And the fun continues...

[CarlC]

James, it is nice to read (not nice for you I mean) that I am not the only one having to do a lot of fine tuning and fixing small things once the car is on the road. People think a car is ready when it is built but forget it is the small things like this that take a lot of time to get it right. Martin

I'm 10 years into it, and the bugs still exist. They tend to evolve and morph into more challenging problems, but fine tuning is still the only way to get it right. James is in the middle of the initial shakedown, but fortunately has some very good people to help him de-bug the big stuff.

[James OLC]

Like Carl says, I think that the evolution of any car takes time. I have never built or had a car that was 100% right out of the shoot - regardless of the parts, pieces, builder or history. These are all works in progress and I am truly fortunate to have some increadible support from some very talented people.

The good part is that every time that I have taken the car out, I have been able to check another issue off the list. Almost as good... every time an issue (or concern, or shortcoming) is identified, it makes the car a little bit better.

At Del Mar on Saturday we were hot lapping the cars to our hearts content... and outside of a couple of minor issues the car didn't mind the abuse. Mary got 50 plus runs in over the two days. I probably got 30ish in the OLC. That's a lot to ask out of any car and is definately a quick way to find any bugs.

[James OLC]

A couple more pictures from the Goodguys show in Del Mar courtesy of Jimi from FM3 - optima....

[James OLC]

This is a continuation of the discussion that's going on in the Racing Thread about last weekends event at the Streets of Willow with the LA Shelby American Club... the original thread is here and is worth a read....

Wow – what a great weekend!

It’s hard to put the last five days into words but I’ll take a shot at doing it justice.

As many of you know, after the Goodguys show in Del Mar, the Camaro went home with David and Mary Pozzi for some much needed tweaking. The car was coming around but there were still some suspension setup issues that needed to be addressed – a rear bar being first and foremost on the list of must dos – and the Pozzis were the more than up for the task. When I got to California on Wednesday the new rate adjustable rear bar (a modified Hotchkis second gen piece) was in place and ready to go and we were going to finish up a couple of things Thursday and leave for Willow Springs mid day on Friday. That was the plan…



Thursday and Friday we made wholesale changes to the suspension tuning. David picked out some new springs – stiffening the car up front and rear – and we added proper bump rubbers to the shocks for some added protection. We reset bump steer up front, adding “some” additional spacing between the steering arm and the end links.



We increased the ride height by ¾” of an inch front and back and corner balanced the car properly (for what it’s worth, we wound up with a 49.7% cross weight and 54 / 46 % front to rear). Finally we aligned the car and completed a nut and bolt inspection, (which necessitated a minor, last minute tweak)…



…eventually giving the car a clean bill of health for the weekend. At 9 pm on Friday we loaded up the trailer and, after a quick dinner and a couple of hours of sleep, we hit the road at 2 am for the 6 hour drive to Willow Springs.

Despite all of us being completely bagged, the drive to the track was smooth sailing. Mary made it to the track first with the car and had it though tech when David and I arrived in the motor home – with about 5 minutes to spare before the drivers meeting.

[James OLC]

After filling the car with some 100 octane race fuel David took the first lap of the weekend in the ‘beginner’ group (sorry about that David)



and came back with a big grin and suggested only a minor adjustment to the brake bias.



I was up next and after getting settled in the car had only a brief moment of panic and frustration when, upon turning the key – absolutely nothing happened. After some quick diagnosis – made a bunch easier thanks to the self diagnostics of the ISIS system – found that I had knocked some relays loose when I was adjusting the brakes. The rest of the day was as close to “flawless” as I could have hoped.





David and I continued to alternate sessions, making minor brake and ride height adjustments through the day (Mary thought the car looked like a “backwards stinkbug” when the front end came up onto the straightaway).



The only hiccup for me occurred in the final session of the day – as I approached the rumble strips on the far end of the track the car ‘hesitated’ briefly; it wasn’t much but I pulled off a couple laps early to try to see if there was a problem. Nothing was obvious so we parked the car and called it a day.

[James OLC]

I took the opportunity that evening to walk the track and make some more detailed notes on lines and how far I thought I could push things here and there. There are a lot of elevation changes on the track so some things were a little deceptive from inside the car. Finally (ok, it was 8 o’clock) I retired to the trailer and called it a day.

