When you installed the tie rod ends and sleeves, did you count the turns on the sleeves and ends to makes sure both sides are equal? Then with the steering wheel centered, you would adjust both sides back and forth to get close on your alignment. Now you can fine tune.

There was maybe 1 thread of engagement difference. I'm thinking the lowered springs and taller tie rod ends created the issue.

I had it all reset and ready to go for the 'final' test drive just when the rain set in.......Oregon, it's so beautiful this time of year. :D

Tie rod sleeve update: I ground 2mm off each end of the left sleeve which almost squared the wheel up. :bang: I need to take another mm off each end.

Regarding the grease zerk on the bar mount, I took two old zerks and ground the threaded end to remove the ball and spring, then ground the nipple down and JB Welded them. After a couple hundred miles of back road testing no contact.

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-V...VRG8XGx-XL.jpg

Overall the modifications made a big improvement in the handling, the Hotchkis springs and hollow bar feel great, same for my initial alignment. Car tracks better, turn-in is solid, mid-corner input precise, and I haven't incurred a bottoming incident yet. Under hard braking with the new bushings the car is much more stable as well. All the work was well worth it IMO.

The wife wanted to go for a Mother's Day morning road trip so we ran up the McKenzie River valley about 35 miles on secondary roads to a small cafe hoping to grab breakfast.........place was slammed, so naturally with a hungry wife on Mother's Day I had to pick up the pace on the return trip. LOL

Took a side trip up what used to be my old driveway back in '93-'94 which was also the place I proposed to her.

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-V...VbL2JG3-XL.jpg

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-K...KxPkzkj-X2.jpg

Regarding local roads that start 5 minutes from the house........I'm pretty spoiled.

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-V...VFTWcxh-X2.jpg

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-q...q2FRRWV-XL.jpg

Nice work as always...

But I can't get that damn video to work. :slingshot:

Wait! On Mothers Day you made HER get out and take the photo?!?!?!






Nice work. Literally.

Nice roads. You must get it up to, what, 30-35 mph? :headspin:

Road speed signs are THE MAXIMUM speeds for those roads... So he didn't necessarily have to get up to the posted MAX...

Thanks.

LOL :flashie:

I'm going to produce a short edited video of my favorite roads this summer of those........promise. :thumbsup:

.......and what speed have you had you car up to lately? :action-smiley-027:

It's getting G-Zone, works for me. :unibrow:

You should have seen the look on the old female joggers face yesterday morning......she was trotting against traffic on the inside of a tight posted 30 mph right-hander that was somewhat obscured by the spring roadside bloom and I was pushing it a little.....like x2 but in forth gear to keep db's respectable of course :confused59: That's when I realized and appreciated how good the steering response is now mid-corner. :rules:

All the wife said was whoa sh*t! :D

however fast the truck & trailer goes to move it from place to place. :catfight:

Couple new additions to Norwood's rear. After a twenty year relationship with Monroe, Norwood is sporting these slick Ridetech HQ pogo sticks.

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-2...2C34Trf-X2.jpg

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-f...f9s6jwm-XL.jpg

After testing in defense of Monroe they were not horrible, but they're certainly not Ridetech HQ's. The Monroe's may find their way on my utility trailer.......just because. :D

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-Z...ZLXWDkD-XL.jpg

For my initial Ridetech HQ testing, I set the rebound at 13 clicks out from full firm. (Total range of adjustment is 27 clicks) I went and drove my favorite test road out and back which has some fast sweepers and good 30 mph esses, some of which have upsetting irregularities in the transition which is perfect for testing valving. Set in the middle the shock were respectable and a notable improvement.

The next test was the same road with the shocks on full soft, or fastest response. While still an improvement over the Monroes, this setting made the chassis feel somewhat busy or twitchie.

The next test was the same road with the shocks set on full firm, or slowest response. This felt better than expected though it wasn't letting the spring rebound quite fast enough for the road.

My initial guess after running in the middle of the range was I'd end up toward the softer side of middle, after experiencing what the extreme's are I'm guessing the opposite or 7-9 clicks out from full firm for my roads and input preferences.

The Ridetech shock and mounting hardware is top shelf material quality. I'm very please with the HQ's finish quality and performance, especially for the price point!

Between my off-road and road bikes I've had some nice shocks, Ohlin, WP, and Penske 3-way adjustables. In respect to product build/finish quality the HQ's are on par with what I consider some of the best. :thumbsup:

Car's made some big improvements recently. Glad to see you enjoying it so much!

:captain:

Thanks Curtis, the car's actually a respectable driver finally. With the exception of a non-baffled oil pan I'd feel comfortable running recreational laps on a road course with it now.

I've also been working on fine tuning the Ultra XP carb, pulled #2 plug yesterday and it looks like I'm gaining on it.

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-T...Th3xgtf-XL.jpg

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-r...r2VgJhG-XL.jpg

Thanx for the explanation of the shocks, nice upgrade. I've not had a good understanding on how shocks work (fluid, valve, compression is all i can figure out). And i've never been able to nail it on an off road bike, having had WP and Ohlin's, its been good/ perhaps great at times, but getting it tuned, ugh!

So, the "full firm=slowest response" was/is kinda like a :idea: :idea: , guess would be the least amount of fluid traveling through the valve, hence the "firmest/roughest" ride. Simple, but not.

Congrats on having the dialed for summer, old paint job or not, it looks fan-friggentastic....

btw, sold my 320 XCFW last week:( , too scared i'm gonna fall on my "rebuilt" shoulder and tear it again. Boo, sux. Thinkin about a 690 Enduro though...

Yeah man...that's a huge investment of time and patience! Labor of love for sure.

