PollyMobiles Rebuild

[pollyp]

13:58 Run 5 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before:
Setup:

Dampers: 20/20 F/R
Tyres: 595RSR 2.3/2.6bar F/R
Weight: 100% fuel, driver only​

During:
Track Condition: dry
Brake Bias: 50/50% F/R

increase front pressure & reduce rear pressure to reduce oversteer
reset brake bias to 50/50%



Track Times: (Gearing through Twickers, Jochen, Wiggler, Port Froids, Ushers, Twickers)
red lap times = traffic

lap 1 - 1:25 (3, 3, 3, 4 lifted, 3, 3)
lap 2 - 1:23 (3, 3, 3, 4 lifted, 3, 2) brake's upto temp at bishop
lap 3 - 1.22 (2, 3, 2, 4 lifted, 2, 2)
lap 4 - 1:22 (2, 3, 2, 4 lifted, 3, 3)

wasn't happy with this leaking sound, was reving the engine to see if the turbo is producing boost and where the leak is, could hear the induction noise from the air filter but then I saw a mist of exhaust coming from the manifold (manifold gasket? cracked flange?)

looked further and found that the nut & bolt at the back of the turbo flange has once again vibrated off and applowed the gasket to leak

I thought that's it, I ain't got any spare nut bolts, so time to pack up home?

the bloke next to me said well there's a racing team trailer next to us who'll most prob have spares.
asked the guy if he had any m8 nuts, he found some gr8 there's hope.
engine still scalding hot so waited awhile to cool, then I attempt to fit the nut to the remaining stud in the MOST awquid tight space of that damn manifold with zero room to move any spanner.

it took so many attempts and had to mod a tool but managed to get it on

while I was fixing, the guys daughter Nikki, who I saw drive their racing civic with other drivers, popped over for a quick chat curious bout the car. I think whenever I blast kasandra round a track, it catches some ppls attention lol. Nikki was a really nice lass, sunglasses, tied hair, slight american accent, studying mech engineering where they get to design, build & race their own formula, I'm impressed but sense myself blabbering on bout my experience with kasandra, I'm so bad round women tehee.
anyway she headed off to spectate n said she'll look out for me.

15:52 Run 6 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before:
Setup:

Dampers: 20/20 F/R
Tyres: 595RSR 2.3/2.6bar F/R
Weight: 100% fuel, driver only​

During:
Track Condition: dry
Brake Bias: 50/50% F/R



Track Feedback:

• rebolted turbo flange was still leaking & hissing but the restored exhaust pressure had improved the times
• handling felt good
• slight power understeer when changing direction at high speed

Track Times: (Gearing through Twickers, Jochen, Wiggler, Port Froids, Ushers, Twickers)
red lap times = traffic

lap 1 - 1:25 (3, 3, 3, 4 lifted, 3, 2)
lap 2 - 1:19 (2, 3, 2, 4 lifted, 3, 2) brake's upto temp at bishop
lap 3 - 1.20 (2, 3, 2, 4 lifted, 2, 2)
lap 4 - 1:18 (2, 3, 3, 4 lifted, 3, 2)
lap 5 - 1:21 (2, 3, 2, 4 lifted, 2, 2)
lap 6 - 1:18 (2, 3, 3, 4 lifted, 3, 3)

16:12 Run 7 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before:
Setup:

Dampers: 15/20 F/R
Tyres: 595RSR 2.3/2.6bar F/R
Weight: 100% fuel, driver only​

During:
Track Condition: dry
Brake Bias: 50/50% F/R



Track Feedback:

• rebolted turbo flange was still leaking & hissing but the restored exhaust pressure had improved the times
• handling felt good and consistant

