The last 2 nights have been epic thrash time as the track day is only a few days away. We did the following today:
* Mounted Passenger Seat
* Installed all 5 point harnesses properly and to SCCA rules
* Touched up some paint scratches
* Checked the toe out, after the 2 inch drop, the tow out was 1.25 inches. WOW, had to adjust that back down to a 1/16 OUT... i'm not 100% confident of the measurement, but it looks MUCH better than it was
* Finally sorted the electrical fans, now have a control switch INSIDE the cockpit so I can turn them OFF easily if I am having problems starting the car (this is a common occuranance in Atlanta summer heat -- i've had hot start problems for some time and I think i need to double check the starter connection nuts, might be there).
* Tested the fan control -- YEHAWW.. working
* measured ride height
* 26 Driver Front
* 26 Passenger Front
* 26 Passenger Rear
* 25 and 7/8 Driver Rear (close enough)
* greased all front end components with silicon grease from pump
* completed the fender fold in work to eliminate all sharp edges, no cut tires for me! (we hope).

A few more things that I can't remember, I am so exhausted, but it is good to work on the car, i remember all the times when I didn't want to work on it or just other things came up, this project has been ON-OFF-ON-OFF the whole time, i'm seeing the finish line enough now that I'm pushing HARD to get done.

Thanks for all the support, thirdgen.org has been awesome

PICTURES FROM MY HOME TOMORROW as the car gets moved from the shop back to the home. (yehaww)

 

On a scale of 1 to 10 I have to say i think it was an 8..

I conquered the turn-in problems, the car handles AMAZINGLY, in fact, i am going to have to step up my game to drive now because the car can do MUCH more than I am able. My son is wicked fast in it...

There was no tire rub, even on 275 16s hoosiers with a 2 inch lowered ride height, it worked well.

The exhaust was a problem on thursday, so on friday I spent 6 hours in the bay at Magic Muffler in Norcross Georgia and the guys there did AMAZING work. Vick and Jose took care of me because Antonio is out on vacation (Antonio used to put exhaust on Paul Newman's Road Atlanta Cars), they are all family.

The exhaust now sits ABOVE the frame rails on the passenger side (only 1/4 inch from the floorpans (yes it gets hot). The driver side is a bit more difficult, but after removing some supports and rewelding (pictures if you need 'em) they are only 1/2 inch lower than framerails. The car went straight up on the trailer. YEHAWW.

So, my son and I went to Atlanta Motorsports Park on Saturday, here are some pictures.








The only downside was that the upper radiator hose slipped off and dumped my water just before the starting line. It was messy, but didn't hold up the event much because it was just water. I hesitate to post it here, but hell, you guys are thirdgen, you wouldn't use it against me...


Good news is that we got the car back to paddock, reinstalled the hose, put more water in it, fired it up again and took another lap in it. Sadly, the fans got wet (and the breaker) and they started malfunctioning. So the car was heating up and I made the decision to shut it down before my son's last run. He was angry at me, but I needed to be sure that a hose clamp didn't cost us a TPI motor.

Overall, a good day, the car remains a few little annoying issues, but it is HELLA fast. I am going to kick some mustang *** in this thing.

Thanks for your supportive posts and comments, it has meant the world to me to have you guys here on thirdgen as my supportive network, cheering on the build and supporting me. I LOVE thirgen. Thanks fellas.

 

Awesome job. It's always great to run something you put so much time and effort into. What even were you at?

 

The first ever SCCA event at Atlanta Motorsports Park. It's a brand new track near Dahalonga, GA (45 miles north of Atlanta).

http://www.atlantamotorsportspark.net/

it's pretty cool and developing park. If you get a chance to run there you should give it a try.

We ran turns 11, 12, 13 and back to the straight-away in what resulted in a 40 second course. Here's my 18 year old son's run
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed6lNhRJWOg

 

SWEET!

What's mine say?

DUDE!!



