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Ribs were a flop but a perfect test. The one major issue was intake airflow. It was burning with the door shut but clearly flared up when I opened it. Also door shut made temps drop. Open all the way also made temps drop. Just cracked seemed to hit the sweet spot. They came out cooked but clearly rushed and tough. Saturday morning I got to work. 2x 2" diameter holes were added to the door. It was eyeballed to be most of but less than the area of the damper so I would have an overlap between the previous full open and full send. My drill press does not like 2" hole saws vs 3/16 plate. Enough tool pressure caused belt slip. Finished with the hand drill. Also made a quick and dirty grate for the coals to sit on.  I also (poorly photographed) stuffed a bunch of aluminum foil between the tank and the reverse flow plate. A quick and easy does sealing this help test. Added a water tray too for some humidity and temp balance.  Then I hucked a brisket at it. Irl friends had been following the progress too and Saturday was to be the big reveal. 8hrs from lighting the fire... Brisket.   It was pretty ok! It wasn't great but it was better than anything we can get locally in southern Ohio. Damned by faint praise but everyone went back for seconds. Previous attempts went different. In the Webber kettle grill the smoked part was great but it was clearly dry and burnt in places. Done in my friends electric smoker it was more moist and even but the smoking aspect was off. Bitter? Wet smoldering chunks of wood don't seem to give the same flavor as dry burning wood. Best guess is the temps I thought I was hitting were a lie and it was to hot inside. I'm going to check the gauges vs boiling water and if they read right probably spring for a digital setup that lets me place sensors inside the cook chamber wherever I want. Then more testing. All in all it was a good time. Sunday was spent contemplating hangovers and how youth is wasted on the young. Today I cleaned up the mess I'd made and got ready to return to the regularly scheduled  Tomorrow the rundown on the FFR and make it's needed things to run list.
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Apr 12, 2022 01:26
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It's expensive, but I'd suggest something like this to monitor temperatures without having to open the smoker every half hour. Also, wrap it in butcher paper at 165 to retain the juices for the rest of your smoke. My briskets went from "ehhh" to amazing just by doing that. Otherwise looks good dude. You'll be churning out slabs of beef with pretty red rings soon enough. I thought about this thread the other day when I found this at a bbq joint in Burnet:  Yes that's a smoker. Yes I'm thinking about it. Mustache Ride fucked around with this message at 13:20 on Apr 12, 2022 |
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Apr 12, 2022 13:10
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Hah that's awesome. I was planning on wrapping it but watching the temps come up the timing was going to be perfect so I let it ride. I was expecting a noticable stall but it just climbed steadily. That's why I'm thinking it's hotter near the middle. I did have a wired probe in the brisket. I'm more curious about the air temps in the center. The analog gauges I have on the lid extend maybe 2" inside.
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Apr 12, 2022 15:14
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While not quite as darling as the 8th gen, 9th gen Si’s are also a blast (and the coupes look a lot better than the 8th coupe)
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Apr 12, 2022 15:32
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And now the start of the Ford content you all came here for. Factory five challenge was a spec series in NASA that's now dead. Factory five the company makes kit cars based on quite a few drivetrains but one of their big ones is Shelby Cobra clones. They came (maybe still but I'm not sure) in 2 flavors. The street car version and a race spec version. This will be about the race spec. The major difference between them is ones a deathtrap and ones fully caged if still open cockpit. This specific car is still in class trim but hasn't ran in 5+ years. The owner and his dad used to race together and I did the maintenance, mods, and support for both of them for a couple years. It was a lot of fun, tons of stories I'll tell as this goes on. As to why now, I floated the idea of trading prep for seat time and he agreed. I can get this track ready way sooner than the civic. Also it's very very cheap to run and fix. The whole things based off the fox body mustang. Engine is a 302 with heads, cam, and intake. Rear end is a Ford 8.8 with stock lsd. Most issues can be sorted at AutoZone with parts they have in stock. And it's easy on tires. One set of toyos can last a full season of you don't flat spot them. So, a couple pics. Then the rough needs list.     Why did it get parked is the place to start. Rules mandated straight water in the cooling system and the last time it ran it got parked that way before winter. All I know for sure is a couple freeze plugs popped out. Its actually happened to this car before without negative effects but I know it can also do fun stuff like crack the block so that's the staring point. So step one is get the body work off the front end and look for signs the block is toast. If lucky step 2 is minimum input get it running and make sure it's not toast. 1. Remove front body work 2. Assess damage? 3. Remove exhaust 4. Replace freeze plugs 5. Install exhaust 6. Change fluids (oil/coolant) 7. New battery 8. Replace gas with fresh 9. Start engine???? 10. Stupid thing won't start diagnostics (optional) 11. Leak check the above. If that doesn't end in blocks cracked then: 12. Diff and trans fluid 13. Pads rotors and brake fluid 14. Grease suspension 15. SFI issues for belts, fire bottle, and fuel cell 16. Nut and bolt check 17. Check alignment 18. ??? 19. Track day. List is subject to change without notice.