Track Times: (Gearing through Twickers, Jochen, Wiggler, Port Froids, Ushers, Twickers)
red lap times = traffic

lap 1 - 1:20 (3, 3, 3, 4 lifted, 3, 3)
lap 2 - 1:19 (3, 3, 3, 4 WOT, 3, 3) brake's upto temp at bishop
lap 3 - 1.19 (3, 3, 3, 4 WOT, 3, 3)
lap 4 - 1:19 (3, 3, 3, 4 lifted, 3, 3)

Evaluation

comparing few of my fastest laps. I wonder if this is what the stigs chinese cousin prefers to watch as daytime tv?



after evaluating my fastest lap time of 1:18

• exiting Twickers in 2nd gear instead of keeping in 3rd had the best acceleration for the straights
• stay in 3rd gear through Wiggler so I utilise the mid power band and don't waste time upshifting down the straights
• stay in 3rd at Ushers so I don't hit the limiter, which slowed me down when I was in 2nd gear
• the turbo flange exhaust leak after the nut vibrated off between 10am - 2pm had cost me 1sec in lap time
• fuel weight didn't influence lap times much but reduced inner rear wheel lift with more weight at the back

 

[pollyp]

Drivers drive shaft is bent and you're in desperate need of roll centre adjusters....
Looks cool though....

drive shaft's not bent at all, it's the rubbish soft CV boot that's crooked, mounted misaligned & prob got a slosh of grease on one side that's unbalancing it and flopping about. will replace it with a new stiffer one hopefully soon.

what's roll centre adjusters?

 

[pollyp]

That's great, loads of pretty cars around that are rotting away underneath. Lass? Are you from the north east too?

aye the usual metal rot from poor water drainage & rust proofing is a major killer for these cars.

yup from NE, does my accent give it away?

 

[Antony]

No not the cv joint. There's a definite wobble to the shaft.

Roll centre adjusters increase the height of the bottom ball joint, effectively lowering the lower arms so they point downward when the car is sat neutral.
Thus when the suspension is compressed, the arc of the hub in relation to the horizontal axis of the car must be wider initially before sweeping inwards towards the car.
On lowered cars without these, the horizontal line through the hubs is already above the wishbone inner pivot point, and so when you corner, the effective track of the car is being reduced as the hub is already on the upper part of a parabolic trajectory.

F1 cars have this principal down to the nth degree, the main reason for their suspension arms to point up from the hubs.

The other thing they need are longer track rod ends to avoid bump steer once the lower arm is dropped.

 

[MicraPRO]

Blimey Paul myself and the rest of the folks in my office just held our breath for your spin!

 

[pollyp]

No not the cv joint. There's a definite wobble to the shaft.

Roll centre adjusters increase the height of the bottom ball joint, effectively lowering the lower arms so they point downward when the car is sat neutral.
Thus when the suspension is compressed, the arc of the hub in relation to the horizontal axis of the car must be wider initially before sweeping inwards towards the car.
On lowered cars without these, the horizontal line through the hubs is already above the wishbone inner pivot point, and so when you corner, the effective track of the car is being reduced as the hub is already on the upper part of a parabolic trajectory.

F1 cars have this principal down to the nth degree, the main reason for their suspension arms to point up from the hubs.

The other thing they need are longer track rod ends to avoid bump steer once the lower arm is dropped.

if u watch the sighting lap vid where I'm on a smoother "ish" tarmac than the bouncy rough public roads so the suspensions not moving around as much, I don't see any drive shaft fluttering around, I only see the drivers outer CV boot flopping about. it ain't causing any vibration issues. I'll replace the outer boot and recapture the footage.

ahh I've been wanting to extend the front hubs lower ball joint further down for awhile for that reason since my arms are literally resting flat horizontal on the road and on track will induce +ve camber. it's just time & money & resources to get some machined. the massive body roll tilting the tyre camber right over n wearing the outer loaded edges also doesn't help with uneven tread wear too.

 

[pollyp]

Blimey Paul myself and the rest of the folks in my office just held our breath for your spin!

abit of poo may have shot out
I really REALLY don't need that to happen when I'm going at speed on the nurburgring :/

 

[Antony]

Yeah, could do with a tad more camber on the front eh?

