Since I had made the ignition changes to the car, it had been running great and I put about 100 miles on it during the week and there were no issues. I also installed new air cleaners with K&N filters. These replaced the dirty old paper ones that were on there. Looked better IMHO. The K&N air cleaners were from a GTO tri power set. I set screwed them to the carb adapters, and plugged the top lid with a grommet and plastic plug. I added the side springs to hold the top and bottom together. It would have been easier if the there was a stud in the carb. I was all proud of how them came out until Saturday…… Here's some shots form under the hood:

I had to work first and then race, so I was anxiously looking forward to racing in the fastest layout yet. On my first run, I realized that I have a long way to go as a driver. I have been constantly thinking about what to fix on the car, and it had kept me from focusing on improving my driving skill. The main issues on that first run was the fact that both valve covers were leaking at high rpm. They did this before, but I tightened them vainly thinking that they would be ok. But not too big of a deal, they just dripped oil on the headers and made smoke. The course was so fast I would have gone to third in may places, but I figured I'd just see how it went in second. I did a 98 second run, not great but the car ran fine around the course. Second run was better, no cones hit and a 97 second run. I told my instructor (he drives an MR2) that he could take it out. This would allow me to see the nuances of mid engine driving. I'm so used to heavy cars with rear wheel drive (mustang) that I'm going to have to unlearn some of that for the GS. He also stayed in second just to show me the line but he easily turned a 91 second run. After his run, I noticed the oil temp had climbed to 230. I thought it was getting too hot so I coasted in after the run. They started kind of rushed me into my next run and about ¼ of the way the engine started clattering. That got my attention, my first thought was that the oil had thinned out and the lifters had started to bleed down. Later I rememberd that they are solid lifters…. It started to get worse, and I saw the oil temp had hit 280! My first thought was that third gear would keep the fan going and lower the revs. As I put the clutch in the engine died. When I hit 3rd it started again, and I saw the oil temp was not dropping, so I shut off and coasted in. By the time I pushed it back to my pit, the oil temp was 240. I did not attempt to start the car. After about 2 hours, when I returned from my work assignment, the oil temp was below 120. I checked the oil, and it looked kinda thin, but was less than ½ quart low. When I tried to start it, was hard to start. Once I got it running, it kept stalling. Then it stopped. Just stopped. Locked up. I put the car in 4th and tried rocking it. Nothin'. So I blew up the old 102. I guess the GS's racing is done for this season.