The Roadster NA Journey Begins

[Magpie]

Lokiel, they are also attached with Velcro as well as the cable ties. Looking at getting some proper mounts in the future.

Hopefully today will be a little cooler, been Tempted to close the shed up and turn on the portable aircon however I doubt that it would cope

Only other mods planned for 2017 is rewire (not urgent), add lightness, 16x8 wheels if they come up at the right price (not urgent) and driver mods. Street sprints race 1 at QR is in February and there are a few general practice sessions to get the brakes 'dialled in'.

[The American]

16x8 wheels if they come up at the right price .

There's a set of 16x8 +38 RPF1 on gumtree in BNE. They've got KU36 fitted

[Magpie]

Thanks The American, will have a look.

Todays entertainment was Stargate Universe Season 2. When I first heard Mumford and Sons song After the Storm

Dash was out and back on by 0930 today, bias fixed and works. Needed to reroute the cable to make it 'turn' smoothly. Bias set at about 50% F/R. By 0930 it was 33°c in the shed
DSCN3836 by Eipeip, on Flickr

After getting the dash back in worked on tiding up the wiring and putting the car back together, slow task considering the heat and humidity today. About 38°c at 1130 Quit working at about 1500.
DSCN3846 by Eipeip, on Flickr

DSCN3844 by Eipeip, on Flickr

Glovebox panel
DSCN3847 by Eipeip, on Flickr

Todays most used tool (cable tie gun)
DSCN3850 by Eipeip, on Flickr

Product review....
Many years ago I was sent 6 alternative headbands to test for use by field hockey goalkeepers (I was one). The biggest issue was whilst wearing a helmet a headband would get the soaked in sweat that it would start running into your eyes. Hence where this product came in handy. It has been sitting in a drawer for about 9 years now (hence the yellowing). It works by changeling the sweat away to the side of the face. It worked a treat today when doing all the tidy up work. By the way they are still available... http://www.sweatgutr.com/visor

DSCN3839 by Eipeip, on Flickr

DSCN3841 by Eipeip, on Flickr

[MattR]

Looks good Mark, but you could have given the steering column a touch of black paint to tidy it up.......

Once you get the brake bias right, don't touch it.......

[speed]

Mark,.you're certainly getting there.
Just curious, did the steering column have spacers in it?
I'm just wondering how I can raise mine slightly.
Cheers!

Sent from my GT-I9506 using Tapatalk

[Magpie]

Just curious, did the steering column have spacers in it?

Thanks for the feedback!

Sorry no spacers in the steering column.

Looks good Mark, but you could have given the steering column a touch of black paint to tidy it up.......
Once you get the brake bias right, don't touch it.......

MattR also thanks for the feedback. Steering column will be hidden so no paint required, however if painted it would have been lime green! I have all intentions of playing with the bias

Might have a car free day tomorrow, just a shed tidy up is on the cards.

[speed]

Sorry no spacers in the steering column.

Bugger, so no way to lift it

Sent from my GT-I9506 using Tapatalk

[madjak]

Once you get the brake bias right, don't touch it.......

Why is that? I tweak mine a fair bit. If the track is bumpy or wet I dial a click or two out of the rear to stop the back squirming. On a grippy smooth dry surface I wind it more rearward to the point of almost losing the rear then back a click or two depending on how confident im feeling.

The whole point of the cockpit balance bar is the adjustability.

Btw looking nice and tidy Mark... great job.

[MattR]

Because Mark needs to learn the car and get himself up to speed before he adds another variable to the mix.

Adjusting and playing with brakes will show him what bad brake balance does, and once he finds a good setting, odds on they won't be touched again. The only time it would be useful would be to quickly change from a dry to wet bias setting and vice versa, however a well balanced and set up production type car doesn't really need a major change in set up from wet to dry.

For the cars we are driving and playing with adjustable brakes isn't really necessary once they are set. The cars we tend to drive at track days and at state level racing are not really sensitive to change where adjusting brakes for each corner or run makes any real difference to the car to get better time. There is far more variability in times in the driver than the car at our level.

[Magpie]

Actually I think a small servo on the bias adjuster is just the thing to keep it 'hidden'.

Plan is to play and get the feel of what the bias can and CANNOT do. I have to remove the adjustable bias that is still on the rear circuit, but it is doing nothing now. Will have to get the rear brake pressure to display on the dash. Whilst I can see the volts in the Haltech software due to limitations on the PS1000 it cannot be sent to the dash as a pressure.

