Dale,

Is that a stock 69 cowl induction air cleaner you are using?
Also how long is the stock rod? Mine is on the car and there is no way to get it off with the engine in place. I just made an extension piece to bolt too it.

Thanks
Ronnie

https://lateral-g.net/forums/show...&postcount=289

All it takes is a little effort. :thumbsup:

Ronnie, I was able to remove the stock throttle linkage with the engine in the car. After removing it... I welded on an extension and lengthened the stock arm about 2.5 inches.

I made the arm just long enough so I could get full throttle on the FAST 4 barrel TB. Adding 2.5 inches worked out good.

What Sieg said on the cowl induction air cleaner... custom made to fit.

Dale ---


I AM on a jury... so no way I'm making PIR event. They said today that trial will be 2 1/2 to 3 days -- then deliberation. I just got home -- man it's a long dang day doing this stuff!!

We'll just have to plan another event when I don't have this stone around my neck.

Greg,

No problem... we'll meet up another time for a track day. The weather is not looking good for this Friday anyway.

I served on a jury last year and it was interesting... especially the deliberations... good luck!

Bad luck Greg. I'm sure you'll have entertaining stories about your time as jury foreman that you'll not be allowed to tell :_paranoid

For you, Dale, and any other interested Pac NW folks, I am signed up for the 12th (Northwest Porsche Club) and 13th (Turn 2 Lapping) at Ridge Motorsports Park. There are still spots available both days; see www.motorsportreg.com for signup details. Weather forecast looks good, insofar as you can trust any 10 day forecast in the Pac NW :)

Scott, I registered for the Turn 2 Lapping event on Friday. Thanks for posting... I'll see you Friday.

:thumbsup:

Track day at "The Ridge Motorsports Park"
 

I loaded up the car last Thursday afternoon and drove up to the Ridge Motorsports Park in Shelton Washington to meet Scott Borduin (PTAddict) for a track day last Friday. This was my first time running at RMP. The track is a 2.47 mile long road course… with two blind rises, two blind descents, and a ½ mile long straight. What a fun track.… it just doesn’t get much better! I had the most fun I’ve ever had with my car. This track is much more technical challenging than PIR… and was a blast.

It was a 2.5 hour drive to the track... so I rented a trailer and drove up the night before and spent the night at the track. I plan to get an enclosed trailer before next season.
http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/...pse187f278.jpg

Here is a pic of Scotts car and trailer. Nice set up.
http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/...psa02b94b1.jpg


You can see part of the track in the background on this pic. WhenI first saw this I couldn't believe the elevation drop.
http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/...ps753d6d33.jpg

http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/...pscd6436ba.jpg


For the first session I drove behind Scott and he showed me the lines. I ran a total of five sessions for the day. By the third session I was starting to figure out the track and pick up speed. The car felt very balanced and the grip was excellent. The new suspension set up worked great... can’t wait to get back out on this track.

I look forward to doing more track day events in the future with Scott. Scotts car is very impressive in person, and he goes all out on the track. Next time out we plan to get some video dicing on the track.

Thanks to Scott for inviting me to the track day. I had a great time and it was nice to get out on a new track :thumbsup:

Everyone I've talked to locally LOVES the track.... hopefully the facilities follow.


Glad you guys got together and had a great day!

Glad you had fun Dale! I got a chance to see Scott's car at SEMA a couple years ago. You're right, it's stunning!

Nice writeup Dale, glad you had a good time.

I actually was there for two days, but got no more track time than Dale. First, the driver (ahem) spun the car the first day, leading to a backfire, leading to a blown top/bottom intake seal on the FAST intake, leading to an afternoon of R & R intake, RTV patchwork, chasing lost fasteners, etc. Then my alternator started frying while I was sitting in the staging lane waiting for the 4th session on the second day. Since my track car is also my ride home, I called it a day. The alternator never did give up entirely, although it made some pretty funky voltage swings, and smelled like an electrical fire by the time I got home. Dale followed me most of the way home to make sure I'd be OK - thanks again Dale.

