Roadracer's #997 build

[RoadRacer]

A silly thing, but I'm so happy right now

Customer James Shaw’s ’33 Hot Rod

Customer_James_Shaw’s__33_Hot_Rod_-_Factory_Five_Racing.png

[racingandfishing]

Congratulations and not silly at all!!!

[Mastertech5]

Congratulations. You should be proud and happy. Determination and Will will carry you through to your goals.

[RoadRacer]

Some of you have seen this on FB, but I had an interesting experience at the weekend while driving to autox. I only made it half way and smelled brakes, pulled over and my rear p/s brake was so hot the rubber was on fire. I had to use my extinguisher to put out some little flames!

2022-08-13 10.17.03.jpg2022-08-13 10.17.14.jpg2022-08-13 10.17.19.jpg2022-08-13 10.17.33.jpg

I took it all apart when I got home, but all clips were perfectly attached and lubed, I had just a few days ago pulled the pins, cleaned and lubed. New pads. Wound in the piston and there was still some wiggle even with new pads. Nothing was noticeably wrong, but I must have disturbed something to make the piston hang up. The ebrake looked normal too, not hung up.

2022-08-13 10.17.56.jpg2022-08-13 10.18.04.jpg2022-08-13 10.20.49.jpg

Its a mystery, but I put on a new caliper, did it all over and it's working now. Hard to say what damage has occurred with all the heat - the rotor looks ok, not warped or discolored, so we'll see. I'm keeping an eye on all four corners and reading rotor temps after wcah drive for a while.

[Mastertech5]

I was a Tech for 35 years and when you crank the piston back in and put everything back together you should apply the brake pedal before stepping on the park brake to get the mechanism away from being bottomed out. If you apply the park brake first and then the brake pedal it might let the ratchet in the piston click to the next detent keeping drag on the brakes. Probably just a bad called though as you discovered. I've had that happen with new rebuilt calipers out of the box.

[RoadRacer]

I was a Tech for 35 years and when you crank the piston back in and put everything back together you should apply the brake pedal before stepping on the park brake to get the mechanism away from being bottomed out. If you apply the park brake first and then the brake pedal it might let the ratchet in the piston click to the next detent keeping drag on the brakes. Probably just a bad called though as you discovered. I've had that happen with new rebuilt calipers out of the box.

Thanks, that may have happened, I certainly did try the parking brake first by reaching in. Good tip!

[33fromSD]

Some of you have seen this on FB, but I had an interesting experience at the weekend while driving to autox. I only made it half way and smelled brakes, pulled over and my rear p/s brake was so hot the rubber was on fire. I had to use my extinguisher to put out some little flames!

2022-08-13 10.17.03.jpg2022-08-13 10.17.14.jpg2022-08-13 10.17.19.jpg2022-08-13 10.17.33.jpg

I took it all apart when I got home, but all clips were perfectly attached and lubed, I had just a few days ago pulled the pins, cleaned and lubed. New pads. Wound in the piston and there was still some wiggle even with new pads. Nothing was noticeably wrong, but I must have disturbed something to make the piston hang up. The ebrake looked normal too, not hung up.

2022-08-13 10.17.56.jpg2022-08-13 10.18.04.jpg2022-08-13 10.20.49.jpg

Its a mystery, but I put on a new caliper, did it all over and it's working now. Hard to say what damage has occurred with all the heat - the rotor looks ok, not warped or discolored, so we'll see. I'm keeping an eye on all four corners and reading rotor temps after wcah drive for a while.

I'm sure that kicked in the adrenaline when you saw that? Sorry you experienced that, but Thank goodness it wasn't more serious. Fiberglass cars tend to ignite pretty quickly. I had a buddy with a 67 vette who had an engine fire and the whole car was engulfed in seconds, pretty much just a frame when the fire trucks arrived 10 minutes later, never saw anything like it.

Glad your safe.

Jim

[RoadRacer]

Ha, thanks Jim! Yes, never actually deployed a fire extinguisher before. You know that "quick release" didn't feel quick! Need to practice that

Of course it wasn't much of a fire.. just a flame from the rubber boots, and nothing to catch fire inside my wheel, but yes, it "woke me up" LOL

[Mastertech5]

FYI Bondo dust is also flammable.
That could have turned into a disaster. Glad everything ended up ok. It's only money. At least you're still here to spend it.

[Mastertech5]

FYI Bondo dust is also flammable.
That could have turned into a disaster. Glad everything ended up ok. It's only money. At least you're still here to spend it.

Still waiting on FFR to call.

