Hartford AutoX April, 2

[Jordan]

My local autocross group amended their schedule to have an event this coming Sunday, so this past weekend I dusted off the blue car and made a list of some details that needed to be tended to and made a plan to make this her maiden event. The weather is supposed to clear up for that day so I'll keep my fingers crossed.

I swapped carbs (again) and fired up ol' blue balls so I could do the toe alignment outside. So far so good!

After I put on some of the trim pieces I've been neglecting to find bits for, I am going to take her out for a while and see how she is running.

I still need to check the camber and probably adjust that, as well as some minor nit-picky details, but I think it's finally ready to race!

[SwedeSport]

Awesome Jordan,

Hopefully we can cross paths at a few events this year. Make sure you drive the car a little before the event, it always helps to circulate some fluids, and get some heat in the block before flogging it!

[Jordan]

Yes! I, like you, will be driving it to... and hopefully back from the event!

I actually just came back from a joy ride. It's running well although it still spits a little through the carbs here and there... but it is much better than it was. Just needs some further tuning. But it is perfectly drive-able.

Once under hard braking I (permanently) locked the the rear hydraulic circuit, but I think I had the handbrake partially engaged by accident so it created some feedback inside the MC of the handbrake causing it to lock up. Once I released the pressure it was fine, but I'll have to test that out again tomorrow....That would be bad to happen on anything serious!

A kind officer checked my license/reg while I fixed it

edit: still needs to be washed, but here are some pics.

[SwedeSport]

Jordan,

Have you seen the new CLEAR covers that HELLA makes for the 500's? I had a few cracks in the black and white stock ones, and Susquehanna Motorsports sold me the clear ones. You get the best of both worlds, Protection, and Killer Light!


Still think that car is just figgen Bad-Ass!

[Jordan]

Jordan,

Have you seen the new CLEAR covers that HELLA makes for the 500's? I had a few cracks in the black and white stock ones, and Susquehanna Motorsports sold me the clear ones. You get the best of both worlds, Protection, and Killer Light!


Still think that car is just figgen Bad-Ass!

That is what is on there actually. Hopefully the higher wattage bulbs won't deform them too much.

[Jordan]

So...put the finishing touches on the trim, changed the oil, mounted the air dam, re-toe'd the front, did a brake bleed and gave her a wash/rainx/fogx (followed by an immediate sun shower) so I should be all set to go for tomorrow.

Took another trip about 30 mins out seemed to run well enough. Oil started leaking pretty good from the valve cover, but the bolts had loosened up (or settled) so hopefully it won't be too much of an issue after a re-snug. I know those cork gaskets are notorious for leaking, but hopefully I can slow it down to a dribble instead of a smoke show.

Photos/Results/Video? tomorrow!

Now to figure out how to drive the thing.

[Luke]

Awesome, see if you can get a worker from another run group to take some video. That's great that's it's so early in the season and you've got it ready to roll.

[Jordan]

Success!

Overall it was a pretty good day.I Started to get a feel for the car and had a couple of things surfaced that need attention. The biggest thing was, when the tank gets about half full, taking the long sweeping turns/figure-eight it sucks up air and the pump loses prime. Cost me one fun run, but other than that it performed really well.

Leanne came with me and took some photos and a video. I was 3-wheeling a lot!

DSC_0024_cropped.jpg (98.42 KiB) Viewed 3189 times

[squaab99t]

Awesome, congrats on making it through the day without any major problems. Pretty good for completely rebuilding the car. Need to see a vid.

[Jordan]

Thanks, yeah, nothing mechanical was a problem, just a combination of an old fuel tank and crappy pickup straw. The valve cover was still a little leaky and smoked a little. The video isn't great because it is the first run of the day and I got lost a few times...but its uploading :)

edit:here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88K6qBlYNw4&hd=1

[airsweden]

nice, for real though i have to take it back now... sorry.

that is a lot of lift back there. maybe if it was lower and a tiny bit softer it would only go a little. not really a big deal though.

[Jordan]

The car felt like it was really pushing a lot... The gripper helped to pull me through the turns, but it still felt really traction limited. Could be a number of factors, I know the camber/caster isn't set right, could have been the sandy pavement with narrowish tires, or I could have just been overdriving the thing...

I guess this is the fun part and dial it in.

[Luke]

Wow, car looks and sounds FAST!

Dosen't look like its pushing too too bad, but its definatly not oversteering... I forget what springs you are running up front?

[Jordan]

Fairly stiff OMP ones I think Geoff and I measured them in the 525-550 # range. It's funny it didn't look like it was pushing that much, but it sure felt like it. Also, it could be the weight distribution having the back so light... A friend of a friend offered up some corner weight scales, it would be interesting to see what the total weight is and the F/R ratio is.

The car is super responsive and really does feel nice and fast. Mid-range power is still there , with the low gearing I could easily start in 2nd gear as it just tends to spin tires in 1st. It runs rich for sure, so a little more power could be extracted as well if I could find a good dyno/weber shop.

[SwedeSport]

Way to go Jordan,

Luke is right, looks fast in the vid, and sounds even faster.

You are off to a good start this season!