94 Rx7 Street/Track build A.K.A. greatwhitebuffalo

[Smokey]

Brakes: Watkins is known for being hard on brakes. On top of that it has a lot of downhill and/or off camber braking zones.

 

My CL pads up front were done to say the least...I got every last ounce out of them.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/940A4E1C-470C-4C8A-89AE-404C5E68E68E_zpsghzofy6d.jpg

 

Additionally my AP rotors had held up great, but were getting down to their last legs. I intended on running them till they completely failed, but will keep them as a last resort backup for the future.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/C4448607-DB2C-4923-9B75-B0661FC9FDD9_zpsf7mt72xo.jpg

 

So that called for new pads/rotors up front. I'm putting on fresh AP rotors and will be running Ferodo DS1.11 pads. They're supposed to have good bite/grip but last a bit longer like an endurance pad.

 

Here are the new pretty rotors mounted with new hardware.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/18281C12-9818-4001-AEA3-F33C12755DF6_zpsapoyonkl.jpg

 

On the rear I went to a lesser compound pad to try to reduce some rear bias and make the car a bit less prone to moving the rear under braking. I also wanted to put on some brake temp paint to try to see what temperatures the brakes were getting to. I had purchased some a while back from Pegasus so thought I'd dig it out. Here I marked up just about every damn surface I could think of.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/E9F72C81-BF34-4B80-BE81-3E8DF20EFDE5_zpsiwbgwkaq.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/C9D7EFCC-F342-46C2-8C2D-75168ABBF602_zpsgwymsl4j.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/829E4B59-58D2-4F73-977F-50A0EFC4B5CE_zpsp9gsshvl.jpg

 

This stuff is a little hard to put on as it's chalky/chunky. Unfortunately I also had an issue where it rained while I had the garage door open (didn't get on the car at all) and the humidity seemed to ruin the highest temp paint....:no:

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/115B922F-F5C1-401F-928C-6E8EEC752EC8_zpsirkckaft.jpg

 

Oh well, won't be able to do much about it now

 

I went and filled up the car to prepare to leave. Finish filling and close the fill door....and it falls down to the ground...DOH. The previous owner had broken it and used JB Weld epoxy to hold it together and it finally failed. I ordered a new one but I won't have time to paint it until after the track season is over likely. So this is how it looks now.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/3D7CFD23-F7FF-444A-846C-B893790D7D11_zpsxuk5fwyc.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/3B84F78F-002A-481E-90AE-E42E68BBCCE4_zpscdan6tzy.jpg

 

Despite that, I wanted to get the car cleaned up as it was nasty and hadn't been washed in quite some time.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/C065709A-1062-4DA1-BF08-1B3B277C295D_zpsaf1fijox.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/4A548C4E-1C36-433B-A782-25F0A5F466B1_zpsa1b4iozl.jpg

 

Got a ton of stuff and extra parts loaded up in the truck and ready to roll

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/1656A45B-9375-41CB-A026-250B4D24584D_zps9h4wvoui.jpg

 

I also finally came up with a good solution for the extra strap length on the car straps. Got some strips of Velcro to hold them together. I spent so long trying to tie them or hold them otherwise and this is a WAY better solution.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/22A201FB-FBF9-4C4B-BCCA-CA4B4B320E7A_zpsuhvml182.jpg

[Smokey]

Watkins Glen is a track we've talked about going to for a long time and never made the jump to go. I'm guilty in that typically I can do 2 Mid Ohio events for the cost of one "away" event because it's so close/easy. It's also great to shake down the car on a track I know so well. So in the past I've typically chosen to just go to Mid Ohio more often. So with the new car I've vowed to go to a further track at least once a year. This year is Watkins...next year?...maybe Watkins again cause it's AWESOME.

 

Before going, I ran laps on iRacing as much as I could, and watched as many videos as I could find of the new surface (late 2015+). Even so, nothing can prepare you for the elevation changes at that track in person. It's a rip to drive and frightening at the same time. It's a fast flowing track with tons of elevation change and an absolute rip...it's also closely surrounded by walls in all but 3 turns basically so any mistakes will cost you severely.

 

The facilities make Mid Ohio seem downright country. The location (especially coming from the West) makes Mid Ohio seem downright urban.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/273DE690-8CCA-4852-A62A-01058D322431_zps2akrfuha.jpg

 

The new surface on the track is great. I can't compare to the old because I had never driven on the old surface, but it was grippy and predictable without chewing up tires which is always nice. The only downside is that the curbs are pretty prominent so you don't use much of them and there's a crown in the middle of the track the whole way around and it makes transitions over the middle of the surface a little goofy at speed.

 

Here are some pics of the track walk we did, but even still you can't capture the elevation change.

