Well, found a leak in on of my Wilwood seals. Everything was rusted so badly from the salt that I broke the fitting going into the caliper. Fortunately I had a spare flexible brake line (don't ask why; that isn't a good story) and a spare caliper. While I like the Wilwoods for the track they don't tolerate the NE winters and all of the salt. In the future I am thinking that I should change the Wilwoods out for the stock brakes in the winter.

Well, this will just make sure am ready for my first track day.

Anyone interested in going to LRP on May 22 (a Monday) with SCDA?

 

[QUOTE=Eddie07S;4294411]While I like the Wilwoods for the track they don't tolerate the NE winters

Thanks for the heads up/warning. Is this your first or second winter with the Wilwoods? Also, the rust was in the area of the brake line fitting? I didn't drive the MINI at all over the winter but I don't expect it will always be that way.

 

The assembly is going on its 5th year (I think), so they have probably have seen 4 winters. But I had the offending caliper out and apart 2 years ago with no problems. It is the steel part of the SS brake line that rusts and it seized up the nut that attaches it to the caliper fitting. When I tried to loosen it, the fitting snapped. This is not a lot different than the rusting of the car's steel brake line where it attaches to the SS brake line. I am having problems with that too, but didn't break it.

I think culprits in all of this are the "brake ducts" that are in the front of the MINI. In the winter they just blast the brakes with salt laden water and air when you are driving down the highway. They are stupid for a car that is going to be driven in the winter here in the NE. I wish someone made covers for them.

 

Also, there are some new de-icing chemical compounds being used that local mechanics say are eating up tie rods and other suspension parts.

 

Oh great

 

Installed seats with emulator light on so as per instructions need to reset with diagnostics. Need to find someone who can do this.

 

I had the issue last spring with my tie-rod ends frozen. Luckily I found someone who was able to free them without replace. Smeared anti-seize on them to help as suggested by Eddie07S.

 

Zre - Seat look fantastic...

Not sure what you mean about the emulator. What's going on there?

 

Need to reset lights on dash.

 

Just got a Dewalt DCF880 20v 1/2" impact wrench. Definitely a case of big things coming in small packages. It popped the wheel bolts off with no problem...

Also, Just signed up for LRP on 5/22 with SCDA. Anyone else interested?

 

I got a Ryobi 18 volt One+ 1/2" impact along with a drill, and air pump. All fits into a nice case for track days. Sure makes it easier to take off and put on wheels.

Looks like rain for Thompson next Tuesday. Hopefully not.

By the way, I got seat belt extenders to make it easier to use the stock seat belts with the Recaro seats. Now I do not have to feed the belt through the side of seat to attach.

 

Also, Just signed up for LRP on 5/22 with SCDA. Anyone else interested?[/QUOTE]

I'll probably sign up. It's far enough out to give me time to get the car in order. I've been tied up with a lot of non-car things.

 

So, I bought a box of doggie pee pads. What for you ask? To keep messes down when dealing with liquids when working on the car. I replaced a caliper and changed the oil today using these to catch drips. Worked like a charm!

 

Good idea!

 

Signed up for Lime Rock on the 22nd. Besides Eddie07S, anyone going?

 

anyone else going to Hyperfest at VIR this year? I'm running in HPDE2

 

That is a track I would like to get to, but the 10-1/2 hr drive puts it a little out of reach for me and that is a lot of miles to put on the MINI. Now maybe if I could find a hauler who was headed in that direction going back home and empty...

Hope you have a grand time...

 

Hey, just a heads up. I talked to Elivan with SCDA and he said that they are going to require SA helmets in the near future. No more M helmets. I think this may become more common with the difference in the Snell testing for the SA vs M ratings for 2015 helmets.

 

Well, despite the weather forecast of doom, gloom and rain, the Monday event at LRP with SCDA was really very good. Very cool (50s), no wind and no rain (until the end of the day). Some very nice cars were there (McLaren, Ferrari, Corvettes, and a couple of really nice MINIs). The MINIs did very well, thank you.

Good to see Zre there. Come on the rest of you MINIs.

Couple of notes:
The high oil temps I have been complaining about are now gone. It appears that replacing the auxiliary water pump (cools the turbo bearings) made a big difference. That is a big plus. The thing to look for is your fan running "all the time" and it runs a lot in high for a long time after you turn off the car. There is a hidden code that gets stored for this. The dealer can find it if they look for it. I don't know how we would see it, though.

Speaking of oil - the Motul 5-40 oil that I bought on Amazon (5 liter jug) is relatively inexpensive and seem to stand up to at least one day on the track. I will change it out before I go to WGI in a couple of weeks and have it tested. The WGI visit will be for 3 days so I will get to see how it stands up to that abuse.

Brakes need some additional cooling, but I can't find a way to route hose in a way that I am comfortable with it and that it won't get tangled up in tires, driveshafts or the like. So I am working on another idea. Rear brakes - well they actually do contribute to slowing the car down and the stock pads don't cut it. Back to the Hawk Blues for the next time out.

The Old Dunlop ZII tires I have are really pretty good. I haven't run these in a while but they were my choice given the chance for rain. No rain and they still did very well; as well as any other tire I have used, including the R888s and the RE71Rs. I will probably use them some more. Camber, need more Camber...

Not sure when I will next get to LRP. Post if anyone is going anywhere.

 

Glad you had a good day at LRP on Monday. I didn't sign up because I haven't been feeling well lately. Turns out I have Lyme so I may be off the grid for a few weeks. Ugh.

 

Sorry to hear about the Lyme. Hope you feel better soon. I ended up having to change my coil packs, since I had a misfire and car when into limp mode at last session. Car now runs fine. Guess I should have changed sooner. Still had some brake issues but change back to Polymix B and seems to have cleared up.

Hope to see you out there soon.

 

what kind of front/rear spring bias you all running?

I was running 9kg/mm front and 8kg/mm rear but I think I might swap it to dial out some of the understeer

I do not like having a big rear swaybar, I have one on my auto-x car and I dont like how it handles fia curbing on the track

 

With my Ohlins i run 400# front, 343# rear with a H-sport comp RSB. I adjust the damper for track conditions.

 

about the front to back spring ratio as mine, but that big sway bar sure changes things, I have the same bar and I took it off my track car and stuck it on the AX car, I have spun that car a few times autocrossing and it tried to spin on me at the track, fwd makes it easy to recover but it was rather unpredictable

 

I normally run the damper full hard in front and two clicks softer in rear. Last time out I add two more clicks softer in rear to correct oversteer in one corner. After that it handled much better. The bar is set at middle position.