Arca_ex

iTrader: (2)

Put in a new fan clutch. That was interesting. Braced the huge 50+mm wrench against the frame of the truck, then with the square wrench plate that goes over the water pump bolts, I attached a 1/2" breaker bar to that, then a 4 foot pipe off the end of that. Basically had to hang off the end of it and then there was a huge snap. I thought I broke all of the things. But nope. So that worked out in the end. The old one was siezed solid, it was some off brand parts store ****. Replaced with genuine Motorcraft, so now it won't sound like Hurricane Katrina under the hood if you get it over 1500 RPM.

Also, turbo is out. Getting the v-bands popped off in that tight area is not fun at all. Next I have to cut out the exhaust because the Magnaflow 4" turbo back showed up. Only paid $280 shipped for a complete exhaust system with huge muffler, the massive box was 77lbs, I don't even know how they make money at that price point.

Arca_ex

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So something cool that I had the opportunity to do was go to the Ford Performance Track Tour. My dad and I got to check out some cool stuff and drive on track for a bit.

They were showcasing the new GT350 and GT350R, where basically you got to hear some of the lead engineers and design team talk about their thought process when making the new Mustang, what their goals were and how they accomplished them. It was actually pretty interesting, and even Henry Ford III was there to talk a little as well.

So part of it was being able to test drive one on track. They had both the GT350 and GT350R doing test drives and I got lucky and got into a GT350R. They had instructors in the cars and some people that drove before me said that they weren't really allowed to get on it, had to stay in 3rd gear the whole time, and that is was cool but they didn't really get to go as fast as they wanted. Well, I hopped in my car and the instructor is one of my racing buddies, so I got to drive as fast as I wanted lol.

I only got to do 3 laps but by the third lap I was up to about 90% speed. The car actually felt great. The factory suspension was nice, soaked up bumps like crazy, body roll wasn't excessive, the brakes were INSANE. I was surprised at how fast that thing could stop for its weight. The power was nuts as well. It pulled hard all the way from about 3500RPM to redline at 8250RPM. And the sound it made was wicked. Videos don't do it justice.

Anyways, here are some pictures. I had just gotten done with a job interview (at USPS thanks to Sean, Miataturbo networking ftw) and went straight there, so was a bit overdressed but oh well. Had a blast.

afm

iTrader: (3)

The infamous crankshaft! Were they putting the RS out on the track too?

Arca_ex

iTrader: (2)

Nope this event was just focused on the GT350.

Arca_ex

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So, Operation Tow Rig is finally getting close to being done. Just need to install EGT probe, do front brakes/rotors/bearings, go get the new tires mounted, get the Edge Insight CTS2 gauge screen situated, install Tekonsha P3 brake controller, check diff fluid level and top off, and fix the trailer hookup wiring (it's got a bunch of ******* vampire taps on it and left trailer brake light signal has no power when it should). Then I can go get the new to me trailer. I'm kind of over working on this thing so it better be ******* awesome for towing. Oh and the battery light is flickering so looks like the alternator needs to be rebuilt soon but I still have consistent 14 volts while driving for now.

Also, discovered the turbine wheel on the stock turbo is completely chewed up so looks like some metal made it through the engine, but everything indicates that it's happy and it pulls like a freight train now so I'm not that worried. Passes the oil cap blow by test, starts up on the first hit of the key every time, gets appropriate fuel mileage, doesn't smoke, passes emissions opacity test with flying colors, etc etc.

List of all the stuff my dad and I did to it so far:

Engine and Air/Fuel Related:
Garrett GTP38r Turbo Upgrade
S&B Cold Air Intake
Magnaflow 4" Turbo Back Exhaust w/ Straight Through Muffler (It's as quiet as stock so I'm happy with that. Exactly what I wanted)
CSF 3" Thick Bar and Plate Intercooler (stock is 2" thick tube and fin)
Reflect-A-Gold on cold side charge pipe
Replaced MAP sensor hose
New o-rings for turbo pedestal oil connections and compressor v-band outlet.
RiffRaff Diesel CCV Reroute
RiffRaff Diesel Charge Pipe Coupler Kit
RiffRaff Diesel T-Bolt clamp kit
RiffRaff Diesel Plenum Inlet Aluminum Reinforcement Rings
RiffRaff Diesel Air Intake Heater Element Delete and CEL Defeat Kit
Gates Fleet Serpentine Belt
Gates Belt Tensioner assembly
Gates Idler Pulley
Oil Change, 4 gallons Rotella T6 5w-40 and Wix Filter
Wix Fuel Filter
Replaced rotting hose on fuel bowl connection (previous owner did this and didn't even tighten the clamps, and it looked like cheap heater hose that was disintegrating WTF?)