Pat

 

After the winter thrash we ran at AMP and found a few problems which cut short our day. I have put too much time into this for days to be short so i am pissed and will swing hard at the xar to resolve 2 main issues:
1- hot start ( possible seloinoid)
2- fan problems

So, Today we made some more progress on the fans. *We acquired a 4th gen dual fan setup and upgrading the car back to stock. This means removing the probe, sensor and dial, breaker and old custom wiring and planning for new. Today I fabricated a new battery tray ( old one was rusty ), and removed all passenger side engine compartment wiring to clean and wrap, then repaint and remount- ( a clean racecar is easier to work on). I also took the strut bar off and repaired the * Brackets ( old hotchkis powder cost gone bad). A fresh coat of red and ready to go back on. Pictures later in this thread.*

I am very happy to have the car at home. I can work anytime. Yehawww!!!

Happy 4th everybody, car coming back again.


Brian

 

love this thread, i just co drove a miata on sunday in my first ever auto x event and im hooked, aside from rebuilding my 87 iroc this winter im looking at turning it into a autox car, problem is it has a carb 350 in it. gonna take alot of research but im determined.

 

Love your car, Brian...

 

Thank you SO much. I am really feeling down in the dumps right now about a bunch of stuff (both my sons just went off to college as freshman), and my car is overheating and I'm just pretty much down..

your note hit my mailbox and lifted me up on a cloudy day.

Thanks Vortex, i needed that.

 

Im hoping sometime in the next couple of years I can get my car into something like that kind of shape to be ready for road racing... But with everything I have going on all I can do is read threads like yours and admire your car.

 

We used to have the same overheating issues and hard hot starts as you. Things we have done.
1. Optima battery.
2. high torque mini starter
3.phonolic carb spacer. ( gas was percolating into carb)

Carb spacer wont help yours as you said yours is a tpi but that may be part of your problem as well is the fuel is getting hot. Dunno for sure just some thoughts. good luck. Check out My cp autox car thread. We are still and probably will be forever under constant revamp and construction of things.

 

Ok. Updating this thread for my fellow ThirdGen.Org members who might come behind later looking for help.

I went to NAPA parts store and bought new fan relays (i got 2 of them), The part number i bought was a AR226, the list price is $14.49 (it also has a part number of V11306 on the box, i think that's the ACDelco cross reference number).

I hooked up both relays, built some trick water-proof protection for them and then ran the car at Idle. I occasionally rev'ed the engine a little, the temperature climbed, 180, 190, 200, 210, 220 and yet nothing.

I was starting to really get worried...

Then finally, right about where the gauge showed 230 -- the primary fan kicked on. I'm NOT sure that the secondary fan works, but I am sure that I can feed a ground to the Green wire and it will kick on. (i am going to run a line into the interior and be able to turn it on when ever i want by grounding it).

So, it appears that things are good with my cooling. <knock on wood>

 

I'm building my car for C Prepared SCCA autocross events also. When I get more money and skills I will do Time Trials and Hillclimbs. My brother's T-56 and lower control arm mods knocked me out of STX. Keep up the good work.

 

Any updates? I may have missed newer threads but this popped up in a search.
Great job man!
I am loving the home brew racer vibe of the car, very similar to how I'm building my 91 Bird.
I'd love to hear what you have done thus far.

 

Very nice build, just curious on the specs on the wheels and tires

 

Well guys i have an update on this build. Well actually -- an update on my life. My family has decided to move back home to Tennessee and I have purchased a house with a 6 car garage (YES, I KNOW, I AM EXCITED). I will have a lift installed and my race car will finally get a dedicated spot to live in so she doesn't have to share space with any of the other toys.

I don't have any pictures of the place yet, we have moved out of our place in Atlanta and will be moving in at the end of the week. I'll try to get some pictures of the Garage as soon as I can so that you guys can see our new "Racing Home".

So, car updates coming soon -- because I can't WAIT to get moved in and get her going again.

 

I forgot to add a photo here of the car with the new hood and vinyl numbers. Here she is as we are moving out of the old place.


The metal frame that is around the window area is to stabilize the lexan windows so when I travel on the open trailer it is dry inside. I take those out (2 10MM nuts on each side) before going on the track or to an event. I might find a more elegant solution but for now it works for dry storage and will work on the drag strip or track days which require windows.

 

The wheels are Real Racing 16x10 wrapped in Hoosier A6 275. I don't know the offset but there is only a very little bit of rub and only at full lock

 

Subscribed, nice job!

