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Autocross: Because Life is more fun on three wheels......
"I know Solo only comes one minute at a time, but what an intense, non-stop, fast-forward car control exercise minute it is. Sure, the velocity is higher in road racing, but inside the car it is slow-motion in comparison. In Solo, the turns come like machine-gun rounds. "
Randy Pobst
As for the cooler, my friend suggested just to get temperature gauges so if it heats up I would know and stop to let it cool down, we figured it'll be a b!tch to install an oil cooler. As for the pads I'm getting the HP+ ones 2moro cuz I figured they'l be the best ones, & for rotors I'll just get OEM as u say.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boilermaker1
Lastly, do not modify stuff just because you're going to go out on the track and definitely do not make 400 changes within a month of going. You'll end up with a car you don't know how to drive and you'll have no idea how to make it right... then you're magnifying the problem by going flat out. If you're going in 1 month, I wouldn't change anything on the car besides the mantenance stuff to make the car track ready. Leave everything else alone.
I don't like rushing, but I can't take my car to track with four blown shocks and 17" super-heavy wheels with shitty Wanli tires either. Can I?
It's actually not my first time going, I have gone before with my friends and driven their cars (Beemer, Acura, ...) on the track and they pretty much explained everything to me, so now is the time for me to make my own car track-ready and take it this time
As for the cooler, my friend suggested just to get temperature gauges so if it heats up I would know and stop to let it cool down, we figured it'll be a b!tch to install an oil cooler. As for the pads I'm getting the HP+ ones 2moro cuz I figured they'l be the best ones, & for rotors I'll just get OEM as u say.
I don't like rushing, but I can't take my car to track with four blown shocks and 17" super-heavy wheels with shitty Wanli tires either. Can I?
It's actually not my first time going, I have gone before with my friends and driven their cars (Beemer, Acura, ...) on the track and they pretty much explained everything to me, so now is the time for me to make my own car track-ready and take it this time
Definitly fix the known problems before going... but dont try to tune the car prior to going. so if you know the dampers are blown, then look to replace the. for the 17's... sure you can run them, even with the crappy tires.. you wont be as fast as you could be, but it shouldnt stop you from going. other then that, just make sure you've got good brakes. (no point in trying to go fast if you cant stop...)
Autocross: Because Life is more fun on three wheels......
"I know Solo only comes one minute at a time, but what an intense, non-stop, fast-forward car control exercise minute it is. Sure, the velocity is higher in road racing, but inside the car it is slow-motion in comparison. In Solo, the turns come like machine-gun rounds. "
Randy Pobst
As for the cooler, my friend suggested just to get temperature gauges so if it heats up I would know and stop to let it cool down, we figured it'll be a b!tch to install an oil cooler. As for the pads I'm getting the HP+ ones 2moro cuz I figured they'l be the best ones, & for rotors I'll just get OEM as u say.
you don't need the gauges, the oil temp gauge is equally a bitch to install. It takes 7-9 minutes to overheat the oil. There, I saved you the trouble. Can you keep running, yeah, your oil will top out at somewhere around 271 F. When you come in afterwards, leave the engine running and turn the heater on full blast for at least 10 minutes to cool off the engine before shutting it down.
You will not have water temp issues, the radiator is oversized and you will not break 215F.
I don't like rushing, but I can't take my car to track with four blown shocks and 17" super-heavy wheels with shitty Wanli tires either. Can I?
It's actually not my first time going, I have gone before with my friends and driven their cars (Beemer, Acura, ...) on the track and they pretty much explained everything to me, so now is the time for me to make my own car track-ready and take it this time
you can't really take a car with blown shocks on the track safely, but then again, they don't blow all at once, so you're still last minute fixing stuff that could have been addressed a long time ago. Still, I wouldn't change everything. Just change the shocks, leave whatever springs are there. No sense changing more than you need to to fix the problem at this stage of the game. YOu can run on shit tires. I see it done all the time. Don't expect them to last, and watch them for blisters. Track days are often excuses for people to trash tires and buy better ones.
Here's the problem, previous owner cut the stock springs, they suck. The track day is October 24th, so it's more than a month away.
How is an oil temp guage a bitch to install? I've seen sending units that sit in the oil drain plug, so no drilling/tapping is required. How did you plumb the oil cooler anyway? Did you simply use an adapter and have it draw oil from the oil filter location and return it to that location? Run a remote filter kit?
Well then you need to get yourself something to fix your jank suspension or you need to cancel the track day. It helps to mention this stuff up front.
Oil temp gauge is a bitch to install because the way you install it in the drain plug is to drill and tap the drain bolt. I've never seen a sensor that fits right in. Autometer's are a 1/8 NPT thread, a lot of the higher end Jap. gauges are 1/8 BSPT, niether fit right in. IIRC the drain threads are 14x1.5mm, which is the FINE thread class of bolts.
The alternative is to pull the oil pan, drill another hole, weld in a fitting and then screw the sensor into that.
The oil cooler was also a marvel of trial and error. The standard Generic adapters do not fit on the block because of the IM brackets. You need to modify one by machining about .300" off the diameter. Then it fits, but you need to do it without breaking the port wall. Then you need to find a way to snake -10 AN lines through the engine bay without interfering with anything, its not easy, they don't bend well. Find a place for a Fram PH8A filter (ford V8), a PH16 also fits, its not much smaller. The only place it truly fits is in the bumper cavity. and make your own brakets to hold the cooler someplace where you can get good airflow over it (the lower front mouth).
There is apparently a Honda factory part for a 92 accord that fits on the block like a sandwich plate and doesn't relocate the filter, but provides ports to run the oil in and out to a cooler. My problem with it is it uses rubber lines and clamps, which I simply do not trust. They deteriorate and crack, expand and contract with temp and pressure and when given the opportunity to use SS lines, in the name of reliablity of me doing the work, I use them.
There's 500 ways to do an oil cooler loop, from ghetto to extravigant. I went pretty comprehensive on it, but its not necessary for a basic one. But I'm running over 5 quarts now and saw a 55 degree drop in temps.
Suspension is on the way. Relocating the filter would be a good thing, it's a PITA to change it now. Would just the added capacity of a larger, relocated filter be enought to cool the temperature? Or keep it cooler longer? I guess if I already run the line I might as well put the BMW oil cooler my friend has lying around. It's thin but long, pefect fit for the front bumper cavity.
More oil is never bad if you have room to pour it in. The bumper makes the job no easier. enough? Maybe. Oil over 240 is bad. You can't cover too much of the radiator with the cooler, the radiator needs air too. Fab up a strong bracket so it doesn't rattle against the AC cond. Zip Ties are NOT the answer.
The oil cooler will probably wait until next summer. No sense setting one up now if we are going to be running in cold weather, trying to learn the car. 7-9 minutes? That's about 4-5 laps at Shannonville, enough to cook tires and brakes.
BTW, do you happen to know what thread size and pitch the drain plug is?
I found a thread in oil plug temp sensor, but it's for M12 x 1.5. Will this work in the D17 oil pan? I can't find the specs for the plug anywhere, hoping there is a ETK for these cars.
It is, because I use 14mm crash bolt nuts to hold them in a lathe to drill them for oil temp sensors.
I just can't remember if the thread form is 1.5 or 1.75. I just know its finer than the standard 2mm.