Turn 1 looking both forward and back:

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/103FC96E-AF68-462A-82DC-3F8862143D03_zpsrxbdhgv5.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/44B632B9-2FBB-4A45-AC2E-891155963A78_zps15p0kioi.jpg

Here are the Esses, which is a series of fast sweepers that go up a strong hill. I will say that goin into turn 2 the first times you get up to speed and settling the car and then going to full throttle as you look up the hill and the track goes out of view...that's one of the most "hair on fire" things I've ever done in a car...at least on purpose. haha.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/5F2F660D-80CD-4516-B9F7-148C1044DBE0_zpsldr7uqv5.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/DD497B78-15A9-4987-BFFF-8CC6CA3392EA_zpsnyhqobrs.jpg

 

Here's a closeup of the new curbs. We got there and they told us "freshly painted curbs that nobody has driven on yet so they'll be slick" Thanks guys!!!

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/65008176-0125-4BBA-96FE-E7D6309E3A77_zpssakw626p.jpg

 

Here's everyone's least favorite Armco surrounding the entire track

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/77051A0A-3E21-49A0-AC42-E9A0E93B7FFC_zpsioo91qq9.jpg

 

Here's an example of that Armco. this is the last turn going onto the front straight and fast right hander where you'll take it right out to the curb/wall. There's not much room for error at all.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/1691CFA8-5194-40C2-BC3B-8ED070F89D7E_zpslg2zoab2.jpg

 

We unloaded Thursday night. There was this nice setup in the pits with us. A big rig hauling 2 former ALMS cars and 2 DTM race cars. I was completely geeked on the DTM cars as I've never seen any in person before. Turns out they were all for one guy. Must be nice.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/549F2AEA-3781-40B9-B853-F82A592F24D2_zpshfiedt1k.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/4F08FC57-9662-4967-9BCA-5B408A884C90_zpst4bu1vtt.jpg

Guy was cool as could be, and why wouldn't he be.

[Smokey]

Day 1 at Watkins: I'm pumped and excited to get out on track. Get out in the first session and I'm getting familiar with the track. Damn the esses are intimidating. on about the 3rd full lap I take the left hander going into the boot, drive down the hill and hit the brakes for the toe of the boot. The car pulls hard to the right...whoa. I take the turn and wonder if it was me or the car that did something goofy. Get out of the turn and the alignment is off...damn it's the car.

 

I immediate think it's the sway bar that I had been messing with trying to get it to clunk less. Must have come disconnected and I'm yelling in the car at myself that I shouldn't have messed with it. Get back to the pits and prepared to work on the sway and see this:

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/8F3BD3B2-7564-4D34-8A9D-7D7781F660DC_zpstrixpr1s.jpg

RF tire is flat....goofy. I got the tire off and couldn't find any punctures. I unfortunately didn't have time to mess with it because I needed to go out with my student.

 

Student is driving a stock '03 911 Turbo. We go out first session and 4 laps in go into the boot and go pretty hot. I mention we'll want to use more brake next time and he says "the pedal went to the floor....what do I do?"....uhhhh...we need to pit dude! This guy had never been to the track nor studied any videos so I had to walk him thru turn by turn and into the pits so that was interesting. When we got back I told him he needed to bleed his brakes to which he said he didn't know how, had no tools, nor any fluid....oh boy. SO my brother and I helped him bleed his brakes so that he wouldn't miss the weekend from the get-go.

 

By the time we got my student's car back up and running it was lunchtime. I took my wheel/tire down to a local Toyo dealer. I had brought a spare front tire fortunately so I asked them to please swap them out. He said sure, but it'd take a while....I looked around and we were the only people in the whole place for a shop with 4 service bays. Evidently he sends his whole crew to lunch at one time...doh.

 

I took my brother back to the track so he wouldn't lose any track time and headed back to the tire shop. When I got there they said it was all good to go. I asked what the problem was and he said "you just lost the bead, it happens at the track. We mounted that tire back on there" I asked about damage to the tire from driving on it flat and he said it looked better than the spare I brought in...ok, he's the tire guy so I'll go with that. I got back and mounted the tire before the first session in the afternoon. You can damn well bet I drove those first few laps on that thing very carefully thinking it'd give out at any moment, but it held up. Ran the rest of Friday without issue.

 

Saturday came around and I was able to get more familiar with the track and have some fun with it. Time were going pretty well for a car on Nittos I thought, but I was still hesitant in places. I came back to the pits in the afternoon and noticed this:

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/4EF41197-B6BF-473B-B859-94E610E2E7EA_zpszqbgi1in.jpg

My left rear wheel had gotten so hot it popped off all of its wheel weights like they were skittles. I even tape over them with aluminum tape for reasons like this so that sucks. No major damage, but the car had some vibrations for the rest of the weekend for sure!

