XelderX's BG FSP Build
- Thread starter xelderx
- Start date
Sorry guys. Didn't get a notification that there were posts.
I've spent the beginning of this season much like all the other seasons...with the car stuck in the garage. I ran two events after Nationals last year (actually beat Jinx at the first one) and then blew the motor at the second one. I spent most of the late fall and early winter rebuilding my old 323 wagon to make it a reliable daily driver. I basically had to replace the entire drivetrain. It now runs like a champ with a 1.6L Miata motor to replace the worn out SOHC that was in it. Just a few pieces from a donor FWD Mercury Capri to make it fit. It took a lot longer to make it all happen and I ended up spending twice as much money on it as I wanted. It works great now though and averages 30 mpg.
On to the Protege...the bottom end has been rebuilt and is sitting in the garage waiting fo the head to be finished. I've been delayed on getting it all back together since I need my tax refunds to pay for it. I've worked on a few small projects in the mean time that I could do cheap.
Here is the airbox I built.
This is the inside of the box. The two ports at the bottom are for cold air ducting from the front of the car.
I also installed a brake bias valve and made new seat mounts. I've been holding off on some other planned upgrades to make sure that I have enough money to get the motor finished.
I've spent the beginning of this season much like all the other seasons...with the car stuck in the garage. I ran two events after Nationals last year (actually beat Jinx at the first one) and then blew the motor at the second one. I spent most of the late fall and early winter rebuilding my old 323 wagon to make it a reliable daily driver. I basically had to replace the entire drivetrain. It now runs like a champ with a 1.6L Miata motor to replace the worn out SOHC that was in it. Just a few pieces from a donor FWD Mercury Capri to make it fit. It took a lot longer to make it all happen and I ended up spending twice as much money on it as I wanted. It works great now though and averages 30 mpg.
On to the Protege...the bottom end has been rebuilt and is sitting in the garage waiting fo the head to be finished. I've been delayed on getting it all back together since I need my tax refunds to pay for it. I've worked on a few small projects in the mean time that I could do cheap.
Here is the airbox I built.
This is the inside of the box. The two ports at the bottom are for cold air ducting from the front of the car.
I also installed a brake bias valve and made new seat mounts. I've been holding off on some other planned upgrades to make sure that I have enough money to get the motor finished.
Is that a blox velocity stack?
What happened to the engine?
What happened to the engine?
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Yep. It's a pretty neat piece, but a little heavier than expected. I made the air box very lightweight so overall the whole intake setup should only be about half a pound heavier than the old cone filter setup.
The motor spun another bearing. The two events I ran after Nationals were very fast and tough on the motor. It was interesting since it seems that Jinx's car is optimized for no more than 65mph. After that it gets to be a major hand full. My car above 65mph just gets better and better. It's loose, but still easily controllable. I'm looking to loosen the car up a little this year and see if that helps. We took a good look at the motor and from what we can see it wasn't an oil pressure problem on this failure. The #1 rod bearing spun and the other three looked perfect. With an oil pressure problem you would expect to see some damage on all of them. #1 would seem the least likely to fail as it is the first in line for pressure of all the rod bearings. I've spoken to a pro engine builder about why I've had so many problems with spun bearings and we think we have it figured out. He seems to think that I'm getting excess oil vapor into the combustion cycle which does two things. First, it leans out the fuel mixture slightly. Second, the oil vapor is extremely hot and could be causing pre-detonation as it compresses in the chamber. This knock causes the rod bearing to hit the crank. Do it enough times and eventually the bearing is going to grab the crank and spin.
I'm building an oil catch can to attach on the PCV valve to catch any oil vapor from there and the bottom end was built with hand fitted rings to keep a better seal on that end. We are also running coated bearings and piston skirts in the bottom end.
There is no reason to put any effort in to something like that. Your car is fast enough. Enjoy being lazy.
curious about your install of the brake proportion/bias valve. I understand the concept and use but not sure why it would be needed in AutoX? I am starting my 2nd year in FSP and just getting an idea of my own shortfalls and trying to keep car mods simple, also not running national.
With my car running 275 series tires on the front and only 225 series (maybe 205 series this season) on the back I have a very different grip level between the front and back tires. Add on to that the fact that weight transfers forward under braking and the rear tires have even less available grip under braking. I don't think we really needed the bias controller with the 225 tires on the back, but if we do go to 205s we will probably have to dial the rear brakes down a little to keep them from locking up.
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- 2003 Black Mica MazdaSpeed Protege
wooohoooo!!!!!!!! congratulations on the win!
It was probably more course layout than anything. I beat Jinx and my girlfriend beat Ginette at a local event last year right after Nationals on a very fast course right before the old motor let go. The course in Atlanta was similar and really favored cars that were stable at higher speeds like mine. We hadn't changed anything with the car since Nationals other than dropping in a new motor and really working on the intake design. There were some areas of the course where the extra grunt of the Protege was able to shine over the Civic, especially on Day 2. I think Jinx is caught in a tough spot because he knows the Civic is faster on the 13" tires, but he can't keep them cool enough to make it through 6 runs.
As for how the actual event went I think I just had really great support from my co-driver and I really made the most of my course walks. Being the first event in almost 6 months for me I really concentrated on doing everything right from the moment we got to the event. We only made two mistakes with the car all weekend. We didn't cool the tires enough on Day 1 and it resulted in a slower third run for me. Luckily, my 2nd run was a really good one. On Day 2 I had a major fuel starve issue on my first run, but luckily it happened then and not on my 2nd or 3rd. It was the first event we had data on the car as well as video. My co-driver was able to really decipher the data and we learned a lot from the first day to the second. My 3rd run on day 2 was amazing and I got out of the car with my hands shaking. That rarely happens.
This was the fastest run for the event last weekend...Justin Mitchell driving.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFpWCnfdu2g
I'll try and get the links for the Atlanta videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFpWCnfdu2g
I'll try and get the links for the Atlanta videos.