 

[pollyp]

Yeah, could do with a tad more camber on the front eh?

my static camber is already at max 1.5-2deg -ve camber and on road it wears the inner tread slightly more
but on track the poor lower arms inducing +ve camber and the massive body roll tilting all the wheels over really ruins the tread wear and performance so lowering those front lower ball joints are the next simplest required mod to fix the roll centres but that's for another day after I sort my life out after germany, no more funds for any modding.

 

[frank]

my static camber is already at max 1.5-2deg -ve camber and on road it wears the inner tread slightly more
but on track the poor lower arms inducing +ve camber and the massive body roll tilting all the wheels over really ruins the tread wear and performance so lowering those front lower ball joints are the next simplest required mod to fix the roll centres but that's for another day after I sort my life out after germany, no more funds for any modding.

more castor will give you more turn induced camber eh paul, it worked a treat on my senior ministock (where camber adjustment was banned) all my competitors understeered on the oval tracks and i just steamed up the inside of them and the scrutineers used to pick the front of my car up convinced i had a slip diff or something, but as long as i parked the car with the steering straight the camber did,nt show (but on full lock there was loads of camber)

 

[SuperUno]

Good efforts there, and you got going quickly after the spin

 

[pollyp]

more castor will give you more turn induced camber eh paul, it worked a treat on my senior ministock (where camber adjustment was banned) all my competitors understeered on the oval tracks and i just steamed up the inside of them and the scrutineers used to pick the front of my car up convinced i had a slip diff or something, but as long as i parked the car with the steering straight the camber did,nt show (but on full lock there was loads of camber)

how do we increase castor, other than to fabricate a custom/adjustable lower arm like what H701 was working on to relocate the ball joint?

 

[frank]

yeh, custom wishbones i guess paul, mine was an oldschool mini and i body-jigged the subfame into a diamond shape, which pulled the n/s tierod forward (for clockwise oval track)

[

 

[pollyp]

Good efforts there, and you got going quickly after the spin

thanks matt
that big spin at port froids did knock abit of my confidence in her at that section for while, for some reason she was very oversteery through that corner that day compared to prev good days.

notice on my track time list bout my gearing that I kept lifting/hesitate in 4th through port froid cos couldn't trust that she'd hold it together.
I'd have to enter the right turn, lift off abit and gently switch to the left, when I predict she's settled and her trajectory will make the exit I then go WOT before the apex to power her through.

there's only a few times I tried going through it at WOT and she'd bite back with a hint of oversteer.

gee it sounds like I'm having one heck of a relationship with kasandra eh lol

 

[pollyp]

after blyton, the catchcan caught 112.5ml after 400m (282ml per 1000m)

boost can only caught tiny bit

exhaust still leaking loudly so lets see what's going on

the nut looking discoloured, ah tis cos the other nut has vibrated off again

manifold off, gasket mostly sealed ok

urm ahh well there's our problem, a whole section has fractured off.

I think that when the nut & bolt originally fell off, it allowed the hot gasses to really heat up & fracture the gasket apart

gonna have to figure out a way to better clamp the rear section of the flange, I'm thinking weld a nut to the turbo flange below and use a bolt on the manifold flange with locking washer

a weak pin hole leak to fix

new rear pads arrived. think it's best to replace both front & rear pads & T1R tyres before germany

ordered a set of T1R on thurs and really early today the delivery guy arrived with em

 

[pollyp]

welded up the pin hole leak

and this inner corner too

some of the weld was petruding inward so I grinded it smooth

grinded the welds near the bolt hole so I can fit the bolt & washer on

new turbo gaskets arrived

the turbo elbow gasket still intact so gonna reuse this

turbo removed

with a better working catch can, the turbo compressor now stays clean oil free

tacked some M8 nuts under the turbo housing flange

now that looks more secure, no more fiddly nuts to install underneath

also the bolt has no chance of vibrating fully off if the other allen bolts are still holding cos the bolt would be obstructed by the manifold above

having an icecream break before thinking of carrying on

 

