Rotary Amuse Build and Photoblog
02-06-16, 08:58 PM
#301
Originally Posted by RapidCancel
Just went through the whole thread, great read! Congrats on the new home, too!
Originally Posted by rx7srbad
awesome thanks for the response.
according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_RX-7 the stock width of the rx7 fd is 1,760 mm (69 in) so im hoping a 1700mm wing is not wider than the oem body but in the pics it looks about the right size. what mm are your wing stands?
according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_RX-7 the stock width of the rx7 fd is 1,760 mm (69 in) so im hoping a 1700mm wing is not wider than the oem body but in the pics it looks about the right size. what mm are your wing stands?
The wing stands are 270mm, and for additional reference the endplates are Type B
Originally Posted by CrackHeadMel
Not going to lie, i belted out 'noooo' when i read this. Congratulations on the house, its a whole new level of project that again is never done
Hahaha - I had that same feeling once it initially set in that the FD would be taking the back seat for a little while, but I am definitely excited about home ownership and a new set of projects. No worries, though, it'll be game on shortly once we get a little more settled
My wife will be happy that anything I want to do with the house might actually net us some value unlike everything I've ever done with the racecar
Have you started planning out your motorsport season?
02-07-16, 05:27 AM
#302
Learned alot | Alot to go
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I completely understand it being on the back burner, do you plan on taking off the whole season?
We are going to try the whole comscc season. We booked our hotel early in WGI in case they all sell out because of Nasa national's being so close to the comscc date and have started our passports so we can go to Mosport.
Im also going to do the early Nasa NE date at LRP and the comscc early date at Canaan to get as much track time before the NHMS SCCA school weekend. Unfortunately the Canaan date is the same as Devil in the Dark, and as much as I want to attend it, being prepared for my licence gets me closer to being able to compete so im going to miss it again.
We are going to try the whole comscc season. We booked our hotel early in WGI in case they all sell out because of Nasa national's being so close to the comscc date and have started our passports so we can go to Mosport.
Im also going to do the early Nasa NE date at LRP and the comscc early date at Canaan to get as much track time before the NHMS SCCA school weekend. Unfortunately the Canaan date is the same as Devil in the Dark, and as much as I want to attend it, being prepared for my licence gets me closer to being able to compete so im going to miss it again.
06-07-16, 05:20 PM
#305
Originally Posted by rx7 se
Man how did I not know about this thread! Great stuff! And looks like you have a great group of friends.
Thanks for the complement!
Originally Posted by thatdon
Updates please, this is one of my favorite threads!
I have done a few things here and there with the FD since I last checked in, and just came back from my second track weekend of the season (third including servicing the S2000 down at NJMP), so I have some catching up to do
Photos are just about all edited and I need to edit some GoPro footage. I have a good break between now and my next track day, so I'll have some time to put some updates together
Huge thank you to Jacob (CrackHeadMel) for all his help this past weekend at Palmer Motorsports Park
Cheers!
06-07-16, 06:30 PM
#306
Learned alot | Alot to go
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Thanks for letting me follow you around and get a head start on learning the line. Palmer is a difficult yet rewarding track, cant wait to get back this fall
06-07-16, 08:38 PM
#307
Thanks for letting me follow you around and get a head start on learning the line. Palmer is a difficult yet rewarding track, cant wait to get back this fall
I've been watching a few of my runs from the weekend; I hope you didn't pick up any of my bad habits (there are quite a bit I need to clean up for next time - next time at Palmer's looking like August or October). Looked like you were getting progressively faster from session to session judging by your lap times. I believe I saw a 1'54" in there - I think it was your last lap of the last session Saturday, right? Pretty quick from not much seat time out on Whiskey Hill!
I watched your time trial laps on COMSCC - looked good. So jealous of those dry laps you caught in run group 3! Do you know what you put down for your time trial laps?
Are you planning on heading to Thompson? I've been told I can either do Thompson day 1 and 2 or IMSA at Lime Rock for the weekend, but not both (I don't need to tell you - happy wife / happy life, and a pregnant wife is always right) IMSA is always a lot of fun, but racing my own car is a hell of a lot more rewarding - I'm pretty sure my mind's made up
Back to editing!
