Friday, September 13, 2013

Spoiler for the rear

Well, I was hoping to be able to purchase a nice wing and use it next year but according to the rules for CSP I can only run a spoiler.  There are a few out there that I can run but I am going to try and make something that will be interchangeable.

Current plan is to do some prototyping with plywood to get a good shape and then use that as a pattern for some 1/8" Plexiglas for the final product.  I want to have 2 forms for it, for local events I will run the one that is built to the limits of the CSP rules to make sure I take advantage of any down force it generates at the lower speeds of our events and then have a smaller 2-3" tall version for the higher speed Helena events so that I'm not generating a ton of extra drag and slowing the car down.

The little bit of research I did on it this morning says that I should shoot for a 60 degree angle.  if I can curve the Plexiglas a bit I should be able to avoid having to use any extra bracing which will keep things simple. I think a small piece of C-channel aluminum along the bottom edge of the plexi will allow me to form a shape and make it work.  I have a few ideas on how to mount this to the car with out making a huge mess but I need to go spend some time staring at things at the hardware store and my car to make sure it's actually going to work.

I'll post some pictures as I get things going on it.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Suspension Upgrades

Ordered the upgrades for my suspension. A set of Flyin' Miata's Afco shocks and springs.

These will take me from 318lbs springs in the front to 600lbs and 233lbs in the rear to 375lbs. While quite a bit stiffer, it will allow me to lower the car a bit more and it should improve the handling of the car even further then it already is.  These add a bit more customizability to the setup as well. Raising and lowering the car is as easy as turning a plate on the bottom of the spring with a special wrench. There will be up to 11" of travel as well...

I also ordered a polyurethane front splitter to add a little down force at higher speeds.  for the most part this will only really help at the Helena events where we see 60+ for a good portion of the course.


I am hoping that I will have all of the parts and have time to install them before the last event of the year on October 6th.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

First Post!

I figured that it might not be a bad idea to post about what I am doing with my car.  Even if this ends up only being for my benefit to keep track of things.

So far the year has been pretty good as far as events have gone. I managed to take first in PAX once and have been hovering around 3-9th in pax at pretty much all of the events.

I plan on moving to CSP next year and am looking at what I can do to the car to make it go faster.  Right now it will be a minimum of a set of 225/50-14 tires.  but I am considering some suspension upgrades as well.

Should also have my rebuilt engine in place before next year starts up.