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PaddyPrix

If breakin' parts is cool, consider me Miles Davis
725
1,081
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
San Diego
😆

Wait, where are you getting revenue sharing for your recipes?!?! I need to start posting my horseradish recipes too!

Perhaps you missed the boat, gotta strike when the iron is hot. I've got over 78% market share on a $46 market cap. Truth be told, if it weren't for that, I don't know if I would be able to run this racing team.
 

PaddyPrix

If breakin' parts is cool, consider me Miles Davis
725
1,081
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
San Diego
It's shaping up to be a good weekend. Got the motor in last night, ordered up a few missing odds and ends, and who knows, might even see if I can get my hands on a trailer and catch a few sessions with Speed Ventures to test her out at Auto Club.

Figure I'd treat myself to a fancy MGW s550 shifter, my first since I had one of their t-56's like 15 years ago. To those astute video watchers, yes, I've been shifting with the shaft the whole time, and without anything preventing me from going down the reverse channel, it's pretty difficult trying to grab 2nd since the MT-82-D4 reverse is next to 1st, not 5th like with most others. Thankfully with the 3.55 gearing and most of the tracks being small, 3rd and 4th will do okay with the occasional lug out of slow corners, and inability to find 5th coming into Auto Club's turn 1. No more missing shifts on just about every session will be a big help.

PXL_20211105_005221956.jpg

Also to those of you yanking your Coyotes, the Motion manifold lift plate was a nice touch and big help, certainly better than the hodgepodge we used with chains and a tow strap along the back of the trans on the way out.

PXL_20211105_033714038.jpg
PXL_20211105_043005909.jpg

Gotta finish up the day with this lady snoring up a storm, and then it's putting the intake back on tonight and double checking everything with the help of ForScan.
PXL_20211102_201912187.jpg

PXL_20211105_205928892.jpg

It's been a long time since I've been on the track, and for some reason with Chuckwalla being one of my closer tracks, I've only been there two times with two different cars. I certainly don't have the car set up for it, and so I'm honestly not expecting anything record breaking, especially since I'm not running on stickers with all the money I've been spending to just get it back on the track, so I'm going in with some lowered expectations, just finish out my sessions. Depending on the direction, I think something sub 2 should do alright, but I'm going to hope that the two morning sessions will be the fastest with the hot desert sun pounding and killing our later session times. That, and I'm easily blinded by the sun, so should be a short day with plenty of nail-biting as Frank and I fight for the TT2 title.
 
Last edited:

PaddyPrix

If breakin' parts is cool, consider me Miles Davis
725
1,081
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
San Diego
So close, I can taste it.

PXL_20211106_221342529.jpg

Some buddies came over to absorb some of my sunburning and helped hook up the driveshaft and exhaust while I was doing up the manifold.

PXL_20211106_221345954.jpg

But after a long day of double and triple checking everything, looks like we've got a chance to make Chuckwalla next weekend.

PXL_20211107_021238327.jpg

So, you're saying there is a chance?
 

PaddyPrix

If breakin' parts is cool, consider me Miles Davis
725
1,081
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
San Diego
Alright, well, here goes nothin.

Took it for a road test last night, and it felt pretty good, been a long time since I've been in it, and felt really good to be back. I know it's generic rhetoric by now, but I usually make stupid puns and jokes that only I think are funny, so thanks to all my local and race friends that came by to help spin a wrench, share how tos, info, and stories, and to my internet friends with likes, support, and everything else. I couldn't have done it without you.

Did a few passes around the neighborhood, trying to get it up to temp, and then noticed on my cooldown that I was losing power. Thankfully only about a block away from home, and came to find that somehow my overflow tank's bottom hose came off at some point in the trip, thankfully I didn't go much more than 2 or 3k because it was late out. So much for looking all clean and sexy :(

PXL_20211112_015841271.jpg

Popped it back on, put some more water and water wetter back in, and tried to start it just to get it flowing and to add more back in, and then couldn't start with a charging system error. I thought I did a pretty good job of double checking the wiring, and with a new fuse box filled with fuses, and a new starter, new battery, I'm thinking it's the alternator which is the only original piece left... just about anyhow. Voltage sitting 12.5v-12.8v, on clutch in, I can hear the fuel pump behind me hissing, which I'm assuming is trying to pressurize the rails for the start, and dies off before it even tries to crank over. If I turn power off, open up the door to break, and then with the lights off, I can usually get it to start. Once that happens, it'll hold idle and show 14.8v solid. I'm going to have to hope that's enough to get it onto the trailer, off the trailer, and onto grid at some point over the weekend, while I try to call in some favors and perhaps grab a new one mid-day Saturday if I can find a dealer close enough. Still have some little things I'll do tonight when I get there, like put the window net back on, top harness belts onto the cage, mount the trusty fire extinguisher, GoPro's, tighten down the seat fully, and a brake bleed, but meh, just want to get there and beat the traffic and that step is a big one. So next stop, Chuckwalla Valley Raceway.
 

PaddyPrix

If breakin' parts is cool, consider me Miles Davis
725
1,081
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
San Diego
Ugh, alternator dead. Got one in Indio for tomorrow but can't even start. Going to try to get some help getting it into the trailer, and hoping for the best tomorrow.

When it rains it pours.
-Bad guy from Gone in 60 Seconds
 

PaddyPrix

If breakin' parts is cool, consider me Miles Davis
725
1,081
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
San Diego
(Long post/story warning)
TL; DR: It broke, we fixed it, we won?

Friday didn't go as well as I would have liked it to have gone. Picked up the U-Haul trailer, all excited to get onto the road on a nice Friday and figure it out. Yeah, car wouldn't start. Or... rather, it would, had I just not conditioned myself to hit the OK button like 12 times right after starting it... TPMS not found, Door Ajar, Hood ajar, Parking Aid sensor not found, to start press the clutch and brake... my brother came by with his pickup truck, and we used the tow straps/hooks to get it onto the trailer, and my buddy came by to help. Kinda nice having it on an open U-Haul transport so we can get under, and found out that the starter was just fine when we bypas-- waaaaait -- Clutch AND Brake to Start?