Last edited by ZumSpeedRX-7; 06-07-16 at 08:45 PM.
06-07-16, 09:24 PM
#308
To keep my one and only fan (lookin' at you thatdon ) happy until I get my photoblog together, you can see previews before the write ups of what I've been up to on my flickr page (I don't even think this is a thing anymore... but I don't do social media, so it's about all I've got going for me) as I upload my edits as I get through them
) happy until I get my photoblog together, you can see previews before the write ups of what I've been up to on my flickr page (I don't even think this is a thing anymore... but I don't do social media, so it's about all I've got going for me) as I upload my edits as I get through them
Last edited by ZumSpeedRX-7; 08-22-17 at 08:32 PM.
06-09-16, 04:10 AM
#309
Learned alot | Alot to go
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I also love group 1 just for the cars, even though I cant always keep pace, the vast variety of cars is one of the things that makes that group great.
I don’t know exactly what Butch was talking about, but I agree with him that the back of the car is way over-sprung. I had the rear bar maxed out for the first time and while it was nice to not have an under-steering pig (read: it didn’t feel like a a subaru), I think it made the car slower overall. I wasn’t able to put power down at or slightly before the apex of any corner which running full soft I have been able to do at previous tracks and last year. For example turn 3 of my 3rd tt lap which was the best at a 1:57.xxx (nothing great really) you can see the car step out at the apex
I doubt I picked up on any of your bad habits, you quickly pulled away from me when we got out of traffic haha. Yes i had that one random flying lap which luckly i have on video, im going to sit down and compare them to my tt laps at some point
Currently I am planning on Thompson both days, I should be able to register in a week or so
I don’t know exactly what Butch was talking about, but I agree with him that the back of the car is way over-sprung. I had the rear bar maxed out for the first time and while it was nice to not have an under-steering pig (read: it didn’t feel like a a subaru), I think it made the car slower overall. I wasn’t able to put power down at or slightly before the apex of any corner which running full soft I have been able to do at previous tracks and last year. For example turn 3 of my 3rd tt lap which was the best at a 1:57.xxx (nothing great really) you can see the car step out at the apex
I doubt I picked up on any of your bad habits, you quickly pulled away from me when we got out of traffic haha. Yes i had that one random flying lap which luckly i have on video, im going to sit down and compare them to my tt laps at some point
Currently I am planning on Thompson both days, I should be able to register in a week or so
08-03-16, 10:46 AM
#312
Alright, I believe I left off with the McParland S2000 handcrafted harness and Motec C185 ECU install, and The Devil in the Dark endurance race prep
Back in April I swung out to Paddy and Pete's garage to give Paddy and Jared a hand wrapping up a few things
Paddy's custom bracketry might not look like much, but you can make damn sure that he worked and reworked a few designs before coming up with this one
Test fit
To get a little sidetracked, I had been considering removing my carpeting and sound deadening for some time to cut some weight (remember, simplify and add lightness). I tripped over the OffBeat Garage video blog during my research, saw his video on stripping an interior, and that got me to consider stitch welding my interior once everything was out and cleaned up properly. I talked to Paddy a little bit more about taking on this project, then the idea quickly hit the back burner.
Fast forward a few months and Paddy needed some brackets made for his steering column. Remembering that I was considering stitch welding my own interior, he called me up and pitched the idea of buying a welder together. I knew I was going to need a hell of a lot of practice welding before the torch came anywhere near the FD, but I figured the sooner I get practicing the better. Sure, I'm in!
We ended up buying an entry level Lincoln Electric MIG welder (Pro-MIG 140). It was a great option for what we had in mind, but I do not believe it's anything revolutionary. Regardless, I'll have my work cut out trying to learn how to pull off a halfway decent weld, yet alone anything nice enough to go in the RA-937
Back to the S2000 - Jared is an experienced welder making him the most sensible choice for tackling the steering column bracket
Paddy, Jared, and I hashed out a design, fabbed up the brackets, and helped Jared as he contorted himself through the roll cage and under the dash, and I fed him whatever he needed through the cage and adjusted the welder as needed
About midday we headed down to the Le's garage to pick up Tony's Type 3 wing, taken on loan for The Devil to replace the eBay special currently on there out back
Back in April I swung out to Paddy and Pete's garage to give Paddy and Jared a hand wrapping up a few things
Paddy's custom bracketry might not look like much, but you can make damn sure that he worked and reworked a few designs before coming up with this one
Test fit
To get a little sidetracked, I had been considering removing my carpeting and sound deadening for some time to cut some weight (remember, simplify and add lightness). I tripped over the OffBeat Garage video blog during my research, saw his video on stripping an interior, and that got me to consider stitch welding my interior once everything was out and cleaned up properly. I talked to Paddy a little bit more about taking on this project, then the idea quickly hit the back burner.
