Peters NA6 "Britney"

[Jeo]

Thanks Peter. Not a great look but I'm sure we'll Brittany out soon enough.

[Russellb]

[The Sparco is a throw away, but it did its job extremely well.

I am interested to see the photographers photos to see if it explains exactly where it all went wrong.

A bit like hitting thr PIT armco on the start/finish line only last time there were no photos
I hope he held his ground for thr closest photo you want to talk about

[PeterB]

Thanks to Carco a 2nd hand passsenger door with mirror and glass and a 2nd hand front guard have been fitted and all bolted up fine. Actually they are in better condition than the ones on it previously.

A good measure with carco's body measuring tool and handbook of dimensions did not reveal any problems. Luckily the door and guard took the impact and the wheels do not seem to have taken any real hit (no marks on tyres or rims).

Luckily my new silver hardtop was not damaged.

I have fitted a new Sparco Sprint V race seat (thanks Mania) with new bolts. Because of the angle of contact, the harness did not take much of the impact and a good inspection indicates nothing is amiss.

Britney drives true, so only a wheel alignment left to check the figures.

I have registered for the NSW State supersprint series in class 3A as number 115, so ready to go back in March and try to get it right next time.

I am having a holiday in New Zealand in the interim for a bit of R&R.

[Jeo]

Huzzah! All good things to hear.

Does NZ mean no Marulan?

[PeterB]

Unlikely, as we get home on the 9th, so I won't put in an entry, but I may try to get up during the day to see how things are going.

[PeterB]

A wheel alignment at Tyrepower, Belconnen came up well, with no sign of anything being bent. Camber was unchanged at 2.2 degrees -ve front and 1.5 -ve rear.

The Right rear had 0.5 mm tow-out, which is not desirable, so the rear is now set up with a touch of toe-in.

The front had almost 1mm tow-out, which possibly came from exiting the track so dramatically, and was quickly re-set to square.

I was at Wakefield the other day helping a friend in an RX7 and saw the black MX5 race twins getting a shake down for the upcoming 300.

Britney has a little cellulite on the left rear thigh, but that is OK given her advancing years (and I can't see it from the drivers seat), so only needs some new oil and filter and we will resume the battle with Turn 4 on 24 March.

[PeterB]

After a wheel alignment, engine oil (Castrol Edge) and filter change, brake bleed and a thorough spanner check, Britney is ready for Wakefield Park on the 24th for her come-back performance.

I have fitted CAMS spec tow hooks front and rear and purchased some magnetic number backgrounds to make it easier to fit the numbers.

I will get another round or two out of the R888s then will have to consider tyre options, possibly the Yokohama 050 - depending on price.

I am also looking at trailer options as I will have to travel to Sydney more often.

Specifications are now - 1989 NA6 1600 :

Restoration :
CARCO rebuilt 1600 with original bore, pistons and cams.
New water pump, cam belt, hoses, alternator and plug leads.
NA6 standard radiator with plastic panel to help airflow.
1800 clutch and NA6 5-speed with new gearshift kit fitted. New rear wheel bearings.
NB8A 15"x6" with Pirelli road tyres for street use.

Performance:
Head is shaved and has cleaned up ports, running 12 degrees advance on 98 ulp as compression is unknown.
2nd hand extractors and cat, 2" cat back exhaust.
DDMWorks pod filter with heat shield from Rspeed (replaces stock air box).
NB KYB AGX adjustable shocks with Ground Effect springs (375 lb front and 250 lb rear).
Alignment : front -2.2 camber (using offset lower bush) with maximum caster, rear -1.8.
Red (?) aftermarket swaybars (rear adjustable).
Carco front swaybar brace (to stop mounts cracking again).
Mania front and rear underbody braces
Torsen 2 lsd with 4.3:1 ratio, NB rebuilt driveshafts and tail shaft (ex NB automatic via MX5 Mania).
Slotted front NA disks with Hawk HP+ pads, stock rear 1600 disks and Lucas pads.
Braided brake lines.
15x6.5" rims with Toyo R888 GG semi-slicks 205x50x15 running at 32 psi hot for track.

Safety / BodyworK:
Brown-Davis NB steel roll over protection system (can be CAMS approved) with padding.
Sparco Sprint V drivers seat on re-drilled NA seat rails.
Monza 3" 6-point clip-in harness using eyelets.
CAMS spec tow hooks front and rear.
CAMS spec fire extinguisher mounted on passengers floor.
NB lined hard top with demister (soft top removed as damaged).
Full interior trim with Kenwood stereo.
Drift flat bottom steering wheel (same bolt pattern as original Momo).
Rspeed OEM style front lip (rear lip not yet fitted).

Britney will continue to be used for Supersprints and Fairbairn hillclimb, and I will try to repeat her best at Wakefield Park of 1.13.53 and get that elusive 49.9 at Fairbairn Park (will need stickier tyres).

