Countdown to Nats: Final Testing...All Systems Go

After the final once over and re-alignment at SJF Performance last week, it was important that we do one final test before making the long trek to Nationals. This was her first event this year on Ethanol so I wanted to make sure the tune was still good. We also had to scrub in the fresh Hoosier A7s.

NNJR SCCA - 8-23-2015

The first runs were expectedly horrible as we made our attempts to scrub in the fresh tires as quickly as possible. Balance was all over the place but they started to come alive after about 6 runs (3 runs each). We ended up settling on a 4psi difference front to rear and the balance was perfect. The tune was also still very good and we were able to effectively put power to the ground...well almost. The course today favored more softly sprung cars. There were just too many spots where we were trying to go flat out through some very bumpy areas of the lot and after going airborne once we had to dial it down quite a bit effectively killing our times. Hez was still able to put down 5th fastest raw time out of 139 drivers and 10th in PAX. I struggled with cones and ended up 8th in raw and 20th in PAX.

Putting the times in context of the course today I was still very happy. The new alignment is working out beautifully. Bumblestook is on point, changing directions at the mere thought of it and is perfectly balanced through sweepers. I think she's going to be perfect on the concrete flat surface of Lincoln. It's on like donkey kong. For now she's going to just hang tight until we do and we'll be taking out Lupa next week instead to have a bit of fun seat time before the big show.

NNJR SCCA Autocross - 8/23/2015

Countdown to Nats 2015: Final Alignment, changing fuels, and more trailer prep.

I get an alignment before every big event but the last "big event" I went to was the NJ ProSolo in May and since then we had changed transmissions which required dropping the front subframe so this was long overdue. SJF Performance blocked off the entire Sunday for me in case we ran into any issues.

Final alignment before Nats - 8/16/2015
SJF Performance

I'm so glad we did check the alignment because apparently it was all over the place. Not enough front camber in the front left, lots of camber front right, toe out right rear, etc.

The pre-alignment numbers were insane - 8/16/2015

The wheelbase is a perfect 94.3" left and right

Looking back it's actually kind of nuts that Hez and I were able to put down the times we have with this kind of wonky alignment. The good news is that fixing this alignment means putting the setting back to "fast" and that's an exciting prospect. After re-adjust, the final alignment was:

Front:
-3.1 degrees camber
4.9 caster
0 total toe

Rear:
 -2.5 degrees camber
0.06 degrees total toe in (1/16")

The next step was to switch back to running ethanol to maximize the power we make (just a 10hp/tq increase across the powerband). This involved draining all the fuel out of the tank which is thankfully is as easy as hooking up a 3/8" fuel hose to the return line on the flex fuel sensor and emptying it into a fuel container. In total we drained 7.5 gallons out of the car and put 10 gallons of ethanol in. #InsertCornToPlay

Tapping the fuel return line to drain the 93 octane fuel - 8/16/2015

Hez helping me drain the fuel - 8/16/2015

For even more speed, we mounted up a fresh set of 295/30/18 and 315/30/18 Hoosier A7s on the second set of CCW Classics.

Sticker set of Hoosier A7 - 8/16/2015

Lastly, since the tires on the trailer were looking a bit tired after 2 years and 10K miles, I swapped in a new set of wheels/tires all around.

Getting ready to mount new wheels/tires - 8/16/2015

New wheels and tires mounted on trailer - 8/16/2015

One last thing is that while the car was in the air,  SJF noticed some oil leaking around the oil pan. It turned out that the fitting coming from the oil catch can to my oil pan had vibrated loose. A quick re-tightening fixed that issue right away. We also changed diff fluids to make sure everything is nice and fresh for some serious throttle aggression on concrete.

I think we're all mechanically squared away for nationals. Weather permitting we'll be doing a final sanity check and scrubbing in the A7s next weekend and then onto the big show.

Countdown to Nats 2015: Trailer Prep

It's less than a month to go before the SCCA Solo National Championships in Lincoln, Nebraska. For me, this involves a 3000 mile round trip drive towing Bumblestook to and from this event. The last thing I need is a trailer break down somewhere in middle America so the first order of business is to get my trailer up to par. I bought my trailer new 2 years and over 10,000 miles ago so a good look at the brakes, bearings, suspension and tires is long overdue. I decided to take it to friend and NASA Honda Challenge racer, Spencer, to sort it all out for me since he has plenty of experience with this stuff.

Shackes going bad - 8/8/2015

Many of the bushings were worn pretty badly and the holes in the shackles were no longer circular, they had turned oval causing play in the suspension. The bearings were surprisingly still in good shape but with everything apart and the parts being cheap, it made sense to replace the bearings with new ones anyway and put fresh grease everywhere.

Bushings/Caps starting to crumble - 8/8/2015

In the end, all bearings, races, seals, bushings, shackles and hardware were replaced. The breaks were still in great shape so there was nothing to do there. The tires are also shot so I ordered new wheels and tires and will be putting that on before the trip. Big thanks to Spencer for the quick turnaround. This is one less thing I'll have to worry about on my trip.

Trailer maintenance done - 8/8/2015

Top PAX at NNJR SCCA Autox

Last event Bumblestook was able to set FTD with me behind the wheel and this past weekend, Bumblestook managed to nab top PAX out of 100 drivers with Hez at the wheel. It was a hot 90+ degree day so our tires hit optimal grip at the third and fourth runs. Hez was able to set his fast time on the 3rd run but I spun on my 3rd run tossing it away and finding no more improvement in subsequent runs.

Hez sets top PAX at NNJR SCCA Autox - 8/1/2015

In total we got 12 runs between the two of us and Bumblestook continues to show good pace and reliability. I think we'll do one more event before Nationals to scrub in fresh tires and switch to ethanol and we'll be all set.

Our Fastest Runs - 1st and 5th in PAX out of 100 drivers
NNJR SCCA Autocross - 8/1/2015