Rebirth of a Road Racer

[2eighTZ4me]

Well - the car has finally returned home to the track! Crappy crappy weather though.....about 38 degrees both Sat. and Sun. and rain rain rain. Didn't even get a chance to put on the slicks even though we got a couple good runs at the end of Sunday afternoon. Watched a lot of people wad their cars up into the wall over the weekend.

 

I was extremely nervous about taking a car that I've never driven at speed to a wet (I mean sopping wet!) racecourse. Ended up spinning coming out of turn 5 once (got a little tail happy in the wet when on the gas) and that was the only driving mistake all weekend. One really weird thing happened though. Very first lap on very first session coming out of 7 going down the back straight, my passenger side windshield wiper just LEFT the vehicle at about 60mph. I drove to the track at 70+ in the rain with no problems. Get on the track and at a lower speed - whooof - there it goes! WTF!!!???

 

I was only in HPDE1 group and at the end of Sunday, they let us run with the HPDE2 folks. Ended up spanking about half of them. Boy that puts a big grin on your face an on the inside. Nary a mechanical problem all weekend (save for the wiper incident). Didn't even lift a wrench all weekend and the car performed flawlessly.

 

So here she is - back at doing what she loves doing.

 

Two weeks prior to race weekend - at the SCCA Nationals.

With the new Rota RB-R's (17x9.5 rear -23 offset, 17x8.5 front +4 offset). Note: the feline was not harmed in the taking of this picture - although he DID beg for food incessantly and threatened to pee on my tires.

 

In the pits prior to a Sat. afternoon run.

 

 

Coming down through the esses approaching the NEW turn 4 that they setup for the motorcycle guys. They're TICKED off about it. Damn near impossible looking turn that kills ALL momentum going through the esses.

 

Coming out of 10a toward 10b.

 

So there ya have it.

 

Got a few things necessary to button up the car the way I want it. Tranny mount rubber is split. Having John Williams weld it solid. Having the car corner balanced, putting on the new Nismo header, fix exhaust mount that broke during the event. And getting RID of that God awful hot water heater blanket that I laid in over the tunnel. It's shredded after this weekend. Hoping to hit the Barber event in May.....

 

Cheers to all!!

[rxsleeper]

Ok, your ready. I forget, I know your car has a cage but do you know Dia and wall thickness? If so, and it can pass a current tech inspection (I know it will )

 

Come over to TGPR next month for a SCCA TT drivers school. Get your TT license and come play.

 

Looks good, glad you had a good day on a wet track. A Z with a stiff suspension is an unforgiving ^%$#&*( on a wet track.

[2eighTZ4me]

It's 1.5" diameter but not sure of the wall thickness. It passed John Williams' tech inspection for NASA, but not sure if SCCA has more stringent rules. There's a few things that I'm pretty sure SCCA mandates that I currently don't have.

 

Top that off with the fact that this is my first "logged" track event - I'm a ways away from a TT license! Love to come play though - but they won't let me in the "big kids'"

sandbox just yet!

[rxsleeper]

I think you will probably be OK as long as your belts are in date and you have a Driver's suit. BTW, it is a School. Get your license at the end of the weekend. Two days of practice/instruction/timed runs. If you are interested, shoot me a pm. I plan on going with the Z.

[2eighTZ4me]

Belts are brand new - good until Nov. 2010. I have John's old driver's suit. He says there's no expiration on that - so I "think" I'd be good to go. Money's a little tight right now however, so I doubt I'd be able to make it. What's the cost anyways?

[rxsleeper]

See this thread : http://www.alscca.org/community/showthread.php?t=496

 

$250 for full up school.

[two40zjunky]

your car is awesome 2eight. it is simple and scary all at the same time!! love the decals makes it look like it belongs on the track all day long.

[roger280zx]

Congrats Tim, that car is a handfull.. you should be proud. I'd be a curb-hoppin, grass-slingin, rooster-tail shootin fool on a wet track with it.

[RisingSun]

I've been watching your progress since the start....the feeling you have starting her up for a day at the track must be up there as a major cornerstone!

 

I'm a bit jealous, my stroker BRE is taking forever, but I still hope to bring it to ZDayZ. I still remember making a promise to bring it to GA when it's on the road and we can compare notes.

 

Here's a pic of it's current state, so as you can see I have a miracle to work this spring:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again, Congrats and great job! I want to hear more stories when your classic Z spanks some late models on the track!

-Dana

[D83ZXT]

Nice job! Now keep her on the track and have fun with it. She's meant to be on the tracks.

 

 

May I ask. Why does she sit so high?

[JMortensen]

May I ask. Why does she sit so high?

That's what I was wondering. That's gotta be bad for lateral weight transfer.

[2eighTZ4me]

I have a camber problem such that when lowering the ride height causes a real bad negative camber problem. Even with the Ground Control camber plates, I can't dial in enough positive camber to keep from eating up tires on the street. Had I had a chance to put the slicks on and get in some dry track time, I would have dropped the ride height a bit, but since it was wet and rainy all weekend, I just decided to leave it alone. Jon - what do you recommend for ride height? I've got some adjustable front lower control arms being made, so I should be able to correct the camber issue and the ride height issue at the same time.

[JMortensen]

My recommendation is as follows:

 

The car will handle better as the ride height decreases because you will reduce lateral weight transfer. So long as you still have enough wheel travel (this is going to depend on your spring rate), and your geometry isn't all screwed up, you should go as low as possible. I think Coffey has some pretty good rules of thumb for how low to go without fixing the geometry.

 

To fix the geometry you'll need to look at roll centers, anti-dive, and bumpsteer. Bumpsteer isn't caused by incorrect ride height, but lowering the car a lot puts the car in a spot in the bumpsteer curve where it's effects are more pronounced. Rear roll center is a bitch to adjust. Front is pretty simple, just redrill the LCA pivot points. Search all of this and you'll find lots of info on it.

 

What diff are you running? If its an R180 you might be able to run shorter LCAs (which I believe you would have to make) to counter some of the neg camber. I'm a bit surprised that you're having that issue, as I ran my car really low and had plenty of adjustment on the rear camber with GC camber plates.

[2eighTZ4me]

Jon - I'm running a 3.70 R200 LSD. I have the Arizona Z Car rear lower control arms as well. I've also got a set of adjustable front LCA's being made right now. I read through Coffey's alignment setup tips - he had ride height set to about 7" in the rear for 245 and larger tires. That's right about what I have currently. Spring rates are mid 300's all the way around. I will be revisiting the alignment once more when I get my new front LCA's installed though. Do appreciate all your advice, and it has forced me to go back through the alignment posts and relearn what was once embedded into the noggin'!