Honey Badger's Completely Off-the-Rails Race Car Build and Track Adventure Thread

[honeybadger]

Damnit Kevin you are my hero.

How were you keeping up with the R's and are you any faster with the aero?

Hehe. all the R drivers (Bosshog, Adam and Hiram) have more track experience and are running Cup 2s, so they're a bit faster. But I can keep them honest. The cup 2s are totally cheating. Their grip level is insane. I'd say the MPSS are really good. But cup 2s are essentially street legal slicks. It's insane.

The aero bits helped tremendously. The hill out of turn 9 at the Ridge used to be a half throttle turn for me. I now take at WOT. But I am getting understeer from the lack of front aero. The front r splitter is definitely in my future.

What tires are you running on the track? I'm surprised I did t hear much (any?) squealing?

That's only because my mic is in the trunk where all the noise is

In reality, my "virtual" lap time for the Ridge was almost 2 seconds faster if I could smooth out my turn in and throttle application to keep my tires from squealing. That's next on the list for my next trip to the Ridge.

I'm still running the stock MPSS. I really love this tire. I have 6000 street miles and 8 track days on them. I think I have 2 more track days left.

 

[Etchhead]

Can't wait to run with you guys. Ridge looks like and awesome track with hints of others like Laguna. My R is still at dealer- next week I might just bust it out suspension issues or not!

 

[JT1]

Did I already ask how you are mounting the GoPro?

 

[honeybadger]

2017 Mods Journey Summary

Howdy all!

2018 is shaping up to be a big year - time to get this thing rolling again. Was planning to keep it going throughout the year, but summer took some crazy turns and didn't have time to document as I wanted.

I dug through my pictures and think I got some stuff worth showing

In July, I drove up to my father's new shop to install the Watson Roll Bar. One thing I've learned with Ruby Red, everything needs to be black or ruby red. Black seemed a bit dull and a bit of a missed opportunity, so I went and found a color close to Ruby at the local auto zone and went to town.

I didn't find many photos of the install itself, but it's fairly easy to follow along with Watson's instructions (comes with the bar).

2 pieces of advice.
1) Make sure you measure the holes for the down/rear support bar mounting points exactly the Watson instructs (i.e. build a template, measure, square it up, and drill). We did the first set of holes by using the bracket itself as the template (vs creating your own by measuring), this wasn't as consistent (distance between the holes) as drawing it out separately.

2) There are actually 2 brake lines you need to be aware of when drilling the rear support bar bracket on the driver side. One is the one reference directly in the Watson instructions (runs horizontally along the front side of the rear cross member), but the other one runs to the driver side rear brake. You wouldn't think it would be in the way, but it is. Picture below shows what I mean. The blue arrow is pointing to the brake line that the Watson instructions referenced, the red points out the rear driver side line.

Unfortunately this second learning came with an unplanned change. You might also be wondering how I got such a clear picture under the car. Well, I discovered right before I installed the bolt that the drill bit had tagged the side of that brake line. Here's a picture after we got it out.

To fix it, we had to drop the entire rear end out of the car to get access. Not a sight I expected to see on an 8 month old car.

We decided to take advantage of having the rear end out of the car and install the Ford Performance lowering springs, an MGW shifter, seat and harness, and Full Tilt Boogie Racing solid bushings in the subframe and spherical bearings in the upper control arm, lower control arm, and knuckles.

We tried pressing these out, but couldn't get them to budge. We shreded the threads on a bearing removal tool trying to get them out. At this point, it was time to go old school. For the subframe mount bushings, we broke out the torch to heat things up - they popped right out with a bit of heat and some encouragement from a metal hammer

For the control arm and knuckle bushings, heat had no effect. Took another old school approach. We got a hole saw and drilled out the center.

We then got a hand saw and sawed through most of the metal sleeve. Key being most.

Next we tapped the edges on either side of the cut to bend it inwards. This will weaken the integrity of the sleeve and make it so you push it out.

Once out, I used a steel brush to clean it up.

