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

[honeybadger]

Any word on the oil issue?

Valve seals. Tim pulled 12 hg of vacuum and was able to get oil to seep through the seals. He ended up measuring them and found out the valves were actually slightly undersized, which is why my seal replacement over last winter didn't change anything.

Tim also said that the springs used weren't the right ones for my heads and use, which is what led to their premature failure that resulted in piston to valve contact.

Suffice to say, the original head job by the other shop was below standards. Ugh!

 

[gtorpedo]

Valve seals. Tim pulled 12 hg of vacuum and was able to get oil to seep through the seals. He ended up measuring them and found out the valves were actually slightly undersized, which is why my seal replacement over last winter didn't change anything.

Tim also said that the springs used weren't the right ones for my heads and use, which is what led to their premature failure that resulted in piston to valve contact.

Suffice to say, the original head job by the other shop was below standards. Ugh!

ughh is right!! That is disappointing and unsettling as the "other shop" built my entire longblock.

 

[honeybadger]

ughh is right!! That is disappointing and unsettling as the "other shop" built my entire longblock.

You might be okay. There could have been a miscommunication or I could have just gotten a bad experience. I've seen a lot of people have success and RGR is definitely not a new shop. I will say Justin at JPC was accommodating and he came across to me as an honest guy. He said won't do Voodoo builds anymore. Too many issues.

Tim and I now have a good rapport and plan worked out, so it just works for me. I've told a few folks this - really try and find the shop that works best for your use case. I'd argue Tim is one of the best shops to use for road course racing a Voodoo--he's got a lot of experience with it and is constantly tweaking the package to make it better. But if you're not doing road course stuff, another shop might be better.

 

[shogun32]

And yeah, if you're shipping to a builder definitely ask if they can arrange shipping for you.

If you know someone who works for United Airlines, their Fedex discounts are positively criminal.

 

[honeybadger]

Was out at COTA instructing this past weekend. I borrowed my buddies Miata to abuse on the track. With this little guy down on compression on cylinders #1 and #3 and a slipping clutch, my goal was just to break 3:00 minutes. While that sounds comical, if you've ever driven a car like a Miata on a track like COTA, these double digit HP beasts are actually quite hard to drive quickly. Definitely a humbling experience

 

[460Fred]

Was out at COTA instructing this past weekend. I borrowed my buddies Miata to abuse on the track. With this little guy down on compression on cylinders #1 and #3 and a slipping clutch, my goal was just to break 3:00 minutes. While that sounds comical, if you've ever driven a car like a Miata on a track like COTA, these double digit HP beasts are actually quite hard to drive quickly. Definitely a humbling experience

You‘d still kick my ass even if I was in my GT350...never tracked before but can’t wait to.

 

[tracktardicus]

Was out at COTA instructing this past weekend. I borrowed my buddies Miata to abuse on the track. With this little guy down on compression on cylinders #1 and #3 and a slipping clutch, my goal was just to break 3:00 minutes. While that sounds comical, if you've ever driven a car like a Miata on a track like COTA, these double digit HP beasts are actually quite hard to drive quickly. Definitely a humbling experience

HB,
I drove COTA for the first time for the WRL race two weekends ago driving a BRZ race car, and that track is a beast. Some tracks are relatively easy to find a rhythm on, but COTA is not one of them. I made some gradual improvements throughout the weekend, but really struggled to keep pace in traffic. We were running with over 20 cars in the GT0 class in the 80+ car field, and some of those cars were IMSA-level performance factory cars. I finished the race on Sunday on the white flag lap by losing my brakes at 110 going into turn 1, but fortunately the gravel trap stopped me. I'm glad it didn't happen on the back straight, or on another track that doesn't have the well-designed runoff areas like COTA does.

 

[honeybadger]

You‘d still kick my ass even if I was in my GT350...never tracked before but can’t wait to.

Ha! I am sure you'll be moving much faster! Hit me up when you attend if you sign up with Edge Addicts and we'll get out there together.

HB,
I drove COTA for the first time for the WRL race two weekends ago driving a BRZ race car, and that track is a beast. Some tracks are relatively easy to find a rhythm on, but COTA is not one of them. I made some gradual improvements throughout the weekend, but really struggled to keep pace in traffic. We were running with over 20 cars in the GT0 class in the 80+ car field, and some of those cars were IMSA-level performance factory cars. I finished the race on Sunday on the white flag lap by losing my brakes at 110 going into turn 1, but fortunately the gravel trap stopped me. I'm glad it didn't happen on the back straight, or on another track that doesn't have the well-designed runoff areas like COTA does.

Nice! Didn't know you were in town! What a fun way to experience COTA for the first time!

And yep. COTA is one of the hardest tracks I've ever driven. Every single corner presents a different type of challenge and none of them are particularly easy. And with 20 turns, it's really, really hard to put entire laps together. I've talked to many that have come thinking they'll be running a certain lap time and really struggle to get within 3-4 seconds of their expectation. It took me over a year to break 2:30 even though I was 2:32 the first event. I really love how hard it is.

Oof. Sorry to hear about the unfortunate end to your race. Glad it was turn 1, though! Turn 12 is pretty good if you can scrub a bit of speed too before you hit the gravel.

I've driven a BRZ around COTA and it was a blast. As long as you don't make them too fast, the chassis is super fun. Super jealous!

 

[honeybadger]

While still waiting for the HB engine, my buddy Matt and I are getting into some light preventative maintenance on his Miata. It leaking oil out the cam position sensor, valve cover, and rear main seal, burning some oil, and the clutch was slipping. With 190k original miles, not too surprising.

Incredible how good of shape the cylinders are in for the mileage. Neither of my engines looked this good when I opened them up. But I guess that's the price you pay for high RPM and more than 100hp per liter vs 50

We're exploring whether to refresh it or replace. Likely refresh since we'll have a known entity then. But we'll see

 

[shogun32]

how many cycles on those tires?

 

[honeybadger]

how many cycles on those tires?

Oh man. Not sure exactly, but it's a lot. Likely 30+. They're about as grippy as 300+ treadwear right now

 

[honeybadger]

Just spoke to Tim this morning regarding HB's motor. Pistons are in coating and then assembly. If that goes smoothly, 1-2 weeks hopefully.

Starting to get itchy since I'm sure there will be some bugs to iron out on the dyno with the VCT delete and COTA days start back up in March.

 

[Understeer]

Just spoke to Tim this morning regarding HB's motor. Pistons are in coating and then assembly. If that goes smoothly, 1-2 weeks hopefully.

Starting to get itchy since I'm sure there will be some bugs to iron out on the dyno with the VCT delete and COTA days start back up in March.

Planning on changing cam profiles?

 

[honeybadger]

Planning on changing cam profiles?

Not this go round. Still waiting on more testing of the current cam offerings and then some of my own testing to get some of the other bits right (such if I'll be keeping the VCT delete or not). If I do keep the VCT delete, I'd likely profile the cams specifically for VCT delete and likely use with a sequential to keep the engine in a tighter RPM range.

 

[Understeer]

Not this go round. Still waiting on more testing of the current cam offerings and then some of my own testing to get some of the other bits right (such if I'll be keeping the VCT delete or not). If I do keep the VCT delete, I'd likely profile the cams specifically for VCT delete and likely use with a sequential to keep the engine in a tighter RPM range.

Like... a sequential gear box?!?!... oh man, is it me, or is it getting hot in here... lol