dodint's Automotive Evolution

[dodint]

I found a buyer for the Delorean. The deal is struck, just waiting for the funds transfer to clear. I am going to deliver it to the new owner up in Chicago on March 1st. I sold it for almost exactly what I paid for it three years ago. I don't feel like this is the end of my Delorean story, I think next time I am going to buy a project in need of mild restoration. Not for a few years though, I have other goals to work towards.

I am thoroughly enjoying the SRT4. It is fun loving something that was so universally scorned in its day. And boy us it great paying domestic subcompact prices for a change. The aftermarket isn't as big as tbe E46 and there are far fewer choices, but the parts you domfind are dirt cheap. I have started upgrading some cosmetic items, and began planning the time trial build. There has never been an SRT4 in SCCA TTNT competition. I think if I build and drive well I can come out of nowhere and collect some podiums in Sport 3. I only need to run 2-3 seconds a lap faster than I was lapping in the E46 to achieve that. The SRT4 has more power and weighs less, so I am optimistic.

I will post more about the build in a bit.

[CudaMan]

Good stuff! You keep finding ways to win at life. Looking forward to SRT-4 in-car video and E46 lap time comparisons.

[Cam]

[dodint]

Bryan, thanks. It doesn't always go smoothly, the Z4 has required a lot more attention than I planned. I'm going to swap in that upgraded Mustang roof motor and then sell the Z4 when I'm done bolting everything onto the SRT4. Hopefully May/June timeframe. The Z4 is a great car, mechanically it is very solid, but a lot of little things were neglected by the PO who dumped it on that dealer and I ended up fixing a bunch of it.

Going with the evolution theme, these moves are part of a bigger picture. We've decided to sell the house we live in and move out to the country to the house we own outright (no mortgage, yay!). That means going from four garage bays to two, to eventually none when we demolish the old garage to do our substantial expansion of the country house in 2022. Now that I'll have all of my vehicles on one property there is no need to own three automatics. So the Z4 is out; Ash can drive the E350 if the MINI is ever in the shop. I'm done with school now, and am taking the bar in less than a week. Ash is treating her cancer. I missed out on that promotion so my job duties won't be shifting any time soon. Once we move in May/June I'm looking forward to a period of stability that I've never had as an adult. And I intend to spend that time focusing on helping Ash through her fight, and racing as much as I can. Not just time trialing but I want to try to get some auto-x and rally-x in as well; really trying to be a better driver.

The big-time racing goal I have right now is to compete in One Lap 2021 with Tyler, and we're trying to do it in a second gen Viper GTS. We'll start actively searching for one in mid-summer so we can get some seat time in it this year before doing the great binge that is One Lap. If we don't do the Viper we'll likely 'settle' for a C5Z, which is ridiculous to say because they're both formidable cars that will be a stretch for our talents. Well, at least mine, not sure where Tyler places himself in terms of proficiency. I'm okay with it because we're both guys that respect the cars and our limitations. The first year isn't about results for us, we're just excited to be in the game.

As for SRT4 v. E46, I'm really very curious here. I'm not going to be able to get onto PittRace to get some testing in until April so there is a lot of anticipation right now. If I can't at least match the time I'll likely be an also-ran in Sport 3 this year. (E46 was a Sport 4 entry last year).

[CudaMan]

Oh man, sorry to hear about Ashie's speed bump. Hope she'll beat it and come out stronger!

All those plans are part of winning at life IMHO. Having these ideas of where you want to go, planning them out a year or two in advance, and having the ability to make them happen. And having fun along the way, even if not everything goes your way.

A 2G Viper sounds real interesting! Those are the ones that finally got ABS right? That'd come in handy at OLOA. Have you spoken with J. Rhoades and G. Thomason at all? They've been running Vipers for a while in autox and they did OneLap last year.

I don't know much about SRT-4s other than the basics. Does it have LSD? Can you get very much negative camber up front? If the answer to both is yes, the car should be strong. Size the rear sway bar to suit, and if the tail hangs out just add more throttle. Usually getting a FWD car to not want to relentlessly understeer is the hard part. If you can manage that it should definitely be faster than the E46. I know the previous gen ACR Neons handled great.

[dodint]

Ash is doing great. Taking it in phases.

ABS came around for the Viper in 2001, so the '01-02 GTS's have it. Tyler prefers it, I don't. But neither of us has driven one so who knows. The third gen Viper SRT is within our purchase scope but reading up in Viper forums the GTS is the more trackable car. Typical complaints about the next model being heavier and more nannies, etc. Truthfully either one would have our hands full, but the GTS is older, cheaper, and arguably more reliable. So it is our focus. We're not going into full blown planning mode until mid-summer, but we're batting around ideas about logistics. Tyler thinks he can fabricate a large bracket that bolts to the diffuser and can carry a spare wheel/tire for each size. We have a picture of a GTS like that except it is a bike rack.
We'll most likely run it declared as a Stock car, both for the trophy shot and because the car will be sold off after about 18 months of owning it so I don't want to do any mods that will seriously depreciate the car. That should keep setup simpler.