[MicraPRO]

abit of poo may have shot out
I really REALLY don't need that to happen when I'm going at speed on the nurburgring :/

As said tho you got going pretty damn quickly again
When are you booked for the ring again? Can't wait to see some of the footage from Germany

 

[pollyp]

As said tho you got going pretty damn quickly again
When are you booked for the ring again? Can't wait to see some of the footage from Germany

cheers tom. we just dust ourselves off and try again.

setting off over to germany on eurostar from 5am friday 31st july, back home by monday 3rd (completely shattered and whether in 1 piece or not)

 

[MicraPRO]

cheers tom. we just dust ourselves off and try again.

setting off over to germany on eurostar from 5am friday 31st july, back home by monday 3rd (completely shattered and whether in 1 piece or not)

Get back on the horse as they say you learn from your mistakes looks like Kasandra suffered like Millie did lift off oversteer but mine was in the ice and on a narrow road.
All fingers and toes crossed for you buddy!

 

[pollyp]

Get back on the horse as they say you learn from your mistakes looks like Kasandra suffered like Millie did lift off oversteer but mine was in the ice and on a narrow road.
All fingers and toes crossed for you buddy!

wasn't her fault, twas mostly driver error, I was too confident too early and forced her into the s-bend, her inner wheel lifted and slipped and I couldn't pull her back (is it me or is it hard to write about car stuff without sounding full of sexually innuendos? or maybe tis our damn dirty minds hahaa)

 

[fuzzy-hair-man]

how do we increase castor, other than to fabricate a custom/adjustable lower arm like what H701 was working on to relocate the ball joint?

You could probably do it the same way you change the camber, ie change where the strut mounts but this time you are dragging the strut mount towards the rear. I'm straining to remember but I think castor can change how the car reacts to initial turn in too (in theory)...
It also makes the wheel return to centre quicker(good for drifters and rally) and therefore the car may feel heavier/more feedback to steer but as frank said it's a way to get negative camber without some of the drawbacks.

@frank adjustable or shorter castor / tie bars were too obvious then?

 

[pollyp]

You could probably do it the same way you change the camber, ie change where the strut mounts but this time you are dragging the strut mount towards the rear. I'm straining to remember but I think castor can change how the car reacts to initial turn in too (in theory)...
It also makes the wheel return to centre quicker(good for drifters and rally) and therefore the car may feel heavier/more feedback to steer but as frank said it's a way to get negative camber without some of the drawbacks.

@frank adjustable or shorter castor / tie bars were too obvious then?

either adjust castor via the top mounts or via the lower ball joint, both are not easy or affordable or quick.
moving the ball joint will require re-engineering the lower arm.
moving the top mount, not possible at the moment with the BC alloy camber plate since it's only grooved for static camber adjustment and there's not much room for adjusting it longitudinally for castor.

but trying to fix all this turning camber via castor etc is a secondary and more expensive tweak.

think our primary fix should be to resolve the major body roll in the first place.
first port of call are those lower arms which logic says is actually aiding in forcing the front end to roll over more when the loaded arm is pointing upwards.
if I can lower the hub ball joint, raising the roll centre closer to the front CoG, it may help reduce the roll.

then refine the spring & damper rates & swaybar rates. I sense the force is strong with suspension man H701 he is

then we'll look at refining camber & caster during further tests.
gee the never ending joyous road of automotive R&D eh

 

[pollyp]

just been checking my tyre wear records and thought this might be useful info.

