Biggsy's Track Build

[Biggsy]

Happy new Year ! Since it's been more than an year care to provide an update on the build ?

Happy New Year!

Lol yes. There have been update but not much. Unfortunately I didn’t get to the track as much as I hoped but I have more plans for 2022.
things since last update:
1) my TOB and slave cylinder went bad. It’s was causing a dead clutch pedal. I got it replaced under warranty and since they were dropping the trans, I used that time to upgrade to the Exedy Hyper Single Clutch. Amazing clutch but I quickly learned the difference between a track focused clutch and street clutch. Took some time getting used to. I have issues engaging first when the engine is running some times but I’ve been trying to fix it and no luck. Still under powertrain so if it goes then it goes lol

.

2) switch out the SPL links because I could not torque them down. The torque spec is 30ft lbs which I thought was too low but I ended up snapping one of the ends so they sent a new heim joint. Kept hearing clunking from it being loose so I replace with Whiteline links.

3) wanted an Alcantara steering wheel for track purpose but wanted a thicker grip than the GT350 wheel. SoCal Garageworks messed up my order so I went with Beith and it came out amazing.

4)replace my PP gauges with GT350 gauges and dash trim

my track set up last year was:
305/30/19 Goodyear Supercar3
LMR SVE SP2 19x11
Apex 25mm spacer
GLOC R12/10 combo
Schroth Quick fit pro

-loved the tires. Lasted the full 20 min sessions and didn’t really fall off. Really is a great tire for the price at the time(the prices have increased since).
- the Quick Fit caused pain to my lower back. I suffered a herniated disc in October 2020 and the harness didn’t help.

plans for this year to take thins more seriously:
-more than 10 track days at Summit Point Main, VIR, NJMP, Pitt Race and maybe Watkins Glen
-switch to orange Mach 1 calipers (for aesthetics lol)
-Vorshlag brake deflectors
-install my rear Vorshlag tow hook
- purchase/install CMS roll bar, race seats and harness (should help with back and fatigue)
- run the new continental extreme contact force in 295/30/19.
- try out the new EBC RP-1 track pads
- APR GTC 200 wing with front splitter (don’t know which brand yet).
- Race Louvers Center hood vent
- Ohlins R&T coil overs or MCS TT1 (depending on how much money falls in my lap otherwise will be done in 2023)
- RaceCapture MK3 for data logging

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[bnightstar]

Happy New Year!

Lol yes. There have been update but not much. Unfortunately I didn’t get to the track as much as I hoped but I have more plans for 2022.
things since last update:
1) my TOB and slave cylinder went bad. It’s was causing a dead clutch pedal. I got it replaced under warranty and since they were dropping the trans, I used that time to upgrade to the Exedy Hyper Single Clutch. Amazing clutch but I quickly learned the difference between a track focused clutch and street clutch. Took some time getting used to. I have issues engaging first when the engine is running some times but I’ve been trying to fix it and no luck. Still under powertrain so if it goes then it goes lol

.

2) switch out the SPL links because I could not torque them down. The torque spec is 30ft lbs which I thought was too low but I ended up snapping one of the ends so they sent a new heim joint. Kept hearing clunking from it being loose so I replace with Whiteline links.

3) wanted an Alcantara steering wheel for track purpose but wanted a thicker grip than the GT350 wheel. SoCal Garageworks messed up my order so I went with Beith and it came out amazing.

4)replace my PP gauges with GT350 gauges and dash trim

my track set up last year was:
305/30/19 Goodyear Supercar3
LMR SVE SP2 19x11
Apex 25mm spacer
GLOC R12/10 combo
Schroth Quick fit pro

-loved the tires. Lasted the full 20 min sessions and didn’t really fall off. Really is a great tire for the price at the time(the prices have increased since).
- the Quick Fit caused pain to my lower back. I suffered a herniated disc in October 2020 and the harness didn’t help.

plans for this year to take thins more seriously:
-more than 10 track days at Summit Point Main, VIR, NJMP, Pitt Race and maybe Watkins Glen
-switch to orange Mach 1 calipers (for aesthetics lol)
-Vorshlag brake deflectors
-install my rear Vorshlag tow hook
- purchase/install CMS roll bar, race seats and harness (should help with back and fatigue)
- run the new continental extreme contact force in 295/30/19.
- try out the new EBC RP-1 track pads
- APR GTC 200 wing with front splitter (don’t know which brand yet).
- Race Louvers Center hood vent
- Ohlins R&T coil overs or MCS TT1 (depending on how much money falls in my lap otherwise will be done in 2023)
- RaceCapture MK3 for data logging

Car looks amazing. My clutch is also gonzo but plan to go with Exedy Mach 500 or OEM. Did you also change flywheel for the Hypersingle ?