 

Last session on Saturday and I'm having tons of fun really able to go hard thru the esses and other portions of the track. I go down the back straight and notice they give me the meatball flag (black with orange circle) meaning I have a mechanical issue. I go offline and drive slow. everything seems ok so I limp back to the pits. They told me they were smelling gear oil. I had the guy at the black flag station look under the car but he couldn't see anything. I went to the pits to check it out. Sure enough my rear differential was spitting fluid out of the breather....DAMN.

 

I let the car cool down and then cleaned it up. It was the end of the day anyway so I had time to mess with it. I couldn't see leaks from anywhere else so I have to figure it was getting hot and coming out the breather. I had run pretty much back-to-back stints Sat afternoon and I think that did it. I got it all cleaned up and I'd test it out in the morning.

 

We went to have some drinks at the Seneca lodge which is where all of the racers of past would go hang out. It's cool with a ton of memorabilia, but we didn't stay too long.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/9EF5FB2D-6866-4D66-9301-D8ADB2F324FC_zpstrocnn2w.jpg

 

Also saw a random GTR (or clone) in someone's front lawn:

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/A6514093-33AC-4C46-BC71-28EE2F92B06D_zps9oz3etih.jpg

 

Sunday I tested the car for 3 laps and then came in....everything was ok. I ran Sunday morning where I'd only run 5 hard laps and then come in. That worked and I was able to still have some fun and get good laps.

 

I was able to get a couple laps down in the 2:10.9x's which was beyond my goal for the weekend and in my opinion pretty good for an old car on Nittos.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/7126CBD1-E71A-4389-A690-0DC26EA2D820_zpssqscb098.jpg

 

I was also able to run the tank lower with the new/old fuel setup so I was happy with that.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/D2CD003B-4449-433E-B92B-308A673C3C14_zps1hoilgn7.jpg

 

Unfortunately the differential issue reared its head again after the last morning session Sunday. That combined with the RF tire losing a bit of pressure instead of gaining thru the session I decided to pack it in and get a head start on the tow home. All in all though a great weekend.

[Smokey]

Here are some videos of Watkins. I will be making a return there when possible.

 

 

[Smokey]

back in Ohio I had to prepare for my next event at Mid Ohio. Timing was going to be tight because I was going on vacation to the Dominican for a friend's wedding for a week which would only give me about a week and one weekend to prepare for the next event.

 

Items on the list:

Differential - what caused the issue as I hadn't dealt with that before? First thoughts were 2 things. 1) I run thicker than factory fluid at 75w-110 compared to the factory 75w-90. Was the extra viscosity causing more friction and heat? 2) Watkins is way longer and under power MUCH more than Mid Ohio, was that just causing things to get hotter? So my quick and easy solution was that I'd drain the fluid and refill with 75w-90. I use Amsoil Severe Gear in both weights. I can tell you that the fluid that got drained out looked bad, especially considering it only had one event on it, so it was getting hot for sure.

 

There was a small oil leak coming from the turbo drain where I put the catch can line. Oh BTW...that shit did NOT work any better. I'm kinda running out of ideas there and it's annoying as crap to keep draining/filling. I tried tightening the fitting along with using Teflon tape, but that didn't work. I think the cheap-o JEGS fitting I used is to blame as I replaced it with an Aeroquip unit and the leaking stopped (at least on the street).

 

The RF tire I had taken off, inspected for damage (it was ok) and then had the bead area on the wheel scuffed up to make sure it'd seal. Flipped the tire while we had it off.

 

Tightened up the front sway bar again to try to reduce the clunking. That's getting annoying too.

 

Brakes: Watkins is really hard on brakes, but I had to bleed mine during the weekend and I still had more pedal travel than I would have liked. The car remained consistent but just had the pedal going down further than I wanted. I decided it was time for a change.

 

First up: 929 Master Cylinder. This goes to a bigger 1" M/C bore than the stock piece which should move more fluid per pedal movement requiring less pedal travel for the same fluid movement. That should give a firmer pedal feel too. Just so happens I had run one on my silver car, I just never got around to swapping it. Now as the time. You have to custom bend your own hard line to make it work...but that was already done on my old car so it was a swap.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/E7012F3B-0F26-4BB3-A8A0-F347582CEB90_zpswrciyrxq.jpg

Back in the car and my M/C brace from IR Performance installed (had been running previously)

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/335341A1-A1CF-4955-8726-CF02EFE33005_zpsfhvnij5l.jpg

 

One bummer I found when doing that is that there was some staining on the paint from earlier in the year when I had a leak from the water/meth injection. Pink dye from the meth that unfortunately wouldn't come out...crap.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/B38F42D5-191B-4C5F-80C2-4CB2AB389CA2_zpsirsaha2l.jpg

 

Fluid: it was time to stop messing around with crap I was having to bleed at the track. Andy had been running Endless and said it gave great pedal feel and WAY longer bleed intervals. Sounded good to me!

