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Re: LFX Engine Swap (GM V6) at GWR

Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2019 11:36 pm
by Ryan @ GWR
The seldom seen in-progress pic...

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What's this X-wing looking thing?

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Ceiling hanger for the splitter!

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I've been hanging the splitter from the ceiling of the trailer for a while now, but the rack was originally designed for my old splitter. The new splitter, much larger, didn't fit in it and required some extra bungee cords to keep it in place. A 3,000 mile round trip was more bouncing around than I wanted to trust the bungees with.

Re: LFX Engine Swap (GM V6) at GWR

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2019 1:04 pm
by Ryan @ GWR
A driveline vibration developed in the second half of the day at Streets. Upon initial inspection I thought the CV on the driveshaft had gone. When I pulled the driveshaft out I was very surprised to find the nut on the output shaft of the transmission had loosened, allowing play in the tail. Re-torqued to spec (42 ft-lbs) with loctite and vigorously staked the nut. Without an opportunity to run the car at speed somewhere to confirm that was the only issue, the CV might also be bad, so the CV gets replaced too (CVJ033 from driveshaftparts.com):

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Re: LFX Engine Swap (GM V6) at GWR

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2019 10:18 pm
by Ryan @ GWR
Loading up took longer than usual yesterday. Feels like I'm bringing half the shop this time. Lots of spare materials (aluminum, steel, lexan, dibond), ALL of my hardware, welder with bottles for mild steel and stainless, twice as many spare parts, Greg's tools in addition to my own, scooters for the crew, etc. etc.

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On the road at 5AM today. 735 miles straight shot from San Diego through Arizona and New Mexico to El Paso, TX. My girlfriend Bri made meals while we were rolling so we only had to stop for gas. Timed our 3 refuel stops, got it down to 6min 30 seconds. Total elapsed time 14 hours and now we're in El Paso! Tomorrow, *just* 600 miles across Texas to get to Austin.

Lots and lots of this view today:

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Re: LFX Engine Swap (GM V6) at GWR

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2019 8:22 am
by Ryan @ GWR
This is a perfect time to announce a new partner for the HyperMiata, just in time for Suplerap Battle USA.

When I was building the HyperMiata I got to pick a radiator to design the cooling system around. The choice was simple, I wanted a CSF. Now I'm extremely excited to be representing CSF officially with our efforts and achievements.

CSF is the manufacturer of some of the best radiators for Miatas, including the Goodwin Racing triple-pass NC radiator (as used in Hyper), and the Supermiata cross-flow radiator for the NA/NB. These radiators need no introduction, they're known throughout our community as the best rads you can put in these cars.

CSF makes superb quality radiators for a huge variety of applications. CSF's standard all-aluminum premium radiator is the go-to upgrade for enthusiasts, and they have a budget-friendly 'factory replacement' version with high quality core and plastic end tanks. They even make a rad for my Nissan Titan; very important when I'm towing 1300 miles through the desert and need to know I'll get to the racetrack without delays.

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See you at Circuit of the Americas!

Re: LFX Engine Swap (GM V6) at GWR

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2019 11:35 pm
by Ryan @ GWR
11 hours today from El Paso to Austin. Three refuel stops, fastest was 5min 45s from taking the off-ramp to back on the on-ramp. Took a full minute off yesterday's best. :mrgreen:

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Now we're in Austin!

Moti and Greg are in the air after both of their flights were delayed. Greg's is a direct flight from SD, he'll be here in an hour. Moti was connecting to another flight in Phoenix, but his flight out of Burbank got delayed by an almost comedic number of issues. That meant he missed the connection so now he's in Phoenix working out a plan B. Sounds like he's arriving tomorrow morning now. Good thing we have Friday as a cushion.

Re: LFX Engine Swap (GM V6) at GWR

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2019 9:09 am
by Brian
Watch it LIVE at COTA Today and Tomorrow!

http://superlapbattleusa.com/live/

Off to a good start!

Re: LFX Engine Swap (GM V6) at GWR

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2019 11:22 am
by raamaudio
I have been watching the progress of the V6 version of this car since the beginning and rooting for it and your team the whole time and watching all your runs I can during this great event!
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Sucks the guy made a bad decision to get back to the pics leaking oil all over the track, I bet he gets a lot of hell over that! Hopefuly the event will be sorted out and all the sessions made up!

Re: LFX Engine Swap (GM V6) at GWR

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2019 12:02 pm
by Brian
Yep, after MUCH delay, looks like back on track at 11:15 PST....

Re: LFX Engine Swap (GM V6) at GWR

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2019 10:38 pm
by Ryan @ GWR
Day 1 was a whirlwind. Super cold morning, could barely get heat in the tires. It got better in the afternoon but never ideal surface temps. After session 1 we were notified that a competitor protested our rear trunk lid due to specific rule wording (we've ran this trunk lid for the last two years) That's part of this rodeo. Moti fabricated a new compliant trunk lid out of alumalite on the spot, even covered in correct colors with vinyl.

The track is phenomenal. This car is so good in the esses.

I've been knocking about a second off with each session. Haven't seen the official standings at the end of day 1 but I believe we are something like 6th place with a 2:23.4. There are a couple guys in the 2:21's and then everyone else in class is 2:23 and up. There's a whole pack of Limited teams in 2:23-2:25 range, it's incredible how close it's turning out to be. As always, I want to be at the front of the leader board, so I'm pushing to find more but I remind myself what a big mountain we are climbing with 1/2 to 1/3rd the power of others in our class. Pretty crazy that we're even near the sharp end of Limited class.

After some strategizing we went out for some good ol' Texas BBQ tonight, a much needed break after working till midnight last night on stuff. Then back to the house and we've been poring over the data and lap vids to figure out where I can find some more time tomorrow. We're playing a lot with the balance between drag and downforce too.

More details to come, my brain is fried. We're running around all day, hard to even get my phone in my hands for a minute but will try to update on IG and FB through the day.

Early pics courtesy of Matthew Jones posting them on FB

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Re: LFX Engine Swap (GM V6) at GWR

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 9:01 am
by Brian
Pic from our man Greg at the track with the Team today!