Fast forward a few months and Paddy needed some brackets made for his steering column. Remembering that I was considering stitch welding my own interior, he called me up and pitched the idea of buying a welder together. I knew I was going to need a hell of a lot of practice welding before the torch came anywhere near the FD, but I figured the sooner I get practicing the better. Sure, I'm in!
We ended up buying an entry level Lincoln Electric MIG welder (Pro-MIG 140). It was a great option for what we had in mind, but I do not believe it's anything revolutionary. Regardless, I'll have my work cut out trying to learn how to pull off a halfway decent weld, yet alone anything nice enough to go in the RA-937
Back to the S2000 - Jared is an experienced welder making him the most sensible choice for tackling the steering column bracket
Paddy, Jared, and I hashed out a design, fabbed up the brackets, and helped Jared as he contorted himself through the roll cage and under the dash, and I fed him whatever he needed through the cage and adjusted the welder as needed
About midday we headed down to the Le's garage to pick up Tony's Type 3 wing, taken on loan for The Devil to replace the eBay special currently on there out back
Last edited by ZumSpeedRX-7; 08-22-17 at 08:33 PM.
08-03-16, 10:55 AM
#313
We also got to check out Tony's latest AP2 addition - a Chris Howard roll cage. Tony is clearly no longer messing around!
It came out beautifully
Tony also upgraded his coilovers. Looks like it should be a great setup once properly dialed in, but for the life of me I can't remember what he went with right now... this is the problem with trying to update a blog with nearly four month old material
Anyway, onward with the pillage, then back to the McParlands
I tackled the wing reassembly and install
while Paddy worked on some IMSA Corvette Racing inspired proximity sensors to be wired in with indicators on the dash to help with dive in or blind spot incidents. A little crass in the initial phases, but they'll be an awesome addition once the design is finalized and styling is cleaned up
and Jared finished the steering column. I don't think Jared was overly proud of his welds, but I'd consider it a great success with some good looking welds after trying my hand on the work bench with the welder. Thanks for the instruction my friend - I clearly have some work cut out for me when I get the welder back to my garage
Dash is in and looks pretty damn good!
It came out beautifully
Tony also upgraded his coilovers. Looks like it should be a great setup once properly dialed in, but for the life of me I can't remember what he went with right now... this is the problem with trying to update a blog with nearly four month old material
Anyway, onward with the pillage, then back to the McParlands
I tackled the wing reassembly and install
while Paddy worked on some IMSA Corvette Racing inspired proximity sensors to be wired in with indicators on the dash to help with dive in or blind spot incidents. A little crass in the initial phases, but they'll be an awesome addition once the design is finalized and styling is cleaned up
and Jared finished the steering column. I don't think Jared was overly proud of his welds, but I'd consider it a great success with some good looking welds after trying my hand on the work bench with the welder. Thanks for the instruction my friend - I clearly have some work cut out for me when I get the welder back to my garage
Dash is in and looks pretty damn good!
Last edited by ZumSpeedRX-7; 08-22-17 at 08:34 PM.
08-03-16, 11:35 AM
#314
Jared, Brian and I headed down to NJMP for SCCA's The Devil in the Dark 12-hour endurance race on a Thursday night back in April. NJMP is off of one of the last exits of 95 towards the bottom of New Jersey. I somehow forget just how much time it takes to get through New Jersey, but it's not nearly as painful as driving down 95 through Connecticut - worst. drive. ever.
