Car looked and sounded great in Sunday!
The Mustang Forum for Track & Racing Enthusiasts
Taking your Mustang to an open track/HPDE event for the first time? Do you race competitively? This forum is for you! Log in to remove most ads.
- Welcome to the Ford Mustang forum built for owners of the Mustang GT350, BOSS 302, GT500, and all other S550, S197, SN95, Fox Body and older Mustangs set up for open track days, road racing, and/or autocross. Join our forum, interact with others, share your build, and help us strengthen this community!
SN95 RinerAutomotive's CAM-T Mustang Build Thread Profile - SN95 Mustangs
- Thread starterRinerAuto
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #102
Thanks, yea way better than on Saturday. Sunday I ran with a fuel injector unplugged. Your car looked really good out there though. I better it was much quicker than the 04 Mach 1.
- Thread starter
- #103
I had to nix the current plan to go distributorless ignition so I could be ready for the first event. No time to properly tune the car.
Well it was a mad thrash to get the car ready for it's first event. Engine needed to be installed and running. Front suspension needed to be installed and aligned.
Well it was a mad thrash to get the car ready for it's first event. Engine needed to be installed and running. Front suspension needed to be installed and aligned.
It will be lol, had the benefit of 15 years behind the wheel of the Mach, had about 2 and a half hours with this one. Hopefully once I get some decent rubber underneath it and figure out where its limits are ill start picking up the time.
- Thread starter
- #105
I had my first event this past weekend and it was a double header.
I got the car driving Wednesday and loaded it up on Friday, so very little time on engine and suspension. But everything sounded and felt good. The car felt fast with a quick rip onto the interstate.
Friday while loading up the car it really did not want to idle. I tried to tweak the tune some, but I'm not a tuner. It's really odd, because it's the same engine and same tune that I ran all last year. Well got the car loaded up and we drove down to Cherry Point for the NCR Autocross.
Saturday
Ladies ran in first heat, but luckily I wasn't working that heat so I was able to help Ashley. Which turned out to be a very good thing. Things did not go well for her heat. Car was idling terribly. I turned up the idle to 1200 rpm just to keep it running. As Ashley came through the finish on her first run the car shut off and would not start. I got it to start with throttle pedal WOT to go into clear flood mode. Also found that I accidentally left the lifting chain on the back of the engine, oops
. It didn't cause any problems or damage, but I got that removed. As the day went on the exhaust started to smell very rich and fuel consumption increased a lot. Checking the oil at the end of the day it smelled like fuel 
. So I loaded up the car and took it back to the hotel. On the way picked up oil drain pan, oil, and test wire. In the hotel parking lot I pulled all of the fuel injectors and spark plugs. Cylinder 3 was wet, but I didn't find anything wrong with the injectors or wiring from what I was able to test. Note the fuel injectors were serviced in December in preparation for the new engine build. But I got it running and not smelling like fuel with injector #3 disconnected. So not mechanically stuck open, whew. But with all that Ashley finished 9th out of 13 ladies. I finished 1st out of 4 in CAM-T. I still was able to finish in the top 20 in raw and pax, which is awesome with the level of competition at this event (18 raw/16 pax out of 95 drivers).
Sunday
I doubled checked spark plug #3 before pulling the car off the trailer, looked ok with injector still unplugged. So I decided to run on 7 for the event as I didn't want to washdown a brand new engine. Maybe I should have just packed up, but we drove 3 hours and the car was running....so send it
. Luckily I was in the first heat this time so I could make sure everything was good before Ashley drove. I could tell/hear the car was only running on 7 cylinders, but it was driving and still felt really fast. Power isn't the most important thing for autocross. But no smell of fuel and fuel consumption was looking normal 
. I figured at this point why not try a run with all 8 cylinders. I picked up time obviously, but the car got hard to start again so I left it on 7 cylinders for Ashley's runs. But the new suspension and tires did their job and I cruised to a 1st place in CAM-T our of 3 drivers. Ashley finished 6th out of 10 ladies. The Sunday course had better flow and was quicker, I finished 19th raw and 16th pax out of 61 drivers. There was chance of thunderstorms so a lot of people decided to leave after Saturday, which helped the remaining drivers to all get 4 runs before any rain showed up.
Now I have some troubleshooting to do and suspension checks before my local autocross this weekend. Fuel injectors are getting serviced again. Nothing seems wrong with ECU or wiring.
If you've made it this far, thank you. Happy Racing!
I got the car driving Wednesday and loaded it up on Friday, so very little time on engine and suspension. But everything sounded and felt good. The car felt fast with a quick rip onto the interstate.
