What? Dan, why were you not spending time with your mom on mothers day?
Keep me in the loop when running out at the speedway.
Chad

My mom is in Florida.

Local schedule is at http://www.trscca.org

Dan

We were aware of the possible problems and Andrew stayed in the car with his feet on the clutch and brake from the time just before the bolt was loosened until it was re-torqued. I feel confident that the trust bearings remained in place.

It was my understanding that because the FD has a pull-type clutch you cannot use the "foot on the clutch" method when replacing the front eccentric shaft bolt. Pushing the clutch in pulls the flywheel away from the engine... the opposite of what you really need.

Chances are that the engine is fine and the thrust bearing stayed in place... but it isn't pretty when that bearing fails completely. You can probably just check the end play to verify that everything is A-OK.


*edit* Here's what happens for anyone who is curious:

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/mattmck/rx7/oilstreak.jpg
http://www.carclubvt.com/photopost/u...9/DSCN0324.jpg
http://www.carclubvt.com/photopost/u...9/DSCN0335.jpg

After that bearing dropped into the pan there was enough endplay to allow the eccentric shaft to repeatedly smash into the trans input shaft and "mushroom" the splines out which trapped the clutch disk. Sitting in the engine bay for hours with a needle file was "fun". LOL

You may be right. Dan was instructing Andrew on what to do and I was removing and reinstalling the bolt, so what went on it the car is a mystery to me. Maybe Dan will chime back in.

I had Andrew put the car in gear and his foot on the brake. I held the front hub the whole time while Brian removed and installed the eccentric shaft bolt. If there was any movement in the shaft I would of felt it. A quick check of the shaft play confirmed everything was A-OK.

Dan

Good deal! :)

Awesome build. You FD guys make me jealous. One thing makes me curious though. Isn't that F-15 sitting on your trunk a little big for Auto-X?

I ran across a shot from last weekend's Pro Solo. Couldn't find any action shots unfortunately.
http://sktphoto.com/DX3/img_7335.jpg

When I remove the front bolt ,I put a pry bar on the fly wheel and chain it pushing foward ,remove the bolt .After tighting the bolt back you can check the step measurement between the hub and shaft to see if the bearing is in place ( 2.44 mm ) .

Video from the Atlanta National tour:

http://www.tweakit.com/rx7/chadwick_atlanta.wmv

Some pictures of her in action:


http://www.tweakit.com/rx7/rx7atltour1.jpg
http://www.tweakit.com/rx7/rx7atltour2.jpg
http://www.tweakit.com/rx7/rx7atltour.jpg
http://www.tweakit.com/rx7/rx7atltour3.jpg

Photo's courtesy of Chris Hammond from SCCAforums.com

Dan could probably answer this better but I'm going to take a guess and say that the design of that wing is to try and trap as much air as possible at low autocross speeds. The wings on road course cars aren't as extreme and I would think because in addition to downforce at high speeds, they have to eliminate drag as well. Andy and Eric use a similiar looking wing on their Solo2 FDs as well.

Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner folks! :icon_tup:

Race report, what worked, what didn’t
 

Thought I would spend a few minutes updating the build thread with a race report. I’ve also made a few changes to the car which I’ll update below.

Since my last post I have attended four National events and ran three local events. On the National level I took first in the National tour in Peru and Atlanta and finished 4th in both Pro-Solo events in Atlanta and Toledo. With the car still detuned for break in it really showed in the ProSolo’s with its drag race start. I was owned to the first turn in almost every start. The last day in Toledo we turned up the boost a tad and it made a big difference in 60 ft times and I was beating the other cars to the first turn. I had a run on one side of the course on the second day that equaled the fastest run in class, but could not back it up on the other side of the course.

Even though I was having success with winning the tours I was not happy with my times when compared to the other classes and the fastest drivers at the events. When we got back from Toledo I pulled the Koni shocks and sent them off to ProParts to be re-valved for stiffer spring rates. When we examined them off the car it was clear that the right front was blown and one of the rears seemed soft when compared to the other. Guy Ankeny confirmed this on the shock dyno when he tested them before the rebuild. The right front was indeed shot and the one rear was at 30% of what it should have been.

