Wakefield Trip

I'm a bit slow with this post, but hey, here it is. ;)

Wednesday past I took part in my first Wakefield Speed Off The Streets Day. The short version of it is, it was a GREAT day. I loved it! I didn't go there with a goal of a time I wanted to achieve, I purely went there with the hope that I would learn some stuff and by the end of the day be able to get around the track without spinning my car or going off the track. I'm happy to say, all goals were achieved. :D

The basic run down of the day was that I took part in three sessions of the day - there were more, but I missed one and left early. The first session was the real experience, you know, first time ever and all. Half way through the first lap of the first session I had my first spin. :D Going into the corner that some call the fish hook and others call the 8th corner, I was very suprised at just how sharp that corner was. Carrying far too much speed and then trying to brake and turn resulted in what felt like a massive spin off.

That alone gave me an inkling of how important warming up your tyres first is, and also of just how crazy that corner is. Unfortunately, I can't say it taught me to slow down on that corner, as a few laps later I came off on that corner again. This time I didn't spin (as I managed to correct it) but I still ended up on the dirt. Thankfully they were my only spins and offs of the day, so needless to say, I learnt a lot in the first session.

Next session I took my mate in the car with me. Over all I felt this session was good with only a few close calls, and one very close call. The very close call being after coming flying down the main straight, passing a few cars (noteably a V8 Ute that was holding everyone up) I went into corner 2 waaaaaay toooo hot. I started to fish tail all over the place but somehow managed to catch it. One of my mates in another car (that happened to be behind me) said it look pretty spectacular, but for me I was happy to keep it on the track. Unfortunatly, after that I was still in 4th gear trying to work my way up the hill. Needless to say a few of the people I passed got to the the same to me (but not the stoopid ute).

I ended this session early though as I noticed that my engine was starting to cut out sometimes at around 5k - a cut out similar to what it used to do on overboost (but it sure wasn't overboosting). Plus the temp gauge was reading (until I did one or two cool down laps) almost at the top. If it wasn't for that, I would have probably kept going, as I was starting to really understand how the track worked and was starting to try and focus on the lines.

Funnily though, my friend (who was in my car for that session) decided that my car was just too scary to be in. He said that it just felt like it wanted to spin on corners and was just too crazy for him. He said he prefered being in my mates fairly stock, non turbo, AWD Subaru RX wagon - he considered that car to be more fun (rather than scary). But hey. :D

Anyway, I finally went out to do my third round thinking that whatever was wrong with my car before had now gone. I warmed up the tyres properly and was really starting to get a nice flow going and really understanding what to do, when the engine started to cut again. This time it was after just five laps, and the temp gauge looked ok. But I decided that the important thing was not to brake the car, and to still be able to get back to Canberra. I would have loved to have kept going, but really that cut was making it undriveable (and I think I did the right thing).

As it stands now, my car is running VERY rough and I noticed on the drive back that the induction noise from the turbo is sometimes no longer smooth like it always used to be. I fear I have done some serious damage, but am unable to determine what. Fluid levels seem alright, and there seems to be no leaks. Adam suggested I make sure all the piping for my intercooler are still intact, and I confirmed they are today. I'm wondering if I have broken the turbo, and as a result it is restricting the airflow (albeit the engine smooths out at higher revs) or maybe I have done the seals (but being new to rotas have no idea what that would be like).

Anyway, I'll book it in to the shop next week and see what they can tell me. :(

But still I had fun! :D I went there knowing that my car was still a bit of an unknown element and something could go wrong. But as long as I had fun and was able to get it back to Canberra I was going to consider it a good day. Therefore, it was a good day. :D

One thing that was enjoyable, was the fact that I could pass almost everything down the straight (especially big V8s - loved doing that). The only thing that almost had it on me (on the straight) that I came across was the Rx8, that was surprisingly quick! (And stock as a rock.)

But alas, straight speed will not get you the good times on a track, and it was in the corners I really suffered. My biggest problem was, that on the fish hook I would attempt to down shift into second gear (which would give me perfect revs through the corner for a nice quick exit) but that would cause a compression lock up. To try and avoid that I ended up doing two things, one was to try and slow all the way down to where I could down shift without the lock up, and the second was to try and pull out of the corner still in third - which needless to say was very slow. I also had a similar thing going on with corner two (shifting from fourth to third) and corner ten (third to second - after already shifting from fourth to third).

