February Update

Well the last few months hasn't seen nearly as much work as I had hoped on the car.  But good news is that in the last few weeks I have made some good progress on it.

As of today everything is out of the car that needs to be other then the rear end.  I am ready to start putting things back together this weekend and hope to make some good progress on it.

So the current plan is to install the new clutch/flywheel and transmission on Saturday.  Once those are all in I can reinstall the headers and super charger.  With all of that being out I am working on removing the power steering pump and extra pulleys from the belt system for the super charger.  Doing this will help simplify the system and remove some parasitic drag on things, freeing up some power.  Probably won't make much of a difference but its worth it just to remove unneeded parts.  Once the headers are back in I can reconnect the steering column and then install the shocks.  Then the front end is done. 

The rear end is coming out this weekend to head into a shop to have the 3.636 ring and pinion installed.  I should have it back in just a day or two after dropping it off.  The following weekend I should be able to get the rear end installed and hopefully fire up the car.

Things are starting to progress finally!

Long time no update...

Well, its been a while since I have updated the blog.  All in all it was an ok season for autocross.  Did alright but could have been better.  usually in the top 5 at events for raw time and about the same for PAX.   I did discover at the last event of the season, on October 11th, that the Hoosiers are shot.  What I have mounted right now is a set of 275-35/R15 that were used before I got them.  If you can get them hot they aren't bad, but the 11th saw sustained winds of 19mph all day long and gusts of 40mph.  To say the least, the tires never got warm.  At the end of the day I had switched to the R1R tires and was packing up to leave when a friend showed up that wanted a ride.  We did a buck run with out the Hoosiers and, holy crap, what a difference. the car felt planted and could accelerate out of turns much better then with the Hoosiers.  To say the least... I'll be getting a new set of Hoosier A7 next year.

Current plans for the car is to have the shocks serviced and put on some stiffer springs, 800 front, 550 rear.  As of today the shocks are on their way back to me and should be back in the car soon with the new springs installed.  After its a matter of the drive train.  I have a 6 speed transmission to replace the 5 speed.  The catch is that it makes the gear ratios awful.

5 - Speed + 4.3 rear end and 7200 rpm rev limit:
1st gear tops out at  35.87 mph
2nd gear tops out at 59.57 mph
3rd gear tops out at 84.57 mph

6 speed + 4.3 rear end and 7200 rpm
1st gear tops out at 29.91 mph
2nd gear tops out at 49.57 mph
3rd gear tops out at 68.37 mph

I purchased a 3.636 ring and pinion to put in the differential which will take care of it.
6 speed + 3.636 rear end and 7200 rpm
1st gear tops out at 35.38 mph
2nd gear tops out at 58.62 mph
3rd gear tops out at 80.86 mph

Much better and very close to the original ratios. All in all I'm sure I'll have to learn to drive the car again with this many differences.

I also purchased a dead 1992 Miata.  This will eventually become the base for everything that's in the 99.  the car has about a softball sized hole in the block where a rod went through it.   in the end this one will end up about 200-300 lbs lighter then the 99.  this probably won't be in service until 2017.  Going to take my time and do it right as I build it.

Corner Balancing

I spent some time to day with the help of Dave Kirk getting the corner balance of my car just right. 

Here is what we had at the beginning:

Total: 2382

LF: 642

RF: 596

LR: 572

RR: 573

Left: 1216  - 51.0 %

Rear: 1145 - 48 %

LF/RR: 1214  - 51.0 %

Right: 1169  - 49.1%

Below is what we ended up with.

Total: 2378

LF: 627

RF: 609

LR: 579

RR: 567

Left: 1206  - 50.7 %

Rear: 1142 - 48 %

LF/RR: 1198  - 50.0 %

Right: 1171  - 49.3%

All it took was raising the RR spring perch 1.5 turns.

It isn't a huge change but I am pretty happy we where able to get the LF/RR to right at 50%.  The LF and RF are also much closer which will help with making sure I am not locking up one tire or the other while braking hard.

