Old man's gonna go racing

[Dodging]

I had an extra one made that bolts to the rear axle. Initially I used 2 poly bushes per side, which allows a little bit of movement. Last night I removed one bush on each side and replaced the othe with a thinner bush. It will now have a little less flex in it which in turn will make the arse-end a bit more loose on the track

[JamieI]

Impressive work you did on that car! I have a corsa aswell, didn't though I would be able to bring it on a racing track one day!

[Dodging]

Thanks, Buddy.

They are pretty good fun on a race track, even in standard form. The handling is very predictive, so that makes it easy to have fun with them.

Then when you build a race car out of it, you do all you can to change the handling characteristics haha

[Dodging]

Tick tock...

[Dodging]

Ummm... Bought another complete head today... Flowed, tripple seated valves etc...

Might've found a sub assembly as well, and just waiting to see what it'll cost to have a set of throttles sent over from the States.

Would like to build a second motor, taking my time, planning exactly how to make it deliver the power I want the way that I want. Probably gonna have to get some cams made for it... Want something that makes power all the way to 7000rpm

Not high on my priority list now though...

[Dodging]

Update time again

Did a couple of the things that still need to be done before Sunday.

Wire-tied rhe oil filter, bought a bolt-type sump plug and had holes drilled through it so that it can be wire-tied. Still need to drain the oil and fit the new sump plug. Also made the new door cards - came out pretty well in my opinion. Added straps to the doors so there is at least something to pull it closed with haha. Had the other set of semi's put on my old rims, so now I have 8 rims with semi's (only 6 of them are within are the allowed width though, the other 2 are too wide).

Then I finally figured out a way to make that bloody Ray Singh ignition panel work. Decided to just leave the original ignition switch in place (minus the barrel and steering lock bit), and leave it in the 'on' position like it would be when the engine is running. I cut the constant 12v wire leading to it, and wired a relay in with the toggle switch. The starter button is just wired straight to the starter's signal cable. Voila! It now finally starts with the button. I can now take the screwdriver that was acting as a key out the car haha. Really chuffed with myself for getting it to work, because I suck at car electrickery.

Will take a pic of the doorcards tomorrow when there is better light.

Not much left to do now. List is:

Fit & wire-tie sump plug
Fit the cut-off cable on the outside of the car
Replace the fubar bumper
Pu some m8 bolts at the point where the shock mounts to the carrier so as to ensure the alignment stays as it should. I think this will also be a good thing if I need to loosen a shock for whatever reason at the track - will then be able to get the alignment pretty close to where it should be when I re-assemble

Can't wait for the first race!

[Dodging]

Watch "Startup" on YouTube - Startup: http://youtu.be/xhghlwrDhhs

[Dodging]

Doorcards in

[Dodging]

Went to the registration & dyno day today



Stuck the car on the dyno, and the car was short about 7kw of the class limit - woooohoooo!

Might be odd that I sound so happy about it, but it is because I now have reason to put the other cams in and change the intake. This is going to resolve sort my biggest gripe I have with the car as it is now - HOW it delivers the power. Will now be able to have it making peak power higher up in the rev range so I can actually rev the car.

Will tackle that in the week and then take it for remapping at the control dyno. Actually rather chuffed with the way the car ran on track taking into account that I was actually 10% short on power [emoji6]

[Dodging]

Got a fair bit done today. Put all the supplied stickers on that must be on the car. Really chuffed with the little hamper so generously given to us by the kind folks at Castrol - 2 x 5l Castrol Edge (fully synthetic), 2 tubs of grease and 2 bottles of brake fluid. Seeing as I need to drain the oil to replace the sump plug, might as well do an oil change same time.







Also fitted the outside cable to the cutoff switch



Changed the cams. Thought the cam cover looks a bit shoddy, so I changed that same time.



As you can see I started with a different intake. To my dismay I'll have to go with a cone filter... Will just get a decent brand - least I can do...

So here is the hickup for the day. Took it for a drive to see if all is well. I can hear and feel a real change with the other cams, but it first needs to be re-tuned before I can really TEST it. Stopped and switched it off have a look for any oil leaks - all is well. Get back in and start it - oil light is on. Drat... Tow it home...

I do however think I know what the problem is - there is a hole where the oil filter housing sits that needs to be blanked off when fitting an adaptor for the pipes leading to the cooler. I made a steel gasket for it, and I think it may have shifted position slightly. Gonna put a plug in there to resolve the issue once and for all. Everything is already stripped, ready for the fix.

Actually reminds me - need to make a plan for a bigger oil light....

[Dodging]

Quick lesson on how to know you are in poo:

It's 8 days before race day, and your car is looking like this:



Oil pump is stuffed. After stripping it, I noticed some grit in it. Found a fair bit of it in the sump and in the oil. Don't know what the hell it is - feels almost like the grit used for sandblasting.

Seriously miffed.

Apart from replacing the oil pump, I'll have to replace the bearings as well. Have not stripped them out yet, so I am rather stressed about what the crank might look like.

Really flippin' annoyed

[johnny]

Was the engine rebuilt before you installed it or did you fit new cams or crank?

Sounds like a fresh motor that wasn't broke in before racing

Is the oil shiny with metal flake?

[Dodging]

Wasn't rebuilt. Bought it from the importers, fitted a new oil pump. Took it to track.

Only thing I've changed since, is cams and tappet cover. I think the problem comes from the tappet cover - looks like it was sandblasted

[Dodging]

Another late night... Actually, early morning...

First thing this morning (or is that yesterday morning?) I headed off to Alert as I knew they have the correct oil pump in stock, plus they are pretty close. Got an oil pump, 5l cheap oil, big ends, mains and a new oil filter, then headed off to work. Only got home close to 8pm, so work started late.

Started by cleaning out the sump, then set about the tappet cover I got with the engine originally. This here seems to have been the culprit - found a shedload of crud in the breather area. Probably used about 5l of petrol to get it properly clean.

Next I pulled out the big ends - they still look perfect, not a mark on them. So I am quite happy to not worry about the mains.

Put the new oil pump in with the pickup, put the tappet cover on and then started on the cambelt's back cover and the rollers. Didn't do the cambelt yet, as I'm a bit tired - not a task to be done without full concentration.

So still to do - cambelt, exhaust, add oil...

Then I can crank that sucker up!

Oh and I also got an intake pipe with a cone filter today - looks like it's going to fit really nicely.

Hopefully I get home at a decent hour this afternoon and tomorrow afternoon, then I can finish up.

Monday I need to take the car for alignment (again), dyno and the last of the stickers...

Hope everything works out that way...

[Dodging]

Update time. And it's a good one.

Oil pump replaced. New intake fitted. Took it to Braam to have it re-tuned. The man is a legend - tuned it to exactly the numbers I wanted. The car feels much more lively now, and the curve looks much better. The motor now also seems much happier at high revs.

Taking the car to Fourways quickly to get something done now, then I just need to sort the alignment out on Wednesday, put the front bumper back...

....and then I'm ready to race