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Here's another belated build thread. TL;DR, I started with an STR NB1, did some DE's, now I'm finishing a chassis swap with a spec Miata tub, targeting my first PTE race in October.
So... Where do I begin? Her name is 'Christina Aguilera', as in that Young Jeezy song about white girls. She started off as your classic 949 STR car. 15x9 6UL's with 225 RS3's, Tien MonoFlex, RB Front ARB, RB Headers, a horribly designed CAI.
That was a lot of fun, and we campaigned her for about 2 years, dominating two regions. At this time, she was still a daily driver.
Once I saved up for a truck, I started doing the track only stuff. Here's the custom knock off exhaust I had installed...
Then I took her to some track days at Cresson and TWS. I also rebuilt the motor in there somewhere, and used these days to shake it down. I battled some head gasket issues, but I'm just a terrible mechanic, all is well.
After TWS, and my first time on Hoosiers, I knew it was time for a cage. So, like a mad man, I bought Matt Reynolds' old spec miata tub off of Craigslist, and began my chassis swap. This would also include a full rebuild of the suspension, with new bushing (including the offsets).
Now things are finally starting to pick up steam. I've got all the body work done, all wiring is finished, safety gear is going in.
General todo list:
Finish up the seat (I'm 6'2", it's a tight fit)
Finish up fuel system
Add fluid
Test startup
A thousand little things
Shake down
Get it teched
order take off SM7's
Go race
Winter todo's:
Build for that new class (looks like that means new wheels)
Aftermarket ECU
DIY aero
Better CAI design
Provision extra motor
I'll keep this updated with my progress. I'm all ears, if you have any advice.
I’ve made a ton of progress over the last couple of weeks. I also had the opportunity to do an enduro, in an old hoopty, at Thunderhill!
PPF is buttoned up.
All electrical is buttoned up, I’ll probably re-route a few things after test startup.
All the fluids are in.
I ordered eye bolts and my mirror bracket.
Ive decided to move straight to ST5. It seems like a waste to build for PTE for one race. So, I’ve got some aero fabrication to do. I’ll just run as light as possible, and do all the cheap mods. Power will have to come in 2019.
I tried to fire up up the car today, but I’ve got some minor electrical glitch. The starter won’t click, and the Brake warning light shows up on the dash.
With the move to lightweight ST5, my 15x9's aren't going to work. I tried a trade on facebook, for some 15x8's, but nobody came through. So, I found a rebate program at Discount Tire, and got a cheap set of Konig Hypergrams in 15x7.5, bronze. These will get some used SM7's. Plus, I really like my 15x9's. Maybe I can use them in crapcan enduros.
So.... I finally tried to start the car, and failed. I get master power, the fuel pump comes on with the ignition switch, but when I press the start button I get no click, and the brake light comes on.
I haven't detected any shorts, the starter is getting power. I triple checked the clutch and brake sensors. I've checked the engine fuse, under the dash, and all fuses in the engine bay. I don't have my parking brake installed, but I can't imagine that it's required to start the car.
Got the seat and belts installed. I used short eye bolts for the belts, the OG racing seat brace, and Kirky side mount brackets. I had to cut out the cross member, and hit the transmission tunnel with a sledge hammer a few time, then mounted the brackets directly to the floor.
Another productive weekend... but I still can't get the car to start
gutted the doors some more, that saved a ton of weight.
installed a small mirror on the a-pillar. this was the cheap amazon mirror that someone suggested.
got my radios to work. I had to seriously trim the shock protection from the car side so the kenwood connection would fit properly. big thanks to nerdie radios for the kit and support.
got my mylaps transponder registered. I had to bend the pins to get a solid connection to the race key.
Starter is pretty easy. Should be grounded to the block, with a strap at the ppf and by the heater core lines. Should have direct battery power with kill switch on. Then starter button should deliver 12v to the solenoid. Grab your multimeter and find out which one you don’t have.
Yea, I agree, it should be pretty simple. I think it's the lead to the solenoid. It's very loose. Shop help has been sparse lately, and I need someone to push the button while I test.
