my LeMons car
#162
Testing went great this weekend. Car ran pretty much flawlessly, though it does have a tendency to corner with one front wheel in the air (we disconnected the rear bar to reduce oversteer--something I have NEVER done before).
Here's a little vid of our lucky Mexican turbo taking two laps of the track.
YouTube - Angry turbo goes for a drive
Keep in mind that this is an incredibly wide angle lens, so it makes things look much faster than they really are. Note my speed through the pits at the end: That's what 5 mph look like.
Also, we were stuck in a slow-intermediate group, so catching up with real cars isn't as impressive as it seems.
Still, we showed up, lapped the track, and nothing exploded, so we'll call that success. Our apologies to the track for the enormous puddle of oil...
-Dave
Here's a little vid of our lucky Mexican turbo taking two laps of the track.
YouTube - Angry turbo goes for a drive
Keep in mind that this is an incredibly wide angle lens, so it makes things look much faster than they really are. Note my speed through the pits at the end: That's what 5 mph look like.
Also, we were stuck in a slow-intermediate group, so catching up with real cars isn't as impressive as it seems.
Still, we showed up, lapped the track, and nothing exploded, so we'll call that success. Our apologies to the track for the enormous puddle of oil...
-Dave
#164
Actually, engine movement is less than I expected (I've driven a LOT of hoodless cars). The effect is magnified by the turbo sitting so far from the engine's axis of rotation, but the engine itself doesn't move that much. If you spin the tires (it was wet earlier in the day) and get some wheel hop going, then it moves a lot.
Miata mounts are solid chunks of rubber, so there's nothing to fill up.
-D
Miata mounts are solid chunks of rubber, so there's nothing to fill up.
-D
#169
Aaaah! I just polished my car, get that thing away from me!
linkey poo: 940am - CP3_3993
And no, the lap times aren't secret, we just didn't think to bring a stopwatch. It was faster than an STI. AN STI. One particular STI... And it was faster than one other Miata racecar. One without a turbo...
-D
linkey poo: 940am - CP3_3993
And no, the lap times aren't secret, we just didn't think to bring a stopwatch. It was faster than an STI. AN STI. One particular STI... And it was faster than one other Miata racecar. One without a turbo...
-D
#173
Here's the latest:
1: The car has survived 5 hours of track testing with no problems. It's quick, handles well, and doesn't overheat.
2: We now have a PVC intake (photos soon) to replace the fancy aluminum one (aluminum looks expensive, even though it was free scrap, and PVC looks cheap, even though it cost us $10...)
3: Our engine is about to blow up.
Runs great, good oil pressure, no funny noises, but we just changed our break-in oil and found this:
So if anyone in SoCal or anywhere between SoCal and Thunderhill has an extra BP enigne laying around, we'd be glad to clear up some space in your garage for you...
We'll be bringing an engine hoist to the race, and if we ventiate the block, it sure would be swell to have another engine to put in...
-Dave
1: The car has survived 5 hours of track testing with no problems. It's quick, handles well, and doesn't overheat.
2: We now have a PVC intake (photos soon) to replace the fancy aluminum one (aluminum looks expensive, even though it was free scrap, and PVC looks cheap, even though it cost us $10...)
3: Our engine is about to blow up.
Runs great, good oil pressure, no funny noises, but we just changed our break-in oil and found this:
So if anyone in SoCal or anywhere between SoCal and Thunderhill has an extra BP enigne laying around, we'd be glad to clear up some space in your garage for you...
We'll be bringing an engine hoist to the race, and if we ventiate the block, it sure would be swell to have another engine to put in...
-Dave
#174
On the bright side, at least we'll have active aero in the few laps before our engine esplodes.
YouTube - Eyesore Racing's first active aero demonstration
-Dave
YouTube - Eyesore Racing's first active aero demonstration
-Dave
#175
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looks crappy, ive got a 1.6 bottom end with no oil pan in my shed I wouldnt mind getting rid of 2 hours drive south of thunderhill by the way. You are using a 1.6 right? I have to look again and make sure its all there, but I think it just burned a bit of oil when I pulled it, didnt compression test or anything though.
#177
On the bright side, at least we'll have active aero in the few laps before our engine esplodes.
YouTube - Eyesore Racing's first active aero demonstration
-Dave
YouTube - Eyesore Racing's first active aero demonstration
-Dave
I dig the vid of the frankenmiata on streets of willow. Very Cool!
What are those accordion shaped things you found in the oil?
#179
looks crappy, ive got a 1.6 bottom end with no oil pan in my shed I wouldnt mind getting rid of 2 hours drive south of thunderhill by the way. You are using a 1.6 right? I have to look again and make sure its all there, but I think it just burned a bit of oil when I pulled it, didnt compression test or anything though.
-D
#180
The shiny bits are anyone's guess, but I'd guess bearings.
Damn shame, as it took us four engines to find a crankshaft that wasn't all scored from **** like this running through the bearings. Clearly ours now looks just as bad as the ones we rejected.
On the bright side, I guess, 2 of the other 3 engines clearly had a bunch of crap run though the bearings and didn't spin bearings...
-Dave