Toyo T1R used on the road wears at 0.3mm/1000miles
Toyo T1R used on the track wears at 1.15-1.46mm/1000miles!
Federal 595RSR used on the track wears at 0.6mm/1000miles

jeez thank god I now use the RSR on track cos the very soft T1R just shreds itself to pieces in no time

 

[pollyp]

began sanding the turbine flange, just look at how warped it was to begin with

began sanding the manifold

only had a limited amount of sand paper till they all went blunt and took ages to sand as flat as I can

new gaskets

bolting the back of the flange with locking washers

special tool for accessing the tight space

bolted up

the turbo elbow is wayy too close to the alternator and short out

so cut this section off the alternator back plate

now it clears fine

all assembled

after a blast at blyton lets see if the cat is still intact

yup it's all fine

think I located the odd squeak. maybe tis these wooden blocks I stuffed in the exhaust hangers to stiffen em, which was rubbing on the chassis.
removed them and the squeaks gone

 

[pollyp]

went for a test drive and the exhausts staying intact on boost, tis all good.
but the little squeak's still kinda there and after removing that wooden block from the mid-exhaust hanger, the downpipe is too close to the chassis and rattle against it.

got new cv boot, oil filter & sparks

tried testing compression but oddly my gauge began leaking, tried swapping the tyre valve bit but still leaks. turned out to be the other end where the gauge screws onto the hose.

old plugs nice n brown white

the new bkr6e was at 0.8mm so I gapped em back to 1.1mm

so here's the old floppy cv boot that was flapping about in the videos. for some reason it's gone all soft n mushy over the recent months

compared to the new one of similar make which feels all stiff & thick

cut the old boot off

fit the new boot on

front pads going down abit. it's best I fit all new pads for the big trip to germany and keep these old pads as backup incase I run out of pad on the way back home

fit the supplied flexible shims on the front pads, see if they help insulate the calipers from the pads heat as well as vibrations

the old rear pads down to bout 4-5mm. fit the new ones that are 9mm thick

at night I went out to begin bedding in the new brakes. warm up with afew 50-20mph stops then afew 60-20mph hard left foot braking.
briefly stopped to retighten the front wheel nuts cos they're bound to loosen off in the heat.
went for another bedding run on the way back but then a sudden BANG!?
wth was that?
steering still straight and doesn't knock when I wiggle the steering so main suspensions fine.
it knocks when I go on/off power or brake, thinking maybe the rear engine mounts finally cracked off the gearbox? nope it looks intact.
brakes all look intact.

then I looked under the passenger side and oh ffs not again!

back in january the RH lower arm fractured off at a weak weld after a road bump , and now the opposite side has fractured off after tonights heavy braking.
these ebay arms are rubbish with a finite lifespan

immediately ordered a new LH arm for next day. think when it arrives I'm gonna add more welds around that weak spot for both arms.

 

[pollyp]

well it seems that adhesive brake pad shims are rubbish, they just melt off off they come. pads now bedded on

one (or two) for H701. well there we go again, another horizontal fracture under braking. but just look at the rusted inner section, this arm has clearly been fracturing for awhile to form rust in the crack, possibly while I was going flat out at blyton, and it wasn't till last nights simple bedding in session that the remaining 3/4 couldn't take the strain and suddenly snapped under the hard braking strain

back in January the RH arm showed the same fracture beginning from the inner side
https://www.micra.org.uk/threads/pollymobiles-rebuild.35251/page-122#post-711705

so on the LH arm the fracture started here on the inner side where the weld meets the round washer end

on the RH arm back in january it fractured on the inner side from where the weld ends

fracture begins from the inner side mostly under braking due to these forces trying to snap the pins weakest point, the weld

removed both the broken LH arm and the newer RH arm from january

notice the difference in build quality and how how piece are formed

the newer RH bush still greased & moving freely while the older LH bush is seized onto the shaft.
I'm definately gonna finish stick welding the arm to the round washer end to fill those weak spot gaps

the rear bushings also different

 

[pollyp]

just checking the wear rate of these pads with these smooth oem discs.

new front pads = 9.6mm
new rear pads = 9mm
min front pad thickness = 3.6mm
min rear pad thickness = 4mm