With that in mind then, next time I want to acqurie the skill of heel and toe. As simply bringing the engine speed up in line with the drivetrain will allow me to avoid those lock ups. Avoiding those lock ups will allow me to not have to worry about the potential of spinning and thereby allow me to be in the right gears to achieve the required speeds.

That then is my future plan, and shows that I have all intention of going back for more fun and learning. :D For now, just need to find out what I've done to my car. :(

Cheers,
Oz.

P.s. Seeing was driving, I did not get any pics - and nor did any of the other onlookers.
P.s.s. One thing I did notice after both the first and second session, was that coolant had sprayed around in my engine bay. But there was nowhere obvious where it came from. :?

More on Helmet Room

For some you may remember this previous post about my concerns on helmet room in my car. Well just tonight I tried out sitting in my car again, but this time with my newer, smaller, better fitting helmet. I would have thought it being a smaller helmet would result in me having more room, however I found that with it on I was almost in constant contact with the roof. Just to be sure I tried on my old one again, and it still seems to have a bit of room - as before - and I guess I will just have to use that. But I reckon Wednesday could turn out to be a very uncomfortable day, because if different helmets are all it takes between not feeling like a sardine, then it must be tight in there even with the older helmet.

Worse case, I do a few laps, waste the track fee, and go home. :-/

I'll keep ya posted,
Oz.

New bits - Tyres and Shifter Knob

Hey peeps,

Got the front left tyre replaced just now at lunch (it was all scrubbed on the inside for some reason - that's how it was when I purchased it) and also finally got a new shifter knob. The previous one kept coming off and all in all was a little dodgey. I wanted to get the tyre before Wakefield to be safe but as for the knob I was hoping the current one would be okay, but while waiting for the tyre I went to the auto shop and had a look. Lo' an' behold I walked out with a new one. :D

Unfortunately (kinda) when I was putting on the new knob, I forgot to put the boot back on. But the boot didn't fit properly anyway, so seeing it was a struggle to get the new knob off, I thought STUFF it! I noticed at the auto shop that you can buy boots anyways, so I think I'll just get one of those. The only reason I didn't today was because they were out of black ones, and yellow was just too crazy for my tastes.

Anyway, I've also given the tyre shop dude a list of wheels I'm after and he is going to go away and get some prices for me. Hopefully sometime soon I can get some nice 15"s for my car.

Finally, I'm happy to report that my new clutch is going well and I'm slowly getting used to it. I guess by the time I've done all the gear changes I'm going to need to do at Wakefield, I should have it down pat. ;)

Well, that'll do for now, later,
Oz.

The Clutch Story

As you all know, today was the day for the new clutch. I just got a call from the shop and they had an interesting story to tell me. It turns out that I had not been told the full true story about the drive train:
- The car has a S4 Gearbox - TRUE
- The car has a lightened flywheel - TRUE
- The car has a heavy duty clutch - NOT TRUE

It turns out that my car was just running the normal turbo clutch. Sure it had been replaced at one time, but that was it. No heavy duty clutch - 'far from it' was the shops comment. The clutch itself has been reported as not warn, it was purely slipping because it didn't have enough clamping force to maintain contact under power. Further, that explains why under normal driving it seemed to have no issue at all.

Following the above explanation they asked what type of clutch I wanted. I asked them what there was and whether it would be sufficient to still go with (the original plan) of a organic heavy duty clutch. Unfortunatly they explained to me that even an organic heavy duty clutch would not be sufficient, that I'd simply have to go with a sprung centre button clutch.

So as I write this they are now going about installing such a clutch. Should prove an interesting drive home. :D

Oz.

Canberra Rotary Meet, A Success!

Hey peeps,

So just got back from the Canberra Rotary meet:


It was the first meet that I had 'organised' and as such was not really sure what to expect. But in the end at least 20 rotas turned out with a great mixture. We had Lots of Rx7s (mainly Gen 1s, but also two FCs and an FD SP) and than everything from R100s, Rx3, Rx4, Dattos, and more - that my memory can't remember.

Heaps of photos were taken by myself and one of my mates, as well as many of the attendees. So I'll get some of my pics up here soon, and there will be plenty more on the AusRotary forum.

w00t w00t. What a great success and a great way to spend a Sundee arvo. I might look at doing another in the not too distant future. :D

Later,
Oz.

