Looks like the S2k managed to get out of the gravel before I came around again. I'm not sure how he ended up there, I just caught him out of the corner of my eye while looking for the apex and then lost it!
Some pictures from the day:
Last edited by gobbledygook on Mon May 29, 2017 8:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I will, i think it was the first trip out of the day. I haven't watched that video yet, but hope to have a look by the end of the day if you tube will stop messing me about!
It's an early session, so I'm still learning the track. A mini spins in front to of me at 1:57, then you turn up out of nowhere in my rear view mirror at 3:20, and disappear off in no time at all! Equal powered cars, but it's amazing how much faster yours is with the 'added lightness'.
Last edited by gobbledygook on Mon May 29, 2017 8:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
An update, Rotrex sent me a new charger (via TTS) under warranty, so I'm back in business. I fitted a Gates Greenstripe belt as recommended on k20a.org as they don't stretch as much. I upgraded my belt tensioner override with a lump of polyurethane instead of rubber on the end, and now the belt is nice and tight. This should stop any belt slip killing the charger. On my tension gauge its 80kg. I had to remove the headlight to find enough belt to put the gauge on!
I also fitted a mini cooper butterfly bypass valve. It is 38mm in diameter, so with that and my turbosmart 25mm dump valve I have nearly as much area to release pressure as a single 50mm dump valve.
The red plastic is a 3d print I produced before making an adapter in ali. I fitted the softest spring I can find so it starts to open at around 2" vacuum and is fully open at 4". That should stop any surge on part throttle.
I had a full day out on track at Croft at the start of May and apart from blowing a fuel pump fuse the car was faultless. I'll be booking another trackday soon, but for now it looks like between the belt and the bypass valve I have sorted my problem.
Last edited by gobbledygook on Wed May 09, 2018 7:37 pm, edited 3 times in total.
I have been enjoying driving the car around all summer, with no problems. I even took it on a thousand mile holiday trip after our 'reliable' Skoda family car let us down the day before we were due to leave.
A couple of weeks ago I headed down to Snetterton for my first visit to the circuit. I think it has become my new favourite!. It was a dry morning and a wet afternoon, but the car was awesome in the wet so I think I enjoyed the afternoon just as much. This is the most eventful video of the day:
I have no problems putting the power down until I nearly lose the car just after 18:45 going off line overtaking an MX5.
I'm now wondering if I can fit in another trackday before the winter....
Last edited by gobbledygook on Mon May 29, 2017 8:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Good man i heard tyre squeal in the wet a few times ! Love the way this thing goes down the straights, it's so quiet yet managed to wind the speedo round at a ridiculous rate
On return from Snetterton I noticed the outboard driveshaft oil seal was leaking, and I also had a slight 'grumbling' noise from the gearbox/driveshafts at 70mph. I replaced the oil seal and replaced the bearing in the driveshaft half shaft, as it was leaking grease. I then headed to Croft in March for my annual trackday at the circuit.
Part way through the day I noticed the outboard driveshaft oil seal was leaking again. I decided to call it a day and topped up with gearbox oil before driving home. A few miles from the circuit the gearbox started to whine, so I stopped to find the oil seal in tatters. The AA took me home that night!
I dropped the gearbox oil and this fell out:
Half a very damaged ball bearing.
After pulling the gearbox I found that one of the diff bearings had completely collapsed:
Since I'd never rebuilt a gearbox before I decided to give it a go. I had to buy a press, so I opted for a cheap EBay 12t one, which I had to modify by expanding the bed to accommodate the civic gear stacks. With this and some bearing pullers I could then dismantle the whole gearset. There wasn't any significant damage I could find in the box, so I decided to just rebuild it with new bearings.
Mainshaft
Countershaft
Box rebuilt and ready to go.
On it's first test drive the gearbox was smooth all the way into 6th gear, which it promptly jumped out of! Annoyingly it wouldn't stay in 6th at all, so after checking the linkages, and gear change mechanism were OK it was time to pull the box again and find out what I did wrong. It was pretty obvious once I split the box that I had the wrong bearing on 6th gear. When you build up the gear stacks, you measure the clearance between the gears, but at no point does the manual ask you to wobble the gears on the stack, if it had done I would have spotted the problem with 6th straight away. It turned out that my longer 6th gear I had fitted a few years ago uses a bigger bearing than the standard 6th gear, and I had bought a standard one. For the record, you need part number 91103RAS003 - BEARING, NEEDLE, 35X41X24 for the Tegiwa longer 6th gear, and 91103PNS003 - BEARING, NEEDLE, 35X40X24 for the standard 6th.
More parts bought, another few hours rebuilding and refitting and the car was working fine again in all gears. There's a slight whine when engine braking, so something has probably taken some damage crunching up the diff bearings. It's probably the Quaife diff itself that has been damaged as it's the only thing I didn't dismantle and inspect, but it still works fine.
I then went for a track day at Donnington to test everything out:
I think I had more luck than the Ford in the garage next to me, as apart from my on-board camera playing up, everything ran perfectly.
Added in 1 hour 41 minutes 38 seconds:
To complete the set of BTCC circuits, I only needed to have a go at Thruxton. It's not an easy circuit though, high speed corners and an extremely low 90dB static noise limit. My car is quiet with it's mugen exhaust, but the last static noise test I did was 93dB so to drive Thruxton some work was needed.
I bought and manufactured a few noise reduction devices:
From top to bottom; a 4inch turndown pipe to bolt to my tailpipe, a Decibel Devil which bolts inside the tailpipe and an EBay perforated bung that goes over the end of the tailpipe.
Using a cheap EBay dB meter I measured the car to be 94dB unmodified, 92dB with the Decibel Devil, 91dB with the bung, 91dB with the turndown pipe, and 90dB with the turndown pipe and Decibel Devil. I was pretty sure I could pass the noise test with some combination!
To be 100% sure I removed my 'sports cat' and had an extra silencer made up to fill the gap:
This reduced the noise to 92dB and 90dB with the Decibel Devil.
I headed down to Thruxton:
Thankfully with the more accurate noise testing kit that Thruxton use I was measured at 87dB with the Decibel Devil fitted, which I was very happy with.
A few laps of the circuit:
I think I'd need another 100 laps to get the best out of the car. It's all about having the confidence to maximise the speed around the fast corners, but if you get it wrong cornering at 100+mph an accident can be quite painful. Luckily I managed to drive the car home with no damage after Thruxton.
Last edited by gobbledygook on Mon May 29, 2017 8:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Very impressed with what you have done mate! Well done for that.
But i really cannot see how a EP3 can put 479bhp onto the road in a lineal power manner. The tyres and chassis just not suitable to work with that much power i would think?
The stability of the car looks compromised at that power output and it seems like a roller-coaster rather than a delicate race car i must admit.
But nothing against you going all out!
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! Love the way this thing goes down the straights, it's so quiet yet managed to wind the speedo round at a ridiculous rate 