19/05/15 @139,000mile
new front pads & discs

01/07/15 @141,000mile after Blyton park
FR = 7.55 inner/ 7.55 outer
FL = 7.55 inner/ 7.55 outer
RR = 7.00 inner / 7.00 outer
RL = 7.00 inner / 7.00 outer

15/07/15 @141,500mile after Blyton park & japshow
FR = 5.90 inner/ 5.85 outer
FL = 5.96 inner/ 6.10 outer
RR = 4.35 inner / 6.45 outer
RL = 6.35 inner / 6.25 outer

20/07/15
new front & rear pads

 

[pollyp]

Receive new LH arm

this morning received the new LH arm from the same ebay seller as the RH arm I brought in Jan, so surely it should be the same construction quality?

ah FFS nope this one's poorly built, just look at the massive gap waiting to fail

unpainted section

this section looks different and left a gaping hole to catch water & rust

gawd look at this silly big gap unacceptable.
can't afford to mess about, I'm gonna have to rebuild or reinforce it

Comparison

lets compare the RH january arm with the LH july arm

looking at the pattern moulding, the arm roughly looks identical except for this rear section where there's a wider gap to weld

the front bush on the RH is welded close & tight to the arm whereas the LH arm is welded loosely with a large gap

comparing the geometry, if I line up the rear peg

and the ball joint

the front bush cylinder is about the same position

but the new LH pattern stamped arm looks like it wasn't fully aligned on the jig during welding, hence the gaps

the front bush alignment of all the arms appear the same

Removing PU bushes

the LH front bush was squeaking cos it was dry

whereas the RH bush was still greased n quiet

Fix old broken arm

incase I ruin the new arm, lets fix the old arm just for fun and practice

removed the old rear bush

grinded the faces flat

and welded it all back stronger than before

 

[pollyp]

Reinforce new arms

now lets correct these new arms

cut the front bush casing off the arm

grinded the surfaces smooth

removed the obsolete rubber bush

when I yanked the bush casing off, the remaining weld had ripped a small hole so I welded that up

shaped the arm to fit the casing snugly

and welded it back on

welded the front bit, blew a tiny hole but was fixed

I was gonna tediously cut the whole rear peg out of the arm but was gonna be alot of work & could weaken it so instead I just bulk up the existing gaps with more welds.
my welds getting better with practice

also welded up the RH arms rear peg too.
with this much bulking, there's hopefully no chance of it snapping again

painted

PU bushes & rear bushes all rubber greased & ready to fit

 

[Antony]

Might be worth making a set of tubular arms out of a better grade if steel, would have less flex too.

 

[pollyp]

Might be worth making a set of tubular arms out of a better grade if steel, would have less flex too.

that's what H701's upto.
would be nice and add to the end of a never ending wish list awaiting time & money.

 

[pollyp]

arms fitted, sway bar regreased

restiffened the mid hangers lower down so the downpipe doesn't bang against the selector rods & chassis

the recent dodgy RH dipped light was cos that bulb was blown. fitted my older non-blue bulbs

the washer jets are abit meh, beginning to block up & not spray as well.
saw this at halfords n thought meh wth lets try em. they work gr8, much sharper stronger jet now

new plugs now browned up nicely

went for a drive.
she pulls nicely with no leaks and new CV boot is solid now.



still more little stuff to sort out and only got a week left but she's getting there

 

[pork]

Wow! Those arms look scary!!

Had a lucky escspe


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[pollyp]

Wow! Those arms look scary!!

