Post Track day - Things to do

So after the track day the car has sat for a little bit. I have since put it back up on jack stands and done some assessment on areas of the car. The suspension looks good. The brakes, well I am missing some brake fluid, outside of that they are great. Leaks, I see leaks at the front and rear of the engine, plus the pesky transmission leak is back. I've got about 4 months to get these squared away.

I am going to tackle this from the front of the car to the rear of the car. This evening I tore apart the front of the engine and it appears I have a few things to do.

• Cam seals. It appears the exhaust cam seal is leaking
• Water pump there was a small amount of coolant behind the timing belt cover.
• Front main seal
• Upper portion of the lower radiator hose (the only major coolant hose that has not been changed.
• Reservoir on the master cylinder is leaking. This should be a cheap, quick, and easy fix. 

As far as the transmission leak goes, I know I have a bad output seal, although I do not think this is the source of my leak. I am also going to check the reverse switch for leakage, and the fill plug.

The leak at the rear of engine I suspect is the rear main seal. It does not appear to leak if it is not running. Also, the CAS o-ring has recently been changed, so I suspect this is the culprit.

Inaugural Run - Success

The first track excursion was a total success. The car handled well. I setup both of the sway bars at full soft. This means it had a bit of understeer. Overall, it was a good day. I got about 2 hours of track time. I also had a great instructor who races spec miatas. This proved to be a huge benefit he knew the track and the car.  What more could I ask for?

I highly recommend 10/10ths motorsports track days. It went smoothly, seemed well handled, and obviously from my previous statements, they have great instructors.

The car seems pretty well sorted, now its time for driver development.


I just realized that I do not have any photos on this PC. I will get some photos posted shortly.

Bolts checked, brakes bled. Ready to go for saturday!

Its all ready for the track day on saturday. Its inaugural run. I will post photos and hopefully video on sunday.

Got alot done today.

What I did not get done

• Front Under Panel (6) - Not done
• Reset Alignment for instructor (7) - Not Done

What I did get done

• Clean up mess under car (5) - Done
• Adjust rear brakes (3) - Done
• Bleed brakes (4) - Done
• Fuel filter (2) - Done
• Zip tie wiring under car (by tranny) and under dash (1) - DONE
• Check Steering Knuckles - Done
• Timing and idle - DONE

In addition to these previously mentioned things I was also able to clean the engine bay.

The only item that was interesting was the fuel filter. I only had to inhale a small bit of gas fumes this time. The more I do this stuff, the more tricks I learn.

Waiting out the heat

Well its nearing 100 degrees today. I have a list of things I would like to do. They are listed below direct from my notes. I will probably not make it back to my shop today, just because of the heat. I am looking forward to 2 days of 70 degree weather.


• Front Under Panel (6)
• Clean up mess under car (5)
• Adjust rear brakes (3)
• Bleed brakes (4)
• Reset Alignment for instructor (7)
• Fuel filter (2)
• Zip tie wiring under car (by tranny) and under dash (1)
∘ Check Steering Knuckles
• Timing and idle - DONE

Coolant back in

I picked up my radiator hose this evening. The hose, distilled water, and water wetter is now in. Started it up and runs just like it did before the fluid changes. As Martha Stewart would say "and that's a good thing".

Later this week, I will set the timing and idle. Then I hate to say it, but I think its ready to roll around the track.

Below are some of the photos I promised.

The transponder wired into the auxillary plug and grounded to the body.

Transponder wired and mounted. I used 1/4" nylon adel clamps with self drilling/tapping screws.
Under tray cleaned up, it almost looks new!
Ahhh, its almost ready...

Track Prep

So, in preparation of my October track day, I spend some time changing fluids.

This weekend I changed the following. Differential oil, transmission oil, engine oil. I have drained the cooling system, but I am awaiting a new lower radiator hose. The car will not have "anti-freeze" in it. It will instead have a mix of distilled water and a product called "water-wetter" basically this simply helps break down the surface tension of the water. However, you do not run anti freeze due to it being very slick and nearly impossible to clean up off a track.

In addition to the prep work, I also installed the transponder. This is mounted in the front driver side wheel well. The wiring is then passed through the fender and wired to the "power supply" plug on the driver side fender well. Easy as pie. The wiring is held on with a series of adel clamps and zip ties. I will get some photos posted soon.

Finished photos

I realized that I never posted any photos with the car and the hardtop on it. You will find some below.

Coolant Leak Resolved

It appears the issue was just the upper radiator hose. A small $10 repair and no more coolant under the car.

New web site and a coolant leak

I have created a new blog that will focus on the racing of this car. It is available at https://megolasracing.blogspot.com .

