The Red Green Machine

[greenMachine]

Thanks for that tip Lokiel, I'll do that while I have the metalworking stuff out. I have a few spares from the cars I have dismantled, but prevention is much better that cure!

[greenMachine]

Well, back on the road, after a couple of hiccups. First one was the discovery of the leaking rear seal on the gearbox. Having destroyed a 6-speed on the racecar with low oil, this was an instant withdrawal from the Interstate Challenge , and a quick trip into town to get a new one put in.

That fixed, time for a bit of driving ... took the scenic route to Goulburn, because I needed milk, as you do! The handling on the race shocks is quite stiff, but not choppy. The car is very responsive to steering inputs, mainly a result of the alignment. I need more seat time to get used to the new feel of the car.

However, it is veeery low, and no way is it going to pass rego this week. Up on the stands again, and I just don't understand why the shocks straight off the racecar are so low on the SE . Dave offers his stock SE spring/shocks, and so I throw on the fronts. When I look at the rears, there is still perch adjustment available, so F****it, wind them up 20mm, it looks like a 4wd but it is only for a couple of days. This gets me through rego, so next move is to get the race shocks back in again, set up the ride heights (again ), and get the alignment redone and then drive it!

The softtop is cactus, it has split along the leading edge of the front rail, not something I have seen before. I have installed the side catches and Frankenstein bolts so I can put my hardtop from the green car on. It needs a touchup, but the question is, do I: sell it as is, sell it after a touchup paint job, or do a full repaint to suit the SE? Just to complicate the question, I have the racecar hardtop too, it needs some superficial patching, and a coat of paint, and some civilising work on the interior, but it too could be sold as-is, or I could make it (another) project ... decisions, decisions!

[ManiacLachy]

Did you mean rego is done? I was worreid that the bumps on the old SE shocks might be gone and you could get pulled up on that. A friend got denied his roadworthy for that before selling a car.

This car is primarily a street car, right? Are you planning on running with the hard top, or just temporary until you repair/replace the soft? If I were running an HT full time, I would go OEM and re-spray to match the car. But, if you're going to move them both on and go back to ST, I would just run the OEM as is for the mean time.

This reminds me, I need to get an alignment!

[greenMachine]

ML, it is a registered track car, basically your typical dual duty car.

Rego is due tomorrow, but I try to get the inspections done early, like weeks early. That didn't happen this time, so I was pushing to get it done as early as possible this week to give me a bit of breathing space in case a 'fail' result on something necessitated a repair followed by a second inspection. The system allows you to travel from home to a repair place and an inspection place after rego expires, but I am not sure how that works when I cross the border into ACT. The ACT have gone heavily into LPR cameras, and a few years ago my ex got pulled up inside 24 hrs of her rego expiring, like 8am the following morning . It would take more than that for a NSW rego to show expired, but I'd rather not put it to the test.

As it turned out the car got a clean bill of health, not even an advisory.

I need to get the green HT on the car, and get a quote for the respray, and the touchup. Then I can nut out what I want to do. I suspect that a respray will be likely to be the go, because the rear deck/bootlid need a respray because of the paint fading to white patches there, but when will be the question, and how much will be a big part of the answer.

I have a spare soft top from the green car which can go on, but if I do the respray I might just leave that in storage because weight! They are heavy, and weight up high is to be avoided as far as possible ...

Re the bump stops, Dave replaced all when he discovered that the rears had basically disappeared, so that was all good.

[ManiacLachy]

All good then!

If she's more track than street, and the respray is a bit much, just rattle the HT black and be done. Agree, no need for an ST if HT is the main use and track focused. I'd still go with the OEM though, for the looks.

[greenMachine]

Put some more kays on the car, with an improved (but now too high) ride height. Decided that I am happy with the ride and handling and that, while I will fiddle with the ride height, playing with springs and shock valving is not on the menu.

I have to say that I think that these poly/bronze bushes are the duck's guts. Absolutely zero resistance to movement of the arms, no noise, and sufficient compliance to avoid that harshness that delrin or rose joints generate. All mine have grease nipples, so that will be a regular task, but that is to keep the crap out rather than to lube them (the bronze bushing is sufficient for that). It will be interesting to see how they last, especially given my dirt road, and the puddles ...

Now that the seat time is building up, and having missed the last track day, I am starting to salivate at getting back on the track.

[ManiacLachy]

The poly bronze kit is great. I'm very very surprised it's not a more common solution. I've heard about it here and there on other makes, but it's rare. And it's a simple solution. Why don't bigger manufacturers or companies that sell suspension and bushes have a kit? For MX-5s, it's just one man with barely enough time to dedicate to the task, such that demand and wait lists are out the door. What am I missing here?

