clarkspeed

Found a cool thread on subject. https://www.rx7club.com/race-car-tech-103/differential-oil-cooler-pump-1015407/ Seems Genesis and Mocal also make pumps. Maybe you could find a used one. Also read you should mount pump downstream after cooler to cool the oil some before it hits the pump. Positive displacement pump so doesn't matter.

Oops, forgot the picture.

Mine looks like a Tilton, but didn't have a sticker on it. That's why I thought it may be counterfeit. It came in a Tilton box. Probably had it 7-8 years but only put maybe 12-15 hours on it and sold the car. I think I read somewhere they are actually cheap spa pumps converted for high temp use. Never had any issue with it. No leaks and still moves fluid. Yes Tilton is very proud of it. I do like the idea of a pulley driven pump. And understand your packaging challenges. Maybe it is possible to cut a hole in the deck or tunnel sheetmetal and mount on inside? I have seen that done before with an Alternator. Cover it all back up with a sheet metal box?

Been meaning to chime in but I've been busy with family and work. Some of my thoughts and observations. 1. I think some lsd's get hotter than others. Helical gears hotter than friction disks. I don't know many who run the stock Nissan lsd disks that have had problems or run coolers. And of course most racers change fluids frequently. Greg falls into both of these. And he is not running a 400Hp V8. 2. My R200 with Quaife got pretty warm during 50 minute enduro races. I took multiple readings with a IR gun after. I seem to remember the readings around 250-275 and I thought that might be detrimental to the oil. 3. I installed a Tilton electric pump and a roughly 8x12 plate cooler tucked up under the rear fender. All -8 lines. It did not have any direct air flowing to it and no ducting. My temps dropped drastically to under 200 when the pump was running. The damn thing was pretty loud when running. I then installed a 180 degree temp switch in the cover so I did not have to listen to it all the time. It tended to trip the switch after 2-3 laps. 4. I found a modified cover on EBay. It had 2 -8AN to NPT fittings welded in it. 5. It was a little tricky filling the diff with oil. I ended up filling up to the sight level while the pump was running so it had enough oil. 6. The tilton pumps are just a standard pump with special seals. Viton I think. But on one else has the seals when I was looking years ago. So I ended up buying a pump on ebay. I knew there were people selling the standard pumps as Tilton units, but I have never had a problem with mine. I think it is legit. 7. And finally, synthetic oils don't break down anything like conventional. So maybe look at it as extending change interval? I don't think you could break down even a conventional oil in say 5 or 6 20 minute track sessions at 350F. And I wouldn't have a problem adding a 1Hr Enduro to that if synthetic. But I think after adding the cooler I went to changing diff fluid along with tranny every 3 race weekends instead of every weekend.

