My newest autocross weapon. [Archive] (2024)

GChambers

6th May 2006, 19:16

It was a long day. I started at noon with a relatively stock 90 Miata and ended the afternoon with my new STS2 car.

The car got a new Racing Beat intake, Borla exhaust, Konis, Ground Controls, Racing Beat tubular sway bar, and a fabulous new set of 15x7.5 Volk TE-37s with brand new Azenis RT-215s. Tomorrow will be the first event for the car. I couldn't find an alignment shop open this evening so we will not be expecting much from the car until we can get it properly aligned.

Hopefully we can get the car sorted a bit, get the seats installed and be ready for the Peru National Tour at the end of the month. We hope to see all of you there.

Before and after pics.

aruba

6th May 2006, 19:56

Underated

6th May 2006, 20:24

W

6th May 2006, 21:17

ldp82pz96

6th May 2006, 21:17

GChambers

6th May 2006, 22:45

Spring rates are temporary. We are starting with 550f/350r. I am fairly certain we will end up way higher than that by Nationals. We are running OTS Konis right now and they probably won't handle rates higher than that very well. I do have another set of Konis that I will have revalved(I have been planning on doing this for months but still have not done it yet...) and will go with higer rates once I get these shocks done.

I forgot to mention that I also installed a set of FM tophats. These things are top notch! Quality and workmanship are outstanding and FM got them to me in just a few days. Great service!

Also, thanks to Steve at Gearheads Garage. He gave me a fantastic deal on the RB intake and the Borla exhaust and shipped them both within hours of ordering them.

Benny the Bean

6th May 2006, 22:56

What setting did you put the Konis to get it that low?

......b

neurokinetik

7th May 2006, 00:24

ncwlau

7th May 2006, 22:27

was the event you were running in Peru, In with the Tristate Club?

i'm interested in how you did and what needs to be taken care of the car to get it nationals ready?

GChambers

8th May 2006, 09:27

Yea, we ran with TSSCC yesterday. It was a very good time. I have to say we were extremely pleased with the car even without getting it aligned. My co-driver finished 19th in the pax and I finished 20th against some pretty stiff competetion. With a little practice in the car I think we can do much better.

The car still has a cheeseball "style bar" in it and stock seats and air conditioning. I think the car has about 100-150lbs to lose. We also need to install the header but before we do that we need to manage the heat in the engine bay. It gets awful damn hot in there. We have some ideas what to do but implementing those ideas may proove to be very difficult.

GChambers

11th May 2006, 14:45

Update...

We ordered a new light weight battery(11 lbs, I think), passenger seat to go along with the drivers seat that I bought cheap from a Spec Miata guy and have planned to yank the air conditioning out of the car this weekend. New brake rotors, braided brake lines and rear Hawk HP Plus pads are also on the way. Hopefully the seats, air conditioning removal, "style bar" removal and battery should help us lose over 100lbs.

I will report back with an approximate weight savings when we get everything done.

ncwlau

12th May 2006, 16:21

i assume you have power steering

is it worthwile to swap to the manual rack or is it too slow and too much effort?

very interested in your progress

Dave_G

12th May 2006, 16:35

We ordered a new light weight battery(11 lbs, I think)

Which battery is that? I'm in the market for a new battery in which the primary criterion is light weight, for the same reason as you. :) 11 pounds is pretty good!

Nice car. I also have a '90 that is currently sitting in my garage getting a set of 600/300 Ground Control springs installed, along with newly revalved Konis to match. This is going to be a big (and welcome) change from the stock springs and shocks!

What seats are you putting in there?

Icehawk

12th May 2006, 16:45

GChambers

12th May 2006, 17:58

This is the battery that we ordered.

http://www.portablepower.com/items/batteries/SLA/1/Hawker/PC680T/SL105/37L105S4

Hopefully it will do the job for us. I'm not sure exactly how much the stock battery weighs but I think it is over 40lbs.

I bought a very lightly used Ultrashield Pro Road Race seat from a Spec Miata guy. I think the seat bolsters are going to be a little hard to clime over to get into and out of the car so I ordered an Ultrashield Rally Sport seat also. Which ever we like best will be the drivers seat and the other will go on the passengers side.

ThePass

19th May 2006, 06:06

GChambers

19th May 2006, 15:09

From what I understand, whether the battery works as well as stock is car/owner dependant. Some say it does, some say it doesn't. Since we have a pretty full schedule this summer, the battery will probably stay in the car until after nationals. It will then stay on a battery tender for the winter.

There will be quite a thrash next week to get the car ready for the Peru Tour. Hopefully we won't get beat too bad. The more we do on the car, the more we realize that we need to do to get it into race shape. I have a feeling that Andy Hollis and some of the others are really gonna hand it to us. Oh well. It will be a good learning experience. :)

GChambers

19th May 2006, 16:24

i assume you have power steering

is it worthwile to swap to the manual rack or is it too slow and too much effort?

very interested in your progress

Sorry, I meant to answer your question last week but forgot.

My car has the B option package. We have considered swapping out the steering rack for a manual rack and converting the car to the standard package. If we do this, it will be a long term thing, possibly over the winter. There is just too many other things for us to do at this point to worry about that. I would like to drive a manual steering car before I decide. I'm not sure how much weight this will save us but I'm sure it will be a significant amount.

91fivespeed

21st May 2006, 17:01

This is the battery that we ordered.

http://www.portablepower.com/items/batteries/SLA/1/Hawker/PC680T/SL105/37L105S4

Hopefully it will do the job for us. I'm not sure exactly how much the stock battery weighs but I think it is over 40lbs.

I bought a very lightly used Ultrashield Pro Road Race seat from a Spec Miata guy. I think the seat bolsters are going to be a little hard to clime over to get into and out of the car so I ordered an Ultrashield Rally Sport seat also. Which ever we like best will be the drivers seat and the other will go on the passengers side.
"40 pounds?" That sounds really high. My large batteries for a full sized GMC diesel truck may way 20lbs each.

ThePass

22nd May 2006, 02:08

Bryan

22nd May 2006, 07:32

GChambers

22nd May 2006, 10:08

The battery that came out of the car is definitely more than 40lbs. I have not weighed it yet but I will. I'm sure it was not the stock battery. Maybe the stock battery is a bit lighter.

We ran the car at Grissom yesterday. It was a real handful for our first few runs. The tires just wouldn't grip and the car was insanely loose. After a few air pressure adjustments and some shock tweaking, we got it to do what we wanted. Unfortunately, I don't think that bodes well for us this coming weekend. With only three runs each day, if we are chasing handling problems we will not be going fast right away. Hopefully the settings we ended up with yesterday will be good out of the gate Saturday. If not we are gonna get our butts kicked. :)

We took the car to get aligned last week. For some reason, before the alignment on the rear we had -2.9deg camber on one side and -3.4 on the other. After the alignment the mechanic claims that the camber is maxed at -2.0 on one side and -2.3 on the other. This is a problem. The car definitely needs more camber than this. We are going to have to figure out what is wrong and fix it.

We have a heck of a thrash to do this week to get the car ready. The header is still not in the car and we are hoping to get the new seat and have it in the car by Friday. We also have not removed the air conditioning. My co-driver and I both have busy schedules this week so it doesn't look like everything will get done for this weekend but we'll try.

