Turbo exhaust housing to dump pipe studs replaced

Dropped past Unique autosport this morning and Dave drilled out and extracted the broken studs, the studs look to be normal steel studs so might be different in quality which is potentially why they bent.

Drilled out ready for stud extractor

Turbo out, gasket busted, studs bent and snapped

Turbo out

Miss fire - the conector

Miss Fire - traced to wiring loom

It looks like the wiring loom has an issue in particular the piece that goes from the split fire amplifer to the coils.

Ignition problems

Got home last night and unloaded everything this morning. Was keen to check out what had happened so pulled out the plugs as they were brand new ones.

Started pulling off the leads from the coil's and number 2 is the cause for running on 3 cyl and the miss fire, swapped over the coil and confirmed it is not the actual coil but something in the wiring, also swapped out the igniter and didn't make a difference.

Pulled out the coil and

Shots from Winton

 Leaving in the morning

Fucking miss fire

Seems the one higher in the rev range has been fixed but the one on part throttle is fucking anoying the shit out of me.

Have grabbed some new spark plugs.and changed the fuel filter this afternoon so hope it all runs better totomorrow and i can have some fun on the track.

Winton is a tough little track and hard to get some of the corners right, need to follow some other people around as today with the bald tires (not kidding they delamanated in the last session) i didn't go to bad

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Getting the most out of the tyres

Tried to get the most out of the tires as they are so expensive, still managed some quick times with the tires bald which was surprising.

Arrived at winton

Arrived at 2:30 and left bell vista at 7:30am with a detour via golburn to pick up Dave it was a pretty quick trip.

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Road trip - at hollbrook

Just had the tie down strap snap

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Ready to go

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All packed and ready to go

Well nearly all packed.... Just have to throw in my clothes and bathroom stuff and then i am off tomorrow morning. Filled up the car and have 7jerry cans full as i borrowed two from Andrew but i think i over filled them as they are leaking.
Noticed a leak from the gear box and we didn't get a chance to test the car out so fingers crossed everything works on the shakedown at winton on Friday.

Feel relieved it is finished but also a little worried about how the car will go. 

Wish me luck :-)

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Splitter finished

Rear diffuser manufacturer and design - part 4 - Finished

Catch Can piping finished

Picked up bits and pieces

Strakes for the rear diffuser. Made from similar stuff as a chopping board.

Carabu hook for the rear tow hook

Material to stop the rubber that fills the gap between the splitter from rubbing on the front bar.

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Rear diffuser manufacturer and design - part 3

Playing around with the rear stakes, you kind of get the picture with the cardboard in place.

Splitter mounted to frame

Lining it all up onto the frame to trace the mounting tab holes and then drill through the splitter.

Drilling through the splitter

Welding mounting tabs for splitter onto frame

Battery fitted in new location

With the wing on the back it will take a little bit of time to get to the battery so we moved it to just behind the passenger seat down nice and low.

Fitting Catch Can

Andrew welded up a mounting bracket and we fitted the catch can this afternoon after work.

New rear wheel bearing

The rear passenger side bearing was badly in need of replacing so Andrew swapped it over today. 

Front splinter - low and getting lower

I really hope the spring rate we have chosen works as with the shorter springs we have no possibility of raising the car up further. Yes it is very low and lets hope there are no big bumps on the track. Special rub plates will be a must

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Front Splitter

I picked up the finished fiberglassed front splitter this afternoon and bought it back to Andrews workshop to get it prepared as quickly as possiable. I am running out of time to have everything done so i suspect a few late nights this week to try and get everything done.

This thing is really, really light!!! When i picked it up it felt like i was holding a piece of cardboard it was that light. Surprisingly it's also really strong and i find it hard that you might get it stronger in carbon fiber so hopefully we have found the right balance with resign to matting measurements.

This time we got it finished nice on both sides and it needed only a light sand before a primer coat, if i had more time i would want to high fill it all and get it super nice but i sanded it all back through a couple of grades of sandpaper and put a light coat of primer on tonight ready tomorrow to put a couple of coats of top coat on.

