I just read this whole topic over two days. I haven't been on MT for awhile because it used to never have NC or ND content. I moved into those a long time ago from my NB's lol. Thanks for the great read and bringing some NC content to the forum!

I actually had a 2.5 NC a few years ago that I sold to a friend with the intention of trying to get him into tracking. Several years later, it hasn't happened once. I might get it back from him this coming spring. The NC XIDAs had just come out at the time when I had it, so those are already on it. I don't think I ever tracked the car with them.

 

Glad you've enjoyed it so far, man! Funny you'd mention that. I specifically named this thread in hopes that passers-by looking for NC content would find it. While doing my research, I found almost no NC build threads on here. Lots of NC stuff over at M.net but most of the threads taper off quickly and media sharing on this forum just works much better.

On the coattails of that thought, you oughtta keep a thread updated if you get that NC back. I could use some other NC threads to follow along haha.

 

Seems like NC's are really hitting their stride now. I swear it seems like more and more people on here are thinking about picking them up. With Kraken designing a manifold (not sure if it's a full kit) the relative bang for buck of a 2.5 swap I expect we'll start seeing more and more. SCCA has a spec class for them as well now which IIRC is geared to be a setup that will be good for autocross and track days.

 

ill still continue to call them boats - but a low series 3 with RPF1s is undoubtably a cool looking thing. im yet to drive one. im too afraid to like it.

 

Funny you should mention aero, Nate...



My 9LR **** delivered yesterday and I got it installed last night, along with a pair of custom door numbers that I ordered last week. To top it all off, I installed a pair of universal N15 Design fender vents that I've been sitting on for a while. Holy hell, the car looks complete now. Pay no attention to the lower wheel spat that's not fully attached to the splitter. That's getting addressed this weekend.



Fightin' words from 9LR.



I contacted 9LR about the wing dimensions as I wanted to be sure whatever I got was built to NASA TT5 spec. They got back to me and said it wouldn't be an issue. Their V2 **** is the exact with of the NC's body and right level with the roofline. Exact maximum size that can be run for TT5. Awesome.



The fender vents aren't TT5 legal, but I'm going to modify the cutouts so they can plug the vents from the inside during race weekends. I'll admit that I couldn't tell any noticeable difference in handling after installing the fender vents in my NA, but they garnered a lot of attention and I liked the way they looked. So yeah, they're a bit of a vanity item. The vents are currently gloss black but I'm gonna mask and paint 'em matte today or tomorrow. Also gotta clean up the cuts I made in the trunk a bit but it's all minor stuff at this point.

I guess if I wanna race TT5 for the whole year... the car is basically done for now. I gotta get it dyno'd, but it should currently be making within a few HP of my maximum limit for the class (178whp). I'm pretty set on getting a second set of track-only wheels and shodding them with actual high-end tires, probably A052's or RE-71's. For the street, I'll keep my current wheels and continue running the NT05's because I can get them for so much cheaper. I also still have an NC2 6 speed transmission to swap in once I get a driveshaft to go with it. It seems like all of the 2.5L guys say the 6 speed is faster in these cars, so I should probably get that going. For some reason, I'm not in a huge rush to do it, though, and figure I'll get a few track days in with the 5 speed to develop a baseline. The car's already going to be so much faster with the extra power and aero package finished.

 

"For some reason, I'm not in a huge rush to do it, though" - I think you're finally relaxing lol. You've been going hard on these projects for a couple years straight now it feels like and the car's finally in a place where it's enjoyable and reliable. Big win.

Big win, and big wing! Loving that big wings seem to be back in style (at least within the group I run with). Really starting to look like a proper racecar with the stickers and aero.

 

Oh yeah, the car looks great! So much better aesthetically and ties the car together. I really like those uprights on that NC wing, did you have to trim the trunk at all? What AOA did you set the wing to for starters?

 

Yeah man, that might just be it. Getting to drive the car at so many events in such a short period of time has been a blast. I'm sure I'll get the itch to do more big projects soon but for now I just wanna drive the damn thing. I'll probably add brake ducts and look into chassis stiffening in the coming months but otherwise I'm content for the first time in a long time lol.

Thanks dude! Yeah, the decent-sized front aero never looked quite right with the ducktail spoiler being the only thing on the rear haha. The uprights are nice! 3D and very sturdy. I did have to trim the trunk about 1/2" on both sides where the uprights sit. The ducktail also tore a bunch of paint off when I removed it, despite heating it first, so I have to find a solution to clean that up. I took a polishing wheel to it and ground all the paint off then masked and sprayed the area matte black for now, just so it's got some protection until I decide what I'm gonna do.

I haven't taken my angle finder to it yet, but the wing's currently set just a tiny bit steeper than flat, maybe 1-2*. Marcus at 9LR said they start with the wing completely flat for no front aero, so I'll likely end up at a couple degrees I think.