Clutch AND Brake?

Yeah, weird, huh? Sure enough, held down the clutch, held the brake, held start, and 3-5 seconds later, engine fired up with a smooth-ish idle. Packed up real quickly and got onto the road. Forgot my transponder. Wasn't paying attention to the route, and took a really slow, mountainous pass filled with nothing but 20mph curves, perfect for 11pm driving towing a mostly broken piece of shiznit car.

1637036449622.png

Got to the track just before midnight and just started unloading everything which is a fancy way of saying that I pretty much just throw things everywhere with very little organization.

Saturday Surprise

Herb, our beloved NASA Photographer tried his best to hide my shiznit in his shot, a rather difficult task. Made it to tech behind like 30 other cars, and while I ran around and did my social butterfly thing, started boiling over because this was probably the first time I've been up to temp and running for more than 10 minutes.

1637037755450.png

I'm usually near the front of the pack, so they gave me a good morning spot on the qualifying session, but I could already feel things not going my way on the parade lap, and the flying lap had me lose power about 5 turns in, and I went off line, started pointing everybody by, and tried to process what was going on with my stupid Android Fire tablet blocking my info screen. The screen doesn't pick up gestures with the gloves on, so I was trying to figure out if the limp mode was speed or rpm limited, and it was speed, so no matter what gear I was in, 35mph was tops. I tried to not ruin everybody else's times and did my best to point and made it to the pits, and limp back to camp. Fans wouldn't come on, high or low, and yet, they wouldn't throw any faults that I could see with Forscan, and everything else looked normal. Same for the fuel system. I've got like 70 DTC's from stripping everything out, but nothing jumped out at me. The first session in NASA TT doesn't count, and is for gridding, so I'd have to find a way to make one of the next 3 sessions to avoid a DNF.

We made some jumpers, and found out that we could run both of the big fans, and the high speed one down below, and I'd practice doing a few laps around the lot, but anything above 3500 or so would have the engine cut fuel, AFR to 20, rough/choppy idle, and pushing on the pedal did nothing as it'd just ignore the inputs, no matter how hard it was pressed. WTF? Didn't help that it was very hot out, and way out there, shade is hard to come by, and this might come as a shock to some, but I burn incredibly easy as my people were built for the bars, not the beaches.

The brake and clutch thing pissing me off, I'm trying to figure out why it was working fine on Thursday, and all of a sudden it's doing this, so I pull out the seat, play all around with the clutch wires, buttons, magnets, and all that stuff, disconnecting, reconnecting, and saying plenty of kid friendly words in foreign languages. I sit down in the bare tub, fire it up with just the clutch, et voila! I'm assuming it's some sort of fallback when you hold the start button on a manual car and it can't see the clutch pedal status.

This unfortunately wasn't the magic pill I was looking for, and thinking to the issues we've been having, perhaps a Crank Relearn was the way to go. So we started the process and making my way up to 4250, feel a barrier at 3500, AFR shoots to 20.0 ... which is pretty high for a gas car, and I'd say it's even higher for an e85 car. I think we're down to 13 DTC at this point, and after another clear, we see something about the crank position sensor, which feels awkward. I did all the wiring and all of the sensors on the block, and this should be new, so what gives? Yank out the battery, battery box, and fight with the burnt plastic trim to remove that cover, reach for the sensor, and well, well, well, it's f'n cracked between the screw and the sensor. I try to carefully pull it out, and the mounting surface which was supposed to be flat has one side up about 30 degrees.


1637040467490.png

Pull it out nice and smooth, all careful like, and I turn to my buddies, and seconds later it's now in two parts. Sweet. Totally f***ing sweet.

Paging Dr. Weld to the OR

I'm still somewhat new to this thing, but is there anything that JB can't do? Got some of the Plastic Weld mixed together and put it in there, tossed on some gloves, and walked around the pits with it in a death grip for like 2 hours. I might have even helped work on somebody else's 944 while it was still engaged in that death grip. I believe I had also guilted a friend into driving me to dinner, just so I could still clench onto that f****r. I know that it doesn't say you have to hold it for 2 hours, but I was giving it a solid 177% effort. I don't know if it's just mine, but if you're ever having to stick yours in (giggity) it's kinda strange. If you try to put it in, it'll feel as if it's bumping into something, and if you feel around the top, it's 1/4" from mounting flush. It took about 10 minutes to finally slide it in all the way (giggity) which finally mounted flush, and hooking it back up, we cleared the 13 codes, which then dropped down to 4. It was about 9:30pm, but a crank relearn is a crank relearn. I know my car is loud, and to those of you who I woke up, I'm sorry, I had to get the engine up to temp and it was pretty much sitting idle all day. Crank learn completed, and DTC's down to 2 about some ambient temperature sensor. AFR happily staying around the 9's, a quick blip to 4k saw it richen up, not lean up, a complete 180.

#SundayFunday

I couldn't sleep, pretty much just started counting minutes down to a point where I could go for a quick romp. Took her down to one of those 20mph connecting roads like a half mile away from the cabins and track, rolled into 2nd, AFR went rich, warmed up the tires a touch, went through 3rd, AFR from 7-9, and yeah I think we've got at least a lap in us. Went to the morning driver meeting, a friend of mine left after a rough day, and since we're pretty evenly matched and usually battling, I got to start from his #5 spot, instead of the back of the like 36 car grid. Went back, set pressures, filled up because I had no idea where the fuel level was, and don't trust the gauge anyhow, and made my way to the grid after some confusion with the track workers. Felt pretty cool like an 80s movie ending getting waves and claps as I made my way to the front.

