So what was the issue with the clutch?? I need to know!

 

9/12/16 Update:
What a week.

The first track event was scheduled for 9/10-9/11, so on Tuesday 9/6, I loaded the car up on the trailer and took it to my buddy’s shop, Panzer Performance (http://www.panzerperformance.com/), in Bradenton, FL to have the owner/operator Tom go through it and do a once-over of it. We had a few punch list items to take care of (ARP wheel studs, wing install, alignment, and tune). Luckily for me Florida Speed and Power is located in the building directly behind Panzer Performance, so they can do the tuning on their dyno.

Here she is all loaded up and getting on the road:


On Tuesday we got the wheel studs replaced, went over the suspension, and tackled a transmission leak I had been chasing.

So Wednesday, we took it for a test drive around the block and…. Dropped a lifter. The ticking was very prevalent on cylinder 7, so we assumed it was a broken/loose rocker arm, or valve spring. Unfortunately after narrowing it down, we pulled the head and found one dead lifter and a cam lobe that was scored a bit more than the others.


By a stroke of luck, the local GM dealership had a set of LS7 lifters in-stock, so I picked them up and replaced the head gasket on the drivers side of the motor. By Thursday at 10pm, the car was back in action with no noise and good power.
Friday morning, we sent it off for an alignment and a dyno tune at Florida Speed and Power. I got the car back around 3pm Friday and installed the wing and finished up the interior.




Then we loaded her up and headed to the racetrack…

 

9/12/16 Update Continued:
We arrived at the track around 7pm Friday night and unloaded the cars into the pits and went to the hotel to get some much needed sleep.

On Saturday morning, we completed registration/tech and did the drivers meeting prior to our first run of the morning at 9:20am.
Here she is in the pits before the runs began:





We were battling 95 degree heat all day, and the cooling system was struggling to keep up. We went back to the drawing board Saturday night and made up a galvanized radiator shroud to help funnel some air into the radiator for the second day. It helped immensely and we were able to keep the car around 200-210 degrees on Sunday.

Overall, it was a great first weekend. Lots of leaks and lots learned. I'll put the car up this coming weekend and source some of the leaking issues and get her prepared for the next one!

Here's some on-track pics/vids. I should have some more coming:












One one for fun where a 944 spun out in front of us and the Panzer Performance shop car:


And just a couple more post-racing shots:

 

Awesome, really dove in head first this week huh! Glad to hear you got her out and going, I am too still battling some cooling gremlins, probably will end up a winter project!

 

What track did you go to?

 

Very cool. Poor luck on the failed lifter, but glad you were able to get it sorted out so quickly

 

I have a huge radiator, but didn't have it ducted well enough. The ducting is what really cooled the car down.

It's Sebring International Raceway, right in the middle of the state. It's just shy of 4 miles long and a very fun track to run.

It's all a part of it. I was pretty disheartened when it happened, but I wasn't going to miss her first track day.

 

So much win in all the above pics!! How was the handling at speed on the track? I just did my first track day in my 1.6L Miata and think I'd be a menace to others had I been in something far quicker than my driving talents are up for. Your car looks great - very purposeful.

 

Very nice, car looks like a beast.

Maybe it's the fender flares that make it look like it's really low, or maybe the lateral Gs you are pulling.

 

7/4/17 Update:

Way too long since I last posted on here. Been pretty busy with the car over the past couple of months after I let it sit for a while.

After we got back from Sebring, the car developed a pretty harsh knocking sound and low oil pressure (25psi at 6k RPMs.) We tore it down to take a look and found that the rod bearings were torn up and the oil pan sounded like a maraca when you shook it. I didn't take great pictures of the carnage, but have some of what came out of the oil pan:


I decided that rather than going with another tired truck motor, I ordered a Thompson Motorsports aluminum bottom end to replace the motor:






Got it installed, wired it up, and got her going again.