Once the holes are cleaned up, we put the bushings in the freezer to shrink them a tiny bit. This made installing them much easier. We were able to do it with the ol' large socket + long bolt trick easily.

Same thing with the subframe mounts. Freeze 'em and then we pounded them in with a mallet (piece of wood in-between the bushing and the mallet of course).

After this we reinstalled the subframe and re-connected everything. Thoughts on the changes will be upcoming. As a short teaser: WORTH IT

Seat install
One of the things I noticed at my previous track day is that I was starting to get thrown around in the seat a lot more and it was causing quite a bit of fatigue. I was getting worried about the fatigue leading to a critical mistake, so it was time to fix that. I went to to a local shop called 425 Motorsports and checked out about 15 different seats and harnesses. I settled on the OMP Champ R seat because it's narrow (i'm only 5 7") and has really great side-bolstering. I added a 6 pt OMP harness and solid mounting kit to complete the setup.

I wanted all 6 points of the harness to use different mounting points for extra security and peace of mind. Given that I had already drilled for the roll cage and removed the rear end, being worried about holes in the floor for the anti-sub belts seemed silly. The holes are spread a bit further apart than I would have wanted, but it's needed because between those 2 eye bolts are the rear brake lines + fuel line.

Seat is installed. More thoughts on the upgrades will be incoming.

Other installs:

Other notable items that I could not find my pictures for are:

• Watson Rear Seat Delete

• Ford Performance Lowering Springs

• MGW Shifter

• Maximum Motorsports Camber Plates

Quick picture of the Watson seat delete. It's decent. If I were to do it again, I'd choose the R rear seat delete from Ford. But hey, the price was right and it came with the bar, so I can't complain.

All in all, this took almost 2 months of time right int he middle of summer. Not the summer plans was thinking, but the upgrades were well worth it, I learned a ton, and most important of all, I got to spend 4 awesome weekends with my dad working on the car. 10/10, would drill through the brake line again.

A side note, the car sat unused for so long, this was the key when I picked it up off the key shelf in my parents house. That's a sad sight.

Also, you can damn well bet that the drive home was emotional. Feels so unnatural to leave the car sitting for that long.

Next up will be a summary of my Fall track adventures (including a dream trip to CA) and some thoughts on the upgrades (O.K. a lot of thoughts on the upgrades).

 

[Epiphany]

Looking forward to your review on track with these changes in place. Good stuff!

 

[Tomster]

Nice writeup!

 

[keltykid350]

If you make it to FFF this year, don’t be leaving that ruby machine at the hotel. okay?

 

[Etchhead]

Watson looks gorgeous in Ruby and you and your Dad did a great job! I’m still deciding on direction for bar but already have seat/harness/fire.

Looking forward to your reviews!
Mark Greene

 

[honeybadger]

Looking forward to your review on track with these changes in place. Good stuff!

Little teaser - WORTH IT

Nice writeup!

Thanks!

If you make it to FFF this year, don’t be leaving that ruby machine at the hotel. okay?

I'll be there this year and you can bet the Honey Badger will be in the show (car that is, not me). Got some big changes coming beginning of this year that should make it a good addition.

Watson looks gorgeous in Ruby and you and your Dad did a great job! I’m still deciding on direction for bar but already have seat/harness/fire.

Looking forward to your reviews!
Mark Greene

Thanks, Mark! I actually just read in another thread something that might be helpful for you. Since we haven't met in person, I am not sure your height. But it looks like the CoolTech bar isn't the best option for seats with low shoulder holes (like my Champ R seat). I don't recall what seat you were planning to use, but figured this might be relevant for you. Check it out

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77470&page=2

We need to get a plan to Laguna Seca or Sonoma planned!

 

[honeybadger]

Summary of Fall 2017 Track Days

With the car back together, it was time to get it on track ASAP. Luckily a group we had run with earlier in the year had a track day at the Ridge coming up. Perfect place to test the new mods as I have turned quite a few laps at the Ridge this year. Even though we were signed up for intermediate, all 3 of us (myself + Adam and Hiram in their 350Rs) were bumped up to Advanced for "raising hell" and terrorizing the BRZs, GTIs, and Miatas. last time. HA! (all in good fun).