The shocks were originally setup to handle 600lbs front springs and 300lbs rears. I was shooting for 900lbs front and 600 rear but they were not able to be valved that high. We settled for 800lbs front and 400lbs rear on Guy’s recommendation.

We got the shocks and new springs back from ProParts and I also received the Nagisa Auto Upper Control arms I order from RHDJapan so we install the new parts and put her on the rack for a corner balance and alignment.

http://www.rhdjapan.com/images/produ...mal/Image1.jpg

Current alignment:
-3 degrees camber front
5 degrees caster
.125 toe out front

-2.5 degrees camber rear
.125 toe in rear


The control arms allow me to greatly increase the amount of camber I can run up front and based on Erik Strelnieks suggestion I went with 3 degrees negative in the front and 2.5 negative in the rear. We were also able to lower the car more with the stiffer springs.

The first event with the new setup was let’s say…. interesting. The traveling circus (that’s what we call ourselves) headed down to Huntsville for their local autocross. It was a nice lot with a pretty good course setup that would allow me to push the car a bit. Right from the start I notice a huge difference in the handling. She was super crisp and responsive. Lateral grip was outstanding and she transitioned like a dream…. All the way up until the point where the back end passed the front :o11:. On two of the five runs I had this issue during high speed, full throttle transitions, no warning, no change in the feel of the car just a super abrupt snap spin. Turns out that we lowered the car a tad too much and with the extra force of the wing at speed the rear tires would make contact with the wheel wells during high-speed transitions.

When we got back to the shop we raise the car about ½ in. which has solved the problem. At the next local event I set FTD (Fast time of the Day) by .5 of a second, and then I traveled to Chattanooga and set FTD there by 2.5 seconds the following weekend.

So far I am pretty happy with the car setup, we are installing the 4.77 ring and pinion and Kaaz LSD right now so that I can get a few events under my belt with it before the National Championships in Topeka. I’m doing two events this weekend so I’ll let you know how it goes.

Since the original build thread I have pulled the Corbeau FX1 and double locking sliders and replaced it with a Forza and two single locking rails. The FX1 was actually too big in race conditions as I felt I was sliding all over the car. The double locking slider broke twice and although Corbeau was nice enough to keep replacing, the third time they suggested going with two single lock sliders which has solved the problem.

I have also pulled the old Jacob’s ProStreet ignition amplifier and replaced it with an AEM twin fire, Magnecor 10mm race plug wires and new coils. Ari at Rotary Performance was nice enough to dig through his personal stock and send me a new Jacob’s twin poll coil for the leading plugs and I purchased two Jacob’s C-4 coils for the trailing. AFR’s went up almost a full digit with the new ignition so I had to do some retuning. The rise in AFR’s tells me the new ignition setup is doing a better job.


I have to comment on a couple of parts that have impressed the hell out of me. The Widefoot swaybar mount and the Hyperion fuel surge cover. Both of these products work like a charm and are well worth the money spent.

The Widefoot mount just works; plan and simple, I no longer worry about snapping off the swaybar mounts. With the fuel surge cover I have not found the lower limit of the fuel I can run without starving. So far I have ran just bellow ¼ of a tank and still no starvation.

As I have just installed 2 FX1's with double locking sliders, I am interested in that bit.

The first double locker quit working before I got the seat installed. I've since replaced the drivers side sliders, driven the car several times and 1 autox, no issues so far.

Any clues as to what the problem is with the double locking sliders?

Maybe I will be contacting SoloRacer.com about 4 single lock sliders...

Contact Corbeau directly if you are having a problem, will save you the middle man. My best guess is they can't handle the lateral load placed on them when racing. They will start to bind up and start spitting bearings :)

Dan

Thanks for the update! This has been a very interesting thread for me none-the-less. Keep em coming!

Couple of action shots from our last local event:

http://www.tweakit.com/rx7/rx7trscca1.jpg

http://www.tweakit.com/rx7/rx7trscca2.jpg
This one is with Brian driving.
It looks like it is going to lift both front wheels off the ground.

