Bugzilla - Mid Engine Madness

[gator68428]

Alright guys. I had Chad (Chad-1stGen on here) @ Autox and Track reach out to me a little while ago to do an article on the Bug. Well he did it and I have to give him a big thanks! You can check out the article in the link below.

Article here

Saw it on my Facebook feed. Awesome article about a cool car! Nice pics too.

[Bugzilla]

Thanks Mitch! Now I just need to get some more race videos. 5 weeks until the next event.

[Bugzilla]

Well not much going on over here. Took the Bug out for a few more laps to finish the tuning. Well the part throttle tuning is now done and it has a ton more bottom end power. Still need to work on full throttle passes. They are close but not perfect. Dont like doing them on the streets. Might be time to put it on the dyno.

[gator68428]

optima Autoclub labor day weekend? I'll be there helping my brother--he'll be competing in his C5 in GTS.

[Bugzilla]

I really do want to go to the optima event. But I still think my build is too fresh / not enough seat time. I have never done a road course in my life. And from what I hear, the speedway is a very high speed track. Like some cars hit 150 mph. Not sure I am ready for any crazy speed in the Bug just yet. And I need an oil cooler.... Next year for sure. If I could just do the autox and speed stop, I would be there!

[gator68428]

They just run the infield for optima I know that--much lower speeds. I'm not sold on oil coolers--for 15-20min track sessions they're not always needed. On a 85 deg day in FL i stuck a thermocouple down my dipstick after 20 min on track and the engine oil wasn't even at 220 degF (190 deg water temp). That's when you'd want your thermostat to kick on. If you do get an oil cooler, get a thermostat. You want your oil 215deg+ so it burns off contaminants. I bet most people that just slap an oil cooler on may be doing more harm than good.

optima has 15min track sessions, and they have a novice group. Not to pressure you. Either way, I don't blame you since you've never been on a track. And with a highly modified car that's never been on a track either, I double don't blame you--get some practice and shake down the car first would be a sound strategy. If only you could do a track day somewhere first...

[Bugzilla]

Mitch - I wish I knew that they didnt do the full Roval earlier! I would have signed up. If someone pops up with an extra ticket I will gladly take it off their hands.

And in other news, I am signed up for the Hotchkis/NMCA race in September. Sadly I waited too long and only could only get signed up for the Sunday race.

[gator68428]

Mitch - I wish I knew that they didnt do the full Roval earlier! I would have signed up. If someone pops up with an extra ticket I will gladly take it off their hands.

And in other news, I am signed up for the Hotchkis/NMCA race in September. Sadly I waited too long and only could only get signed up for the Sunday race.

You can still register for it. Reg is not closed as far as I can tell.
http://driveusca.com/events/

If you click on Road America for example (last event before Vegas), it will say reg closed. It does not say that for Autoclub.

[Bugzilla]

I tried to do it yesterday and it wasnt working. Guess I can try again!

[gator68428]

I tried to do it yesterday and it wasnt working. Guess I can try again!

If you need any help Adam is very helpful and he will get back to you quickly. Adam H, his email is: adamh at driveusca dot com

[Bugzilla]

Thanks for the info Mitch! Well I read through the rules and looks like I need a new helmet and gloves.... Mine is a bit too old and doesnt have the right cert. Thats fine with me since I wanted to get one with the fresh air option but now that means helmet, track fee and membership fee. So I will be passing it up this year. Lots of $$$. Oh well...

[gator68428]

Thanks for the info Mitch! Well I read through the rules and looks like I need a new helmet and gloves.... Mine is a bit too old and doesnt have the right cert. Thats fine with me since I wanted to get one with the fresh air option but now that means helmet, track fee and membership fee. So I will be passing it up this year. Lots of $$$. Oh well...

Just for the cost of the helmet? I bet we could help solve that problem for you. Sure there'd be ppl willing to get you a loaner in the area. And it's the main piece of safety equipment you need anyways. As far as the gloves go, you can borrow mine if they fit, size XL (can't bring my helmet on the plane). And as far as the shoes go, i just wore regular leather loafers and they didn't care.

Not to goad you into going tho. And I totally understand, that on top of the costs, you have a new build--if it were me I would want to take it slow to shake down the car before time trails on track. But if it really is helmet and gloves, that can be solved I'm guessing. But if you're not feeling it, don't do it--there's always next year (that's what I'm prepping my car for). Last time I goaded someone into going to a track day with me he put his car in the wall.

Also add to your safety budget plans, a hans device if you're going to do track days. No reason not to. I recommend the Necksgen--can't even tell you're wearing it when driving. Totally worth it-esp in old cars with no airbags. You have a 5 point right?

[Bugzilla]

Just for the cost of the helmet? I bet we could help solve that problem for you. Sure there'd be ppl willing to get you a loaner in the area. And it's the main piece of safety equipment you need anyways. As far as the gloves go, you can borrow mine if they fit, size XL (can't bring my helmet on the plane). And as far as the shoes go, i just wore regular leather loafers and they didn't care.