The track itself really is nice. Talking to the chief driving instructor for the NW Audi club, it apparently was designed by the same person or people who did Thunderhill. Facilities at the track are indeed sparse, but at least there is a real town (Shelton WA) 5 minutes away with gas, food, hotels, car parts stores, etc. Unlike my other favorite track, Oregon Raceway Park.

Thanks Ron. I never did get around to doing a real build thread the first time around, but I've recently been struck with a serious case of upgradeitis, and will start a thread on that soon.

The trick is to bait GW into going to ORP and give him a Costco list in advance. :unibrow:

Fact is his rig is bigger than the Tall Winds Motel in Morrow. :D

Since you've driven both tracks and I've ridden ORP both directions and only watched on-board video of The Ridge.........how do they compare with a steering wheel in your hand?

I think ORP is more technical still than RMP, perhaps even more so going counter-clockwise. I've run two complete days CCW at ORP, and still never felt completely in rhythm all the way around. And there is more "pucker factor" at ORP, like the turn 16-15-14 sequence running CCW, or cresting the hill after the uphill straight going CW. There is more blind stuff, more off-camber, etc. And the half-pipe is a unique experience.

RMP is faster - I get to 130+ on the front straight before hitting the shift light and breathing the throttle for a few hundred feet, and max out in 3rd two other places. It's still pretty technical, and there are parts of it that are very satisfying lap after lap when you get in rhythm, like the 1-2-3 sequence, or the 8a-8b-9-10 sequence. Turns are a bit more "connected" at RMP, where you have to treat them as a sequence and not apex to apex. It also feels wider, and is generally more of a big car "horsepower" track.

Both are a ton of fun, and very different than the wide/fast/flat environment of PIR.

Sounds like we need to plan some parties in the GW rig :) Seriously, GW, no need to drive all the way to T'hill or Laguna for a great track. Now, the company you have to keep, that's another story ... :)

Bastards

Guilty.

So did Heino move to a new(er) building?? I see your post says you're the EFI guy for him...

He needed an EFI guy! He struggled doing my buddies 8 stack FAST EZ EFI install!! LOL


And to be totally honest about NW Track days.... they're just not the same as running Sonoma -- Laguna Secca.... or getting out of the PNWet in the winter and hitting a nice dry sunny day track event in Kalleeeforneea. But I will make an event with you guys soon.

Totally get it about the Cali tracks. I'm hoping to get there myself starting next year. My company (Autodesk) is based in S.F. And I did Skip Barber at Laguna.

Steve Heino and I went in together building a new facility to house his business, with a corner for my stuff too. It's a great building, and biz is booming since he moved there late last year.

I've done the tuning for Steve 1-2 days a week for years now. I don't really get paid for it, just enjoy using my background to help make customer cars run better. Your buddy with the Inglese was not an ideal case - the Inglese/FAST marriage was clearly a problem of left hand/right hand not talking, with install problems from day 1. And I've commented here before on the limitations of EZ/EFI and similar self tuning systems - they work within the narrow range of assumptions built into the tuning algorithms, but outside that range, you better be able to plug in the laptop and fix things, or you're screwed. If I'd had recourse to do that on that IR install, it would have run 500% better, 500% sooner. Just sayin'

BTW, the newer Holley Terminator, HP, Dominator systems all have excellent self tuning with recourse to manual/laptop, and I'm a big fan of those right now. That's the direction I'd go for most retrofit EFI these days.

Simplistically from the 2-wheeled perspective ORP running CW is like making love, it's adrenaline inducing and flows nicely, running CCW is like one night stand sex, scary yet great fun that makes you want more........but too risky to have on a weekly basis. :D

Realistically ORP is more fun and more challenging than Laguna, it just doesn't have the history. T-Hill is it's own, it's such a great blend of technical with good speed, accommodations and culture it's hard to argue.

Thank you, than you very much!

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__...t._Schultz.jpg
I know nothing!

Hmm - I'm 53 and a confirmed family man. I'm glad to know that I can still have one night stand sex with a little trip to Grass Valley, OR :)

Dale, are we derailing your thread a bit? Back to regularly scheduled programming ...