Steering wheel looks amazing as well. How much camber you have with the 305/30 tires ? I want to go 305/30 with Nankang AR-1 but not sure if the Steeda Camber Plates will have enough camber to tuck them under the fender your fittment looks spot on.

Also your plan looks amazing for next season hope you can mange to get your 10 track days.
Ohlins R&T are very hard to get though I even start considering going with springs/shocks just because this are impossible to source and they are increasing prices as well to a product that you can't actually buy at least in Europe.

 

[Biggsy]

Car looks amazing. My clutch is also gonzo but plan to go with Exedy Mach 500 or OEM. Did you also change flywheel for the Hypersingle ?

Thank you! Still a long way to go.

I suggest the 500 at a minimum. You will not have high RPM lockouts. The hyper single comes was a kit including flywheel. I believe I got it for $900 USD shipped all together from Beefcake Racing January 2020. Amazing deal.

Steering wheel looks amazing as well. How much camber you have with the 305/30 tires ? I want to go 305/30 with Nankang AR-1 but not sure if the Steeda Camber Plates will have enough camber to tuck them under the fender your fittment looks spot on.

Fo that track day I had -2.5* each side. So at some point a shop installed camber bolts on my car. I never really paid attention when working on the car. I found this out the hard way. After my last track day I noticed the car pulling to the left and I was too busy to put the car in the air to check and see what was going on. Days later I hear metal to metal contact and what happened was, the camber bolt slipped causing the inner wheel lip to rub on the strut. it left a nice ring around the wheel. I took out the camber bolts and replaced with OEM. I know now I wont be able to get back to that much camber without some modification to the strut or getting an adjustable lateral link like SPL.

 

[wangfuco]

I read through the entire thing man, and what an amazing build thread! Actually, your photos with the zl1addon splitter extension might be some of the only few across the internet that are shot from an angle with little distortion.

I want to ask you about the splitter rod actually. Before you added it, were you noticing any issues? If not, I might want to wait on these since 18+ PP2s are fine as well without them.

 

[Biggsy]

I read through the entire thing man, and what an amazing build thread! Actually, your photos with the zl1addon splitter extension might be some of the only few across the internet that are shot from an angle with little distortion.

I want to ask you about the splitter rod actually. Before you added it, were you noticing any issues? If not, I might want to wait on these since 18+ PP2s are fine as well without them.

Hello there!

Its not that I was noticing any issues while driving at the time but for splitters, you want them to be at zero degrees angle of attack or slightly negative. The thing with the ZL1 splitter is that I bolted it to the belly pans which curved up. I used the rods to push it down but it only helped but so much. Right now it probably generate a bit of lift instead of downforce. I plan to take it off this summer and go with a different split that is mounted to the frame instead and allows for adjustments to the AoA.

 

[wangfuco]

Hello there!

Its not that I was noticing any issues while driving at the time but for splitters, you want them to be at zero degrees angle of attack or slightly negative. The thing with the ZL1 splitter is that I bolted it to the belly pans which curved up. I used the rods to push it down but it only helped but so much. Right now it probably generate a bit of lift instead of downforce. I plan to take it off this summer and go with a different split that is mounted to the frame instead and allows for adjustments to the AoA.

Hmm, it's a bummer that it has a positive angle of attack... I thought zl1 mentioned that this would not happen with a splitter extension. I guess the only way forward is to replace the entire belly pan?

 

[wangfuco]

Actually, could you do me a favor or provide a data point (probably first on the internet as well) by measuring the AoA of the zl1 with a level meter? Something like the measure app on iPhone is also fine!

 

[Biggsy]

Hmm, it's a bummer that it has a positive angle of attack... I thought zl1 mentioned that this would not happen with a splitter extension. I guess the only way forward is to replace the entire belly pan?

You don’t have to remove the belly pan. I added several bolts in addition to the ones they predrilled. To fix the issue you can add spacers towards the front. I was going to do a weatherstrip to give it more negative angle and to seal the gap between the lower lip and splitter.

Actually, could you do me a favor or provide a data point (probably first on the internet as well) by measuring the AoA of the zl1 with a level meter? Something like the measure app on iPhone is also fine!

Unfortunately the car went to the dealer on Friday for the salve cylinder and throw out bearing again. Probably won’t have it back for a couple weeks.

 

[Biggsy]

Its been a couple months and I'm procrastinating at work so I might as well provide updates or lack thereof lol.

