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I got the new brake lines from TSE and finished the BBK install. Everything feels really good. After taking a drive, I checked everything over. One of the rears (1.6 calipers, 1.8 brackets, TSE relocation brackets, Sport rotors) looks like I expected, the other one looks like this:
The pads only grab on the outside inch of the rotors. I probably need to pull the wheel and check my install again, although I can’t imagine what I might have messed up. There’s really only one way to put these things on. Like I said above, everything feels normal.
I took off the turbo to replace the stretchy studs with inconel, and stage 8 locking hardware. This is what was left of the metal gasket that came with my churbo:
Which means I had a nice exhaust leak. Think I found the reason that the car was feeling down on power a bit.
I cleaned up the surfaces and checked flatness, both were flat to within 0.001”. I will go with the MT.net-approved method of smearing a bit of grease on the flanges prior to reassembly. It also occurs to me that the SS studs may have been perfectly fine, and the gasket was the root cause of my issue. However, I already have the inconel studs so I might as well do things properly this time.
Last edited by Schroedinger; Oct 29, 2018 at 09:01 AM.
I took off the turbo to replace the stretchy studs with inconel, and stage 8 locking hardware. This is what was left of the metal gasket that came with my churbo:
Which means I had a nice exhaust leak. Think I found the reason that the car was feeling down on power a bit.
I cleaned up the surfaces and checked flatness, both were flat to within 0.001”. I will go with the MT.net-approved method of smearing a bit of grease on the flanges prior to reassembly. It also occurs to me that the SS studs may have been perfectly fine, and the gasket was the root cause of my issue. However, I already have the inconel studs so I might as well do things properly this time.
You are actually not supposed to use that gasket. It is normal for them to blow out like that. I would still throw in the inconel studs while it is all apart.
Maybe look at putting an obstruction between the turbine housing and the air filter. Not just for the power losses but for heat damage to the filter on the track. I've had the glue melt...
The chrome part fell off, lol.
Track day at AMP today. 55 degrees and cloudy in the morning, torrential downpours in the afternoon. Car report:
- The brakes. Oh, the brakes. I had no idea what I was missing all this time. The new setup (TSE Dynalite BBK front, relocation bracket + sport rotors back, PFC 97 pads all around) was delicious. It’s almost like driving a real sports car. I had too much rear brake dialed in for the first session; that is an interesting experience I’d like to not repeat. Once I got the balance right, I was braking 20-30 feet later than the old brake setup with full confidence. The modulation and pedal feel is wonderful. As Andrew predicted above, once the rear pads broke in they started picking up most of the rotor.
- The fixed exhaust leak around the turbo. Wow, that gave me a shocking amount of power. I’m guessing 15-20 hp, although the cooler weather probably helped. Pulled just as hard as a Focus RS, a Civic Type R and an S2000 in the straights. The GT-R... well, those are really fast.
- The heat shielding. No issues all day; no boiling brake fluid, no overheating.
- The tires. RE-71’s have a surprising amount of grip in the rain. My best dry lap today was 1:43.67 which is almost two full seconds faster than a month ago. The SM record lap is 1:42.69, I know I can do better than that the next time. My rainy laps were 1:48, and it was dumping.
Overall, the car is running magnificently. Can’t wait until my next event.
Last edited by Schroedinger; Nov 1, 2018 at 07:55 PM.
Doh... you’re right. I googled “Atlanta Motorsports Park spec miata lap times”, and the link I clicked actually took me to the record lap for Road Atlanta. So I have no idea what a good SM lap time would be there. You’re right, that would be a tough track for actual racing.
Took Rocinante up to the Six Gaps yesterday. It was a beautiful fall day, cool and sunny. The changing leaves are at their peak. There's a photographer that sets up and snaps a bunch of cars, he got these ones of me:
It was a great day for enjoying the outdoors. Alas, not a great day for driving. The mountains were full of campers and leaf-peepers going 25 mph. I used to love these drives, but I think all this track time has me spoiled. There's really no substitute.
It was a great day for enjoying the outdoors. Alas, not a great day for driving. The mountains were full of campers and leaf-peepers going 25 mph. I used to love these drives, but I think all this track time has me spoiled. There's really no substitute.
I need to get you some MKTurbo stickers to get on that car for pictures.
With temperatures dropping into the 30’s, I wanted to get the RE-71’s in out of the cold. Took advantage of Goodwin’s sale and got some Storm S1’s for less than $500 shipped, and some Hankook Ventus V2 all-seasons from Discount Tire Direct for $260 shipped.
Does it ever make sense to buy used wheels? The only thing available around here was a set of beat-up 6UL’s with two year old RC-1 on them, the guy wanted $1200. I did this whole setup for around $750, and don’t have to worry about the wheels being bent up. I almost broke even on the deal, as I previously sold the BBS 15” M Edition wheels that would no longer fit over my brakes for $650.
Next up was to address the janky catch can mounting. I wasn't feeling great about the well-nuts and zip ties holding it, and it was an uphill run from the driver's side vent to the can.
First I thought I would mount it to the front of the head using the two small bolts that used to hold the breather tube. Made a bracket from some angle iron:
I wasn't feeling great about hanging weight off of those two tiny M6 bolts. So I put the power steering bracket back on the block, and made an extension that went down to it. GhettoFabTastic.
This strange looking cat keeps following me around.
I felt really good about how secure this bracket was.
Unfortunately, when I went to mount the catch can, it was too high. There was no way to mount it without it hitting the hood. Back to the drawing board... made a flat bracket to mount the can directly to the power steering bracket.
This was a much better approach. It's lower in the engine bay, still easy access to the drain on the bottom, and very securely mounted. I need to get a longer hose for the passenger side vent, and do some more heat shielding.
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