dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Contrast those worn BFGs with the color of this new set ready to go on for the upcoming SCCA Majors race on Memorial Day weekend. These tires are fresh and ready to do their fastest laps within five laps of hitting the track. I'll run qualifying with a specific pattern: two laps to gradually bring them up to speed and find a gap in traffic, two laps of the fastest, cleanest laps I can drive and one cool-down lap to bring it back to the pits. After the tires have "relaxed" for a couple of hours, they'll be ready for battle!

MicVelo

I’ve got some “tire shine” goo you can slather on bringin’ them back to black! They’ll be just like new!!

Oh, wait.....🤡

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Hah- how many stories have we heard of someone who put ArmorAll on their tires and ended up skating off the road when the coefficient of friction was not what they expected?!

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Going to use this thread to update my 21019 SCCA race season. Memorial Day weekend means racing and the SCCA Majors series comes to Pueblo Motorsports Park. Pueblo is a 2.2-mile 13-turn circuit that features great elevation changes and a variety of turns. It's a track that responds well to balance and flow, but the long front and back straights will see cars like the Corvette Z06 I'll be contending with hitting 145 MPH. The Z is capable of 120-123, but that's about it without making more radical and expensive changes.

350Zs will be running in all three touring classes (T1, T2 and T3) this weekend, with Rick and Derek Kulach joining me to represent!

MicVelo

Shee, David, and here I am all excited about sitting in front of the telly, couch potatoing watching the grandest spectacle in motorsports on Sunday and yer out there living it. I hate you. Hahahahahaha. J/K.... good luck going W2W wit dem Carvetts!

Incentivization: Free box of mochi delivered to your door if you checker ahead of them.

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Mic- you had me laughing so much! it's an adventure this weekend all right, but any thoughts of going W2W are severely in doubt. My main opposition is a former pro driver in a pro-built C6 Z06. My goals this weekend is to run a clean, fast race with the other (Porsche, Nissan, Mustang, Camaros and Mazdas),and pressure the leader to the finish. Even with the possibility his Phoenix-prepared Vette (shod with Hoosier R7 tires) could lap my Z before the end of the race, I can't let that hold back my own charge! There's always the possibility that something breaks and hands me a lead, but I think that manju dessert bonus looks pretty safe...for now!

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Memorial Day 2019 weekend report: Pueblo saw two second place finishes in T1, but that was far from the entire story! While my 350Z was no match for the GT1 twin-turbo Porsche 911 or the T1 Corvette GS that finished 1-2 both days, there was plenty of racing action both days. On Saturday, my biggest story came mid race when a BMW Z4 M-coupe hit my RR wheel/tire while trying to pass. The impact threw me across the track and I took several corners to determine whether the damage was terminal.

The Z is one tough car, and I ended up deciding it was worth the gamble to continue. The second half of the Majors race was spent hunting down the BMW and the Porsche Boxster ahead of it. After several laps, I ended up making clean passes to finish sixth overall, but the real surprise was when we got to impound. The RR Enkei RPF-1 wheel was badly damaged, with part of the outer rim peeled back and exposing the bead of the BFG R1-S tire. If I'd known the damage was this bad, the Z would have been retired immediately! After a short talk with the BMW driver and the race stewards, he apologized and I decided not to protest his ill fated pass attempt.

Inspecting revealed more damage. the wheel-to-wheel contact had banged the wheel bearing hard, but also sent a shock wave up though the half-shaft to the NISMO diff. Continuing in the race, had allowed some of the loosened diff bolts to shift and knocked the RR ABS sensor to shift. This didn't come to light until Sunday when the ABS diagnostic system gave me a C0010 code and we figured out that the ABS system was compromised. Unfortunately, by this point, the sensor harness itself was shredded and that's not a component either myself or any of the other Z teams had in their spares. So, no ABS for the Sunday races.

In a separate issue, one of the rookie drivers who'd been racing a H Production Datsun 1200 came up with a show-stopper. His A-series engine had suffered a bent pushrod and his crew had spent the night trying to repair the damage, only to determine the damage was terminal. This driver needed a finish to qualify for a racing license and I decided to help. Although our races were back-to-back, we got him fitted to the car and changed his entry to allow him to race the Z. The driver, Ian Sullivan, is a friend of mine and he went on to do a nice job driving the car smoothly to a finish and bringing it back to the paddock to be refueled and into the next race. Starting the Sunday race, it was clear the grip and race pace was down from Saturday. My goal was to make half distance and get the finish, but never got the signal.

On lap 14, the brake monster got me, and I locked up the fronts going into T1 at about 118 MPH. My usual line features trail braking into the upper section of the banked turn, so once I got on the "marbles", it was over. The Z flew over the edge of the banking and I saw--to my horror--nothing but sand and big rocks in my landing zone! In a high-speed shunt like this, it's best to "ride it out" and not jerk the wheel in an attempt to steer around the inevitable. Landed with a sickly crunch, but at least it was straight and no rollover risk. I ended up turning around in the high desert runoff area and unknowingly dragging some rocks back onto the circuit. One of them must have been lodged against the rear swaybar and unfortunately came out near T2 as I exited the track. Ironically, the T3 Z of Derek Kulach hit it and suffered more Enkei damage as he went on finish second in class. Sorry again, Derek- kicking myself today as I should have retired my Z sooner.

