Seems Sep to Dec 2024 was spent planning... and spending money.
Jan 01 was a good start to getting ready for the 2025 race season.
It seem to take longer getting everything ready for the project and cleaning up than it took to actually do the work.
The welded nuts on the mounting points for the front end pretty much checked out a few years ago. I have been using the stock bolts with separate nuts on the inside. Time to fix that issue with some rivet nuts.
Drill the stock holes, dremel the nuts off (in some cases), install 8mm rivet number, and chase the threads with a tap to clean them up. Happy with the results.
Had to share that with someone as I pointed it out to my wife and she was less than excited about my project. (sigh)
Next, moved into the cockpit. The goal is to have a fix seat (no sliders) which means a quick release steering wheel is a must.
I don't like the hardware to connect the quick release to the hub... bolts came with the quick release, while surprisingly the instructions state no hardware is included. Hunting down some grade 8 bolts to connect to the hub.
After I get the new bolts, I will use locktite on both hub and steering wheel bolts.
Devil is in the details.
I could not remove the engine because I could not remove the braided oil line that goes from the filter housing to my oil gauge. And it turns out a T-block under the dash to go to oil pressure sensor for the ECU.
(long boring story about removing oil line from gauge to remove it from the filter)
After installing the quick release steering wheel hub, I determined that (1) I didn't like the 5mm x .08 x 16mm bolts that came with the kt (2) the steering wheel was very very very hard to remove and install.
(1) First... I was surprised that I had the bolts as the instructions specifically said that bolts were not supplied. Went to hardware store to pick up some button head bolts. Drawer of bolts was such a charlie foxtrot that I could not find what I wanted. I bought some hex head versions of the same, but the head was too tall. Options are to grind down the head or continue looking for button head bolts.
(2) Spoke with racing friend with a lot more experience with quick release hubs (www.facebook.com/meadesports) and he said in addition to the dry oil that I already had on my list that lightly sanding the painted surfaces helps. He was right. I used a foam sanding pad and lightly did some sanding. I plan to revisit it again to make the wheel easier.
Seat adjustment for new fixed mounts. I spent some time trying to find the exact position of the seat... this is actually a little further back that I am sitting now. Still good distance with the steering wheel (wrists hanging over the top) while getting a little further away from the pedals. I felt I had to lift my clutch foot up too much to release the pedal.
I have to review the harness mounting points to make sure everything works.
Ordered some more parts.
Dedicating at least 30 minutes every night just to force myself to work on the details. Taking a few days off here/there to work on the big stuff.
