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.