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/224D70A7-E867-43ED-B3EF-E097FE3C2474_zpsnkjhdbm5.jpg

 

Here's the deal though: that shit is EXPENSIVE. $42+shipping per half liter...yeah that's $140 of brake fluid in those 3 bottles. Because of that I had zero intention of trying to break open the system again after flushing. So I also decided to rebuild my rear calipers at this time. Remember how my wheel weights melted off my LR wheel at Watkins? Well it turns out that caliper (the one with the bad dust seal previously) was hanging up anyway so this was a good idea to do now.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/1DC9F35F-C6AF-463D-A512-BAD321CF603F_zpsqjvyn2cv.jpg

No in-progress pictures, but it was a pain just trying to get the snap ring out of the bore and then back in. Other than that, pretty straight forward. I used a factory rebuild kit which came with all of the appropriate greases, seals, and even a small bottle of brake fluid to lube the bore with for reassembly.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/EA1B34C9-0888-4ABF-B039-DF51F2F5824A_zps6bsbb7p9.jpg

 

Also to protect the rear calipers a bit better I bought titanium pad shims. I had to buy their thicker 1mm ones as that's all they stock right now, so I plan on only running the shim that's on the piston side so that I don't have any clearance issues with new pads. Of course the new shims have the hole that matches to the mazda pad shape...except it didn't line up so I had to drill it out a bit to get the shims to work. No biggie, but a pain in the butt as it turns out titanium is hard to drill thru with a normal hand drill..haha.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/3A2838EB-DDF7-47A3-922E-00ECF0C53055_zpse7jmzvhw.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/F2114986-6A83-48D1-BBFE-C76A74E0E012_zpsdwqdzbkm.jpg

 

I also put new sealant on the rear brake bleeders (speed bleeders).

 

Once that was sorted I could put the brakes back together. Everything went relatively smoothly except for the bleeding. I could not get a good pedal feel and it still felt like air in the system even after flushing all 3 bottles. At that point I knew there was only fresh fluid in the system so I started bleeding out fluid and then just putting it right back in the reservoir. I had to do A TON of bleeding before the damn thing felt good again.

 

As I'm shutting the hood feeling good about the work I see...is that headlight cover looking out of whack?

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/9ED45D97-AF9E-4D5D-A6D3-C625E14A267B_zpstiuodvuc.jpg

 

Sure enough the damn thing is cracked from age/vibration!

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/535E5736-366D-4503-A28F-C37B6256C4D8_zps33oinlmh.jpg

 

I really did not have the patience or time to mess with it, so for now it's epoxied back together.

 

At least the car was ready in time for the event though.

[Smokey]

Something else I was trying out this event. Carpet protector. I learned on the last car that taking the carpet out of these cars is a MAJOR pain in the ass as everything including the dash has to come out of the interior to do it...NO THANKS. On top of that good USED black carpet usually runs about $500 these days...pass.

 

When we run at the track you have to remove your floor mats for safety to make sure your feet don't get obstructed by them. On the silver car I was starting to get some wear from my shoes on the carpet from track events and I'd like to avoid that on this car if I can. Remember I'm still dumb enough to think I can have a nice track car? So I bought this stuff which is the plastic they put down at dealers. Have to buy a big roll, but I'll let you know how it goes. THe first weekend it worked pretty good for me. I'll probably use a bigger size next time just to help with where I put my feet getting in and out. I can also make it smoother and better install, this was just a quickie at the track.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/4AC846E9-E27F-4BB0-BFA1-CA4614F986BE_zpslgecg4fz.jpg

[Smokey]

September event went well overall. I was able to really test out the fuel plate in the tank and I'm getting similar performance to what I did before. I know now that my tank sender is messed up from going in and out of the car so many times, but I'm still getting it down to about an actual 1/8 of a tank or so before fuel starve which is all I need.

 

Here's the lowest I got it after a run:

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/831BE5D3-8C29-4779-B286-8C1974EA0A1D_zpsrdh42kip.jpg

 

I was also closing in on my best times at Mid Ohio that I had been chasing. The goal was to get this car as fast as my old silver car (1:38.7) to prove I hadn't lost my nerve driving and that I hadn't messed up anything with the build of this car. My car always runs the best in the fall at Mid Ohio. The combo of the cool air yet warm track make for the best combo there.

 

On Friday it was supposed to rain the whole day. Thankfully the weather held out and we got some good runs in the morning. There was also some cool company there, like this:

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/BB05B2B5-B423-4558-A854-CAF5865C5C10_zpsfr4knjbt.jpg

 

His son had his 918 up there as well. Got to go out on track with the LaFerrari. It was somewhat anticlimactic, but still cool as crap to see the guy using it appropriately.

 

The rear wing is crazy in that it constantly moves angle, but also depth and was mesmerizing when behind it..haha. Also have major respect to Mr. Ross for driving it on the track and then driving it home in the rain...baller.