You like planning? We have a spreadsheet built of candidate cars. It has about 12-13 candidates running from the MINI JCW up to the Viper. I'll link to it later, it's blocked at work.

Bottom line is like you said while back. Driving a fun car fast with your friends. What can be better?

We need you to soak it all in this year and give us a debrief when you're done.

[dodint]

Bryan, I had a chance to run a FoST at Nats last year and it was really fun. The lift off oversteer was really counter-intuitive but fun once you learned how to control it. I only got 6 laps in the car and part of the reason I chose an SRT-4 was to try and get some mastery of those kind of vehicle dynamics.

I wanted to address the SRT-4 question separately. And I've been wanting to write out the build soon so I'm just going to do that here.

First, numbers: The 2005 SRT-4 had between 230 and 238 horsepower (260 flywheel) from a 2.4L turbo 4-cyl, is 2900lbs, and 0-60mph in 5.6 seconds, and a top speed of 153mph. Not a bad package out of the box. Dodge added a Quaife LSD the year prior to help with the torque steer.

My car is nice in that the prior owner was into car stereo stuff, not building up a 600hp show/drag car, so it is shockingly unmolested. It came with a cold air intake and a really ridiculous 3.5" unrestricted exhaust that side exits under the rear driver door. The PO included the Borla upgrade exhaust in the trunk of the car, I just had to order the correct 2.25" cat/downpipe to mate to it.

I'm building to the SCCA Time Trials National Tour Sport 3 category, the prep level is about the same as SCCA Solo Street category. Common class competitors are 350Z, 370Z, E46M3, Civic Type R, Mustang GT 1994-2014, etc.

This is the ruleset if anyone wants to look it over to see if I'm missing anything obvious: https://timetrials.scca.com/pages/sp...ory-full-rules

These are the items I plan to upgrade for racing:

5-pt harness clipped into the body.
Enkei RPF1 17x8" 35mm offset (~15lbs each)
245/40-17 Hankook Ventus RS-4
Hawk HT-10 front pads and Hawk HP Plus rear pads
Mopar Stage 1 Lowering Springs (1" drop) on stock struts
Hotchkis Anti-Roll Bar (29mm front, 24mm rear; hollow)
Cold Air Intake
Replace side exit exhaust with Mopar/Borla
Replace whatever bushings I can 'while I'm in there.'
Gauges to monitor oil temp and pressure.

That's about it. ECU flashes are legal but I don't have any idea what I'm doing there. I'm also apprehensive about those 245s, still doing research on that.

Here is how my car is stanced:


Here is what a car looks like with the Mopar Stage 1 springs:


There are springs that go drastically lower, but if I'm going to run 245s I think the modest 1" drop is as far as I can go. I'm hoping the added stiffness from the ARBs will reduce the body roll enough to make the 245s feasible as well. All of the anecdotal stuff on forums that say 245s are okay are not generally road racers.

This car has the exact wheel/tire size combo I'm looking at, but it's lowered about an extra inch:



Not really great pictures, but as a case study I think they're fine. The tires look beefy but they have a job to do. I'm going to run the regular factory 17x6" wheels with 215s when daily driving so I don't much care how 'silly' the 245s look as long as they're bringing value to the build. I just hope the 245s perform well enough to overcome whatever negatives there will be in heavier steering.

Completely unrelated to racing, I want to get back into detailing like I was before I joined the military and got busy. I'm going to use this car as a test bed to get back into it and maybe go beyond what I used to do. The paint on it is very solid. Cheap, with an orange peel texture, but it's in great shape. I'm also going to do some under hood clean up including powder coating some components like valve covers, intake manifolds, etc. It's going to be fun. It will also give me a chance to replace all the gaskets and seals that may be causing any parasitic vacuum drain. I know it will catch shit for being a 'Neon', but it's going to look amazing doing it.

TL;DR: I bought a fun, versatile project and it's going to be a blast fussing with it.

[dodint]

Oh, these things eat axles and hubs every couple of track days. Mopar does not make the axles anymore so I am free to buy a higher quality set from an aftermarket source. And I plan to carry a spare set of front hubs/bearings on track weekends. Luckily they are easy to swap and very cheap.

[dodint]

Spent my day in the garage replacing the convertible top motor in the Z4. Replacement motor cost is $650 for the BMW motor and $2,000 labor to take the convertible top off. I used an alternate motor from the 2014 Mustang. I found one for $100 on eBay, from a seller who was stripping out a car for racing. Motor came from the same product line but is slightly larger. Which is nice, it is about 3x faster than the BMW unit.



The BMW motor location is a design flaw. It is technically "outside" of the car, in a rain gutter channel. It is encased in a plastic housing but it inevitability leaks. What I did was relocate the motor to behind some carpet in the trunk. It should never need replaced again, certainly during my ownership. And if it does the motor can be accessed in about 30 seconds instead of the several hours it took to remove the top.

Satisfying little Saturday project.

[CudaMan]

^ Smarter than a team of German engineers.