Had a lucky escspe


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

aye, thankfully the arm stayed connected via the front mount and the surrounding swaybar.
think the power & application of these pulsar brakes on trackdays are pushing the production qualities of these ebay copy parts to the limit (don't think these were originally made to withstand such abuse lol) but now with the welded refinements it should hold up better, fingers x

 

[pork]

Still....bit of brown trouser time!! Lol

Makes me ponder on my eBay specials

In comparison, my lowly supercharged 'street' car won't see the kinda abuse yours does, but it doesn't fill me with much confidence


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[pollyp]

Still....bit of brown trouser time!! Lol

Makes me ponder on my eBay specials

In comparison, my lowly supercharged 'street' car won't see the kinda abuse yours does, but it doesn't fill me with much confidence


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

the loud bang when it fractures apart is quite startling.

I guess this sorta issue is to be expected with copy parts cos they're only good upto the original normal purpose but as soon as ur pushing wayyy! beyond the intended spec, things start to break, at which point I'd have to either re-engineer or upgrade.

 

[SuperUno]

Still....bit of brown trouser time!! Lol

Makes me ponder on my eBay specials

In comparison, my lowly supercharged 'street' car won't see the kinda abuse yours does, but it doesn't fill me with much confidence


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Try driving one of longest stages of Wales Rally GB and a spectator special and then 100+ road miles back to service with your NSF wishbone like this....

 

[pollyp]

Try driving one of longest stages of Wales Rally GB and a spectator special and then 100+ road miles back to service with your NSF wishbone like this....

Seems like a common weak spot for this type of arm with rear stub?

 

[SuperUno]

Sadly yes....

Wishbones are now a lifed iterm for us....

 

[h701micra]

It's a poor cast bar of cheap quality. Despite welding I suspect it'll fail again

Still on the tubular wishbones. Seem to be getting popular

 

[pollyp]

It's a poor cast bar of cheap quality. Despite welding I suspect it'll fail again

Still on the tubular wishbones. Seem to be getting popular

aye looks like brittle quality steel from the fracture. it just has to survive the trip to nurburg, tis all that matters at the mo.

how did ya get on with developing those arms?

btw looking at the blyton park vids, the k11 front pelvis section for the lower arms is a very floppy structure, even with a lower single brace. ideally it should be an X-brace between the front bush mounts and the front swaybar mount to stop it flexing under huge cornering & braking loads.

 

[pollyp]

tday I resoldered a loose alternator wire, secured some camera usb cables, and taped some heatshield behind the boost catch can so the radiator doesn't heat it up

since I have a new set of T1R to fit before the trip and the current set is only down to 2.3 - 3mm it needs wearing down. thought I'd use the time to try out afew cheeky burnouts & see if she's ready for the trip



at 5:11 went to the countryside and did a brief burn. lsd locking em both nicely and can see the tread rapidly heating & turning matt, Mmm smell of burnt rubber inside

6:20 did a wheel spinning launch, 0-60 bout 8s

7:35 did another rolling launch joining the A road, 0-60 bout 7s

now it's dark gonna readjust the lights

 

[pollyp]

removed her old tyres tday, still some meat left on em

new thick rubber fitted. drove down motorway and with 4 equal tyres she cruises so straight with zero drifting and tis abit quieter just have to corner balance & realign the steering angles

 

[pollyp]

test drive new tyres from yesterday.
saw an overturned pickup @14:15
and encountered a big farm vehicle in the countryside @17:55
trying WOT with new greasy tyres in the rain @18:30 obviously had minimal traction

 

[pollyp]

all the printed markings on my ratchet spanners has rubbed off so tis very hard to spot their size.
so I just engraved the numbers with a dremel

tday is the long task of corner balancing & aligning the suspension

so the initial conditions are 50% fuel, all tyres brand new equal tread depths set at 3 bars, sway bars removed.

placed the car on the scales and log the initial balance.
I bounce each corner, recording the load on all 4 scales & rim-arch gap then calc the average.

