rodan

Since we're talking tires, I'll ramble a bit... There's not a lot of choice in track tires for this car. Using basically stock sizes (20s) you have: Stock GY Supercar F3 Michelin Cup 2 Toyo R888R Hoosier R7 If I go to ZL1 1LE sizes (19s), I can choose from: Stock GY Supercar F3R Michelin Cup 2 Nitto NT01 Toyo R888R The 1LE spec GY F3R is basically a one-off cheater tire GY built specifically for the ZL1 1LE. It supposedly has grip approaching Hoosier levels, but doesn't last long. On the good side, they are a good bit less expensive than the other tires. Hoosiers are too much $$, and cycle out too fast for HPDE. I hear the Cup 2s are really fast... for a couple of laps. And they're $$ as well. My go-to track tire for HPDE has generally been the NT01. In my experience they last a long time, and have good grip through their lifetime. I hear the same from others who have them. Not the fastest, but still faster than the 200TW class. I'm hoping the R888R will prove similar. Since Nitto/Toyo are under the same parent company, I had always thought the two tires were the same tire with different tread patterns. From what I am finding online, folks are not reporting the same love for the R888R as they do for the NT01. I guess I'll find out. If I'm happy with the performance, I'll stick with 20's and run R888R. If not, I plan to pick up a set of 19s and run NT01 in 1LE sizes. And I can always throw on a set of the F3Rs if I want to set a lap record...

Yeah, the stack of four is comically tall. And they're still narrower than the 1LE setup (305/325!), which I eventually plan to go to for the track...

Coming up on time for an oil change... Doing some research, I discovered that GM is changing the specified oil for the LT4 engine (CTS-V, ZL1 and ZO6) to a new Mobil 1, 0W-40. Previously, they had spec'd one oil for street use and another for track use, creating an obvious problem. This new oil is approved for both street and track, making life a little simpler. Comes at a cost though... ~$11/qt and 10 quarts for an oil change. At least the filter is cheap! I'm hoping that the cost will come down as mainstream retailers start to carry it. Right now, I was only able to find a few shops that had it in stock. Ended up ordering from Summit. Sorry for the huge image... grabbed it off google.

Consolidated my welding/plasma gear today... bought the big HF "Vulcan" welder cabinet. Pretty happy... it swallowed all the gear off both my previous carts, my plasma, and cleared out a drawer in my toolbox. Before: After: Rodan AZ, on Flickr

Mounted the wheels up today... HRE FF04, stock ZL1 sizes (20x10, 20x11) Toyo R888R, 285/30-20, and 315/30-20 On my bathroom scale, the fronts were 56.5 lbs and rears 59.5 lbs. Compared to 67 and 68lbs for the stock wheels with Bridgestone RE980AS, these take 10.5lbs off each front corner and 8.5lbs off each rear corner. 38lbs total, which will make for a big difference on track. Anyway, here's some pics: I think I'll be swapping the tires around so I can run these as the daily wheel. They're too pretty to run them only on the track.

They are.

Got some new shoes today... After mounting up the all seasons, I'd been looking for a set of wheels to mount up the stock Goodyears for track use. I ended up stumbling on a smokin' deal on a set of HRE wheels in stock sizes, with near new, and never track driven, R888Rs. It was a 450 mile round trip to pick them up, but worth it. Planning to mount them up for some pics tomorrow.

Halloween party?

Got the control arms cleaned up. I'm debating whether to just paint them, or have them blasted first. Also thinking about upgrading the front uppers to NB arms, which have more underside bracing.

So I finally did something with the Miata today... I drug out my spare set of control arms and knocked out the old bushings. My "Bauer" 1/2" cordless impact and "Maddox" ball joint service kit from Harbor Freight made things quick and easy. Front upper arm: After knocking out the bushings, I went ahead and removed the ball joints. Yuk. On the rear inners, the ball joint press worked perfectly, but for the outers, I ended up using a 3 jaw puller, since there isn't room for the ball joint press between the bushings. Now that all the control arms are bare, I can see about getting them media blasted to prep for painting. Two thumbs up for the Bauer 1/2" impact. I bought this thing last summer, took it to FM Summer Camp, a couple other trackdays, changed several sets of wheels at home, and the initial battery charge finally gave it up today on the very last bushing! https://www.harborfreight.com/20v-hypermax-lithium-12-in-impact-wrench-tool-only-63629.html

The other party's insurance has acknowledged 100% responsibility, so that's something. Trying to get things arranged to get the truck into the shop I've chosen, who's about two weeks out from being able to do the work. The insurance agent has been pretty slow about getting back to me, which is irritating. Turns out the factory hitch is bent. I won't know about the frame until they can get it in the shop and on the rack. Trying to come up with reasonable numbers to ask for diminished value and "pain and suffering". Not trying to get rich, but I do think some compensation beyond the cost of repairs for our trouble and time is appropriate.

I definitely would not send guns with a moving service. A couple of years ago I helped my elderly parents move from CA to WI, using a well known moving company. I was surprised by the amount of stuff that went missing. I would be inclined to rent a small U-haul or equivalent with a lift, load the safes, put the car on a trailer and move the guns and other valuables yourself. You'll most likely be taking a southern route that won't take you through the Northeast where all the gestapo states are, so I wouldn't worry about that.