We got in just past midnight, met up with our drivers (Paddy, Pete, Mike Fries, and COM regular and GT Academy top finisher Nick Fontana), the rest of the crew (Mary, Claire, Jason, and Mickey), settled in, and got some rest
An early morning was met with a breakfast that is as always second to none
Weekend MVPs - Mary and Claire
We talked through the weekend plan
then headed out to set up our weekend base and paddock
Jared looks pretty excited for the weekend
We added some ballast to get up to weight
Brian tweaking something
Paddy and I cleaned out the fuel rig
Weighed in and ready to wrassle!
Our drivers cycled through practice sessions as the crew practiced our driver changes
with some mid-session diagnostic work
We got in just past midnight, met up with our drivers (Paddy, Pete, Mike Fries, and COM regular and GT Academy top finisher Nick Fontana), the rest of the crew (Mary, Claire, Jason, and Mickey), settled in, and got some rest
An early morning was met with a breakfast that is as always second to none
Weekend MVPs - Mary and Claire
We talked through the weekend plan
then headed out to set up our weekend base and paddock
Jared looks pretty excited for the weekend
We added some ballast to get up to weight
Brian tweaking something
Paddy and I cleaned out the fuel rig
Weighed in and ready to wrassle!
Our drivers cycled through practice sessions as the crew practiced our driver changes
with some mid-session diagnostic work
Last edited by ZumSpeedRX-7; 08-22-17 at 08:35 PM.
08-03-16, 11:59 AM
#315
with the occasional practice session hard stop fixes
Lucky for us we had just about every conceivable spare part needed from Mike's sprint prepped, championship winning S2000...
...and back up engine. These men do not mess around!
We spent some time tracking down a few gremlins, the McParlands spent some time over the phone with their tuner who remotely dialed in to the car for some additional diagnostics, and we eventually settled on a crank sensor issue
All looked good, then the drivers headed back out
Brian, Jared and I walked around a bit in our downtime to check out the rest of the field. Seems there's some serious hardware out this year aiming for first overall
We had some good sessions with each driver's lap times dropping throughout the day and we got some good pit stop practice in before calling it a night
I didn't get the chance to take many action shots Saturday, but I met up with one of RX-7Club's best photographers, Mike Mauro, who snapped some pretty good ones
The race day was a bit of a blur, so I am going to borrow Pete McParland's account of the day:
Not an ideal finish, but a great weekend nonetheless!
Lucky for us we had just about every conceivable spare part needed from Mike's sprint prepped, championship winning S2000...
...and back up engine. These men do not mess around!
We spent some time tracking down a few gremlins, the McParlands spent some time over the phone with their tuner who remotely dialed in to the car for some additional diagnostics, and we eventually settled on a crank sensor issue
All looked good, then the drivers headed back out
Brian, Jared and I walked around a bit in our downtime to check out the rest of the field. Seems there's some serious hardware out this year aiming for first overall
We had some good sessions with each driver's lap times dropping throughout the day and we got some good pit stop practice in before calling it a night
I didn't get the chance to take many action shots Saturday, but I met up with one of RX-7Club's best photographers, Mike Mauro, who snapped some pretty good ones
The race day was a bit of a blur, so I am going to borrow Pete McParland's account of the day:
Originally Posted by Pete
Great effort by everyone this weekend at the Devil in the Dark. We had a tough battle with some fast cars and talented drivers in E2.
Michael Fries started the race for us in the rain. He kept his composure and never put a wheel wrong. With cautions and the better fuel economy that comes with the slower pace, Mike had almost a 3.5 hour stint in the car. He had great pace for the tires he was on (full depth RA-1), but it was no match for the other teams on Hoosier wets. The weather radar revealed that the rain was going to clear and the track would be dry near the end of his stint.
We were 16th overall when Mike came in for our first pit stop. Our crew ofDemetrius, Jason, Rick, Brian, Jared, Craig and Peter got busy filling the car with fuel, swapping over to our dry tires and doing a few quick checks on the car. Our stop under green dropped us to 20th.
Nick Fontana was next to get in the car. His excellent pace brought us up to 10th and he set the fastest lap for our team with a 1:31:4. Honkin.
