Obsolescence to Obsession – Tales of the Rented Mule (FPRS GT350 Track Attack #14)

[Muligan]

Hidy-Ho and welcome back! Dang nice to see ya; It's been a while since we gathered around to check in on the Rented Mule as the 2022 season came to a close. With the cold and snow of mid-winter upon us here in the balmy Midwest, the Mule is packed away and waiting for better days.

While my focus has been back on a long term project (the previously mentioned '73 Z28 LS7 pro-touring build), I can't help but be distracted by that big lump under the cover in the corner. Which has, unsurprisingly, resulted in assorted exercises in planning, scheming, ordering, and hoarding in anticipation of much speed.

One thing I realized last summer is that being distracted by a fluttering hood when doing a buck-forty plus is quite possibly not a good idea (thanks, Capt. Obvious!). So, here's a sneak peak at the Mule's next upgrade, which will get a solid set of Aero-Catches and a Trackspec center vent.

Glad you could stop by - please check back soon for details on fitting and finishing!

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[svttim]

Purdy. Who made that hood?

 

[Muligan]

Purdy. Who made that hood?

Sure hope you know - LOL.

But for everyone else, it's an Anderson Composites in the standard GT350 style.

 

[Muligan]

Here we are, just a couple of days shy of mid-February, and it's time to start thinking about the 2023 season (the "Rode Hard & Put Up Wet" tour). The Mule is still sleeping soundly with dreams of a perforated carbon fiber hood and more, while I plan and scheme our adventures for this summer.

And what an exciting season it's shaping up to be. I'll be hitting a few new-to-me tracks this year (even venturing north of the border to Canada), and possibly even trying out a new-to-everyone track. The tentative list includes;

• Road America
• Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (Mosport)
• NCM (Corvette Museum) - two events
• Mid-Ohio; and
• Flatrock (a brand new track being developed in Rockwood, TN - southeast of Knoxville)

So, what's the big news? Well, one of the trips to NCM will be for practice laps in anticipation of competing at this year's Tirerack / GRM Ultimate Track Car Challenge. After months of anticipation, I just found out that the Mule's entry was accepted! I hope you'll follow along as we get ready to fly the GT350 / FPRS flag at this year's running of the UTCC!

 

[Goz To 11]

Congratulations Ant Man!

Make us proud

 

[Lorne34]

Let me know when you hit Road America. Would be great to meet you.

 

[Muligan]

A quick note on pre-season parts accumulation.

The Mule is getting re-shoed with some Apex SM-10RS (the newest design in their ultra-lightweight forged series) and a switch to Yokohama A005 slicks. Last year I ran the Apex SM-10 flow-formed wheels with Pirelli DH take-offs in 305/690-19, but that size has pretty much become obsolete.

The new forged SM-10s are supposed to be 4 lbs lighter and the Yokos are just a tad narrower and a bit lighter than the DHs, with the same circumference, so acceleration out of corners should be the same or a bit better.

Here's my recent score of 300/690-19 A005s (4 used with near full tread and 3 stickers) and a file pic of the satin bronze finish I selected when I joint the group buy on the wheels (they should be here sometime in May).

 

[5.2 liters of democracy]

A quick note on pre-season parts accumulation.

The Mule is getting re-shoed with some Apex SM-10RS (the newest design in their ultra-lightweight forged series) and a switch to Yokohama A005 slicks. Last year I ran the Apex SM-10 flow-formed wheels with Pirelli DH take-offs in 305/690-19, but that size has pretty much become obsolete.

The new forged SM-10s are supposed to be 4 lbs lighter and the Yokos are just a tad narrower and a bit lighter than the DHs, with the same circumference, so acceleration out of corners should be the same or a bit better.

Here's my recent score of 300/690-19 A005s (4 used with near full tread and 3 stickers) and joined a group buy on the wheels, which should be here sometime in May.

Big fan of the SM-10s so I can only imagine these are going to feel even better. I've absolutely brutalized mine on some rough curbing and they just keep going. Great choice!

 

[Slywilliez]

Here we are, just a couple of days shy of mid-February, and it's time to start thinking about the 2023 season (the "Rode Hard & Put Up Wet" tour). The Mule is still sleeping soundly with dreams of a perforated carbon fiber hood and more, while I plan and scheme our adventures for this summer.

And what an exciting season it's shaping up to be. I'll be hitting a few new-to-me tracks this year (even venturing north of the border to Canada), and possibly even trying out a new-to-everyone track. The tentative list includes;

• Road America
• Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (Mosport)
• NCM (Corvette Museum) - two events
• Mid-Ohio; and
• Flatrock (a brand new track being developed in Rockwood, TN - southeast of Knoxville)

So, what's the big news? Well, one of the trips to NCM will be for practice laps in anticipation of competing at this year's Tirerack / GRM Ultimate Track Car Challenge. After months of anticipation, I just found out that the Mule's entry was accepted! I hope you'll follow along as we get ready to fly the GT350 / FPRS flag at this year's running of the UTCC!