Also Andrew is not well ATM so he is doing his best to put a smile on for the camera,

Fixed up sump gasket

The last workshop that worked on the car left quiet a mess on the sump pan with a pile of gasket goo everywhere. I decided to change the oil and at the same time re-do the gasket as it was a shitty job done and had developed a slight weep as the pan was not 100% flat. Not sure if they didn't think to check it when they did it or they didn't care but all sorted now. 

Rear diffuser manufacturer and design - part 2

Rear diffuser progress coming along. Main sheet cut out and attached to get everything measured up, some air stakes to add and move a few things around. The exhaust needs some work to ensure it does not touch.

 Here you can see the exhaust touching although we can move this around a little and potentially cut the sheet back a little more.

New 2ltr Catch Can + Sticker Pack

Picked up a catch can today from MX5 mania for $75, nice and neat and cheap.

Whilst i was there i picked up a CAMS sticker pack to use the tow stickers from, $15 it is easier then trying to cut them out yourself.

Front Splitter Frame - end pieces added

This is the end section where a bolt will screw into to lock it all in place and enable you to put it on and off quickly and easily. Will make sense once completed.

Rear diffuser manufacturer and design

First part of the design of the rear diffuser has been done. Andrew has cut it out and got it bent into shape, here we are trial fitting it and then planning on adding in stakes etc as well as mounting points.
We have made it shorter to start with as the exhaust is to low in front of the diff but have made some adjustments so we are able to continue it further all the way under the car at a latter stage.

Main aim with this one at the moment is to mitigate the large parachute of a rear bar i have and improve the airflow underneath.

Splitter Foam Cut

Front splitter foam cut and ready for fiberglassing

Covered fiberglass inner gard with contact to protect from stone chips

A couple of photos of the covering of the inside of the gard with book contact film to protect it a little more from stone chips and rubber marks. Should have done this when i got everything fitted new but at least it will help protect the fiberglass after i have repaired it all. You have to get real close to even tell it is on there so pretty happy with how it turned out.

This one has not been trimed

 Thus one trimmed and screws put back in, need to paint the tops of those screws....

Wheels Trial Fitted

Exhaust modifications

Bent suspension shaft

Andrew was pulling the suspension apart to fit the springs in readiness for.the aero and found the front left suspension was bent. I am dropping it off to jono at heasmans tonight to fix up and hopefully won't be to expensive to fix

Wheels arrive

The wheels arrived today

Was an interesting conversation with the security guard trying to get them out the door though.

Fixing Fiberglass due to stone chips - Part 2

So the fiberglass has dried and i can pull off the little sections i stuck on to get a smooth finish on the edge.

Fixing Fiberglass due to stone chips - Part 1

Today i decided to fix some of the damage caused by stones into the fiberglass parts on the car specifically around the rear guards. First step was to sand back the fiberglass then cut out bit of chop mat ready to apply. I mixed up the resin and fiberglassed the panels back up, will take some more photos up close soon.

Wheels on there way from the US of A

Pretty quick-i am impressed

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Front Splitter Frame Built

Update on the progress from the front spliter build. Made from 3mm aluminium in two sections, you can see in the second photo how it mounts in and this is what the fiberglass section will attach to.

Removed coil overs to replace springs

On Wednesday night I pulled out my coil overs because we are swapping the springs over (front to rear) and then replacing the front springs with 

Replaced rear discs and in need of some new pads

On Wednesday night I went around to the workshop and replaced the 

Ordered some new shoes - enki rpf01 18x10.5 +15

Just ordered from the states some new enki wheels for the car. Picked them up for $1650 delivered from the states and apparently will be delivered in 7days as they are in stock.
The wheels are brand new and i don't have a photo so i have just attached a random photo from the web
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Wing Installed

The way Andrew has installed it I am very happy with. He has positioned the wing well and now it is on the car I think it will be both aesthetically pleasing and work well.
You can probably see it is a little......wider then the actual car. This might become a slight issue with things like peoples arms or heads but nice for extra downforce which is good.
Now to balance it out with the front and under car aero

Oil cooler bracket finished off

Couple of photos of the finished oil cooler bracket. It has worked out to be very strong now and it doesn't move one bit.