takai's IPRA AE86

[takai]

Racing on Saturday, so im just going through and tidying up the car, doing all those last little bits that i had left for later.

Got the Lineasports finished, and with decals:


Just needs coolant and an exit route to be cleared for it. Easy run through to Friday.

[AJPS]

did you cut the stickers yourself?

got fuel?

[takai]

Yes, and likely. I have my own sticker cutter these days.

Fuel is hopefully being delivered tonight, or ill go pick some up from Caltex or Scotchers tomorrow afternoon,

[takai]

Well that was a weekend which had its memorable bits, and some completely forgettable bits. Went out in Quali and found a pretty greasy track, got tapped in the drivers rear and spun around clipping Ledger on the way. Buggerall damage to both cars, just a smashed parker and bent tow hook on mine, and some paint from his.
At some point during the session the water temp gauge decided to go the way of the buffalo and jam at 80deg, subsequently i spat the fan belt somewhere down near Clubhouse. So im happily hammering around the track until the cooldown lap when the gauge magically decides to start working again and give me a brief glimpse of the fact that the coolant is around 140deg and rather unhappy. Got back to the pits and then the gauge gave up the ghost entirely and jammed off the clock Also for some reason my passenger rear tyre pressure was 10psi more than the drivers rear when hot. Same starting pressures though. Very bloody odd and made for a rather skatey ride.

Got a new fan belt and fitted that up, and then got out for Race 1. Immediately noticed that something felt odd and that the engine was down on power, but it wasnt throwing any nasty warning lights at me, and oil pressure was still fine, so i soldiered on... to a 1:31.6... pretty clear that something was wrong. In addition as the track was now dry i quickly figured out that while the brakes were slowing me down, they certainly wern't doing their job to the best of their ability, because despite being hard on them with my butt almost out of the seat i couldnt lock the fronts. Power was down quite significantly with the top speed into Northern being 35km/h shy of my usual.
After lunch i did Race 2 as well, just to complete my OLT so i could get my proper licence rather than having to run on temporary ones. Managed a 1:30.6 in that race. Off the start line i set the lap timer G-sensor thingy to a "powah test". Yielded a stunning 65hp. Not sure how accurate it was as i wasnt able to give it the full distance it wanted, but regardless, thats through 3 gears, so its probably a decent enough guesstimate.

Packed up after that race yesterday and brought it all home. Havnt had much time to do any work on the car today, but i did a quick compression test and got:
1: 175psi
2: 70psi
3: 85psi
4: Dead compression tester

Arrrghhh, more stuff dying. Ohwell.

So from this weekend i now have the following to do:
1. Build new engine, pretty urgent now.
2. Install pedal box
3. Make caliper brackets for Wilwood calipers rather than the RX7 setup
4. Replace coolant temp gauge (and probably Oil temp too since they are the same brand/age).

Ohwell. I have RaceChrono data coming soon too, overlaid on video from the Contour.

On the up side though i have my OLT done, and the car is handling reasonably well, once the tyre pressures were sorted (dumped and refilled the air, perhaps something in the valve). Was a good bit of fun too. New engine time

[ke_70]

haha what a weekend!

any pics from the weekend?

[slide86]

mechanical or electric gauge?

do you think its the rx7 calipers that are letting the deal down?

[Celica RA45]

did you get the proper fuel chris and i see andy left after race 3 as well

[takai]

Yeah, pics should be coming soon. None of the usual photographers have put any up. Bryce took a few, but i havnt seen them yet.

Electric, GReddy gauge.
Unsure whats letting the deal down, its ok, but nothing great. Brings me up from 165km/h into Northern from the 200m mark, but thats nothing special, and if i cant lock up the fronts then something is wrong.

Using E-Flex. The photo on PF of the 73% is the fuel i was using. I think ill be donating it to a mate who runs E85 in his road car and then using proper stuff on the new engine.

[Frak]

Just be aware that guys like Adam Allan have been running RX7 calipers for many years and have no problems stopping from higher speeds and lap times in the 16's.

[takai]

Yeah, i dont think its the calipers specifically. I would say its a combination of the pads, calipers and master cylinder. Its got Endless pads in there, which are supposed to be great at extremely high temps, but im not sure if im getting them up to temp enough, and the master cylinder is the same 240K unit that Rob and John run/have run and its not quite a perfect match bore wise, and it has that strange characteristic of the harder you press the more rear bias you get.

Unsure as to the specific nature of it, but im moving away from the setup anyway. Going to a dual master pedal box to eliminate the MC issues (which Rob tried for years to eliminate and gave up), and going to the Wilwood calipers for better wheel and rubber selection.