 

Well, we are all moved into the new house and shop ....and as of yesterday, we are back to racing again. East Tennessee Region SCCA Points #1.

We got loaded up with our new Tow Rig ('13 Silverado) and headed to our first autocross in a long time (a couple years since relocating from Atlanta).



- My son cameron was able to beat me (on his last run) for his first ever C-Prepared victory, i guess i'm a little rusty, but here's his run was VERY fast - It put his PAX 37th overall out of 104 total cars, just behind 15 Pro Drivers, so top 22 overall for him on a very tight (miata-friendly) course.


We are knocking off the rust and perhaps going to Dixie Nationals in March.

 

I also want to document what I did to solve my HOT START problem. The issue was the headers were going right past the starter and after running several times the car would not crank. I went to Summitt Racing and bought a new starter to put in, THEN i wrapped the starter with a heat shield. SO FAR, it appears to be working -- no issues after driving in stop and start over and over for an hour with my son. Details on parts to fix are below for others who want to do same thing:

Headers: Hedman short tube
Starter: PowerMaster 9600 http://www.summitracing.com/parts/pwm-9600/overview/
Wrap: Summitt Wrap http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-350118/overview/

keep in mind that the 9600 STARTER is for T-5 cars ONLY -- it won't fit the automatics, so don't blame me if you get the wrong one. My car is a stock 1987 T-5 Tranny and it was a direct bolt in replacement. I was able to spin the starter solenoid away from the header to keep it cool.

 

 

Nice car. I'm just watching it snow and dreaming of next seasons start.

 

Could I bother you for some close up pictures of your rear spoiler? I saw the bracket on the first page, but I would like to see how you finished it off. Thanks.

 

Here's a shot of the spoiler at the old shop.

I actually still have 1/2 a sheet of that lexan and I have the template that I made out of plywood that I could cut these spoilers out and ship them to people. I know that BigMods makes these for a living and I certainly don't want to cut into that business, but I could sell a lexan piece ready to install for $150 plus shipping (that would be 9&3/4 inches tall, meeting SCCA Prepared Specifications). So if you are interested in building your own brackets and want to buy this lexan, i'm just trying to cover my costs.

 

I thought BIG_MODS got his from blaine fabrication? I never knew he made those spoilers....

If I had the money and was confident in my ability to figure out an attachment mechanism I'd offer to buy it... but it's gonna have to wait. I like the idea of an adjustable one so I can trim it back down for street use. I imagine it has a pretty severe gas mileage impact if you do a lot of highway driving.

Also, how do you like running 16s instead of 17s for wheels?

 

Thanks for the photo. I am going to have to think about that spoiler. I am about neck deep in a turbo motor swap, so funds are being diverted to that and that alone right now.

 

Had a GREAT second event, but some fuel starve as the tank went from 1/2 down to 1/4. I won't make that mistake again.

As a driver I am very proud of this photo.

 

March 31st update:

The car has been running good this year (knock on wood). No major issues. I took an Evolution Driving school here in East Tennessee and it occurred during a driving rainstorm that lasted most of the day. I did a few things to get ready for that.
1) Removed the rear end link on the sway bar on 1 side (help plant rear better)
2) Took off my race slicks and ran with 3 year old Michelin Pilot Sport MXX tires.

I was AMAZED at the handling and the improvement in times. (because I was taking a school I should say). I can't want to get back to slicks.

The only question that I had was that the car started to die after some of my runs and I believe that it was the water getting sucked in thru the ram-Air right into the MAF.

After I towed the car home and let it dry out overnight it worked 100% Fine. The moral of that story is don't take 20 runs in a driving rainstorm or you might get a soaked MAF and have to stop. I guess that means if it's raining on a track day, i'll have to skip that session (OR change the intakes for rain). Maybe I need to add an additional filter on the front of my PVC pipes for the RAM Air on rainy days.

Oh, also, somebody offered to buy my car. He said "I LOVE your car and I want to buy it, how much?"..

HA HA.. People are funny. i WOULD sell it, but I doubt I could ever afford to replace it, so I guess I'll keep it for now.

