First Time at the track, Summit Point.

[stepqhen]

I have never been one to sit around and wait for things to happen, so since no one is making a cooling setup for the Stoptech I start putting my own together. Last time I had the rotors off I lined them up with the stock dust shields and marked where the rotor surface hit the shield. Today I took that line, traced it around the dustshield and busted out the Dremel.

This should tuck nicely inside the void on the back of the rotor making sure all air is across the hub and out through the veins. I thought things were going well until I started looking at putting a 3 in inlet into the plate.

Turns out that there is not quite 3 inches of room left, so I now am looking at two possible solutions.
I could use a 3 inch pipe cut down and welded to not quite a circle reducing total volume buy a bit.

OR

I could take a 3 in pipe and crush it into an oval that is around 2.5 inches across and that should retain most of the airflow.


I will test fit this one before I cut down the second dust shield and mess around with a few different tube options, but I think I may be well on my way to a solution.

 

[Norm Peterson]

Just go to an auto parts store and look through their exhaust tubing section. I've specifically seen 3" tubing in short lengths (about 7" and something even shorter) at Advance Auto, probably intended to be used as connector sleeves.

Is your Strano rear bar the 1" bar or the earlier 7/8" bar?


Norm

 

[stepqhen]

Just go to an auto parts store and look through their exhaust tubing section. I've specifically seen 3" tubing in short lengths (about 7" and something even shorter) at Advance Auto, probably intended to be used as connector sleeves.

Is your Strano rear bar the 1" bar or the earlier 7/8" bar?


Norm

I have the newer 1" bar. (I had to go back through my orders to double check, it's been a while.)

I just found 3 inch round to oval exhaust tubing adapters that look like they will work, so when those get here I will try putting it all together. Once I get all the hardware sorted out I will order the tubing.

 

[Norm Peterson]

I have the newer 1" bar. (I had to go back through my orders to double check, it's been a while.).

Thanks.

It'll be interesting to make the comparisons against the settings I'm running with my early bar set and OE springs.


Norm

 

[martin_nj]

I don't think I'll be running there anytime soon.

just stick to the main track. you'll be fine. it is probably one of the best tracks on teh east coast.

don't run shan or jeff they're downright dangerous

 

[stepqhen]

So I took advantage of a slow Saturday morning to take a look at the condition of brakes, fluid and test fit the dust shield that I cut down.
I'll Start with the dust shield. Pulled the caliper and rotor off so I could bolt up the shield and see how it is going to work.

Based on the bracket it looks promising...

slid the rotor back in place to check out the fitment.

It tucks just inside the face of rotor surface.

I am hoping that having all of the air flow directed into the area around the hub will force the air out of the veins and do a good job of cooling. I expect it to be pretty fair, but that is just speculation on my part, and there aren't a lot of other options at this point

So what I am intending to is cut an oval hole (depicted in blue) and weld the round to oval transition pipe that I ordered.

So that was as far as I can go with cooling for the time being, I removed the shield and reassembled the rotors to focus on the brakes. The rotors fared well, the pads seem a little worse for wear after the track day.

The brake fluid didn't fare so well, it is 5 months old and I use the RBF600

So I flushed out the system and put in new RBF600, and buttoned everything up. For the time being there will not be many more changes. I will finish the cooling setup, then order some new pads and a set of rotors so I can just store these as emergency backups. I am leaning towards Carbotech but I have not settled on which compounds I am going to pick up for daily/AutoX and track. I am thinking the AX6 everyday and XP8s for the track since I don't seem to be that hard on brakes yet, work is close and I don't care if they squeal and dust a bit. As the guys at work keep reminding me, I keep making my car louder and less comfortable.

 

[claudermilk]

As the guys at work keep reminding me, I keep making my car louder and less comfortable.

Easy answer to that: Because Racecar.

 

[stepqhen]

Easy answer to that: Because Racecar.

I usually end up grinning like an idiot and saying, "Yeah, ain't it great?"

 

[stepqhen]

The 3 in round to oval tube sections showed up today. I need to figure out exactly where I want to cut the hole and finish cleaning up the surfaces to get them prepped for welding. They look quite large, larger than I expected actually. After I get these parts finalized I just need to order the high temp silicon wrapped fiberglass 3 inch tubing and some hose clamps and it will be time to install.