Post #4 – Basic data systems, keeping it simple. Now I will talk about something that can record data at least 20 times a second and allow you to review the data with a graph or chart. Real analysis. But what kind of system do you need? There is a wide-open field of devices that can do just about anything and new stuff being released all the time. Electronics have gotten so cheap that even the most complex systems are affordable to a small racing program. To start I will list the most basic data you will probably want to analyze performance. Lap time (segment times) Speed vs. Distance graph G-G graph. Track Map Many people are intimidated by this stuff. But I think even the most tech adverse people can understand these 4 basics. And I think most every data system available can provide this info. Maybe you just need to watch a few YouTube videos on how to display this info. Or ask a friend. You may never go any farther than this, but anyone with a data system should at least be able to analyze these 4 things. I will briefly explain how I use these 4 basic data streams. Lap times are the #1 measurement of motorsports. Most competitions have some sort of feedback on everyone’s lap times so that is usually covered. The nice thing about a data system is your times are recorded for you and can be reviewed right after you come off the track. There might be some programming required to set up for this. Maybe it is pushing a button at the start and again at the finish. Maybe it is downloading the appropriate track program that automatically brings in the start/finish line or it could be adding markers on a track screen. Again, watch a video if unsure. So how do you improve your lap times? This should be obvious, it is going to take some experimentation.. A different approach to a corner, shift point, different tires, whatever you try needs to be backed up by a better or worse lap time. So you will need to become a test driver and this is important. My term is ABE, Always Be Experimenting. The best drivers are experimenting all the time. And they have a good “feel” for what works without waiting for the lap time. They use other inputs and senses for this, not really a “butt dyno”. Often it can be just checking the RPM you hit at the end of a straight or checking your location on track at your shift point. Either way, you will need to record what you change, when you changed it, and what the results were. Along with any extenuating circumstances like passing another car. Adding Segment times take this a lot farther and allows you to break things down. It is much easier to look at a specific segment and keep all the other things that happen in a full lap out of your focus. Keep in mind though, track conditions can change. The lap times you ran a month ago may be different now. Next I will talk about Speed vs. Distance graph. This really simple graphic can often tell you everything you need to know. It is extremely powerful and by far the most used analysis technique and as far as I know, every system will provide it. But the first problem you will run into is what are you going to compare your data to? If you have the luxury of sharing data with others, this can be a great advantage. Another approach is to share the same car with others. The pro’s do this all the time with other team members. Just overlay multiple data streams you can immediately see what the fastest approach to any given corner should be. But this approach is not always available. So I will go into some more detail on analysis techniques when comparing yourself to yourself since that is often the case. An easy thing to say is maximize the speed on the graph. Even better way to think of it as maximizing the area under the curve between point A and B. Any line with a higher speed is reducing lap time. But you need to look at the big picture. A higher speed trace going down a straight is most always a faster lap section. A higher trace before a turn or in between 2 turns may not be the fastest way. If just comparing data to yourself, look for Inconsistencies. Good drivers lay down repeatable laps over and over again within a few tenths. Think about why you are doing something different in a corner lap to lap. What are you struggling with? Could a change to the car make things better? Do you need a better reference point to focus on? Are you focused on the right things? You can also look for loss of traction or oversteer. They tend to show up as a downward blip in the acceleration that is not due to gear change. Look for blips between the apex and track out point. Analyze braking carefully. Transition from full throttle to full braking should happen very quickly and at the same point each time. Speed should scrub off quickly and then level out as you transition into the corner. Braking too late can cause the minimum cornering speed to drop off. Braking too early can lead to soft pedaling the car and lost time. Also look for “coasting” up to the brake point. Early Apex or understeer will often show up as a longer time in the corner. Full throttle acceleration happens later as you feather the throttle trying not to run off the track. Other things can be seen in the chart like shift points, missed shifts, and loss of power. Next up is the G-G graph. It is not nearly as revealing as the speed vs. distance graph, but can point to some time left on the table. A desired friction circle should “push” out the 2 upper legs of the triangle to more of a curve. This is shown in the picture. My feeling is the time between turn in and apex is the “magic” part of driving. There is so much going on here and much time can be gained or lost. The goal is to transition from full braking G’s to full cornering G’s while utilizing 100% traction. Most drivers can corner at maximum G’s and know that feeling of slip angles being generated. And maximum braking can be learned just by doing it over and over again and getting a feeling for what the car will give you. But to ease off the brakes, while turning the wheel is a scary feeling. It takes commitment that the car will hook up immediately as opposed to slowing down, turning, and the bringing up the cornering load slowly which feels natural and safe. The better you transition and will almost always lead to lower lap times. In addition, G’s are a direct measurement of the grip you have. This can be a huge benefit when making changes to your car. And finally the track map trace. This is pretty self explanatory but make sure you have good accuracy with your system when studying the lines. And old data often does not overlay with new data so be careful when comparing over multiple dates. Look at turn in, apex, and trackout. Also consistency. And of course the sacrifice one corner for another corner type decisions. One of my favorites is to look for the shortest distance tradeoff. Releasing the car to track to the outside of a wide turn covers a longer distance. Especially big open turns. Sometimes generating more G’s and maintaining a tighter turn will cover less distance and result in a quicker time. Same applies to going wide to set up for a turn in on a wide track. It is also a big advantage to have the track map shown at the same time as the G-G Graph and the Speed vs. Distance graph. Next (and last) post I will list out some of the options available and things to think about before purchasing.