[RoadRacer]

Got a response from Hawk - I sent them to this thread and pics and asked them what they thought. Interestingly, they thought the pads may be fine..

"Sounds like a wild time! The pads are likely fine.

The melty bits on the pad is just the powder coating.

This is just to protect the pad from corrosion over a period of time way longer than the pads are going to last you if it isn’t just sitting around being a garage queen."

[RoadRacer]

I always wanted to see where the corner weights were, so today I visited a friend who had some scales and measured them and tweaked them a little. I thought a few of you might be interested.

The car weighed in at 2331 with a race-ready 1/4 tank. That's up 51lbs from the original grain-store weigh I did for registration of 2280. But that makes sense because I've probably added 50lbs of mods since then - two solid sway bars and misc things like fire extinguisher, steering support, etc.

I didn't keep records of it all - my friend was running the numbers on his app - but here's where we ended up after some adjustmenta. This is with me in the car (I'm 255 so I make a difference!)

49.2% front.
50.8% rear.

52.3% d/s
47.7% p/s

50.7% fl-rr diagonal
50.9% fr-rl diagonal

So overall, not bad. I confirmed the car is ~50/50 front to rear, and got the diagonals matching by cranking both fr and rl spring collars up a couple of turns.

Now I have a good starting point. The front/rear percentages will improve some more when I use the race-only square 315's since right now I have big-little tires.

But I'll also take a look at what weight I can move to the p/s.. the battery is already over there, but I could move alternator and fire extinguisher to that side also. But I likely won't bother.

[RoadRacer]

Had some fun time in the garage recently, all focused on front-end geometry.

Last weekend I added more caster and camber. More caster because the car is so twitchy on some roads around here - always has been. Follows every line.. and with this new strategy of adding more lanes by narrowing the existing ones, there are a lot of old lines/joints that my car loves to follow.

alignment-more caster.jpg

So, increased from 4deg to 8deg caster again.

Also added more camber, from -0.8 to -2, roughly. Sure looks like a lot more! This was basically an experiment to see how it affects cornering and tire wear, and with the switch to hoosier A7's at the next event I'm told they like more camber. -0.8 wasn't enough looking at photos.. still looked to go positive in hard corners.

Left toe at about 1/8" toe-in. But it is funny how much you need to adjust it after adjusting camber/caster.. toe was around 1.5"

I find that after all these alignments they are pretty easy now. Lengthening the rear LCA adds camber and caster, while lengthening the front LCA adds camber and reduces caster. So this time I only touched the rear LCA.

This weekend I wanted to finally put in the new steering rack (I got a free one when a bushing fell out one side) and add the bump steer kit from Tim Whittaker at Kootenai Valley Customs. It's well worth it - ~$250 but makes the toe adjustment way easier and changes the stock stiff old balljoint to a smooth-as-silk Heim joint.

newrack1.jpg bumpsteer1.jpg

You have to cut 1-1.5" off each side of the steering rack (I cut 1.5") due to the length of the new ends. I measured the thread lengths and made a note of it - otherwise how will you know later?! I'm always paranoid that I'm getting too close to end of the thread. Anyway, I have 43mm of thread on the heim joint, and (now) 74mm on the steering rack.

threads.jpg

The other thing I always wanted to do, but never could with the rack on the car, was drill a proper seat for the grub screw. I always regretted not doing this during initial assembly, so I fixed it. So much easier on my drill press. I think the correct dad phrase for this is "that ain't going nowhere"

grubscrew1.jpg grub screw2.jpg

All together again, and did some good miles on it yesterday and everything feels much tighter. Partly the new rack, partly the new spline and grub screw, and the heim joint too.

bumpsteer2.jpg bumpsteer3.jpg

OH, I never told you about the bump steer!

TLDR; there was none detectable, so I didn't use any spacers. Which is why you see them all stacked up on top for later use.

I don't have a proper bump steer gauge, so I made two of my own. First, I clamped some aluminum stock to the rotor and setup a board in front of the car, and disconnected the springs. As I jacked up the car I plotted points on the paper.

Secondly, I used a laser level balanced on a trash can next to the car, clamped a mirror on the rotor, and setup another board to plot the laser reflection.

In both cases (these were of course very approximate measurements) I couldn't see any tell-tale arc in the toe, so I just left as-is for now - basically with the same geometry as the stock setup. If I ever get access to some fancier equipment at least now I could adjust it.

[Just 1 More]

If and when I get mine and get it on the road, I'll have to make a trip down your way and let you teach me, show me.

[RoadRacer]

If and when I get mine and get it on the road, I'll have to make a trip down your way and let you teach me, show me.

Sounds like you're like me - any excuse for a road trip! Any car-crazy folks always welcome!

