The Cart Before the Horse: Spec 3 Build

[navin]

I have OTC depin tools if you want to borrow them.. just wipe them done with Lysol before returning them.

[Senor_Taylor]

I have OTC depin tools if you want to borrow them.. just wipe them done with Lysol before returning them.

You have the BMW specific tool? It's not a regular depinning tool afaik.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[navin]

It's the OTC set that has different tools in it.. might work for a BMW. Shit it all this social isolation might as well buy the tool you need and clean up the wiring for you get real bored at home.

Also replace those zipties with "lacing" if you really want to.. https://www.skygeek.com/military-specifi...-cord.html

[Senor_Taylor]

Dropped the car off for the cage 3 weeks ago. He said it'd be done in 2 weeks. That didn't happen. Was supposed to go get it Saturday, but I decided to call him before driving down. I'm glad I did because he didn't answer his phone for two days, and when he finally did answer, he said he was out of town and the car wasn't ready. I'm not sure if he just forgot or what. Summit Point is this weekend, so I've got two plans. Plan A is to call the cage builder thursday and see if the car is done. If it is, I'll drive to Richmond after work to get it and then work on the car all day friday to get what I can done before I have to be a Summit to work friday night. Plan B is to suck it up and just do a few laps in the Fiesta this weekend and be bored.

Short list of things I'm going to try to do when I the car back is:
- Cut dash and reinstall
- Paint the parts of the cage that I need to install the roll bar padding on
- Swap rotors and grease slide pins
- Practice egress a few times
- ?????


It's going to be down to the wire, but I need to get in the car and do my TT check ride if I want to keep my schedule for the year that hopefully ends with comp school.

[.RJ]

thrashing on the car the night before is a recipe for disaster.

48 hour rule - if the car isnt ready and loaded 48 hours before you're supposed to leave, then punt.

[Senor_Taylor]

My car isn't ready. I'll be towing the Fiesta to the track and using it for my check ride and some light lapping/pace car duties.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[rherold9]

Edit: See Taylor's response that I didn't read first

[Senor_Taylor]

Picked up the car today, painted the cage, cut and reinstalled the dash, and started to put it back together.

2 weeks over schedule and right at the top end of his estimate on price and I'm still not that mad. The price was really good and the cage itself is done well, except some very odd choices. One weird thing is how we decided to cut a huge hole in my expensive VAC Motorsports seat adapter. The other is how he welded the side bars in a way to completely blocks you from ever installing a passenger seat (which I need) and blocks me from remove the seat adapter he cut a hole in. Besides that, all is well.

Also, I never want to paint a cage again.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[Senor_Taylor]

Looking like a car again.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[Senor_Taylor]

It's all coming together! Spec suspension installed. Andrew Elmore hooked me up with the struts, springs, and camber plates for trade of my old suspension +$300. Easy button!

[ScottyB]

looks good buddy. i know the cage was a raw deal but in the end it got done, and you managed to get that seat in. i might have thrown in the towel.

[Senor_Taylor]

Not so HyperFest 2020 

Best time: 2:21.19

Weight: 2997

HP: 188

Tq: 167

First event with a cage and all of that jazz. It's been a VERY long off season and I hadn't driven the car is 9+ months so I was pretty nervous. I was driving open practice Friday, then DE3 for the weekend and it took a lot to shake the rust off. Started out running 2:25s on Friday just because it was like starting over after so long off and a car that was so radically different. 

On friday, I was using hoosiers that I had traded Tom my RRs for so he could do comp school and the grip felt nice until it didn't. Car got light at the top of esses and I got into a tank slapper. Kept the car straight and spun through the infield, debeading a tire and knocking some vacuum lines off, requiring a flat tow for me. 



I swapped back over to my Toyo RA1 rain tires with 45+ heat cycles on them and got back on the horse. However, at this time, I did notice the car was burning/leaking a lot of oil. I'm not really sure what the main culprit is, but the dipstick tube did come loose, so I'm assuming that's a part of it. Not looking forward to cleaning up that mess and figuring it out.

I picked up a lot of speed and all of us in DE3 started vibing well and playing around. I did my TT checkride at the end of Saturday and the instructor told me to pit after 2 laps so he could get out. "You don't need me in here, go have fun" he said. 

I dyno'd my car Sunday morning and it reported in at 189 horsepower on average, which is a bit below the max allowed for spec 3 but it's certainly not unhealthy. Sunday was uneventful besides picking up more speed and pushing my braking zones deeper and deeper with great success. Saturday and sunday I ran 2:22 just about every single lap that was clear, then I started to push into 2:21s at the end of Sunday. I was on pace for a 2:20 but dipped a tire off in my second to last session so I decided to call it quits and just accept a good weekend. Overall, I'm pleased, especially not being too far off race pace for Spec 3 while being 200 lbs heavy and on 50 heat cycle rain tires. 

All I need is a seat back brace, new belts, rain light, and a fire system to do comp school, but I've ran out of money for now and I'm getting low on consumables. I also have things on the car I need to address such as dropped more weight, new wheel studs, and other things I should probably spend money on before rushing to comp school. I'll probably run TT5 for now and see how things shake out.

[Kaan]

I have a rain light if you want it... the plug ripped out of it but if you hard wire it, it will work.

[Senor_Taylor]

I have a rain light if you want it... the plug ripped out of it but if you hard wire it, it will work.

Yes pls.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[Senor_Taylor]

Drained the oil and got >4 quarts out of it, which means I leaked/burned off 4 quarts at VIR. Pressure washed all of that oil off the bottom of the car and attempted to seal up the dipstick tube. I bought the o-ring the internet said was right and it didn't fit. Luckily I had a box of various o rings and fit the most apt one on there. The seal doesn't seem great, but I guess we'll send it and see what happens. Brakes serviced and car washed. Zach is hooking me up with some new vinyl numbers and such and I think we're ready for VIR in September.

[ViPER1313]

PCV and leakdown test....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Senor_Taylor]

PCV and leakdown test....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Why even bother. It's mostly leaking out. There was a puddle the size and shape under my car in the paddock.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[Jake]

Does the oil pan leak? Mine leaked really badly from the oil pan gasket until I finally did it, although I think you recently had that all apart to do the oil pump nut.

[Senor_Taylor]

Does the oil pan leak? Mine leaked really badly from the oil pan gasket until I finally did it, although I think you recently had that all apart to do the oil pump nut.

I really think it was just the dipstick.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[Senor_Taylor]

Long story short. Car was still leaking oil out the dipstick which was very annoying. Then the motor blew up in my first TT session. Probably dropped a valve. Piston looks pretty bad from what we could see with the bore scope. Will dissect and diagnose later, but I'm a little tied up with other stuff for now. All I know for sure is it made a lot of noise, the engine doesn't run, and this is the spark plug from that cylinder.