Had big plans this year with roll bar +seats + harness + apex wheels + Conti ECF but ended up scaling back and putting that money into seat time instead. I rather be on a stock set up and get 12 weekends in than have $10k parts on the car and only get 2 or 3 weekends in. Now I kinda regret selling off my wheels/tires and Quick Fit Pro harness last year but oh well... live and learn. My goal is still to get 12 different events in this year so hope is still alive.

Just ordered MRR M600 19x11 which should be here later today. Picked up 295/30/19 Toyo RRs from the tire shop yesterday. Just need to pick up another set of spacers and Quick fit pro harness and I'll be good to get a track day in now.

Last time on the track, I ran out of gas and didn't have any tow hooks. Fortunately the track was able to provide enough fuel for me to make it out to the pumps. Right after that I purchased tow hooks. I ordered rear Vorshlag tow hook bare and had it powder coated orange to match my soon to be mach 1 orange calipers. For the front I will have a center mount ZL1 Addons tow hook that will also be painted orange.

Also, at some point a shop installed camber bolts on my car. I knew the camber numbers I was getting were too good to be true being that the Steeda RCC kit takes some out. The driver side bolt slipped and my Apex wheel was grinding against the strut a good bit. It put a nice ring around the inner barrel.

I replaced them with the OEM strut bolts but in the near future I have to see about getting the camber back to -2.5* whether its going back to OEM lateral arms or slotting the top strut hole. I bought Professional Awesome camber slugs to lock in the camber instead of relying on friction, but the camber lock hole is too small for the bolt so it wont work.

Recently, I found out the radiator in my Tundra has a leaking hole and one of the leaf springs in broken so that has set things back. I am planning to make it to Pitt Race with Auto Interests end of May as my first event of the year. Hoping to have the truck towing ready by then because I don't want to drive the car up there.

Only plans for the car/driver as of right now are:
Mach 1 calipers with SS lines (Orange will make the car stop faster)
Vorshlag brake cooling fins
Race Louvers Center Vent
Xineeiring Auto blip module
Try out Raybestos ST43(whenever in stock) or new EBC RP-1
Necksgen RevLite2
Better angled front splitter
3.55s
SEAT TIME

Events/tracks I plan to make this year:
VIR- Track Daze or NASA
Summit Point Main - SCCA/NASA/Auto Interests (goal is to get under 1:23 which is 5 sec improvement from last year)
NJMP - Gridlife
Pitt Race- NASA/Auto Interests

 

[Biggsy]

Still getting a few things in order before the season starts for me.
I have steeda RCC kit and if you know, RCC kits reduce the amount of camber. I have MM camber plates and those with the same set up get a max of about 2.1*. So instead of paying for an alignment to just come to the same conclusion of not having a enough camber, I decided to search for new plates. Only plates that I know that are capable are Vorshlag (out of my budget right now) and Steeda. I saw the price went up on the Steeda plates and remembered MMR just released theirs. I contacted Mark and he gave me an amazing deal that was worth trying them out. He said he had MM plates previously and was able to gain an extra degree of camber with his plates.

They arrived today. Look great to me but I don’t really know what to look for or how to compare plates. I’m hoping to get them installed within the next two weeks. Who doesn’t love gold?!

 

[Howitzer]

Still getting a few things in order before the season starts for me.
I have steeda RCC kit and if you know, RCC kits reduce the amount of camber. I have MM camber plates and those with the same set up get a max of about 2.1*. So instead of paying for an alignment to just come to the same conclusion of not having a enough camber, I decided to search for new plates. Only plates that I know that are capable are Vorshlag (out of my budget right now) and Steeda. I saw the price went up on the Steeda plates and remembered MMR just released theirs. I contacted Mark and he gave me an amazing deal that was worth trying them out. He said he had MM plates previously and was able to gain an extra degree of camber with his plates.

They arrived today. Look great to me but I don’t really know what to look for or how to compare plates. I’m hoping to get them installed within the next two weeks. Who doesn’t love gold?!

Hey! did you ever get the MMR Camber plates installed? And if so, how do you like them so far? I'm in the market for some camber plates and did see they recently released these.

 

[Biggsy]

Hey! did you ever get the MMR Camber plates installed? And if so, how do you like them so far? I'm in the market for some camber plates and did see they recently released these.

I like them. Top quality. I was able to gain over a degree of camber than what I had with the MM plates

 

[Biggsy]

Happy Monday everyone

Its been another slow start to the year just due to life and having issues between the tundra and the mustang. Life wouldn't be fun without obstacles anyways.

