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Here’s a quick screen shot of the final high/low boost setting. I’m at 255 in the fuel table so I need to change required fuel so I have some adjustment. Hence the 2-3 lean spots.
Finally got the WinPEP 8 software so I could put together a comparative dyno of all major iterations of my build. Yellow is bone stock, green is with built VVT engine w/CNC head, blue is current wastegate pressure, red is current EBC tune. SAE correction this time around.
Made it through my first track day turbocharged and my first day at Oregon Raceway Park. Only issues were a v-band for the exhaust coming loose, and the downpipe rattling against the steering shaft on hard right handers. May need to adjust things, or may just need to get clamps for my exhaust hangers to tighten things up.
Sleeping accommodations worked pretty well. I might have over packed a bit, so had to pile things up to make room for the mattress. My home away from home!
Got a little chilly over night, but my sleeping bag can handle it. Tomorrow going to visit some college friends, then another day at ORP Monday!
I think I gave you that baggie of hardware that should have the v-band locking nuts. But like I said they usually either strip the threads or become regular nuts after the first use.
AAR from ORP: Only had the loose v-band and the downpipe rattling against the steering shaft. Unfortunately, even with adjusting it as close as I can to the block it was still hitting on right-handers. Looks like I need to get standard-height motor mounts to get that little bit extra clearance.
Since I won't be doing any more track days this year I'm just going to go with MazdaComp mounts. If I decide that allows too much movement I'll probably add in an AWR mount for a hybrid setup. The BBFW drop mounts will be going up for sale eventually once I get them out.
AAR from ORP: Only had the loose v-band and the downpipe rattling against the steering shaft. Unfortunately, even with adjusting it as close as I can to the block it was still hitting on right-handers. Looks like I need to get standard-height motor mounts to get that little bit extra clearance.
Since I won't be doing any more track days this year I'm just going to go with MazdaComp mounts. If I decide that allows too much movement I'll probably add in an AWR mount for a hybrid setup. The BBFW drop mounts will be going up for sale eventually once I get them out.
You'll rip those Mazdacomp mounts in half in no time with that much power.
That being said, if those are VVT Drop Mounts PM me before you list them for sale.
You’ll probably have the downpipe out for the motor mount, you could always give it a good dent, it won’t hurt performance at all.
"Here, take this nicely built downpipe that you paid to have ceramic coated and hit it with a hammer!"
Truthfully though I might just do that. Should be significantly less of a PITA than replacing the motor mounts. On the other hand, having less rattles would be nice and Martin thinks that the drop mounts are a contributing factor in that drivetrain vibration you were trying to track down.
Originally Posted by Arca_ex
You'll rip those Mazdacomp mounts in half in no time with that much power.
That being said, if those are VVT Drop Mounts PM me before you list them for sale.
That's what I thought, but the local performance Miata shop thinks it would be okay. Haven't bought anything yet, still mulling on options. My mounts are for the 94-00 block.
Long time no updates. I had high hopes for many track days this year, but we'll have to see if the world opens up in time.
Only a few changes to the car since last year:
-I finally installed the MR2-S rear hubs that I bought back in 2018. Axles were stuck in the OEM hubs pretty good, had to take to a shop to get pressed out. Unfortunately, the new bearings were lunched after only a couple hundred street miles. The race shop I use has seen similar failures with the adapted hubs, so I had them install the MiataHubs rear hubs. So far so good.
-I also installed the BroFab E30 front hub conversion. Went with the "Economy" hubs, and one had some play. Replacement en-route from Bronson, excellent customer service!
-Finally, I decided that I needed to sit lower in the car. Had the shop install a Mazdaracer floor drop pan. Now my helmet shouldn't rub against the hardtop!
The parts.
The hole.
The mounting
The drop.
Had hopes to go to ORP at the end of this month, and PIR early May. Doesn't look like either of those are going to happen. Optimistically signed up for a day June 4th at PIR, hopefully the world is back up and running by then. I had also hoped to join some of you for the West Coast Track Meetup at the end of September, but that is uncomfortably close to the due date of my fourth child so probably going to miss that one. Might be lucky to get 5 days in this year.
No that my experience is in any way unique, here is a visual representation of how 2020 has gone in a lot of ways:
Obviously COVID-19 messed with a lot of things. We were fortunate that our jobs have not been impacted, just working remotely now. First track day wasn't until mid-late June though, so at least 4 events were cancelled in my planned schedule. Then we learned in early June that we lost our son 20 weeks into pregnancy.
But the hits kept on coming. This happened during the first track day of the season:
Oops
Stud just fell out: nut, locking hardware and all. And yes, Resbond was used. This is after only 3 track days since installation. Sourcing a replacement was a little tricky, but I found one. Then as the shop was re-applying the Resbond to the surviving studs, another one broke in the manifold. Now I'm using trimmed down FM Inconel studs, since Trackspeed studs are nowhere to be found. Hopefully they hold up.