Thanks Greg... the track is awesome and they have a huge pit area but not much else right now. Plenty of room for the big rigs :thumbsup:

Thanks Ron... I remember seeing Scott's car parked outside the entrance to the main hall at SEMA a few years ago. It's great to see it out on the track now... his car also has an LS7 engine.

I've run at PIR for so long I had no idea what I was missing. Now I need to shop for an enclosed trailer so I can travel around a bit more :)

Sounds good Greg... look forward to that!



I have run quite a few events this year and pushed the car pretty hard... recently out at PIR I had my first problem. The serpentine belt rolled off the pulleys when I shifted from 3rd to 4th gear on the back straight. When the serpentine belt came off it took the belt that runs the dry sump pump with it.

When the belt cam off the dry sump pump I was able to shut the engine off within a few seconds. I coasted into the pits and called the engine builder. A.C. recommended to have the car towed home, and then pull the pan to check the rod bearings and main bearings just to be safe. I decided to pull the engine out and have everything checked out.

In the 3 weeks between the event at PIR and RMP I pulled the engine and tranny and then re-installed. I will post up more details on this later in the week on what we found out when the bottom end of the engine was inspected.

All I can say is that I am very glad that I installed the low oil pressure warning light!

:cheers:

Heck no... good stuff.

Let me know when you go back to grass valley... sounds like another good track.

55 and confirmed here with a 12 & 14 year old, had to dig deep in the archives for that analogy. :secret:

Dale needs to experience it now that he's ventured away from the metro flat track..........and T-Hill, Laguna, Sonoma, and Miller. :thumbsup:

That's awesome Dale. Looks like a great track. Sometimes I kind of miss the scenery of the NW.

I've never had my car at T-Hill, Laguna, Sonoma, or Miller either. I think, just like Dale, I need to get a travel rig. It's cool driving to the track when you're still just a 2 hour tow from home if something goes wrong, but 2 days ...

When you're two days down and two days back --- you get a back up race car....:catfight: :lmao:





http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...Lotus/file.jpg

Very nice... All you need now is a 69 Camaro! :cool:

Dale --- I've had lots of 'em.... and I'm really over it.



:D

Well played gentlemen :thumbsup:

How many Camaro's GW? :popcorn2:

That 2-11, an aluminum trailer, and a properly prepped Sprinter van would make a pretty good track day setup.........just thinking out loud. :sieg:

4 -- including 2 convertibles... and that's half the number of '66/67 Corvettes I've had -- and I'm over them too.... :D

Sadly -- like most here.... the digital age of photography wasn't around... and with all the moves I've made -- I don't have pics of most of the cars I've had. I do have pics of my very first car! And my Vega... but not a single pic of the '55 Nomad I drove in high school.


Now -- Back to Dale's awesome LS powered '69 race car - 'er I mean - PT Car.

Dale, what a great trip. You are livin the dream and puttin that thing to good use. Keep it up. Many of us live through you. :D

San Rafael you mean? :sieg:

Also saw your car at SEMA back when... loved it. Interested in what changes you have made since.

Actually, the company headquarters is still officially San Rafael, but the real center of gravity these days is downtown San Fran at 1 Market Street. That's the single largest product/technical site in Autodesk, and it's where Carl Bass, Jeff Kowalski, etc. are based most of the time. There's also a fantastic new "maker" facility with everything from 7 axis NC to additive manufacturing (aka 3D printing) to welding to sewing, and on and on, which we use to develop and exercise real world applications of our products. It's at Pier 9 on the Embarcadero. I'm definitely going to use that to build some custom stuff going forward.

Thanks. I've also followed your project, which is amazing :thumbsup:. I haven't made too many significant changes since SEMA, unless you count the extensive road rash on all the quarters :) Fixed a few teething troubles, upgraded to a Rick's/Vaporworx tank, swapped out a few suspension bits, experimented with tires and shock settings and such. Mostly, I've become even more addicted to track days (aka HPDE), and I'm about to start a series of upgrades related to that. I'll start a build thread any day now.