I have decided to postpone majority of my body work. I really want to get it on track and start sorting before final finish. Most of the body panels are removable so not too difficult. I will probably shoot an epoxy primer on at some point and slap a number on the doors. Final paint scheme is still undecided and I have no stress about it. When I started the build I formed a bill of material I knew needed to be purchased or fabricated. Also estimated the budget. I have tried not to purchase anything until it is needed. That has been a tricky thing with all the supplier delays. I ordered brake pads during the holidays because they were on sale at Porterfield. Lucky I don't need them yet. Raybestos has no ETA and no projected ship dates. Strange how some parts arrive in 2 days and some 2 months. I ordered 3 x 18" Allstar braided brake lines from Jegs. 2 arrived late and 1 on back order with no ETA. WTF?

Without a doubt, body work is the worst task of all. I will put molding large fiberglass parts a distant 2nd. And everything in the garage will be covered in thick dust. On the lessons learned side, I wiped bearings in a relatively fresh engine after a few months of sanding. Without knowing, my engine builder ask if we had been sanding body filler in vicinity of an open engine. I said "maybe", and he said "I have seen this before". On the positive side, I ran the brake lines. First time I have ever tried running an entire system in AN3 fittings and flared cu-ni tubing. Pretty damn easy. And I was able to correct the few bending mistakes I made. 25ft roll of tubing, maybe 1ft of waste, and 4ft left over. And I rand the entire thing in probably 2.5 hours. No pressure checks yet.

Aydin you are probably around 30lb injectors. Plenty of calculators out there for sizing based on HP. I ended up buying the white Siemens/Bosch for my 3.0. They all tested dead accurate out of the box. The problem I am having is getting a fuel pump. I like the Bosch pumps and I have come to the conclusion Bosch makes a small body and large body unit. They have about 1000 part numbers based on OEM inlets and outlets. The famous 044 pump is WAY overkill for a NA car. I had one and a fuel line rupture sent multiple gallons on the ground in a few seconds. Scary. And just circulating gas around only heats it up. So really you only need something maybe 20% over you needed flow, max. So my holy grail, is an OEM based Bosch pump, small body format, maybe 0.25 NPT on outlet and inlet, that supports 300hp and is CHEAP. I have a BMW part number somewhere that is close to that. I have been looking for a more generic universal pump with no success so far. Most of the generic stuff is made for big V8's. Or other recomendtions?

Yes it has a built in heated ultrasonic cleaner. Works surprisingly good. It pulses the injector while it is cleaning. I put some old weber parts in there and they came out squeaky clean. It is not a shiny finish. A little brass brush brings out a shine. I want to buy a bigger cleaner now for larger parts. I have a set of weber's I need to recondition. I could not find much info on what to clean with. I ended up with an 1 Oz. Of Simple Green and 1 Oz of pine sol with maybe qt. Of distilled water. Stuff needs to be pretty clean before if goes in there of you will be changing the tank often. I am using 95% alcohol as a test fluid. I made 3 mods to the unit. Added to resistors for low impedance injectors and changed out the pressure gauge for a 4" Measureman unit from Amazon. Also added some tiny o-rings to seal against the hose barbs. I now do all the tests at 43.5psi. Usually the 1st 1 or 2 runs give odd results, but then they become repeatable. It only takes a minute to test. Maybe 3 minutes to set up. I justified the purchase because I have some older Mercedes injectors I think I can get some money for. When I combined the recovery money with some future checks for the race car, it tipped me over into the purchase. Seems like good insurance for the race car. The Prather videos are interesting when taken as a whole. He is a guy who grew up in the middle of SCCA competition with his father. He knows alot. Although he builds a boatload of Mazdas, he is not mark specific. He just applies attention to detail to everything he touches. No secrets. Same with engines. He is not the smartest guy, or the most innovative, or the most experienced with most cars. Just basics and attention to detail. Of course a lot of his details are lessons learned from past experience, but still mostly basic stuff. Like he always runs the same rear wheel/tire when doing dyna runs. Probably saw too much variation there. Jeez I think he goes to the Runoffs solo, but not sure. He supports multiple cars other than his. He built ground up 2 cars for Greg's brother Cliff who has 3 championships now in 2 classes I think. And they were Honda products.