Friday while loading up the car it really did not want to idle. I tried to tweak the tune some, but I'm not a tuner. It's really odd, because it's the same engine and same tune that I ran all last year. Well got the car loaded up and we drove down to Cherry Point for the NCR Autocross.
Saturday
Ladies ran in first heat, but luckily I wasn't working that heat so I was able to help Ashley. Which turned out to be a very good thing. Things did not go well for her heat. Car was idling terribly. I turned up the idle to 1200 rpm just to keep it running. As Ashley came through the finish on her first run the car shut off and would not start. I got it to start with throttle pedal WOT to go into clear flood mode. Also found that I accidentally left the lifting chain on the back of the engine, oops
. It didn't cause any problems or damage, but I got that removed. As the day went on the exhaust started to smell very rich and fuel consumption increased a lot. Checking the oil at the end of the day it smelled like fuel . So I loaded up the car and took it back to the hotel. On the way picked up oil drain pan, oil, and test wire. In the hotel parking lot I pulled all of the fuel injectors and spark plugs. Cylinder 3 was wet, but I didn't find anything wrong with the injectors or wiring from what I was able to test. Note the fuel injectors were serviced in December in preparation for the new engine build. But I got it running and not smelling like fuel with injector #3 disconnected. So not mechanically stuck open, whew. But with all that Ashley finished 9th out of 13 ladies. I finished 1st out of 4 in CAM-T. I still was able to finish in the top 20 in raw and pax, which is awesome with the level of competition at this event (18 raw/16 pax out of 95 drivers).Sunday
I doubled checked spark plug #3 before pulling the car off the trailer, looked ok with injector still unplugged. So I decided to run on 7 for the event as I didn't want to washdown a brand new engine. Maybe I should have just packed up, but we drove 3 hours and the car was running....so send it
. Luckily I was in the first heat this time so I could make sure everything was good before Ashley drove. I could tell/hear the car was only running on 7 cylinders, but it was driving and still felt really fast. Power isn't the most important thing for autocross. But no smell of fuel and fuel consumption was looking normal . I figured at this point why not try a run with all 8 cylinders. I picked up time obviously, but the car got hard to start again so I left it on 7 cylinders for Ashley's runs. But the new suspension and tires did their job and I cruised to a 1st place in CAM-T our of 3 drivers. Ashley finished 6th out of 10 ladies. The Sunday course had better flow and was quicker, I finished 19th raw and 16th pax out of 61 drivers. There was chance of thunderstorms so a lot of people decided to leave after Saturday, which helped the remaining drivers to all get 4 runs before any rain showed up.Now I have some troubleshooting to do and suspension checks before my local autocross this weekend. Fuel injectors are getting serviced again. Nothing seems wrong with ECU or wiring.
If you've made it this far, thank you. Happy Racing!
PatientZero
@restless_performance
Interesting. My initial thought was you pinched a wire putting it back together(because I did the same thing, IAC wires). But only one cylinder is kinda weird. You still have a SBF? Did the cap/rotor look ok? Swap injector to a different cylinder and see what happens. Injector could have easily picked up a piece of trash from fuel lines being open or a million other things. Good luck.
- Thread starter
- #107
Wiring is what makes sense to me as well. So far nothing has been founded shorted and all injectors have power. Yea still SBF, I don't see how ignition issues would cause high fuel consumption and fuel in the oil. But everything is up for checking at this point.
Fuel injectors were rechecked by my injector guy. No issues were found.
So yea maybe something in fuel line? I'm going to swap the fuel injector like you mentioned, if it comes back to see if it follows injector or stays with cylinder.
PatientZero
@restless_performance
You could also rotate your distributor wires one spot on the cap to see if that makes a difference either.
- Thread starter
- #110
Like a cylinder head valve? Compression check came back good on all cylinders. I don't see how that could cause the high fuel consumption. Either fuel injector issue or ECU thought lean and was adding tons of fuel. But only one spark plug was wet.
- Thread starter
- #111
Must’ve missed where you mentioned doing a compression test lol
Certainly a puzzling issue.
Dave_W
Cones - not just for ice cream
Sorry to hear about the engine troubles, but it sounds like you've got a good idea of the source of the problem and hopefully can fix it before the next event. You didn't tell us how the big winter project of the suspension overhaul felt. C'mon man, we've been following along and you're silent about it? I know you're probably working on a whole video, but at least gives us a clue! The nation awaits.