 

Saturday had a pretty busy paddock with a ton of cars. Another cool one to see: Near stock white exterior, black interior, 6-speed. Love it.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/CF6F4B0F-E8BF-48FF-959C-22AA22B36B55_zps0vhrtnrq.jpg

It was his first event so I just told him to make sure he drove it home!

 

Car ran well, but it wasn't until Sunday that I was able to get some clear laps. Sunday afternoon I put together a 1:39.3 and then I was able to do better during the last session of the afternoon getting down to a 1:39.1. In my mind that was great, as that's pretty damn close to the :38.7 so that confirms that the car has the speed in my mind.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/06BBECA5-134E-43EC-9195-3D12D782FDE6_zpszf1vbw3k.jpg

 

I did run into an issue. You'll notice that my :39.1 was on lap 17 of that session. They had combined the last 2 run groups (advanced and instructor) and I was having fun just hot lapping the car and ran a full 30 mins. Lo and behold the damn diff overheated again!! I was able to come in and confirm fluid had started coming out and I used my laser thermometer to see that the diff cover temps were 250F which means the fluid inside is definitely getting too hot. Gonna have to make a change before the next event it seems.

 

Here's some fun I had in the advanced group Sunday afternoon. Short version first, long version 2nd. I knew the gentleman in the red 991 GT3 and he was the rabbit I was chasing. His car is faster, but knew I could make it close if I drove it hard.

 

It was fun playing around with the 911 race car. Our cars were surprisingly similar in speed.

 

long version showing pretty much the whole session. You can see I have to work through some traffic on my quest for the red car.

[Smokey]

prep for event 6: last one of the year.

 

Catch can: shit's still not working as I'd like and I have to empty after every session. Didn't have time to try anything new for this event so it'll have to wait until next year. What I did need to shore up was that the line I added to the rear turbo oil drain was still weeping and driving me crazy. So I took it off and capped the line on the catch can. To do things properly on the turbo side I had to take off the line and replace it with the factory one and new gaskets. WHAT A PAIN IN THE ASS that is while everything is on the car. I hope to not have to do that again.

 

Brake pads: the front pads were low enough I wasn't sure they'd handle a full 3 days so I replaced with new ones. You can see I'm getting some chunking on the corners of the trailing edge of the pads as well which tells me they're running too hot and I need to work on brake cooling for next year again.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/580E50F7-A6AA-43B2-957C-4453BE715C7A_zpsqqzqdaoc.jpg

 

Here I compare new vs used pad thickness. The old ones aren't going in the trash by any means and will be kept for backups or use on 1-2 day events.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/F5F48BB2-F298-4325-8385-BE9E055F3D77_zps32btlekl.jpg

 

Rear brakes: despite the rebuild I'm still getting more significant wear and some tapered wear on the outside pad. More so on the driver's side than the passenger as well. I think that the sliders aren't working that great, so I'm going to a different grease and using the Yamalube Moly grease I use for things like pilot bearings. The ceramic NAPA grease I was using holds up great to the heat, but is kind of sticky. Here you can see that I hosed this set of rear pads pretty much to the core:

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/04310A27-A3A1-4BFD-A995-244B0984EF71_zpstvs2rplc.jpg

 

compared to the inside pad there's more meat there:

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/8C02F189-3FDF-42D0-901F-FF1D1A6E236E_zpsdvhlszkn.jpg

 

Quick interior fix: I had randomly lost the inner door handle cover on the passenger side - crap just flew off one track day earlier this year. Here's the replacement:

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/BE4B9013-FAD0-4270-9893-42BFDCAB6DDF_zpsxu7opnjo.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/93D90245-67A8-4901-8E75-0E95C9D38858_zpsbkph9lqf.jpg

[Smokey]

Differential: It's funny that I had changed the differential before the Watkins event because I was worried about the noise the old one was making. The one I put in is the stock 60k mile unit from the 94 car. Not sure what's going on with it. About the only thing I can think of is that it must have a bearing going out or something. I can tell you that after one event that it turned the Amsoil fluid pretty damn nasty.

 

I realize that running a diff cooler would be ideal here. That'd make sure it never got too hot to boil out the breather. However, that's one more complication on and already complicated track car. I'd like to avoid that if at all possible.

 

Instead I had Tinman help me take the old diff and give it a quick refresh. We replaced the pinion bearings and races, oil seals, crush tube, and reset the backlash. The beginning backlash setting was out of spec confirming that was like the cause of the noise I was hearing.

 

So back in the familiar position for the car again:

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/9F14EE0D-90D5-4629-9353-34681FEFCC23_zpseksykcwb.jpg

 

replacing the differential isn't super hard, but requires a lot of crap to come out of the car. It's further complicated when I have my transmission cross member just adding to the work both in and out. Here's a quick view of the fun that comes out of the car for the job

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/EE29263E-E619-464F-996C-A7084F753535_zpsrs66vity.jpg

 

Also still used pizza boxes to hold the axles out of the way of the diff. Side note I eat too much pizza that these always seem to be available to me

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/2E905EBC-9EF1-4E68-897B-79BBE979C7D4_zpsyy6pbnrd.jpg

 

Once back in the car I once again filled it up with Amsoil severe gear 75w-90.