Another new shop toy. Bought a cheap fuel injector cleaner/tester. So far so good. I wired a few dropping resistors to test the old Bosch low impedance stuff. Pulled a pile of old injectors out of storage and to my surprise most all fired. I will polish them up and sell the best flow checked results. Main goal is to Flow test and clean my injectors between race weekends. Seems like good insurance against any power loss due to clogging. Pick up the idea from Jessie Prather. If you are into race car building, the Jessie Prather Motorsports YouTube channel covers some good topics. His videos give a good overview of the level of detail required to build SCCA championship cars.

Finally got the hood located today. My original design using aluminum pins into the firewall did not look good. Pins were too long and created quite a lever arm. So I went back to my design from years ago but upgraded with some 3d printed brackets. Hood now slides into 3 cowl panel channels and will latch in the front. I drilled those holes in the hood like a confident person after measuring 3 times.

Hear, hear, now. This is my thread. Just kidding, if anyone has any race car related posts, bring them on! I spent a week or 2 trying to find a way to run 13's on my car. Tires are available for some wide wheels. And SCCA GTLite runs them. But in the end I didn't think I could get enough braking performance. So I focused on 15's and ignored 16's which is what everyone in my class runs. I have been super focused on reducing unsprung weight, especially rotating weight. A little less focused on sprung weight, so I hope that doesn't come back and bite me. But I do have some changes that could be implemented at a later date. Interesting enough, the John Thomas 240 which has won like 8 or 9 solo championships, has like a Arizona big brake kit. Way overkill. But he also runs like 100lb of balast instead of a passenger seat. He won another in 2022 as a guest driver. Fast dude and super nice guy. Not alot to show since last post. Sometimes you go backward to go forward. But definitely putting in some hours. Been planning and buying stuff for electrical and brake plumbing and clutch. Also realized I have about 20 parts I need to 3d print, so I got the machine running 24/7 in Nylon. I don't think I could build this car without the 3d printer. Example #64-i have 3" 3ft long orange brake hose. My run will need to be 4 to 4.5ft. I will just design and print out a 3" dia. brake hose union. No problemo. Here is a pic of the coolant tank mounted and my revised front control arm. I found the steering knuckles hit the original sway bar clevis I had welded in. So I relocated the clevis opposite the shock clevis. In the end this should actually be a stronger connection and give me a little more room for the brake cooling hose.

Sounds like Cary has the answers. I would be surprised if Greg had them brazed but I dont know. He is racing the EP car again in a couple weeks but I dont think I can make it. What caliper do you run? Stock correct? I didn't count the teeth but I think it is for a 350z? I think he said that is where the sensor came from. No plans for block. Just a spare. Price was right.....free.

Forged and hardened if I had to guess. And a high quality steel to handle all that is going on there being machined out of 1 piece. Yes the flange directs air actually at the rotor and center section since 3" diameter. My rotor/caliper pics are a few posts back. Wilwood 6 piston with 11.75 x 0.810 rotors. Got an email from Porterfield with 10% off so I ordered F/R pads. I think I ordered Pagid or performance friction. I know it was not Hawk. What does it take to mount your caliper? Most "kits" and custom applications have some sort of special bracket to adapt the caliper to the stock ears. Scored a N42 block, crank, and rods today to add to the collection. It has a newer oil pump, degree wheel, and dizzy block off plate.

Merry Xmas and Happy New Year. Busting it this week to get as much done as possible before my work resumes. Lots of little stuff going on, but here is the brake duct exit. The front spindle flange is by far the hardest thing I have ever drilled on a Z. Routing the brake hose looks like it is going to be a real challenge with the sway bar end links in the way.