1637043302796.jpeg

Only my 3rd time at Chuckwalla, 2nd time in this car, and with these A7's having about 3 track days on them, I didn't have much hope, but I'd break the class limit if I put the Michelin S8M on, so bald A7 DOT slicks it is. I was more concerned with just getting a solid lap in, what my AFR was, and to be totally honest, I don't even think took it out of 3rd gear, and making sweet loving to the kerbs I clicked off a 1:56.2 for 3rd overall, 2nd in class with the 1st place guy setting the course record. Felt pretty good. 2nd run, pulled a 1:55.1, waited out the 3rd session because it was really hot both in the air and on the track, and in the 4th session, I pulled a 1:54.9 driving straight into the sun. Unable to see corner workers, flags, and other drivers, thought it was a good idea to shut it down and call it an end to the season. There's 2-3 seconds more with this, but considering what I've done and where I've been, it'll have to wait for next season. Adios 2021, we hardly knew ye!
 
539
687
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
SoCal
(Long post/story warning)
TL; DR: It broke, we fixed it, we won?

Friday didn't go as well as I would have liked it to have gone. Picked up the U-Haul trailer, all excited to get onto the road on a nice Friday and figure it out. Yeah, car wouldn't start. Or... rather, it would, had I just not conditioned myself to hit the OK button like 12 times right after starting it... TPMS not found, Door Ajar, Hood ajar, Parking Aid sensor not found, to start press the clutch and brake... my brother came by with his pickup truck, and we used the tow straps/hooks to get it onto the trailer, and my buddy came by to help. Kinda nice having it on an open U-Haul transport so we can get under, and found out that the starter was just fine when we bypas-- waaaaait -- Clutch AND Brake to Start?

Clutch AND Brake?

Yeah, weird, huh? Sure enough, held down the clutch, held the brake, held start, and 3-5 seconds later, engine fired up with a smooth-ish idle. Packed up real quickly and got onto the road. Forgot my transponder. Wasn't paying attention to the route, and took a really slow, mountainous pass filled with nothing but 20mph curves, perfect for 11pm driving towing a mostly broken piece of shiznit car.

View attachment 70171

Got to the track just before midnight and just started unloading everything which is a fancy way of saying that I pretty much just throw things everywhere with very little organization.

Saturday Surprise

Herb, our beloved NASA Photographer tried his best to hide my shiznit in his shot, a rather difficult task. Made it to tech behind like 30 other cars, and while I ran around and did my social butterfly thing, started boiling over because this was probably the first time I've been up to temp and running for more than 10 minutes.

View attachment 70172

I'm usually near the front of the pack, so they gave me a good morning spot on the qualifying session, but I could already feel things not going my way on the parade lap, and the flying lap had me lose power about 5 turns in, and I went off line, started pointing everybody by, and tried to process what was going on with my stupid Android Fire tablet blocking my info screen. The screen doesn't pick up gestures with the gloves on, so I was trying to figure out if the limp mode was speed or rpm limited, and it was speed, so no matter what gear I was in, 35mph was tops. I tried to not ruin everybody else's times and did my best to point and made it to the pits, and limp back to camp. Fans wouldn't come on, high or low, and yet, they wouldn't throw any faults that I could see with Forscan, and everything else looked normal. Same for the fuel system. I've got like 70 DTC's from stripping everything out, but nothing jumped out at me. The first session in NASA TT doesn't count, and is for gridding, so I'd have to find a way to make one of the next 3 sessions to avoid a DNF.

We made some jumpers, and found out that we could run both of the big fans, and the high speed one down below, and I'd practice doing a few laps around the lot, but anything above 3500 or so would have the engine cut fuel, AFR to 20, rough/choppy idle, and pushing on the pedal did nothing as it'd just ignore the inputs, no matter how hard it was pressed. WTF? Didn't help that it was very hot out, and way out there, shade is hard to come by, and this might come as a shock to some, but I burn incredibly easy as my people were built for the bars, not the beaches.

The brake and clutch thing pissing me off, I'm trying to figure out why it was working fine on Thursday, and all of a sudden it's doing this, so I pull out the seat, play all around with the clutch wires, buttons, magnets, and all that stuff, disconnecting, reconnecting, and saying plenty of kid friendly words in foreign languages. I sit down in the bare tub, fire it up with just the clutch, et voila! I'm assuming it's some sort of fallback when you hold the start button on a manual car and it can't see the clutch pedal status.

This unfortunately wasn't the magic pill I was looking for, and thinking to the issues we've been having, perhaps a Crank Relearn was the way to go. So we started the process and making my way up to 4250, feel a barrier at 3500, AFR shoots to 20.0 ... which is pretty high for a gas car, and I'd say it's even higher for an e85 car. I think we're down to 13 DTC at this point, and after another clear, we see something about the crank position sensor, which feels awkward. I did all the wiring and all of the sensors on the block, and this should be new, so what gives? Yank out the battery, battery box, and fight with the burnt plastic trim to remove that cover, reach for the sensor, and well, well, well, it's f'n cracked between the screw and the sensor. I try to carefully pull it out, and the mounting surface which was supposed to be flat has one side up about 30 degrees.


View attachment 70173

Pull it out nice and smooth, all careful like, and I turn to my buddies, and seconds later it's now in two parts. Sweet. Totally f***ing sweet.