Impressions: Holy shit. My plan was to take the car out in session 1 and take it easy to get used to the changes and the new Hans device. By lap 4 I had beat my personal best by half a second. By the end of the session I was over a second faster. As the day went on, I beat it by over 2.5 seconds. I'd say the recent round of mods were more about driver feel than about performance. The faster lap times were because I felt more secure in the car (seat + harness), predictable (MGW shifter confidence), and communicative (rear end bushings).

I was running the same tires - it was all in my comfort with the new setup. The rear end no longer had any "slop" to it. It just feels settled. I now have much more confidence in my driving because I have much better feedback coming from the rear end. The MGW shifter makes your shifts feel like absolute butter and gives you confidence to just slam 3rd gear. If you're in 2nd gear and you push the shifter forward, the MGW makes sure it gets into 3rd gear (vs. 1st or 5th). It's beautiful. I'll provide more thoughts after. But in short summary - incredible. Here's some video:

California Bucket List Road Trip
To end the year, I wanted to plan something special. Fortunately Hiram forwarded an email about a group down in CA I hadn't run with before called Track Masters Racing. They were having a "Track Pack" sale for days at Thunderhill, Laguna Seca, and Sonoma. Don't think I've ever planned a trip so enthusiastically before (with the exception of Bucket List Road Trip #2 - more on that later).

So on September 27th, Hiram and I headed down to CA for 2 days at Thunderhill. We ran both days at the East track. Definitely need to make it back for the w east/west combined version.

Unfortunately due to me getting a new phone and being a total Android n00b, all my video/telemetry was garbage. But the days were an absolute blast. Thunderhill was a really fun track and has a great flow once you get it down. My personal favorite corner on the track was Turn 9 going over the blind hill. I was catching quite a few other drivers going over the hill WOT Turn 8 was also a favorite. I loved the temptation to hit it WOT. I played with it a bit, but never got the nerve. I had a scare earlier in the day some high speed understeer coming out of Turn 1 that scared me just enough to be smart again and remember to save the car for Laguna Seca and Sonoma. Irony is the bolt that connects the shift linkage to the MGW shifter came out in the last session and stranded me in 4th gear just after Turn 3. Luckily, I was able to source a new bolt from [MENTION=22191]straightliner1[/MENTION] during the week.

All in all, T Hill was a blast and can't wait to go back. When I left, you never would've been able to convince me that it would have been my least favorite track of the trip. I know, I know. Heresy.

Car, trailer, truck and Doggo at T Hill.

Laguna Seca
Since Forza Motorsport 1, Laguna Seca has been my favorite track. I've dreamed of driving it in real life since before I even considered getting into High Performance driving. It's at the very top of the list. And I mean the VERY, VERY top of the list.

Laguna Seca lived up to my own personal hype. I couldn't believe. You folks down in NORcal have it made. I had visited Laguna Seca in January on the road trip, so I had gotten the "whoa, this place is huge" feeling already. But let me tell you, Laps 1-3 I had a tear in my eye as I took it all in during my warm up laps. But then I got passed....on lap 3. O.K. So the advanced guys down in SoCal are really fast. Time to get my head in the game. So I settled in and started to really get into it.

This was the first time I had driven a track in real life that I have also driven in a simulator. I was pleasantly surprised at how similar they were. Turns out Turns 9 + 11 really are as slippery in real life as they are in Forza (sorry for call you mean names so many times, Forza developers). It was really great because I felt like by the end of the first Session I was already comfortable on the track.

Anyways - here's some video (2nd session) and pic for proof!

So much time to be made up. It was such an emotional day for me, I didn't really even think about cutting seconds off - I was just smiling like a kid in a candy store (but that was also trying not to crash his expensive toy). Watching the video now, I can see tons of places to cut time off. Can't wait to get back and see what I can do with what I learned and am working on in the off-season.

