tpdrx8

I run 39F and 36R in my 285's on an 8" wheel.

TopGear8

iTrader: (3)

Tom, you going to be at Zmax? I'll be running STX then getting some time with the Hoosiers.

Mr. Pockets

Cindy, I understand you're not interested in 'prepping' the car, but I would like to point out that it can be done inexpensively. I've spent probably a quarter what many have, and I trophied at a national tour last year. My prep is laregely inexpensive, single-adjustable coilovers and some exhaust. That's pretty much it.

...of course, you can still be beat by Civics. :p

tpdrx8

I am planning on it. You gonna switch tires and run a second set TO?

TopGear8

iTrader: (3)

That's the plan, Lets pray for some warm weather.

mrhongkongwong

:DISLIKE:

Civic's will not dominate this year.

TopGear8

iTrader: (3)

Finally got my seized camber bolt replaced today, and boy was it a PITA to cut the bolt off, torch the bushing out and air hammer the metal ring out of the control arm.

I had just installed the PT Sway last week with Agency Power endlinks, when I got it up on the lift I noticed the drivers side endlink was completely off the sway. Somehow the bolt had come loose and worked it's way off...

Anyways, also got the Hankooks mounted, I have both the Kooks and the Dunlops side by side, both mounted on a 9" wheel and while the Dunlop sits flush with the rim, the Kook is somewhat squeezed on it. Looks to be a bit wider

mrhongkongwong

Don't forget to take off that wing. :D

TopGear8

iTrader: (3)

What wing

I was hoping nobody would notice it at Nationals this year

chiketkd

iTrader: (5)

Mike (TopGear), are you going to be at Triad's T&T in Danville on 2/26 & 2/27? What about you Tom (tpdrx8)?

tpdrx8

I'm waiting to see what the weather man says.
Three solid opps to bust some rust off before Dixie.
CCR at Zmax 2/19 and TSCC in D'ville on 2/26-27.
The TnT will have the most runs but Zmax is closer for me and courses have been well done . . .

Why Chike, you lookin at D'ville? Haven't seen you since DC in '08!

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...postcount=1599

maybe you're focusing too much on teh Civics

chiketkd

iTrader: (5)

It's definitely been a while Tom. As long as temps are above 50F, I'll be there. Most likely co-driving the G-stock MSP...

TopGear8

iTrader: (3)

I'll be there, Chike you should bring out the 8 to see how it does against Clines car.

chiketkd

iTrader: (5)

I'll have to see. We should have a lot of set-up work to do on the MSP (shock settings, tire pressures, toe settings, etc). Might have my hands full if I try to run the RX-8 as well.

mrhongkongwong

You should do it :D

Is anyone on going to the San Francisco Region Divisionals next week?

chiketkd

iTrader: (5)

As tempting as it is to run the RX-8, it has to take a back seat to the MSP this season. Need to get up to speed fast if I'm to get into the trophies in GS at Nats this Fall.

GeorgeH

iTrader: (2)

I dropped my midpipe today to have a look at the cat, and to get it out of harm's way for some steam cleaning inside the engine.

This is with two seasons, and 2+ years of daily driving, roughly 15k:



This is the hot end of the cat, which is located downstream of a RB resonator.

Looks pretty good to me - anybody have any reason to think the picture cannot be adequately used to asses the health of the cat?

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

not really

by my calcs the TeamRX8 car should be within several pounds of 2700#, searching hard to figure out where those last few savings can be legally found ....

Modified Dave

George, in my experience a visual inspection is an excellent way to tell if the cat is clogged or blown out. On a rotary engine, especially one that sees a lot of hard use, I would expect the cat to deteriorate pretty quickly from the very high heat, but yours still looks to be holding together very nicely (at least on the side you've photographed). Normally on catted race cars, and I've owned and worked on many, the matrix cracks from the extended high heat exposure and then blows out, clogging up the cat housing or even blowing out of the housing down the exhaust system (I've picked cat core pieces out of mufflers on more than one occasion).




Of course what you can't determine with a visual inspection is the condition of the washcoat on the core, made up of a mixture of precious metals including platinum, rhodium, and palladium. This coating is what triggers the desired chemical reactions (oxidation and reduction) necessary to turn those nasty tailpipe emissions into less nasty ones. The only way to determine how the washcoat is standing up is to get an e-test done, but I'm guessing your main concern is flow-thru and core integrity, rather than its catalyzing performance.

Hope this helps.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

my bad, thought you were asking about engine health. You can only tell physical condition visually on the cat and it looks OK in that regard. The catalytic efficiency has to be measured.

GeorgeH

iTrader: (2)

Thanks guys.

I'll take a look at the down-stream side, althought the bend in the pipe makes that tough. Perhaps I'll stick a bright light up it's tail pipe and see if any light shines though.

I am worried about emmisions, to a point. CELs will DQ me, but so far that hasn't happened.

In some ways I was hoping to see some cat deterioration, as then perhaps I could have found a culprit for some "missing power." No dice, but it's good news that the DS cat seems to hold up well.

Next up on the power quest list is de-carbonization. Did a water-based carbon cleaning yesterday. Car already seems to idle better. I'll probably go through the proceedure again tomorrow just to be thourough, then put the mid-pipe back in.

[edit] Oh yeah, finally got around to putting a new (reman) starter in my '04. What a difference that makes! Much faster starting, and cool sound, too. Good price from MazdaComp.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

an example of some recent lightening techniques, took a set of NC Miata aluminum rear shock mounts and modified them to the RX-8 shock mount height plus some extra for increased rear shock compression travel along with a spherical bearing top mount (pillowball). Eliminates the upper side brace & fasteners for a 3.5# drop over the steel RX-8 rear shock mounts with same bearing top mod.

On a less positive note, bought a set of aluminum front shock mouts with bearing tops and they ended up weighing the same as my OE steel front mounts with bearing mod, poop ...

Modified Dave

George, did you try the Seafoam or Zoom Power engine cleaner approach already? I've been going through the same search for "missing power" and unfortunately all my cleaning efforts had very little effect. Doing a rebuild now with a spare Renesis I picked up on the cheap, since it seems to be the only way to get the compression optimized at this point.

Love those rear mounts, Team. Brilliant idea.

chiketkd

iTrader: (5)

+1 That's thinking outside the box. Good stuff Team!