Sunday morning was more of the same. Up bright and early (just barely beating Carl and Chad) and back onto the car. There was one point that morning, as everyone was getting settled at the track, when First Gens probably outnumbered any other group in the pits – I had never seen so many great cars together in one place outside a show – it was really cool. Back to business - fill with gas again, drop the car another ¼”, dial in a little more rear brake and back on the track.



Since we were lapping most of the red group we moved up to the intermediate group which gave us a chance to play tag with Carl and his awesome ’68.



For the most part Sunday was a repeat of Saturday – no real problems but a lot of fun. I did have a nagging warning light coming on throughout the day and seemed to be a little bit slower than I had been on Saturday but I couldn’t see anything wrong on the dash so kept an eye on it and continued until the last session. There were three outings in a row where Carl and I seemed to be in a world of our own out there – we were swapping spots every few laps and pushing each other every lap, passing Mustangs, ‘Vettes and everything else we could get around like they weren’t even there. It was honestly the most fun that I have had in the OneLap car since the day I started the project.



In kind of a repeat of the previous day, the last session ended a bit early for me… I was noticing that the warning lights were becoming more frequent and the car was hesitating more often. There was also a bit of a noise coming from the front end that I couldn’t put my finger on so, after nearly looping it once on the straight and finding it difficult to keep up to Carl and Rocco, I reluctantly pulled into the pits and called it a weekend.



It didn’t take long to find the first problem… with the car running the dash was showing only 11.5 volts – definitely not enough to keep an LS engine happy. Monday we found the other minor issue of the day – the front brakes were dragging (a lot). It turns out that the last bias adjustment took the front pushrod just slightly out of its comfort zone and the MC wasn’t fully releasing the front brakes – hence the squeak and the sudden desire for the back end of the car to try to pass the now slower front of the car. Likewise, the charging problem was traced to a failed regulator in the alternator.

SO… trying to shorten a really long story…

Thank you so much to David and Mary for their help, hospitality, and patience. David’s mentoring, advice, and input helped me a ton both in setting up the car as well as driving it and seeing where improvements can be made. Mary’s enthusiasm, drive, and screaming (including the incredible hissing gopher incident) went a long way to help maintain focus and make the weekend an overwhelming success.

The car is now getting prepped for the Nevada Open Road Challenge next week. Repairs have been made to the brake bias and the alternator and a couple of subtle improvements are being worked in.

Thanks again to everybody and to the LA Shelby Club for putting on an awesome event. Hopefully we have an opportunity to do it again sometime soon.

[James OLC]

And some video from Sunday - mostly chasing Carl around...

SplitterVision with Carl (Camaro) and Rocco (Mustang)


Vent Windows... gotta love 'em...

[ironworks]

Car looks more able at the new ride height, Does not look "AS" mean but looks more like it knows what it is doing.

Looks like fun, I motivated to get my mustang fixed, I'm thinking about and LS swap from the Broken mod motor.

Rodger

[CarlC]

How is it now that you've had a hit (or three) off the crack pipe?

That 20-minute session five with you and session six with Rocco is why I want to go back.

You have a lot more potential in both the car and your driving left to go. It's great to see you doing so well so early in the curve.

Any driving events in Canada coming up? ;-)

[CarlC]

Thank you so much to David and Mary for their help, hospitality, and patience. David’s mentoring, advice, and input helped me a ton both in setting up the car as well as driving it and seeing where improvements can be made. Mary’s enthusiasm, drive, and screaming went a long way to help maintain focus and make the weekend an overwhelming success.

Absolutely true for me as well.

[claytonisbob]

I didn't see this stated (it could have been, correct me if I'm wrong); where did the front splitter go?

Car looks great! Spending the time to shake the car down must be awesome

[James OLC]

The splitter was in the trailer for most of the weekend. We were still playing with ride height and shocks and wanted as easy access as possible. We had it on for most of the afternoon on Sunday but by then people were getting pictured out.

[Code Red]

love this shot

[Damn True]

And some video from Sunday - mostly chasing Carl around...

Boy, the wide angle and the lack of nearby landscape really hides the sensation of speed.

[Rocco]

How is it now that you've had a hit (or three) off the crack pipe?