A video of her idling: IMG_2073_zpsd3fhuovc.mp4 Video by ordonez1307 | Photobucket

 

7/4/17 Update (Continued)

While on the track last year, the car desperately needed more front aero as was made very clear by how hard the car was squatting at over 100mph. Here is a good example showing it:


So I ordered a set of Garage Vary Extra Large Canards.



And RivNut'd them on:





The next step is to add the splitter this car needs. I've templated it with cardboard as of last weekend, and have ordered Alumacore and APR splitter support rods to install. It should be here next week sometime.

 

7/4/17 Update (Continued)

Another issue we had at the track was brake fade after the long runs in nearly 100 degree heat. So I ordered the Singular Motorsports brake ducting kit.

Install went smooth:



So I took it around the block and came back to this:




It looks like the ducting kit with the Wilwoods scrapes the rotor, so I decided to cut the bottom of the ducting plate off where it rubs.
I have no idea why I didn't take a photo, but I'll take one when I get to the car this weekend.

 

Nice work! I wish I'd not made my car so pretty so I wouldn't be afraid to track it lol

 

Nice to see updates from those guys still having fun with their builds.

 

I, too, like seeing updates on the cars already built. I'd pay good $$ for a few hot laps in the passenger seat. Wide sticky tires and high HP makes this car an animal.

 

8/28/17 Update:

I finished up the Alumacore splitter this weekend. I did a mock-up with wood to get the sizing right.


The rear is mounted with tube steel welded to the V8R subframe and a lynch pin on each side for easy removal to get it on the trailer and 4 APR splitter rods for the front.

Here is the template:


And the process:






On top of that, I added a Canton Racing Accusump for the long sweeper corners. It's a bit of insurance for the new motor. So I can prime the engine with about 30psi of oil prior to startup, and any time that the motor gets starved for oil, this thing has 3 extra quarts of oil stored in it that will kick in if the oil pressure ever drops below 35psi.

I decided to mount it in the truck, as there really isn't a good spot up front anywhere and plumbed it with 10AN line to the motor.





Then I finished up the dashboard/gauge setup. I added switches for the fan and the Accusump (and an LED to let me know when the Accusump is pushing oil to the motor), a Volt Gauge, and a Wideband. I think it came out pretty cool.


And door bushings for the hell of it:

 

1/30/18 - Update
Took the car to Sebring earlier this month. The lap times are much better this time around, but still a lot of improvement to be had.

Finally got some decent GoPro footage on-track and in-car:

My notes:

• I'm at the limit of the V-Maxx setup. I honestly haven't been happy with them since Day 1. I really haven't settled on anything yet for a replacement. I'd love to go for a set of Ohlins through V8R, but cannot justify $4k on a coilover setup for a track toy. Serbing is a tough track on it's own in terms of bumps, but the V-Maxx's just don't get the job done. My visor on my helmet literally bounces shut from the suspension. It's pretty evident in the video.
• The car runs kinda hot (220 degrees). It doesn't get any warmer than that, but it just seems warm to me. I'm gonna swap thermostats, put some nicer fans on it, and mess with the shrouding a bit more.
• The Sanderson header flange (3 bolt) sucks. So we're going to tear it apart and put v-bands on them. They just won't stay tight as-is.
• I lost a differential bushing at some point during the day, so I had to replace it with a solid setup (washers) for the remainder. I think the exhaust being too tight and the bouncing suspension did them in. I'll probably go with a full solid setup going forward.

Overall the car is a lot of fun. I'm debating on stripping it, throwing a cage in it, and going through NASA time trials with it. It could be pretty quick with a few changes.

 

Nice track footage, does look a bit "jiggly" though isn't Sebring alot of concrete and seams? Alot of track Miatas seem to like Xida shocks, though the Ohlins are probably the top dog, just too expensive.

Looking fwd to some warm weather myself, we booked a flight last night to Ft. Myers to stay with the in-laws for a week at the end of March.