i dont know how old the previous hose was. maybe a couple years. it was rubbing up against a hose clamp, so it's definitely my fault for not taking care of it long ago.

 

i went "full cartmill" on my cowl this weekend:









also repainted my wiper arms and got some new windshield wipers.

 

i just realized i havent posted a few cool things from the last few weeks into my build thread:

i did some painting to my helmet:







adding Barber Motorsports Park to the helmet with this super cool little airbrush:








also, my x86 Dell tablet that is super awesome and amazing...
i've actually changed this slightly since these pictures were taken, but i can post some new pics later:











annnnnd i washed the FD for the first time in a couple months:

 

Cars looking great, glad the oil line didn't cause any damage .

 

thanks ceylon. not as exciting as the stuff going on with your build thread right now

 

Looking good! I'm glad you cleaned up that cowl. Holy wow, those things get dirty quick and you honestly just can't see it because of the cowl.

I see where you're going with the tablet interface. But you have a haltech, I'm running the PFC.

Even still, I'm not really fond of having a tablet in the car. It works for you cuz you track your car definitely a lot more often that I do.

Do you have the tablet in when you race?

 

yeah i'm finally finished working on all of the "big stuff" like the turbo kit, tuning, etc. so 2 weekends ago i got bored and decided to to tinker around and make the car a little "nicer." the cowl is something most people don't notice, but i was bored. haha.

as for the tablet, yes, i have it in when i'm on the track. i actually re-did the velcro and mount, so it looks better now, and i usually just leave it in the car, but i only drive it about 1/2 time time (now that the weather is nice), as i have a DD. my only issue is USB charging while using data. some strange sorcery has to be done to get it to charge and accept USB data at the same time. eventually i will have it hooked up and charging (with the haltech USB cable hooked up via a USB splitter cable) with the charger hard-wired, similar to what XL8R did with his tablet in the DIN area.
it's not perfect, but it's very good, other than the battery charging/data thing that i'm currently looking into.

 

I like the tablet idea, glad you got rid of the hacked brackets though.

 

track day today at Talladega Gran Prix Raceway:

Herblenny riding with me in the passenger seat. disregard the electronic device in his hand (watching my lap times):

 

so what was your official/ unofficial lap time?

 

best lap time was 1:09.80

 

Now I see why you we're looking for a new tach .

Car sounds good .

 

^ I was gonna say! holy mother of god he's revved up to 10k+

That...looks...like...SO MUCH FUN!

You broke loose quite a few times, even in the straights; calm it down lead foot, lol

 

looks like fun. seems like the suspension compression is too stiff though.

 

can you provide more info on that, derek?

 

Tgpr is a super technical track with not alot of straight to make up from lost time... Or cool the brakes and engine. You definitely have a properly set up fd to not have any issues.


And A 109 is Respectable. It's taken me 12 track days over the years to run a 108.8 there in my 120hp miata.

 

gilgamesh, thanks man. i thought it was a decent time for my first time there.

have you taken your FD there?

 

Your horn button is crooked.

Looks good man. Certainly not ***** footing it around.

 

Jacob thanks for letting me take your car out. That turbo response is great and I might have to look into it when I go single.

Also, fast time!!

 

My fd is not track worthy. The with the freddy fmic the car will over heat in no time. And I got a s366 on it, with stock 4.10 it would be lazy. But a 4.44 might wake it up.

I decided I was building a fast street car from the beginning as I have a formula mazda that runs 1:00 flat there.

 

got a sparco EVO seat used from a local shop today.

it's an old 2002 model, but came with an unused 2013+ sparco seat cover and cushions, so it's almost a new seat...

so i cleaned up the shell and installed the new cover and cushions:





hopefully tomorrow i'll have some pics of it mounted to the stock FD rails

 

^ I think you will like the Sparco EVOs. That is what I installed in my car and for fixed bucket seats, they are very comfortable.

Will be interested to see how the stock seat mounts work out as the EVOs are side mounted seats. If you are around 6 feet tall, I think you will find the seat position to be too high with the stock rails.

I used the Bride rails and then had to do some trimming to get them to sit low enough and to fit without hitting the door panels:

https://www.rx7club.com/interior-ext.../#post11269284

I trimmed the left and right upper bolsters and the bottom left of the passenger seat and then had to trim the left and right back bottom of the bucket to drop the seat in between the Bride rails. Fitment is now perfect for me and the angle of the seat great. I'm very happy with the outcome and driving position and the seats are very comfortable. Also very supportive as I took the car through the Tail of the Dragon. No sliding back and forth, just planted and comfortable. For tacking the car though, I have to remove the bottom cushion to fit comfortably with a helmet on.

So, to recap, the Sparco EVOs will fit with the R039LF and R040LF Bride rails. You also need the LF side plates (A25NPO) for a side mounted seat like the EVO. In addition, you need some serious trimming to the upper side bolsters and the inside left front passenger bolster to get everything to fit. If you are 6 feet and above, you'll want to trim the back left and right of the bottom seat bucket to allow the seat to drop down into the last bolt hole to give yourself more headroom clearance and to have a better seating angle.

 

david, i did come across your post in that thread before purchasing the seats. i am tackling the mounting as we speak. i will post some pictures

also, i have a 31" waste and i'm about 5'10, 140 lbs.

 

^ What you talk'in about? So I've put on a little winter weight but I am working that off.

Kidding aside, I am 6 feet tall and 175 lbs with a 32 inch waist so you are certainly a better fit for the Sparcos. I fit well but wouldn't want to be much bigger.

I'd also think with you being 5'10" you will just squeeze in with bottom mounts. I do think though you will need to remove the seat cushion when tracking as you will lose 1.5 - 2 inches using bottom versus side mounts.

Look forward to the pics.

 

thanks for the reply david.

the seat would not fit with the stock sliders. i ended up sitting about 1" too high and my head was almost hitting the headliner.

so we just made some very sturdy bar mounts that replace the stock rails, with the intent to bolt the seat straight to them, very close to the floor. the front of the inside side bracket is barely touching the torque tunnel, and the shoulder bolster is barely hitting the door panel. i now realize just how damn narrow these FD interiors are

i will post pictures shortly.