The Cart Before the Horse: Spec 3 Build

[Senor_Taylor]

Not good update followed by great update!

GTPeace was really suspecting that I had a lean fuel condition again that lead to cylinder 6 getting hot, so we threw the kitchen sink at it and some other goodies.

New fuel pump, filter, pressure regulator, and injectors.
Euro coolant tank with the proper NLA euro hardline
2 new tires
Alignment
GT Peace also did the R&R on the head gasket for free, which was really cool.
They also patched up my body damage from WGI.
Lastly I got an AFR wideband installed so I could monitor my fuel mix on track and see if it was running lean.

I picked up the car on Thursday on my way down to Hyperfest and had to install new brake pads when I got there. I used this time to also remove my rotor dust shields for improved cooling. The car ran really well all weekend, albeit hotter than it used to, but I suspect that was from the warmer thermostat and how poorly my front ducting/aero fits now after the crunch. The car noticeably had more top-end pep so I'm starting to suspect it really was fuel starved up high. The car was great Friday and Saturday and I turned times near my PB even with my timidness and warm temperatures.

I finished third on Friday and 4th on Saturday in a field of 8 Spec3s (amazing to say that 8 is a really small field for us these days!)

Then on Sunday I took my car over to the dyno and it dumped out all of the oil. In all of the haste as of late, the oil filter housing that got put back on my car was the super old style from an E34 engine that used an o ring, a plug, and a circlip to plug the casting holes on the back. Luckily I had a spare newer-style one in the trailer so I swapped that, but I missed qualifying so I had to start the race at the back. I got by everyone up 5th place and things got crazy. The leader got punted and had to retire, the then new leader got DQ'd, and then the third place (now leader) racer put their car in the wall, so I was in second place. However, the checkered flag flew for the car behind me (not me) and I thought it was for me so I pitted early like an idiot. Ended up with third place. I'm bummed because if I had made qualifying, I could have easily snagged my first win here, but those are lessons learned for next time!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aycdKtzNWOA

Also, the start of the Bimmerworld race was really crazy due to some SpecE46 guys being... rambunctious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX2CBrrnyu8