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Hm, all great info. I guess I thought (wrongly) that compression was worth more. By the time I get moving towards ST5 I'll probably be doing a lot of cloning what's documented here. I think the additional power is definitely the way to go, along with unlocking 225 hoosiers. Should put the NA/NB in a good spot.
Out of curiosity, how much did the work run you for the head? Not including cost of parts etc. Emilio said 2.5x price of stock rebuild, but I'm not sure what that runs in your neck of the woods for a customer. Obviously, you guys may have different rates given relationships with folks like Keegan, but I was curious what a plebe could expect to fork over for such luxury.
Head is swapped. Waiting on bits to come back from powder coat by the end of the week. I am having the squaretop and valve cover done in the same orange as Vegas.
I am replacing the windshield as well. My DiY version using scratch 'resistant' sign box Makrolon is 3 years old now and getting pretty hazy. Moving to a true motorsport oriented, Supercoated poly-carbonate windshield from Supermiata.
It received a very deep banner, touring car style, to along with my recent orange endplates and doorsills.
Had to redo half of a timing belt job to move the timing plate over from the old cylinder head.
Also so got my Setrab oil cooler mocked up and mounting brackets made.
Also also, new to me Supermiata polycarbonate windshield is in. No more rivets. Now rivnuts and buttonhead stainless hardware. I’m honestly not sold on the rivnut method but it is damn convenient and “Pro”. My rivet install never cracked the makrolon, but every windshield I’ve seen bolted down has cracked. Time will tell.
Next time you're in there, just do the rear main seal.
Mine was fresh with this motor build about 4 years ago and I didn't expect it be bad, but it was.
While I drove Button for shakedown at Chuckwalla, I'd rather this post be about my racing in Supermiata S2.
Supermiata Chuckwalla 2018 final event.
Dennis has clinched the S2 season championship.
Anthony Bedegi is sitting second, but unable to attend. If Sky Chan finishes higher than 6th of 10 in any race this weekend, he’ll surpass Anthony for 2nd overall.
Maxxis Supermiata Cup format: 4 SuperSprint races over two days. Standard qually format for race 1, standing start for all 4 races.
I qualified p2 on Saturday morning, driving “Miller”, Sonny’s S2 car(while he was off racing a ChampCar double endure.)
Race 1: Starting p2 from the front row, one move around Dennis(pole sitter and 2018 S2 Champ) into T2, hold lead by driving a 20ft wide Miata for 5 laps to win SuperSprint #1.
podium was me, Jeff Ringer p2, Dennis Uebersetzig p3.
I set fastest race lap for day 1 on lap 4 with a 4: 2:03.645.
Race 2, Inverted grid, so I started last, Ringer next to me, Dennis in front of me. Good battles all race long, eventually working up to p2 behind Dennis, with Ringer p3. (We were supposed to be single file, with a no passing zone onto the front straight, because of a pit wall choke point, I obeyed this all day to my detriment)
Day 2, opposite track direction.
Race 3: Inverted grid from race 2 result. Dennis had an engine issue in morning practice, so I start last again. I move from last to first in less than a lap. Adam tails along but makes a mistake under braking and exits track right. Subsequent laps are boring on video, but lap 1 is awesome.
Race 4: Inverted grid from race 3 results. I start last, Ringer next to me again. This guy doesn’t go away. I have a terrible start, I blame Sky for jumping on the yellow flag, breaking my concentration. Slow progress through the field, Adam gets away for a clean win. I chase up to Ringer and have about a lap to try and attack. He doesn’t make any major mistakes, so I settle for p3. I set fastest race lap of day 2 on lap 4 of 5, 2:04.362.
Results:
Qually p2 2:03.700. (Dennis did a 2:02.943)
Race #1 win
Race #2 2nd
Race #3 win
Race #4 3rd
Fastest race lap both days.
Nothing super sciency or conclusive, just keeping notes here. Confirming some assumptions.
