PJ finally installed the Nistune board after getting the base image changed:
After some tuning, it is far better. At least he didn't ruin the ECU in the process!
He also swapped the Greddy EVO TT exhaust from Panda to the red car. It looks as though it fits the general location, with only a few minor modifications to the brackets and hangers.
We decided that Dave should try for the Triad Award...I mean, he accidentally won the Northern States Championship by winning the Toledo Tour, so why not try for the Triad? However, that meant he would have to drive SM at Divs....Panda + Divs = waste of time and money. That means Baby would inherit some 5-year old Hoosiers from the Sentra's former GS life.
Of course, Dave would need to test how Baby handles, and I needed to familiarize myself with the Toyo R1R's. GFab trooped down to the Dirty Jerz (again) for an MSNE event at the Meadowlands, the week before Divs.
Then, disaster struck.
MSNE Sunday: Meadowlands is great. Rod knock is not.
Quick tire review: Toyos have interesting grip compared to the Kooks. It's not instant -- It's kind of like "OMG WHERE IS IT? I AM GOING TO SLIDE....Ah, ok now it's sticking." The shorter sidewall means faster acceleration, and the light tune means more power, so overall it wasn't bad. The course was long enough (and laps were hot enough) to make it so the tires would overheat and drop off by 3/4 way through the run, which sort of sucked, but at least it was good indication of how to take care of the tires.
Despite the tire problems, the car felt great, probably due to the new front ball joints and bushings. Also probably due to the fact that we greased the crap out of the swaybar; it was binding as all the grease had squeezed out. We were considering dremmelling out a channel in the bushings, but it hasn't gotten that far yet.
Photo courtesy Perry Aidelbaum
Because of the setup (Dave + me in the same heat, and 8 runs each), I took all my runs at once, instead of switching tires between us, which would not have been possible. I might not have been pushing as hard, but the car felt good, despite the 95 degree weather and 100% humidity.
We pulled a pit stop with F1-enviable tire changing times (<7 minutes), considering we had one impact gun and one jack. Dave went out for two runs and the ancient Hoosiers were not so bad after the first run. They were actually pretty sticky. In the first two runs, Dave went fast enough to take top time in class. By Dave's third run, I heard something not so good from the grid (500' away?), and our friends working the course heard it too -- which is worse. After he pulled back into the spot, he stalled, and then tried to turn the engine over....which sounded like pain.
PJ was already sprinting in from his corner, having heard the noise while Dave was running. It was unmistakable. And unfortunate. AAA stranded us for 2.5 hours, and after getting a little feisty, the flatbed finally came and towed us home.
We pulled the engine Monday night. We were a bit low on oil, but not THAT low, so we have a few theories as to why it happened. Perhaps the sweepers were just too big? Perhaps the heat thinned the oil too much? Who knows. All we know is that the bearing was TOAST:
The other half of it seems to be fused to the connecting rod. The block looks like it is ok, but the crank is all scored. Sigh, oh well.
Also, a weird little round cap was rattling around in the oil pan:
Engines! We had purchased a freshened up block and head a while ago in preparation for this season. The motor was already bored 0.020" over (first overbore and legal limit for Stock class), new rods, pistons, bearings, oil pump, timing chain, and of course, all new seals. We put the bottom end together on Tuesday, overnighted more parts from Japan than should be legally possible, and decided Wednesday would be "Assemble the rest of the Engine" night.
I think we forgot how long it takes to rebuild an engine...
Wednesday started off with the bottom end mostly assembled, but PJ ended up loosening and re-tightening everything to spec. Since he didn't have a degree wrench handy, I ended up guessing the angle for the rods and head bolts, with all bolts at least to the alternate torque spec.
Taking time torquing things down - Check out the veins in PJ's arm!
Getting the new timing chain and front cover on were easy enough, since it's all relatively bolt-on:
Things slowed down after that, with all the old RTV to remove off of the PCV, upper chain cover, and removing the gaskets from the intake and other accessories. Removing the rear main seal from the old engine was a pain with it still on the stand, but it eventually came out and a new seal was tapped in. The finished product isn't as shiny up top, but oh well.
Divs Recap: I hit lots of cones, which put me solidly in 3rd place in STL. Without them I would have been ahead of 3rd by 0.7. I also had the worst DNF of my racing career. It's on video somewhere. Awesome.
We had exactly 3 miles of break in on the engine before my codriver, Solo Mom Kathy Barnes, took her first run. And you know, it wasn't half bad! We are admittedly the slower of the 5 drivers in the car for Divs, so it seemed ok...but the gentlemen were quite unhappy.
The car on Toyos requires a completely different suspension setup. The guys used day 1 to figure it out, and it was better. Though, my codriver (in ST) said that he felt he needed to drive the piss out of the tires, which shouldn't be happening.
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Photo by Dan Boudria
By Day 2, it was much better. FYI, Toyos like to be run at stupid low pressures.
Good thing Toyo pays out to third place (stupid cones....), and Kathy ended up in 4th. The guys in open class were 2 and 3, so overall, we won $400 and learned some valuable lessons. With 55 miles of break-in by the end of the weekend, the engine felt pretty good. It's only been getting better since then, too, which is encouraging.
ST*L had a pretty good showing, too. 1 in STSL, and 5 in STL:
Even Nationals only has 6 in STL....
Despite the driving failures, it was a pretty fun weekend. Probably the only one where it's acceptable (and fun) to attend, and not drive:
Fast forward to the NER annual charity event, Racing Against Leukemia. G-Fab was able to raise over $1700, and I think as a program, Solo raised nearly $7000. We raised more than the other divisions, and though I don't have a total for the entire weekend, I'd say NER might be on the UMass Memorial Foundation's list of favorite organizations.
We returned to stock sways, since the 30/27 mm ones were binding like crazy. The car feels a little more controllable with them on, but I don't know if it's due to size or lack of grease. Or the fact that we were testing it on a 28 second course on a postage stamp of a lot.
We datalogged the Toyos vs the Hankooks, and there isn't much difference. Codriver #1 says he doesn't feel a difference, but the Toyos were run in the rain/drying, Hankooks were run in the dry and overheating. It's hard to say which is actually faster overall, but given the time constraints, financial constraints, and the supply/demand issue, the ST team will be purchasing a set of full-tread RS-3's for Nationals.
Personally, I prefer the Kooks (as does codriver #2). The response is instant, and when at temp, the grip is incomparable. I think the car accelerates and brakes slightly better with the Toyos, which might be due to the lower amount of grip and the shorter sidewall, but in the rain they're absolutely better. We'll be bringing the Toyos out for rain, but I don't think they can compete with Hankooks if it's going to be hot out.
We ran into some fuel pressure issues again, but PJ threw a new pump in, and it's far better. The car definitely pulls a lot harder, as illustrated by our THIRD double header in a row...Wiley was able to take first place in ST over two EF Civics. In the rain. On Hankooks. Yay for us!
Right now, we're just taking a bit of a breather, only doing "comfort and convenience" modifications yesterday. Baby now has working rear speakers! They play the Glee Pandora Station quite well. I feel like this season has really been quite the learning experience, both in driving, assembly, and just how expensive shipping costs are.
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