Andy Hollis

22nd May 2006, 10:17

The battery that came out of the car is definitely more than 40lbs. I have not weighed it yet but I will. I'm sure it was not the stock battery. Maybe the stock battery is a bit lighter.

We ran the car at Grissom yesterday. It was a real handful for our first few runs. The tires just wouldn't grip and the car was insanely loose. After a few air pressure adjustments and some shock tweaking, we got it to do what we wanted. Unfortunately, I don't think that bodes well for us this coming weekend. With only three runs each day, if we are chasing handling problems we will not be going fast right away. Hopefully the settings we ended up with yesterday will be good out of the gate Saturday. If not we are gonna get our butts kicked. :)

Gary,

Just came across this thread. Glad to see you taking the plunge!

Feel free to pick my brain while we are out in Peru, and do stop by for a margarita!

BTW, the OE battery is 20 lbs (the vented one) and the replacement one that Mazda sells is 21 lbs. Sounds like you had some kind of hack job in there.

Good luck!

--Andy

GChambers

22nd May 2006, 10:20

Thanks Andy.

Sorry I was editing and adding while you were posting. ;)

I'll be there early Friday and will stop by and say hello.

GChambers

30th May 2006, 01:14

What a busy weekend...

About a week ago, I took the car in for an alignment. We had already done an event with the car without getting the car aligned and the car was suprisingly good. My co-driver liked it so much that he even tried to talk me into not getting the alignment. I figured that we would just keep it roughly the way it was but make sure the camber and toe were even from side to side. I was sitting in the car for the alignment so I couldn't see what the mechanic was doing. While he was aligning the car, he was talking about how he used to help his buddy align his race car. I figured I was in good hands. He told me that he maxed out the camber on the front and rear and could only get about -2.0 deg of camber. This didn't sound right to me but since I was in a bit of a hurry to get to work, I just figured I would deal with it later.

They gave me a printout of the alignment specs before and after. Before, we had -2.9deg and -3.4deg camber in the rear. After the alignment I had -2.0deg and it was maxed out? How could that be? I called the alignment shop earlier last week and told them that I was not happy with the results and asked them to redo the alignment. After stopping at AIM Tuning to have Shane take a look, we discovered that he had minimized camber instead of maxing it.

When I got to the alignment shop Friday morning, the mechanic immediately went on the defensive. After arguing with me for a few minutes, he finally put the car up on the rack to "show me". He got the car up on the rack and showed me a print out of the alignment directions. As he read them to himself I saw the tiny little lightbulb go off in his head. Then, after I showed him both the front and rear alignment bolts on the rear suspension and how he needs to set the camber with BOTH bolts then adjust the toe with the front cam, he finally got me the specs that I wanted. As he was finishing up with the car, I called my co-driver to tell him that the alignment would be done in a few minutes and I would be on my way to meet him in Peru for the National Tour event.

When we got to Peru, we got the trailor unloaded, tires on the car, got through tech and took a few practice runs. On my third run, I heard a horrible banging noise in the front of the car. When I got off course, they told me that my horn had fallen out of the car. We did a big thrash Thursday night to take out the a/c, install the header, light weight battery and the new seat. While removing the a/c, we took lose the horn. Apparently we forgot to bolt it back on. It was just hanging from the wire. I figured that the banging noise was just the horn flopping around. After my co-driver took one run and complained about the same noise, I immediately remembered a thred that I read here about someone having the same problem after an alignment and the mechanic not tightening the alignment bolts properly. We took the car back to the paddock, jacked it up and discovered that only two of the alignment bolts were tight. We tightened all the bolts and took the car back out for a few more runs. Problem solved. For some reason we were so happy that we found the problem that we didn't even consider that our alignment was out.

Saturday was a rough day for us. The car wasn't handling well at all. We were over two seconds behind Andy Hollis. My co-driver was in second and I was in 4th. My goal for the weekend was to be less than one second behind him per day. We decided to check the alignment Sunday morning. We got a camber gauge and discovered that the front alignment was way off. We had over -3deg camber on one side and less than -2deg on the other. We also had some serious toe in. Andy Hollis was nice enough to allow us to take some camber measurements off his car. We were actually suprised at how easy it was for us to give the car a front end alignment on a concrete parking lot with a camber gauge, a couple of two-by-fours and a tape measure. It took us about a half hour to get the car close to where we wanted it. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! The car handled worlds better the second day.

We were able to close the gap considerably over Saturdays runs. I was able to jump up into second place from fourth after my first run. I hit a cone on my third and best run. That run would have put me less than a second of Andy for day two if it were not for that cone. My co-driver was able to put up a time that was good enough to bump me back into third place. There was no catching Andy this weekend. Not only is he a great driver but his car is extremely well prepaired. I'm sure he will continue to develop the car even further. It will take us a very long time to get to where he is, if we ever do.

Other than doing a minor tweaking to the alignment later this week, we are done fooling with the car for a while. We both feel that we could have driven a bit better this weekend. Now that we have the car close to where we like it, it's time to learn how to drive it faster.

Bryan

30th May 2006, 06:44

GChambers

30th May 2006, 09:59

Thanks.

One very positive thing that came out of the weekend was that we have learned to do our own alignments. It was suprisingly easy for us to do. I feel very confident that we can make alignment changes as needed for future events.

asianrice02

30th May 2006, 10:18

GChambers

30th May 2006, 10:44

GChambers

15th October 2006, 00:59

Nothing like waiting almost 5 months to update...

We had a good summer with the car. Once we got the alignment nailed there wasn't much more to do to the car except learn to drive it. I am just amazed by this car every time I drive it. We have litterally ran the hell out of it at least every other weekend since I built it back in May. The only mechanical problem that we had all season was discovered on day 2 at Nationals. The nut and bolt holding the power steering pump came loose and the bolt was sliding forward nearly hitting the power steering pulley. We were fortunate that the nut was the same size as the nut from the rear sway bar end link so we had a spare in the tool box. Other than that, the car has been completely trouble free. Here are a few pics of the car in action.

http://www.indyscca.org/photos/Solo/2006/e3/g3/pages/P1010842_JPG.htm
http://www.indyscca.org/photos/Solo/2006/e3/g3/pages/P1010889_JPG.htm

While we have had some great success setting up the car, our driving is not so good. It's not that we are not capable of putting up some very fast times. We just didn't have the consistency that we needed to win the big one. My co-driver put up the 3rd fastest time on the first day at Nationals and I was 5th fastest on day two. Unfortunately, neither of us could be fast on both days. I finished in 7th and grabbed the last trophy spot. Hopefully, with a bit more practice, we will be more consistent and a bit faster next year.

My co-driver did have an unfortunate loss this summer which leads me to the reason for this post. He was driving to work in his S2000 when someone ran a red light and hit him. The car was totaled. He was without a car for a week while the insurance company was processing his claim so I lent him the Miata to drive for a week. Well, after a week of daily driving my autocross car, he decided that he needed one of his own. He found a beautiful silver 1990 standard package car. The only two options the car had were power steering and a VLSD. The car only had 62,000 miles and the body is in nearly perfect condition. Since he bought the car, we have been working towards building another STS2 car. (BTW, HUGE THANKS to Steve at www.gearheadsgarage.com for getting us all the go-fast parts to build the new car. He matched or beat every price on everything we needed to build the car. Not only are his prices very low, he is a great guy to deal with!) Unfortunately, we didn't buy the Ground Controls from him. I had a friend "hook me up" on a discount. The discount, while saving us well over $100, cost us almost a month of build time while we waited for all the parts to trickle in. Two sets of springs and 5 shipments later, we just finished up installing the suspension last weekend. We finished up the alignment last night and the car will see it's first event tomorrow.

