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Member
I almost bought that.Very nice.
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I had a productive few hours in my ongoing prep for O-fest.
The lack of oil pressure indication problem was solved by replacing the oil pressure sender.
Installed the pennon wing I bought from Jared. Pretty straight forward project with lots of checking and double checking measurements. Since I already drilled 6 holes into the trunk lid for my now former LYW wing, drillg an additional 8 holes was a piece of cake.
Need to go to the local race car hardware store (Home Depot) to get some 3/8" plywood to use as gap maintainers between the trunk skin and structural metal underneath. If I torque the wing foot mounting hardware any more, the trunk skin will dimple slightly where the feet meet the trunk skin.
I will also strip the old red paint of the uprights and and rattle can them black.
Rearward vision is now restored.
Member
Too bad your sig pic is now outdated - hop on that eh?
Will
Increasing the value of E30 M3's everywhere, one shunt at a time.
Member
Want full car pics please. Looks great!
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Done.Originally Posted by ydubbs4
Thanks Sutt. Be a few days before I can take updated full car images. In the meantine these will have to do.
Member
The new sig pic will tie me over for a little while. I love rear end shots.
Member
Great meeting you and the wife Mario. We made it home safe and sound. Best of luck at O'fest.
Jay
From wannabe to has been in a few short years..... the older I get, the faster I was
IP Contender
Glad to hear you made it home ok. I hope you had a great time visiting the other coast.
It was a sincere pleasure for my wife and I to meet you and Joanne. Great, great evening. Thank you.
Ill do my best at O-fest. Thanks.
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Almost ready for O-fest. Only thing left to do is diff and tranny fluid change.
The MOST important mod....courtesy of my wife.
Member
You should have got her, er I mean your car a jaffster Knob
IP Contender
LOL. Smiley was wifes idea. She loves smiley faces so I took the AKG knob that came with the shifter, dyed it yellow and let her have some fun.You should have got her, er I mean your car a jaffster Knob
Member
Car is looking great Mario. Good luck, have fun and be safe. Wish I could join you.
Jay
From wannabe to has been in a few short years..... the older I get, the faster I was
LSD addict
Great work Mario, hope those parts I sold you are working well, I should have kept them
Hope to see you at an event soon!
IP Contender
Thanks Jay. I think you would have had a good time at O-fest and not even minded the rain.
Hey Josh. The parts are not on the car yet. Waiting until the winter to do the work. I can sell you some parts back if you need themGreat work Mario, hope those parts I sold you are working well, I should have kept them
Hope to see you at an event soon!
Post O-fest update:
The car ran nearly without a flaw. The 4 track days I used to shake down the vehicle and many hours I spent prepping the car for 5 days of driving paid off.
Although the alignment the car received was for optimized for Hoosiers it worked perfectly for the Hankook Z214 in the c51 compound.
The car felt perfectly balanced with a touch of high speed understeer and nary a touch of oversteer. Its remains incredibly easy to drive the car fast and I feel I have not driven the car at its absolute limits yet. I think the car has another 1 to 1.5 secs to give at WGI.
The pennon wing I bought from 98ltwm3 was a huge improvement over the replica MA shaw wing. It has a max adjustment of 12 degrees. I set it to 6 to start and it worked very well. Experience, data and input from the wings previous owner confirm a 4 mph increase in top end speed at the end of the backstraight. I was also able to reduce the splitters extension by 1".
The combination of the BW World Challenge Airbox and AA race exhaust continued to impress. While the powerband has moved up toward the top end of the curve, the cars ability to spin up to speed was much improved. This combination required a change in the way I shift at the Glen. Depending on the situation (setting up a pass after a turn, keeping ahead of other cars) I would have to shift to 3rd to keep the car in the powerband. Then there is the intake / exhaust sound - awesome.
The Hankook tires are awesome. Best tire I have had on a car since I started driving on the track 8 years ago. They are so grippy, linear and predictable its amazing.
Hoosier wets. Another incredible tire. Wroth every dollar for the application. Felt very much like the Hankook but obviously louder. They are also amazing road spray generators.
The UUC Alcon brakes continue to amaze me. Compared to the OEM set up, the brake pedal remains firm with consistent pedal height lap after lap, despite the pads being down to 50% after 9 track days. Lap after lap they feel the same. Very reassuring and confidence inspiring set up.
To the problems. I had 2. The day before I left for the Glen, I noticed some shock fluid at the bottom of the front right strut. Not a lot but definately some fluid. Great a shock leak a day before my peak event of the year. Research pointe toward that, but did not fully confirm it. Documented data pointed at a low nitrogen condition. Made a few calls on the way to the Glen and that was suspected.