At the next event we are going to take temperature measurements across the face of the tire to see if the camber is set at the optimal angle.

Next event is August 9th in Bozeman at The Commons.  ( Map)  This is our "index" event.  We try to setup the course exactly the same as last years and we can compare our times between the two to see how our modifications and driving skills have changes our times. I have not run a Bozeman event since last year. It will be interesting to see how I fair with all of the work that I have done to the car.

Here is a spreadsheet with the first two years times on it. (link) As you can see, almost everyone who ran in 2012 and 2013 improved their times. Some by a pretty significant amount.

Update!

The issues I was having with the ECU earlier this season have mostly been solved.  There is still a bit of hesitation but it is manageable.

Today I had the limited slip differential installed.  Have had a chance to drive the car a little bit and it is a different experience just around town.  I notice the car seems to hook up far better and accelerate better.  through corners I get a bit of under steer while accelerating hard.  Something I am going to have to adjust out a bit and get used to.

Tonight I am going to lower the car about 3/4" give or take a bit. If I can find the brackets I am going to finally put the rear sway-bar back on. I am hoping they are in my storage unit otherwise I will have to buy new ones from a Mazda dealer or a used parts place.

There is an Autocross event here in Helena this weekend, If I can manage to beat one other guy both days I will take the CSP trophy for the Montana Challenge series. Everything I have done to the car in the last week has been to ensure this goal is met.

First autocross and an Evo school coming up

Well its finally that time of year again. On the 3rd of may there is an evolution driving school and Sunday the 4 th is an autocross.

As the car goes, I have the shocks in, the ecu installed,  a rear spoiler that is 80% complete at this point. the spoiler will be complete tomorrow and a front lip will be installed tomorrow as well. 

Sadly I have not been able to get the limited slip installed yet. It might have to wait till I can afford to take it to a shop.

I have the new tires mounted and ready to go as well. 

If anyone has experience with a measure ecu and would be willing to help me out with some issues I am having. Please leave a comment here and let me know.

I'm seeing lots of hesitation when you first tap the gas pedal.  It also barely keeps running when you first start it up but if you give it gas for 10 seconds or so it runs ok. 

Tires and progress!

I finally ordered a new set of tires for this season. It is another set of Toyo Proxes R1R. I did end up going with slightly wider tires, 205 instead of 195.

The ECU is installed and working correctly. I just need to do some final tuning to get it just right.

I started working on getting the Afco suspension installed finally. the fronts should be in by tomorrow and the rear the day after. While I am doing the rear i am also going to get the limited slip differential installed.

Megasquirt ECU

I spent this afternoon and evening installing and trying to get the new ECU setup and working properly.  The install itself was super simple to complete.  probably took 30min or so and knowing what I know now... I could probably install another one in about 10min.

After getting it installed I fired up the car. IT RUNS!  but... it idles around 2000 RPM and I have not been able to track down the cause of this. We went through the calibration and setting of the base timing that made no real difference.

I have a few things to try once the sun comes back up tomorrow that I hope will answer some questions. if not... I'll be looking to the forums for some assistance.

PARTS!

Been a while since I have posted to here... long couple of months in my personal life and a move back to Helena, anyway...

I have been ordering parts again.  Purchased a Torsen limited slip from Mazda and a MegasquirtPNP with a wide-band o2 sensor.  All of these parts should be rolling in starting the end of this week and beginning of next.

The engine rebuild is finally starting to move along again.  Head should be complete this week. Bottom end will go back together next week.

Suspension will be installed this Sunday. Looking forward to seeing how the car feels after getting that done.

Wheels and Tires

Well, I decided I should probably start looking at getting the new set of wheels I was hoping to use for next season.  Turns out that they are out of stock pretty much everywhere.  I could probably get a mismatched set if I really wanted them.  I guess I should have jumped on them a bit sooner.


Back to the suspension parts I bought earlier this winter.  I put them all together though I have concerns that the fronts are not quite right. I am going to give Flyin Miata a call and see if I can get some help figuring out what I did wrong.  Once that is dealt with I will be able to drop them into the car.

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.

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.