We took a lot of what we learned from my car and made some improvements on his. His car has the new Koni Race shocks, stiffer spring rates, a different intake and header and will have different wheels and tires. We are looking forward to having both cars to play with next year. While his car should be a bit better than mine, we will run and develop both cars next year. Here are a few pics.

Tomorrow is the first event for his car. I will post our impressions of his new car and how it compares to mine. Here are a few pics of the new beast.

Andy Hollis

15th October 2006, 07:41

Nothing like waiting almost 5 months to update...

We took a lot of what we learned from my car and made some improvements on his. His car has the new Koni Race shocks, stiffer spring rates, a different intake and header and will have different wheels and tires. We are looking forward to having both cars to play with next year. While his car should be a bit better than mine, we will run and develop both cars next year. Here are a few pics.

Tomorrow is the first event for his car. I will post our impressions of his new car and how it compares to mine. Here are a few pics of the new beast.

I'm really glad you guys came out this year. Yes, your car is fast and each of you is capable of laying down some quick times. Kudos.

Curious, what are you running for springs/bars and alignment on each car? And what about intake and exhaust? I'm sure everyone would like to know.

--Andy

asianrice02

15th October 2006, 11:11

GChambers

15th October 2006, 16:59

I'm really glad you guys came out this year. Yes, your car is fast and each of you is capable of laying down some quick times. Kudos.

Curious, what are you running for springs/bars and alignment on each car? And what about intake and exhaust? I'm sure everyone would like to know.

--Andy
My car has OTS Konis with 550/350 Ground Controls, RB tubular front bar, no rear bar. Camber depends on whether the car wants to cooperate or not. Typically we run about -2.3f/-2.8r.

RB Intake and Borla exhaust.

Gus's car has the new Koni Race shocks with 600/400 Ground Controls. Everything else on the car is basically the same except he runs the same intake that you run.

We have not settled on alignment specs for his car. Today was it's first event. The car felt great but it was just a few tenths behind mine though it didn't have good tires on it.

GChambers

15th October 2006, 17:23

you guys are making lust for a NA. i like to know what sts2 all about!

The cars are great. STS2 allows quite a few of the basic mods that everyone does. Unlike some other cars, a well prepped STS2 Miata is more than comfortable enough to daily drive even when it is prepaired to be competitive on a national level. When we do local events, we can just bold the race tires on, drive to the event, adjust pressures and crank up the shocks and run.

Our local event today had about 100 cars show up and IIRC,we were running about 10th in raw times.

Bryan

16th October 2006, 00:20

GChambers

16th October 2006, 10:39

I'm really glad you guys came out this year. Yes, your car is fast and each of you is capable of laying down some quick times. Kudos.

Curious, what are you running for springs/bars and alignment on each car? And what about intake and exhaust? I'm sure everyone would like to know.

--Andy

BTW Andy, I have been meaning to congradulate you on your Pro Solo overall victory. That is quite an acomplishment. Great driving!

GChambers

16th October 2006, 10:53

Bryan

16th October 2006, 10:57

Andy Hollis

16th October 2006, 12:01

BTW Andy, I have been meaning to congradulate you on your Pro Solo overall victory. That is quite an acomplishment. Great driving!

Thanks. It was quite a thrill and a career-long goal finally achieved.

Of course, now it can only go downhill from here... :-)

--Andy

pinto_gt

16th October 2006, 15:25

Geoff and Gus,

It was good to see you guys yesterday. Its been a long while. Can you believe we all had an s2000 and sold it?

Anyway, if you're looking for a good asphalt course, I highly recommend Rt 66 in Joliet, Chicago with the Chicago SCCA. It is very very competitive with several top national drivers, the asphalt is always in good condition, it is a fast course, and course runs avg 45-60 sec.

Paul

pinto_gt

16th October 2006, 15:38

In fact, if I can convince my wife and newborn son, I would make the Oct 28 & 29 event.

http://www.scca-chicago.com/solo/

You can get the most for your money driving to chicago once, and autox'ng twice on one weekend. However, if you guys do go, I would pre-register since the chicago events can fill quite easily.

GChambers

16th October 2006, 16:10

Paul,

Good to see you yesterday. Nice car. :)

Thanks for the Chicago tip. We had talked about doing some events up there. I think we will have to wait until next season.

Peppler33

22nd October 2006, 21:08

GChambers

23rd October 2006, 12:57

mpheinitz

6th November 2006, 15:17

GChambers--
I'm prepping a 95 for sts2 here in San Diego.
I like the decision you made to go with 15x7.5 +40 wheels on the silver car. They look wide, especially in the rear. Do the wheels rub? Are you using any spacers and/or have you rolled the fenders.

-Mike

GChambers

6th November 2006, 16:10

GChambers--
I'm prepping a 95 for sts2 here in San Diego.
I like the decision you made to go with 15x7.5 +40 wheels on the silver car. They look wide, especially in the rear. Do the wheels rub? Are you using any spacers and/or have you rolled the fenders.

-Mike

We have not rolled the fenders and everything seems to fit great with no spacers. I also have a set of these for my car as well. Both sets have 205/50/15 Azenis RT-615s mounted.

We did an event yesterday on a very rough asphalt lot and I did notice a small place on the drivers front fender where the fender lip(which is not rolled) was pulled down a bit in one place. It looks as if someone stuck just one finger above the lip and pulled it down towards the tire. We do not know why this happened. We think that maybe the tire caught it but there is no evidence of a cut or scrape on the tire. Rolling the fender lip will completely eliminate this from happening again, if it was done by the tire.

El Fez

6th November 2006, 17:26

GChambers

6th November 2006, 19:00

I had the same thing happen when I had my adjustable shocks too low. Bottoming out at a wide turning angle grabs the fender lip. Pop it with a hammer and all is well again (then adjust the shocks).

Hey, thanks for the info.

GChambers

7th November 2006, 00:13

Yesterday we finally had the opportunity to run both cars at the same event on a dry surface. There was a very light turnout so we were able to get 10 runs each. Gus and I ran our own cars for the first 5 or 6 runs then swapped cars for a few runs and went back to our own cars for the last run. We were really able to feel the difference between the two cars.

The cars are almost identical in set up except for the shocks and springs. We even had the same exact wheels and both had new Azenis RT-615s. The difference in the OTS Konis and 550/350 GCs on my car and the Race Konis and 600/400 GCs on Gus's car is amazing. The Race shocks, as expected, really make a big difference especially on the front of the car. The front felt like it was stuck to the ground and was not going to let go and you could really feel the difference in the stiffer valving. They did such an outstanding job of controlling the stiffer springs. By comparison, the OTS Konis on my car were just not quite up to the task. The rear suspension on his car was a different story. We need to either play with spring rates or alignment settings or both. The car was not unmanageable by any means. Once we get it figured out, I think Gus's car will be considerably better than mine. Maybe I'll have to get a new set of Race shocks for my car next spring. :D

moxnix

7th November 2006, 00:27

It would be interesting to play with the different spring rates that you have on the different shocks and see how much of that feeling is the better control of the shocks and how much is the higher spring rates.

The front race shocks on my short list for this winter if I stick with the miata but do you think the rears are worth the money over the OTS koni's?