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Apr 13, 2022 02:45
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That thing is cool as hell. What's the plan if the block is toast? Pretty sure 302s are getting pricey and rare. I think I saw prices for crates at like $12k? I was at the Texas Cobra owners meetup a few weekends ago and you can really tell the spec cars vs the regular ones. https://imgur.com/a/sJwIpN6 My buddy was in the white Daytona, hence my heretical Ford hating rear end being there.
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Apr 13, 2022 03:48
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If you need someone to bug F5, lemme know. They're fifteen minutes from me.
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Apr 13, 2022 12:28
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Mustache Ride posted:That thing is cool as hell. What's the plan if the block is toast? Pretty sure 302s are getting pricey and rare. I think I saw prices for crates at like $12k? One idea had been to replace the engine with a coyote and make it street legal. He cant find the paperwork on the current drivetrain for the inspection. If a new one was bought then it would be adjust cage for no helmet and add lights, signals, horn etc. It doesn't really fit well in the remaining classes in nasa. Aerodynamics of a brick with holes in it. sharkytm posted:If you need someone to bug F5, lemme know. They're fifteen minutes from me. Good to know, thanks!
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Apr 13, 2022 14:08
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Got the nose off the ffr and then my neighbor came over and asked if I could look at her Santa Fe. Transmission issues. Not something I know a lot about but said I'd plug in the code reader and check the fluid levels. 1 cel for secondary O2. Fluids low but didn't take much to top off. Drive it around and it's stuck in first but feels fine for first. Just won't shift. Some googling later apparently it's a common problem if you spill a drink on the center console. Pulled all that out, blew a bunch of ???? out of the plugs and now it has gears again. Apparently it thinks it's in sport mode but can't see your inputs if you put it in sport mode and manually shift. What a weird failure mode.
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Apr 14, 2022 02:34
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honda whisperer posted:Got the nose off the ffr and then my neighbor came over and asked if I could look at her Santa Fe. Transmission issues. Not something I know a lot about but said I'd plug in the code reader and check the fluid levels. 1 cel for secondary O2. Fluids low but didn't take much to top off. It doesn't involve the window switch, so it's not that weird.
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Apr 14, 2022 13:16
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Brisket is good. Cars is good. Thread is good.
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Apr 14, 2022 15:48
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sharkytm posted:It doesn't involve the window switch, so it's not that weird. Lol drivers window is inoperable. builds character posted:Brisket is good. Cars is good. Thread is good. Thanks! Ok, front end is off. I can move it around alone but getting it off the car requires 2 people. It basically tips forward like a vipers front end then you walk it forward. Front off it's a pretty great car to work on. There's always stuff in the way but it's closer to an open wheel car than a unibody for access. Started in on the passenger side exhaust.  You bastard.   Then the driver's side. Foot box covers half of it.  I can see!  Of course it's the one under the motor mount on both sides. I don't have my engine leveler anymore so I'll have to either make a new one or sort out some kind of support tomorrow. Now presenting the worst exhaust design I've ever seen.   The 4 into 1 into 4 into 1. It was the spec required setup. Any shorties on backwards and then that mess from the collector on. They do make long tubes but this was chosen for class as a cost saving option. Minimum weight was set by dynoing the car once a year so gaining power just hurt you (if you could hit you min weight) It will get bolted back on, least effort and cost to track is the goal, but it's on my short list of "upgrades". Edit: also I can raise the lift higher with this than any other car that's been on it. Some jobs I'll be able to actually stand under it. It's also much better on a 2 post but still happy it's slammed and without a roof. 
honda whisperer fucked around with this message at 02:25 on Apr 15, 2022 |
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Apr 15, 2022 01:54
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honda whisperer posted:Now presenting the worst exhaust design I've ever seen. Race cars are great on lifts, you can stack so many. Can't stack normal cars with my 8' ceiling but race cars are no problem, I could probably stack formula cars three high.