In the video, I noticed something that I think I can use for general instruction. This is not to criticize anyone, especially as I've been guilty of making the same mistakes. But by pointing them out here, I hope to educate those reading this thread, especially the novice autocrossers. And promote discussion - I could be wrong here and I'd be interested in hearing feedback from anyone, good or bad.
There was a particular section that was a 3-cone slalom and then a "clamshell" turn (apex cone and outside wall) spaced at the same distance as the slalom cones but the car stayed on the same side as the last slalom cone, and then a large offset to the left for the next gate. There was one of these on the "outbound" leg and another on the "inbound" leg. On both your first runs, you exited the slalom but stayed close to the cones, so you had to turn hard for the clamshell in order to get over for the big offset of the next gate, and you kind of coasted for a while in the middle. In Ashley's third run, she drove the outbound section better, but still kept tight on the inbound one. In her fourth run, she drove both well. You improved on subsequent runs, I think at a faster pace.
As some of you know, one of my mantras is "Look ahead. No, further ahead." The still frame below shows what I mean. In the middle of the slalom, if you're looking at the next slalom cone (the blue line), you're going to drive at it. And then if you look at the next cone (the apex cone for the clamshell) you'll drive at that one. And then you look for the gate way over to the left and drive at that. I think both of you did that to some extent, especially on the first run. Stephen even mentions it right after his run. I call this "driving gate-to-gate."
Where I would be looking at this point in time is over at gate on the far left already - the green line. It's the entry to that gate that I'm going to use to determine my line past this last slalom cone and through the clamshell turn coming up. This let's me think about "driving in arcs" where I can join sections of the course together as smoothly as possible. Looking ahead lets you think ahead and plan further ahead. Which lets you drive more smoothly, and everyone knows that "smooth is fast."
The blue line in the next drawing is the line that you drove on first runs, and the green line is where I would have been. If you listen to the video, Ashley doesn't pick up the throtttle on the first run "outbound" until the red arrow. On later runs, you're both picking up the throttle a bit earlier, but on my line I'm pretty sure I'd be able to pick up the throttle at the yellow arrow. Not WOT, but accelerating consistently instead of coasting.
Below is a (terrible) drawing of these sections. By driving the blue line, you have to turn harder (and carry less speed) at the cone that's fourth in line. And you're likely coming into the big offset after that at a sharper angle, so you have to take the turn through it tighter and slower as well. On the green line, you are covering a bit more distance, but you should be able to carry (much) more speed to more than make up for it. Notice also that I'm driving that big offset apex just like a slalom cone - being "early" and clipping the back side of the cone. This means I'm starting the transition to rotate the car to the right to get to the following big offest earlier as well.
One thing I noticed in Ashley's runs in the "inbound" section - she tugs at the wheel to turn left after the third slalom cone, then straightens the wheel, then turns it again between the third and fourth cones in the line (last slalom and clamshell) to start the turn for the offset. I'm not sure if she's losing her place and thinks the fourth cone is part of the slalom and she needs to be on the other side, or if she intends to run the "squared off" line in the drawing. This is often an indicator of not looking/thinking far enough ahead and/or "driving gate-to-gate" instead of "driving an arc."
You both improved on this in later runs, so you're using your experience to help there. But I often see novices doing this all day, every run, and have been wanting to illustrate what I talk about. Your video provided a section that I could use to really point it out. I hope you don't mind me using your thread to do it. All feedback welcome.
In the video, I noticed something that I think I can use for general instruction. This is not to criticize anyone, especially as I've been guilty of making the same mistakes. But by pointing them out here, I hope to educate those reading this thread, especially the novice autocrossers. And promote discussion - I could be wrong here and I'd be interested in hearing feedback from anyone, good or bad.
There was a particular section that was a 3-cone slalom and then a "clamshell" turn (apex cone and outside wall) spaced at the same distance as the slalom cones but the car stayed on the same side as the last slalom cone, and then a large offset to the left for the next gate. There was one of these on the "outbound" leg and another on the "inbound" leg. On both your first runs, you exited the slalom but stayed close to the cones, so you had to turn hard for the clamshell in order to get over for the big offset of the next gate, and you kind of coasted for a while in the middle. In Ashley's third run, she drove the outbound section better, but still kept tight on the inbound one. In her fourth run, she drove both well. You improved on subsequent runs, I think at a faster pace.
As some of you know, one of my mantras is "Look ahead. No, further ahead." The still frame below shows what I mean. In the middle of the slalom, if you're looking at the next slalom cone (the blue line), you're going to drive at it. And then if you look at the next cone (the apex cone for the clamshell) you'll drive at that one. And then you look for the gate way over to the left and drive at that. I think both of you did that to some extent, especially on the first run. Stephen even mentions it right after his run. I call this "driving gate-to-gate."