Paging Dr. Weld to the OR

I'm still somewhat new to this thing, but is there anything that JB can't do? Got some of the Plastic Weld mixed together and put it in there, tossed on some gloves, and walked around the pits with it in a death grip for like 2 hours. I might have even helped work on somebody else's 944 while it was still engaged in that death grip. I believe I had also guilted a friend into driving me to dinner, just so I could still clench onto that f****r. I know that it doesn't say you have to hold it for 2 hours, but I was giving it a solid 177% effort. I don't know if it's just mine, but if you're ever having to stick yours in (giggity) it's kinda strange. If you try to put it in, it'll feel as if it's bumping into something, and if you feel around the top, it's 1/4" from mounting flush. It took about 10 minutes to finally slide it in all the way (giggity) which finally mounted flush, and hooking it back up, we cleared the 13 codes, which then dropped down to 4. It was about 9:30pm, but a crank relearn is a crank relearn. I know my car is loud, and to those of you who I woke up, I'm sorry, I had to get the engine up to temp and it was pretty much sitting idle all day. Crank learn completed, and DTC's down to 2 about some ambient temperature sensor. AFR happily staying around the 9's, a quick blip to 4k saw it richen up, not lean up, a complete 180.

#SundayFunday

I couldn't sleep, pretty much just started counting minutes down to a point where I could go for a quick romp. Took her down to one of those 20mph connecting roads like a half mile away from the cabins and track, rolled into 2nd, AFR went rich, warmed up the tires a touch, went through 3rd, AFR from 7-9, and yeah I think we've got at least a lap in us. Went to the morning driver meeting, a friend of mine left after a rough day, and since we're pretty evenly matched and usually battling, I got to start from his #5 spot, instead of the back of the like 36 car grid. Went back, set pressures, filled up because I had no idea where the fuel level was, and don't trust the gauge anyhow, and made my way to the grid after some confusion with the track workers. Felt pretty cool like an 80s movie ending getting waves and claps as I made my way to the front.

View attachment 70174

Only my 3rd time at Chuckwalla, 2nd time in this car, and with these A7's having about 3 track days on them, I didn't have much hope, but I'd break the class limit if I put the Michelin S8M on, so bald A7 DOT slicks it is. I was more concerned with just getting a solid lap in, what my AFR was, and to be totally honest, I don't even think took it out of 3rd gear, and making sweet loving to the kerbs I clicked off a 1:56.2 for 3rd overall, 2nd in class with the 1st place guy setting the course record. Felt pretty good. 2nd run, pulled a 1:55.1, waited out the 3rd session because it was really hot both in the air and on the track, and in the 4th session, I pulled a 1:54.9 driving straight into the sun. Unable to see corner workers, flags, and other drivers, thought it was a good idea to shut it down and call it an end to the season. There's 2-3 seconds more with this, but considering what I've done and where I've been, it'll have to wait for next season. Adios 2021, we hardly knew ye!
You, my friend, are a genuine story teller :applause: 😆
 

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
6,518
8,154
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca
(Long post/story warning)
TL; DR: It broke, we fixed it, we won?

Friday didn't go as well as I would have liked it to have gone. Picked up the U-Haul trailer, all excited to get onto the road on a nice Friday and figure it out. Yeah, car wouldn't start. Or... rather, it would, had I just not conditioned myself to hit the OK button like 12 times right after starting it... TPMS not found, Door Ajar, Hood ajar, Parking Aid sensor not found, to start press the clutch and brake... my brother came by with his pickup truck, and we used the tow straps/hooks to get it onto the trailer, and my buddy came by to help. Kinda nice having it on an open U-Haul transport so we can get under, and found out that the starter was just fine when we bypas-- waaaaait -- Clutch AND Brake to Start?

Clutch AND Brake?

Yeah, weird, huh? Sure enough, held down the clutch, held the brake, held start, and 3-5 seconds later, engine fired up with a smooth-ish idle. Packed up real quickly and got onto the road. Forgot my transponder. Wasn't paying attention to the route, and took a really slow, mountainous pass filled with nothing but 20mph curves, perfect for 11pm driving towing a mostly broken piece of shiznit car.

View attachment 70171

Got to the track just before midnight and just started unloading everything which is a fancy way of saying that I pretty much just throw things everywhere with very little organization.

Saturday Surprise

Herb, our beloved NASA Photographer tried his best to hide my shiznit in his shot, a rather difficult task. Made it to tech behind like 30 other cars, and while I ran around and did my social butterfly thing, started boiling over because this was probably the first time I've been up to temp and running for more than 10 minutes.

View attachment 70172

I'm usually near the front of the pack, so they gave me a good morning spot on the qualifying session, but I could already feel things not going my way on the parade lap, and the flying lap had me lose power about 5 turns in, and I went off line, started pointing everybody by, and tried to process what was going on with my stupid Android Fire tablet blocking my info screen. The screen doesn't pick up gestures with the gloves on, so I was trying to figure out if the limp mode was speed or rpm limited, and it was speed, so no matter what gear I was in, 35mph was tops. I tried to not ruin everybody else's times and did my best to point and made it to the pits, and limp back to camp. Fans wouldn't come on, high or low, and yet, they wouldn't throw any faults that I could see with Forscan, and everything else looked normal. Same for the fuel system. I've got like 70 DTC's from stripping everything out, but nothing jumped out at me. The first session in NASA TT doesn't count, and is for gridding, so I'd have to find a way to make one of the next 3 sessions to avoid a DNF.

We made some jumpers, and found out that we could run both of the big fans, and the high speed one down below, and I'd practice doing a few laps around the lot, but anything above 3500 or so would have the engine cut fuel, AFR to 20, rough/choppy idle, and pushing on the pedal did nothing as it'd just ignore the inputs, no matter how hard it was pressed. WTF? Didn't help that it was very hot out, and way out there, shade is hard to come by, and this might come as a shock to some, but I burn incredibly easy as my people were built for the bars, not the beaches.

The brake and clutch thing pissing me off, I'm trying to figure out why it was working fine on Thursday, and all of a sudden it's doing this, so I pull out the seat, play all around with the clutch wires, buttons, magnets, and all that stuff, disconnecting, reconnecting, and saying plenty of kid friendly words in foreign languages. I sit down in the bare tub, fire it up with just the clutch, et voila! I'm assuming it's some sort of fallback when you hold the start button on a manual car and it can't see the clutch pedal status.