[Mastertech5]

Like they say. They never are really done. There's always something to add on or change to make it better! Enjoy the ride.

[RoadRacer]

Last autox of the year - this was the only run recorded (my slowest) but I improved 3.5s after this.

I always take it slow on my first run so I can feel the course, and this was my first time running Hoosier A7's so I expected the car to act differently - it did! My car was instantly pushing (you can see I barely get around some of these corners) rather than being loose. It was also cold (50deg) with very light rain before the run, so hardly ideal for slicks!

But it was a fun fast course, I had a blast on my later runs!

[Mastertech5]

That's what it's all about, FUN! ENJOY!

[RoadRacer]

Look what I noticed earlier today - something to investigate this weekend. Weird.

F5680763-CD77-4CC9-B2A9-038820A30641.jpg

[33fromSD]

James, I assuming you're talking the area I circled in red right? If yes, it almost looks like a chunk of the caliper broke off. If not then I'm not sure what I'm looking for.

Jim

fullsizeoutput_92.jpg

[RoadRacer]

I haven’t looked since but I just noticed that only half the rotor is getting touched by the pad..

[33fromSD]

I haven’t looked since but I just noticed that only half the rotor is getting touched by the pad..

Gotcha. For some reason that piece looked broken but I guess looking at an old photo I dug up of mine it looks the same. Not sure on the pad pattern on the rotor, it will be interesting to see what you find.

Jim

[RoadRacer]

Well.. there’s nothing broken and no problem really. The pad is a little chamfered on that edge which is why it’s not touching. But I’ve been out and tested my brakes throughly and rebalanced and they work far better than my 300tw tires

[DanQ]

I am right now preparing my 8.8 axle, as my 33 HR should arrive in May/June. I noticed in your photos that you kept the upper anti-hop shock bracket attached to the top of the axle tube. I don't think these were used, so can I cut them off to clean things up a bit? Also, I am running the same rear disc brakes (stock) as your shows. Can the calipers be kept on the back side of the axle, or do they need to be flipped so they are on the front side. Every photo I see shows the calipers on the front side of the rear axle. It would not be a big deal to flip them, but then it seems the parking brake cables would be pointing to the rear, requiring the cables to bend a 180, which would make them not operate or release smoothly, and it would look odd. Your thoughts?

[RoadRacer]

I am right now preparing my 8.8 axle, as my 33 HR should arrive in May/June. I noticed in your photos that you kept the upper anti-hop shock bracket attached to the top of the axle tube. I don't think these were used, so can I cut them off to clean things up a bit? Also, I am running the same rear disc brakes (stock) as your shows. Can the calipers be kept on the back side of the axle, or do they need to be flipped so they are on the front side. Every photo I see shows the calipers on the front side of the rear axle. It would not be a big deal to flip them, but then it seems the parking brake cables would be pointing to the rear, requiring the cables to bend a 180, which would make them not operate or release smoothly, and it would look odd. Your thoughts?

I think it depends on which pic you're looking at - I don't have any superfluous brackets on my axle now (but did when initially fitting).. did you see post #93? And more on the subject at #99..

as for the calipers, yes they can be either side. I found the ebrake cable routes much better this way around.. much bigger arc and smoother. But if there are any photos you need that aren't clear, let me know

[Mastertech5]

Well.. there’s nothing broken and no problem really. The pad is a little chamfered on that edge which is why it’s not touching. But I’ve been out and tested my brakes throughly and rebalanced and they work far better than my 300tw tires

The usual cause for that is the pads binding in the brackets and not applying evenly. They should slide easily by hand on the stainless clips. Sometimes rust builds up under them causing bind. You can put a dab of high temp brake grease on the slides.

[RoadRacer]

The usual cause for that is the pads binding in the brackets and not applying evenly. They should slide easily by hand on the stainless clips. Sometimes rust builds up under them causing bind. You can put a dab of high temp brake grease on the slides.

Yeah, thanks; they seem lubed appropriately, move smoothly, and are almost brand new. Moving on!..

[RoadRacer]

I decided to move into the XB (was XSB) class this year for autox, so I needed to fix a few things just to "kinda" dots the i's. XB needs a "finished interior" and not just bare metal, so I masked up the floor and walls and rolled on a couple coats of truck bedliner. Should be durable enough for me.

XB2.jpg

Forgive the wet marks on the seats - that's not paint but we had a lot of rain recently and it tends to get in without windows

Then I needed some door panels - I'd never fitted the vinyl-over-aluminum ones. Seemed unnecessary weight. But I stripped off the vinyl and rubber-coated them too. But when I went to fit them (I hadn't test fitted, duh) they weren't going to fit well, needed bending.. and anyway still too heavy. So I found that roll of vinyl that came for the waterfall and cut out some pieces and riveted them on.. no backing, just flapping, but they'll do!

