SCCA T4 Build thread
 

The FIPG from the factory on my car was also black. I can’t recall if the pan was black though and I don’t have any photos of the pad to refresh my memory. My guess is the crap in your pan has either been there forever or is from the clean up work done with the recall. Who knows maybe they didn’t use TB1217H on the early builds which may have something to do with the bearing failures in early MY2013s. The replacement short block I got also had black FIPG. I kind of expected it to be gray.

That process is pretty standard for vehicles that use RTV-type sealant for oil pans.

It's kind of a bummer they don't have pry points though. Being steel it's easy to deform the lip of the pan. I understand the use of FIPG on most of this engine but I just don't understand why they didn't use a normal gasket on the lower pan. Not only is it a pain to get off but a pain to clean up without scratching the paint off the pan and needing to respray it.

I like how they mixed it up and threw in a rubber gasket for the valve cover though. Hahaha.

Using FIPG/RTV instead of a gasket isn't what was surprising - it was the amount. I bet there was a bean counter involved here where the cost of using RTV was cheaper vs the manufacturing or sourcing cost of a gasket on a per unit basis considering the volume they were expected to produce - or just period.
But that's all behind me now.. gotta keep working! Onto the rear shocks!

springy things in the rear
 

The rear Sportline springs are the same resting length as the OEM which makes me wonder how they would lower the car 1.4" advertised - I assume that's a function of the progressive rate of the tighter coils that allows the spring to compress 1.4" more vs OEM when the car sits.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7878/...3b18bcfe_z.jpgIMG_0478 by Rice Classic, on Flickr


I was planning on using the raceseng 2" rear extended top hat but I'm not sure that's going to work - but I'll get to that in a moment.

Let's start by removing the OEM perch - thankfully this one is pressed on so I only need to tap it off. However, I will have to grind quite a bit away to make it fit the 2" width I need for the Bilstein.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7871/...24e09d80_z.jpgIMG_0473 by Rice Classic, on Flickr
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7809/...6c6dbdec_z.jpgIMG_0474 by Rice Classic, on Flickr


Not the final grind FYI - it got wider and much cleaner. :)

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7910/...26824f82_z.jpgIMG_0475 by Rice Classic, on Flickr
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7922/...8f976b9a_z.jpgIMG_0477 by Rice Classic, on Flickr


And now I have the "top-hat" conundrum. By using this 2" extending top hat I have to compress the spring (Preload) by about 2". The first 1.5" was by had and I had a 2nd person thread the top nut on and tightening the nut added about another .5". So that's ~2" of preload with everything set at the lowest height I can set it - meaning I would have great bump travel at the loss of droop. Secondly, if I find I need to raise the rear it will only increase preload and further reduce droop.



https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7875/...408d00f4_z.jpgISSO7503 by Rice Classic, on Flickr


I can use the OEM top-hat instead (not pictured) which only preloads the spring by 1" (or less) which will give up some bump travel but improve droop, preload and give me a bit of room for corner balancing; raising the rear if needed since everything is set at full-low...

Once I have the car on the ground I'll know for sure which top hat I will need to use. Ideally at rest the shock shaft will be at 50% of its stroke.

How are things going? Are you making progress?

Picking up where I left off...
 

It's about time for an update.

Let's start where I left off - top hats and springs. I ended up going to back to the OEM top hat. It afforded me a lot less spring pre-load which is favorable and gave me some room for adjustment without significantly adding to that preload.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7826/...32cba2f5_z.jpgIMG_0483 by Rice Classic, on Flickr


And it all went in alright.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7818/...8432055f_z.jpgIMG_0490 by Rice Classic, on Flickr

With that out of the way - it was time install the SPC bits for some adjustability and the RacerX sway bar end links. Nothing fancy (nor expensive) and that's what I LOVE about the T4 rules!

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7853/...d5df0608_z.jpgIMG_0486 by Rice Classic, on Flickr


https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7924/...6b83ca74_z.jpgAQEH5303 by Rice Classic, on Flickr


So now that the rear suspension was in place it was time to do the rotating bits on the rear - hub/bearing/rotor/brakes.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7862/...828ea4ca_z.jpgIMG_0497 by Rice Classic, on Flickr


I took a wire wheel to everything and then coated in anti-seize so the next time I do this it's not all chemically fused together with rust!