Another green flag stop put us in 13th as Paddy McParland started his stint. More great driving brought us up to 6th overall and 2nd in class. We caught a break and were able to pit under caution. We did left side tires, a tank of fuel and I got into the car. The sun had just set and I was able to get back out on track without loosing a position.
I settled into a groove and things were going smoothly. I had some great coaching from Nick over the radio and felt really comfortable in the car. With 2 hours to go we were 5th overall, 2nd in class, and we were closing in on 1st by a few seconds a lap.
Things were going good but the good going soon came to a stop.
I was cresting turn 2 when there was a loud bang followed by a terrible grinding noise. I was able to safely stop the car but I was very far away from the flagging station at 3. They sent out a wrecker and towed me in.
Our crew quickly got the car up in the air and got to work. We found the rear CV joint on the driveshaft had failed. We had it fixed in no time.
Paddy rejoined the race with an hour and a half remaining. The broken driveshaft put us back down to 17th overall and 4th in class. The 2nd place Integra Type R of Radial Motorsports was 7 laps ahead and the BMW 325i of Team Troxell was 4 laps ahead.
Paddy was cookin and was doing everything possible to make up as many spots as he could. Lap after lap he was chipping away at our competitors lead. Just when we thought it was all over, Team Troxell blew a tire. They pitted in, swapped the tire and were back out in a flash.
When the checkered flag flew we were 35 seconds behind them. Paddy had clawed his way back up to 11th overall but we just missed the podium in E2.
I want to say a special thank you to my mother Mary and sister Clare for taking care of the whole crew this weekend.
Great racing, awesome driving, and a fantastic crew made for a very memorable race. I won't forget this one for a long time!
Michael Fries started the race for us in the rain. He kept his composure and never put a wheel wrong. With cautions and the better fuel economy that comes with the slower pace, Mike had almost a 3.5 hour stint in the car. He had great pace for the tires he was on (full depth RA-1), but it was no match for the other teams on Hoosier wets. The weather radar revealed that the rain was going to clear and the track would be dry near the end of his stint.
We were 16th overall when Mike came in for our first pit stop. Our crew ofDemetrius, Jason, Rick, Brian, Jared, Craig and Peter got busy filling the car with fuel, swapping over to our dry tires and doing a few quick checks on the car. Our stop under green dropped us to 20th.
Nick Fontana was next to get in the car. His excellent pace brought us up to 10th and he set the fastest lap for our team with a 1:31:4. Honkin.
Another green flag stop put us in 13th as Paddy McParland started his stint. More great driving brought us up to 6th overall and 2nd in class. We caught a break and were able to pit under caution. We did left side tires, a tank of fuel and I got into the car. The sun had just set and I was able to get back out on track without loosing a position.
I settled into a groove and things were going smoothly. I had some great coaching from Nick over the radio and felt really comfortable in the car. With 2 hours to go we were 5th overall, 2nd in class, and we were closing in on 1st by a few seconds a lap.
Things were going good but the good going soon came to a stop.
I was cresting turn 2 when there was a loud bang followed by a terrible grinding noise. I was able to safely stop the car but I was very far away from the flagging station at 3. They sent out a wrecker and towed me in.
Our crew quickly got the car up in the air and got to work. We found the rear CV joint on the driveshaft had failed. We had it fixed in no time.
Paddy rejoined the race with an hour and a half remaining. The broken driveshaft put us back down to 17th overall and 4th in class. The 2nd place Integra Type R of Radial Motorsports was 7 laps ahead and the BMW 325i of Team Troxell was 4 laps ahead.
Paddy was cookin and was doing everything possible to make up as many spots as he could. Lap after lap he was chipping away at our competitors lead. Just when we thought it was all over, Team Troxell blew a tire. They pitted in, swapped the tire and were back out in a flash.
When the checkered flag flew we were 35 seconds behind them. Paddy had clawed his way back up to 11th overall but we just missed the podium in E2.
I want to say a special thank you to my mother Mary and sister Clare for taking care of the whole crew this weekend.
Great racing, awesome driving, and a fantastic crew made for a very memorable race. I won't forget this one for a long time!
Not an ideal finish, but a great weekend nonetheless!
Last edited by ZumSpeedRX-7; 08-22-17 at 08:36 PM.