I'm signed up to run at my buddy's track event at Chuckwalla on the 27th. It's only a couple weeks away but I'm already chomping at the bit so hard. Can't wait to get the new setup out on track.

 

Jeez, I don't read this thread for a few days and you have a whole aero package installed now! I'm an aero noob, what's the advantage of having the fenders bent angled out behind the front wheels? It allows any trapped air behind the tire an easy escape path? While they look cool I'm guessing they also get peppered with rocks and crap that get flung up from the tire..? A bit hardcore for me but they look damn cool.

I'm guessing those door numbers are stickers rather than magnets? I ought to get some proper magnets rather than always doing the ghetto blue tape. I remember the suggestion from someone on here about using homedepot vent magnets, guess I need to add that to the todo list.

 

Looking good!

I never liked the cheezy 9LR endplates and replaced them with a set from Singular. At least 9LR doesn't do the laser cutout of their logo anymore... that was good for removing skin if you brushed it walking by.

 

Haha don’t worry, I’ll slow down at some point, I swear! Yeah, the fender cutouts are to evacuate high pressure air from the fender wells. I remember reading a post from Ryan Passey on here that a big fender cut will actually evacuate more air than vents will, and it was free, so I did that pretty early on. They do catch a hood bit of shrapnel, though and I’d probably feel a little guilty doing it to a car with more flawless paint.

Yeah, the door numbers are stickers. I’m just gonna leave em on full time (since I’m a professional race car driver and such). I agree with you on the masking tape numbers. Kinda ugly no matter how clean you make them. The vent magnet idea is kick ***, first time I’ve heard that one haha.

Dammit, I had no issue with the endplates until you mentioned that and now I can’t unsee them haha. Maybe I’ll eventually cut a set out of 2.5mm carbon fiber like I did with my last car. I always did think it looked weird how the 9LR endplates sit so low but I’m not an engineer so I’m not going to question it.

I already have the side skirts to scrape my ankles. Don’t need to add anything else hazardous on the outside of the car lol.




Better shot of the car as it sits. Seriously amped on it.

 

https://www.singularmotorsports.com/...-lives-racing/

Just tryin' to help...

 

I admittedly straight up copied 9LR's CFD endplate geometry and laser cut a set out for myself... lol

 

Help me spend more money hahaha.

Damn, I've seen those endplates before but it just now occurred to me, those things are YUGE! Do either of you guys have/remember the measurements? Max endplate size for my class is 144 sq inches.

 

I thought it might be easy to figure out with a quick measurement, but nope... my best guess is that it's close. Probably need to email Ryan to get an answer...

 

Can confirm the HD magnets are a good solution. I've been running those for AutoX for a couple seasons now and know many others who do that. $9 and you should have enough material to make a full set depending on size. Only real issues I've found is that they do come off rarely if they're not sitting flush with the car, and if you cut sharp corners into them they can start to crack after a while. I think if you got thicker/stronger ones that would solve both problems. I've had them on up to ~80 MPH and they do seem to hold pretty well if they're on there flush.
Vent Covers


The "6" is a register vent

 

Dang, thanks for the measurements on the endplates, Roda. And for the insight on the magnets, Sim. Yeah, those endplates are close... looks like they're probably over 144 square inches based on the photo. Could probably get away with running them as long as the car doesn't end up being way out at the front of the pack (and subject to scrutiny), but I'll likely cut a set out if I really get the itch for something prettier...

On that same train of thought...



The fellas and I ran it back and did another dawn patrol up in the mountains today. Holy hell, the car is SO much more stable with the wing. Go figure, balanced aero makes the car more comfortable at speed...



Got up there early again and had the road to ourselves. Great times. Got a bunch of driving in my car and then my buddy David let me take his 2013 Boxster for a spin as well which was a blast. A few of my buddies and acquaintances have offered me seat time in their cars at the track recently and I'm going to make a point of it to take up any offers I can next year (driving responsibly of course). I'm basically a one-trick pony when it comes to high performance driving since I haven't driven any other cars aside from my NA and NC in an aggressive manner. One of our acquaintances who's been instructing for over ten years regularly instructs at my buddy's track events and shows his students how to drive their cars, usually besting their PBs by multiple seconds. Super cool skill to have and I feel like having the understanding of multiple different chassis types has to just help your driving skill in general.

The car's feeling great and I probably won't mess with anything setup-wise before the next track day. I also made another "mature" decision and FINALLY ordered a tire pyrometer. I'm gonna make it a new-years resolution to actually collect data this year and use it to try and get faster. To go with this, I'm going to start looking at options for lap data acquisition as well. I'm gonna put together the fastest slow car I possibly can haha.



Maybe I'll give it a wash first, though.