This unfortunately wasn't the magic pill I was looking for, and thinking to the issues we've been having, perhaps a Crank Relearn was the way to go. So we started the process and making my way up to 4250, feel a barrier at 3500, AFR shoots to 20.0 ... which is pretty high for a gas car, and I'd say it's even higher for an e85 car. I think we're down to 13 DTC at this point, and after another clear, we see something about the crank position sensor, which feels awkward. I did all the wiring and all of the sensors on the block, and this should be new, so what gives? Yank out the battery, battery box, and fight with the burnt plastic trim to remove that cover, reach for the sensor, and well, well, well, it's f'n cracked between the screw and the sensor. I try to carefully pull it out, and the mounting surface which was supposed to be flat has one side up about 30 degrees.


View attachment 70173

Pull it out nice and smooth, all careful like, and I turn to my buddies, and seconds later it's now in two parts. Sweet. Totally f***ing sweet.

Paging Dr. Weld to the OR

I'm still somewhat new to this thing, but is there anything that JB can't do? Got some of the Plastic Weld mixed together and put it in there, tossed on some gloves, and walked around the pits with it in a death grip for like 2 hours. I might have even helped work on somebody else's 944 while it was still engaged in that death grip. I believe I had also guilted a friend into driving me to dinner, just so I could still clench onto that f****r. I know that it doesn't say you have to hold it for 2 hours, but I was giving it a solid 177% effort. I don't know if it's just mine, but if you're ever having to stick yours in (giggity) it's kinda strange. If you try to put it in, it'll feel as if it's bumping into something, and if you feel around the top, it's 1/4" from mounting flush. It took about 10 minutes to finally slide it in all the way (giggity) which finally mounted flush, and hooking it back up, we cleared the 13 codes, which then dropped down to 4. It was about 9:30pm, but a crank relearn is a crank relearn. I know my car is loud, and to those of you who I woke up, I'm sorry, I had to get the engine up to temp and it was pretty much sitting idle all day. Crank learn completed, and DTC's down to 2 about some ambient temperature sensor. AFR happily staying around the 9's, a quick blip to 4k saw it richen up, not lean up, a complete 180.

#SundayFunday

I couldn't sleep, pretty much just started counting minutes down to a point where I could go for a quick romp. Took her down to one of those 20mph connecting roads like a half mile away from the cabins and track, rolled into 2nd, AFR went rich, warmed up the tires a touch, went through 3rd, AFR from 7-9, and yeah I think we've got at least a lap in us. Went to the morning driver meeting, a friend of mine left after a rough day, and since we're pretty evenly matched and usually battling, I got to start from his #5 spot, instead of the back of the like 36 car grid. Went back, set pressures, filled up because I had no idea where the fuel level was, and don't trust the gauge anyhow, and made my way to the grid after some confusion with the track workers. Felt pretty cool like an 80s movie ending getting waves and claps as I made my way to the front.

View attachment 70174

Only my 3rd time at Chuckwalla, 2nd time in this car, and with these A7's having about 3 track days on them, I didn't have much hope, but I'd break the class limit if I put the Michelin S8M on, so bald A7 DOT slicks it is. I was more concerned with just getting a solid lap in, what my AFR was, and to be totally honest, I don't even think took it out of 3rd gear, and making sweet loving to the kerbs I clicked off a 1:56.2 for 3rd overall, 2nd in class with the 1st place guy setting the course record. Felt pretty good. 2nd run, pulled a 1:55.1, waited out the 3rd session because it was really hot both in the air and on the track, and in the 4th session, I pulled a 1:54.9 driving straight into the sun. Unable to see corner workers, flags, and other drivers, thought it was a good idea to shut it down and call it an end to the season. There's 2-3 seconds more with this, but considering what I've done and where I've been, it'll have to wait for next season. Adios 2021, we hardly knew ye!
What an ordeal...unfortunately, I can identify.
 

PaddyPrix

If breakin' parts is cool, consider me Miles Davis
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You, my friend, are a genuine story teller :applause: 😆
Haha, there's nothing about me that isn't obscenely verbose is there. I wish I could be brief and straight to the point, or at least my lap times.

What an ordeal...unfortunately, I can identify.
I guess that's racing? It sucks, and I hate seeing others go through it, almost as badly as I hated going through it. Here's hoping for a somewhat clean and trouble-free upcoming season for us all.
 

Fabman

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PaddyPrix

If breakin' parts is cool, consider me Miles Davis
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Note to self : Stop rushing shiznit.

At the last event, I asked for a full race inspection, thinking about joining the Super Touring ranks in 2022 sometime. So they looked and checked things over with a fine eye, and other than the obvious fire system, main elec kill switch, halo seat/center net, they didn't like what they saw with the race cage, and marked it in my log book. Rented a trailer, ran the Stripper down to Autopower, and with it being just before Thanksgiving, let it sit for a few days. When we got back to it, had a back and forth e-mail thread conversation that did nothing but confuse pretty much everybody until we worked out that the X wasn't my rear X connecting the main hoop to the rear legs going to the shock tubs, but rather how the harness bar and main hoop got together. After becoming a Jr. Expert in NASA Safety Regulations and probably able to recite most of the 2021 NASA CCR Section 15, we finally all saw eye-to-eye, and made changes that would make everybody happy.

Couldn't get my hands on a trailer until late Saturday night, so missed out on Saturday's fun. Sunday morning bright and early, I got caught by some dude sleeping in the back of a Lightning who just popped up and started snapping pics. Carl ended his day grinding his gears and killing his transmission, which sucked for him, especially since his is an Oxford White Mustang with a Blue top, almost gosh darn the same thing.