Let me know when you planning to head to Mid-Ohio, one of my favorite tracks. My wife and I can bring both of the Gt350 / FPRS and do a small photo shoot!

 

[Pardsy]

Does anyone remember how much the FPRS GT350’s sold for when the school sold them?

 

[barstowpo]

$45,000

 

[Muligan]

Be advised - the Mule is inbound.......

It's that time again, as we kick off another (hopefully) great season of on-track silliness. Sure, the first event (Road America with MVP Tracktime) is only two weeks away and the Mule just got onto the lift yesterday..... so what, there's plenty of time left! It'll be prepped, polished and chomping at the bit come the first call to grid.

The last few posts during the bleak, depths of winter were teasers of things like a carbon hood (hat tips to @svttim and @Goz To 11), forged Apex SM-10RS wheels (expected sometime later in May), fresh slicks, and such. There's more planned, too, so climb aboard as we head into our second season together and let's see where the roads and tracks take us.

Regular visitors may remember the disoriented transmission vent issue that was only discovered after we thoroughly soaked the underside with red Mercon LV, cutting short day two at Gingerman. Well, in honor of that illustrious moment in motorsports, this season has been dubbed the......

"Rode Hard & Put Up Wet Tour"

For those of you lucky enough to catch up with us at the track, we have new limited-edition t-shirts to commemorate the poor preparation of last year and the hopefulness of better things to come this year (while supplies last, of course, and void where prohibited by law).

Some of the cool stuff is going to have to wait until after this first event, for a couple of reasons.

Just a short recap: This time last year, we were getting ready for our first event together - Road America. One of the guys in our group summed it up pretty well when he asked me Saturday morning if I was a bit anxious about getting back on track, as it'd been away from the sport for a while. That was an understatement, to say the least..... apprehensive would have been a better choice of words, or maybe just plain scared. Here I was, heading out onto a track I consider home and where I've turned hundreds of laps and thousands of miles (both HPDE and wheel-to-wheel racing), but with a car that had more power and capabilities than anything I'd ever driven on track, and that I'd only been briefly acquainted with three years earlier at the FPRS Track Attack in Utah. Oh, and I was running in the advanced group with passing allowed everywhere. Yeah - I was anxious..... I just didn't want to cause any problems or do anything stupid.

As the Mule and I warmed up in that first session, all worries were cast aside and the weekend was great. In the interest of safety, I ran just fast enough to avoid being a speed bump, watched the mirrors, and got comfortable with the car. The rest of the season, chronicled in earlier posts, was a blast with my confidence growing and dormant skills sharpening.

So, as we return to Road America (which has been freshly repaved), I don't want to change much on the Mule. This way, I can get a better year-over-year measure of my own improvements. So, most of the new stuff will be added after this first event, just in time for the trip north to Mosport in late June.

But, that doesn't mean we're sitting in the shop, idling away the time. Nope, I've dug in and began the pre-season prep. I have to tackle an issue with the charging system, which seems to have been narrowed down to a bad voltage regulator, meaning it's time for a new alternator. With the Mule on the lift, I pulled the airbox and the front fascia / splitter / undertray off for better access and just started digging in on the inspection. Of course, it'll also get new brakes all around, a "fresh" set of take-off slicks on the existing Apex SM-10 wheels (cast version), and a differential fluid change. The oil was fresh before winter storage and the transmission fluid was replaced when the clutch/flywheel/TO bearing were done last fall, so all good there.

And here's another endorsement for the Quick Jacks - these and a four post lift provide the best of both worlds (wheels off for brake / suspension work and down on the wheels for doing things that require the suspension at ride height)

I hope you'll follow along with us as 2023 gets underway and check back regularly for updates and news on the Mule. Even better, drop by the track sometime and hop in for a ride.

 

[svttim]

Be advised - the Mule is inbound.......

It's that time again, as we kick off another (hopefully) great season of on-track silliness. Sure, the first event (Road America with MVP Tracktime) is only two weeks away and the Mule just got onto the lift yesterday..... so what, there's plenty of time left! It'll be prepped, polished and chomping at the bit come the first call to grid.

The last few posts during the bleak, depths of winter were teasers of things like a carbon hood (hat tips to @svttim and @Goz To 11), forged Apex SM-10RS wheels (expected sometime later in May), fresh slicks, and such. There's more planned, too, so climb aboard as we head into our second season together and let's see where the roads and tracks take us.

