[UnrulyNFS]

Are you gonna camp up there?

 

[UnrulyNFS]

I bought a Flaming River battery cutoff switch like this one to go on the wagon. Plan to mount it this summer so that its track legal. Battery is in the trunk, so I have a Moroso battery box and this type battery switch to make it tech legal. Drag strip and VIR

So I know boxing the battery in a wagon or hatch is pretty much required... but what about a coupe with the battery in trunk? I've already given up on meeting the NASA regulations after seeing the sunroof requirement and all the hassle Talon went through. But just to go up and i guess Test n tune, i wouldn't have to box it I hope?

 

[drtalon123]

So I know boxing the battery in a wagon or hatch is pretty much required... but what about a coupe with the battery in trunk? I've already given up on meeting the NASA regulations after seeing the sunroof requirement and all the hassle Talon went through. But just to go up and i guess Test n tune, i wouldn't have to box it I hope?

So, unless VIR is hosting their own test n tune days on their website, events through NASA require either a racing license or HPDE2 level to participate in open track days, which is usually the Friday before most of their events.

HPDE events do NOT require battery modifications, roll cages, bucket seats, harnesses, etc, its exactly like it sounds, High Performance Driver Education, which is the pre-req for obtaining a racing class license.

Through the 4 levels of HPDE, you never need any of those above items, all you need is a certain Snell rated helmet, any car, and a valid driver's license with proof of insurance.

So basically until you get higher up in the racing classes, you don't need a ton of expensive mods or safety gear. HPDE is geared to stay within the realms of factory safety gear, which is why OEM safety equipment like seats and seat belts are OK.

Due to the cost of HPDE, it will take me a couple years I bet before I could move up to level 4 (unless someone sponsors me lol). HPDE is really not all that expensive when you consider all the behind thr scenes stuff that happens, the classes and instructor led training, as well as a personal racing instructor who rides along with you.

I know some guys that have progressed straight to level 2 on their first weekends out based on their driving level. I'm hoping my experience with karting serves me well, in regards to track etiquette lol. Maybe I can impress my instructor.... cross fingers to a quick level up!

 

[drtalon123]

Are you gonna camp up there?

We'll see how the weather fares... hopefully its nice and not brutally hot!

I'll probably be bringing the pickup, and with all the madness that typically ensues during hyperfest events, im sure sleeping on the damn track won't be abnormal lmao.

I'm not "too" far away from the track, probably an hour at most, so if I need to head home for a shower I will haha. I'm not even going to bother trying to retreat near the camp area, since if the COVID restrictions stay lifted for this event, that watering hole is going to be PACKED. Also not going to try looking at lodging, since it gets busy on event weekends. I'd rather spend 20 bucks in gas to commute, leave my stuff locked up in the paddock area, and head home for the evening.

In either case, Hyperfest activities in between track sessions with the HPDE coach will be freaking badass. I haven't participated in a track day event in close to 11 years haha, been a spectator to a few, but the itch to get out on track is impossible to shake.

 

[UnrulyNFS]

That's great news! That is exactly what I had planned on. I just want to have some legal fun in the car, im not out to compete in racing. I'm at a loss on knowledge for VIR now. My road racing friend who pretty much talked me into building a car to go up there with him just passed away two weeks ago from a heart attack. Once he found out I used to race, he pestered me for 3 or 4 years to build another car. He was excited when I finally bought a project car . He said when the car was ready, he would go with me and set me up with an instructor.. So I was gonna build the car and let him know when I was ready. Thanks for explaining that bit.

I plan on this being a scouting mission to learn the layout of the land before I actually take a car up there...... IF I don't have to work.

 

[drtalon123]

What is up with this month and people passing away? I'm sorry to hear that man.

My wife's dad just passed away very recently, it has been hard on her the last couple weeks. Her and I are just sticking it out together taking things day by day, he was a really good guy.

Yeah man, check out NASAs website. Fantastic info for how to get involved with HPDE on there. All rules and regs are listed, and HPDE instructions state all you could ever want to know.

www.nasaproracing.com

I built the car originally to the Honda Challenge rulebook, even though I still can't participate in that yet. By the time I get HPDE done, the car should be ready.

 

[drtalon123]

In case anyone is curious what Hyperfest is all about, here ya go (last years promo videos):

https://www.hyper-fest.com/event-info

Figured I'd do some promoting lmao, this event is too badass lol. Supposedly the largest car event on east coast.

I'll be there all weekend with the wife, if the stars all align correctly! Anyone interested, I'll have discounted crew passes a week before the event, so you get hyperfest access AND race paddock access for 3 days!

 

[UnrulyNFS]

I 'm going if I dont have to work. They pretty much own me and I can't get time off since everyone else (over half my team)is furloughed or layed off for good. Still no July schedule, but hopefully I will know in a week or so.

 

[robgoof]

should be an action packed weekend ,,you gonna drift her ... hopefully the weather is bearable..

 

[drtalon123]

should be an action packed weekend ,,you gonna drift her ... hopefully the weather is bearable..