1639002631587.png

It was about 45 degrees out, which meant that this'd be a great day for power, hoping that the track warms up enough to get some good grip. I've drifted/slided through turns 1+2 before, and at 140+ mph, I'd highly recommend against it. Started warming up, cleaning the fog and frost on the windshields, and tried to dial in the A7's, now 12 something cycles deep. Perhaps it's my driving style, perhaps it's my skill, but they don't seem to do all that well in that territory, and the track being cold makes it slightly worse. Took it pretty easy for the first session out, and fought grip and slip coming into turn 3 which is borderline threshold/trail brake, blew straight through and overshot it on my hot lap, grip was going to be a challenge on this day. Got to do in-car instruction for the first time in a long time at ACS, which was a nice touch. Fog started rolling in, and they rushed us out for our 2nd session before it got worse, and as we were rushed it was traffic laps with 1:45 cars mixed with 2:05 cars, and did the big kid thing by getting off early, and just hung out for the next 30 or so minutes while we waited.

Screen Shot 2021-12-08 at 9.30.52 PM.png

Somewhere in there is supposed to be a garage, @1 old racer, @67GTA, and the grandstands. I started seeing some white smoke coming out of the hood, and it looks to be a leaky valve cover gasket around the lower mid bolt, dirtying my recently cleaned up engine bay, how dare it. My student just happened to be a pretty good driver, apparently some sort of karting champion, so it was interesting to see what years of momentum cars have him approach a track compared to somebody with years of heavy shitboxes.

... and boom goes the dynamite

With the outside temperatures sitting in the low-mid 60s, track warmed up, fog now sitting off in the mountains, figured this'd be the session to just unleash hell. I went on at the back of the pack to do a quick warmup, follow, lead, and by the 4th had probably half a track free, so figured this was it, let's f***ing go, PB weather time. Got a real good exit out of the playground, hit the bank perfect with no hard bounce, rode up the grandstand and was holding 5500-6000 in 5th, which is 147-150, got a nice 5-6 line, fired it through 7-8, had a nice min speed of 55 in turn 9, and then ...

well, Cleveland Brown can explain it.


Lost 3rd and 4th. I wasn't entirely thinking at the time, but I should have tried a gear, but I was rolling at a speed, and I was confident I could neutral roll it back to the pits, didn't want to ruin or further delay people's day, and didn't see or hear any fluid draining, but f***ing a man, ACS has been downright cruel to me this year. First time out in March, I killed my fancy splitter with Speed Ventures the weekend before NASA, which was the birth of Home Depot Splitter v1. Next time out in July with Speed Ventures, I killed the fuel pump, and then caught fire at Willow Springs the next time out... and after putting it back together, I killed the transmission, again with Speed Ventures. If you're noticing a pattern, you're onto something. It was nice knowing you, so in lieu of flowers, go set a PB with your shifter knob removed.
 
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Lost 3rd and 4th. I wasn't entirely thinking at the time, but I should have tried a gear, but I was rolling at a speed, and I was confident I could neutral roll it back to the pits, didn't want to ruin or further delay people's day, and didn't see or hear any fluid draining, but f***ing a man, ACS has been downright cruel to me this year. First time out in March, I killed my fancy splitter with Speed Ventures the weekend before NASA, which was the birth of Home Depot Splitter v1. Next time out in July with Speed Ventures, I killed the fuel pump, and then caught fire at Willow Springs the next time out... and after putting it back together, I killed the transmission, again with Speed Ventures. If you're noticing a pattern, you're onto something. It was nice knowing you, so in lieu of flowers, go set a PB with your shifter knob removed.

Are you rebuilding the MT82 or going to put something that will last like a Magnum XL ?
 

PaddyPrix

If breakin' parts is cool, consider me Miles Davis
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Are you rebuilding the MT82 or going to put something that will last like a Magnum XL ?
NASA season opener in one month from now, so I have to kinda act fast. I've got a reman MT82-D4 coming which should have the TSB fixes applied to it in my hands by hopefully next week, and something I can get back in there without any real problem. @67GTA was able to track down 3 of the TSB's, which speak of a weak 2nd, 1/2 shift fork, and 3/4 shift fork, and the latter almost exactly sounds like my problem. The only issue with the TSB fix is that they won't allow me to just drop the transmission off, and so even if I drove it there, they'd instantly laugh me off the lot trying to say it wasn't raced. The parts come out to about $400ish for each of them, but they are all special orders, and about 2 weeks out. With holiday breaks coming up, and plenty of people taking the time off, it's going to be real hard to ask my friends to volunteer time to help me crack the case open and get down to business, and that's assuming we correctly diagnosed it. The other option that I considered was to just get another one, which runs about $2500, but that's also a special order, and about 3 weeks out, and so last week of December just screams a shipping delay or something and I'm trying to throw it in with a day or so to go before the event.

Ended up getting a remanufactured MT82-D4 which is going to be on a truck today, and while it is going cross country, I should have my hands on it next weekend, and it's then a much simpler trans removal, and install with more guarantees to it working. The fixes should be on it, assuming that they disassembled and fixed things within the past 3 years that the TSB's have been active, and the parts upgraded, and if not, I have a 12 month warranty on it. While I'm still not a fan of the gearing, it is slightly stronger than the MT-82, and it's at least a known quantity. As much as I'd like to upgrade to something, this buys me time to research and acquire the extra pieces that are necessary for something like a TR-3160, where I'm going to assume a flywheel, clutch, 15-17 slave cylinder, perhaps a drive shaft and new shifter. Then I'd have to do something about the gears, as the 15-17 PP and GT350's are using those close ratio sets with a 3.73, and while my 3.55 isn't too far off, it'd lug a touch. The other idea was keeping the wide and going with 4.09's when I put in the Torsen T2R, which from the Gear Speed Calculator Excel I've been playing with, has the speeds near identical.