Where I would be looking at this point in time is over at gate on the far left already - the green line. It's the entry to that gate that I'm going to use to determine my line past this last slalom cone and through the clamshell turn coming up. This let's me think about "driving in arcs" where I can join sections of the course together as smoothly as possible. Looking ahead lets you think ahead and plan further ahead. Which lets you drive more smoothly, and everyone knows that "smooth is fast."
The blue line in the next drawing is the line that you drove on first runs, and the green line is where I would have been. If you listen to the video, Ashley doesn't pick up the throtttle on the first run "outbound" until the red arrow. On later runs, you're both picking up the throttle a bit earlier, but on my line I'm pretty sure I'd be able to pick up the throttle at the yellow arrow. Not WOT, but accelerating consistently instead of coasting.
Below is a (terrible) drawing of these sections. By driving the blue line, you have to turn harder (and carry less speed) at the cone that's fourth in line. And you're likely coming into the big offset after that at a sharper angle, so you have to take the turn through it tighter and slower as well. On the green line, you are covering a bit more distance, but you should be able to carry (much) more speed to more than make up for it. Notice also that I'm driving that big offset apex just like a slalom cone - being "early" and clipping the back side of the cone. This means I'm starting the transition to rotate the car to the right to get to the following big offest earlier as well.
One thing I noticed in Ashley's runs in the "inbound" section - she tugs at the wheel to turn left after the third slalom cone, then straightens the wheel, then turns it again between the third and fourth cones in the line (last slalom and clamshell) to start the turn for the offset. I'm not sure if she's losing her place and thinks the fourth cone is part of the slalom and she needs to be on the other side, or if she intends to run the "squared off" line in the drawing. This is often an indicator of not looking/thinking far enough ahead and/or "driving gate-to-gate" instead of "driving an arc."
You both improved on this in later runs, so you're using your experience to help there. But I often see novices doing this all day, every run, and have been wanting to illustrate what I talk about. Your video provided a section that I could use to really point it out. I hope you don't mind me using your thread to do it. All feedback welcome.
- Thread starter
- #114
Dave_W, love the feedback and the in-depth illustration. Our previous home track is 1/3 of the size of Cherry Point so looking more forward ahead is definitely something we need to work on with these larger/faster courses. I like your analysis. I know the engine problems were very distracting for both us, plus knocking off the off-season rustSorry to hear about the engine troubles, but it sounds like you've got a good idea of the source of the problem and hopefully can fix it before the next event. You didn't tell us how the big winter project of the suspension overhaul felt. C'mon man, we've been following along and you're silent about it? I know you're probably working on a whole video, but at least gives us a clue! The nation awaits.
In the video, I noticed something that I think I can use for general instruction. This is not to criticize anyone, especially as I've been guilty of making the same mistakes. But by pointing them out here, I hope to educate those reading this thread, especially the novice autocrossers. And promote discussion - I could be wrong here and I'd be interested in hearing feedback from anyone, good or bad.
Sunday I know we both drove way better, that video is almost done.First the engine issues....fuel injectors checked out good as I expected. But really appreciate the guy reaching out to me to verify his work. So back to troubleshooting the car. Once I had it all reassembled I started the car with the noid light on cylinder #3. The light blinking was inconsistent. I moved it to another cylinder and it looked perfect as one would expect a fuel injector firing to look. That narrowed things down further and I started checking wiring. The RaceTCS traction/launch control unit that previously installed goes inline with the fuel injectors between the engine and ECU. I bypassed that unit and rechecked cylinder 3 with the noid light....perfect firing. I didn't have time to further investigate as this was Saturday morning and the car needed to be loaded on the trailer to leave that day for another autocross event. Bypassed TCS it is. I don't like the connectors on the unit and had planned to replace, but forgot. So I'm thinking either loose connection or the unit itself is failing internally, I'm hoping for the former. I like the consistency of the launch control and not ready to step up to an aftermarket ECU like a Haltech.
Now for the SLA suspension.....we love it! Ashley commented that the car feels easier to drive. I really like the more even tire wear. I'm not rolling over onto the sidewall. I bought a temperature probe and was setting tire pressures off of temperature, experience, and feeling. Of course tires will cool slight by the time get to grid to check them. But 35 front/28 rear sounds about right. Alignment specs are 6 deg caster, -2.5 deg camber, and 1/16" toe out. I'm noticing some understeer especially when pushing in that big sweeper. But I'm wanting to get some seat time before making more changes. I have multiple stock sway bars that I'll try first. Currently in the car is a Steeda 35mm front, stock 21mm rear. So debating between putting a smaller stock front or larger stock rear. The rear is easier, so I might try that first.
