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Captdistraction's ST2/GTR build thread Build Thread

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Yes, just bolt the slave to the Tremec Magnum XL. You do not use the spacer off of the MT-82.

You can see in this video that the Magnum XL essentially has a spacer cast into the front of the transmission housing:

 

steveespo

Lord knows I'm a Voodoo Child
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Drew, you want to maintain the MT-82 relationship of face of spacer(in your case) and the bellhousing mounting face at the motor. Measure your MT-82 from the spacer to the bellhousing flange. That is the "OEM" distance, with the new trans do the same, If measurements are within .10" you should be good, if not I believe RAM makes a shim pack to bring it tighter, looser and the clutch won't release fully, tighter and the clutch can overcenter and stay disengaged at high rpm, plus put staring on the throwout bearing causing it to fail. Ram also makes this https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ram-78305/overview/make/ford which apparently allows fine tuning of the engagement point.
 

captdistraction

GrumpyRacer
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The spacer I bought from Dean had a specific magnum XL part number, that said, I'm leaving the OE length slave in there for now.

I have one of the ram .170" shims if anyone needs one. If the spacer length thing is true, its quite possible the first slave I put in this trans was already in a failure state. Its failure is what pushed me to chase the slave length issue from the getgo (I took the boot off it today, it definitely overextended). That said, when primed, there was about 1/8" clearance on the bellhousing that I was working to see if the clutch was out of alignment (the tool I used had some slop in the fit on the pilot bearing). Ultimately, it was just that the dowel fits are pretty tight. The replacement OE style slave went in with no fuss, and did not pop when bled.
 

captdistraction

GrumpyRacer
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Everything went back together ok, with the exception of one crossthreaded M18 bolt in the upper control arm mount. Luckily I was able to avert the emergency with a replacement bolt and a tap/die set (which was long overdue for me to purchase).

Fired the car up yesterday and took it around the block. Initially some loud squeeking, but once I actuated the clutch a few times, it went away. I'm hoping that was either just lube needing to move around the trans or one of the bearings settling in (throwout or pilot). If not, I'm sure I'll have a broken trail of bits to clue me in.

Registered for an early morning event this weekend, will have some shakedown results in the thread. In the interim, the car at least looks good:

9S6mOcUh.jpg

x4H2STGl.jpg

Next week I'll update some tech threads with info I stumbled upon along the way (brakes, trans, etc)
 

Fabman

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I love the look of this...
 

captdistraction

GrumpyRacer
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Wild Horse Pass - East Track - Test report (Jun3) NASA HPDE4

I hopped in HPDE4 to do some early morning testing, as the temperatures are already reaching 107 during the day, we started at 530am (at track by 4a) and were done by 1030. That said, we had predicted temps to range from 77-90, but it was closer to 98 in the last session. This made for some warm testing. However the car did great, and only two minor issues (soft brake pedal, possibly from the master cylinder; oil leak that I had previously thought I had fixed, something on the pan).

I didn't blow the doors off in timing, my best lap was a 1:02.92 which rates ok at that track, but it was in a school group with a decent amount of traffic. Raising the roll center in the rear did improve handling, though a little at the cost of faster sweepers having a bit more push and a loss of throttle steering response on exit (though throttle steering mid corner was far more responsive). I think I'll leave it this way for now. Same for the rear end gearing, it felt "right" despite everything being one gear down and feeling like a 4 speed transmission. (top speed at that track were sub 120). Despite the soft pedal, the new brakes were more than fantastic. I'm going to have some writeups spawn from this testing, same for the EC7 wheels.

I don't have many photos from the event but here's a couple videos to enjoy:

A fellow racer made this, was worth a few laughs:

The fastest session of the day, but those lap 8 oil temps (yikes)

Not my best driving, I need to improve driver comfort for those sorts of temperatures; cool shirt will be mandatory, thinking about helmet cooling as well


Given the low amount of repairs required I'll be working on the master cyl for clutch and brakes, new reservoir, master firewall brace, patch the oil leak, and start working on corner balancing the car, and looking for weight to shed. I may possibly go out of town for one more summer event, but otherwise next target is in October, so I have time.
 
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What was your oil temps in cooler sessions? Also curious if the gearing was playing a factor into the oil heat as well. If you went down to 4.11's you may not have to push the engine so hard and keep those temps down. Granted with that being said there's a lot to factor when changing rear as i'm sure you know. In 98 degree ambient temps would make track temps triple digits so i'd say your temps are about what i would expect in such weather.

Good to see you out on track and man does she sound healthy. Looks like the trans it working perfectly too.

Hopefully this Oct the wife and i are planing a visit down there to look at houses. Will try to plan a track visit at the same time.
 
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ArizonaBOSS

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Wow that interface looks great! You are going to be very competitive with more seat time and 315s.

With respect to @Mad302 's comments regarding 4.11s , if anything that would make the situation worse. More time spent at high revs--since the overall speeds he will need to achieve are the same--while the engine revs required to support will increase.
 

Fabman

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I'm just happy as hell to see you back on the track and on the trailer without damage.
Everything else, is a bonus.
 
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I just happy as hell to see you back on the track and on the trailer without damage.
Everything else, is a bonus.
This. The MT-82 doesn't belong in a race car.
 

ArizonaBOSS

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I'm just happy as hell to see you back on the track and on the trailer without damage.
Everything else, is a bonus.
We narrowly avoided a splitter-destroying incident when loading the car...fortunately we had a bunch of good folks around right then to ensure things went OK.

@ArizonaBOSS

I see your point even though the car would rev easier it would constantly be in a high rev situation. In turn making more heat.
Bingo.
 

captdistraction

GrumpyRacer
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I've mentioned it elsewhere but @ArizonaBOSS was a huge help at this event making sure things went smoothly. We were very close on a splitter issue, the trailer used has some warpage in the loading ramps (despite use of long raceramps as well), combined with a very low front splitter it gets close. I hope that over the summer I can come up with a semi-permanent option for trailer where I can engineer around that issue as I may in the future try to lower the splitter which would exacerbate the issue.
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
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I've mentioned it elsewhere but @ArizonaBOSS was a huge help at this event making sure things went smoothly. We were very close on a splitter issue, the trailer used has some warpage in the loading ramps (despite use of long raceramps as well), combined with a very low front splitter it gets close. I hope that over the summer I can come up with a semi-permanent option for trailer where I can engineer around that issue as I may in the future try to lower the splitter which would exacerbate the issue.
Just put some long wood planks on top of the race ramps and the "flap".
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
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I wouldn't mind getting one of those airbagged trailers i keep seeing on FB and Instagram.
Our buddy Marco has an open one now, it's not bagged but it drops all the way to the ground through use of a cable/pulley system on the axles. Very cool stuff. Only real downside (other than cost) is that it's not enclosed.
 

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