Finally had a casualty today, the first since swapping the engine in. As I was heading home, I noted my AFR was pegged lean. Pulled trouble codes from the ECU and got a P0131 for an open circuit to the upstream O2 sensor. The NC's OEM catted header houses the upstream and downstream O2 sensors, but the Good-Win catless header and exhaust relocates both of them to the midpipe (where the cat is). Consequently, both sensor harnesses need to be lengthened. Good-Win sells extenders for $60 or something like that but I wasn't going to pay that much money for some wiring I could just extend myself. Anyways, I figured one of my wire splices failed or ended up burning on the exhaust.



I was close with my assumption. The wiring hadn't burned on the exhaust, but it runs close to the header in one aera. The heat had melted the convolute and all of the wire sheathing inside until two of the wires shorted on each other. There's an alternate way that I can route the wiring going around the inside of the motor mount rather than outside, and that should keep it safely away from the header. I'll poke around and see if I have any heat shielding from my previous projects laying around at work too.

All in all, it could've been worse. I'll have it fixed tomorrow or the day after.



Next up, I gotta get this thing dyno'd so I can register it in the NASA TT database for next year. Might do that next weekend. Might also see if any last-minute track day entries for next weekend have opened up. I already have one track day lined up in two weeks but I'm getting antsy to finally rip some laps with the new setup...

 

Alright, I want your guys' input on wheel color here, since you're gonna be the ones that have to look at the car while I blab and blab about it on here all next year. I'm going to order a second set of 17x10 Dekagrams and some Maxxis RC1s (as the RC1s are covered under a NASA contingency program) next month to use as a track only setup. My current ones are matte black and will be relegated to street wheels, I'm thinking of going bronze for the track set to switch things up. Konig also makes these in a gloss black with machined silver lip, but I'm less stoked on those. Interested in your guys' thoughts. Here's a galaxy grey NC1 (with fully intact paint) running the bronze Dekagrams in my size for reference.



In other news, I've done a bunch of little projects on the car this week. Dismounted all four tires and flipped them on the rims as they were starting to incur uneven camber wear on the inner edges. During the engine swap, all four of the locking tabs on my fuel injector connectors cracked and fell off so I spliced in new connectors. I also spliced in the remaining three new ignition coil connectors that I've been meaning to do (the NC1 ignition coil wiring is atrocious from the factory and it's common for the power wires to get brittle and break inside their sheathing. I already had one break the night before a track weekend and had to fix it on the spot). I also spliced in a whole new section of O2 sensor wiring where the harness melted last weekend and my AFR gauge is reading again.



The factory coil wiring is weird. On top of getting super brittle near the connectors as it ages, it's also all covered in some sort of sticky butyl rubber and each ground has a four into one splice in it. The power wire is the common failure point. I cut away all of the rubber around the harnesses, leaving just a bit around the 4 into 1 splice, spliced in new connectors and retaped them. Haven't had an issue with any of the others yet.

The car's cooling system has been working great. Even with the stock radiator and a couple gaps in my ducting, I didn't see coolant temps get above the low-180s at the last track event. Just relocating all of the stock stuff blocking the radiator exit and installing hood vents seems to be all that's needed. I actually forgot all about my intentions to upgrade the radiator when I first got the car. Still, especially with the 2.5 being in there now, I figure I should optimize the cooling system before it becomes a problem. I sealed up a couple of the remaining gaps in my ducting with A/C foam today. Mainly along the sides of the splitter which had about a half inch tall gap on the bottom between the splitter and the factory side ducting. Pictures tell the story better. The foam bits in the corner of the radiator are new too. Is it beautiful? No, but it seems to be working.





Finally, I'm going to attempt to upsize the brake MC in the coming weeks. I never really loved how touchy/squishy the factory brakes on the NC are, even before I installed the Wilwoods up front. Maybe I feel this way because the brakes on my NA felt so damn good after upping to a 1" MC. There aren't any aftermarket solutions for upping the MC size on an NC, but there are a few incomplete threads on M.net about using off-the-shelf parts for a solution. The NC master cylinder is a Bosch unit that utilizes a semi-popular bolt pattern. A couple other vehicles that use the NC's pattern are the Ford Transit, a couple Suzukis, and the Infiniti G37. The G37 with factory 4-piston brakes utilizes a 1" MC with the same bolt pattern, although the brake line ports are on the opposite side. The NC reservoir (shared for the brakes and clutch) can be mounted up by removing a little bit of material off the top of the G37 MC. I ordered a master cylinder from eBay for $38 along with some braided 6" AN4 brake lines and the adapters I believe I need to bolt everything up. Looks like everything is scheduled to land after Christmas, so I'm probably two weeks from starting on that project.

 

Bronze!

 

I guess wiring is the popular activity for the week. I'd probably say bronze or silver if that's an option. I'm just thinking like RPF1 silver though, not the machined/chrome option.