I also just noticed a coolant leak. It is where the upper coolant hose meets the radiator. I am still not certain if its the radiator or the hose. I will update as I investigate.

Setup Pads

So as a substitute to buying a $1000 set of setup pads, I decided to start building my own.

Pure welding pleasure. No porosity, minimal splatter, flowing smoothly.

They are starting to take shape, all four of them are at this stage. I am going to weld in what is essentially a cross in the middle to provide support in the center of the pad. The more rigid I can make these the better.

The couplers were zinc coated. Which I am now feeling the effects of. Just a headache. I will have some oreos and milk and that usually takes care of it

Basically setup pads allow you to align the car so that all 4 tires are sitting on a single level and even plane. The feet are adjustable so that you can level them. Astoundingly garage floors (especially my shop floor) are not level or even. One quarter of an inch across the distance of a car can yield .5 degrees of variance in the camber settings.

Here is the commercially available product. http://www.racingplus.com/scale-accessories/intercomp/4-scale-pad-leveler-w-roll-off-pad/1361p11832

Re-Aligned

Taking a much needed break from work, I had a couple friends over to re-align the car.

Few things I noticed, its pretty evident that work surface was not as level as expected. We were able to compensate for the found difference.

This raises another interesting thing. I need a better way of leveling the car. I see some angle iron in my near future to build some roll of scale stands/pads. I do not yet have a set of scales so they will really just be setup pads for now. It should be a fun project.

So I also have done a quick assessment of what I need to go racing.

- Drivers Gear
- Fluid changes
- Remove Passenger seat (only there for a track day)
- Install fire extinguisher

Still aiming for at least a track day this year before the racing season is over.

Another leak update

After a couple quick conversations with people, I was talked into trying a couple things.

Since the transmission is leaking at the case seams its not an easy fix. Since the transmission is not pressurized, I was talked into trying to neatly seal it from the outside. All I really have to lose is about 3 dollars of Permatex ultra black. I partially applied some last night. Surprisingly today there appeared to only be a little oil and it actually made it much easier to see where it was leaking. Passenger side probably close to the height where the top of the oil sits. I had not applied any sealant to this area yet. I applied sealant to this area today. We will see tomorrow.

Leak update

After cleaning, running, etc. It has become apparent that the leaks are from the seams of the case on the transmission. I do not see any oil coming from the engine which is reassuring. The leak location on the transmission is strange from everything I have read. However, I am 95% certain that this is where it is leaking from.

I have a few things to try on the transmission before writing it off. First, I am going to re-torque the case through bolts. Before doing that, I am also going to remove them one at a time and reapply the sealant which is supposed to be on the bolts.

The nice thing is the oil in the transmission is not under much pressure. Its simply being flung around by the spinning internal parts. This may be the transmissions saving grace.

Leaks

So, when I purchased the car I knew it had at least one leak. I recently changed the CAS o-ring. I noticed after my drive last weekend that it appeared that is still some oil underneath. Not being sure if this was residual or new, I decided that I needed to do a thorough cleaning underneath. This morning I spend a decent amount of time cleaning the back of the engine, the oil pan, the transmission. There was nothing very notable after running it for a little while. I am leaving it up on jack stands for a while to check again tomorrow. While I have it up I have a few other things I would like to do.

- Quickly check the wheel bearings
- Re-bleed the brakes.
- Address the leaks I find
- Seal/Paint the opposite sides of the roll cage mounts.
- Fix the opposite adjusters on the passenger side rear.

Before and after

BeforeHood peeling in the passenger side corner of the hood by the windshield. Door peeling on the passenger side.
Chips along the edge of the hard top.
Hood peeling all over the place.

After

Hard top and mirrors are done

I took some time to do a quick wet sand, cut and polish.

It looks pretty good. I have some scratches from the edge of the wet sand paper. Regardless, its shiny and will pass the 50/50 rule with ease. Heck it would pass a 5 foot/ 5 miles per hour rule.

Some photos from my phone. Sorry if they are a little blurry.

Hard top polished and ready to go. Considering what it looked like, it looks pretty good. The gel coat along the bottom edge was all chipped and tore up.The pillar in this photo looks messed up. I assure you it isn't.
The mirrors, polisher, compount, and the hard top in the background.
More shine.
Some precautions for that which has already been painted.

Hard top and mirrors

Tonight, I prepared the hardtop and mirrors for paint. Tomorrow evening I should be wipe them clean, tack cloth, mix up some paint and spray. By weeks end the hard top and mirrors should be on the car.