GChambers

7th November 2006, 00:43

We were talking about that between runs.

Gus was thinking that the springs were a good part of the difference. I think it was all shock. His springs are 50lbs heavier but I just don't think that is enough to make such a noticeable difference. It would be good to test that. I think we will have an opportunity to do it next spring.

My plan is to try just the fronts at first as well. I don't think the rears will make much difference but I really like the shorter length. I am at full stiff up front and about a half to a full turn from soft on the rear so they still have lots of room. Also, I would like to try stiffer front springs as well. Maybe if I can find a cheap used set of Ground Control sleeves I can have two front shock assemblies, one with the OTS Konis and one with the Race shocks both with the same spring rates. We can swap them out in about 15 minutes so it would be easy to test them back to back.

GChambers

22nd December 2006, 01:27

Update!!!

Since the end of the season, Gus and I have been doing a little planning for the offseason and next year. We decided that we would convert the car from a "B" package to a Base model to loose a few pounds. I found a manual steering rack, vinyl steering wheel and crank windows. They will all be going on the car in the next few weeks. Also, the radio will be coming out for big events but reinstalling it should be a 5 minute job. Hopefully this will help us shave a few pounds off the car. We are hoping for a 30lb loss from just these items. I am considering keeping the cruise control in the car as a "comfort and convenience item". At this point, the plan is to still drive it to events pulling the tire trailor. Maybe if we can come up with a tow vehicle, the cruise control will come out as well.

I also bought a used set of wheels. After several failed attempts at group buys through Rota and Volk for 16x7.5 wheels with the correct offset and bolt pattern, I just decided to find a used set of lightweight 16x7 wheels. Since the 205/40/16 tire is almost a half inch narrower than the 205/50/15 that we currently run, I came to the conclusion that the 7.5in width wasn't as necessary as it is with the 15in tires. We'll see if I am right.

I came across a set of SSR Comps with a price that I just couldn't refuse. They came with a set of virtually brand new 205/45/16 Kook Z212s. Unfortunately the tires are just a bit big for us. But, since they are in such great shape, I'm sure I will have no problem selling them and using the money to buy a set of 205/40/16 Azenis Rt-615s. (If anyone is interested in buying them, please let me know!) The wheels weigh about 11lbs each and the tires are close to 18lbs. Thats 29lbs a corner for 16 in wheels and tires. Not too bad! This should help us cut quite a bit more weight off the car. We are currently running 15x7.5 Volk TE37/Azenis RT-215s. This wheel and tire combo weighs a bit over 32lbs. Chalk up at least 12lbs more weight savings! The car weighed 2058lbs on the HPT scales at nationals. We should now be down below 2020lbs in race trim.

Our biggest off season project is a suspension upgrade. We have been running OTS Konis with 550/350 springs on old stock worn out suspension bushings. The first suspension upgrade will be a set of Delrin bushings. But, we are not going to buy them. We are going to make our own! We have access to a nice machine shop and the Delrin is very readily available. Thanks to Jason McDaniel, we now have all the measurements that we need to machine them. The Delrin material should be very easy to work with and is relatively inexpensive considering what we would have to pay for a set of these bushings if we were to buy them. We are confident that we can make these bushings as well if not better than what is commercially available.

The front shocks will be sent off for a revalve job. We are going to have them rebuilt to the Race valving. I see no need to pay the extra money to have the front shocks shortened. I also do not think it is necessary to revalve the rear shocks so they are going to stay as is. It would be nice to have the rear shocks shortened but, at this point, I can not justify the expense of shortening them. The Flyin Miata upper shock mounts are giving us the extra shock travel that we need. We do plan on upping the front spring rates and possibly the rears as well.

Currently, the car is on jackstands with the entire suspension removed. We are hoping to have the bushings made and installed within the next few weeks. Progress pictures below.

We have a few other projects on the to-do list for this winter such as a leak down test, new clutch, cylinder head rebuild(if necessary) and, hopefully, some rust repair and a fresh coat of paint. I will post updates as we progress.

asianrice02

22nd December 2006, 01:33

philrab

22nd December 2006, 02:16

Andy Hollis

22nd December 2006, 11:11

Good work, Geoff.

BTW, BrianF is planning to make bushings for his car, too. So maybe you can compare notes.

I used to have a write-up on this forum on my experiences with these, but is seems to be gone now. In short, be prepared for quite a bit of handfitting. The control arm holes end up not being completely round, probably due to usage, but also because of the way the are welded up when made. Anyway, I found that they Delrin part will deform some and you'll need to remove material from the insides to make it round again for the sleeve. Home Dept sell cylindrical sanding tubes that you can use on the end of your fingers to work the material coursely, and then just use fine grit sandpaper to smooth it all out.

Two more things...1) Mark the bushings so you can put them back in exactly where and how you had them if you ever remove them since they are now only round inside when installed. 2) Use lots of white lith grease for luve, but also to seal out against water. Rust is your enemy here, as it will remove the clearance and cause bind.

Finally, you'll also need to hand-clearance the end of the bushings to get it so you have zero fore-aft movement of the arms, but no bind.

Have fun! ;)

--Andy

GChambers

22nd December 2006, 14:53

talk about serious! wish i can see the finsh product in person

Come to Nationals and check us out! We should also get to a few national Tour events this year. We are hoping to have the car ready in time for the Walnut Ridge National tour event.

Gchambers, looking forward to seeing your progress. Wish you were a bit closer, so I could benefit from some of your experience. Down here the only Miatas I see at the autocrosses are all running in Stock class. I'm the lone STS2 Miata that I've been able to find so far, and while my car isn't doing too badly I need to do some serious torqueing of the loose nut behind the wheel. :O

You may see quite a bit of us this year. We are set on doing more events on asphalt. Seeing as how there is very little available in the Indy area, we are planning on doing quite a few Louisville and Cincinnati events.

Good work, Geoff.

BTW, BrianF is planning to make bushings for his car, too. So maybe you can compare notes.

I used to have a write-up on this forum on my experiences with these, but is seems to be gone now. In short, be prepared for quite a bit of handfitting. The control arm holes end up not being completely round, probably due to usage, but also because of the way the are welded up when made. Anyway, I found that they Delrin part will deform some and you'll need to remove material from the insides to make it round again for the sleeve. Home Dept sell cylindrical sanding tubes that you can use on the end of your fingers to work the material coursely, and then just use fine grit sandpaper to smooth it all out.

Two more things...1) Mark the bushings so you can put them back in exactly where and how you had them if you ever remove them since they are now only round inside when installed. 2) Use lots of white lith grease for luve, but also to seal out against water. Rust is your enemy here, as it will remove the clearance and cause bind.

Finally, you'll also need to hand-clearance the end of the bushings to get it so you have zero fore-aft movement of the arms, but no bind.

Have fun! ;)

--Andy

Andy, thanks for the tips. They are greatly appreciated.

I didn't think much about marking each bushing for its particular location but it makes perfect sense. After 16 years of service I am sure that each of the suspension mounting points have developed a bit of "character". Some of the suspension bolts sure did. Several are definitely not reusable. All of the nuts and bolts will be replaced as well. We will stock up on lithium grease. The particular Delrin that we are using is impregnated with teflon so we are hoping that they will not need too much maintenance. We are also hoping to use stainless for all the sleeves. The control arms will be stripped and repainted. Hopefully, the combination of fresh paint, stainless sleeves and tons of grease should keep the rust at bay.

compaddict

22nd December 2006, 15:15

If it were me I would have the rear shocks done at the same time. Two hundred bucks doesn't seem like a lot of money compared to the time it takes to get them done. And if you find they need some help halfway into the season...