Originally Posted by doward
NASA Arizona, Chuckwalla, Feb 2018.
225 Maxxis RC1
2:03.048 CW
2:05.619 CCW
205 Hoosier R7s
2:00.983 CW
2:01.032 CCW
SPM Chuckwalla Nov 2018. Shaking down Button. I ran 2 sessions Saturday and .5 session Sunday.
New cylinder head only made 4-5 more whp. Something not happy in the bottom end, lost oil pressure on day two.
Car is about 100lbs lighter than it was in February.
Still ST5 legal(14.66 adj) at 2150/144 peak(~140avg). Room for more power, which was the goal.
225 Maxxis RC1 (Stickers)
2:01.9 CCW
205 Hoosier R7 (same set I raced on in 2016, TT'd on in Feb 18, probably 20+ cycles)
2:03.07 CCW
So, sticker RC1 in the same "real" size(both tires are 224-226mm wide) are faster than cycled R7.
Weather, track conditions, cycle count, weight reduction and 4whp worked out to be worth about 3.7 seconds on 225/45 RC1s.
Scored a JDM NB2 shortblock locally. It spins by hand, but has some cylinder wall surface rust. A bit of elbow grease, wd40 and paper towel is removing it. I could move my new schmancy cylinder head over and lick the stamp, but...
I really want something I can not worry about for a while.
I'm thinking an 80/20 approach is the way to go:
OEM pistons, jdm nb2
OEM oil pump, Mazda nb2
Manley rods
ARP studs
ACL bearings
OEM, or Fluidamper.
Keegan already has a block torn down from the core I provided for my cylinder head build.
That should cover everything I'll likely want to do with it.
Final parts list, typical "while im in there" happened and a MT Rods-only rebuild got out of hand... Both blocks needed bored, then Mike offered me a set of forged slugs for what I would have paid Mazda for new OEM nb2 pistons.
OEM pistons, jdm nb2 Used 9.5:1 forged pistons, supplied by Keegan.
OEM oil pump, Mazda nb2
Manley rods
ARP studs, both head and main.
ACL bearings
crank damper TBD
clean and skim the head another couple thou to get it to 10.4:1.
In the end, I've circled back to a $4000 engine that makes 165whp, and is ready for a TSE6758 whenever my wallet recovers. "How fast do you wanna go?"
Same goal: 158 on pump gas @ 2400lbs for ST5 with ballast, 165+ on e85 at 2200lbs for no-ballast/high power fun days/gridlife/roadstercup/etc.
Stock oil pump on a "while you are in there" build?
Yep. For his rev limit and power levels, stock oil pump will be fine. Of course more insurance is always better but this is an 80/20 build. It won't have as much over rev protection as a motor with say, a fully balanced bottom end, Billet oil pump gears and fluidampr but that's not in the budget. Have you seen the rest of his car?
I always like to see builds like this, research every last little thing and make every dollar count. Max win for min dollar.
I'm looking forward to getting this thing on the dyno. Fingers crossedI that it'll just touch 170 on corn.
Motor and parts are all with Keegan. He's got his choice of two blocks to pair with my slightly fancy head. I probably won't see it before the first SPM event late this month, or the first NASA Socal/AZ event in February. So I have some time to tinker...
I think I am going to finally replace my ratty rear bumper, chop out the rest of my doors, and gut my trunk lid. After that, I'll be about out of weight reduction opportunities in my acceptable time/$ per lb range. I would need to go to a small battery, shorter cable, etc and potentially delete my headlights. I've not used them since 2015... so I could probably let them go.
...and maybe, juuuust maybe, give the interior some paint. Then de-sticker it. Time for something fresh on the outside.
Also, Gridlife Touring Cup "GLTC" has been announced. 15 minute sprint races at a select few Gridlife events.
Roughly 12.5:1 P:W, no A7s, a few ratio modifiers for certain things.
Gut-punches for my car:
3" splitter
Glass or 1/4" plastic windshield
10-09-2018, 08:09 PM
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