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Mike Kelly's Zcar Project


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Did I mention I'm dying to get this thing back? Spent yesterday mounting some Corbeau CR1 Seats in the BMW. Also mounted a Sparco harness bar that is a "universal" type deal. Will probably come out... Anyway, I need to get the 295-30-18s in for the rear so I can have those mounted up to the CCws. Can't wait to get that all mounted up and the car out for a little test and tune! Thing is going to be visually stunning.

 

Mike

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Latest update...

 

The car should be done and tuned, dyno'ed and ready for pick up by Thursday morning. There were some serious issues surrounding the fitment of the distributor that required serious work to it. Traction control is installed and everything else is being buttoned up now...

 

Mike

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I guess I spoke to soon. The trans apparently has to come out of the car. It's at the shop, and the bill is just climbing while I say to them "Go ahead, fix it" every single time something else pops up. Pretty disgusted with this 9 year project. I'm sure I'll be "excited" to get the car back running, but I'll be equally excited to see this MotherF'er go to a new home.

 

Mike

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Just got off the phone with the shop. They dropped the trans, replaced the clutch fork and release bearing. Saw now evidence of damage to the clutch or pressure plate. However, once everything was back together we still have zero clutch travel. I'm guessing there is damage to the clutch disc or pressure plate.

 

More $$$$!

 

My Porsche 996TT, yea I miss it sooooo much...

 

Mike

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Mike when you say zero clutch travel, you mean the pedal makes full travel but the clutch does not release? Just starting from the top, double checked the rod and clevis for the clutch master? I had one where the threads actually got stripped and I couldnt tell it was binding under the dash. Clutch master in good shape? Last would be to check the slave. I can't see if there isn't any physical damage to the pressure plate and the what I call fingers are still stiff why that would need to be changed out.

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Nope... But good guesses...

 

I was at the shop today and actually got to hear the thing run, and it's sick... Car is going to be so impressive with this stand-alone setup really... So I took the old Steel flywheel to them and chatted about a number of things, all related to the work I authorized. I then paid the current balance of $3500. It's pretty friggin' expensive to get professionals to troubleshoot and resolve issues like these... $900 dollars was due to parts replacement...

 

So the parts... I kept that fuel injection so long that the injectors wouldn't flow even numbers, remotely. So the troubleshooting, the cleaning/ultrasonic activity to try and resolve them, and then the replacement of them, ran me about $750 for eight 42# units. Then there's the traction control hardware. Nothing right now available for my driveshaft, so they had to fabricate "stuff" for the sensor and make it work. There was also the broken starter... Yea, broken starter... Now we get to the crux of the issue with my clutch/trans... Remember the aluminum Fidanza Flywheel I just bought? Well I didn't get what I paid for and I didn't triplecheck the unit. And I installed it. Apparently it was the wrong flywheel, not being thick enough, by over 1/2 an inch. That flywheel ended up costing me what will likey be $2000 worth of troubleshooting (trans has been out a total of three times by the time this post has been made), and broke a starter, the clutch fork and release bearing.

 

Yea, F' trying to get the car down on weight... I'll have it functional over form...

 

The car will likely be done, and be home by Monday. We expect that the car will make much more power. The shop will be doing between 10-20 dyno pulls trying to simulate roadcourse laps on their Superflow dyno. It's been a long grind to get to this point. I think the move to FAST efi was the right move. I just wish I'd done it sooner.

 

Mike

Edited by Mikelly
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Things left to do at this time once the car is back home:

 

Pull both front hubs and install ARP studs

Get R6s mounted up to CCW wheels and on the car

Collect parts for AIR tube evac on the exhaust and fab that up

Locate a catchcan that will receive plumbing from valve covers and exhaust

Order OEM CV Axle boots

Install the Fuel Cell Suround panels.

 

I still need to order a fire supression system and a coolsuit kit.

 

Mike

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I want to recap a couple of design/specs items here, becuase after 21 pages some items will always get lost in the noise...

 

Based on feedback from sharp guys like John Tedder and Mark Icard, I chose to go a different route with regards to the suspension and upgraded to 500# springs up front with 400# springs out back. My car's ride height was also adjusted based on specs based on John Coffey's recommendations from a couple years ago. My ground clearance from bottom of Xpipe (lowest spot on the car) to the ground is 2.75 inches. We're running a front 1 1/8th inch bar, with no rear bar. Using Koni 8610 struts and I plan to section the front strut tubes in order to allow more adjustment.

 

Camber is adjustable both top and bottom with control arms and camber plates.

 

Mike

Edited by Mikelly
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Gonna pick the car up tomorrow, as they've called and said it's done. We picked up an average of 20HP and torque across the board from the switch to EFI. I'll have everything back tomorrow and a better idea along with the dyno charts... They said the car is very drivable and exceptionally "Crisp from off throttle all the way through redline.

 

Mike

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