Vince

GChambers

22nd December 2006, 16:34

Vince,

There really is no need. The shocks are less than 2 years old and are not even close to maxed out on the rear springs that we are running. If we were to have them revalved, they would be too much for our spring rates.

compaddict

22nd December 2006, 17:01

I see what you mean. It would bother me having two different valve specs front/rear.

But I often look for exucses and distractions!

Vince

Midtenn

23rd December 2006, 01:31

Sounds like fun. The shop that did the Delrin bushings for our '95 was planning on doing a kit for sale, but after doing our car they decided it was too much work for them at that time (dunno if that has changed since they got a CNC lathe). Thankfully our car was the "prototype" so they picked up the car, did the work, and returned it to us free of charge. haha. They do sell motor and differential mounts now though.

I'm pulling the motor from the '95 in a few weeks for a rebuild. Its also going to get a before and after dyno. Thank in advance to Dan Chadwick and Vettesport for allow me to use their equipment.

GChambers

25th December 2006, 22:27

Bryan

26th December 2006, 10:48

Peppler33

26th December 2006, 12:41

GChambers

27th December 2006, 12:23

Keep in mind Geoff and Gus came to Fort Wayne, IN in October and literally blew away our entire region. I'm keeping my eye on these guys in 2007!
My AGX/ebay combo was WAY WAY off their pace, fortunately Santa came to rescue with enough cash/gift certificates/and sale of old parts to upgrade to OTS Koni's/GC/bushings. A newer VSLD is on the way and a clutch kit will be needed before too long. Lots to do yet!

Andrew, thanks for the good words. Hopefully we will make it up to Ft Wayne for a few more events this year. Lots of good people up there.

I will be curious to see your improvement with the new suspension goodies. You need to get down to one of the early Indy events this season. There should be at least 5 good STS2 competitors in Indy this season.

Peppler33

28th December 2006, 00:42

GChambers

28th December 2006, 02:07

You betcha, once the suspension upgrade is done I know the only thing holding me back will be the driver. I need plenty more seat time in the Miata, I picked up some bad habits in the MR2 which made that work well but I need to readjust to the Miata. Does Indy do fun runs at the end of events? I would like for you to drive the car sometime so I can see what it can really do.

Yea, they do sometimes. I would be happy to trade cars for a few runs. Hell, you can come down and co-drive an event with me if you like.

griplimited

30th December 2006, 00:44

GChambers

1st January 2007, 14:27

Thanks Grip. I should have the pics you wanted in just a few weeks. I hope....

Update!

After an entire day in the shop pressing out bushings and bead blasting and another day in the garage painting, we have beautifully repainted control arms. (See pics below.) Talk about tedious work! I think it took me about 5 hours with the bead blaster to get the control arms clean but I think the finished product is well worth the effort. I have decided to replace the two lower front control arms. They were very rusty. I just didn't want to take a chance on putting them back on the car and having a failure. I will order a new(used, Planet Miata?) set Tuesday. BTW, thanks to Planet Miata. These guys rock.

With the car half apart on jackstands with no steering rack, sway bar or suspension, we have decided that now is a good time to do some preventative maintenance. I ordered a new crank pulley bolt, woodruff key, water pump, timing belt and have a new underdrive pulley ready to go on the car. Hopefully, we can get that stuff done in the next week or as well.

BTW, check out my new manual steering rack! Thanks to Gus for taking 2 hours out of his life to strip all the rust and corrosion off. It looks almost brand new after a coat of paint.

GChambers

1st January 2007, 14:35

BTW, I have a new member of the family!

After 10 good years of service to my Mother, I have inherited her 1994 Cadillac Deville Concours. It is a creampuff! Driven by a little (not so)old lady all its life, garage kept and meticulously maintained. My mom wanted it to go to a "good home". Gus and I are thinking it is more than capable of pulling a Miata on a lightweight trailor. I will have to do some research to make sure.

I think her idea of a good home and mine may be two totally different things.

mywong23

1st January 2007, 14:51

CoralDoc

2nd January 2007, 08:10

Gus and I are thinking it is more than capable of pulling a Miata on a lightweight trailor. I will have to do some research to make sure.

Congratulations on the new ride, however I would not use that car for towing a Miata. The lightest weight aluminum trailer that I know of weights about 800 pounds. Add a 2100 pound car, plus you, your buddy and a bunch of tools and spare parts and it's easy to get up to 4,000 pounds total cargo and trailer weight. That's simply too much for the softly sprung rear end of the Caddy to handle. Additional concerns are the brakes and differential not being up to the task of towing.

Crack Monkey

2nd January 2007, 09:32

I think the 94 Deville is a K-body, FWD, V8? If so, it's rated to tow 3000lbs.

With a light aluminum trailer, you'll get close. But, for the cost of the trailer, you could buy a steel trailer and a RWD B-body large Caddy to tow it and have more fudge-factor with the maximum tow rating (B-body was 5000-7000lbs, depending on optioning).

Andy Hollis

2nd January 2007, 11:21

Congratulations on the new ride, however I would not use that car for towing a Miata. The lightest weight aluminum trailer that I know of weights about 800 pounds. Add a 2100 pound car, plus you, your buddy and a bunch of tools and spare parts and it's easy to get up to 4,000 pounds total cargo and trailer weight. That's simply too much for the softly sprung rear end of the Caddy to handle. Additional concerns are the brakes and differential not being up to the task of towing.

Here's a contrary example. My twin-axle (steel w/alum decking, elec brakes) trailer weighs 725, car weighs under 2000, extra wheels/tires/stuff weigh another 200, so I'm easily under 3000 lbs on the road. It can be done. My tow vehicle is only rated to 3500 lbs (chassis limitation, not drivetrain).

--Andy

PS: My favorite oddball tow vehicle ride was Bill Sanford's hearse which pulled around his TVR.

hkboyinca

3rd January 2007, 07:51

quick question

looks like you only have a aftermarket front sway bar, is it "understeery"

conekiller

3rd January 2007, 12:52

Andy... where did you get your trailer from... at that weight, I would dump the tow dolly....

Rick

Andy Hollis

3rd January 2007, 13:03

Andy... where did you get your trailer from... at that weight, I would dump the tow dolly....

Rick

Stan Whitney built it, so its a one-off.

But the magic in it is that its built with rectangular box tubing, which is much lighter relative to strength vs the more common I-beam or channel which most builder use. Also, it is not overbuilt for the load rating. Another key is use of Torflex axles, rather than leaf springs. Lighter weight and better ide, especially when empty. Mine has a pair of 2200# axles. Oh yeah, and 14" wheels & tires to keep ride height and weight down. Normal P-metric 185-60-14 has all the load you need. Only 14' long, too.

There is a place in Trenton, NJ that will build something similar. D&D (www.deandetrailers.com).

--Andy

GChambers

3rd January 2007, 13:33

Andy,

From what I remember, yours is a fairly large trailor. I am suprised to hear it weighs as little as it does. I have yet to do my research to see what the Caddy is capable of pulling but if I can keep the car and trailor close to 3000lbs, I think I will give it a shot.