As a precautionary measure I called Ground Control on my way to the Glen. Mike and Trevor at GC went beyond the call of duty, assembled 2 new inserts for me and shipped them to my hotel the next day. In the meantime with the help of Vine Leo I checked my nitrogen pressure (which was fine) and added an extra 10 psi in order to get me through one day of driving.
The shock held up and I got through day 1 of the race school.
The next morning my friend Brian Henry (#206 SE36) and I removed the strut, disassembled it and put it back together with new internals. The old insert was definately leaking more than it led me to believe. This winter I will remove the left side insert and send both units back to GC for a rebuild.
Problem #2 was another dead oil pressure sender. 3 days of on track vibration killed the one I had just installed. The next replacement will be mounted remotely. Sucks having to rely on the OEM idiot light. But I guess something is better than nothing.
All in all the car is fast, even with its 146k mile young engine, original transmission and diff.
My fastest lap for the 5 days there was a 2:12.3. During a practice session I pulled at 2:13.4. Me personal best prior to these 2 lap times was a 2:17.xx in Sept of 2007. Huge improvement. I think the car could do a mid 2:10 to 2:11 in its current form.
For my rookie race debut I had set some goals, which were met.
1. Preserve the machinery
2. Put myself in as many situations as possible and learn
3. Push myself past my DE comfort level
4. Have fun
I am hooked. It will be very hard to go back to a typical DE with point bys unless its to learn a new track or to do testing. For next year I will target 4 club races, advanced lapping days and the GVC ITS.
Below images my wife and I took at the event.
Leann chatting with James Clay
My 5 year old who wants to start racing as well.
The rest of the image are the ones my wife took. She has damn good eye.
Top of the esses. Entering T4
Down the Chute..
Turn 9 in splendid fall colors..
Entering the back straight..
Brake zone..
Some spousal motivation. Leann is telling me to go for P1..
Ex PTG E46 M3. I was passed by that car in race practice..Wicked machine.
Wheel lift in T9
Last edited by TIATO; 10-03-2008 at 08:08 PM.
Member
Mario, time to come out to Summit Point next weekend!
I didnt know you had a Maltese, Bichon, MaltiPoo, or something of that kind
Last edited by magnetic1; 10-03-2008 at 08:21 PM.
IP Contender
Eric,Mario, time to come out to Summit Point next weekend!
I didnt know you had a Maltese, Bichon, MaltiPoo, or something of that kind
I do owe my sis in law a visit (she lives in charles town) but I also have to use up 2 credits with Trackmasters and Chin. That said, Ill be at Watkins Glen again next week Wed/Thurs with TM and at NJMP with Chin on Mon and Tues. Unfortunately those 4 days will mark the end of my '08 season.
Lucy does not belong to us. Lucy's owners are my friend Ryan's parents. At O-fest Nicole and Lucy decided to adopt each other.
We have 2 mini dachshunds. Low center of gravity, long wheelbase and high strung. Ill have to find a picture.
Here ya go....
Sugar..
Casey..
Last edited by TIATO; 10-03-2008 at 09:43 PM.
Member
GREAT pics. I was looking forward to hearing about your trip. I think you at least 2 good sig pics you and rotate between. The one you are using and this one. I love it.
Next time you have a chance could you take a pic of the intake please?
Keep up the good work.
Your daughters pose made me laugh. I think I will have a few of those when my daughter gets older.
Member
Cute dogs!Eric,
I do owe my sis in law a visit (she lives in charles town) but I also have to use up 2 credits with Trackmasters and Chin. That said, Ill be at Watkins Glen again next week Wed/Thurs with TM and at NJMP with Chin on Mon and Tues. Unfortunately those 4 days will mark the end of my '08 season.
Lucy does not belong to us. Lucy's owners are my friend Ryan's parents. At O-fest Nicole and Lucy decided to adopt each other.
We have 2 mini dachshunds. Low center of gravity, long wheelbase and high strung. Ill have to find a picture.
There is a double sprint in November at Summit ($149)
LSD addict
Great Pics Mario, glad you achieved all of your goals. I guess Ill let you keep the parts, but I might change my mind
That PTG car looks sick, as always. Must have been a pleasure to hear it thunder down the road.
Your wife took some great shots!
LSD addict
BTW, keep up the good work
Member
Out of curiosity, what was the PTG car doing on track with you'all? Just a demo drive? Not CR legal as it was pictured.
Jay
From wannabe to has been in a few short years..... the older I get, the faster I was
Member
I believe it was one of the Mobile Tradition cars, just being showed off.
Member
It sure are purdy!!!!!!!
Jay
From wannabe to has been in a few short years..... the older I get, the faster I was
Member
Beautiful car, Mario. Definiately one of my favorite build threads on BFC. What's the LCD display for on the center console that says 336?
GrifM3
Dinan S2
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