"MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig" (MR2_FTW)
01/18/2019 at 16:24 • Filed to: None
5
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"MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig" (MR2_FTW)
01/18/2019 at 16:24 • Filed to: None | 5
| 2 |
It’s been six months since the last time I posted an update and some pretty cool stuff has happened in that time.
I added some aluminized tape to seal off the gap along the top of the radiator. This will help keep air flowing through, rather than around it, increasing it’s cooling efficiency.
Two M16x1.5 oil drain plug bolts replaced the plastic plugs in the radiator. The exhaust is too close for comfort when it comes to plastic right there.
With the radiator to keep things cool, it was time for another trackcross. Unfortunately the weather was less than ideal.
On one of the last runs of the day the car suddenly became 100x louder. I limped the car back to the paddock, ears ringing, and found a broken downpipe. The slice/bent/re-weld method had bitten me in the ass. Fortunately a good friend of mine towed me home and then the car sat while I accumulated parts to fix it.
After getting the right wire to weld stainless I was finally ready to start creating a new downpipe.
It’s not pretty but it should be stronger and flow better than the old one.
Can’t forget the wrap! Heat is the enemy.
The car was up and running just in time to make it to the fall cruise. Clay and Brian also brought out their FX’s!
I’ve never seen three in the same place before, so this was a really cool experience.
I love boxy cars!
That’s it for this update, the next one will be up very soon and covers some nitty gritty suspension work.
ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
> MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig
01/18/2019 at 17:09 |
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For future consideration on that collector, you should look at welding in a flex pipe somewhere in that area. On a FWD racecar, the engine is constantly rocking fore and aft in a very significant way (stiffer engine mounts can reduce this, but there is still a lot of movement). Without a section of flexpipe, the entire exhaust system is rocking back and forth with it, and all the repeated stress will eventually crack the tubing, and almost always right around the collector on the header. You can make the exhaust stronger around the collector, but without a way for the engine (and header) to rock fore and aft independently from the rest of the system it is only moving the weak point around to somewhere else nearby in the system.
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MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig
> ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
01/18/2019 at 17:30 |
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It’s still there. The downpipe connects a few inches in front of it.