Mr. Cranky

3rd January 2007, 13:57

modernbeat

3rd January 2007, 14:32

GChambers

3rd January 2007, 15:12

Try a fairly stock 1958 VW Panel Bus towing a vintage round tube single axle trailer with a '60s era Formula V on it. Spares and tools were in the Bus. I saw this rig at the 50th anniversary of Porsche at the Monterey Historics.

Hey, I'm still waiting on pictures from you. Both the Bus and the Locost.

JimD

3rd January 2007, 15:19

Here's a photo of Andy's trailer. Not quite sure why he's parked it there though... ;)

Jim

actor

3rd January 2007, 18:32

Andy Hollis

3rd January 2007, 20:56

Are those STEEL wheels that I see?! Tisk, tisk.

Roads back east suck. I blew a trailer tire out last summer on a pothole in I70 near Indy. Alloy wheels would have been damaged. Steel was not.

BTW, what motor mounts are you running? I think I see another pound... :)

--Andy

actor

3rd January 2007, 21:57

BTW, what motor mounts are you running? I think I see another pound... :)

--Andy

Tease! :p

Mazda oem so that I can use the tq. suppressor.

Andy Hollis

3rd January 2007, 22:35

Tease! :p

Mazda oem so that I can use the tq. suppressor.

No, I mean the bracket attaching that to the motor. There are several Miata parts that fit from different years and they all weigh different amounts. Legal via ud/bd.

But I won't tell you which is lightest since you insulted my football team again.

:p

--Andy

actor

3rd January 2007, 22:44

No, I mean the bracket attaching that to the motor. There are several Miata parts that fit from different years and they all weigh different amounts. Legal via ud/bd.

But I won't tell you which is lightest since you insulted my football team again.

:p

--Andy

Hmmm. Time to do some research!

And did you see MY Trojans whup on Big Blow?! Pre-season #1, baby!

GChambers

4th January 2007, 00:54

And did you see MY Trojans whup on Big Blow?! Pre-season #1, baby!

The Buckeyes will own preseason #1 just like they owned this entire season.

actor

4th January 2007, 01:01

The Buckeyes will own preseason #1 just like they owned this entire season.
Too many Seniors.

'SC & Michigan have the young, good players coming back, but Michigan took care of any chances they had. Thing is, starting #1 is an important thing now. :D

GChambers

4th January 2007, 01:30

Too many Seniors.

Of course the Buckeyes didn't loose any seniors last year. Especially on defense. :D

actor

4th January 2007, 01:32

Bryan

4th January 2007, 14:20

The Buckeyes will own preseason #1 just like they owned this entire season.As an Ohio boy born and bread...

werd :cool:

Midtenn

6th January 2007, 22:18

trail brake

7th January 2007, 10:13

"Fatman" just put down 104.2whp and 100.9ft lbs on the dyno this morning before the motor got pulled. For comparison, Brian John's ES R-package put down 114.4whp and 108.6ft lbs on the same dyno a year or so ago. Let the rebuild begin!

Thanks for the return to topic. Good luck w/ the rebuild. I've got to get my car back here soon to do general maintenance and troubleshooting, but I look forward to running against you this season.

Andy Hollis

7th January 2007, 17:04

"Fatman" just put down 104.2whp and 100.9ft lbs on the dyno this morning before the motor got pulled. For comparison, Brian John's ES R-package put down 114.4whp and 108.6ft lbs on the same dyno a year or so ago. Let the rebuild begin!

What kind of dyno?

--Andy

Midtenn

7th January 2007, 23:23

GChambers

7th January 2007, 23:27

I guess I'll start a full thread so I can stop thread jacking Geoff's thread. haha
:D

As long as it has to do with STS2 Miatas or the Ohio State Buckeyes, I don't mind.

trail brake

9th January 2007, 00:51

Crack Monkey

9th January 2007, 09:34

...or the Ohio State Buckeyes, I don't mind.

You sure about that?

41-14!
41-14!
41-14!
41-14!

:)

Andy Hollis

9th January 2007, 09:51

You sure about that?

41-14!
41-14!
41-14!
41-14!

:)

Yup. Once again, being pre-season #1 does not pan out. Not sure why Bill is so keen on his Trojans being in that (losing) position. :P

Obligatory STS2 content: I've been driving my Miata every morning during the off-season and falling back in love with it as a street car. Of course, the road to Starbucks is a twisty canyon road... :D

--Andy

GChambers

9th January 2007, 11:03

Well, that was embarrasing....

Now, back on topic!

I'm with you Andy. All the STS2 mods I have done to my car have made it even better as a street car. It is the most fun street car I have owned(besides my S2000 :D ). Just drop a few pounds of air out of the tires and soften the shocks and it is very comfortable. I hope the delrin bushings and stiffer engine mounts don't make a big NVH difference.

PseudoRealityX

9th January 2007, 12:16

Of course the Buckeyes didn't loose any seniors last year. Especially on defense. :D

What defense? :)

Man, I was getting tired of seeing Andy wearing that silly Texas shirt at events all year. Guess I'll have to bring some of the Gator gear out.

So I wonder if they rank Boise State ahead of tOSU or USC? :)

GChambers

9th January 2007, 13:34

What defense? :)

Actually, I thought the OSU defense did a good job in the 2nd half especially considering how long they stayed on the field. The offense was, well... offensive!

Andy Hollis

9th January 2007, 13:38

Man, I was getting tired of seeing Andy wearing that silly Texas shirt at events all year. Guess I'll have to bring some of the Gator gear out.

My oldest is a law student at UT. She buys this stuff for me so I have to wear it. :D

Autocross relevance: There's a picture of me in Sports Car wearing a UT sweatshirt during the Pro Solo Finale Challenge.

--Andy

actor

9th January 2007, 14:04

Man, I was getting tired of seeing Andy wearing that silly Texas shirt at events all year.

Truer words have never been spoken! :toast:

Go 'SC! :jump:

Autocross content: I'll be wearing an 'SC shirt racing next year :D

Midtenn

9th January 2007, 14:21

So when your buddy (who has built many turbo Miata engines) pulls you're pistons out of the box and goes "ewwww", its probably not a good sign right? haha

Basically the crank, block, and head are good. Valves are going to be dropped off tomorrow for more inspection along with the head to be put cleaned and put back together. #3 rod is suspect since it was rubbing the crank a little. #3 pistons was the worse (flat spots on the intake side), oh, and it looks like #3 injector might have been leaking (seeing a pattern here?). The #3 exhaust valves didn't look to be seating well either. So basically, it was a combination of things that lead to the 15% leak down on #3.

Luckily my friend had an extra set of stock rods that'll go into the motor (he offered me some forged pistons, but I politely declided :D) and Mazdacomp is about to get a big chunk of my Christmas bonus. :eek:

college football content: we were watching the title game while we inspected the parts.

GChambers

9th January 2007, 15:53

college football content: we were watching the title game while we inspected the parts.

Thank you for staying on topic. :)

Midtenn

28th January 2007, 23:35

Update on the the '95 (now with 95% less "bumper funk"): After finding out that Mazda has superceeded the 90-99 thrust bearings with the 00+ thrust bearings (btw, they won't fit the early blocks, haha) and a call to Flyin Miata for a correct set the motor was assembled yesterday afternoon. Today the motor is back in the car as of about 4pm. I've put 25.5 trouble free miles on it so far. She seems to be running much stronger than before, but hasn't been above 4500 yet. Plan on putting it on the dyno the weekend before the Cecil, GA event for some after numbers.