 

[stepqhen]

After a very long winter where it seems that family, taxes and other grown up BS have taken a lot more money than I would have liked I am back to making some changes. First I got the backing plates welded and painted with high temp paint. The welding job looks like crap, but it is solid, and won't be seen so I will let it be.

I also decided to step up to Carbotech AX6s pads for daily driving and autocrossing and will be getting XP?? pads for the track. I decided that I wanted to just pull the used pads and rotors off of the car as they are, wrap them up and use them as emergency backups in case of massive failure at some point. So I ordered new Stoptech rotors for the front from Zeckhausen Racing, Rear rotors from Tire Rack and AX6 pads from SPS

I also got in the 3in high temp silicon tubing from Summit Racing, so now I finally have all my pieces in place, or at least I thought I did....

Since I will be driving this car everyday I was worried about getting crap in the ducting and possible in the rotors/hubs as well. I don't really want the rain, sleet, snow, crappy Maryland salt/pickle juice/God knows what coated roads, small and medium sized animals, leaves, crabs or really small chihuahuas getting in there and mucking up the works so I decided to make some plugs for the inlets.

I started with 3 in test plugs from Lowes, since they have the butterfly nut and require no additional tools to install/remove at the track.

I then sanded off of words and roughed up the surface, since I didn't really want to be seen driving around with plumbing supplies on the front of my car.
The way these plugs work is they have two plastic ends have shallow tapers with a rubbber ring inside of them, and as you bring the two pieces together the rubber expands, gripping the side of the hole you stuck it in.

The backing piece was just a little too large and had to be gently pressed into the inlet, so I took my dremel and sanded it down so it would slide in and out easily, once I did that I found that the outer flange on the front contacted some of the trim around the inlet holes so I lined it up and cut some of the flange off. I thought cutting the lower part would be enough, but it still wouldn't sit flat against the inlet so I had to trim the upper part as well and ended up with this

I made sure to label them on the back for Driver and Passenger sides since the angles of the two flat spots change from side to side.

Here are the results as it stands this morning.

They don't look bad, but they don't work with the yellow and grey thing I have going on so I think I am going to black them out with some plasti dip and make them blend in.

Tomorrow I will be putting on the new pads/rotors and installing the brake ducts.

More to follow.

 

[El_Tortuga]

Nice original write up Stephen. I'm in the plus 40 crowd too, and just hit the track for the first time last year. A dream come true for sure. Since then Ive had 11 days on track and am having a ball.

I'll echo the sentiment that brakes are a key weak point on our cars, even with the Brembo package. I've added the FRPP cooling ducts and that helps a bunch. I'm walking my way up the scale for brake pads. Not too worried about the dust and noise, but trying to find a pad I can live with for DD, Autocross, and track duties. Obviously a compromise situation. Currently on XP10s.

 

[B2B]

I found these 2" rubber caps to be a perfect fit for the Boss/GTCS fog light opening: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Fernco-1-1-2-in-PVC-DWV-Flexible-Cap-PQC-101/100372302?keyword=2%22+Qwik+cap As a bonus, it comes with a free 3" worm clamp for your other projects.

I drilled a couple of small holes in the middle and tied a small pull tab out of a section of paracord to make it easier to pull out.

I wasn't going to bother with plugging up the brake duct holes, but it seems like EVERYTIME I go up to Hallett, I ended up driving through a hurricane... For $3, it is too cheap not to plug up the brake duct holes when I'm not on the track.

 

[Gray Ghost GT]

Sounds like you had a great time learning a lot about performance driving! If you liked Summit Point, you're going to love VIR! I'm taking my Mustang with the new 3V 302 motor to VIR with the SVT Cobra Mustang Club (SCMC) in mid-May and again with the National Corvette Museum (NCM) in mid-June. Hope to see you out there; it's a blast. Mike

 

[stepqhen]

VIR is on my to do list, but I want to make sure the car is working well before I head down there. Plus I can do a Summit Point event in a single day from here.

 

[stepqhen]

I installed the ducts, pads and rotors last Sunday, it wasn't very exciting, but that part is now done. The drivers side was easier than the passenger, however I did end up relocating my horn up out of the way. I moved it to a different hole just up and to the front of the car. I had to swap the placement of the two horns so that the wiring still fit without puling.

On the passenger side I loosened up the washer fluid reservoir and snaked the tubing behind it and out the front, however there was a piece of the front inlet trim that was very much in the way so I cut it back a little to give the ducting enough room to make the sharp turn needed to get around the reservoir. I don't have a good picture of that because space was tight and to be honest, wrestling the hose back through there was a royal PITA, so I forgot to capture it.