- Thread starter
- #115
PatientZero
@restless_performance
Whoa, 35 seems like alot but I guess if it works it works.
- Thread starter
- #117
Really? what pressure do you run on the front and what tires?
Temperature probe was giving consistent temperature from outside to middle, with inside being 5-10 deg hotter. Which doing some research it seems inside should be ~10 degrees hotter.
Maybe I haven't reached the limit of tire pressure being too low? maybe I can drop several more pounds before tire temperatures start telling me I'm uninflated.
PatientZero
@restless_performance
Really? what pressure do you run on the front and what tires?
Temperature probe was giving consistent temperature from outside to middle, with inside being 5-10 deg hotter. Which doing some research it seems inside should be ~10 degrees hotter.
Maybe I haven't reached the limit of tire pressure being too low? maybe I can drop several more pounds before tire temperatures start telling me I'm uninflated.
I have 295/30-18 A052's. Last season I started out running 32psi hot. After talking to some other fast local guys I'm now down to 27F/28R hot and picked up lots of time. It seemed way to low to me but it goes faster and has more front grip so I can't argue with that.
- Thread starter
- #119
Been doing some Caster reading. I read in Griggs SLA installation document (which I know can't find on their website) that recommended starting Caster for autocross is 8 degs, while I'm around 6 currently.
Increasing caster creates a jacking effect when the wheels are turned which can help transfer weight to rear outside tire. This can help turn in and reduce understeer. With the strut suspension I was running around 7 deg of caster, but I didn't know how transferable that setup to this setup would be. But I think for next event I'm going to increase front caster some more.
I am also going to reduce rear spring rate, which is something I had previously mentioned in the videos to soften up the car some. At the last event the car got unsettled going over some washboard. I'll be dropping from 300# coilover rear to 250#.
I still have the sway bar adjustments in my back pocket, but for now going to leave as is. I'll see how it feels after the above changes. But I think I'm moving in the right direction.
Had another autocross event this past weekend. Takeaway...I need to improve my driving. I again wasn't looking far enough ahead (sorry @Dave_W). I let obstacles sneak up on me and I was either not setup right or going too fast to make them. I finished again around 20th in raw and pax which is not where I want to be when I have a chance for PAX and class trophies this year. Ashley on the other hand drove great and started off the year with a ladies class win. And not a marginal win like last year (<0.01 sec), her PAX time was ~0.5 secs up from the lady in second (last year's winner). She is still off my pace but making progress.
Provisional class results (CAM & XS, PAX based), 18 total drivers:
Ladies class results (PAX based), 7 total drivers:
Another awesome takeaway from last weekend's event was there were 31 Novice drivers, which is incredible to get that many new people out autocrossing.
Increasing caster creates a jacking effect when the wheels are turned which can help transfer weight to rear outside tire. This can help turn in and reduce understeer. With the strut suspension I was running around 7 deg of caster, but I didn't know how transferable that setup to this setup would be. But I think for next event I'm going to increase front caster some more.
I am also going to reduce rear spring rate, which is something I had previously mentioned in the videos to soften up the car some. At the last event the car got unsettled going over some washboard. I'll be dropping from 300# coilover rear to 250#.
I still have the sway bar adjustments in my back pocket, but for now going to leave as is. I'll see how it feels after the above changes. But I think I'm moving in the right direction.
Had another autocross event this past weekend. Takeaway...I need to improve my driving. I again wasn't looking far enough ahead (sorry @Dave_W). I let obstacles sneak up on me and I was either not setup right or going too fast to make them. I finished again around 20th in raw and pax which is not where I want to be when I have a chance for PAX and class trophies this year. Ashley on the other hand drove great and started off the year with a ladies class win. And not a marginal win like last year (<0.01 sec), her PAX time was ~0.5 secs up from the lady in second (last year's winner). She is still off my pace but making progress.
Provisional class results (CAM & XS, PAX based), 18 total drivers:
Ladies class results (PAX based), 7 total drivers:
Another awesome takeaway from last weekend's event was there were 31 Novice drivers, which is incredible to get that many new people out autocrossing.
- Thread starter
- #120
Interesting. I'll try lower as well. I can verify with tire wear and tire temperature (as best as I can since it will be after the run is over).
TMO Supporting Vendors
Similar threads
Latest posts
Buy TMO Apparel