Oil Leak Fixed

Just picked up the car, oil leak is said to be fixed. Here's hoping.

The problem was found to be that the oil cooler had developed a hole in it and as such was leaking oil. So they pulled it out, flushed it out, welded it up, and put it back in. Apparently there was oil all around it, so it was a pretty bad leak it seems.

But no suprises there, as that is what I thought it was and keeping in mind that the previous owner told me he had to get the same thing done. The guys at the shop remembered that, and told me the story.

Apparently previously, there had been a leak so the previous owner(s) decided just to do up attaching bolts tighter. But being alloy and being a cheap oil cooler it just broke the welds and added some cracks. That is what the previous owner got fixed and is potentially where this problem came from too.

But it should be good for now, and if not then I'll just do the right thing and replace it with a PWR jobbie or something.

The good news is, that while there I booked it in for a NEW CLUTCH NEXT WEEK. :D :D :D

So 'ere's hoping that nothing else pops up and that I finally achieve the dream of a new clutch next week.

While there I asked some info about clutches and now understand the difference between an organic clutch, a ceramic clutch and a button clutch. All very interesting and better for understanding what I'm getting. I'm just sticking with an organic clutch in the hope that it will do for now - hopefully my track work and car power wont be crazy enough to go through that.

Well, more as it happens,
Oz. ;)

P.S. The 'oil leak' on the gear box is believed purely to be oil being flung back from the big oil cooler leak, and therefore not a leak in itself.

P.S.S. Spent yesterday at Wakefield watching two of my mates have a blast on the track. Hopefully I'll soon have my car ready and be able to take part in such fun events. :D

Overboost Update and Current Plan

Over at react I was asked for any updates on the overboost issues I was having. Here's what I wrote:

- - - - - -

Basically, overboost is far better and I can fairly confidently drive it without overboosting now. It's not perfect, but I think it's safer - as in not as likely to accidentially hurt the engine. I will definitely go back to it at some stage in the future, but that will require larger $$$, so I'm leaving it for now.

My goal over-riding everything is that I want a car that I can take to the track and be fairly confident it will deal with it happily and afterwards be able to drive the same car home. Crazy overboosting out the kazoo would make it too easy to accidentially hurt the engine - for a n00b at least - so it had the highest priority. Now I need to get these oil leaks fixed as they could also be symptoms of a much larger problem. :( (And are a new addition to the car, so where not in the original plan.)

Once that is done I can then finally get the current big daddy of the issues done. The clutch. *fingers crossed*

With all those items done, and still running the 17"s, I'd be willing to take it to the track on the 27th and give it a bash. Following that I will probably re-address/perfect the overboost issue while also looking at getting some proper track oriented wheels.

Now as for how I plan to ultimately correct the overboost issue, I'm yet to make the final decision. I'm definitely tempted by just going crazy and getting a brand spankers Garret turbo. More realistically though, I like the idea of getting the current turbo modded to allow the fitment of an external wastegate. Least favoured is the idea of boring out the wastegate and enlarging the gate flap - just seems like more of a hack than modding for external wastegate.

Oh yeah, and there is the 'I wonder if it would work' option. That is to get an eBoost2 installed. One basic reason for wanting such a thing is that my current boost gauge centres at 2psi VACUM, so it needs to be replaced. Maybe not a good enough reason in itself, but read on. There is a school of thought that through the electronic boostgauges/boostcontrollers you can allow for better bleed off and control of your boost. Now I have nothing to say this idea would definitely work, but if it did it would be the cheapest option of all. However the saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. :(

Anyway, so that's my current futures and what I'm thinking about the still remaining (reduced) overboost I'm experiencing.

Oil Leaks

Well, as mentioned previously my car seems to have developed an oil leak. So I got it up on the ramps on Sunday and had a look. Unfortunately, because of the 'engine guard' under the engine I still cannot see where it is coming from, but it does seem to be forward of the engine.

That concerns me as I know that the previous owner had the oil cooler crack on him (and dump all his oil) and as a result he had to get that fixed. I'm hoping that it has not cracked again and will invovled me forking out for a new one. Could be expensive.

While I was under there I also saw there was a leak coming from around the rear of the gear box (where the tail shaft connects). I'm not sure what is going on there, but needless to say, that is also concerning.