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7916/...627370c9_z.jpgIMG_0496 by Rice Classic, on Flickr
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7815/...4283c168_z.jpgIMG_0498 by Rice Classic, on Flickr


I felt bad replacing these because they felt great! 84k miles and the bearings feel like they're new. But - it's a new race car build so I'm starting fresh.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7844/...52f8a4a8_z.jpgIMG_0500 by Rice Classic, on Flickr

...continued
 

Going back to the front of the car..

The Hotchkis strut tower brace wasn't copacetic with my raceseng cascam mounts so I had to get creative in my bolt-bin. The bolt wasn't long enough to accommodate the cascam plate and the strut bar so needed something longer. Here how much pass-through existed without the strut bar in place.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7850/...0d7bf55e_z.jpgIMG_0517 by Rice Classic, on Flickr

Here's the Cascam ones on the left (silver bits) and the alternates I had to choose from.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7800/...60067d2c_z.jpgIMG_0516 by Rice Classic, on Flickr

First was the long black one in the raceseng washer...


https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7869/...a3cc60d0_z.jpgIMG_0514 by Rice Classic, on Flickr


It protruded too far so I had to go for a shorter one with it's own washer. The reason for finding the right one was to A) make sure enough threads were engaged and B) so the upper spring perch wouldn't touch the bolt once I slide everything over for the camber adjustment.

It's less "pretty" but the problem was solved.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7840/...f4e2ff08_z.jpgIMG_0529 by Rice Classic, on Flickr
That strut bar gave me something to tie my Innovate AFR sensor to as well, although I will probably relocate that attachment point.



But now I get to move onto one of my favorite bits... the Stereo Delete for the gauges and kill switch.

First and foremost I needed to figure out a way to kill the car and I was happy to find a very simply/safe solution. The 80amp fused wire off the positive terminal feeds a discrete block of fuses in the main block including fuel pump and ignition. Kill that - car dies. It works brilliantly. The rules don't require me to install this, but I won't only be racing with SCCA - I also race with ICSCC and they require these...

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7878/...b0a7fc3b_z.jpgEZUO3583 by Rice Classic, on Flickr
Now for the gauges...
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7849/...669743df_z.jpgIMG_0507 by Rice Classic, on Flickr
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7857/...92c0c7ea_z.jpgIMG_0509 by Rice Classic, on Flickr
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7872/...99cc78d1_z.jpgIMG_0534 by Rice Classic, on Flickr

Getting close to running the car...
 

I'm quite happy with out that gauge plate turned out. And speaking of being happy out things turned out... THE MANIFOLD! I also got a 1" bung welded in, just after the overpipe for the AFR sensor (not shown)

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7823/...7c3a3066_z.jpgIMG_0494 by Rice Classic, on Flickr

I also got ready for the first starting of the car by having my trusty extinguisher in place with my fancy quick disconnect mount.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7887/...428515e0_z.jpgCPGY4753 by Rice Classic, on Flickr
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7915/...b843d91d_z.jpgIMG_0523 by Rice Classic, on Flickr

I will be installing a full fire suppression later this season but I needed the car at a minimum readiness for testing in April.

So now it was time to do alignment, scales etc...and in order to do that I need to move it to the other garage bay which means! Starting it!

I pulled the fuel pump plug so that I can dry crank it to fill up the oil cooler and lines and make some pressure before letting her rip.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7826/...60527c73_z.jpgIMG_0531 by Rice Classic, on Flickr
And then she fired right up!

But.. but... It wasn't all good.


https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7926/...a2f2730b_z.jpgIMG_0533 by Rice Classic, on Flickr

I got the TC/ABS light on and my scanner says steering position sensor fault. The Vehicle speed sensor code I had before was remedied by replacing the left rear speed sensor. For this fault, I'm 99.9% I broke my clock spring by not setting it center when I installed my NRG wheel adapter. Well, sure enough that I ordered another one today. Besides that - the car runs great with no other codes.