I've confirmed power to the starter. I've confirmed that the battery is good, and starter is good by running a 12v from my fuse box to the solenoid, and it cranks. ECU seems to be fine, I can read obd2.
Is there anything in the braking system that would cause this problem? I've removed the emergency brake. The brake light appears on the dash when I try to start it (I'm not sure if that's normal behavior).
I'm assuming that running a 12v lead directly from the button to the solenoid isn't a viable solution.
Another weekend in the garage. I'm just wrapping up some of the small stuff. I've been reaching out to shops in Texas, trying to get tech'd before the drive out to NOLA. Car still doesn't start, but I'm confident that I can make it work, with some local help. It's probably time to start with the air dam and a nice air box.
Mirror installed - I just bought some short mounts, made some brackets out of aluminum angle iron, and stole a big mirror out of a clapped out MR2 Turbo build.
Numbers ordered - I found out that someone has 13 reserved, so I spent too much on some cool 136 panels with my team name.
Rookie plate installed and bumper back on. I figure I'll cut the bumper with it on the car.
Adjusted the submarine belts - such a PITA without removing the seat
I had a few guys over this weekend, and we got a ton of stuff done. It's amazing what a some pizza and beer can get done.
First off, the car starts! The general root cause was splicing together two wiring harnesses. The tub I moved to had some of the harness left over, and I just filled in where there were missing components. Well, I missed a bunch. We fixed the no crank issue by adding a jumper to the connector going into the clutch pedal sensor. Then we noticed that the fuel pump wasn't kicking on, and sure enough, it wasn't getting power. We found that all of the under dash relays had been harvested from the old tub, so we grabbed them off my old harness, and boom! Everything started up.
In the processed we removed the dash skin, making it a lot easier to access stuff, and saving a little weight.
We also got all the tabs welded in for the window net, so that's done.
Our last effort on Saturday was corner weighing the car. Our scales weren't super accurate, so I didn't spend too much time fine tuning. With driver, we're at 2240 lbs, and very light in the right rear.
Yesterday, I started buttoning up the carnage from troubleshooting the wiring harness, and built a little dashboard. I also got all of my wires running through grommets.
You may contact Rob, who used to run Humming Aero. I had him laser cut a few dash panels for me that wrap up over the dash bar, worked out well. The one below was for a switch panel similar to yours, a kill switch, fire pull, and two gauges. I had another with 5-6 1/2" holes for switches and 5 gauge holes that I can't find a picture of.
Also, do you have a legal dash bar? AFAIK the stock one isn't.
You may contact Rob, who used to run Humming Aero. I had him laser cut a few dash panels for me that wrap up over the dash bar, worked out well. The one below was for a switch panel similar to yours, a kill switch, fire pull, and two gauges. I had another with 5-6 1/2" holes for switches and 5 gauge holes that I can't find a picture of.
Also, do you have a legal dash bar? AFAIK the stock one isn't.
Sadly this is my best photo:
Curly, I looked through the nasa regs and didn’t see a dash bar requirement. Am I missing something?
I’d like to replace the oem dash bar eventually, but I have other priorities right now.
I've postponed my licensing attempt until early next year. I'll just have to ditch my Lemons team in 2019 to make this NASA thing work.
I've got my bumpers cut, initial plywood splitter designed, and rivnuts in my bumper. More to come on that.
After sitting for several months, it appears that I've got some valve issues. I started the car up, with the intent of shaking it down at an autocross, and it started making a terrible racket. Oil change didn't fix it. Initial inspection shows several valves out of spec. More to come as I address the clearance issue, and hope it's not a rod bearing too.
This weekend I performed all of the initial measuring for new shims. While I was in there, I found a little surprise. The guy that rebuilt my head used metal shavings to achieve the correct valve clearance. I removed all the junk, remeasured, and have proper shims on the way...
05-16-2018, 11:14 AM
TARP Racing NB1 Build and Campaign
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