Cooling System and Fluids:
Performance Radiator All Aluminum Radiator
All new Gates radiator hoses and degas to radiator hose
Motorcraft Thermostat
Motorcraft Fan Clutch (stock one was seized solid, sounded like hurricane Katrina under the hood)
Dorman Degas/Coolant Bottle
Motorcraft Degas Bottle Cap
Sinister Diesel Coolant Filter Kit
Rotella Gold Ultra ELC coolant for diesels
New Transmission fluid, 1 QT Valvoline Syncromesh and 6 QT Mobil 1 Synthetic Mercon V ATF (yes it specs ATF)


I'm probably forgetting a few things but whatever. You get the idea. Hopefully back to Miata and racing stuff soon for those of you who don't give a **** about diesel trucks haha.

Pictures:

Roda

LOL... I know exactly how you feel... been doing lots of work on the truck lately to prep for towing and camper carrying and the VVT swap has been sitting neglected. Fuel filter and rear sway bar tomorrow, and it should be ready for tow duty.

Mobius

iTrader: (2)

Truck is shaping up.

Our 89 GMC K1500 4x4 work truck had a 5 speed that specified Dexron 2 ATF for the fluid. I wonder what percentage of manual transmissions spec an ATF?

hi_im_sean

iTrader: (3)

Im my experience, about 30-40% of them.

Arca_ex

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Party barge acquired.

Tows nicer than I thought it would. Getting the truck moving from a dead stop is a bit interesting with the 9 million pound dual mass flywheel though.

Roda

Sweet!

There's times when I think that would have been a better route than the camper/trailer combo I went with, but there's no way I could keep a trailer that size at my house.

Can you get two Miatas in it?

Arca_ex

iTrader: (2)

Yeah it just BARELY fits on the side of the house. Concrete pad behind the RV gate is 44' and the trailer is 42' lol.

Two Miatas will fit in it. Even a Miata and a Corvette or Miata and RX-8 should fit. The front car has to be a Miata though because it only has 2 inches of clearance on the left and right. I just need to make an insert for the door step area so the front right wheel doesn't fall in. Then with two Miatas onboard, there is 4 feet total front to rear room to play with for spacing. The GVWR of the trailer is 15,000lbs and the trailer itself probably weighs about 8,000 without cars so plenty of capacity.

The truck didn't even break a sweat moving it around town, this weekend I'll be towing the Miata about 100 miles round trip out to Arizona Motorsports Park so we'll see how it does on the highway with a car in it.

Mobius

iTrader: (2)

hornetball

iTrader: (4)

Aaron, what was your "final" solution for fuel percolation?

First hot day on track yesterday (cool shirt day). Fuel percolation was bad -- strong fuel smell.

BTW, a couple of the new ND MX-5 cup cars showed up to play.

Arca_ex

iTrader: (2)

Took the fuel cap apart and stabbed a small TINY hole. In order for fuel to get out it has to make it past the whole rollover ball assembly and baffles, then to the top tiny hole. I've never had it spit fuel out that hole even with a filled to the brim tank and I no longer have pressure buildup issues. I need to look into the check valves on the top of the tank further for a better solution but this works just fine for me.

Also that's pretty cool about the new MX-5 cup cars. How did they do?

hornetball

iTrader: (4)

There were two of them out there. They were both newly delivered cup cars, white and completely unmarked. One of them was going about 2 seconds/lap faster than I was (I was turning mid 1:25s on the 1.7CCW). The other was about 1 second/lap slower. They were both on Goodrich R-1s while I was running midlife (18 cycle) RC-1s. I went over to yuck it up with the drivers, but there was lots of intense activity going on, so I backed off and just observed.

I sure wish I had equipment and crew like that -- they were making suspension changes with a full corner-weight setup between sessions and hot pitting for tire temps/pressures about every 5 laps.

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

FWIW, a heat shield where the exhaust and the fuel tank are just a few inches from each other helped mine. There's one there on the stock exhaust.

hornetball

iTrader: (4)

Will do on the heat shielding. I recently put on an MBS exhaust and it might be radiating more heat.

Ending the threadjack, but if I find anything wrong with checkvalves or whatever, I'll let you know since our cars are similar vintage/setup.

Arca_ex

iTrader: (2)

So hit the track last weekend. Videos and story time coming soon.

I'll leave this here for now.

hi_im_sean

iTrader: (3)

At least it wasnt a mustang.

hornetball

iTrader: (4)

C'mon!! You're killing me here.