But now it's time to start the alignment and scaling...
Since the front wheel width and the rear are the same, I was able to string the car.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7832/...aa2b162e_z.jpgIMG_0543 by Rice Classic, on Flickr


I used Toe-Plates on the front but they were fine, no adjustment needed. However the rears were all over the place so I got Toe close, then did camber, then finished toe since on the rear, camber and toe impact each other.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7804/...5b650f20_z.jpgIMG_0541 by Rice Classic, on Flickr
Unfortunately I won't be measuring my Caster today.. :(
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7910/...535342cd_z.jpgIMG_0519 by Rice Classic, on Flickr

I added a couple boxes of kitty litter to the passenger area for ballast and started working scales. Did pretty well even though I added too much (Min weight is 2925lbs with driver).

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7803/...c323d266_z.jpgIMG_0566 by Rice Classic, on Flickr
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7829/...89975837_z.jpgIMG_0568 by Rice Classic, on Flickr


Link to the corner weight table I used:
http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets11.html

I had a friend help me mount these 245s onto the 7" wide wheels (because rules).

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7808/...a8c570c1_z.jpgIMG_0537 by Rice Classic, on Flickr


Tire mounting = Free
Tire Balancing = free also..


https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7925/...bc18b7f5_z.jpgIMG_0575 by Rice Classic, on Flickr
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7862/...8ddf077f_z.jpgIMG_0577 by Rice Classic, on Flickr
uh oh.. gotta add some weight to this one!
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7812/...e0b95c9b_z.jpgIMG_0576 by Rice Classic, on Flickr


I put the OEM wheels back on and did a drive around the neighborhood and everything is working. There's a metal dragging noise which I'm pretty sure is rotor backing plate that got bent and touching the rotor so I'll address that soon. Time to schedule the DYNO!!!

Remaining items...
 

Great update. It is fascinating to watch this come together.

Techstream, ECUTek and... rain
 

After 2 laptops, 2 cables and 8 attempts... I finally figured out how to make techstream work. I would have figured it out with 1 laptop and 1 cable and probably 3 attempts if I realized that the first cable wasn't fully plugging into my OBD2 port when I thought it was. :bonk:
Working now!
https://live.staticflickr.com/7862/4...6aceba72_z.jpgCGIF5141 by Rice Classic, on Flickr


Why Techstream? 1) seatbelt ding, 2)TPMS, which I never figured out and 3) steering calibration, because I had to buy a new one of these:


https://live.staticflickr.com/7873/4...7e097ab6_z.jpgIMG_0630 by Rice Classic, on Flickr


Time for a Dyno appt. Happy result considering I'm sticking with 92 octane for now.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/156129...ream/lightbox/

Results are positive (but secret) :D

The cool shirt box was finished, the weight added (painted AND clear coated!) and rain tires purchased. I bought the RE71Rs because I was curious about their wet weather performance and I could get them in short notice. The reason for the wet weather curiosity... It's the PNW in April which means rain... always rain.

https://live.staticflickr.com/7882/3...95503a98_z.jpgIMG_0653 by Rice Classic, on Flickr


https://live.staticflickr.com/7882/4...5405fd9a_z.jpgPUZR1937 by Rice Classic, on Flickr

It's probably time to remove the license plate though..


https://live.staticflickr.com/7876/4...b3f1c7de_z.jpgIMG_0654 by Rice Classic, on Flickr

I was able to do several laps with everything from heavy rain with lots of puddles to a wet-to-drying track. They displace water well and hydroplaning was limited below a certain speed but I feel like they are far away from the wet performance of a Hoosier H2O. I would not show up to a competitive event in the rain with these. I expect I will be selling them soon.

Lessons learned from test day:

• Struggled with brake transfer layer and I suspect that's due to the weather and ducting. Considering the cold/wet I should have blocked off the brake ducts so rotor could heat up evenly for bedding. Need to do dry track testing on this. I will install new rotors and buy an alternate brake compound if this continues - but I don't expect it to.
• I can't heel-toe in race conditions with pedals in OEM positions. I can on the street but the needs from the pedals during threshold braking is different. I need to widen and raise the accelerator pedal.
• Simply turning off TC does indeed hinder trail braking. I will need to enable pedal dance during dry testing.
• The seat needs to be tilted back one notch and lumbar support added.
• I will revisit alignment (rear camber adj) and nut/bolt check before the next outing.
• I'm very pleased with power delivery and shifting - nothing to change there.

Time for decals/numbers which come from the decal shop in a few days and we're ready to party. :party0030:

When is your first event?