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

fuhrius said:

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!

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I actually was at Dirt Fish about 3 weeks ago with my boss. Talk about a cool dude! We had an absolute blast. I think I spent the entire day trying to un-learn everything I had learned over the past year in road course setting! Ha. Trying to remember that you turn, brake, throttle vs brake, turn, throttle got me every time. It was amazing how fast you can make a rear wheel drive car go in sloppy mud if you know what you were doing. Probably the most carefree fun I've had in a car before.







It's a good thing the cone budget is included in your entrance fee - I mauled an entire row of them. In my defense, it was a beautiful link - just a bit wide.

Trackaholic said:

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

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That's true. T Hill really has a nice safety net. The Ridge and ORP here in the PNW are the same way. Have to be honest, though, I kind of like the imminent danger of Laguna and Sears Point. Adds to the excitement

raiderjatt02 said:

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.

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Ha! I didn't think it was possible while I was there. However, after Track Attack and riding with Ronnie, I think it is. A quick lift before to help the car rotate and I bet you can make it with a bit of 4th gear throttle steer

honeybadger said:

Have to be honest, though, I kind of like the imminent danger of Laguna and Sears Point. Adds to the excitement

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until you wad one up in one of those walls. the excitement fades pretty fast...trust me on that one.

fuhrius said:

until you wad one up in one of those walls. the excitement fades pretty fast...trust me on that one.

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That I can imagine. Unfortunately, I am well-aware of the dark side of racing. I got my start in motorsports through Motocross. I've broken all 4 limbs - including a snapped femur and humerus (not funny - horrible name for a bone).

The positive side is I've gotten pretty good at identifying where my own skill boundaries are and when I'm pushing things too hard. I actually find that I drive more smoothly and level headed at tracks like Sears Point because the walls help remind me that a mistake will be very painful (likely both financially and medically). The only tracks I've had an off (knock on wood) were at T-Hill and ORP (both in wide open spaces).

I'm actually more scared of going off the track sideways at T-Hill/ORP and rolling because the tire digs into the dirt than I am a of a hitting wall at tracks like Laguna or Pacific Raceways. Of course, all this goes out the window during wheel-to-wheel racing or if a mechanical causes the problem. Hopefully neither of those happen. And if they do, hopefully it happens while I am in a fully-prepped, caged car.

2018 Track Season Prep begins!

Been busy assembling goodies from the 2017 track season. After 15 track days and 16,000 miles, the brakes are in need of a rebuild. Front rotors are cracking pretty good and the dust boots have started to deteriorate. Good excuse to tear into things!



2018 is shaping up to be a pretty epic year. With trips planned down to CA again as well as Bucket List Road Trip #2 heading to the East Coast in addition to local track days, I'm looking to improve life, increase reliability, and of course, boost performance. I chose 2 key areas to focus on for the moment: tires and brakes.

Brakes
For the brakes, I'm starting with new front rotors and replacement pads. OEM rotors are hard to beat without going to the AP Racing Kit, so those were ordered from Autonation Whitebear Lake ~ $432 delivered. I got 12 days out of my G-Loc track pads (R16 front, R12 rear), so I decided to order another set from Tim at OP Mustang. In August, I switched the OEM fluid to Motul R600 was never quite happy with it. I felt like the OEM fluid had better performance. Since I'm going to need to do a full flush, I bit the bullet and went with Castrol SRF this time. I threw in Goodridge SS lines, Ti Shims and new dust boot seals with the order.




Front
On the tire front, I settled on running a squared setup so I could rotate. With 15+ track days a year, I need to maximize longevity. I'm starting with a set of 305/30R19 Cup 2s (thanks Walmart special)!. With the speeds this car is pushing and the stress the components are seeing, I wanted to step up my wheel game. I spent 2017 using the OEM wheels for track use (6GRs for street since the caliper clearance is too small track use IMHO). While heavy, they worked pretty well (although I still had my calipers/barrels scrapped from debris). Between [MENTION=20243]50 Deep[/MENTION] and [MENTION=19800]CSL[/MENTION], I settled on a new set from Signature wheels - the SV502. The SV line from Signature is a dedicated track wheel, prioritizing strength, weight, and reliability. I'm excited to be not only the first Mustang with these wheels, but I'll be receiving the first Production set! Sweet! Full write up on the wheels coming tomorrow.



A rotatable setup means I need spacers and extended studs. So I added 25MM spacers and ARP extended studs to my OP Mustang order.

Other items
Since the calipers are coming off for a rebuild, I figure it's a good time to paint them. So I ordered a custom Ruby Red color from G2.

To go along with the dedicated track car theme, I ordered Matte black stripes (pin stripe delete) from BigwormGraphix and designed some new numbers (photoshop below).



Lastly, I have an R splitter in the works to compliment the wing. Thanks, [MENTION=19066]Epiphany[/MENTION]!

All in all, we have nice list of goodies to get working on. A keen eye will notice 4 boxes of goodies on the left with a surprise peeking out

I believe in another post, I mentioned no BUF layovers in FEB. As long as you are not in a hurry, next time I'm in BUF, I can ship it. Better yet, why not ask epiphany to bring it to Daytona with him and he can drop it with me and I'll ship it.

Either way, I didn't forget about you.

I fly out towards Daytona in two days. The coffin-size box won't be making the trip. Checking on shipping today.

Epiphany said:

I fly out towards Daytona in two days. The coffin-size box won't be making the trip. Checking on shipping today.

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Oh, you're flying......

Tomster said:

I believe in another post, I mentioned no BUF layovers in FEB. As long as you are not in a hurry, next time I'm in BUF, I can ship it. Better yet, why not ask epiphany to bring it to Daytona with him and he can drop it with me and I'll ship it.

Either way, I didn't forget about you.