So, TSB's
18-2083 - 2nd gear sucking -- https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2018/MC-10137069-9999.pdf
18-2175 - 3rd and 4th sucking -- https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2018/MC-10144179-9999.pdf
18-2267 - 1st and 2nd sucking -- https://latemodel.cachefly.net/downloads/instructions/18-2267.pdf
18-2341 - 3rd and 4th sucking (our first fix sucked, this sucks less), supercedes 17-2175 -- https://latemodel.cachefly.net/downloads/instructions/18-2351.pdf
 

JDee

Ancient Racer
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FWIW, I got a quote from Modern Driveline in 2020 for a T56 MagnumXL complete install kit with everything needed, McLeod RST800 clutch, driveshaft, etc. It came to $6067USD total. Very complete kit, even included any harnesses needed. I didn't go for it since that comes to well over $10K in canuck bucks and shipping was going to be over a thousand bucks. I rebuilt the MT82 for 2.5K canuck bucks instead.
But for those who get paid in US bucks, I think that Tremec kit would be the way to go.
 

Fabman

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If anyone is interested, I do have a cherry Magnum XL complete kit for s197 plus 8 bolt aluminum flywheel and RXT clutch that came out of my car. Scatter shield, shifter, cross member, hardware, everything included. You will need to change the yolk on the drive shaft but its an easy deal for a drive shaft shop.
$3.5K for all, pickup at my shop in Pleasanton or buyer pays/arranges for shipping. Its all crated up and ready to go.
Once you've had a Magnum, you'll never go back. ;)
 
Last edited:
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NASA season opener in one month from now, so I have to kinda act fast. I've got a reman MT82-D4 coming which should have the TSB fixes applied to it in my hands by hopefully next week, and something I can get back in there without any real problem. @67GTA was able to track down 3 of the TSB's, which speak of a weak 2nd, 1/2 shift fork, and 3/4 shift fork, and the latter almost exactly sounds like my problem. The only issue with the TSB fix is that they won't allow me to just drop the transmission off, and so even if I drove it there, they'd instantly laugh me off the lot trying to say it wasn't raced. The parts come out to about $400ish for each of them, but they are all special orders, and about 2 weeks out. With holiday breaks coming up, and plenty of people taking the time off, it's going to be real hard to ask my friends to volunteer time to help me crack the case open and get down to business, and that's assuming we correctly diagnosed it. The other option that I considered was to just get another one, which runs about $2500, but that's also a special order, and about 3 weeks out, and so last week of December just screams a shipping delay or something and I'm trying to throw it in with a day or so to go before the event.

Ended up getting a remanufactured MT82-D4 which is going to be on a truck today, and while it is going cross country, I should have my hands on it next weekend, and it's then a much simpler trans removal, and install with more guarantees to it working. The fixes should be on it, assuming that they disassembled and fixed things within the past 3 years that the TSB's have been active, and the parts upgraded, and if not, I have a 12 month warranty on it. While I'm still not a fan of the gearing, it is slightly stronger than the MT-82, and it's at least a known quantity. As much as I'd like to upgrade to something, this buys me time to research and acquire the extra pieces that are necessary for something like a TR-3160, where I'm going to assume a flywheel, clutch, 15-17 slave cylinder, perhaps a drive shaft and new shifter. Then I'd have to do something about the gears, as the 15-17 PP and GT350's are using those close ratio sets with a 3.73, and while my 3.55 isn't too far off, it'd lug a touch. The other idea was keeping the wide and going with 4.09's when I put in the Torsen T2R, which from the Gear Speed Calculator Excel I've been playing with, has the speeds near identical.
I was asking because I also have a few issues with my MT-82 (oil leak last season) and now what seams like a slave cylinder failure. Which obviously will lead to new Clutch. Regarding the MT-82 replacing the stock parts with stock is simple pointless ether talk with Ben Calimer for a rebuild on yours or find rebuild kit. Regarding TR-3160 and 3.55 my car has MT82 and 3.55 with same ratios and it's fine to drive with shorter tires though I guess with 305/30 3.55 vs 3.73 is not that big of a deal considering different ratios. To be fair I think the MT82-D4 ratios are not great at all for track driving or any kind of performance driving. Ether way a 4.09 will help. I also need to someday put Torsen in mine and 3.73 gears. Ether way I hope the new sourced Trans works fine and hopefully your issues are resolved on time.
 

PaddyPrix

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I was asking because I also have a few issues with my MT-82 (oil leak last season) and now what seams like a slave cylinder failure. Which obviously will lead to new Clutch. Regarding the MT-82 replacing the stock parts with stock is simple pointless
I am so hoping that you're wrong on this. The 15-17 wasn't great, and the MT-82-D4 addressed some of those common failures with the clutch and shifter. Previous to my 18GT, I had a 19GT and it was fantastic, rev matching, speed shifting, and smooth as could be, everything that this unit was not. Never missed a shift in that old one in stock form, whereas this one was easily once a session so looking back, this one was definitely one of the affected units that if I had a warranty should/would be getting a fixup on Ford's dime.

The D4 gearing does suck for road racing, although unless somebody opted for a close ratio T56, it's nearly identical to the T56 that Tremec has had out since the early 2000's in Cobras, Corvettes, and Vipers and most T56 Magnum XL packages I see quoted. There are some places nearby who make carbon fiber rings, brass and billet forks, so perhaps it might be worth eating the core cost and having another ready to go if/when it dies again.

Regarding TR-3160 and 3.55 my car has MT82 and 3.55 with same ratios and it's fine to drive with shorter tires though I guess with 305/30 3.55 vs 3.73 is not that big of a deal considering different ratios. To be fair I think the MT82-D4 ratios are not great at all for track driving or any kind of performance driving. Ether way a 4.09 will help.

I think if you have a base like I did, the stock tire of 255/40/19 is a height of 27", so 315/30/18 being 25.4" is a slight difference which works to 8-10mph, which would be almost perfect on the tracks where I'm usually stuck between gears.

