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Interesting discussion going on here, it makes me relieved that I typically drive the car 2.5 hours to the track so everything is nice and warm by then. It does make me think that I really need to monitor temps, just because on the street I usually let it reach operating coolant temp, then be there for at least 5 minutes before I start edging into boost, keeping RPMs low but feeding it some boost to warm things up. I have no oil temp sensor so I just do what "feels" right. I planned on adding one along with an oil cooler, but since I typically do time attack and not HPDE or longer sessions I've never really worried about oil overheating. But now you have me worried about it being too cold when I'm ripping it on the streets!
Big oil cooler on the pass side of the radiator, bolted to the radiator and ducted.
Maybe a small fan on the oil cooler to pull through the rad/cooler when hot. Maybe not.
My thoughts were that this would help warm up the oil when cold, but should keep the temps at bay with a nice big oil cooler and the hood vents. I see that Zak is running the old wheel well mounted setup, which I always liked, but worried about a bad off ripping lines and causing engine damage. That said, I hope to not have any more "bad offs" anytime soon.
As for the pi dimming, I can't remember exactly but there's a way to do it via the CLI with a pretty simple command. My thought was a nice little script that runs on a 1 min cronjob (runs every 1 min), checks the time, and sets the brightness to a lower level automatically after a certain time period. The script would be super easy to write, and AFAIK I don't have a light sensor or anything like that on mine to do auto-dimming, though perhaps like you mentioned if there's a way I can add a Dial to adjust it that might be the ticket as well.
I see that Zak is running the old wheel well mounted setup, which I always liked, but worried about a bad off ripping lines and causing engine damage. That said, I hope to not have any more "bad offs" anytime soon.
Dude, why you gotta make me think about sh*t like this!? Hahaha jk, I feel this, though. My only issue with the setup has been the oil cooler eating rocks. I was following another driver at willow springs last year and their car kicked up a baseball-sized piece of asphalt which nailed my cooler and took out a handful of fins. I'd driven my car to the track that day. Luckily it just dented the cooler and didn't cause a leak. The lines on my setup are pretty tucked away but could definitely be damaged if I hit anything hard enough to break my splitter/undertray.
Also, regarding the -8 lines I'm running, thanks @SlowTeg for reminding me about that last week. I hit up TDR asking for the female thread size on my sandwich plate and Dan said they've changed it over the years and offered to send me out a slew -10 fittings they had sitting around if I paid the $5 shipping cost. Score!
Big oil cooler on the pass side of the radiator, bolted to the radiator and ducted.
Maybe a small fan on the oil cooler to pull through the rad/cooler when hot. Maybe not.
Sounds like a solid plan. I guess logging temps first would be prudent, just so you could gauge what size oil cooler you need. I'm actually surprised you're running the car without one, but as you said, shorter sessions don't beg the need as much.
FWIW, I've noted my oil temps drop substantially quicker than coolant temps when I go into cooldown mode at the end of a track session. Usually they'll go from 20-30*F above coolant temps to matching coolant temp by the time I'm back in the paddock. This might be due to the nature of the big ol' 25-row Setrab, but I think I remember it being similar with the smaller TDR cooler as well. Long story short, I don't think a fan on the cooler would be necessary. Although maybe on a street car driven in hot weather, it'd be good to sorta emulate the stock AC fan...
Sounds like a solid plan. I guess logging temps first would be prudent, just so you could gauge what size oil cooler you need. I'm actually surprised you're running the car without one, but as you said, shorter sessions don't beg the need as much..
My daddy always taught me "never ask a question that you don't want the answer to". Ignorance is bliss, baby.
But yeah, our format with 1 warmup, 3 hotlaps, and 1 cooldown lap, which is what I usually run, shouldn't really need an oil cooler. Hopefully. It's definitely in the plans to add a setup though, if I can stop wrenching on other things..
Big oil cooler on the pass side of the radiator, bolted to the radiator and ducted.
