Chris's Winter Mods

boosted · March 02, 2016, 08:44:09 AM

Shorter belt?

C J R · March 02, 2016, 12:13:28 PM

Unfortunately not Jon, adjustment bracket was too long to start with and needed 6mm taking off one end. Thought that was sufficient 'till I looked from a different angle last night and noticed it was resting on the chassis. Cannot raise it up as the locating slot matches with the alternator bracket.
Not a big problem, just a set back.

C J R · March 22, 2016, 07:54:45 AM

Bit of progress made over the last weekends.

Completed the EWP installation, but had a silly minor leak from the lowest hose T piece

managed to remove and refit without removing the IC and pipework, but it took an hour of swearing

I had a dilemma as I did not have a method of knowing when the coolant system over pressurised. Listening to Clive and the 'old school racer' methods of providing a visual indication of over flow from the system, I came up with a method in the pictures. In simple terms if the over flow tank pressurises and over flows the overflow will appear through the bonnet vent.

Also fitted some heat management around the turbo to protect the UIM and Brake Cylinder.

C J R · March 22, 2016, 07:59:29 AM

Also decided more weight saving was necessary as I'd been on the 'pies'

Bought some new seats (made to specific dimensions) by JK Composites. Each Seat weight in at 5kg, compared to my existing seats at 15kgs each.

Quality is fantastic and they feel pretty comfortable with the basic padding, time will tell. Just have to adjust the runners etc to suit my required driving position.

clive · March 22, 2016, 08:06:43 AM

Wow,they really are a work of art, they will not only lose weight but you will find a huge difference on track due to not sliding around in the seat meaning you will feel much more in control.

C J R · March 22, 2016, 01:16:18 PM

Thanks Clive,
Yeh seats luvly and comfortable, well while I hop in and out trying to achieve my driving position.

Took the FD for a drive on Sunday, interesting that with the stock water pump set up it reached 80 deg C by the time I arrived at my local Shell station (about 2 miles away from home) setting off with a clap cold engine.

With the EWP it only achieved 60 deg C and even after a few laps of the local industrial estate to bed in the new rear pads, it had only reached 70 deg C.

The EWP Controller is set up to pulse the pump running (intermittent) up to 80 deg C instead of it running flat out, but that still seems too efficient.

Will have to monitor it on a longer journey.

re japi · March 22, 2016, 01:21:59 PM

Quote from: C J R on March 22, 2016, 07:59:29 AM
Also decided more weight saving was necessary as I'd been on the 'pies'

Bought some new seats (made to specific dimensions) by JK Composites. Each Seat weight in at 5kg, compared to my existing seats at 15kgs each.

Quality is fantastic and they feel pretty comfortable with the basic padding, time will tell. Just have to adjust the runners etc to suit my required driving position.

Wow, they look good!

I was wondering about are they comfortable too

C J R · March 23, 2016, 07:46:05 AM

They feel comfortable so far, but I'm not spending much time in the car. I'll know later after a longer journey.

I had similar seats in a Lotus 7 type hill climb car that I used on the road, they were fine for 2 hour journey's, so I expect these should be the same or better.

DreadedRx7 · March 23, 2016, 09:48:25 AM

Very nice build. And the attention to detail is amazing! Taking the extra time to do things properly really makes all the difference. Keep up the good work!

C J R · March 29, 2016, 07:36:10 AM

Finished off the extension to the rear diffuser this weekend. Really pleased with how it all blends together. Just the front splitter and carards to finish and fit.
Even managed to include some gourney flaps

Casey · March 29, 2016, 12:57:47 PM

Nice work

Do the tyres in the boot, propping up the hatch, make a big difference to the aero

C J R · March 29, 2016, 10:05:56 PM

Quote from: Casey on March 29, 2016, 12:57:47 PM
Nice work

Do the tyres in the boot, propping up the hatch, make a big difference to the aero

mega down force driving with the hatch open....don't offer much added weight though..

re japi · March 30, 2016, 05:13:17 AM

Yes, looks good. Good work

C J R · May 03, 2016, 12:33:30 PM

Bit of an update. Met a guy in Long Beach at the Indy Car Races who sells Tyre Stickers, (or tire stickers in your in the USA). What you may exclaim !!
So, instead of painting the lettering on tyres (race style), he produces various graphics in rubber which is thin enough to bond to a tyre sidewall. Not to everyone's taste I know, but I like the effect.

So sticker's turned up in the post with simple instructions and a container of adhesive.

Took me a couple of hours to do all four Toyos.

If anyone is interested here's his contact details; Jason@tirestickers.com

C J R · May 03, 2016, 12:41:15 PM

For those of you at Japfest Silverstone, you will know I suffered an annoying coolant problem which affected my ability on track. Basically I had coolant overflow on boost.

Clive and Jon mucked in and tried to provide a solution on the stand, but we just couldn't get the coolant to stay in the system. To everyone else who offered advice and help. Thank you.
Jon spotted that my rad cap was too short (replacement on order) and later Clive identified a coolant pipe at the back of the block which was capped off as its redundant. Unfortunately I missed this pipe when I refilled the coolant system, which resulted in an air lock at the system, (picture of the pipe).

So, that problem is solved by running a new pipe of hose to join in to the coolant feed back in to the rad.