Test Day
We made it out to ORP yesterday and made about 8 solid runs with the car.
Monday and Tuesday were spent on suspension. We found that the modified 5 series trailing arms were causing the rear shocks to hit on the upper shock mount tunnels, so we had to redo where they attached on the trailing arms to get some clearance. Then it was align and corner balanced her- 2450 lbs all told.
We also had to install oxy sensors in the exhaust per Korman so we could tell how it was tuned.
Finally we made the trip down to Grass Valley from Bend, arriving about 3:00 in the afternoon.
What a thrill to unload her from the trailer and hear it fired up! And what a sound!!!
After a brief conference on what to expect, what to look for, bedding procedures for the new brakes, off I went.
First run was 5 laps at moderate pace to check everything out. After about 4 laps I saw something moving around in the passenger footwell out of the corner of my eye. It looked at first like fluid sloshing around so I pulled in fearing the worst. It turned out to be a bunch of media from the blaster moving around on the floorboards. It had come out of the right side door sill tunnel! We ended up vacuuming a bunch after each run. It was a bad problem because it would blow up into my eyes. It also got into the switches for the ignition and fuel pump and caused a few headaches.
The other unexpected problem was grasshoppers. They seemed to love the warm asphalt, and would jump up as I approached which ended up coating the front air dam with mashed grasshopper guts. They were all down the side of the car as well. Major clean-up before the Carmel Concours!
The one major issue we faced was an issue with the motor laying down at 6k. It would pull like a freight train from about 3500 up to 6000, and then just stop, almost like it has a rev limiter. Tim adjusted fuel pressure regulator, and retimed the ignition and it helped, but there is still something there we haven't solved completely.
Once the initial bedding runs were completed we worked on the handling. Initial tire temps and pressure readings indicated we were using the entire tire profile evenly, but the steering seemed very heavy and it was not providing any feedback. We upped the pressures a few pounds and the car just came alive. A little initial understeer on turn-in, but very neutral once power is added at the apex. She handles like a dream, very predictable, very responsive, and very quick.
A few things to finish up- grills, 1/4 windows, some trim, etc. Can't wait for Monterey. It's been a long winding path, but we made it. Only one chapter left to write.