That 20-minute session five with you and session six with Rocco is why I want to go back.

You have a lot more potential in both the car and your driving left to go. It's great to see you doing so well so early in the curve.

Any driving events in Canada coming up? ;-)

I agree with Carl about your potential. For it being your 1st time at the Streets of Willow, I can't say enough how impressed I am with your driving. And of course your One Lap Camaro is a SUPERB example of a well thought out streetable road racer. I hope your first run at the Silver State Classic goes well... that event has always impressed me. I will certainly let you know when our next Open Track will be.

Rocco

[James OLC]

Thanks Rocco - it was a fun time and getting to try a new track was fun. Another day or two would have been great but by the end of the day Sunday I had spent more on gas than I had on the entry fee as it was...

So I fiinally had a chance to download most of the telemetry from the weekend (a lot is lost in limbo following a really unfriendly update of the software, but I hope I can use it in the future). On Saturday we were running in the Red group (beginner) - lap times in traffic seemed to be around 1.33 minutes. With an open track David's "best" time was 1.169 minutes with a top speed going up the hill of 103 mph (although the run with the top speed was not the one with the best lap time). My best time Saturday was 1.18 with a top speed of 99 mph. On Sunday we moved up to the White group (intermediate) where lap times in traffic seemed to be aroung 1.25 minutes or so. For the most part, my consistently best times were in the 1.18's with a one time shot at 1.179 while David pulled off a blistering 1.149 with a peak speed of 104.3 mph. My speeds on Sunday were slower at the peak but I was carrying the speed further up the dogleg.

By the way, I put qualify David's "best" with quotation marks because I don't think that he was diving it 100% and I am sure that he could improve on that.

[Bow Tie 67]

James, thanks for the udate. I'm looking forward to meeting you in MI in June. It's great that you are " on the crack pipe now " ; ) and welcome to the club.

I came to the realization that this drug is by far the best I have ever experienced. I'm not sure if I have every posted this, but here goes. Two years ago, my father called me and I happened to be at the track. He asked what I was doing, then responded I can hear the excitment in your voice.
Matt

[James OLC]

Yeah it's definately a lot of fun and I am really happy with the progress that the car has made.

As far as the Motorstate Challenge in June, I'm signed up but I would say that there is only a 30% chance that I make it at this point. March, April, and May have been busy months and I'm just not sure that I can fit it in any more. We'll see; hopefully it will work itself out.

[David Pozzi]

Thanks Rocco - it was a fun time and getting to try a new track was fun. Another day or two would have been great but by the end of the day Sunday I had spent more on gas than I had on the entry fee as it was...

So I fiinally had a chance to download most of the telemetry from the weekend (a lot is lost in limbo following a really unfriendly update of the software, but I hope I can use it in the future). On Saturday we were running in the Red group (beginner) - lap times in traffic seemed to be around 1.33 minutes. With an open track David's "best" time was 1.169 minutes with a top speed going up the hill of 103 mph (although the run with the top speed was not the one with the best lap time). My best time Saturday was 1.18 with a top speed of 99 mph. On Sunday we moved up to the White group (intermediate) where lap times in traffic seemed to be aroung 1.25 minutes or so. For the most part, my consistently best times were in the 1.18's with a one time shot at 1.179 while David pulled off a blistering 1.149 with a peak speed of 104.3 mph. My speeds on Sunday were slower at the peak but I was carrying the speed further up the dogleg.

By the way, I put qualify David's "best" with quotation marks because I don't think that he was diving it 100% and I am sure that he could improve on that.

James,
There's more speed in the car than that!
I was taking it easy in several places, especially in braking at the top of the hill. Couldn't find 3rd gear more than half the time so I always slowed early. It seemed like I never got more than 1 lap per session that was clear, I was always catching up to someone.

Overlay your speed trace with my best lap to see where you can improve, compare corner exit speeds and see if you are cornering as hard, then look at where you let off and hit the brakes compared to me.
David

[rsk68]

James,

I had a blast just watching, next time I will be on the track with all of you, I came straight home Sunday and put the car on 4 jack stands, I have installed the tall spindles, I have removed the rear brakes and am just waiting for the floatings calipers, I need to talk to David about the rear sway bar setup.
WHEN IS THE NEXT TRACK DAY?