MicVelo

Yowch!! Please keep us apprised of the state of your body and that of your car. That was a class act getting Ian back into the points chase (or whatever the reason for putting him in the Z).

No, you didn’t beat any Carvetts but you certainly earned your manju! So when I get a break from taking care if my M-I-L thus week, it’s off the Shuei-Do! 👌👍😆

Just glad it was time to go turtle up putting the roll bar to use!! Ugh, hate when that happens.

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Wups! Didn't mean to imply that I actually used the rollcage during my shunt. The Z is a bit dusty, but no turtling was involved. Sure, there's a bunch of work to do underneath the car, but I'll keep you apprised! Maybe that's the message behind this pursuit of serious speed. You've gotta find a way to enjoy the battle, whether you win or lose.

MicVelo

OOOOOPS, posted that on my phone without my glasses on!!! Not a good thing to do!!

It was supposed to read:

"Just glad it was NOT time to go turtle up putting the roll bar to use!!"

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

LOL- now that makes more sense! BTW- there's a story from Pueblo I know you'd appreciate, Mic. One team brought out three SCCA cars for their family to race and I found out one of them had been resurrected from a racecar wrecked at Sonoma Raceway. It was an E30 E Production car that crashed HARD at the exit of the Carrousel when another racer moved over in the middle of a pass and forced it off line. After this, a Colorado racer (who ironically was my driver school student back in '04) went out, picked up the chassis and (with a lot of help and effort) rebuilt it over the years. Now, his son was driving it (and driving it well) in the small bore closed wheel race!

Old racers never die, they just take awhile to get rebuilt...

JBJ

I talked to the dad yesterday. Sounds like they had a good weekend. Cam is just ridiculously fast. I hope to join you guys next year.

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

The post-race assessment was a grim picture. Flying off turn one and landing in the desert tore up the bottom of the Z from stem to stern. The brake ducts on both sides were literally ripped out and the engine undertray bent and torn up. The front sway bar hit something (most likely a rock) HARD and this also 'oil-canned' the VQ35HR's oil pan. The damage continued to the rear, as the swaybar is bent in the middle and may not be salvageable. While most of the exhaust escaped damage, the midpipe is dented and twisted upwards.

I've finished replacing the ABS sensor harness and steel oil pan so far, but repairs are proceeding slowly. With only a few weeks before the next Majors race (July Freedom Sprints), there's still a lot to do before an entry can be filed.

MicVelo

Slow and steady....

...makes one fast rabbit!!

Hang tough, bud! Interesting, yesterday, commented to Kari: “Haven’t heard from David in a bit...must be a race weekend!”

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

LOL- it takes me time to do the work correctly to just maintain the race car! It takes even more time when dealing with crash damage. But the time spent makes me appreciate how well the Z33 was originally engineered and constructed. Unfortunately, some of the repair is beyond my skill level, so specialists have to be brought in to assess and repair some parts of the car. Yesterday, I found the hood pull cable was shredded when the inner fender panel was damaged and so here we go again! Can't race the car very well if I can't even open the hood?

260DET

On the Z33's engineering and construction, coming from older Z's that is the aspect that has impressed me. It's the first Z model that has been up on my four chassis point hoist where the door latches and alignment have remained perfect. In contrast a roll caged Z31 was terrible and when comparing the chassis it's easy to see why. Kudos to the 350Z.

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

It's disappointing, but I won't be making the next SCCA Majors race here in Colorado. After replacing or repairing the HR oil pan, ABS speed sensor harness, inner fender liner and hood cable, RR hub and axle hardware, rear swaybar and mounts, mid-exhaust pipe and mounts, I still have problems! There's still some ABS codes I can't erase, and the **** parking brake seems to be hanging up to boot. Tried pulling the rear brakes apart and checking for problems again yesterday, but no joy. The truth is that campaigning in Touring 1 is only fun when the Z is fully functioning and ready to run at the limit. I was hoping to spend more time developing some aero tweaks by this time in the season, but crash damage has taken all that time away. The Freedom Sprints at High Plains Raceway this weekend will be one I'll WORK at (tech and pit & grid) because the region needs more volunteers, but I'll still be pissed at not being behind the wheel.

MicVelo

Ouch!!

Any rent-a-ride / arrive-n'-drives around your region (or outside) that would allow for you to continue the chase to the Runoffs?

Even, *gasp*, a non-Nissan to attend the Majors and buy time to get you car sorted?

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Funny you should ask about 'rent-a-rides' in my division. The current T1 champ runs a driving school and will rent out his Phoenix Racing prepped 2010 Corvette for a paltry $6K a day. Ouch is right! Can you imagine what other T1 cars rent for? Exotics like the Ferrari F430 Cup, Porsche 911 GT3, Lamborghini Super Trofero or Audi R8 Competition are eligible.

Nobody said racing is cheap...

MicVelo

Double ouch!! $6k a day..... Whew. My Formula Ford cost me about that much to rent for about 3/4 SEASON. But that was a lonnnnnng time ago. Back when pterodactyls were around.

Funny you mentioned Phoenix.... was thinking of them when I wrote that. But they're really pricey - I guess it should be considering their record of winning cars.