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Apr 15, 2022 11:32
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Yeah it wasn't hurting anything. Honestly I loved the dyno = weight rules. Easy to cheat I guess but at least in that group everyone hung out and worked together to make the racing as close as possible. Keeping it cheap helped keep people in. Swung by Costco and made a friend. Well a parking friend anyway.  1st gr86 I've seen in person. Looks much better irl. Grabbed parts on the way home and pressed on. Middle is what fell out. Sides are the range I grabbed. Decided to go for the deeper ones.  With the mount out of the way you still can't really reach it. This is what I came up with. Not great but it worked.   They're chewed up on the perimeter but good enough for option b being pull the engine.   Mounts back in and tightened up. Tomorrow I'll add water, if that doesn't start pouring out then exhaust on, oil, gas and ????
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Apr 16, 2022 02:23
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Exhaust went back in without any drama. Tossed in some water and it started dripping steadily from the water pump. I'll get one ordered tomorrow. 5yr old oil came out looking fine. No milkshake so that's good. The pan assumes a cross member so 2 drain plugs!  Also new oil filter. Took about 7 qts. I'm glad I remembered to get 2 jugs. A neat trick on these engines is you can easily build oil pressure on a stationary engine. Step 1 rotate it to tdc. Step 0 take it out of gear and see step 1. Then mark the distributor so you can get it close, and mark where the rotor is pointed. The helical gear on it makes it rotate as you install it. Now pull the distributor. The oil pump drives the distributor and you can work that backwards too.   The thing that connects them is 1/4" so an extension for a bit driver set or a very thin deep 1/4" socket can reach down and spin it. Stop 3 at the nearest parts store in 2 days and they're asking about the project now. Use a drill to spin the oil pump and let it go for a while. I gave it 30 seconds after the gauge saw pressure. Reassembled the ignition stuff, drained the tank, found a fuel leak in the middle. Got it to barely dripping near the tank. It's where the hose goes into the AN fitting so add redo fuel lines to the list. A little fresh gas and  Fired right up and stalled. Second time it did better but I had to keep it alive. Happy noises only so I called it there for the day. Sort the fuel leak and water pump and I should be able to drive it in and out of the garage. My neighbors are about to love me.
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Apr 16, 2022 23:52
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08 civic SI came back for a primary O2 sensor. I am so glad I didn't have to do that on stands this morning.   Ah just right there, easy peasy. Wile looking into it I found out the secondary plug is under the center console. That's dumb. Checked on the rest of the car while I was down there. Oil pan is still nice and dry.  And the muffler is probably gonna make a noise soon.  Then off to the ffr owners house to help push a car with a dead battery outside. C7 Vette, been hanging out all winter, and oops the battery. There's one key access spot on the outside for this and oops Chevy didn't actually put the lock cylinder in the spot. Dollies onto the driveway so a tow truck can grab it tomorrow.
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Apr 17, 2022 21:17
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That looks pretty clean underneath for an 08!
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Apr 17, 2022 21:52
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honda whisperer posted:Thanks. It has been refreshing. Okay now make it properly AI https://i.imgur.com/GlKWYit.mp4
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Apr 19, 2022 17:16
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Holy poo poo lol.
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Apr 19, 2022 19:45
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Hell yeah.
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Apr 21, 2022 04:32
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Parts are on their way. Not all of them but enough to keep going.
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Apr 21, 2022 13:43
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 What the absolute poo poo gently caress was that. Someone tell me the next tube of grease is easy mode because priming that sucked. Lie if you have to.