I wish haha. Unfortunately, the Hyperfest activities got cancelled because of covid. It didn't affect my event, but instead of close to 18,000 people showing up there, it might be 3-400 now by getting rid of the spectator portion of the weekend. Only NASA members (and crew!) can be there. Apparently we can social distance effectively this way. I'll have 3 Go-Pro's with me, and take lots of footage to share here! We shall see how the weekend unfolds!

I'm actually kind of worried about the weather part, the car is far from waterproof lol. Probably need to bring some duct tape to cover the floorboard holes, or some wine bottle corks, or pieces of a pool noodle to jam in there....

If it doesn't rain, I'm sure it will be brutally hot instead. Freaking July/August in the south, on an asphalt playground....

 

[drtalon123]

So it's been a while since I had a minute to show some updates!

B16A stuff came back from machine shop:




HPDE at VIR is 3 weeks away. Still got quite a bit to do on the car with the time I have available to spend on it recently (which isn't much), baby steps.

I installed my externally accessible kill switch, with FIA decal:




Still don't have the solenoid permanently mounted, but I hooked it up exactly like I wanted for testing and it works well. The latching solenoid disconnects and connects ground at a momentary flick of a switch. Tapping the momentary toggle up powers the car ON, and there is a small blue LED inline with everything that indicates the car is powered. Inversely tapping the toggle down disconnects negative.

I've been thinking of getting a small fire extinguisher and mounting it inside the car somewhere I can easily access it from the driver's seat, because I've seen a few horror videos of oil fires... They have small generic Kidde BC extinguishers (good for oil, gas and electrical fires) for like $25 at Home Depot/Lowes.

Also finished tucking away my wiring for the Flex Fuel converter box, wires that should have been secured a long time ago since the dyno session (been lazy as F since haha):




Making a new mod to my wastegate piping. The flange I had warped when I welded it a year ago, and I'd been meaning to fix it. Bought a new flange, and started the pie cut process all over again (only in a short section):






Last, but certainly not least, I went down a rabbit hole on types of engine oils I should use for the track. I have no doubts with the Rotella regime I've been using, but I went in search of some answers because higher temps and longer load times have me worried about my crankshaft on track day since I'm still running the Y8 crank. I have no issues currently, but I started doing some research on engine oils and found a thing!

You know this post is going to be good when I start it by asking YOU questions haha:

Do you guys think my posts are long? Do you enjoy lengthy reading that probably kills brain cells whilst trying to absorb the knowledge? Ever wonder more about your oils, how they work and how people test them to make sure they stand up to their snake oil advertising claims? If you answered yes to all the above questions, then head here at your own risk:

MOTOR OIL ENGINEERING TEST DATA

The date June 20, 2013 just above, is the date this Blog was first started, NOT the date of the information included. It is regularly updated with the latest information, as indicated by the date s…

540ratblog.wordpress.com

That link leads to a blog maintained by a guy with the nickname RAT540. It contains by far one of the best engine oil reviews I've ever had the pleasure of reading. There is also a lot of other very good information beyond just engine oils in there, any serious gear head needs to read that blog top to bottom, as it is a wealth of experience. The guy is a mechanical engineer, member of SAE and ASME and a gear head to top it off. He places lots of engine oils under his own version of an oil "torture" test that goes far beyond many of the API required stress testing conditions. The results of this testing show a ton of different oils all performing under the same conditions, and actual real world environments. He even tries extreme edge case test scenarios, something NO oil manufacturer dares to test and publish (besides Amsoil). His goal is to separate truth from snake oils, and he sure as hell does a really good job at it.

I invite everyone on this forum to read it, if you haven't done so already.

In any case, the read was convincing enough to make me dump my Rotella T6 5W-40 with ZDDP additive regime and go for something high up on his "Wear Protection Ranking List". I've never personally seen anything quite like this list before. A ton of time and effort went into testing all of these, and it was amazing to see where some of the "best" oil names in the industry fall on it and what their actual wear protection capability is.

This is the oil I've recently upgraded to






Read this blog snippet to find out why:

3. 5W30 Amsoil Signature Series, synthetic = 134,352 psi

The bottle does not have an API symbol, but it claims the oil can be used in applications that require API SN, GM dexos 1, ACEA A5/B5, A1/B1. It also claims to provide 75% better wear protection than required by the API SN specification (though it does say that claim is in reference to their 0W20 Amsoil Signature Series synthetic). And it claims 50% more cleaning power than Amsoil OE motor oil.

zinc = TBD
phos = TBD
moly = TBD

This oil was tested Fall 2017.

The psi value of this oil, which came from testing it at the normal operating test temperature of 230*F, put it in the FANTASTIC Wear Protection Category. And it produced the highest psi value ever seen in my testing, from any 5W30 motor oil just as it comes right out of the bottle, with no aftermarket additives. Very impressive. My test results confirm that Amsoil’s claim of this oil providing exceptional wear protection, is true. This oil could well be “THE MOTOR OIL OF CHOICE” for most High HP engines, including Bad Boy traditional American flat tappet pushrod engines, or for virtually any engine where 5W30 is used.

