fastg

Hillman Avenger, nasty, but at least it has donated a part to a much more interesting vehicle:) Graham

How old is the stuff there using, the UK went metric while I was in high school, so the 70's! Graham

If your replacing the rod, if you replace the nuts then the thread size becomes irrelevant. So checkout me favorite shop https://www.mcmaster.com/threaded-rods/threading~threaded-on-both-ends/connecting-rods-5/system-of-measurement~inch/ Thinking about that, why it it an imperial thread, coming from a Miata or Westfield?

Great work. One point, I am not sure if you have done this or not, it's tough to tell from the pictures. If you have a bolt that is going north south, in line with the car. You put the head of the bolt forward pointing towards the front of the car. The logic is any debris will be coming from front to back. With the bolt pointing forward the head of the bolt will be damaged not the thread. You can work with a damaged head of a bolt, but if the thread or nut is damaged it can be much more difficult to remove. The devil is in the detail. Another point, I would not use hardware store bolts in high stress applications. I have had a few break over the years. Plus the plating on the hardware is always crappy so they look bad after a short period of time. Do I use hardware store bolts, yes to keep the project going. But if it's high stress it's soon replaced with a quality piece. I had a alternator bolt just snap this sprint, lost the belt and took out the coolant temp sensor. Almost wrecked a track day. Luckily I found the kart repair shop and the mechanic was very helpful getting me back on the road. I use https://www.mcmaster.com/ Huge outfit, all parts on stock there shipping is amazing, consistently the fasted shipping I have ever come across. They claim something like 2 millions parts in stock. Also have a SolidWorks interface, so you can suck any parts into a CAD design. I used to live near the warehouse in Chicago, just massive facility. Not the cheapest but industrial quality parts. Graham

I would make it so a 3/8 socket head is the side of the opening feature, that way no special tool is needed to undo. Graham

That looks like a simple repair, it may not be a permanent solution but it would get you further along. Graham

Reporting back: I adjusted my coilovers this morning, I don't think I had ever adjusted the rears, so that would be 10+ years. I hit them with brake clean, with the tube making sure I got under the spring. There is a set screw in the collar, backed that out and the collars moved no trouble at all. Gently retightened the set screw. Graham

I am going to adjust my coilovers this weekend and they are not been adjusted in years, so we will see what happens. But I will start with brake clean to clean out the threads before I try and move anything. I will let you know what happens. Graham

I am amazed at your diligence with this build, it would put most pro shops to shame. I am not sure exposed anti-seize on the shock bodies it a good idea. It will attract dust, dirt and grit and turn into grinding paste. It will probably make the shocks tougher to adjust in the long run. Keep up the good work Graham

I think 3D printing might be the answer to you oil cap. If you can just find the thread size, it should be no problem to draw up and print a cap. Graham

Thanks for the pictures. Your right about Oak Tree but I adopt a different strategy that is working out well. Corner speed is an advantage our light cars have, but also initial acceleration. So at Oak Tree I slow it down, turn hard and get it pointed down the straight. While other car are bouncing over the curbing I have my foot flat on the floor. The new 6 speed trans is helping as 3rd gear is now perfect. I have started to develop winter plans, and a suspension upgrade is on the table. I have the Gaz coil over setup for a Locost, which while not amazing it's not bad, it has served me well. There is not much knowledge about Locosts in the US so I am looking at Procomp Motorsports, there heavily into the Locost racing scene. http://procomp.co.uk/shockdyno.html I will get the car up in the air this weekend and see if I can find the spring rates, the ride is soft, not harsh at all, so I am expecting the rate to be on the low end of the scale.

I am planning on attending. Graham

I think the biggest load was out of Oak Tree, and the last corner onto the front straight the bottom of Hog Pen. Wow it was HOT, I normally take my H20 as coffee, tea or beer. I have never drunk so much plain water in my life. But the car is running well, it really rips, I could keep up with a different class of car. The 6 speed box and the extra power gave me a lot better drive out of Oak Tree, I was having to back off to gave Corvettes a point by, that has never happed before. To answer your question the rear fender are black to tire marks are not obvious, but maybe it's the very outside edge of the tire between the used tread and the side wall, just on that corner. I will know more when I get the car on on jack stands and the wheels off. Graham

I just came back from VIR, had a great event with the HOD group, www.hookedondriving.com. I scanned the posted pictures from eTech. Normally after your first track day you never give the pictures a glance, but there I was scanning and he had taken some good pics. One or two caught my eye that it looks like my rear suspension is a little low on outside wheel when the tire is loaded in a turn. I don't think these pictures are taken were the load is at it's max. The car is running well and I was driving faster than ever before, I did feel a couple of tire rubs just for a split second if I hit a bump when heavily loaded. The rear shocks must be the only part I have never touched on the car, Gaz struts but I have no idea of the spring rate. What do you think?

I am at VIR this weekend so I thought I would watch some YouTube videos. Started watching a Randy Pobst video. Just forwarding thru looking for the actual lap, WTF, went back, wow that's my car! At 1:16. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHgmuDJcpUk Graham

There is a event at VIR July 22-24, still have slots available. Great way to run it in. www.hookedondriving.com Graham

Boy I wish you were closer, but TX is just too far away. Graham

Here are a couple of pics, my hood was off, it's not a barrel throttle assembly, but it's the same. Graham

Has me confused as well. Normally you can disconnect one of the outer cable ends to give you a little slack in the inner cable. Then slide the ferrule through the hole and lay the cable on the groove. Looks like the ferrule going in from left to right is the picture. Graham

I think the opposite is true. On a track day when one lap is complete I immediately get to do another one, and another... I don't have to wait around for the next lap, with SCCA events there is a lot of waiting and not many laps. Graham

You should also pay attention to how the air exits the car after going through the radiator. I had a trim panel that want across the lower frame rails between the radiator and the engine. It had been sitting on the shelf I had never refitted it after the engine swap. So I think it was the winter of 2020 I decided to refit the panel, not thinking much about it. The following spring I started to experience overheating at VIR, my first track day of the year. When I got home I play around with thermostats, replaced the stock Honda plastic thermostat houses with a fancy billet unit. Nothing helped until one I said to myself I wonder if that trim panel is causing the issue, bingo no further issues. So getting the air into the radiator is a good idea, but it has to be able to exit. Graham

Love the wet weather lines. Great video editing. Well done all around. Graham

1.6 short nose MX-5 engine, that is a rare engine, has it had the 'fix'. I had an early 1990 MX-5 but it was after the short nose engines. Graham

Used Hagerty for years, $310 per year agreed value. Graham

There are lots of Youtube videos on the subject, but a felt tip pen will give you a good idea. Graham