The 996 is a Turbo; the GT3 is the red 991 in the back. 475hp and ~3300lbs. Spectacular car, but no match in a roll... might be interesting from a dig, though. The guy driving the red NA yesterday is much better known for driving this: He got some YT notoriety a while back from a little mishap with Jay Leno aboard. His NA is super clean (and all stock), but he hasn't been sucked into the nuclear arms race with the rest of us!

Took a little drive with the 'gang' yesterday... First chance to really play on the Bridgestone all seasons... they're OK, obviously less overall performance than 'summer' tires, but still perfectly capable of reaching imprudent speeds on mountain roads. Aggressive corner exits were giving the TC light a real workout... Also did a little roll-on comparison from ~50mph with the GT3 in the picture. Light weight was no match for HP! I honestly thought it would be a little closer...

Got rear ended today... On our way to T-Giving dinner with family, minding our own business, waiting at a red light and BAM! Fortunately, we were driving the truck, not the Camaro or NB. Also fortunately, when I was thinking about taking the hitch out of the receiver this morning I decided to be lazy and leave it in. The hitch took the brunt of the impact. The truck that hit us: She still made contact with our bumper and bent it. I'm hoping that's the extent of the damage. Both my wife and I have a little soreness. I'm more worried about her, having had two fusion surgeries on her neck. Other driver got a ticket, and has insurance. Calling our insurance agent tomorrow....

You can stick a fork in the HPA now that the Communists have retaken the House. Repeal of the NFA is a pipe dream. It sucks, but that's the way it is.

ATF requires notification if you transport an SBR across state lines. Has nothing to do with where you live.

Yup, the whole axle... Sometimes it takes decent pics, sometimes they look like these.

Forgot to post this yesterday. Pardon the crappy potato pics. The DT folks had some fun getting the tires on the wheels... And then this knucklehead rolled into the lot...

Camaro update... I was planning on having the new tires installed today. I prefer to remove/install the wheels myself, so first step is getting the car up on jack stands. The Mustang had been kind of a PITA to lift, so I decided to look online to see what folks were doing with the Camaros. I soon discovered that there were a lot of aluminum components that could be damaged if used as lift points, and some folks had even had their cars damaged by the dealer when doing service! After determining the pinch welds were safe lifting points, I went out in the garage to get to work. And immediately ran into a problem. There's all kinds of stuff in the way, and I didn't have a window big enough to get my jack onto the pinch welds without putting pressure on something that wasn't structural. Back to the 'net.... I found some aluminum jacking points that clamp onto the pinch welds, and a jack adapter for pinch welds. I also ordered a 4 pack of hockey pucks for good measure. Thank goodness for Amazon Prime... one day shipping cost me a grand total of $3.99. Amazon may indeed be evil, but they are handy! Magnetic jack pad adapter on pinch weld: Aluminum jacking pads: In place: Front Rear With the car up (finally), I could get the wheels off.* Lots of big tires... Since the wheels were off, here's some hardware pics... Big rear brakes Bigger front brakes, with two piece rotors. Note the heat exchanger in the front fenderwell... Aero goodness under the front... Looking around under the car, oil changes will be nice and easy. Just a bit more of a hassle to get it in the air than most... All seasons going on tomorrow.

All good points. The NA definitely has all the supporting stuff. Which is why I'm conflicted. It's all a while off anyway... I'll have time to run a couple of the TT events and see how that goes.

So, the parts I was teasing about showed up... I always try to keep an eye open for deals on 'used' stuff, even if I don't plan on using it for a while. Fortunately, I also keep a stash of "mad money" for such opportunities, as they always seem to come at a bad time. Which this did, since we had just bought the Camaro. Anyway, it's a Kraken manifold, elbow and downpipe I scored off one of the Miata forums. Brand new, never installed. Kraken is a relatively new outfit out of England, and they are the only ones besides Trackspeed Engineering to bring a cast turbo manifold to market that isn't a "log" style. Cast manifolds have proven far more durable on track, and the TSE setup is making incredible power with the EFR turbos. Kraken is starting to get a good reputation for track reliability. The Kraken manifold has a T25/28 flange, making it appropriate for a wide variety of turbos. Unfortunately, the elbow/downpipe, which are flanged for a V-band, are only 2.5". That may or may not be a problem. I'm now in a quandary... If I decide to put this on the track car, all I need is a set of injectors, a Chinacharger GT2860 clone, an intercooler core and some tubing... ~$1k. Should be good for 200-220whp (holding it back to be reliable on the stock shortblock), which would be a lot of fun. It will even bolt right up to the exhaust that's already on the car. On the other hand, it's perfect for cheap fun with a Chinacharger on the street NB. For the NB, I would also have to buy another Megasquirt, and fab up an exhaust, so it would be a bit more $$. I'm leaning towards turboing the NB, and use it as a learning project to get it right on the track car with tier one parts. And it would give me time to put together a shortblock that can take more power. I've also been looking at running a regional time trial series with the NA in 2019, and a turbo will bump me up a couple of classes. Looking at my current lap times, I would be competitive where the car would class as it sits. Not sure if that would be the case with more power.

And I thought the Mustang tires were big...

I have some cheapo all-seasons on the Konig Rewinds I got on the parts car, and that's what I use for winter on the NB. Got some parts coming for the NA... could be a game changer...

I always wanted a 3000... until I saw a 100M...