move stuff after it's cured, also it's really only a one shot tube I find, I've found no way to stop a part used tube cooking, tho I'm looking out for an old lab vac vessel  to store them in, that's probably the answer!
As for affecting handling, they won't be helping that's for sure, there must be a drag increase with the induced underside vortexes, at the terminal speeds you guys reach, some effort to air flow the trays would see some gains, metal or plastic leading/trailing edge fairing needed! Imagine it in yer hands at 50 mph, bad eh? Now emagine hanging on to it at 150 ? Just a thought, but Can't hurt..

Good thought on the aero, maybe if the front of the tray was more akin to a well sump guard it may help?

My own setup limits me to having a couple of trays under the heads that covers the rocker covers/push rod tube area. Try as I might to eliminate a weep from the push rod tubes there always seems to be at least one when is cold but goes when hot! Anyway, my thoughts are I'd rather not risk having one drop cost me a chance of a run or costing someone else theirs!

I guess  you could bond it together, having used tigerseal to hold interior panels on I know they can be pulled off so it could come apart with enough air pressure or maybe even the weight of lots of oil and that would be the worse time, something like the 3m bonding stuff would be good enough
It needs a decent lip all round to keep any oil in, if you have a bad leak and the sides aren't high enough it will still leak everywhere but anything is better than nothing to catch the drips, but they don't usually close the track for hours :o ::) ;)

Rich if you put a pic up of your set up maybe we can help with an idea of how to cover the whole engine

cheers Richie

Great info, thanks for sharing Richie.

No problem Jamie,

as we haven't found a way to sort the weather out yet we need to make the most of what track time we do get ;)

cheers Richie

 there could be a nice little earner in these i reckon you should make a couple up and sell them ,see how they go. the absorbant pads are the hardest thing to get in uk from what i can see someone at the track told me they use litter pads from a pet shop ? not sure how fireproof they are though  :o

I have a stock of the correct material so that wouldn't be a problem, I just need the tracks to start charging those that oil it down :o and then sell them easily ;D :D

cheers Richie

pm me a price for enough pads to make up a tray if you got spare as my trays are not going back on this season im going to rip off your design  :D

Good to see pics appearing of containment devices being made and fitted, I have seen a few different designs made now and they all look good 8)

cheers Richie

But your's does not work with wheeliebars :-(

Udo

I made one for Bernie that he designed to work round wheelie bars and the chute mount so it can be done :), maybe he can put a picture up here to show it?

cheers Richie

There's a few on Facebook of Bernies tray, I'll see if I can repost them here

.

Here is one I made for my Ghia, goes all the way to the nose cone on the gear box

this is pretty much the same as the tray i made yesterday

Thanks Ron. It proberly would not pass the American spec. but as Ritchie said anything is better then nothing.

No problem

its funny how bernies looks shit hot and mine looks like its been built by a carpenter with a bit of 4x2 and a claw hammer  :D :D

Another interesting thing I have noticed is, even if you don`t have a major oil leak and engine/gear box looks clean, after running with the tray for a while there are quite a few drops of oil in that tray anyway! And then you multiply this by the number of race cars going down the track....
As Kalle wrote, tray/diaper should be mandatory on all race cars, and even if its not, as a racer you should take responsibility and put one on

Here is mine .....

(http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4d638b3127ccef6b23662c0f300000030O00SatHLRu1ZA9vPh4/cC/f%3D0/ls%3D00205740940520140819192849385.JPG/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/)

Just need to get the tray lining to finish it off.

Looks good Paul, I got some liner for you, hopefully will leave it with Jim or Trevor in the next couple of weeks

cheers Richie

That would be great cheers Richie  :)