[Smokey]

Event 6: Mid Ohio with OVRPCA. Weather was going to be pretty damn great for fast times. The only downsides is that it was COLD in the mornings. Friday morning it was 39 degrees when I showed up to the track!! that's a little TOO cold. First couple of sessions were pretty damn slick, but the good thing is that the track warmed up pretty quick.

 

As always there's cool stuff at the track. I didn't get pictures but the guy from Kentucky with the Ferrari 458 Challenge race car was there....that thing is insanely awesome. Definitely have to watch your mirrors for it as it closes FAST.

 

I also totally loved this C6Z that is painted Signal Green which is the Porsche color they put on select 911 GT3s.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/E1FEAFE5-A129-4E54-BA6C-1E5805A4B09B_zps3rbauhxo.jpg

It had ZR1 carbon brakes and a bunch of motor work and sounded awesome. I ended up talking to the guy and doing a ride along with him later in the weekend and helping him find some time. It's his first year with the car and he's getting up to speed in it pretty well.

 

I also liked the gold wheels on this Carmine Red GT4. I could definitely see myself owning one of these...you know...when my kids graduate college or something...hahaha.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/02CB2C65-27D7-4A35-8207-0BC404A6FEC6_zpstiegvdcc.jpg

 

There was also this high HP GTR that was running Michelin slicks. Here you can see me point him by and hang close until the back straight where he straight WALKS away. I can keep him in sight on the back side, but then we get to the back straight again and HE GONE.

[Smokey]

Baby I'm back!!! Friday afternoon the weather was perfect and I was able to get my best time ever at Mid Ohio. I was pretty pumped. Unfortunately I'm struggling to get the data/video matched up, but here's the lap. All day Friday the car was loose...more loose than I'd like, but it sure was fast. [Days of Thunder Harry] "Cole, loose is fast but on the verge of out of control" [/Days of Thunder Harry]. Not my cleanest lap ever but still fun and not too crazy.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/A1DE5ABC-9C65-4D93-9FF4-C1176F41041A_zpsrtlfj4tr.jpg

 

Additionally I was able to back it up later in the afternoon with a :38.5 to make sure it wasn't a complete fluke

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/EB73D489-E59F-499D-9E66-18D749E0CD53_zpsrrxv0wcp.jpg

 

Finally on Friday I was able to run the car a full 30 mins in the afternoon and the differential didn't overheat/spit fluid. Pretty happy about that. I also didn't make the noise it did before so that's a solid win. After the 30 min session I saw temps of 225 on the drain plug (little less on the outer cover) but that's still a 25 degree reduction over what I saw before when I had the issue. I know it's not scientific in that it's not a true fluid temp, but at least tells me there was a positive change. Additionally Friday was only Advance and Instructors driving for 30 min sessions on/off so I put a ton of time on the car that day and it handled it all great.

[Smokey]

The rest of the weekend was good fun. Lots of traffic and people, but still good times. I softened up the rear of the car to make it have less oversteer and be more predictable. It certainly did the job. I never ended up running a better lap thru the weekend, but was continually running mid to low :39s the rest of the weekend which is exactly where I'd want the car to be.

 

I was definitely aided by the cold air. Here's a good example in that the cold air, water/meth, and the GT3 cutting air for me helped me hang nose to tail with Andy here. Typically he'd put about 1-2 cars on me over the course of the back straight. As you can see though after, he's on slicks and there's nothing I can do to close that gap on Nittos...until next year...

 

The only bogey for the weekend was that my Sunday got cut short. I had already run 3 sessions in the morning and went to change the rear pads when I found the driver's rear rotor cracked thru. I had replacement rotors, but hadn't brought them with me...doh. Not the end of the world, but I was looking forward to the open track (people leaving early) and good weather that was happening.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/75C0A42B-1DCE-47CF-801E-4A9752CACBE6_zpsbthblpq9.jpg

[acklac7]

Read the whole thread. Looks like a blast. Glad you're Enjoying that Car. Edited October 30, 2016 by acklac7

[SRTurbo04]

awesome man!

[Aaron]

Awesome man, so jealous. Ill be out for the whole season next hear, hope to see you around!

 

You're dedicating to the rx7 is fantastic, very happy you got a personal best after all your hard work!

[AudiOn19s]

Slicks next year is going to Be fun!

[Smokey]

Thanks gents. Aaron I agree that my dedication to the FD is sometimes questionable behavior. I can tell you that when it works it's one of the most rewarding cars to drive, I just sometimes have to endure some crap to get there.