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Apr 23, 2022 23:06
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Practice makes it go better. it really doesn't manual grease guns suck get an electric one
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Apr 24, 2022 02:46
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Well crap. If it sucks to hard I'll go fancy. I put the zerks on the civic due to the FFR being so easy to grease. Even with both it won't be a common thing. Last update was it runs iirc. I know I can do the w/p with the radiator in but Ive learned that trying to save 10 minutes by working around seems to cost an hour so I pulled the rest of the front end.  So much room for activities. Also that was a poo poo show. Some my fault, some not. The two uprights that hold the radiator also support the body. They also take the brunt of any impact. A mixture of Tek screws, rivets, and zip ties. There will be changes when I remount everything. For example the gate tensioner from Lowes that's now an alternator tensioner. There was an error at mid-ohio (I didn't tighten a bolt) that caused the fancy one to ??? And the patch that worked that weekend has persisted for years.  I'll probably just get proper washer for it. It's worked great and weighs less than the all steel part it replaced. Water pump and accessories off.  Thermostat housing off.  Razor blade, wire wheel, picks, scotch Brite, wire brushes, and whatnot get applied. One weird bit about the w/p pulley, hot chunks of rubber get thrown up and stick to it. If any coworkers ask me what I did this weekend "I shaved my pulley" is going to be the reply. Should cut down on small talk at least.  The bolts got some love too. What came out was crusty.  I forgot to take a prepped pic but everything was pitted as hell. Black rtv to the rescue I hope. I'd this leaks or the next time it needs doing a new timing cover, bolts, and thermostat housing are happening. All assembled.  Belt should be here tomorrow to finish it off. I think I'm going to try and upgrade / redo the hoses to the rad, and it's mounting. That'll take another parts order so probably fuel lines / trans and diff fluid while I wait. Tonight though it's finally really nice outside so I'm sitting on the porch with a Texas martini. If you've never been to Chuy's and like margaritas 2oz tequila 1.5 oz simple syrup (1/2 strength use 2 cups water to 1 cup sugar) 1oz orange liqueur 2oz lime juice Dump that in a shaker and fill with crushed ice. Rim a martini glass with salt. Pour it in Garnish with jalapeno stuffed olives on a toothpick. 
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Apr 25, 2022 01:13
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Cointreau. No simple syrup. Equal parts lime juice, cointreau and teq.
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Apr 25, 2022 03:39
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Trying that now but with Gran Mariner because that's what I've got in hand. It's good, a lot more tart but that isn't a bad thing. Yesterday I replaced the high pressure power steering line and the rubber part of the return. 10 bux from rockauto and it's blown off once before in the cars history. At the NASA nationals, during the race. Today gave the BRZ a bath and then turned to the fuel lines. I wish I had room for a 2 post and 4 post lift at the same time. The 4 post is the doors open, cage fab, tweak installed suspension ideal. The 2 post is the wheels come off ideal.  My drill does not fit well. Also idk wtf is going on here but it's about to not be doing this.  I was able to get one line out of the way but the other one was clearly setup with the sheet metal not yet installed. So the rear body comes off.   It's smaller at it's edges than what it has to clear. Much shift, tweak, shift, jostle, bump and start over. It's not terrible to remove but it's not comfortable. Glad this one's got meh paint or it would be worse.
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Apr 27, 2022 02:22
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Drill rivets!  1/16th filled it up twice for one panel.  Half out. All the way out now. It did not want to come out at all. I had to remove some tabs that held the panel for the fuel cell to the lid and leave the lid behind. I think some rear impacts have shrunk the stuff that holds it in. Massaging will be required. It's old.  Upside down but 2018 was it's expiration. They're good for 5 years so it's 9 years old. It was time. I really hope photos from the install will please the tech guys. I do not want to drop that at the track and it's 100% captured from above.
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Apr 28, 2022 02:05
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Keep the certification paperwork in a binder with log books and everything else and you should be ok, take a bunch of pictures to be extra sure. Tech guys are usually pretty decent to work with. This was at cars and coffee last weekend, made me think of the one you're working on. 
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Apr 28, 2022 10:21
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The binder is the plan for sure. Does that thing just have a main hoop with no supports?
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Apr 28, 2022 14:22
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Yup, a lot of sketchy poo poo gets through tech for autocross around here. Safety third!
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Apr 28, 2022 19:33
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This thing looks like a fuckin riot.