And I also went on to test this oil at the much higher temperature of 275*F. At that elevated temperature, any hotter and thinner oil is expected to experience a drop in Wear Protection Capability. This oil had only a modest 7% drop in capability. But, even at that elevated temperature, it produced an impressive 124,573 psi, which still kept this much hotter and thinner oil in the FANTASTIC Wear Protection Category.

In addition, I also tested this oil at 130*F, which is an oil temperature in the middle of the range of the Sequence IVA Wear Test (ASTM D6891) = 123,882 psi, which still had it in the FANTASTIC Wear Protection Category, even though this value is about an 8% drop from the normal 230*F test temperature’s psi value. NOTE: An engine warming up, will transition right past this temperature as it heats up to its normal operating temperature.

So, here are the three temperatures I tested this oil at, put together for easy comparison:

130*F = 123,882 psi
230*F = 134,352 psi
275*F = 124,573 psi

As you can see, there is no meaningful difference between these three psi values, and as mentioned above, all three psi values are in the FANTASTIC Wear Protection Category. So, none of these temperatures had any negative affect on the oil’s wear protection capability.

I also tested this oil to find out its onset of thermal breakdown, which was 295*F.

As it stands in Fall 2017, Amsoil Signature Series synthetic motor oils, hold the top two positions in my Wear Protection Ranking List for oils just as they come, right out of the bottle, with no aftermarket additives. Motor oils have to be EXTREMELY GOOD to perform that well in my Engineering torture test on motor oil. Amsoil knows what they are doing, and they have set the bar to a new very high level.

This stuff is NOT cheap, 2 gallons cost $100. Good thing this car isn't a daily driver haha. Coupled with a NAPA Gold filter, which is made by WIX, and is arguably the best screw on parts store oil filter on the market, we should be good to go to race weekend!

 

[robgoof]

long read..

I like the walmart one

 

[drtalon123]

Finished the wastegate piping. Re-did part of the bend and welded a new flange on it because the last one I had on there warped like a MFer when I welded it, so there was a very small exhaust leak. I hate welding stainless steel, it is so picky and likes to warp so easily. I just dont have enough experience or patience with it haha.










I'm also going to finish the battery disconnect setup some other time. I'm just tired of working on this car, and it's not necessary for the track right this second, so I'll postpone.

I'll finish the oil change, and put a new air filter on the turbo before the track. Also going to pre-fill out the tech form that NASA has for HPDE, so thats ready to go before I even get there.

2.5 weeks! I'm looking forward to it!

 

[robgoof]

did you do a bunch of start stops trying to keep the heat down?

, just have to guess how much the stainless is going to twerk and place your bets ,the hard part is getting used to the funny smelling rod hand..
I'm always paranoid about welding on a car ,,I unplug neg batt, distributor and ecu..

 

[drtalon123]

did you do a bunch of start stops trying to keep the heat down?

, just have to guess how much the stainless is going to twerk and place your bets ,the hard part is getting used to the funny smelling rod hand..
I'm always paranoid about welding on a car ,,I unplug neg batt, distributor and ecu..

Yes! I tacked everything together on the car to hold position, then would do like 4 dimes on a single joint and stop, wait 5 mins, then do another 4 dimes and so on.

I actually bolted the flange to a thick piece of aluminum to keep it from warping, and it stayed flat, but the tubing and joints bent or misformed slightly due to heating and cooling that when I finished it was off by like an 1/8"! So pissed haha. Luckily it was an easy fix, but I hate stainless by how much it warps. Serious respect to guys who can weld complex stainless pieces and be on target with their initial design.

 

[UnrulyNFS]

So are you calling it done and ready at this point? With as hot as the last few days have been, Im sure you are going to love the end of July at the track.

 

[drtalon123]

So are you calling it done and ready at this point? With as hot as the last few days have been, Im sure you are going to love the end of July at the track.

Very close! I'm going to do oil change tonight, then clean up some odds and ends.

Hopefully I'll be able to meet up with you for a bit this week, I haven't forgot! You enjoying time off?

The car is getting loaded up on a trailer Friday or Saturday, ready and waiting for the following Friday!

 

[robgoof]

The car is getting loaded up on a trailer Friday or Saturday, ready and waiting for the following Friday!

good call!

 

[BenJam]

In case anyone is curious what Hyperfest is all about, here ya go (last years promo videos):

https://www.hyper-fest.com/event-info

Figured I'd do some promoting lmao, this event is too badass lol. Supposedly the largest car event on east coast.

I'll be there all weekend with the wife, if the stars all align correctly! Anyone interested, I'll have discounted crew passes a week before the event, so you get hyperfest access AND race paddock access for 3 days!

That's totally cool, man!

 

[drtalon123]

That's totally cool, man!

Unfortunately, COVID canceled the Hyperfest activities this year. I was bummed haha, but the track event is still on. 1.5 weeks!