Sonoma/Sears Point

Last up was Sonoma the following day. I always liked Sonoma in the simulators, but it was never in my top 10. That all changed once I drove it in real life. This place is WICKED. The combination of speed, tricky surfaces, and elevation changes make it far more fun in real life than in sim. It's also terrifying. Walls everywhere.

I was absolutely terrified of Turn 10. It temps you to get on the throttle early and understeer right into the outside wall. I received some great advice from one of the faster guys at the track: "Come in fast and rotate the car on entry a bit. Then get back on the throttle and manage your angle with it. But if you don't touch the inside curbing at the apex, get on the brakes or you'll have a huge crash." Luckily I didn't have a close call, but that's because I was really too scared (smart?) to push it. I respected the walls (at least this time).

I had a passenger just about every time I went out. No matter where you take this car, it attracts quite a bit of attention at the track. If the organizers allow passengers, you can bet I usually end up giving 2-3 rides throughout the day. I had a blast pushing the car deeper and deeper going into Turn 11. I scared 3 guys pretty good because they didn't think the car would be able to slow down enough to make the turn.

Here's some video and pictures

Just love the image of that front splitter dragging on the carousel!

Wrap up

2017 was an incredible first year in the car. I ended the year with 16,000 miles and 15 track days. Looking forward to 2018. Some big things are brewing (Hint: Bucket List Road Trip #2 goes East ).

Next I'll share more detail feedback on the mods + discuss 2018 mods and plans!

Thanks for checking in!

 

[fuhrius]

good stuff man with the exception of this comment: "You folks down in SoCal have it made."...them's fighting words up here in NorCal where those three tracks are ;-)

 

[honeybadger]

good stuff man with the exception of this comment: "You folks down in SoCal have it made."...them's fighting words up here in NorCal where those three tracks are ;-)

HA. My apologies....I always forget how far south SoCal really is. Then again...I always refer to Pittsburgh (where I attended university) as the East Coast - which really aggravates my New Jersey-born wife.

Either way, you California guys really have it made.
[MENTION=16207]fuhrius[/MENTION] - are you going to be at Fabulous Ford's Forever/the private Buttonwillow Track Day?

 

[fuhrius]

HA. My apologies....I always forget how far south SoCal really is. Then again...I always refer to Pittsburgh (where I attended university) as the East Coast - which really aggravates my New Jersey-born wife.

Either way, you California guys really have it made.
@fuhrius - are you going to be at Fabulous Ford's Forever/the private Buttonwillow Track Day?

No doubt, we're blessed.
I won't be out there, no...basically spending any / all of my driving budget on expanding my range in different types of vehicles...hence all the driving schools I've been going to. Speaking of which...you're blessed to have DirtFish in your backyard...do yourself a favor and get a taste of rally driving...such a great skill builder and super, super fun!

 

[Trackaholic]

Great write-up! Love all of those tracks. So hard to choose a favorite. I like T-Hill quite a bit because it is so safe, at least in comparison to Laguna and Sears Point. Really let’s you be aggressive. Also I love T2 (long lefthand sweeper) that really lets you balance the car with the throttle. I also have not yet tried T8 without a dab of braking to settle the front on entry.

Can’t wait to watch the videos on something other than my phone!

-T

 

[raiderjatt02]

Great write-up! Love all of those tracks. So hard to choose a favorite. I like T-Hill quite a bit because it is so safe, at least in comparison to Laguna and Sears Point. Really let’s you be aggressive. Also I love T2 (long lefthand sweeper) that really lets you balance the car with the throttle. I also have not yet tried T8 without a dab of braking to settle the front on entry.

Can’t wait to watch the videos on something other than my phone!

-T

I tried T8 at WOT last time I went out there...I ended up scared shitless and in the dirt. No damage to the car but I don't think I'm trying that again anytime soon :lol:

100% agree about T2. That one is one of my favorites.