Ya honestly, if you've been doing it for a while now it's probably fine. I've been slacking lately with the Miata and need to get back to wrenching. The turbo's just sitting on the workbench waiting to put in some work. Question for you about the sandwich plate.. can you stack a thermostatic sandwich plate on top of the oil cooler and keep the intake manifold bracket (I can cut it a bit no problem)? I took a look at it the other day and there definitely isn't a ton of room and oil changes will probably be a pita but if it'll fit I'm inclined to keep the oil warmer/cooler. I removed it on my honda as space was tight and I'm sure it slows oil warm up times.
Question for you about the sandwich plate.. can you stack a thermostatic sandwich plate on top of the oil cooler and keep the intake manifold bracket (I can cut it a bit no problem)?
Great question! I'm running a squaretop with no IM brace, so I can't help much there. I'd imagine clearance would be tight, if it works at all, though.
[QUOTE=Z_WAAAAAZ;1650459]...... but could definitely be damaged if I hit anything hard enough to break my splitter/undertray...
How do you find the street driving with the front splitter? Are you scrapping it a lot? I am about to bolt up pretty much the same from aero setup as yours and am wondering about street driving it... i know I will need some kind of ramps for my driveway. How often do you hit your splitter street driving your car?
How do you find the street driving with the front splitter? Are you scrapping it a lot? I am about to bolt up pretty much the same from aero setup as yours and am wondering about street driving it... i know I will need some kind of ramps for my driveway. How often do you hit your splitter street driving your car?
Yo! The splitter setup is totally streetable by my own standards. Might take a bit of getting used to going up steep driveways at an angle but that’s the only issue I have with it. I was originally running a 4” splitter at a 4” front pinch weld ride height and am now running a 5.5” splitter at a 4.75” front ride height (upped to 245 tires and they rub pretty good if I go much lower than that). I scrape the bigger splitter even less than the little one with the lower ride height. Come to think of it, I haven’t scraped the new one on a speed bump ever I don’t think.
Also, with parking, you’ll get reminded real quick that your car is four or more inches longer than before not a huge issue though since these things are so stubby to begin with.
Hell yeah dude no sweat. Yeah, I'm too lazy to pull it on and off between track days, even though my splitter is detachable from the rest of the undertray. You'll get used to it fairly quickly unless you have a crazy steep driveway lol.
Nah, just kidding. Just a couple quick fun things.
Took the ol’ **** rocket up to the mountains again today. She’s doing pretty well overall right now, aside from the absolutely murdered rear tires I currently have installed. The rear end is LOOSE, but I’ve grown accustomed to it. I’m saving my good tires for the track so these will have to do for now. Speaking of which, with the vibration on my car being near-nonexistent now until 110+mph, I’m thinking I may sign up for a Streets of Willow track day before full summer hits and it gets even hotter out in the desert. My top speed there is only around 110mph, so the vibration shouldn’t come into play much there.
Last weekend, I noted a vibration resonating through the steering wheel when putting a certain amount of cornering force into the front tires. Thought I might be having a front wheel bearing issue so I got the car in a lift one morning before work and started prodding around in the front suspension. Turned out my 2-year-old ELBJs were giving out and allowing for mad vertical play in the steering knuckle. The left one had about 3-4mm of vertical play and the right one had closer to 2mm. Glad to have caught that sooner rather than later. Supermiata had their ELBJ’s in stock to I grabbed a pair during lunch and swapped them out the following day. Still so thankful I live/work close to them.
Second on the list is probably the first upgrade I ever should’ve done to this car. An actual Bluetooth head unit! I got this thing from my buddy for cheap and made an adapter harness out of a couple kits from Amazon also for cheap. Ever since day one, the passenger side speaker in this car has only worked about 5% of the time. I replaced the speakers shortly after getting the car to no avail and they still sounded pretty awful and were fairly quiet. The head unit swap got both speakers working and the sound quality in general is soooooo much better. I forget much of the time that there are other things I need to do to this car that don’t need to involve speed.