Glad to see you're getting the car out!

[greenMachine]

Absolutely! The best of poly, with none of its drawbacks - which are significant but not widely publicised.

The problem can't be the greasing, which is not strictly required anyway, because polys have to be regreased too. I wonder if it is that 'metal-to-metal' fear, about noise, wear, or the cost. Given you have to buy the polys anyway, then stump up another bag of gold for the conversion, it is not a cheap solution. Even if Superpro or one of the others made them as a full kit, they would still be more expensive than the poly. It would also highlight the downside of their poly product, but I am sure that some cute marketing could handle both the price premium and the (implied, at least) criticism of the standard poly.

I am not going to lose sleep over it, just enjoy driving on them!!

[SKYHI]

Good to hear about your experience with the bushes. I still have all the OEM bushes in my car, so I'll need to decide which way to go and organise to do something soon.

[greenMachine]

Time for another update, this one from the road - posting from beautiful downtown Albury, where I am overnighting on the way to pickup my new velocity red HT . The green HT is now gracing (see what I did there ) the old original GM, where it will be prepped for sale. All I have to worry about is whether my racer tape repairs to the split on the front of the softtop holds for the rest of the trip. Although, if the weather holds, the top might just be lowered

I was asked at our Christmas in July in August what sort of fuel consumption I am getting, with 140rwkw used as often as I think I can get away with. My response is - who cares! whatever it is, it is worth it!! . However, I have noticed since that I am consistently getting better than 10l/100km around town, and on the run to Albury today it was 7.89l/100km at 110 kmh (well, 110 + 10% ). Ed at Autotech - take a bow!

Car is entered for Sunday 22/9 Supersprints at WP, so as soon as I get back it will be wheels off, a bit more ride height and the R-specs on. I need to do a brake bleed too, the pedal is a bit long though otherwise good. If all proceeds well, I might look at putting the BMW front hubs on as well - they are not doing much good sitting on a shelf in the workshop .

[greenMachine]

The only fly in the ointment at the moment is the SoloDL2, which will not talk to the ECU. Although it allegedly has the Autronic SM4 serial protocol, nothing we can do will get them to communicate. The local distributor has told us 'it works', but it seems he is talking about dashes, not loggers like the Solo, and they connect differently. He has gone quiet, hopefully that is because there is some urgent communications happening between Italy and Wollongong while they sort it out.

So much for wanting a 'working out of the box' solution.

[greenMachine]

Measured 39.8l fill for 518kms, Upper Ferntree Gully to the service centre just north of Euroa, 7.68l/100km, mostly 110kmh cruising except for the suburban section.

Must measure consumption for next Sunday's Supersprint ...

[Roadrunner]

Airbox modz:
catchcan breather venting to airbox/intake, of course

Hi, Have you dríven the car much with the oil breather set up like this?
With a down hill run from your can to the airbox filter are you worried oil will make it past the can and pool in the hose limiting venting or pulse through the filter and splatter oil over the inside of the airbox?
Do you get oil smells in the cabin?

Asking because I'm thinking of doing the same set up:D

[greenMachine]

Short answer - no issues to date.

Track driving has been limited, but road use, including some serious revs/acceleration, has not produced any issues, smells or drips. Note that if it did fill with blow-by fluids, it would end up saturating, and probably leaking through, the breather filter, as you say. That is something I will keep an eye on, bit with the 'tiny hole' mod (qv) I don't expect that this will happen. If that hasn't been done, it may well be a different story.

I drained the tank - well undid the cap, nothing in the tank to drain apparently.

[greenMachine]

Time for another update.

Track day did not go well, bad miss evident after a lap or so, recurred in next two sessions, so day abandoned. New plugs fitted, but car is yet to go on dyno to check that has fixed the miss.

Took the car to the aircon place, for a regas/top-up, as no cool air. Turns out plenty of gas in the system, but the compressor won't switch on. The penny drops, and I remembered that the original software in the Autronic used the aircon switch to turn on the launch control, so hopefully that will be quick/cheap fix.

However in the meantime I have discovered the fun that can be had removing the turbo, in this case to fix a leak at the manifold that required machining. I took the opportunity to install the Stage 8 manifold/turbo stud kit, and to attempt the elimination of an exhaust rattle - Mazda did not allow for 3in pipes down there it seems! A couple of washers to lower the bracing, some judicious work with an angle grinder to relieve a weld in the wrong place, and it is looking good, but driving will be the proof of the pudding.

Turbo removal/reinstallation was quite the learning experience , including finding the source of the big puddle of oil on the floor and then tightening the appropriate union. Car is still at the workshop, but will come home tomorrow.