Dan

Those are some awesome pictures Dan. Nothing wrong with doing a little 3 wheeling :D

:biggthumpup: All I can say is man is that thing fun to drive.

Video of the first event with the Kaaz and 4.77 ring and pinion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIAe-q6wc4w&fmt=18

that was sick! Good job! How did you do?

Here is one from yesterday's local event.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVNW1l4e3P8&fmt=18

Second fastest time for the day. Couldn't figure out why I kept banging off the rev limiter at 60 mph. So the next day I checked my maps and found I had it set back to 8k rpm. I think I must of reverted back to an 8k map when I retuned for the new ignition.

Dan

how do you like the tall gearing with a turbo car?

I’m loving it, the acceleration is insane. I'm coming out of the tight corners with full boost rather than lugging for a second.

Dan

hmm...i am trying to get myself a 4.77 gear set for my FB as we speak. (future RCC tech article...) Being that i am moving to Colorado, i am looking for any advantage i can. One of the long term goals is force induction. Which is going to be either a Camden supercharger (likely), turbocharger or gasp both

Couple of questions for you...
1. Have you posted a dyno chart somewhere? I dont' remember seeing one.
2. How's the AEM Twin Fire working for you? I've heard mixed reviews.
3. Got any more photos or info about making the XS LIM fit with the stock turbochargers?
I'm not the most mechanically inclined person, are there any tricks to modifying the stock coolant and oil hard lines besides just grabbing them with vice grips and twisting carefully? After seeing the Mazdaspeed price for replacements, I'm hoping to do this right the first time...


Thanks,
Scott

1) Still have not put it on the dyno since break-in, Butt dyno says somewhere around 360 or 370 rwhp.

2) The AEM is performing like a champ, no issues to report.

3) What is in my post is all the information I have. The amount you have to bend them is not that much and the tubing is fairly soft. I put a Phillips head screw driver inside the pipe to bend it. I would not grab it with pliers as you may crush them or damage the sealing surface. You could heat them first but I really don't think it is necessary

Dan

Thanks for the info Dan. How did the car feel at nationals? I think I saw results somewhere showing that Strelnieks won SM2 again.

-s-

I flew back from Topeka the day I was to race for a work emergency so I didn't get a chance to run.

I can tell you that since putting the Kaaz and 4.77 ring/pinion in, the car has set FTD or ran times fast enough for FTD in 6 out of 6 races. Including 3 top RTP/PAX times which is pretty difficult with an SM2 PAX :).

Dan

I was really into this until the wing... all that detail and precision planning... then that montrosity!... Oh well.. :::keeps reading out of the corner of his eye cause he really doesnt care about the wing:::

The wing is not a fashion statement, it is there for a reason. As much if not more planning and work went into the wings mounting and attack angles as the motor itself.

Testing done by Erik has proved it is worth around a ½ second on a fast 60 second course. A ½ second in autocross is a butt whooping.

It does grow on you, when I take it off for towing now the car looks to tame :).

Dan

I was just messing with you trust me I finished reading and havent stopped drueling. lol

Yes, the wing is a little over the top, but I can tell you first hand that it works! The car is FAST, FAST, FAST!!!!

Dan,

Wow! Absolute attention to detail. I can appreciate that!

Have you put in the new rats nest, if yes pictures please

Dan, perhaps I missed it, but have you done any modifications to your transmission? You're able to pull off some quick shifts to second in the videos and I noticed on one track you went back to 1st without troubles.

Great thread and thanks for putting all the info up.

It is bolted to the top of the motor, does that count? Still rewrapping/purging the wiring harness, may get finished this weekend if we don't get drunk watching the Titans on Sat. Will get pictures up as soon as possible. By the way, the Garfinkles rats nest is a work off art.


No changes to the transmission, does get a little notchy going back to first sometimes, a blip of the throttle helps.

Dan

Here is a video clip a friend shot of my car doing a drag race launch at the most resent Toledo ProSolo. We took 1st and 2nd in our class at the event.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ekkf5Y-Vk4