I was going to book it in for the clutch and get the leaks checked at the same time. But seeing they could end up expensive I've changed the plan slightly. Instead, I've now got it booked in for thursday to get the oil leaks checked out, and then I'll go from there - clutch delayed again.

Will I ever get there? :-/

One positive thing I found while under there, was that all the bushes (except on steering) have been replaced with nice red nolethane ones. Nice to know. :)

Flappa Fixed

Good ol' Astro over at REACT informed me that the flappa had a proper manual release mechanism, so off I went to try that out. Once found it was gold - much better than the barbaric method of prying it open. But even better, was it helped me further analyse what was going on.

It seemed that applying extra pressure against the clip (just by using my finger) made it hard to retract the clip with the manual mechanism. As such it became obvious that the real friction problem was internal to the mechanism and not the clip against the flappa - hence why grease did not help previously. So I grabbed the good ol' WD40 and went about spraying it into the mechanism - hoping that it would not introduce an electrical short and make matters worse.

Unfortunately it didn't seem to fix the issue even though I could definitely feel things moving more freely - there was just too much tension. Therefore I had to figure out how to remove the tension.

This lead me to the drastic measure of actually trying to bend the internal latch in various ways. My first two attempts failed - with the second seeming to make it worse - but my third was successful.

As a result, I can now use my new (non leaking) fuel cap and my release button. Woohoo!

But alas, it is now raining (and not really rotor weather) and the week-end has all but passed. :( This is the first week-end that the rotor stayed home. :(

Flappa Saga Cont.

So I had a play this evening with the fuel flapper (spent the rest of the day shopping and working on the daily - VN Commodore). First check (as suggested by REACT peeps) was the fueses. They all looked good so I decided to give it another go. Still didn't work, but I could hear the faintest clicking noise. So I pressed it few more times really softly and on and off. Lo' an' behold it sounded like the release 'thingy' was getting the signal from the switch and was trying to do it's thing. But for some reason, it just couldn't do it.

So I resorted to the less desired option of prying the flapper open to have a closer look. Not long after that I decided that if the only thing that had changed between when it used to work and now was the new fuel cap, why not remove it.

After removing it I shut the flap and gave it another go. It all worked. I put the new fuel cap back in and it failed. I took the cap out again and it worked. It's therefore the new cap.

On closer inspection and further playing, it appears that the new cap (being all nice and tight) is now pushing up against the door and as a result there is more pressure than usual against the release mechanism. I'm guessing that the extra pressure is too much for the solinoid (or whatever the actuator is) and as a result it is unable to actuate.

That puts me in a quandry. If I put the old fuel cap back in, fuel leaks out and will eventually damage the paintwork - if it hasn't already. If I leave the new fuel cap in (as I have) I wont be able to open it (without prying it) to put fuel in - and therefore can't drive it.

hmmm... I'll go back to it later and try and come up with a decision. :(

P.S. I did try greasing up the release clip etc. but to no avail.

Great Fuel Efficiency!

Damn it, my bloody fuel flap wont open. When I push the button on the dash it does nothing. NOTHING!

What a dog of an afternoon. I left work, and went to give my car a bit of a wash - just a quick splash and dash - as it was covered in pollen stuff from the week. Got to the car wash and would not accept my $2 coin. I even tried another machine, and it also rejected the $2 coin. The problem was though, I only had $3 on me as I haven't had time to visit an ATM. :( So I put the $1 coin in and that gave me 1 minut 20 seconds to hose down the car. I managed to do it just in time.

So next I went to the petrol station to get some more fuel and some money from the ATM so I could go back (to the car wash) and do it a bit better. It was here obviously that I discovered that my fuel flap would not open. I tried for a good five minues. I tried with the car on, I tried with it off, I tried with it running, I tried opening the boot (which worked fine). ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!! It worked at bloody lunch time as that is when I got the new fuel cap - as mentioned below.

I was hoping to go and check out the Canberra Cruise ppl tonight, but stuff that now. I've only got half a tank of fuel and the car is being a dog to me, so stuff it! STUFF IT!

New Fuel Cap

hmmm... I started to notice what seemed to be fuel down the side of the car where the fuel flap is. It seemed as though the fuel cap was not able to maintain a good enough seal to stop fuel from leaking out while driving.

So today, I grabbed myself a new one and it seems nice and tight. So hopefully that fixes it and who knows, it might give me better fuel efficiency. ;)