Although Bumblestook has been running great since completion there have been a few issues that prevented me from just truly enjoying her. For starters, just after the car got repainted, the passenger side windows stopped working. More accurately, the window would roll down but not up. A few week ago we tested the window regulator and knew it was fine and at the time I thought the switches were good as well since the down function was working. I picked up spares of every item that might be at fault including the driver and passenger side window switches and the soft top control module. Turns out the culprit was just the passenger side window switch. Strangely, it seems that if the passenger side switch isn't working, then the driver side control of the passenger window also won't work even if it has no faults of its own. Good to know for next time. Right now I'm just happy I can roll the window up and down again. It's crazy how frustrating it is when you can't.
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| Replacement passenger side window switch - 6-23-2018 |
The next fairly frustrating issue was a parasitic drain on the battery. After only 3 days I'd be forced to jump start the car. It turns out it wasn't the old Lojack system after all. I suspected it might be the additional Haltech modules installed on the car and sure enough that was the issue. I have a Haltech I/O port expander installed when the car was initially built for BSP to take inputs from additional sensors (wideband o2, oil temp, flex fuel, etc). It turns out the 12V wires for constant power and switched power were interchanged. This didn't affect normal operation but it meant that the expander never shut off and just like leaving your radio on, eventually it drains the battery. Switching the two wires around permanently fixed the problem. I guess I never noticed when she was in pure race car trim since I always disconnected the battery after every competition day anyway.
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| Faulty Ohlins Shock Adjuster - 6-23-2018 |
Last event I noticed that I couldn't properly make adjustments to the left rear shock. I should have 32 levels of adjustment but the knob would only go 16 "clicks". I was worried that the shock might have been defective but thankfully the only problem was the adjuster itself. The remote adjusters I got also seems to have some issues. It doesn't adjust smoothly so for now I've disconnected them. I'll be contacting Sakebomb Garage to get this resolved. For now, we moved the adjuster from the right rear to the left rear since left rear is harder to adjust due to the fuel lines being in the way. These issues aside I'm pretty impressed by the FPSpec Ohlins DFV. They aren't Motons but they're well balanced for a multi-purpose car.
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| Mugen wing risers re-installed - 6-23-2018 |
While the body shop generally did a great job on the car, they didn't install the wing properly. I think they must've bolted the risers up to the wing then attached it to trunk which meant that it didn't sit properly flat due to the wing's angle of attack not being set correctly so the risers were not even. I wanted to install the wing myself anyway so I took this opportunity to remove the risers, clean off all the double side tape and reinstall properly. The Mugen wing is held by a bolt on each side where an OEM spoiler would go but the rest is held by strong adhesive. The adhesive the shop used was definitely very strong and took a long time to remove but it came off cleanly.
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| High strength automotive attachment tape - 6-23-2018 |
We marked off where the risers should be with the wing attached, then removed the wing, applied new tape (recommended by the body shop) and attached the risers only to the trunk first. This ensured that both sides were perfectly flush with the trunk and let it sit for a few hours to let everything settle. We then re-installed the wing and sure enough even at speed at maximum angle of attack, everything is now perfectly flat.
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| Mugen wing back on the car - 6-23-2018 |
We also tracked down random rattles from the engine bay. The hose spacer for the oil cooler was hitting against the chassis. A rubber panel and some silicon eliminated the metal on metal contact. I added more felt tape around certain wires and connectors in the dash and door panels and I think I've eliminated 98% of any annoying rattles inside the cabin. There's one minor vibration I hear left on the passenger side at 4500rpm. I'll need to track that down one day with someone in the passenger seat helping me figure out where it's coming from but rights now the only thing you hear is engine or exhaust. There's no mistaking she's still a high strung sports car when you get on it but she can cruise around when you want with no drama if you want too.
Next up, she's going to get her first detail since she needs proper layers of wax to protect the paint. Her interior and engine bay could use some TLC as well. We're going to do a few autocross tests in July to make sure there are no other small mechanical issues to tend to then I think we can start sort out the final things she'll need to be able to go to a track day again (mostly brakes). Ideally I'd like to take her back the Watkins Glen in the fall. It's been a solid 6 years now since I last let her fully stretch her legs on a track so it's long overdue.
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