Say that enough times and sooner or later you'll start believing yourself :lol:

And it's an important quality for a back up race car to be very light, tiny, and toy-like :) In all seriousness, I'm jealous. I've had a few of those Loti running up my butt at ORP ...

Greg, dude, you could be banned for life from this and all other PT related forums. Also, the FBI, CIA, and NSA now have you on their lists of Pinko Commie Terrorist anti-American Radical Sociopaths. WTF, dude, you can't just throw grenades like that anywhere.

Seriously, if I were ever to build another car, it just might not be a ... well, you know.

HAHAHAHAHAHA



I love '69 Camaro's... And I'm really happy you all have them.

You're a real peach! :D

Thanks Rick… it was a very fun track. I will be back next year for sure. I’ll bet your not missing the rain here. Today it's 57 degrees, gray and rainy all day.

Greg, that’s cool. You’re a couple of steps ahead of me. I think the Lotus was a great purchase... a car designed to be driven hard on the track... you just strap in, turn the key and go. When it does break down... you just drop it off at the dealership and have them get it ready for next time while you kick back in SV:relax: (i'm jealous)

Can't wait to see it out on the track some day.

Thanks Dave... I look forward to running with you guys down south one day. :D Been following you're build on here... one of my favorites... keep it coming :thumbsup:

Scott, it's a small world. I had no idea you were one of the guys behind Autodesk. I use Inventor 2014 Professional 3D-CAD software in my work. Great stuff!



I have run quite a few track day events this year and pushed the car pretty hard... recently out at PIR I had my first problem. The serpentine belt came off the pulleys when I shifted from 3rd to 4th gear on the back straight. When the serpentine belt came off it took the belt that runs the dry sump oil pump with it... causing low oil pressure and then no oil pressure! When I did some internet research... I found that others running their cars on the track have had the same problem with the serpentine belt coming off.

The belts typically come off between shifts... during the time when the loads on the belt change. The solution in my case is to add an additional idler pulley on the longest leg of the belt that is un-supported. I have designed a mount for an additional idler that I am testing. I tested the new idler at RMP and had no issues with the serpentine belt coming off. When I finalize the design of the idler wheel and mount I will post up pictures of the design.


When the belt came off the dry sump pump I was able to shut the engine off within a few seconds. I coasted into the pits and called the engine builder to get advice on what to do. A.C. Nutter recommended that I have the car towed home, and then pull the pan to check the rod bearings and main bearings just to be safe. I followed his advice... and had the car towed home. The next weekend I pulled the engine and brought it out to A.C.'s shop to have them pull the pan and check everything out.


In the 3 weeks between the event at PIR and RMP I pulled the engine and tranny and then re-installed :hairpullout:

http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5fb32c1b.jpg

http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7a275314.jpg

http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9736dbe7.jpg

http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/...psbd813e01.jpg


Ready to go to the shop for inspection

http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/...ps12fb088f.jpg


A.C. told me that the first thing to go when there is no oil pressure is the rod bearings... and then the main bearings. The reason is that there is less area on the rod bearings and higher stresses compared to the main bearings.


It turned out that he was exactly right. Two out of eight rods bearings just started to shows early signs of galling. The main bearings were fine.

http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/...psa87f9c3d.jpg

I am very glad that I installed a low oil pressure warning light so I had early warning of low oil pressure. This saved my engine from catastrophic damage. A.C. replaced all the rod bearings and main bearings and I was good to go!

When I took the oil pan off there was one more surprise. I will post info on that later... it has to do with the timing chain tensioner.

:lateral:

Great catch!!! What rpm were you turning before shifting? Glad this turned out to your good. It's hard, if not impossible, to lose a dry sump belt at speed, and not pick up a bearing.

Thanks... according to the GPS, I was running 94 mph. Third gear at 94 mph calculates out to 6,500 rpm. As soon as the light came on I let off the gas... slipped it in neutral, and turned the engine off. The early warning saved my engine for sure.

That's a very small world, because I wrote substantial pieces of the Inventor kernel code back when. Who do you work for? PM me if you think that's better ...

Scott