Special thanks to Dan Chadwick, Brian and Tara Johns, Jason Farley, Mike Balek, and Jeremy Schuster for all their help. I owe Dan many beers for letting me borrow his lift, parts cleaner and bead blasting cabinet. Oh and both Dan and Brian for donating the temp sensor plug from a spare rotary they had sitting around when mine broke this afternoon.

GChambers

29th January 2007, 00:54

Andrew, good to hear. I look forward to running against you guys.

My car is still in pieces. I am waiting on a few pieces from Mazda Motorsports so I can get the engine back together. We have also had to change a few things with the bushings. When I initially priced the Delrin to make the bushings, they quoted me $9 per foot for standard Delrin and $15 per foot for Delrin AF with Teflon. It seems that they misquoted me. The Delrin AF actually runs about $58 a foot! :eek: We are using the regular stuff. :mad:

BTW, Thanks to Jason McDaniel, I have a set of 600lb springs on the way. Also, the shocks are now at Koni. It took me only a year to send them off to get revalved. :rolleyes:

We should have everything done to the car and have it ready to run by mid March. My fingers are crossed...

bfitz

29th January 2007, 09:27

Geoff, have you machined your stainless sleeves yet? If so, any tips would be appreciated. I'm no pro in the machine shop, but I have 6 drilled, and each took about an hour with no problems. That doesn't include the time I spent cutting the pieces, and I still have to drill to the final I.D. (didn't have the required bit) and face off to length. Luckily, I'm only doing 8 of 22...the rest will be hard rubber.

Brian

Andy Hollis

29th January 2007, 10:57

Geoff, have you machined your stainless sleeves yet? If so, any tips would be appreciated. I'm no pro in the machine shop, but I have 6 drilled, and each took about an hour with no problems. That doesn't include the time I spent cutting the pieces, and I still have to drill to the final I.D. (didn't have the required bit) and face off to length. Luckily, I'm only doing 8 of 22...the rest will be hard rubber.

Brian

Suddenly, the seemingly exorbitant Mazda Comp price looks more attractive, eh?

:-)

--Andy

GChambers

29th January 2007, 10:59

Geoff, have you machined your stainless sleeves yet? If so, any tips would be appreciated. I'm no pro in the machine shop, but I have 6 drilled, and each took about an hour with no problems. That doesn't include the time I spent cutting the pieces, and I still have to drill to the final I.D. (didn't have the required bit) and face off to length. Luckily, I'm only doing 8 of 22...the rest will be hard rubber.

Brian

Brian, we could not find stainless anywhere near the size or the small quantities that we needed. We have decided to use chromemoly. We can buy it very close to the sizes we need. It should take very little machining.

GChambers

29th January 2007, 11:05

Suddenly, the seemingly exorbitant Mazda Comp price looks more attractive, eh?

:-)

--Andy

The Mazda Comp set that I was looking at as a "guide" for our bushings actually had about half stainless sleeves and half chromemoly. I honestly think we can do a better job making them than the set that I looked at.

bfitz

29th January 2007, 13:20

Geoff, I was able to get 1' lengths of 304 stainless rod in appropriate diameters from McMaster-Carr. I'm only doing the front-inside-uppers and rear-outside-lowers in Delrin, so I don't know if they have appropriate diameters for the other sleeves.

Andy, the price definitely does not seem out of line, though I'm sure drilling softer steel would speed things up considerably.

Brian

Midtenn

29th January 2007, 14:04

Andrew, good to hear. I look forward to running against you guys.

My car is still in pieces. I am waiting on a few pieces from Mazda Motorsports so I can get the engine back together.

What parts you waiting on? I had a big headache trying to get the thrust bearings. Aparently someone thought it would be cute to superceed the 90-99 bearings with the 00+ bearings that don't fit in the early blocks. That delayed me a week. Then I found the oil pickup gasket is not in the "total" engine gasket kit, so $11 later I had to get a front seal kit for the Miata (ironic since it just takes silicon according to the FSM) for this little seal from O'Reilly's. That only cost me a little time on Friday night from getting the oil pan back on the motor.

GChambers

29th January 2007, 14:47

What parts you waiting on? I had a big headache trying to get the thrust bearings. Aparently someone thought it would be cute to superceed the 90-99 bearings with the 00+ bearings that don't fit in the early blocks. That delayed me a week. Then I found the oil pickup gasket is not in the "total" engine gasket kit, so $11 later I had to get a front seal kit for the Miata (ironic since it just takes silicon according to the FSM) for this little seal from O'Reilly's. That only cost me a little time on Friday night from getting the oil pan back on the motor.

I'm just waiting on a timing belt tensioner and idler. I couldn't find the idler locally.

I have a leak somewhere around the oil pan as well. I did order the gaskets but I am dreading taking it off. I have not been under the car far enough to see how difficult the job is going to be. It looks like the frame cross member is smack in the way. I may take a better look at it tonight.

GChambers

29th January 2007, 14:48

Geoff, I was able to get 1' lengths of 304 stainless rod in appropriate diameters from McMaster-Carr. I'm only doing the front-inside-uppers and rear-outside-lowers in Delrin, so I don't know if they have appropriate diameters for the other sleeves.

Andy, the price definitely does not seem out of line, though I'm sure drilling softer steel would speed things up considerably.

Brian

Thanks. I will look them up.

GChambers

14th March 2007, 23:18

Update!

I will have more details later but for now, here is a list of what has been done on the car since the last update.

1. Rear suspension Delrin bushings are done. Rear suspension is back on the car.

Pic. http://forums.s2kca.com/photopost/data/500/medium/Suspension_Pics_07_038.jpg

2. B option package swap to Base model. The power windows and power steering are gone. I have a vinyl steering wheel to put on the car. I will get it swapped for the leather wheel within the next few days. The radio will probably be modified to be very quickly removed. I love my tunes and can't give it up completely. It will be removed for the big events.

3. Koni still has the shocks. It has been about 6 weeks. I am not mad though. I did visit Koni this weekend and they are very close to being done. If you ever get the chance to tour Koni, I highly recommend it. What a cool place and a great bunch of guys. Have them show you the railroad car shocks. :eek:

4. New front springs are ready to go on.

5. New wheels! A car can't have too many sets of wheels. A set of 16in SSR Comps with 205/40/16 Azenis will go on. We will see how they compare with last years Volk TE37- 205/50/15 Azenis RT-215 package. This is officially our 3rd set of wheels and tires besides the daily driver beater wheels. :bang:

Autocross wheel Sexyness.
http://forums.s2kca.com/photopost/data/500/medium/Suspension_Pics_07_034.jpg

6. Underdrive pulley installed.

7. We have finished making bushings. We could have bought a set for about $450. But, Gus and I figured we could make our own for less. Well, if you don't count our labor, we saved about $320. If you count the dozens and dozens of hours of our time making them, it probably cost us over $3000! They took forever to make! But, it was well worth the effort. We feel that our set is much better than what we could have bought and we learned a lot! Our tolerances on the sleeves are within a few thousands of an inch of the suspension bolts. The set that we measured for a baseline was within a few tenths of an inch. This means that there should be absolutely NO slop in our suspension. It should hold an alignment perfectly. All the suspension bolts are new as well.

