'88 MR2 NA, building it up for the "One Lap" in 2018

Yeah but when the guys in the grid tell me I should start my engine, and it's already running, I think I can spare a few db. That and you should see the 'quality' of the bends on my current Walker exhaust.

-Hans

I've actually grabbed an android app to grab dB readings from my cars so that I can decide where my limits are... and un-do any mod that puts the car into "unable to talk comfortably" reading range

Hey, the new Continentals hit the Tire Rack website finally. Not bad at $90 per tire, and initial reviews I've read say it's in the same category to the Pilot Sport's. I think I may have found my tire.

Otherwise I also ordered some new gaskets. Time to finally get that cam seal problem taken care of, and a new piston seal in one of the rear calipers that recently started leaking badly.

just watched the Jan update.

dunno if I've mentioned this... but you'll probably want a pretty heavy usb charging plug in the cabin since you'll probably be running two phones most of the time. And OneLap tends to be pretty heavy on those. Since you're putting in relay blocks, might be smart to wire in a usb female plug that gets a dedicated 5Amps... rather than hop-skipping through the cigarette lighter. (can also be used to power/command the goPro)

also, you might head over to harborfreight or similar and pick up some foam mats... much nicer to kneel down on than a towel

Have a dual USB port (5a/2a) next to a 15a cigarette lighter power port. Plan on one more USB dual port just not sure where.

Good call on the foam mats.

Just got done reading the thread, looks like a fun car! I've seen your car at autox and didn't realize there was a thread for it!

Well, today just took a turn for the awful. Was working on the cam seals, getting them changed to eliminate a pesky oil leak. It was going well for quite a while. But I guess my torque wrench isn't set where I thought it was. It's my own damn fault, I felt things going wrong, and stopped. Thought I had it all sorted out and went back to tighten that same damn bolt again. Should have just used a different bolt at that point, I have extras, but didn't think I had stretched it. I guess I did.

Then the snap of doom.

I took a deep breath, went and got the drill and ez-out, managed to get a good clean hole close to the middle of the bolt. Good bite on the ez-out.

Snapped the ez-out.

It's recessed down in the hole. This really blows. I'm done for a bit until my head is clear enough to sort this out properly. Properly most likely involves pulling the head. I really didn't want to do that.

Well, I have a couple carbide cutters on the way, which should HOPEFULLY get through that EZ out. I may try making some kind of guide bushing on the 3D printer so I can get a good centered hole, which will make life a lot easier for me.

-Hans

bummer man

good thing you're keeping a flexible schedule with the car.

having the sense to step back and clear the mind is one of the hardest things to do. Good luck with sorting it out from here!

February video is now live!

A bit entertaining, but since you know how it ends, just enjoy the ride.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZNCU5DjAtw

Going to start trying to deal with the busted bolt issue today, but as a shameless plug I'll be doing a play-by-play for patreon subscribers only at www.patreon.com/siegecraft

You might try a cut-off wheel, make a slot in the bolt, then maybe get it out with a screw driver. Normally once the bolt breaks, it should in-screw fairly easily, since there is nothing retaining it anymore. Unless the bolt bottomed out, then it would be tight... Cobalt drill bits will cut almost anything. If you happen to slightly ruin the threaded hole, just add a heliciol. Should be able to fix it without removing the head.

Problem is the bolt was recessed about 1/4" due to the steel locating sleeve around the hole. Managed to drill a hole but busted an ez-out in there too.

Made progress today but not done. Details over on the patreon page.

Ok, enough of this crap. Managed to get the EZ-out removed from the bolt with a carbide burr, then the goddamn burr busted off and is now down in an even deeper hole.

At this point I'm seriously tempted to swap in some new gaskets on the small-port I have in the garage and just do a damn motor swap. I mean, if I have to yank this head, a motor swap isn't THAT much more work anyway. Might as well get extra power.

If it already has a steel threaded insert, cut a slot across that with a cut-off wheel, then use a screwdriver to remove the threaded insert along with the bolt. Then replace the threaded insert. Did that bolt bottom out in the hole, if it did then there is some fit-up issue, bolt to long or something. If the threaded insert won't easily unscrew after cutting the slot, use a hammer and chisel against one of the slots to help break it free and start unscrewing.

Bolt didn't bottom out, I just over-torqued it and the section right above the threading gave out. Was the same bolt that came out of the hole.

I don't actually know if it's a threaded insert, or just a sleeve above the threads that acts as a locating pin. Not a bad idea though I should see if I can find out which way it is, because that would sure as hell make things easier if I can just turn the whole stinkin insert loose.

-Hans

Me give up, pulled the head.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGebEFf9jqgsrGOOgZZfDOw

Next video will be a happy video, at least so far, if nothing else really goes wrong.

Sending the injectors in the mail tomorrow to get service at South Bay Fuel Injector, they've done good work for me in the past. Judging by the look of the valves, and chambers, I'd say there was some serious imbalance going on. The more I dig into things, the mode I'm actually GLAD that I ended up having to pull the head.

-Hans

Glad to hear making the tough decision is paying off

Oh snap!

sorry, I'll show myself out

Head is fully disassembled, the busted bolt is repaired. Block is flat and true, no warp to it, so doesn't need to be resurfaced. No burned or bent valves. Valve guides aren't noticeably worn. The truth is other than cleaning off the valves at work on Monday, there's nothing preventing me from starting to re-assemble the engine today. The only significant issue I've come across so far is that obvious fuel imbalance between cylinders. The injector servicing will take care of that.

New head gasket set is here, which also included all new valve seals that I'll be installing. So head rebuild starts Monday evening most likely. New head bolts arrived today too. Just need to drop off my torque wrench to get re-calibrated.

-Hans

:thumbs up: so, about a three week delay? or is it closer to 6?

either way, small price to pay compared to blowing a headgasket or torching a cylinder in the middle of a track day, or One Lap.

Is this the last of the "major systems" to have your eye on them? I can't recall if you've inspected the clutch. But if you have, and this is the last 'unknown', you should be able to have confidence taking the car further afield and into the higher speeds of HPDE. So, I can understand how it feels like a step backward, but from my perspective it's a big step forward.

Congrats, and keep pushing!

This will be the Last big thing for the time being, Clutch is still ok the list before one-lap either way. Though I do have a list of optional things too that I may do.

Eventually I do want to get it running on megasquirt but I can swap back and forth easy enough that it's not a huge concern. Want a wideband for that. Also considering some aero modifications such as mvg's and a splitter. Would really like a progressive shift light too. But none of those are mission critical right now.

Sweet lord, I mail out the injectors on Friday from South Dakota to NY. I get a call early Tuesday morning "Ok, you're all set, shipping today, what's your credit card number".

-Hans

After cleaning all the crap out of the intake and cylinders, last thing I want is things to get so dirty again. Just ordered a McNally catch can