Up next? Who knows. I’m assuming the Getrag swap kit is still 3-4 weeks from landing at my doorstep. I’m trying not to go hog wild with more upgrades after doing the trans and diff swap projects. I would, however, like to get another set of seat rails so I can throw my old Sprint seat in the passenger side and put a set of door bars in this thing. We’ll see…
Man your car is looking niceee. Question. Are you using 9LR sturdy bois to mount your splitter? Are you still running an undertray and fender liners? I skimmed through the last dozen pages to see if I can determine myself but didn't see anything, if I missed it - my apologies.
While we're recommending books: Anything by Carroll Smith. He had a fantastic ability to take engineering knowledge and put it in a way any enthusiast can understand.
Tune to Win is practically required reading for any engineering student on a Formula SAE team. Drive to Win also has some fantastic insights, and is obviously more in line with what you're asking about. Engineer to Win is a bit more esoteric and most of the lessons learned can't be applied by us consumers that have neither the time, experience, or money to design every single component from scratch. We've got to settle mostly for what's on the shelf. But the design principles in there can certainly help you be better at choosing parts to modify your car.
I’ve heard all three mentioned multiple times and they’re next on my list haha. Thanks for the reminder!
I was also thinking of reading Dustin Edgar’s book on aero theory in the near future as well, but probably should work more on my driving theory and technique first haha.
On the same coin, “You Suck at Racing” by Ian Korf is another good one to read as an amateur who wants things explained in layman’s terms. Plus it’s entertaining!
I haven’t updated this thread in a little longer than I’d have liked. This is mainly because I’m still in a holding pattern waiting for the Getrag swap kit and haven’t had many other super-exciting things going with the car. Our local mountains have been thawing out and I’ve been trying to get out there on the mountain bike on Saturdays rather than working on projects. Took the van out Friday night and did an overnighter at Mt Baldy with a buddy of mine, then rode most of the day yesterday. Pic from Telegraph Peak.
That being said, I’ve still done a couple things to the car and have been driving it as intended! Went out to the San Gabriels today with some buddies and drove a couple roads that we don’t usually hit. Much fun.
I outlined this in my other thread regarding the ZF6 driveline vibration debacles already, but I swapped my poly diff bushings out for rubber ones and that brought the notable resonant frequency of the vibration up to about 110mph, as opposed to 75mph where it was at before. I was still running poly lower bushings though, so last week I swapped those out for the factory rubber ones. No change, but it was worth a shot for $11.
I also ordered some M10 rubber isolators (female on one side, male on the other) to mount one between the PPF and transmission crossmember. Or I thought I did. I ordered M8s instead, but wasn’t taking no for an answer when I figured that out on Friday. Ended up drilling out two of them so I could run an M10 bolt through, then mounting them on either side of the trans crossmember. Preloaded them a little and then double-nutted the top to keep the bolt from backing out. This also made no difference in the vibration, but did cut down a bit on audible decel chatter. I got an M10 isolator now and am going to install it this week. Otherwise, I’m done messing with the driveline further until the Getrag swap arrives lol.
Extremely professional. Totally factory. Nothing to see here.
I also finally set up the VSS wiring so the car has a functioning speedometer again. Once the Getrag goes in, I’m gonna mount a tone wheel on the pinion flange and take VSS from there. This week I set up all the wiring for a sensor. Currently, I have tone rings on my rear axles, but non-ABS knuckles. I had some extra time after setting up the wiring, so I asked around at work and ended up sourcing a spare hall-effect sensor from my buddy’s Polaris. Slapped it onto the knuckle with a zip tie and some silicone and it worked! The MS has VSS now via the table switch input. Let me be clear that this is not permanent and I should have the Getrag kit in a couple/few weeks, so this “setup” will be going out the window with the old diff. I really just wanted to confirm everything worked.
I debated even including this photo but figured I would so you guys could laugh at me. You’re welcome.
05-14-2024, 11:26 AM
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Question for you about the sandwich plate.. can you stack a thermostatic sandwich plate on top of the oil cooler and keep the intake manifold bracket (I can cut it a bit no problem)? I took a look at it the other day and there definitely isn't a ton of room and oil changes will probably be a pita but if it'll fit I'm inclined to keep the oil warmer/cooler. I removed it on my honda as space was tight and I'm sure it slows oil warm up times.
not a huge issue though since these things are so stubby to begin with.