 

As Andy pointed out, here's a preview of next year. I figured I had 3 options for going faster: Mechanical grip, aero grip, or more power. I chose mechanical grip and I'll be going to a square setup all around and will try out slicks.

 

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/1618E166-135D-4166-8A99-3AC775C22552_zps0jwqzjkr.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/76288FDD-A4F6-452D-9087-F418203396AB_zps5knzxv9p.jpg

 

CCW C14s in 18x10.5 as you can see I'll have to run some more aggressive camber and unfortunately raise the car, but it'll be worth it.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/8B11D13D-DC8B-45B8-A01D-CEBB523EB9B5_zpsxbs2vnwg.jpg

[Smokey]

when I got back I put on the new rear rotors so I could go to cars and coffee with my dirty unwashed car.

 

Looks like I ran the rear pads to the very bones!

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/4FFE5161-4F87-43A0-B7EC-666E1AEC54E9_zpsagfkzq4u.jpg

 

The good news is that the tapered pad wear and wearing the outside pad seems better after completely cleaning out the caliper mounts and running the different grease. I'll keep an eye on it for next year.

 

Here's pretty new rotor rings that went on the car.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/2FA204D2-895B-4C32-938D-0D1171FD09DC_zps0yqnj33z.jpg

 

As for next steps, I've had to dedicate some time to house projects that I've been putting off during track season..haha. I also have some work that's needed on my DD/tow vehicle as well as my wife's car before winter sets in.

 

On the FD front I hope to get my new gas door painted, my shine tail light spoiler painted and mounted, put on the 99 spec tails and then actually clean the thing up. Right now it's still on the SSRs and Nittos which isn't the most street friendly setup but it's not like the car has a radio anyway.

[ItzaME]

Thing looks moneey keep up the great work

[Littleguy]

Absolutely love reading about your FD adventures!

[LS_Sonoma]

Fantastic thread that delivers! Looking forward to seeing the slicks mounted and the new times posted. stay safe

[Versluis]

Always like coming in here and watching your videos and the progress with the car.

[Smokey]

I haven't completely put away the car for the winter just yet. I've been focusing on fixing/updating some cosmetic things I've been wanting/needing to do.

 

I also decided that since I'm going to have to raise the car next year to run slicks and that'll make the car look stupid, that I'd like to get good pictures of the car now. So I've enlisted the help of my brother to help me clean up the car. I've taken about a week of nights/weekends work and gotten it fully cleaned/sorted.

 

First, the updates. I had to get that gas door fixed. Got a new one which came in primer black and had to have it painted. Good news is that the paint guy was able to get the paint match really well. It has some solvent pop and isn't perfect, but neither is the rest of the car.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/A7529039-14FE-4350-9EB6-16BE71A1EDA7_zpsex820sl0.jpg

 

2nd exterior update was to put newer '99 spec tail lights on. They're very similar but have little circles for the lit up portion compared to the square-ish of the factory lights. I also put on a Shine tail light lip spoiler which I had painted black. I had some issues with the paint so in the pictures it's got some flaws and is currently getting redone.

 

Dealing with the lights would help me tackle something I knew I needed to anyway. Similar to what we saw with the other areas of the hatch and under hood, the areas under the lights were NASTY and needed cleaned up.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/2CD07364-FD48-41A1-8C86-FF72235F4D81_zpsksobjtx3.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/22FF9980-CD92-4BF7-A0D5-E16C7DC23AA5_zpsb1ewnxs7.jpg

 

I was able to get things cleaned up and more acceptable there:

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/C438EBF1-AEBC-47FF-BE16-D3E1683870BE_zps8iiskda6.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/BD58B32C-74F1-44DC-A237-D2412011F364_zpskscwqpvy.jpg

 

Here are the old lights vs new lights

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/5A96BB77-7E95-442C-9585-2CFEB7546771_zpsheqwojwg.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/048C744D-C198-46B6-8744-46D1772CE1E0_zpsiu1cstt0.jpg

 

Here are some views of the rear spoiler. I like that it accentuates the rear lines of the car without being overly bold.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/73FBE80B-C849-4615-8642-F2CE197D4F7D_zpsrbphrsbl.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/D936D141-C71D-43D6-9DF7-DC41F3898F29_zps94fgvh28.jpg

[Smokey]

as a part of the cleanup I was also going to make some interior updates I had been holding off on for more important track updates. First was that I wanted to remove the door speakers and tweeters that the previous owner had installed. THANK JESUS that he didn't drill the door panel for the tweeters and they were just sitting there.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/EDF155D3-63E4-4CE9-B477-378708733066_zpswffjayty.jpg

 

While I was taking off the door panels, I wanted to install the Sakebomb garage cast aluminum door handle that I've had for quite some time. I had bought it for my old car and never got around to installing it (familiar theme). I opened the box and saw the shipping statement...July of 2012...Parts hoarder status = PRO. The handle replaces the weak factory plastic handle which is prone to breaking. Here's the old plastic on the left and the new on the right.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/C672915A-3F2B-4E99-875E-9B866646F0CB_zpssptu4dgg.jpg