While everything was apart, they noticed this:
Hey, that's not quite right...
Guess we (the guy that sold me the turbo, myself, and the shop initially) missed that. Good news is that we confirmed that the turbo is behaving just like it was at installation, so this has been this way since I've owned it. It's also survived this long, so we slapped it back together and I'll get a replacement supercore to put in over the off season. Southeast Power Systems is being helpful in that regard, hat tip to @sixshooter for the contact info in another thread about broken EFR turbine wheels.
Used quite a bit more Resbond this time around: I SAID STAY ******* PUT!!!
Barely got everything back together in time for my track day last Thursday. Fortunately that went a bit better. No calamities to report, but the last session I did have my cam sensor start to overheat. Need to do something about that, since it isn't going to be getting any colder. Best time was a 1:31.61, SM record is in the 1:29s so still lots of room for improvement. Also had one of my Xidas start leaking, so I sent them all off for rebuilds yesterday. Hopefully I get them back and put together in time for my next day the middle of August.
Off-season plans are coming together:
-Get new supercore and re-tune
-General nut-and-bolt check
-Address stock bushings. Nothing catastrophic has happened yet, but I have noticed some sliding in the bores. Still can't decide between poly/bronze or delrin. Main holdup is laziness: I don't like the idea of having to ream all the delrin bushings.
The resbond was the reason I took the super core out, you can get much better access to all but the shaved down stud, which is a PITA to begin with. I shook the **** out of our 10oz resbond bottle and put enough on it was dripping off. Car still feels great, which is good, but I'm excited to see the spool improvements with the new supercore.
My last track day was also my first day I got to use the AIM Solo I picked up second-hand. It was nice not having to cobble something together with my phone, external GPS receiver, etc. Just pulled the data off it tonight, and it was pretty humbling.
Like I mentioned in my previous post, my best lap was 1:31.61. Not great, not terrible. On most clear laps I was hanging in the 1:32 range so I made it a goal to get into the 1:31s and was pretty happy I made it. I also figured that since I had been in the 1:32s for much of the day I was finally getting some semblance of consistency. Looks like that may not have been the case. My "Theoretical Best Lap" was 1:26.94! Knowing that I left 5 seconds on the table just confirms that I still have a long way to go, even at a relatively straightforward track like PIR.
The plan is to get the shocks back from rebuild hopefully this week, get it put back together and aligned in time for another day on August 15th. It will be interesting to see how my sector times compare.
Track day was a success: nothing broke, and I didn't crash, and I had a good time. Between the new tires and reconnecting the rear swaybar I'm having to relearn the car a little bit and get away from some bad habits from when understeer was the name of the game, so my lap times were about the same. Haven't pulled data but I'm guessing braking into turn 1 and entering the 10-11-12 complex is where I am a good bit slower than last time, just got to get used to how the car handles.
First session was cut short because my gas cap wasn't on tight and fuel was coming out. Another thing to add to the checklist I guess, wish we could just pump our own gas. Also learned the 2 sessions per tank is the cars limit, I tried for a third and was getting fuel starvation issues. Planning to get some fuel jugs so I have fuel at the track and can top off without driving to a gas station or buying fuel at the track in the case of ORP, but longer term I might see what I can do to get more useful tank space. I know there are a number of threads on it, so I'll look those up.
Also had some trouble downshifting, particularly going into turn 1 where I'm going 6-5-4-3. There were a few times where I just couldn't get it into gear and blew the corner. Probably multiple factors at play:
Still getting used to my arm position relative to the shifter now that I have the seat pan drop.
Just getting tired later in the day and getting sloppy, the last couple sessions were where I had the most problems.
Transmission getting too hot. Again, later in the day so higher ambient temps, heatsoaked, etc. Also, the exhaust was adjusted to clear the seat pan drop moving it closer to the transmission and removing the ceramic coating I had originally so that's radiating more heat to the transmission.
I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I still haven't learned to heel-toe downshift.
Have some pictures to share from my phone in the next post, there were some cool cars there. The day was put on by the Shelby club, and I had visions of Cobra replicas and the like. Turns out it was more like GT350s and GT500s, both new and old. There was also an Optima Ultimate Street Car-prepped Mustang with a supercharged Coyote, 750whp. Crazy.
Better late than never with the photos. Expected to see more of these So pretty Sounded awesome ALL THE WIDTH One of my paddock neighbors. Italian roadster in it's natural state, leaking oil onto the pavement.
It was a good day, even if there were a few people in the Advanced group that shouldn't have been there.
03-21-2019, 03:18 PM
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