In the meantime I am going to do some shopping for the following things. Driver gear, fire system/extinguisher, transponder. I am also going to do some track day shopping. It should provide a good venue for shaking down the car and getting my feet wet on the track.

Painted and Decaled

Friday, I did a little more wet sanding.

Saturday, I eagerly awaited my polisher to show up. I killed time mowing and string trimming. The polisher arrived early in the afternoon. I used Meguiar's meidum cut cleaner for the first one over of the car. I followed that up with Meguiar's Ultra fine Finishing Polish.

In retrospect, I should have probably done another once over with the finishing polish.

This morning to keep myself from doing any more cutting or polishing, I decided to pull the car out and start placing the required decals. Plus I needed to move the hard top to the make-shift paint booth.

The paint obviously has its flaws. I understand why paint booths have lighting on the side. It makes it easy to see how much paint is laid down on the sides. Avoiding runs. I have a few runs. There is still some texture to the paint. There is varying texture on the car. Regardless, its down right sparkly for a 20 year old race car.

I took the car out today on the new tires. The car handles like a dream. Oversteer is predictable and correctable. The car transitions between over and understeer based on weight transfer. Before it goes to the track I will double check the alignment and reset.

Post painting

After letting the paint cure for over 24 hours, I removed the rest of the masking tape that I missed.

I also started the wet sanding process. From the previous post you can see that there was a fair amount of orange peel. This is pretty easily rectified by wet sanding. Granted many new cars have orange peel, but this is more than I usually notice.

I started with 1500 grit wet sand paper. I probably could have started with 1200 for a light first pass. Instead, I did one pretty heavy pass with 1500 on Monday evening. Then Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, I proceded to use 2000 grit.

The photos below show how basically the wet sanding process produces a dull surface. However it takes the high spots off the paint texture. I used a spray bottle for wetting the surface. I rinsed with a garden sprayer. Come Saturday, it should be much shinier.

Remember that nasty water spot/fish eye cluster from the water that dropped off one of the connectors. Well it is much less noticeable now.


I could have easily wet sanded further. However being a novice at painting, I was concerned about the thickness of the paint I laid down or should I say the potential lack of thickness. I want to make sure I have paint to polish.

Another area which I could have likely sanded further. Oh well, its a race car.


My spray bottle full of water with a couple drops of dish soap.

Yikes, it practically looks like it did before I painted. With the exception of the clear coat failure, the fully exposed base coat, and minus a couple dents.

Painted!

So, I got the car painted today. I am less happy with these photos than i am the paint. The paint, for my first attempt at painting a car, is not all that bad. I still need to wet sand, that will take care of some of the surface imperfections and paint texture.

Tack Cloth, essential prep.		Wax and Grease remover, more essential prep	Bag full of Summit Racing Stickers to cover what I mess up.
In-line pressure regulator and disposable dessicant filter.		Paint Strainer, always strain before putting paint in your gun.	Cheap spray guns, HVLP is nice. I actually dig the little detail gun.
A little cheap insurance against fish-eyes. Works great except if you dump water or silicone on your surface (ask me how I know).		You must add this to make your paint harden.	Dexter Style paint booth. I positively pressurize the booth with a box fan, blowing through a good furnace filter. Air exits through another filter.
Viper Red paint. The closest I will ever get to a viper.		Look at the shine!	Die flies, mwhahaha. I really did not want one doing the back-stroke in my new paint. So I put these up about a week ago. By the way. Flies make little groaning noises when they get trapped. Kinda weird.
The booth.		Umm, yeah, I am glad I wore this.	This is a crap photo. The color is off.
This is what happens when water drops on your paint as painting. I had a leaky connection before the moisture filter by the gun. Dropped on hood. Then got covered in paint and pushed out by the paint and air. (Place summit sticker here)

More paint prep

The entire car is scuff. I washed the car real quick with a basic detergent. I am in the process of masking the car. The windows are masked. I am in the process of masking the engine bay. I still need to do the door jambs, etc. I am exhausted at this point, so this is all I am writing.

Paint Prep

I started paint prep today. I started scuffing the paint. This is fun but scary at the same time. Taking the leap from a mostly painted car to sanding it off is quite the interesting experience. I placed a small amount of filler in some shallow dents, etc. So far so good.

The CAS back in place. My fat chubby hands do not squeeze between the engine and the firewall too well. While I struggled to get this back in for about 30 minutes. Two days later when helping a friend put his back in it took him 30 seconds. To my defense he does have small carnie hands.

Hmm where does this go again?

Yep, I fit in there. Barely.

Getting out is pretty fun.

Hood release and scuffed bumper.