Since there is no knee point with this setup I can set it at 50/50 balance just by matching voltages and then 'play' from there. A bit of a concern that it's test will be at Sandown, but just a case of taking it easy.

[madjak]

50 / 50 pressure doesnt neccessarily give you 50 / 50 balance due to differences on piston sizing and rotor diameter.

The best way to set it is start it nice and forwards then go through a cycle of braking hard close to the point of lock up and then moving the bias rearwards until the rear starts moving around or lock up. As long as you are braking in a straight line you wont lose control if the rears lock up first. This much easier to do when wet. It's not like the car will flip on you with 100% rear, only if you have them locked up on a corner.

If you're bias is too far rearwards you'll get the back stepping out on you whilst trail braking into corners so thats where you need to tweak until you are comfortable.

I tend to move my bias a fair bit depending on the track. I agree that you don't need to unless you are chasing that last 0.1 of a second and for most of drivers one setting will be fine. Btw I run different bias when running my rear wing.

[Magpie]

Thanks Madjack for the advice on setup, since the car is almost road legal again I may take it for a small run and setup the brakes. Other half may need to do escort duties...

Entertainment today was The Corporation and Commanding Heights this may not be every bodies cup of tea.

Jobs today
3. Install 8kg rear springs
4. Make car able to meet noise limits at Sandown
5. Finish seat brackets
6. Tidy wiring up (job when dash out for booster delete).

Tools of the day
DSCN3889 by Eipeip, on Flickr

All that is left to do is set the ride height and give it a bath, then it should be time to go back to work...

Finished the wiring and got the seat installed before the hardtop. It would have been a lot longer without the bore scope... May have to move the Racelogic display a little higher.
DSCN3887 by Eipeip, on Flickr

Out with the non Sandown muffler and in with a heavier one To think I was going to sell the racing Beat.
DSCN3873 by Eipeip, on Flickr

DSCN3872 by Eipeip, on Flickr

DSCN3880 by Eipeip, on Flickr



Rear spring change, set the spring perch 30mm higher. Will check ride heights tomorrow. Now have a selection of spring rates to choose from...
DSCN3876 by Eipeip, on Flickr

DSCN3878 by Eipeip, on Flickr

[Magpie]

Set the ride heights today, actually no change was really required, however I reduced the rear to reduce the rake a bit. With 34psi in the tyres there is 102mm clearance at the front splitter, therefore can easily drop the car 20mm... At the pinch welds F is 127 mm and R is 130 mm (no driver).

Test driver, the only part of the car that may cause me grief is the windscreen banner, apart from that the car is street legal. First application of the brakes and I almost left skid marks (not on the road) as NOTHING happened, pushed a little harder and aaaah there they are. It takes a lot more effort to brake, but there is also more 'feel'. To stop faster you press harder! After half a dozen runs I started to get the hang of the brakes. Again sandals are not the best thing to drive this car anymore...

Car felt like the nose was a lot higher than the rear, after checking the ride heights after the test drive it would appear that this 'feeling' is caused by the new seating position, which I must say is spot on for me!

One thing I did not get right was the antenna wires in the hardtop, they were 'caught' between the hardtop and the roll bat hence the 'creaking' on the test drive...


Offending wires (all fixed now)
DSCN3896 by Eipeip, on Flickr

Was this a good mod, well others will say yes and I will never look back. Only time will tell if I quicker with unboosted brakes?

Now it needs a bath and all the planned jobs have been done. Now to work on getting the rear brake pressure to display on the dash.
DSCN3894 by Eipeip, on Flickr

[madjak]

ahh yes... probably something I should have mentioned earlier... the unboosted brakes definitely require a little more motivation to stop the car. It's very disturbing the first time you use them after running a boosted setup as you need a decent amount of pressure before the car even starts to slow unlike with boosted brakes which will give you 50% brakes with a light touch. Plus to reach lockup you need even more force again. It took me a little while to get used to the linear effort to brake ratio but now I hardly even think about it.

What pedal ratio is it running? Mine is still stock which is 4:1

[Magpie]

Pedal ratio, I did not think to check/measure.

Thanks for the warning AFTER I found out

Would have been nice to get a general practice in before Sandown, however as you mentioned, I will be used to the linear feel.