The dust-shield turned cooling plates fit into the rotors nicely, and I have high hopes of them working well. I don't have any major kinks or crushed areas in the hoses so they should provide good flow. There is enough clearance around the plates so the rotors can't rub unless things go VERY wrong.

So first thing I had to do was block the ducts so I could heat up the pads and rotors to get everything bedded. I got everything buttoned up and headed out to bed the pads. I had heard that the AX6 pads spark during hte bedding process and I was going to get video, but it had been 7 hours since I started, I had fought off stomach issues and a persistent headache all day and I just wanted to be done. Anyway, the bedding process went as planned. I did several easy/moderate stops to warm everything up and then several hard stops until the pads faded. I then gently drove around down back roads where there are no lights and very little traffic to let everything cool down before parking the car.

The pads made a world of difference. I had the Stoptech pads on the front still and I was never very impressed with them. It use to take a lot of effort to get the tires to lock up with those pads. These brakes have a very controllable, but massive, bite. It is easy to control gentle and moderate braking but it doesn't take much effort at all to get into the ABS and they seem to be very predictable.

My first event this season is on April 19, and I can't wait to try these out on course. I have always had a hard time braking aggressively enough, and I think these pads might just be the solution to that problem.

 

[mitch]

Cool, just read through this whole post. I enjoy hearing about guys getting into HPDE and their experiences. For me, I did a few Autox's, then did my first track day at Limerock, and never looked back at Autox.. mainly because I got lost to often in that sea of cones!! LoL, I've been instructing now for nearly 10 years...

Quick question, when you said that the instructors walk up and down and look at the cars, when they are staged, do they choose what car they want to get in?? Here, in S. Florida, all that is assigned before the event. Often times we can get an email of the student and communicate before the event. I find this really helps to get a good assessment of the students skill level and the preparedness of his/her car. Just curious about that. Otherwise, ENJOY!!!

 

[Mike Rousch]

Cool, just read through this whole post. I enjoy hearing about guys getting into HPDE and their experiences. For me, I did a few Autox's, then did my first track day at Limerock, and never looked back at Autox.. mainly because I got lost to often in that sea of cones!! LoL, I've been instructing now for nearly 10 years...

Quick question, when you said that the instructors walk up and down and look at the cars, when they are staged, do they choose what car they want to get in?? Here, in S. Florida, all that is assigned before the event. Often times we can get an email of the student and communicate before the event. I find this really helps to get a good assessment of the students skill level and the preparedness of his/her car. Just curious about that. Otherwise, ENJOY!!!

Here in NASA MA (Mid Atlantic) we tech the students car in staging, We also do not know what car/student we will be assigned to until Sat morning. If it allows they (NASA) try to pair us up with cars that match what we drive, so most likely you would not have a guy that drives a Mustang/Vette instructing a guy in a Miata for example.

 

[stepqhen]

Cool, just read through this whole post. I enjoy hearing about guys getting into HPDE and their experiences. For me, I did a few Autox's, then did my first track day at Limerock, and never looked back at Autox.. mainly because I got lost to often in that sea of cones!! LoL, I've been instructing now for nearly 10 years...

Quick question, when you said that the instructors walk up and down and look at the cars, when they are staged, do they choose what car they want to get in?? Here, in S. Florida, all that is assigned before the event. Often times we can get an email of the student and communicate before the event. I find this really helps to get a good assessment of the students skill level and the preparedness of his/her car. Just curious about that. Otherwise, ENJOY!!!

I did a Summit Point "Friday at the Track", and in that case the instructors made the decision as to where they will ride in the hot pit before the group went on track for the first time.

 

[Kobie]

I was going to ask where you had your Strano sway bars adjusted at, but I see the front is at full soft. Where is the rear bar adjusted? What notch do you have the watts link adjusted at? I think there are 7 notches???? Just curious since I have almost the same setup.

 

[Moochman4life]

I have never been to Summit Point. it looks like a blast...but does everyone hit a deer up there???? LOL

Been going to Summit Point for years and never even seen a deer there (knock on wood).....but I did get taken out by a Mini once. =)

My top 3 fav tracks:

Summit Point Shenandoah
VIR Full
Summit Point Main

I've known a few guys who have wrecked at Summit Main...and it always makes me a lil cautious when I'm there hehe.