FL 279.3kg 103mm / FR 285.5kg 105mm
RL 175.7kg 102mm / RR 177.3kg 103mm

the FR is the heaviest & highest corner

I reduced the FR preload and it looks better

FL 281.5kg 103mm / FR 283.6kg 104mm
RL 173.6kg 102mm / RR 179.4kg 105mm

then I re-aligned the wheels.
rear axle was pointing slightly right so corrected it.
front camber -1.75deg
and set dead straight with zero toe.
rear swaybar mount was seized, may have made the inner rear wheel lift up on track, so regreased the swaybars.

went out for a test drive and oh my this is so nice, the steering pointing is perfectly straight and has zero drift on flat roads
car is now all set.
just have to sort out my equipment for the trip.

 

[pollyp]

my old 75w inverter for powering the laptop always interferes with the consult cable making datascan/nistune freeze up, thinking perhaps the unstable underpowered power supply messing up the laptop signals?

so brought this 300w unit for £30 in maplin

was gonna place it under the passenger seat but then figured I'll be drilling towards fuel/brake lines there, no good idea

so place it under the driver instead, drills mounting holes

cba with brackets & bolts, cable tie ftw
it also has a handy usb charger slot, which I'll then connect to charge the usb power pack buffer that powers all the cameras. 2 birds with 1 stone.

plugged it all up and it mostly works.
when the power feed to the inverter is a steady 12 or 14v it powers the laptop fine without freezing the consult but the moment I crank the car for 1sec, this cuts the aux cig lighter which upsets the inverter and laptop which then causes the consult to freeze.

ain't connecting the unit directly to the battery cos I'll forget & drain all the power overnight.

if I want to record a datalog, it'll have to be whilst the cars running.

so it's Wed, the car is all as ready as she can be, all my documents ready, just have to pack my clothes, tools, tent, fluids, many spares and we'll be setting off thursday lunch for the 5-6hr trip to ashford hotel before we begin the trip next Early morning. Eeey so exciting

then I'll obviously be offline for awhile till I'm back home whether in 1 piece or not

 

[SuperUno]

Have fun out there, just don't bin it a) for you and the car and b) it bloody expensive when they collect you off the track...!

 

[pollyp]

Have fun out there, just don't bin it a) for you and the car and b) it bloody expensive when they collect you off the track...!

aye I can't afford to on zero income and rapidly deminishing savings :/
have to be conservative well within my limits at all times on this unforgiving track unlike on UK trackdays

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

my old 75w inverter for powering the laptop always interferes with the consult cable making datascan/nistune freeze up, thinking perhaps the unstable underpowered power supply messing up the laptop signals?

so brought this 300w unit for £30 in maplin

View attachment 43973

was gonna place it under the passenger seat but then figured I'll be drilling towards fuel/brake lines there, no good idea

View attachment 43974

so place it under the driver instead, drills mounting holes

View attachment 43975

cba with brackets & bolts, cable tie ftw
it also has a handy usb charger slot, which I'll then connect to charge the usb power pack buffer that powers all the cameras. 2 birds with 1 stone.

View attachment 43972

plugged it all up and it mostly works.
when the power feed to the inverter is a steady 12 or 14v it powers the laptop fine without freezing the consult but the moment I crank the car for 1sec, this cuts the aux cig lighter which upsets the inverter and laptop which then causes the consult to freeze.

ain't connecting the unit directly to the battery cos I'll forget & drain all the power overnight.

if I want to record a datalog, it'll have to be whilst the cars running.

so it's Wed, the car is all as ready as she can be, all my documents ready, just have to pack my clothes, tools, tent, fluids, many spares and we'll be setting off thursday lunch for the 5-6hr trip to ashford hotel before we begin the trip next Early morning. Eeey so exciting

then I'll obviously be offline for awhile till I'm back home whether in 1 piece or not

I use these to delay the power up whilst starting my engine.
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=311084409111&alt=web
Ive got it set for 10 seconds before it applies power to my camera and external temp sensor.

 

[Skinner_87]

aye I can't afford to on zero income and rapidly deminishing savings :/
have to be conservative well within my limits at all times on this unforgiving track unlike on UK trackdays

Have a great trip Paul!

Vid's or it didn't happen