XB3.jpg

Finally, got my daughters cricut out again (I've made so many door numbers by now!) and made up a big XB to replace the NEM/EM/REM that I've had in the past.

XB1.jpg

All set! Went to our clubs annual tech inspection and got my tech sticker for the year (no need to tech at each event) so ready and raring to go!

[RoadRacer]

Loving the XB class so far - I got second in class at the first event, and the top 4 were covered by less than a second. Fun!!

Here's my fourth run - second fastest - my next run beat this by 0.5s but no video.



The brakes were amazing, having found a bad MC the night before the race and swapped it out (luckily I had a spare!)

[Just 1 More]

Loving the XB class so far - I got second in class at the first event, and the top 4 were covered by less than a second. Fun!!

Here's my fourth run - second fastest - my next run beat this by 0.5s but no video.



The brakes were amazing, having found a bad MC the night before the race and swapped it out (luckily I had a spare!)

Still running the Michelins? I thought you were changing to something else?

[RoadRacer]

Yes when money allows I have slicks but can’t run them in XB so I’ll try to use them up at track night. Falken RT660 will be coming as soon as I can afford it - just for track use though. The Michelins seem like they’ll last forever at this point!

[RoadRacer]

On my never-ending journey to make this car faster around corners - and comfort-be-damned - I splurged a few hundred on an experiment to see how stiffer springs work. Went up from 650/350 to 800/450, both 7".

The front are always easy to swap, just jack up and let the wheels extend the shocks, but I found that I could swap the rears much faster than before by just removing the lower bolt, and the hidden 'c-clip' on the shock shaft, then springs just falls out below - didn't even need to remove wheels.

I also lowered the car 1/4" all around while I was there - every little counts, right?

2023-04-29 11.58.37.jpg

[RoadRacer]

My cars been on the road since feb 21, when it was running some really old gt500 wheels and tires.. then I got my PS4s tires for road driving but they sucked for autox.. but now after nearly two years of autox I finally can afford a race-only set of Falken Azenis RT660. Running 315/30/18 square (from and rear) on a spare set of 18x12.

The beauty of these vs slicks - I can change at home and drive to the track, making race days much easier. I’ll still use the PS4s on rainy days.

I’m getting them mounted at the weekend and first race is on 21st.

They should make a big difference with so much more grip. I’m told they act like 100tw but are still legally 200 for running in XB. Plus I’m stickering up my car for some extra speed

IMG_3628.jpg IMG_3625.jpg

Did this from phone so will have to fix upside down photo later!

[RoadRacer]

Here they are mounted finally.. next weekend is the autocross, so let's hope it doesn't rain!

2023-05-14 10.57.43.jpg 2023-05-14 10.57.06.jpg

[Mastertech5]

Good luck next weekend! Have fun.

[RoadRacer]

The car was amazing this weekend. I'm convinced the stiffer springs helped me go faster, but the new Falken RT660 tires were SO much better. I started at 23psi, and the wear pattern after 4 runs showed it was pretty perfect.

These two changes made a lot more grip, giving me the confidence to go faster, and the results backed that up. I not only won my class (XB), but also faster than half the XA class (where some very fast cars live, like 3s faster!).. so even though the course changes every event, I think that's proof of improvement.

I have a long way to go, but I now have to catch up with the car again. I can go faster and be more consistently on the power now - even in this fastest run below, I was hesitant at times.



P.S. It drizzled all day, so this was on a damp track!

[Just 1 More]

That's so awesome.. i'm living vicariously through you
I wish I were closer, i'd bring the Camaro out and run with you.. I have to run in CAM-T of course

[RoadRacer]

That's so awesome.. i'm living vicariously through you
I wish I were closer, i'd bring the Camaro out and run with you.. I have to run in CAM-T of course

Yes! We have 200 cars at each event, but they put a bunch of small(er) classes together in this "Ultra" class, hence the U prefix before my "real" XB class. So I actually compete against XA, XB, and all the CAM classes! There are some fun cars in CAMT

[RoadRacer]

Just ordered a set of these to get more lateral support and headrests.. and maybe lose some weight? I'd guess this would save 20-30lbs off weight of car, but I'll check that later.

Jegs Aluminum Racing Seat, Black [17 in. Hip Width]

555-702265.jpg

[JimLev]

IIRC the FFR low back seats only weighed 10 LBS each.