She has won class 5M for 2010-11 and 2011-12 and is leading 2012-13, so is probaly looking to a class upgrade for next season, although I will possibly run fewer club day and try to get to Phillip Island, possibly for the nationals.

Britney was also 2nd in type 3A in the 2012 state supersprint series, so I am still a very happy MX5er.

[PeterB]

An enjoyable, but very unsatisfying run at the state round on 24 March 2013 as I could only manage a 1.14.72, way off the times I was hoping for. I had lots of fun chasing and trying to hold off fellow MX5s as they sent us out in an all MX5 group.

Britney came second in Type 3A (from 2 cars !!!) so should be good points for the club, but one of those dreaded Civics has entered the class and with a 1.11 I have no hope of challenging him.

I removed the hardtop and fitted the old soft top from our NB (just for some open top motoring during Autumn and spring) and fitted another of my used old R888 to the left rear (both LHS tyres are now from the 2011 set as the 2012 set are finished), but had used one last track day with success.

The day was hot with no cloud cover and the R888s would not grip up. They were consistent and acceptable, but not quick. Looking back over my previous times it seems they are fairly temperature sensitive and only give their best in optimum cooler conditions.

So overall another good day at the track as Britney performed faultlessly all day and came home intact.

[PeterB]

A great day at the HSV track day at Wakefield on 8 April. It was fun being in a mixed fields of Holdens, Mercedes, Nissans, etc with lots to chase or try to run from.

I ran on a mix of worn R888s, but as it was a relatively cool day they were working well.

I am trying running with the softop but no hardtop, and apart from more scuttle shake on the highway, Britney does not feel any different.

Best runs of 1.13.9 and 1.14.1 on electronic timing were very satisfying after the dissapointing run last state round. I even managed a good spin at turn 4 without hitting anything !!

The NA6 brakes with Hawk HP+ pads didn't like the longer sessions and have glazed the disks again. I may have to consider an upgrade to a bigger rotor as I run 15" rims these days.

An extremely enjoyable day.

[PeterB]

Britney had a ride on a car trailer for her first run at Eastern Creek South circuit for the final round of the MX5 trackdays (5 May 2013).

I was looking forward to a good dice with Bernie Tressider to decide Class 5M, but as he had not entered I get the trophy by default.

Britney had a mix of old and older R888s and an old set of rotors, as my last set were destroyed at the HSV trackday when they ran longer sessions and the rotors did not cope with the heat.

The South circuit was good fun, but very hard to get the proper lines, but I was happy that I went faster each session, starting with a 1.11.08 on the first session then reducing to 1.09s and then 1.08s. Still more time in it if I could get more braking points and lines correct.

I ended up having a great dice with Mitch for 5M honours, but his even older R888s could not quite match mine and we ended up with Mitch 2nd on 1.09.00 to me first with a 1.08.64.

A good day and Britney is home unscathed, but needs a new set of boots and stoppers before her next outing. She was also a bit snarly thanks to a cracked exhaust, so a quick trip to the welder is in order.

[PeterB]

Britney is having a forced break from supersprinting, largely as the cost of running at Eastern Creek isn't worth it for me as the comparative "fun" factor of running on the North circuit isn't there. I can get almost three track days at Wakefield for the same cost of one NSWRRC supersprint at Eastern Creek (entry fees plus the cost of trailering up from Canberra). My collision repairs didn't help the retirees motorsports budget.

She also needs some maintenance as the brakes need a workover, particularly as the rear are cooked up. The R888s are pretty well gone, with maybe one or two track days left by mixing and matching the remaining tyres.

I picked up some NB8C automatic calipers off a Carco wreck - the autos use a NB8A size rotor, but are low km examples and will fit under my existing rims. The rears are fitted up with new rotors and new street pads. An easy fit apart from re-shaping the backing plates to suit.

I will use the bigger rears with the NA6 front slotted rotors and Hawk HP+ to see how they feel, before upgrading the front as well.

I have a trophy to collect next MX5 track day, so will make that my next run.

I will be interested to see how Bryan finds the Yokohama A050 when he fits them, as I think they will be my next purchase.

[Jeo]

Were you at the hillclimb today?

[PeterB]

No, I was putting the brakes on Britney.

Did you do the motorkhana ? If so can you please send me a copy of the results when you get them.

[Jeo]

Yep and yep.

Lots of 5's there today.

[PeterB]

Thanks to Dave at Carco I have a fresh set of 205x50x15 Kumho V70A mediums to have a go at the 6 July trackday.

I will try to give them an initial bed-in on the street before the track day.

The R888s worked pretty well on Britney and I have got over 2 years competition out of the two sets, so a pretty good run considering (and I got my 1.13.5 at WP). It will be interesting to see how the V70As compare after bedding in properly.

Unfortunately I will miss the August events at WP as I will be enjoying the sun in north Queensland, so won't get a track-day at WP until September.

Hoping for a sunny day on Saturday.