 

I really like your car, and the time and effort that you've put into it. It's become one of my "hero" cars...

 

What did you use for hinges on your spoiler? I'm having a hard time finding something similar.

 

i made them out of Aluminum Angle and a drill / file.

 

Dear Friends,

Here's your update on my car. I attended the SCCA National Match Tour in Atlanta last weekend and I was weighted in.

My car weights 2995 with a FULL TANK of gas (see the fuel starve thread for details).

According to my class in C-Prepared, I can weight 2750 or more, so that means that I can take about 200 pounds out of the car. I will be weighing every part that comes out of the car from now on.

A race report:
1) it rained
2) I drove terribly. HORRIBLY. Worst performance of my career
3) I could NOT put down power AT ALL. Might be a diff, might be old tires.
4) I am going to inspect the Torsen T2R and see if it has metal in the oil
5) I need to buy a new set of tires for the front and move sticky fronts to rear
6) Did I mention that I sucked as a driver?
7) On sunday morning (of a 2 day event), i found that the rear bar endlink was installed too tight and metal to metal. I fixed that and I was much better on day 2 though the rain was MUCH worse.
8) I am pretty frustrated overall and wanted to do much better and so I will be driving as much as possible to help with that.. (fix loose nut behind wheel).

The car ran well, no issues at all, even in a rainstorm -- so at least we've accomplished the 2012 goal of being reliable while being thrashed about an autocross. Oh yeah, did I mention that it's 2014?? 2 years behind is about my schedule.

More later this summer as I work hard to make this better.

 

What size tire you running?

 

P275/45ZR-16 Hoosier A6

I desperately want to buy a set of CTW 17's and put some meat on those, but I can't afford that right now. Perhaps later this summer.

 

It's hard to get good in the rain. The rain intensity and surface conditions are different every time.

 

The car has come along well and I love the new rims!

 

Nobody to play with in CP in East Tennessee so we've put interior back in it, (mostly) bought some BFG, bigger wheels and brakes and we are running CAM-T this year.

 

Yeah, a lot of people wound up in CP before CAM came along. A lot of people were forced into Cam Prison (CP) just becuase they had aftermarket camshafts. Now those guys run in CAM classes. Other than that my car is only at a ST level of prep.

 

Pretty sure my panhard relocation bracket puts me in CP too.


Brian it's been a few years now... did you ever solve your hot start issues? Ive had them myself and I've figured out that my fuel lines completely drain back and are empty for several seconds before the lines properly prime when it gets hot. It SEEMS running more gas in the tank helps. It also seems that the fuel spewing into the carb after it finaly reprimes itself is flash boiling on the hot feed lines to my carb, causing the problems I get. I get fountains of fuel spewing out of my vent tubes the moment the lines finally pressurize when warm, then it's back to normal. It has to be restarted between 5 minutes to 60 minutes or so after it was last running for the lines to drain down and for everytihng ot heat soak. After the lines prime, the lines cool way down as well.

Could be a bunch of things, a lot of these cars NEVER get these issues, and it seems like some of us deal with them forever. I've gone through a lot of truoble in an attempt to narrow it all down, and I still havent gotten very far.

 

YES, my hot start problems are 100% solved. There's a thread on here somewhere about it. Basically, i put on a new starter, high torque MINI, wrapped it in a heat shield and VIOLA.

problem solved. Apparently the Solenoid is bad with heat sync. Let me see if I can find the thread and copy it here.

 

Seems like we have a different issue then... mine is definitely fuel related...

Ministarter solved a lot of problems I had back in the day, though. Just not the fuel ones.

 

my car is TPI, i have not yet (KNOCK ON WOOD), had any problems with that. I'm on the list to get a MegaSquirt installed and prototyped so i MIGHT be opening up a can of problems there..

Car did REALLY well at the first autocross yesterday. I'm going to start a new thread covering that and the setup..

 

2 fastest runs from Sunday. At one point I needed .011 to get a trophy spot away from a guy and I did that on my last run (video here), but he went right back out and went faster too -- so I ended up .02 out of the trophies.

next time, i suppose, the tires were GREEN (Stickers) and I know I made some mistakes.

 

Great job on the car !