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Apr 28, 2022 19:36
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My local autox group is also very very lax. They'll tech your car if you're new but the regulars just get a "morning" and a sticker. And yeah it's a very fun car. I got to drive it anger once and had a blast. I can't wait to do it again.
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Apr 29, 2022 00:08
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Back to the cooling system. I did some hammering before bolting anything back on. Before.  After. Kind of. It's better. This photo shows that and where the rad is shoved over.  Other side.  One of these things is not like the other. I did some eyeballing and measuring and straightening these out is going to start with cutting them off. I'm going to email factory 5 and see if I can get specs on exactly where they should be. That's going to be a later project though. Safe, then reliable, then fast. Then I'll get weird with making everything just so. So I bolted it back how it was. Cooling system part 2: Those forums lied to me. The upper and lower hoses they recommended were 92 mustang top (makes sense) and an 86 Chrysler laser 2.2T for the lower. They were both close but the rad has 1.75" inlet and outlet and they were for 1.5". Back to O'Riley's. Luckily they're cool and let me just wander in the back eyeballing stuff. Upper done.  Lower is half finished. I'm going to just make a stainless section. Swapped out the crispy plug wires too.  Front half of the drive train is sorted as it gets until I can finish the lower rad hose. To the back.  It's not bad but why no drain plug? Eyeballed the ring gear with the cover off. This is the one and only ring and pinion I ever set up (over a decade ago). Worked fine but if you know what the wear should look like and it doesn't please let me know.   To me the worn parts look like they take up most of the surface area but not all of it. It's not at all like the contact patch the grease test shows. Much larger. Neat trick on these. In the FFR class you can't go past the stock lsd. No aftermarket allowed. But you could install the stock one wrong. The manual wanted clutch disc, washer, washer disc, washer etc. What everyone did was disc washer disc washer. The stack up was wrong so you had to pound the s spring that loaded the whole mess in with a hammer. It doesn't last long but rebuild kits were $20. All cleaned up and ready for another round of ultra black.   Cleaning off the last round of ultra black sucks but it works great and dumping oil on track is frowned upon. Tomorrow I'll fill it and swap transmission fluid. That should finish the highlight reel of drivetrain stuff (fuel and coolant waiting on parts) so onward to suspension then brakes.
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May 1, 2022 01:38
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If you want to make future services easier, use a Lubelocker instead of RTV
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May 1, 2022 03:47
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I'll have to give that a shot. They do ok with sheet metal diff covers too or prefer cast/billet ones?
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May 1, 2022 17:57
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I have them exclusively on stamped steel covers right now. No problems whatsoever. They are semi reusable too. LubeLocker doesn't guarantee it but so far I haven't had one leak yet after multiple reuses.
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May 1, 2022 18:29
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Hylomar is another option, what most of the guys running Hewland boxes in formula cars, that is reusable and works well.
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May 1, 2022 22:15
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Ok definitely sold. I'll get one to be the spare for the next time I go at the diff. For the hylomar do you mean the rtv or do they make gaskets too? Car update there are no car updates. I discovered the main water shut off in my house was leaking. I think it's fixed? Going to watch it closely for a while. I won't call it till later. New ball valve has replaced an ancient seat valve. Only interesting bits are I now own a 3/8" x 100' long air hose and a custom made 6' long air nozzle. This made blowing the ??? filth off the valve that shuts off water at the curb possible. Also God bless my neighbor that works for the city. He had the tools to do the curb shutoff and helped all day. I'm buying him a bottle of whiskey on my way home tomorrow. Exhausted so watching IMSA at Laguna seca and drinking.
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May 2, 2022 02:48
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The hylomar rtv stuff is what I've used. Put a coating on both surfaces, let it start to firm up and get a skin then put everything together.
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May 2, 2022 22:46
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Awesome thanks. I'll give it a shot. Unrelated, I'm pulling the transmission blanket to access the drain and it needs a bath. I'm thinking oxiclean in a 5 gallon bucket but Google's failing me. 3M says it's great for their cut resistant gloves and everything else I'm finding is bad forums opinions, military stuff, and cops talking body armor. Other options I'm seeing are dawn and laundry soap. Thoughts?
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May 3, 2022 01:00
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