Not to goad you into going tho. And I totally understand, that on top of the costs, you have a new build--if it were me I would want to take it slow to shake down the car before time trails on track. But if it really is helmet and gloves, that can be solved I'm guessing. But if you're not feeling it, don't do it--there's always next year (that's what I'm prepping my car for). Last time I goaded someone into going to a track day with me he put his car in the wall.

Also add to your safety budget plans, a hans device if you're going to do track days. No reason not to. I recommend the Necksgen--can't even tell you're wearing it when driving. Totally worth it-esp in old cars with no airbags. You have a 5 point right?

Ya I am sure I can find someone local with a helmet but I would rather not. Im just going to pass on this one. I still have a couple little things to finish up anyways and my weekends are screwed for the next couple of weeks.

I already have good shoes and a jacket. Just need gloves, a helmet and the hans to be safe. My belts are 5 points but I only have 4 hooked up. I never put the tab in the floor for the 5th one.... Not the end of the world, just a lot of work.

On a side note, I did find time to do an alignment last night. Rear was still perfect but front was a tad off since I made new arms and lifted it a little. Should have time to put a few miles on it tonight to see if it feels different.

[Bugzilla]

Well the weather has finally cooled down out here. That meaning I can actually drive the Bug! Drove it to work yesterday and today. And that is good because I want to put some miles on this thing before my race on Sunday. All has been good so far. Cruises down the freeway at 75 mph like its nothing. I have been messing with the shocks and it actually rides pretty nice now. A lot better then it did before. Water temp wont budge off 170° when on the freeway and oil temps seem to stay around 190°. Both go up 20° when cruising around town. By the end of the day, I should be up to 100 miles on the engine. Tomorrow will be car prep day. Then Sunday is the race! Super excited! Anyone in the area feel free to stop by. Its at the Auto Club Speedway.

[813Demon340]

Hope your race went well and look forward to your recap!

[Bugzilla]

Well after a very long day yesterday, I dont have much good news to report. The day started off bad and just got worse as the day went on. So I show up around the time that the paperwork said to show up at and apparently that was about a hour too late. Track walk and drivers meeting were already done and I saw cars sitting in line to run the course. So I run down to the check in spot, get checked in, and find out I am in run group 1 which is already running... So I run back to the Bug, take everything out of it, slap some numbers on the side and drive out to the course. I didnt even have time to hook up the Gopro. I took it easy on the first lap to get to know the course. Second lap I start pushing it harder and in doing so, I kept smelling raw fuel in some of the hard turns. I thought since my tank was full, it was just spitting some fuel out the overflow. I also saw my oil psi drop to 20 psi in one of the turns. Then on lap 3, the gas smell was there the whole lap, not just through turns. I was going balls out on this lap too. After I do the lap, I start driving back over to the pits and then the Bug started popping out the exhaust and died. Would not restart. Pushed it in to the pits and started looking it over. I had a fuel fitting leaking so I thought that it was low on fuel psi and thats why it didnt start. Well after I got a new fitting and put it on, it still wouldnt start. Tinkered around with it for a hour with no luck and gave up. I had to go home to get my Jeep and my dads trailer since I drove the Bug to the event. Put the Bug on the trailer and took it back home. When I got home, I pulled the valve cover off and didnt see anything odd. Did a compression test and it was at 155 psi on all cylinders. Plugged in the laptop and had no codes. However, when I am trying to start it, it shows the rpms going from 0-6000-0. Not the 250-300 that I normally see. So I am guessing its a crank sensor at this point. I will throw one in tonight and see what it does.

As for how I actually did, I have no idea. They normally post the lap times online but did not do so this time. The lady next to me was keeping times on me since I was competing with her husband. So according to her, the best lap I did was a 40.3 (his was a 42.x). As I was watching other people run, I noticed that very few people were in the 40s and only one or two people got in the 39s. So I think I did pretty good but cant say for sure. I am working on getting the times for the class I ran in. One of my friends got a video of my fist lap, but thats it. I will post it later. EDIT - VIDEO IS POSTED

[Bugzilla]

And after doing some digging, answers are found. But this raises a new question. Why did this happen? I have built over a hundred Ecotecs and I have not once seen this happen.

[Larry Callahan]

So much awesome!!!!

[Motown 454]

Was it touching the reluctor wheel?

[Bugzilla]

So much awesome!!!!

Thanks Larry!

Was it touching the reluctor wheel?

Wayne - I am going to assume it was??? I dont know though. Maybe a chunk of something got stuck between the sensor and the reluctor and caused that to happen? One thought I have, which seems odd to me, is if GM changed how deep the sensor sits in the block. The sensor and crank/reluctor (reluctor is cast into the crank) are from a 2.2L but they are sitting in a 2.4L block. The 2.4L's use a different style sensor and reluctor (bolt on design). I just dont know if the sensors are a different in length or if the sensor provision in the block is a bit different then a 2.2L. I have another sensor on the way and I have a 2.4L sensor here waiting to be compared.

Bad news is - pan has to come off to get all the chunks out and to inspect the pickup tube. Engine has to be lifted up to get the pan out...... That is a lot of work. I think I am going to dump the oil thats in it first, fill it up with cheap oil, let it warm up, then dump the oil again and pull the pan off. The oil was a tad sparkly and now I know why.