Tony Megowan 27Th Condor Café [Pine Mountain]
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www.corvetteclubsantabarbara.com PRESIDENTS MESSAGE Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control pretty much everything will be cancelled thru the end of May. This includes the April and May meetings, the Lyons Museum Run, and the Reagan Museum Dinner (I have notification from the museum that this event has been cancelled). If you have sent in a check for the Reagan Dinner the club will issue a refund. Also, the Wine Run in May has been cancelled and will be rescheduled for a later date. For those of you that purchased tickets for Sensorio, you should have already received a refund. You can also go ahead and cancel your Wine Run hotel reservations. EVENT CALENDAR As of right now we are still planning the June Picnic and we will see how things work out for that. We are also April still planning the Condor Café Run on June 27th. I will keep you all apprised of the details as they become 7th General Meeting available. I will get with the board next week and we will decide how we are going to run the elections for next CANCELLED year’s board (if you are interested in running for any of the positions on the board let me know) and also how 18th Lyon’s Air/Auto Museum we are going to vote for the changes to the Constitution and the By Laws. CANCELLED 24th Reagan Library CANCELLED Right now, the main thing is for everyone to stay safe and healthy. The rest will eventually (hopefully sooner May rather than later) work itself out. We really miss our family that is the Corvette Club of Santa Barbara and if any of you need anything please let me know and I will do my best to see that you get the help you need. In 5th General Meeting CANCELLED these trying times we need all the encouragement and help and support we can get. 16th- Paso Wine Run 17th CANCELLED Paula and I really miss the interaction with the club and look forward to the time when we can all get together June and once again share the good times we always have when we get together. Again, PLEASE stay safe and let me 2nd General Meeting [Mulligan’s Cafe] know if we can help. 7th Installation Picnic [Goleta] Tony Megowan 27th Condor Café [Pine Mountain] IN THIS ISSUE Presidents Message 1 VeePee’s Page 2-7 NCM Ambassador 8 Activities 9 Membership 10 Last Month Minutes 11 Sponsor Page 12 Member Advertising 13 Meetings are held on the first Tuesday of each month at 6:30 PM Mulligans Cafe 3500 McCaw Ave, Santa Barbara, CA 93105 Editor/Publisher: Ed Clerkin-Publicity | Our Board/Contact Us www.corvetteclubsantabarbara.com VEEPEE’S PAGE Hib Halverson A Closer Look at the C8's LT2 The 2020 Stingray’s LT2–“revolutionary” or “evolutionary”? Ask Jordan Lee, GM’s Global Chief Engineer for Small Block V8 engines, or Mike Kociba, Assistant Chief Engineer (ACE), for the LT2 Fifth Generation Small Block V8 and the answer is “revolutionary”. Skeptics might say it's "just evolutionary". Some Internet trolls call it the “LT1.2”. Our descriptor? “Impressive.” The LT2 has 35 more horsepower, 30 more pound/feet torque, smoother idle, better light throttle drivability, reduced emissions, better sound and looks spectacular sitting under the C8's back glass. Yeah, we'd say that's pretty impressive. Image: GM Communications Superior Oiling In an interview last Fall, I asked Lee and Kociba to name the LT2's most revolutionary feature. "The lube system," they answered–meaning anything lubrication–oil, pumps, pressure, supply, circulation, drain back, filtering and crankcase ventilation. Fall, 2005–Chevrolet drops the 2006 Z06. Its 505-hp, 7.0-liter has dry- sump oiling, a first for an American production car. With a dry-sump, the oil pan–the "sump"–is shallow containing only a small volume of oil. Most of it is in a tank outside the engine. Dry sump engines have multiple oil pumps. The C6/C7 system had two: a "supply pump" forces oil from the tank through the engine's oiling system and a “scavenge pump” sucks up ACE Mike Kociba explains the impressive LT2 at a press conference on 6 oil which drains back to the pan and returns it to the tank. November, 2019. Image: GM Communications From 2006 to 2019, dry sumps were used on engines in track- capable Corvettes. Starting in 2020, all Corvette engines have dry- sumps. The main reason is, with the engine an inch closer to the ground, there is no clearance for a deeper wet sump oil pan. The LT2 dry sump was redesigned for: 1) improved oil pressure consistency under simultaneous hard cornering and braking and 2) better crankcase vapor control at