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Thanks for keeping me in mind, Tom! I ended up needing it quickly for an upcoming photo shoot, so I asked Tob box it up and take it to UPS. Although I'm wondering if it would've been cheaper to dress is up on street clothes, get it a fake ID, and buy it a one-way ticket with an airline - it'll be nice to have in time for the shoot.

By the way - I hear you might be heading West for the Fabulous Ford's Forever show and private track day? Damn bro. You'll be stealing the longest-trip award from me this year! Hope to see you!

They're here!

I'm so excited to debut these new wheels for [MENTION=32677]50Deep@DCTMS[/MENTION] and Signature Wheels.

Background:
I've been looking seriously at wheel options the last 6 months or so. I've been running the OEM wheels because the caliper clearance on my 6GRs was just too narrow. I ordered those wheels before I did enough research, so I ended up using them for street duty (even then, they scratched my calipers). The OEM wheels have decent clearance and are obviously stout enough for track use, but they're staggered and incredibly heavy. Not ideal for dedicated track wheels that will see Cup 2s/scrubs mounted.

I looked at Apex, BC Forged and Signature fairly seriously. Apex looked like a great option in regards to reputation and proven track use, but they were a bit heavy weighing in at 24.8 lbs and were not going to have the strength of a forged set. This left BC and Signature. After speaking with T and Chris (CSL), I ended choosing the brand new SV502. Perfect mix of a function-first design (strength, weight, and reliability) at an affordable price (almost half of Forgeline's GA1Rs). They were predicted to weigh in sub-22 lbs. So weight was good.

Sizing:
In the staggered setup, I was getting roughly 1/2 more life out of the rears than the fronts. This means I need to either replace 2 at a time or waste rubber. With a rigorous track schedule coming up, this wasn't a preferred a route. I decided to go with square so I could rotate and wear all 4 as close to equally as I could. I chose 19x11 squared with OEM rear offsets.

SV502s
On Friday I received my 4 boxes. Could barely contain my excited. You'll have to excuse the pictures - best I can do while its raining here in Seattle and I am stuck in the house.


These are exceptionally well-made wheels. Beautifully crafted, but finished for abuse.






Of course they're knurled to hold those tires in place under high Gs. Notice how every part of this wheel is finished evenly. Nice upgrade from my OEM and 6GR wheels.


Drilled out holes for weight reduction. If you look closely, you'll see that the center cap has been greased so it doesn't scratch the finish when being installed/removed. Very nice!


Alright. Meat and potatoes time. If you're still reading, this is what you really want. In 19x11 with +50 offset, these weighed in at a WHOPPING 20.8lbs. If I am not mistaken, that's the lightest wheel yet. Incredible. Fully dressed up with Sport Cup 2s (305/30R19) and wheel weights, it weighed in a 47.6 lbs compared to the rear OEM wheel + MPSS (well-used) at 58.0 lbs exactly. 10.4lbs - I'll take it! Will be curious to know how much a new MPSS weighs in comparison. Will update when I get the new ones mounted.


Caliper clearance is exception as well.


If you were thinking....wow! That looks double. You'd be correct.In order to measure, I bent pieces of paper until they touched both the caliper and barrel when sliding through. While not accurate down to the nanmeter, it works well enough. I measured the OEM caliper clearance to be ~ 1/4in. 6GRs are literally credit card thin. The SV502s were 1/2in! Again! Incredible.


Seriously can't wait to get these on the car. The perfect balance function over design for a machine like the GT350. Not a bad way to improve reliability, looks, and lose over 40lbs of rotating mass!

Niiiiiice! Let me know how those SS brake lines work out for you. Last time I ordered a set, they weren't the right size so I've been hesitant on trying again. Can't wait to see how the car looks with the new wheels and stripes.

raiderjatt02 said:

Niiiiiice! Let me know how those SS brake lines work out for you. Last time I ordered a set, they weren't the right size so I've been hesitant on trying again. Can't wait to see how the car looks with the new wheels and stripes.

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I remember reading that. I take it you went back to stock? Mine look to be the correct ones - but won't know until I hook them up. Hope they work - I hate brake fluid flushes. They never seem go well for me!

Damn good looking ride and some REALLY nice looking aftermarket stuff added to it.

Definitely digging the wheels!

Nice, that Ruby red is awesome!! Just found this post but if you are ever in the Simi Valley/1000 Oaks area give me a shout and we'll meet up. The Rock Store up off of Mulholland Rd. is a place you need to check out lots of cool bikes/cars etc. and you might get luck and run into Jay Leno and/or Arnold S. in/on one of their custom rides!! This Sat is the Birthday Celebration for Carrol Shelby at the Peterson Auto Museum, starts at 9:00Am and will be lots of cool Shelby's, Mustangs and other rides in attendance...

honeybadger said:

I actually was at Dirt Fish about 3 weeks ago with my boss. Talk about a cool dude! We had an absolute blast. I think I spent the entire day trying to un-learn everything I had learned over the past year in road course setting! Ha. Trying to remember that you turn, brake, throttle vs brake, turn, throttle got me every time. It was amazing how fast you can make a rear wheel drive car go in sloppy mud if you know what you were doing. Probably the most carefree fun I've had in a car before.

It's a good thing the cone budget is included in your entrance fee - I mauled an entire row of them. In my defense, it was a beautiful link - just a bit wide.

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this picture is my 'wallpaper' on my work computer. It's a good conversation starter ;-)...my favorite bit is the huge smile on head instructor Nate Tennis's face. This was on day 2 of the advanced course (after doing 3 days in the initial course as well)...so the speeds really start to get up there. They do a nice job of thoughtful progression. This was one of the faster 'corners' on the course (I believe it was called 'The Hook'...probably doing 50-60mph here and 90 degrees sideways on entry. Fun stuff!