B16's Time Trial Road Racing Del Sol Overhaul Thread!!!

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glad you got it all figured out.

interesting to see how the S will fare at LRP and/or Pocono this year with just new tires, pads and swaybars :(

god i miss my mirage.
 
B16 said:
Well tore into the car all day yesterday. I think I discovered the problem..

Only at the moment I was to undo the bolts from the tranny case to the engine (read everything else pulled ready to drop the tranny) did I notice I was missing 4 top bolts that mount the trans case to the block! Where the hell did they go? Maybe I didn't tq them? :( Anyways, I pulled the tranny anyways since I got that far to inspect the clutch and flywheel. All looked good in there so I'm guessing with those bolts missing the case was separating some not allowing me to release the clutch all the way. Bugger, could have fixed it without removing anything. oh well..

I did notice my front rotors were even worse than I thought. I'm lucky they didn't disintegrate on track. One of my pads split and fell apart also when I removed the brakes. Brand new DTC pads. Sucks I really like the feel of these pads, but not sure if the cracked rotor is what cause the pad to go? Possible. I'll try another set and see how it goes.

Looks like the car is about ready for its first event in 2012 (Wherever that might be..)
Click to expand...
That could have been a broken mess. Good thing you found it before a catastrophic event. :). Might be a good idea to replace the pilot and throw out bearings while it's apart. I always wonder too if the shit was torqued up correctly on assembly when stuff fall off. About 10 weeks after I did the swap in mine the alternator belt was squealing upon start up. Checked it and found the bottom bolt on alternator missing - it was hanging by the top bracket. Replaced and torqued it up. Any more problems and it will get douched with Loctite next time.


Since they all fell out I would expect they weren't torqued. I did that once with the set screw on the rotor - made for some interesting backfiring at about 70 mph on the freeway one evening....
 
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Damn that could have been bad.

Time for some wilwoods!
 
^ Good article. I've experiences rotors that were straight, evenly worn with regard to uniform thickness, yet surged just like warped rotors. It was all on the surface of the rotor causing uneven friction as it passed across the pads. It is a real phenomenon or condition.

If you're really out for performance, exhaust, engine build, tuning, suspension, and brakes. Brakes are a science in and of themselves as are the other components. Brakes are also a much more overlooked component in a performance build and in most cases the least understood.

I got a good deal of brake experience with racing go-karts.

Those are not comments aimed at your project Mike - you know what's going on. ;)
 
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Good words...I always share that when someone claims to be a professional and begins rattling on about warped rotors.
 
^ Of all topics I've read about online, brake systems and components are probably the least understood and has the most "Experts" out there that don't know Shit from Shinola. Many will post Internet myth and crap and it's obvious they have little if any real experience. That really gets me going.

It's just so much better to interact with a guy that's really had a car on a race track and in other cases just real experience. If one doesn't know that's ok, just sit back and learn - meanwhile shut the phuk up!

My absolute favorite is when a newer member is building up a turbocharged project and ya tell 'em don't forget the chassis - suspension and brakes as a part of the build. Then, almost always, some moron will pop up like a "Humpty Dumpty Jack in the Box" and claim he's got 450whp and swear his car stops just fine on stock brakes.......
 
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You got me going now! The all time favorite on brakes was a thread I posted somewhere (maybe another site, not sure) about correcting the front/rear bias on my '91 hatchback. At the time, I was running organic pads to hopefully prevent more warped front rotors. On wet slick roads the front wheels would lock up way before the rears. Car has stock rear drums.

I know where I like the bias, just a little loose in the rear, just a little meaning if in a turn and stuff breaks loose from deceleration, the rear will let go first before the front starts pushing. So to tame down the front on my hatchie, I bought different rotors that are guaranteed not to warp and they haven't in 2 or 3 years of driving. Then, I went from soft organig to harder metallic pads. Improved, next I did some more research and found ceramic would be even better. So, I put in a set of ceramic pads - Obviously it takes more pedal pressure to stop the car now.

But, having the front/rear bias closer to where I like it, and not so imbalanced, the car stops faster and is much safer on wet streets. Not rocket science, not advanced physics. Simple common sense.

Some dude then tried to argue that moving the bias towards the rear would INCREASE stopping distance. So, from that I must deduce, just cap off the lines to the rear cylinders and car outta stop on a dime. NOT
 
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My lesson learned about these brakes, replace the rotors every pad change.

I've considered a wilwood kit, just rotors are expensive on them. I like my $13 autozone rotors. Obviously they only last as long as a set of pads (around 4 events).
 
B16 said:
My lesson learned about these brakes, replace the rotors every pad change.

I've considered a wilwood kit, just rotors are expensive on them. I like my $13 autozone rotors. Obviously they only last as long as a set of pads (around 4 events).
Click to expand...


Rotors are more but pads are half the cost almost.
 
Yarly.jpg


DTC-70s for my 11inch are around $75

The rotors are around $80 a piece on wilwoods site.

Im not sure on the wear of the rotors yet because I havent used mine yet. From what I have seen from others it seems to be 1 time a year depending on total events etc.
 
Damn.. that is pretty good.. Damn, do I need to spend more money to.. save money.. and stop better? maybe..

Cal, give me a better deal on your kit! :p
 
Shitty.. Still can't get it into gear while the car is running. WTF.

The pedal feels a little softer than what I remember (from 6 months ago..). I see the slave cylinder is moving. I bled the system and that didn't help.

Any suggestions on exactly what to troubleshoot next? Was thinking of taking off the slave cylinder and boot get a better look in there at the fork and release bearing. When I removed the tranny the pressure plate and clutch looked fine. :\
 
I would be inclined to ascertain how far the slave moves the fork from somebody else that has one. Could be a hydraulic problem. Then at least you will know where to look.
 
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