high RPM. Like all Gen 5s, the LT2 has a computer-controlled, dual- displacement supply pump. Below 5500-RPM, the pump runs in low displacement mode, reducing parasitic power loss and improving fuel economy. At 5500, to increase oil flow, the engine control module (ECM) commands the pump to maximum displacement. The pump is "failsafe". If the control electronics or the pump actuator fails, a spring locks the pump in high flow mode. This math art is a diagram of the LT2 lube system. Image: GM Small Block V8 Team Continued Page 3 2 www.corvetteclubsantabarbara.com CONTINUED: VEEPEE’S COLUMN There are not one, but three scavenge pumps. Two suck oil out of the pan Hib Halverson through an oil scraper/pickup assembly which catches oil from bearings and piston oilers which is slung off the rotating assembly into the pan. A third scavenge pump, in the valley between the cylinder banks and chain-driven off the cam sprocket, collects oil from the valvetrain. The valley is sealed so oil no longer drains into the crankcase to get aerated into a froth, or "windage," by violent turbulence created by rapidly reciprocating pistons and the spinning crankshaft. "The worst thing for bearings is aerated oil," Jordan Lee told us. "If you get air in the bearings, there's a good chance you're going to fail your engine. That scavenge pump in the valley was remarkable in reducing air in the oil."Valley scavenging also reduces oil vapor in the crankcase ventilation system and lowers the total volume of oil required. The scavenged valley is a world-first for any production engine. The oil tank moves from behind the right front wheel in a C6/C7 to the driver-side front corner of the engine eliminating the pressure loss from six feet of oil hoses. It’s a conformal shape made of composite material capable of withstanding higher than peak engine oil temperatures. It contains the molded passages, a unique "oil centrifuge" which forces oil coming in to separate from air bubbles, an additional air-oil separator, baffles, and an oil pickup. A relocated tank, no hoses and improved scavenging allowed GM to reduce oil capacity by 2.25 quarts. Jordan Lee told us that a composite engine-mounted oil tank is not only a first for GM but a world-first for any production car. The revised lube system has many benefits. A lower engine moves the car's center-of-gravity closer to the ground. Reduced crankcase windage means less oil vapor in the intake though the crankcase ventilation system. Oil vapor is low octane, so less of it going into the engine reduces tendency to detonate. Less oil consumed, also, lowers emissions and increases catalytic converter life. The lube system changes enhance C8's track capabilities. GM media information states the LT2 can sustain 1.25-g acceleration in any direction and maintain consistent oil pressure as well as a 1.77-g combination of hard cornering and braking. Initially, I thought 1.77-g was a typo, but Jordan Lee and Mike Kociba, confirmed it. "In contrast with the LT1 development, when we had some engines fail with lube system issues, we were involved and engaged with the vehicle development." Lee stated. "With LT2, we built our development engines. They were solid on the dyno. They go into vehicles, but we don't hear anything. I finally asked Mike and John (Rydzewski, Mike's predecessor) 'Hey what's goin' on with vehicle development?' So we start making phone calls. 'How is it going?' we ask. 'It's going great,' they say. 'Why aren't you keeping us in the loop?' 'We have no problems. Your engine is running so good on the track, there's no need to even get you involved.' "We thought, 'That lube system was really performing.'" Lee continued. "We had a meeting with Tadge's team and they showed us oil pressure data from track testing. We knew the LT1 had dropouts every now and then, but LT2–Wow! This thing was rock solid." Block, Rotating Assembly, Cylinder Heads The LT2 bare block is Corvette-specific because of: 1) the sealed valley and its scavenge pump mounting, 2) ribs and bosses which mate to the C8 engine mounting points and, also, stiffen the block and 3) coil mounts down low on the side of the block to get the coils away from heat radiated by the upswept headers. The rotating assembly is evolutionary. The crankshaft is the same S38 forged steel as the 2019 LT5 crank and is about 15% stronger than the 1538MV forged steel, LT1 crank. It has a longer snout to drive three oil pumps whereas the LT1/LT4 and LT5 cranks only drive two. The bearings, connecting rods, pistons, rings and piston oilers were, also, carried over from the LT1.