1639096946559.png


Here's the same tires against a 3.73'd MT82 15-17 PP1 and a 4.09'd 18+, which I think quite like. I also need to stop winding the gears up as high, I'm commonly going to 7500 and beyond on some of the smaller courses to avoid shifting, so the gearing would keep me in a better usable space that might save the springs all that abuse.

1639097176632.png


I dunno, a long season ahead ,with 9 regional events and then the Nationals, I'm hoping it won't be the battle of attrition that 2021 was, well, mainly because I can't afford it. With the ST/TT2 rule changes I'm going to have to save my pennies up and hope this makes it to July since I'll likely have to toss a power adder on as the class will probably have 600+ rwhp in it, and my 440 won't likely cut it for very long, and certainly not going to fly when the Nationals are at a power track like Laguna. That, or I drop a class down to TT3 facing much lighter competition on good tires with me being all fat and on lesser tires. I dunno, got a few weeks to figure that out.

If anyone is interested, I do have a cherry Magnum XL complete kit for s197 plus 8 bolt aluminum flywheel and RXT clutch that came out of my car. Scatter shield, shifter, cross member, hardware, everything included. You will need to change the yolk on the drive shaft but its an easy deal for a drive shaft shop.
$3.5K for all, pickup at my shop in Pleasanton or buyer pays/arranges for shipping. Its all crated up and ready to go.
Once you've had a Magnum, you'll never go back. ;)
Oh my.
uh, ... and that's quite a deal on the transmission too.
 
Last edited:

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
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I am so hoping that you're wrong on this. The 15-17 wasn't great, and the MT-82-D4 addressed some of those common failures with the clutch and shifter. Previous to my 18GT, I had a 19GT and it was fantastic, rev matching, speed shifting, and smooth as could be, everything that this unit was not. Never missed a shift in that old one in stock form, whereas this one was easily once a session so looking back, this one was definitely one of the affected units that if I had a warranty should/would be getting a fixup on Ford's dime.

The D4 gearing does suck for road racing, although unless somebody opted for a close ratio T56, it's nearly identical to the T56 that Tremec has had out since the early 2000's in Cobras, Corvettes, and Vipers and most T56 Magnum XL packages I see quoted. There are some places nearby who make carbon fiber rings, brass and billet forks, so perhaps it might be worth eating the core cost and having another ready to go if/when it dies again.

I dunno, a long season ahead ,with 9 regional events and then the Nationals, I'm hoping it won't be the battle of attrition that 2021 was, well, mainly because I can't afford it. With the ST/TT2 rule changes I'm going to have to save my pennies up and hope this makes it to July since I'll likely have to toss a power adder on as the class will probably have 600+ rwhp in it, and my 440 won't likely cut it for very long, and certainly not going to fly when the Nationals are at a power track like Laguna. That, or I drop a class down to TT3 facing much lighter competition on good tires with me being all fat and on lesser tires. I dunno, got a few weeks to figure that out.


Oh my.
uh, ... and that's quite a deal on the transmission too.

I need to freshen up my motor so this $ will go straight to Shaun @ AED.
Guess I wont be able to say "Junk Yard Coyote" anymore. LOL.
 

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
6,518
8,154
Exp. Type
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Exp. Level
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Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca
If anyone is interested, I do have a cherry Magnum XL complete kit for s197 plus 8 bolt aluminum flywheel and RXT clutch that came out of my car. Scatter shield, shifter, cross member, hardware, everything included. You will need to change the yolk on the drive shaft but its an easy deal for a drive shaft shop.
$3.5K for all, pickup at my shop in Pleasanton or buyer pays/arranges for shipping. Its all crated up and ready to go.
Once you've had a Magnum, you'll never go back. ;)
SOLD!
 
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113
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So cal
I am so hoping that you're wrong on this. The 15-17 wasn't great, and the MT-82-D4 addressed some of those common failures with the clutch and shifter. Previous to my 18GT, I had a 19GT and it was fantastic, rev matching, speed shifting, and smooth as could be, everything that this unit was not. Never missed a shift in that old one in stock form, whereas this one was easily once a session so looking back, this one was definitely one of the affected units that if I had a warranty should/would be getting a fixup on Ford's dime.

The D4 gearing does suck for road racing, although unless somebody opted for a close ratio T56, it's nearly identical to the T56 that Tremec has had out since the early 2000's in Cobras, Corvettes, and Vipers and most T56 Magnum XL packages I see quoted. There are some places nearby who make carbon fiber rings, brass and billet forks, so perhaps it might be worth eating the core cost and having another ready to go if/when it dies again.



I think if you have a base like I did, the stock tire of 255/40/19 is a height of 27", so 315/30/18 being 25.4" is a slight difference which works to 8-10mph, which would be almost perfect on the tracks where I'm usually stuck between gears.

View attachment 70801


Here's the same tires against a 3.73'd MT82 15-17 PP1 and a 4.09'd 18+, which I think quite like. I also need to stop winding the gears up as high, I'm commonly going to 7500 and beyond on some of the smaller courses to avoid shifting, so the gearing would keep me in a better usable space that might save the springs all that abuse.

View attachment 70802


I dunno, a long season ahead ,with 9 regional events and then the Nationals, I'm hoping it won't be the battle of attrition that 2021 was, well, mainly because I can't afford it. With the ST/TT2 rule changes I'm going to have to save my pennies up and hope this makes it to July since I'll likely have to toss a power adder on as the class will probably have 600+ rwhp in it, and my 440 won't likely cut it for very long, and certainly not going to fly when the Nationals are at a power track like Laguna. That, or I drop a class down to TT3 facing much lighter competition on good tires with me being all fat and on lesser tires. I dunno, got a few weeks to figure that out.


Oh my.
uh, ... and that's quite a deal on the transmission too.
I hope you aren't going to return the trans for the core charge, change shift fork and bam got a spare trans which you know you will be needing in the future lol.
 

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