Regular visitors may remember the disoriented transmission vent issue that was only discovered after we thoroughly soaked the underside with red Mercon LV, cutting short day two at Gingerman. Well, in honor of that illustrious moment in motorsports, this season has been dubbed the......

"Rode Hard & Put Up Wet Tour"

For those of you lucky enough to catch up with us at the track, we have new limited-edition t-shirts to commemorate the poor preparation of last year and the hopefulness of better things to come this year (while supplies last, of course, and void where prohibited by law).

Some of the cool stuff is going to have to wait until after this first event, for a couple of reasons.

Just a short recap: This time last year, we were getting ready for our first event together - Road America. One of the guys in our group summed it up pretty well when he asked me Saturday morning if I was a bit anxious about getting back on track, as it'd been away from the sport for a while. That was an understatement, to say the least..... apprehensive would have been a better choice of words, or maybe just plain scared. Here I was, heading out onto a track I consider home and where I've turned hundreds of laps and thousands of miles (both HPDE and wheel-to-wheel racing), but with a car that had more power and capabilities than anything I'd ever driven on track, and that I'd only been briefly acquainted with three years earlier at the FPRS Track Attack in Utah. Oh, and I was running in the advanced group with passing allowed everywhere. Yeah - I was anxious..... I just didn't want to cause any problems or do anything stupid.

As the Mule and I warmed up in that first session, all worries were cast aside and the weekend was great. In the interest of safety, I ran just fast enough to avoid being a speed bump, watched the mirrors, and got comfortable with the car. The rest of the season, chronicled in earlier posts, was a blast with my confidence growing and dormant skills sharpening.

So, as we return to Road America (which has been freshly repaved), I don't want to change much on the Mule. This way, I can get a better year-over-year measure of my own improvements. So, most of the new stuff will be added after this first event, just in time for the trip north to Mosport in late June.

But, that doesn't mean we're sitting in the shop, idling away the time. Nope, I've dug in and began the pre-season prep. I have to tackle an issue with the charging system, which seems to have been narrowed down to a bad voltage regulator, meaning it's time for a new alternator. With the Mule on the lift, I pulled the airbox and the front fascia / splitter / undertray off for better access and just started digging in on the inspection. Of course, it'll also get new brakes all around, a "fresh" set of take-off slicks on the existing Apex SM-10 wheels (cast version), and a differential fluid change. The oil was fresh before winter storage and the transmission fluid was replaced when the clutch/flywheel/TO bearing were done last fall, so all good there.

And here's another endorsement for the Quick Jacks - these and a four post lift provide the best of both worlds (wheels off for brake / suspension work and down on the wheels for doing things that require the suspension at ride height)

I hope you'll follow along with us as 2023 gets underway and check back regularly for updates and news on the Mule. Even better, drop by the track sometime and hop in for a ride.

except you bought all the tires!

 

[ChipG]

Regarding the voltage regulator, one piece of input: I chased an electrical issue for nearly a year. Dealer replaced PCM, alternator, battery, then alternately blamed my aftermarket starter, a wire with a loop bolted on 180* from factory, and my OBD dongle (all of which were nonsense). I gave up on the dealer and fixed it myself. Behavior seemed like voltage regulator (voltage would spike up past 16V while driving, "Service Charging System Now" message popped up constantly, nav and radio would start shutting down). Turned out to simply require replacement of a $15 harness connector at the voltage regulator. Much like the camshaft position sensors that go bad, I think the root cause is wires without enough slack - when the engine shifts under load and vibrates, the wires break internally at the point where they bend into the connector. I spliced in a new OEM connector and the problem is finally solved. It's a little fiddly to get to the wires for a good crimp, but I replaced it in my driveway after removing the air intake tubing and strut tower brace.

 

[Lorne34]

Regarding the voltage regulator, one piece of input: I chased an electrical issue for nearly a year. Dealer replaced PCM, alternator, battery, then alternately blamed my aftermarket starter, a wire with a loop bolted on 180* from factory, and my OBD dongle (all of which were nonsense). I gave up on the dealer and fixed it myself. Behavior seemed like voltage regulator (voltage would spike up past 16V while driving, "Service Charging System Now" message popped up constantly, nav and radio would start shutting down). Turned out to simply require replacement of a $15 harness connector at the voltage regulator. Much like the camshaft position sensors that go bad, I think the root cause is wires without enough slack - when the engine shifts under load and vibrates, the wires break internally at the point where they bend into the connector. I spliced in a new OEM connector and the problem is finally solved. It's a little fiddly to get to the wires for a good crimp, but I replaced it in my driveway after removing the air intake tubing and strut tower brace.

Good to know Chris! These electrical issues can be a pain...

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