I like this choice

 

The way I see it, as long as it isn't puking oil or losing tons of power or whatever, and as long as it's boosted, what's there to worry about?

Spent some time talking with Tial about turbine housing bolts/clamps. Mine loosened again. They made a clamp revision and said that combined with the inconel bolts (which I have) they haven't seen any more issues with them backing out.

Ordered the clamps, will install soonish. Going to update to Qmax reroute, our Moroso catch can, probably go up to 800/500 springs, install the prop valve, and roll.

 

So, my turbo worked itself loose again. I reached out to Tial to see if this is a problem they have had, and what their recommended solution is. Turns out, it's a common problem. They did two things to solve the problem: Inconel bolts, and redesigned the clamp to get a full 360* clamping force on the CHRA to keep that turbine housing nice and snug.

My setup already has the inconel bolts and Tial said I shouldn't need to replace the bolts as long as the threads are clean, so I ordered just the clamps. Old vs. new:




Used resbond again. Couldn't find safety wire pliers in the shop and mine are in Utah, so I went without. The bolts were still completely tight, so I'm not super worried about them backing out -- will keep a close eye on them.

I have been having issues with the wastegate dump tube rubbing the body and it has been driving me absolutely bananas. I tried a different reassembly method when putting everything back together, and now I magically have enough clearance! This job seemed considerably easier this time overall. Having a lift helps...





I see a creeper 86 in the background... I think it's trying to sneak up and steal the turbo. NO 86, NO BOOST FOR YOU.

Took Sonic for a drive after, of course. I love this car.

There will be more updates, but this car is likely going to be for sale immediately after Miata Reunion at Laguna Seca this year. I have picked up a shell for a racecar build (will start a new thread once there's actual progress there) so as much as I love this car, it just won't make sense to keep it around. Probably.

*sigh*

 

That FR lift arm to fender clearance is giving me heart palpitations. I’m also smiling at the Ed level of fluids and soaked paper towels under the car. That MSM colored VVT valve cover still looks sweet too. I miss mine :(

 

Yeah, even though I drained the coolant it still pissed a bunch when I removed the coolant feed line. But lol @ "Ed levels" haha

 

Well... This was fun.

First time drifting on purpose. Sonny wanted to attend and his car is currently down, so he talked me into taking Sonic and dual-driving it. Grange/Apple Valley Speedway with KINOD.





Car performed flawlessly all day. Left it on low boost, had plenty of power to connect some of the short straights. Made sure not to abuse the car - just did momentum, no clutch kicks or e-brake. I picked up on drifting pretty quickly and was able to connect several of the corners. A short video of one of my better efforts:


Screen grab from another clip:




We had some extra tires, and now we have less extra tires:



Way more fun than I expected, ha.

This is how you sell a car, right?

Also... my daily might have made it out on track. Unfortunately the undefeatable stability control thwarted any real excitement.

 

Been quiet in here.

End of 2020 I finally parted out and sold Sonic. Sad day. Sold the tub to some kid who wanted to make it go again. It's since sold at least twice more but is a shadow of its former self.

Then last year I realized that I will probably never want to allocate the funds needed to campaign a race car, and I'm just having so much fun on motorcycles for a fraction of the cost I want to keep doing that. So, Mission got sold as well. Heartbroken there too, but it went to William @bellwilliam who is going to build it for Superspec Cup so I'll look forward to seeing it race, and maybe, JUST MAYBE i'll get to drive it in a practice session at some point if William is feeling especially kind.

I've posted some of my motorcycle activities in the motorcycle thread so I won't post it here though that's due for an update as well.

Long story short, I wanted a fun droptop car. Lightweight (so no camaro or mustang) but more than 4 cylinders (so no Miatas). Basically narrowed down to Corvette, Z3/Z4, or Boxster. The only corvette convertibles I like are the C7 which is way out of budget, Z3s sucks, and the Boxsters in my price range just have horrible reputations and high parts cost, so I ended up with a Z4.

2006 3.0si. 60k miles, suuuuper clean car.



It was fun, but had horrible tramlining and bump steer. Swapped to Konig Countergram wheels with Continental ECS tires. It had 9-year-old run-flats on the front, and no-name tires on the rear. Dropped 40lbs unsprung weight changing to this setup despite wider wheels and tires (11 lbs each in front, 9 lbs each rear).



That solved 80% of the problem, but it still felt sloppy. Some polyurethane front lollipop bushings and rear trailing arm bushings, take out some rear camber, and headed to a track day at Buttonwillow. There were a few other BMWs at the hotel...




Track day was a huge success. As planned, I only did one session in the BMW but still managed a 2:07.4 driving very conservatively. Was super impressed with the car. Lots more time in it but that's OK, not what I bought the car for. I don't plan to track it again, but the way it worked on track is trying really hard to change my mind.

Kaiko was looking good at the hotel too:


Drove the BMW first session, then drove my buddy's caged-but-full-interior ND1 on Xidas and 245 A052s in session 2. What a hoot.

Drove Nezumi (eric's ratty NA) for sessions 3 and 4, and finished up the day driving Kaiko in the last session.

All in all, a fantastic day at the track hanging out with friends and driving multiple cars. Can't wait to go back.

 

Good choice on the Z4. Parts available, easy and somewhat cheap to maintain. Light, linear power, comfort, everything you want from a roadster.

This is "Silbergrau A08" or Silver grey, not the Sterling grey most of them were sold, right? Our car was totaled by a drunken ***hole and we switched from titansilver to silvergrey and can't be any happier. In my mind THE color for E85/E86's.

I agree with you: Lollipop bushings make a big difference, so do those old runflats and the Z4 and E46 cars react VERY sensitive on different tire models front/back. Even the same tires with big difference in wear on them, if you run a square setup.

Here is ours on Corsica

 

WHERE IN THE WORLD DID THIS THREAD COME FROM?!

Congrats on your Bimmer!

 

Was great to see you out there Ed! Glad to see that yall had a successful day, had a ton of fun chasing Sonny around for a few laps and vise versa. Hope to see you at more