Just finished up my first event of the year yesterday at Summit Point Main with HOD. It was my first time driving with them and was a great experience. Being that I haven't been to the track in a year, I didn't care much about lap time and was more focused on technique and trying different things such as heel toe and trail braking. I was solo'd last year with Auto Interests but being that its been 12 months and my first time with HOD, I requested an instructor.

Changes to the car:

• 295/30/19 Toyo RR
• Xineering Module
• SRF Brake Fluid
• Amsoil goodness(engine, trans, diff)
• Rear Vorshlag Tow Hook
• Aerocatch Latches
• Divorced clutch reservoir

I guess I should rewind:
Before this event, I have been working on the car. The MMR camber plates gave me over a degree more camber than the MM plates I had. great product. I did notice that it raised the front up about half an inch. Still has a decent rake so not the end of the world.

I was also gifted an Xineering module so I put that in and can turn it on/off with a toggle switch and a bright LED to let me know it on when on track no matter how sunny it is.

Another thing I added was the Aerocatch hood latches. It is definitely not the easiest job using the radiator support locations. Its three layers to cut through with the top two being extremely close together. I started it, but after messing with it for 3 weeks (school and work), I took it to a shop to finish the job. came out great.

Went with the Vorshlag rear tow hook. Didn't care for the way ZL1 Addons mounted theirs. Vorshlag states on their site that the rear fits all S550 but if you are interested, make sure you have quad exhaust or at least quad exhaust cutout. I got the bumper off and notice when putting it back that the tow hook didn't line up with the exhaust cut out. After doing all the work of taking the bumper off, I was determined to make it fit. I plan on going with quad exhaust one day so I don't mind the look for now. Can't tell unless you are really looking at it (at least to me). I have the ford performance front tow hook but didn't have time nor feel like drilling through the crash bar at the time.

Divorced my clutch and brake reservoir and switched to SRF.

I wanted to upgrade from Track Addict and for the price and potential, I went with AutoSport Labs RaceCapture Track MK3. Its their new module that was released earlier this year. Takes some getting used to but for what you can do, its a great buy imo. Will add their shift light at some point. I bought mine from one of their dealers, John Freund (John Freund Racing). Great guy and has some great device on his site that I think are pretty cool.

Now back to yesterday:
Car felt amazing and being back on the track felt event better. I was running in the same group as first timers so passing only on the straights. First session I had to clean the dust off but second and third session were completely different. I tried using the Xineering module, but was unsuccessful. I couldn't get used to it blipping for me and every time I downshifted, I wanted to blip myself so it messed me up. I turned it off for the rest of the session. As you know one of the downfalls of the module is that you need an Android or PC to change the settings. I had neither at the track so it was no good to me. On the street I can use the outside of my foot without issues, but on the track, I found my right foot too far to the left so there were times I was missing the gas pedal to blip even with size 13 feet and SRP pedals. I found a great tip on heel toe form a thread in M6G which was to raise the steering wheel. With the steering wheel raised, I was able to twist my leg to blip the pedal with my heel. I found this to be much much better and easier. Now my only issue is to not over brake and to keep pressure on the brakes as I blip to prevent unsettling the car. My brake release greatly improved as the laps went on to the point my instructor couldn't feel me getting off the brakes. I also started getting on throttle earlier and trusting the RRs.

In my third session, I was black flagged for exhaust smoke. I pulled in and we couldn't find any leaks. In the paddock, I opened the hood and saw oil/fluid residue on the cold air intake box and oil droplets on the oil filter access panel. the filter was tight so it wasn't that it was loose. Didn't get any lights on the dash or abnormal feeling in the car. The same thing happened to me last year in the last session at the same sequence of turns. After waiting over an hour and a half for AAA, I decided to take the chance and drive home. I made it without any issues and come to find out it is the infamous driver side cam cover issue. I was planning to do the aluminum GT500 cam cover upgrade this winter, but it looks like it will happen sooner than later. I think that covers just about everything lol.

All in all, it was a great day, and talked to some nice people. I am hoping to have the car ready by September 24th weekend for either Summit with Track Daze or NJMP Lightning with HOD.


If you made it this far, I appreciate you and hope you receive good fortune this week. If you didn't, I still hope the same lol.

 

[Biggsy]

Things to work on/to do and notes:

• Install GT500 cam covers
• Install front Tow Hook
• Work on transition off brakes
• Work on Tundra because fitting 4 tires with tools and a passenger was hell on my body. Towing next time for sure
• Look at going to 3.55 rear end
• RRs are a great "bang for your buck"
• Change Xineering settings
• I believe in the SRF hype now lol
• After riding with my instructor in his Miata, I believe in the Miata hype for sure lol

 

[Biggsy]

Finally have track photos!

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