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Everything is coming along nicely! Good info on the rear RCAs. That's a mod I want to do one of these days.
Thanks a lot man, it's getting so close to being done and I'm really excited to get it back on the road. Glad some of the information I posted can help you out. I know it's not the extremely detailed write ups that others post but for now it will work. After some time behind the wheel I can give a better review of everything accomplished so far.
I was wondering if some people wouldn't mind chiming in on their alignment set ups. I've read countless threads but those only go so far vs people's input from behind the wheel. I'm looking at zeroing out my front toe, but am unsure about caster settings which I could use the input on. Also unsure on the camber right now until the car is on a rack and I can see where it sits. I was thinking about doing a 1/16" total toe in on the rear, not sure if that's sufficient or if more or less is recommended. I am unsure on these settings and am not sure if they should be altered depending on camber and caster settings. If anyone can give me a rough guideline on a route to take it would be appreciated. This car is a weekend cruiser and occasional track car when I can get it out there so please any input is appreciated, thanks guys.
Finally wrapping up work on the S after it not being driven for almost 2 months. The whole process has been a huge learning experience for me in so many ways but in the end everything came out great with no issues. I was nervous with digging into the suspension and wanting to make sure the body work came out great to fully enjoy the parts purchased. I definitely took my time with all the work to ensure nothing was overlooked and that the car would be better than before. Got a few more pics to share to wrap up the work done since my last update, enjoy.
After getting the car back on the ground my one priority was to go through and do a full detail. I always enjoy looking at write ups on it and love seeing the transition from what looks like a clean car to what actually is afterwards. I am by no means a professional when it comes to the matter so when looking into products I kept with the Adam's line. I use their soap and cleaners currently so I ended up buying the proper cut pads along with a paint finishing polish and sealant to go along with everything else I already had. I started by doing a very thorough wash job followed by clay bar which wasn't as bad as when I originally did it, just my back bumper took some work. Afterwards I started polishing with a swirl and haze remover, followed by their paint finishing polish to really clean up the paint. Then I used their new sealant and finished everything off with the buttery wax. Each pass with the buffer took me about 3 hours granted I was using 4 inch pads but it allowed me to do the whole car with no issues. All in all the whole process took me around 15 hours to complete but now not only does it look better but you can feel the difference too, yes the car has 10 year old paint so there are some imperfections that detailing won't cover but I'm blown away by the difference.
Pics of the cleaning supplies in stock:
The car itself:
I am by no means a good photographer so I do want to get some better pics, but until then these will have to do.
Now that I had the car cleaned up and back on the ground I finally contacted a shop in Charleston for a full alignment. These guys were top notch with everything that they did. The shop is called Autometrics and they specialize in building Porsche race cars but have experience with S2000s. I was unsure about some of the settings until actually seeing where the car sat on a laser alignment rack but once the readings were in, we set the specs and got everything adjusted accordingly. The suspension was way out of wack. My steering wheel was tilted to the right quite a bit on the ride down due to my front toe being out of line by almost a full degree on the front passenger side and a quarter of a degree on the driver side. The camber front and rear were both off by about a half of degree from each other but it wasn't too bad. The front caster setting was also not far off from where I wanted it so adjustments were easily made. The rear toe was off by a little but also fixed with no problems. The drive down was uneasy at highway speeds and the car felt extremely unplanted which made me very nervous along with it pulling hard to the side, but afterwards everything felt amazing. I am glad to finally have the work completed and the car driving straight again, utilizing all of the upgrades that I have made to better the handling. It won't be until the end of the month that I get to really push it on the track.
Pic of the car on the rack prior to adjustment.
The results of the alignment afterwards.
Last but not least I got around to getting a helmet. In the past I had to borrow a friend's helmet when I went out so I decided to finally get my own. Ended up with a Pyrotect helmet in a nice gloss orange which really stuck out to me aside from the common white and black finishes so I figured why not. I'm just glad to have my own but still be able to borrow another helmet for and passengers I have with me on future track days. Quick pic of the new helmet:
So the work comes to an end and I can finally once again enjoy my car for what it is. At the end of the month I will be heading out to Road Atlanta for a full weekend. I am really excited to be able to run this track but also very nervous. It will be my first time out there and first time on the track in a year since my last event. The course is not very forgiving in most parts but overall will be something new and challenging for me so I'm really pumped. Until then I hope you guys enjoy the progress and I'll have some pics and videos soon to share with you after the weekend on track, thanks.
Hey guys so I've been enjoying the car a lot more lately and finally was able to take it to the track. I signed up with MVP Track Time for an event at Road Atlanta and I had a blast. The organization is great to run with for anyone looking into their upcoming events or people already registered with them. We ended up having 4-20 min sessions and 2-25 min sessions each day which was awesome. I was placed in the novice group for the event which was fine for me but mandatory for anyone who had never been to Road Atlanta regardless of track experience so there were some very good drivers out there.
The track was a lot more work than I anticipated but it was also the challenge that I was looking for after not tracking the car for about a year. My local track is fairly flat and RA's hills felt like mountains to me. It took some getting used to going up and down the course without fully lifting and figuring out how the hills played a huge role in the momentum shifts on the car. I had two instructors ride with me the first day and one the second. They helped me establish a solid line and figure out how to take the hills and a few turns faster than I was. After dialing in the line, my speed, shifting and braking points, the second day just became fine tuning those and staying consistent. All in all it was a blast, I had no issues with the car at all which made me feel good that the work I had done held up on a 4 hour drive out there and a full weekend of hard driving, plus the drive back.
In terms of the car itself, it felt like a whole new car out there. The carbotechs held up very nicely throughout the whole weekend but definitely showed some wear and tear by the end. The Dunlop ZIIs were incredible. This was the first event I did with them on all four corners and the car handled extremely well on them. It wasn't until the later sessions of both days that I noticed them getting a bit slick but that just seemed normal from other events that I participated in. The stiff side walls gave you that confidence boost you needed when taking turns out there, you didn't have to worry about the tires not doing what they were told, the turn in on these never degraded at all during the entire weekend. The straight line stability was amazing but more due to my alignment being in check, but partially the tires as well. The heavy braking points on the course let me push them as well and they were extremely predictable on how well and consistent that they would grip slowing down. I also had slid turn 7 (before the long straight) several times and it was just minor wheel and throttle corrections to straighten the car and keep going. The steering was much more crisp and very stable through the hills and over the rumble strips and bumps. The tires felt more planted and the car transitioned great throughout the course with stable traction all around, unless I was running a little hot through some of the turns. The new coilovers felt awesome as well, I ran 14/12 for the weekend and it was just enough to keep the rear just a tad softer so I could really feel the car moving around in turns and transitions out there. It was stiff but not too stiff, so the predictability was still there if you started to feel like you were losing it, luckily I never did.
I have a video and some pics for you guys from the weekend. The video was from the last session of the first day so it wasn't my fastest lap but just to give you an idea. The second day I knocked the GoPro and stand off where I mounted it jumping turn 3 and coming up short. I didn't have anymore sticky pads for the mount so I didn't get any videos from day 2. Hope to be out there at least one more time this year if possible. Enjoy the pics and video, more pics to come from the track photographer once I get those in.
In the paddock about to go out.
Coming down out of turn 12 which definitely has it's own pucker factor.
You'll have a blast at the track so definitely get excited. I currently run 255s on my stocks and 245s on the ce's so I change them out for a bigger tire and no chance of rubbing. Offset on my rear wheels is a lot more aggressive then stock.
06-01-2014, 09:46 AM