Well the fabricating is all complete, it's a matter of where to set things. In summary, for anyone who did not catch everything earlier. 1. Most all the pickup points are standard for the chassis with the exception of below. I measured from my other car what I could not get from FSM drawings. 2. I raised the rear control arm inner pivots to lower roll center 3. I modified rear control arm for toe adjust but OEM length.. 4. I modified steering knuckles to accept an adjustable stud so I can change RC in the front. Ball joint is a spherical bearing. 5. Front control arms are custom but set to OEM lengths. 6. I relocated top strut mount rearward to increase nominal caster to 6 degrees. A lot of weird stuff. But sitting at 4" ride height, and that 4" is also lowest point on car, the "rough" geometry is about perfect for a strut car. Crossmember is 4", all chassis rails and flat floor pan are 4". Exhaust is tucked up. Most likely I will need to raise the back or lower the front to get the aero balance right. And I have that ability, I think. I am already day dreaming about track testing and what I want to try. Getting excited about prospect of this car on a track. But I now have to change my mindset. The build is no longer a push for the next milestone. It is now an attempt to complete each small task and chasing every problem whether it takes 1 hour or 8 hours to complete it. Must try not to get frustrated and leave the shop too early. I ordered all the wiring material last week. I am excited about doing that.

Yea, I didn't realize I could get 7" springs. Problem solved. I thought I would have to go to 6. I went ahead and purchased some shorter steering knuckles. I think that will work and my steering can go quicker. Finished the front close out panel today. I like it.

1 step forward, 10 steps back. Dropped it on the ground and started finding stuff. Good news-my shock lengths are spot on so almost ready to order. Bad news- steering tie rods are at a bad angle. Need to raise the rack, but I think that will hit the oil pan. 10mm Shorter knuckles may work, but the steering is pretty quick already. Good news- I dropped the ride height down from 5 to 4". That looked about right and the roll centers looked damn close. And I can go a little lower if needed. Bad news- I may need to relocate the front spring perches lower. I had to remove the spring to get it that low. That will not be easy. The engine will compress the springs about an inch, and I need an inch. Anyway here is a shot on the ground and my g-nose fiberglass complete.

Parts came in today so I grabbed a couple hours tonight to finish. Here is my extra knuckle solution. I clocked everything and tried to make all 3 angles about equal. Seems to be quite smooth. First time I have turned the wheels from the steering wheel. That was a good feeling.

I don't know. I will take a measurement next time. But my g-nose is also 4" wider than a normal g-nose.

Nice door hinges!

That's vintage. Like a Bart Simpson school movie with Troy McClure. Critical stuff on a driveshaft for sure.

As I suspected. Those damn u-joints are not cheap. I just checked the Woodward website. They say 20degree max and I am about 25. And they need to be clocked correctly. Glad I read that. I fit checked everything prior. But that does not mean I did not miss something. Plus the engine is offset about an inch. Glassin' up the G-nose last 2 days. 4 layers of 6 Oz cloth on each side of cardboard forms. Didnt add much weight at all. Should be strong enough for a radiator shroud, I hope.

Ran into a problem tonight. My steering shafts are all wanked up. I'm sure I did a fit up many months ago, and vaguely remember the angles were funky, but did not take action then. So I have 2 problems here, large angle at the firewall u-joint, and small angle at rack u-joint. And angle at the firewall is so great the joint is binding when turned. So do I add an intermediate shaft with 2 more joints or a 3rd U-joint? And if I add 2 more joints do I need a bearing to support? Also spent the day glassing up the front G-nose.

Couple reasons. Main one is not many local shops have experience with race tires/wheels. They tend to be rough on the wheels, bitch about the width and low profile, and use the hammer on weights. The companies that support racing and show up to track are great. But I have to go to a race to use them. I'm sure there are others locally I don't know about, but that brings up next point.... The cost. Between friends and family I think it will pay back eventually. And finally it opens up maybe more cost effective options on purchasing tires on line and used race tires that I can change anytime I want.......I control the process now.