The road test of all my work took place this last weekend with a trip over the Cascade Mountain range and up through central northern Oregon to Oregon Raceway Park to meet up with Greg at a track day event.

New since any road trip of length: Rear gears, rear disc brakes, rear shocks, new front suspension bushings, ball joints, rod ends, springs, bar, and my in-house alignment.

Got a little bit of a late start, like 6:15 a.m. so I'm pressing on the first leg up over the Cascades to Sisters, OR knowing that the trip is 216 miles on single lane mostly desolate highway and the first track session probably start at 9 a.m.

Cresting the Cascades at 7:21

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-9...-9bVVtTd-L.jpg

Gas up in Sisters, 108 miles 12.8 mpg........not good, hit the road and top off in Madras 46 miles later for safety, 20.4 mpg much better considering the sign just past Madras says "Next Gas 92 Miles" and the track is about 60 miles and I need to at least get back there for fuel in the morning. Made it to the track with no car glitches at all at 9:45 and the country club group hadn't even ran laps yet. :D

Evening staging area with the south end of the front straight in the background set for 'clean' morning departure.

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-7...7t2qS2n-XL.jpg

The return trip was smooth and equally as quick which was surprising for a Sunday. I made it to Redmond, south of Madras to refuel and made it home with a half a tank but haven't filled it up to confirm mileage.

The car ran flawlessly with the exception of the preexisting minor driveline vibration which I'm now motivated to resolve.

Front tire wear looked good as well considering the self-alignment was concern.

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-n...n5K3QxS-XL.jpg

GPS trip data:

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-r...-rQknxLW-L.jpg

Happy guy here! Great weekend, great company, and no tickets or black flags. :D FWIW, I only saw two cops on the road the entire trip.

First track weekend EVER that I didn't spin once!!


Add that to your "great trip" === and it was win win.

Awesome adventure, Scott!

Bingo!

We both almost did in T3 in the ricer though, but you didn't turn on the wipers. :lol:

Looks like a fun time!

DG - You MUST get BMF to this track! Having the TT group up there for a couple days would be too much fun.

Brycen this track is a little slice of heaven away from all the hustle and bustle of the daily rat race. Downside for many is it's a camping adventure on site unless you have a motorhome and trailer as there's one 10 room motel 11 miles away the larger motel is 27 miles.

Looking West NW with Mt. Hood in the sunset.

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-z...z7hCMDL-X2.jpg

There appears to have be some creative editing done on this picture...any chance of posting the original unedited copy?

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-r...-rQknxLW-L.jpg


:D

Glad Norwood made the trip unscathed and enjoyable for you Scott, love it when a plan comes together.

Great, successful adventure Scott!


Yep. DG can tow on up there and set up a jackstand display :D

:cheers:

Burn the evidence buddy! Let's just say the highest posted speeds on the roads was 55 mph and 5 of the small towns were 20/25/35 mph zones that hurt the moving average. Close ratio T56 Mag FTW in the high desert open range country. :D

Was your top speed triple digits?

I found the perfect track car that speaks his language.........

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-q...qgNRVT3-X2.jpg

This little rat was matching Andy's 2-Eleven lap times too!

No.......Oregon has a $1,150 fine, 30-90 day license suspension, and vehicle impoundment is an also an option for triple digit violators.

There's also some interesting vehicles that show up to ORP as prototype manufacturers really like the track for testing. This is Palatov Motorsports D2 in a open wheel street legal configuration. The consumer car will be more of a full bodied supercar shell. They drove this vehicle to the track from Portland.

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-M...MJnPB2Z-XL.jpg

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-J...JWDgJmk-XL.jpg

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-c...cVDsdKz-XL.jpg

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-x...xj84Dxh-XL.jpg

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-x...xmgtvJ5-XL.jpg

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-m...mmCZBbM-X2.jpg

The build quality of the Palatov cars is very impressive and their D4 track car may be the best dollar to performance value out there.

Check the model lineup out: http://www.palatov.com/

Sounds like a great place. I would love to get out to a track. The Ford Focus would be fun but I'm gunna wait for a better ride.

Looks like an epic place. Any sound restriction? :stirthepot:



Now that guy has it figured out. :cheers:

Two possible issues for you.........

http://oregonraceway.com/wordpress/w.../Track-Map.jpg

Whew, I should be good with a street motor running pump gas with 2 mufflers and all.

All true!

The key is which side of the track going the typical configuration is the sound meter on?

Piece of cake!

I'll be there to support you.........:happy23:

I'm going to do gather dB intel and I'll report back. :captain1:

I'm gonna hold you to that. :cheers:

Like a jock strap.....

Ouch. I can see why it wasn't triple digits. Besides you can do that legally on a track.

Fuel mileage report.......434 miles 15.124 mpg.

Not what I had hoped, but the car resides at 450' asl and most of the trip was between 2,400-5,000' asl. It was fat in the cruise range (12.3-12.9 afr) but altitude was not the primary factor. I'm shooting for mid 14's at cruise.

I need to find a source that can help me identify the 4150 circuit overlaps and influences in the just off idle cruise range.

I'm going to start with leaning the idle feeds in metering blocks and see what happens.

Fuel milage and performance -- with a carb? Isn't that a bit oxymoronic?? LOL


Now with EFI -- you can get that lean A:F mix and performance... But carbs just have their limits with all the transitions. I think 15 mpg with "spirited" driving is pretty dang good. Only takes a couple WOT pulls to knock your average way down.

NO! :action-smiley-027:

I've been researching and reading a bit today........I have direction!
IFR and PVCR will be on order and should get the idle/transfer AFR and WOT AFR in the pro tinkering ballpark. If I can get the cruise in the 14's consistently and WOT at 12.2 - 12.5 it should deliver more power and mileage. H*ll it might even take the Miata at ORP.