8. The timing belt, water pump, coolant hoses, timing belt tensioner and idler and accessory belt were all replaced.

Here are a few more pics of the progress.
http://forums.s2kca.com/photopost/data/500/medium/Suspension_Pics_07_037.jpg
http://forums.s2kca.com/photopost/data/500/medium/Suspension_Pics_07_013.jpg
http://forums.s2kca.com/photopost/data/500/medium/Suspension_Pics_07_006.jpg

Lots more to do.... We still have to get the front suspension back together, install the MazdaSpeed engine mounts, swap the steering wheel and figure out some new alignment specs to compensate for the changes we have made.

More to come!

GChambers

14th March 2007, 23:29

Geoff, have you machined your stainless sleeves yet? If so, any tips would be appreciated. I'm no pro in the machine shop, but I have 6 drilled, and each took about an hour with no problems. That doesn't include the time I spent cutting the pieces, and I still have to drill to the final I.D. (didn't have the required bit) and face off to length. Luckily, I'm only doing 8 of 22...the rest will be hard rubber.

Brian

Brian,

Using the Chrome Moly, we were able to bore each sleeve in less than 10 minutes. But, when you are doing 22 of them in at least 6 different sizes, setting up the lathe and making measurements eats up a lot of time. Machining the Delrin was very time consuming. Much more so than the sleeves since there are so many more cuts to make.

Gus is the man! He did about 80% of the labor on the lathe. If it wasn't for him and all of his effort, there is just no way this car would be at the level that it should be at once it is finished.

Inigo Montoya

1st April 2007, 12:31

I take it making an industry out of producing bushings for the rest of us would take up too much of your time correct? I am sure there are some folks out there (myself included) who are interested.

Nice progress!

GChambers

1st April 2007, 21:21

I take it making an industry out of producing bushings for the rest of us would take up too much of your time correct? I am sure there are some folks out there (myself included) who are interested.

Nice progress!

Sorry, I do not see making bushings for others. We had planned on doing a few extra sets but the process is just too much. We have enough material to make 2 more sets. After that, we are out of the bushing business.

The car is fantastic though. The handling is much more predictable. There is absolutely no slop in the suspension.

Yesterday, we finally got the revalved shocks installed in the car. We also installed a set of NB top hats. The NB tophats cost us $24 and a set of generic sway bar endlinks that were used for shock bushings were an additional $12. I had some old Koni washers from one of my previous installs. The combination made for a fabulous conversion. It sure beat the hell out of buying converted top hats for $110.

miata_racer

1st April 2007, 21:31

There's also the shirt worn in this...

http://sccaforums.com/forums/storage/25/213910/andy%20shirt.zip

;)

My oldest is a law student at UT. She buys this stuff for me so I have to wear it. :D

Autocross relevance: There's a picture of me in Sports Car wearing a UT sweatshirt during the Pro Solo Finale Challenge.

--Andy

GChambers

23rd April 2007, 23:50

Quick update:

Mostly everything is done to the car except some minor detail things. We are going to try a few things with the brakes. Currently the car has Hawk HPS front and HP+ rear pads. The stock braking system, as you all know, is quite front biased. Gus and I both prefer a slight rear bias. With this pad combination, as long as the rear pads are hot, it is outstanding. Unfortunately, we are not able to keep enough heat in them in autocross situations. Also, the front pads have very good initial bite. Maybe a bit too good. We both seem to have trouble squeezing the brake pedal as opposed to just stomping on it. While we work on our braking technique, we are going to switch to a less aggressive front brake pad. We would like the rear brakes to lock just barely before the fronts. Hopefully a less aggressive front pad will help with brake balance.

The new 205/40/16 RT-615s are outstanding as well. They may not have quite the ultimate grip of the wider 205/50/15 RT-215s that we ran last year but the wheel and tire package is smaller in diameter and about 3lbs per corner lighter. The car seem to accelerate better out of the tight corners. It seems that we are getting adjusted to these tires right before the Brigestone RE-01R is released in the 195/50/15 size. This new Bridgestone is dimentionally identical to the 205/40/16 that we are running now. Early reports say that the Brigestone has a bit more grip and better break away characteristics. Brigestone has told me that they will find a set for me to test very soon. Hopefully we will get them in the next few weeks.

We have three events under our belts this season. The car has yet to lose in class and has one overall PAX FTD and one 2nd. It is outstanding. Certainly much better than it's drivers. We continue to improve though. I am feeling very confident about the car for the season. I hope we can gain as much confidence in our driving as I have in the car.

Here is a pic of Gus giving it hell.

http://jwwwebdesign.smugmug.com/gallery/2671529#141430545-M-LB

RichDS

24th April 2007, 00:48

Andy Hollis

24th April 2007, 08:29

Quick update:

Mostly everything is done to the car except some minor detail things. We are going to try a few things with the brakes. Currently the car has Hawk HPS front and HP+ rear pads. The stock braking system, as you all know, is quite front biased. Gus and I both prefer a slight rear bias. With this pad combination, as long as the rear pads are hot, it is outstanding. Unfortunately, we are not able to keep enough heat in them in autocross situations. Also, the front pads have very good initial bite. Maybe a bit too good. We both seem to have trouble squeezing the brake pedal as opposed to just stomping on it. While we work on our braking technique, we are going to switch to a less aggressive front brake pad. We would like the rear brakes to lock just barely before the fronts. Hopefully a less aggressive front pad will help with brake balance.

Here is a pic of Gus giving it hell.

http://jwwwebdesign.smugmug.com/gallery/2671529#141430545-M-LB

Good work, Geoff.

Since my old rear Carbotech pads finally expired, I've also gone to HP+ in the rear (no-name junk in front). I agree with your assessment that braking is wonderful when the rears are warm, but difficult to achieve/maintain that. I have other combos to try in the near future.

Now that you have the car working well, let's work some on the looks, eh? I mean, those class letters are not exactly top-flight graphics, eh? :) You never know when someone will have a camera...

BTW, your wheel is in the motorhome and I'll have it for you in WR.

--Andy

PS: Remind me and I'll show you how to fix those headlight doors to be flush, as designed. ;)

GChambers

24th April 2007, 09:32

Good work, Geoff.

Since my old rear Carbotech pads finally expired, I've also gone to HP+ in the rear (no-name junk in front). I agree with your assessment that braking is wonderful when the rears are warm, but difficult to achieve/maintain that. I have other combos to try in the near future.

Now that you have the car working well, let's work some on the looks, eh? I mean, those class letters are not exactly top-flight graphics, eh? :) You never know when someone will have a camera...

BTW, your wheel is in the motorhome and I'll have it for you in WR.

--Andy

PS: Remind me and I'll show you how to fix those headlight doors to be flush, as designed. ;)

We're a step ahead of your there. ;)

There are a few rust holes just in front of the rear tires. There are also a few spots where the paint is chipping off. Those should be fixed in the next few weeks and the car will be getting a paint job. It will also get new trim. Hopefully it will look good enough that a paying sponsor will be just dying to put their name all over it. Yea... sure. :D

I'll bring tequila to WR to cover your delivery cost on the wheel. :toast:

GChambers

24th April 2007, 09:33

Andy Hollis

24th April 2007, 10:06

I'll bring tequila to WR to cover your delivery cost on the wheel. :toast:

Hah! I see right through you, Chambers. Delivery? Nah. The tequila is to get me hungover for the competition!

:D

--Andy