 

As a part of the install you remove the handle cover and glue it on the new aluminum handle. Now I don't have to worry about people breaking the handle while riding in my car. Here's the passenger door after removing the speakers and with the new handle installed.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/0F72CCB9-3B49-4DB3-BCE9-315004290079_zpsqd5dhuhm.jpg

 

Next up, my defrost vents had the common issue that they were warping and pulling up on the edges. LRB Speed came out with a laser cut metal version which I installed.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/5CC76337-3A5C-4995-8AF2-BBA5850F5913_zpsjxep2qcu.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/48846395-90C6-4A5D-A027-E18F44625697_zpsnnbjruob.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/1EBE6620-7C34-4172-9B62-B6391E378545_zpsiql0k0sg.jpg

 

I have to say, I'm pretty MEH on the part. I should have thought ahead and tried to get black hardware so that it'd blend in more and look more factory. Also as you can see in the installed pic the fit isn't perfect. In hindsight I likely would have preferred to just get new factory vents as it suits what I like for the interior, but this will stay for now.

 

Lastly the interior got a good cleaning and protection. I don't like the shiny look on interiors but sometimes it's necessary to ensure UV protection and I leave this car outside in the sun a lot during track days so I'll take that trade off. Sorry the closeup pic is a bit washed out from the halogen lights.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/B9DC3330-C3AD-4F03-8170-F091F3E1573D_zpszljv7lgw.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/884351C9-276D-4E9C-AB0B-3ACC4E386D87_zpsprxu4m5k.jpg

[Smokey]

The exterior cleanup is where I needed help and enlisted the expert. The paint needed some love for sure and even after all of the work still has some RIDS and etching in the clear coat but still made a great improvement.

 

Car was fully washed/cleaned and then the trim was taped off for work to be done. Wheel was covered here for wet sanding work that was done on the LF fender. Also because the wheels had already been polished twice and waxed...haha.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/39552C12-A9B6-4EE5-8413-720F2179EEAF_zps4sogofj9.jpg

 

The paint was worked with a rotary, then smaller D/A around the trim/bumpers, then D/A polishing. Finished with a couple of coats of wax. After that is where I started to get a bit ADD on things to finish the cleanup. I polished the door jambs and inside/bottoms of the doors. Cleaned up the rest of the hatch area with polish. Cleaned up the windshield with a razor blade to remove left over rubber and sticker residue from the track season. Then I began to remove the bumper/marker lights to clean underneath. Just like other hidden areas of the car they were gross underneath.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/F1112EA7-B722-4C83-B63C-E37264C666E7_zpsfop4ldcq.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/1EF89CAD-C60F-4EEA-B8C8-63FDFEDD8C54_zpswvis9qx3.jpg

 

Also while the lights were out I used a tooth brush to scrub off old residue/polish/whatever that was caught in the raised lettering of the light lens. I also used Back to Black on the rubber trim.

Before: gunk in letters

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/CE15540A-9F71-4025-9927-1141F5610DAE_zpspspttysu.jpg

After:

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/80DD7032-79B3-42D3-8599-93FC62A31D7B_zpsfo9w8zyt.jpg

 

On the front bumper lights I pulled them out and disassembled/removed the lenses. That was a major pain in the ass. I did the same to the old lights I had from my 93 which weren't as yellow and in better shape. Then I removed the orange diffuser which I've never liked the look of in the front. I'll get some orange LED lights so that they light orange without having the egg-yolk look. You can see how nasty the old ones were with crud around the sides/edges under the lenses.

Before:

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/8B6A77EF-4D4D-40D0-A8AD-266B2C6CFA92_zpsplziff6s.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/A2B3411B-22D2-432C-82E3-0AB0571AAA5F_zpsgzx0h5ak.jpg

 

After:

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/F8C69E29-C23B-452B-BDCA-23C67CFC60B0_zps92yk54kx.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/E358C49B-CA97-41D3-964F-B6F2074134E1_zpsj67urt5x.jpg

 

All in all this project took WAY too much time, but I guess I'm happy it's done

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/9319760F-4304-4649-A22C-36F0FA17BDBF_zpsojnqgqlh.jpg

 

I put Mothers Back to Black on the remaining black trim including the front lip and trim under the rear rockers. I didn't have time to re-clean the engine bay, but it's passable. I also didn't have time to repaint the wiper arms which I'd like to do, but that'll have to wait. Otherwise the car is just waiting for the spoiler to come back and it'll be ready for its photo shoot.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/C43B758C-1408-4C22-B485-FAB9A43D385E_zpsy7e5v0ps.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z56/kutschca/white%20car/FB580A5C-ECFD-4BAA-BE98-8D97D6706CB5_zps7yfjxvix.jpg