08-03-16, 12:38 PM
#316
With my 2016 season kicking off in May, I had some work cut out to get the FD battle ready
Feeling a bit more like the old Garage Rotary Amuse
Although Whiskey Hill is one of the best tracks to run, it is one of the dustiest layouts with minimal trackside grass coverage. The occasional dropped wheel and inevitable wind mucks up the track for us out there, which has been putting my filter elements to the test
As you can see, I had a crack in my upper RS intake, so a replacement was needed. Good news is the replacement was easy to come by and readily available for shipment. The bad news was it came with a standard bright green element courtesy of HKS. I had to buy another element for my other intake, and could have easily just bought a different element for the new filter basket, but what the hell; my engine is by no means a show stopper, let's go insect green!
The color's actually beginning to grow on me
Feeling a bit more like the old Garage Rotary Amuse
Although Whiskey Hill is one of the best tracks to run, it is one of the dustiest layouts with minimal trackside grass coverage. The occasional dropped wheel and inevitable wind mucks up the track for us out there, which has been putting my filter elements to the test
As you can see, I had a crack in my upper RS intake, so a replacement was needed. Good news is the replacement was easy to come by and readily available for shipment. The bad news was it came with a standard bright green element courtesy of HKS. I had to buy another element for my other intake, and could have easily just bought a different element for the new filter basket, but what the hell; my engine is by no means a show stopper, let's go insect green!
The color's actually beginning to grow on me
Last edited by ZumSpeedRX-7; 08-22-17 at 08:36 PM.
08-03-16, 12:53 PM
#317
My friend Joe and I rewrapped and tucked a few wires that have found there way to being assaulted by the 285 tires up front. Nothing too crazy, but my previously intermittently defunct speedometer is now back in full effect. I really need to get my fender wells back in there
I also had to deal with a stripped hood pin screw. Doesn't look like much, but tracking down the proper screw took longer than it should have. I should update this set up to some flushmounts soon as well - would make me feel a lot better/safer!
I also dragged the wheels and tires up from the basement out of their winter hibernation (remember soft tires shouldn't be kept outside in low temperature weather) and my number plates, all in need of a refresh to bring them back to their previous glory
I won't bore you again with the wheel washing overview, but it is highly rewarding to see the brake dust fade away with a proper bath
I somewhere along the line caught something out on track last season and cracked my rear diffuser. I initially had the idea of putting some heavy duty tape with high-temp tape veneer on it to act as a temporary fix until I ordered a new one
but eventually took the tape off, thinking I didn't want to have to deal with it trackside when it inevitably acted more as a parachute than aero aid
I also had to deal with a stripped hood pin screw. Doesn't look like much, but tracking down the proper screw took longer than it should have. I should update this set up to some flushmounts soon as well - would make me feel a lot better/safer!
I also dragged the wheels and tires up from the basement out of their winter hibernation (remember soft tires shouldn't be kept outside in low temperature weather) and my number plates, all in need of a refresh to bring them back to their previous glory
I won't bore you again with the wheel washing overview, but it is highly rewarding to see the brake dust fade away with a proper bath
I somewhere along the line caught something out on track last season and cracked my rear diffuser. I initially had the idea of putting some heavy duty tape with high-temp tape veneer on it to act as a temporary fix until I ordered a new one
but eventually took the tape off, thinking I didn't want to have to deal with it trackside when it inevitably acted more as a parachute than aero aid
Last edited by ZumSpeedRX-7; 08-22-17 at 08:37 PM.
08-03-16, 01:13 PM
#318
My first event was out on NHMS and if you recall from last year, the infield to outfield uphill turn did a number on my TCP Magic end plates. I designed a new set before I fully destroyed these rare imports:
I wasn't initially sure what I had in mind for a design, so I cut up some cardboard templates to get to work.
My first design was a recreation of how we trimmed up my TCP pieces
My second design was terrible, but I worked my angle finder / ruler magic to get it to flow properly
I eventually settled on my last design. Nothing revolutionary as I used Voltex's design as inspiration. Hey, if the design works it works!
I mounted it up on my carbon fiber sheet to see how it lined up, then wrapped the panel in painters tape, and traced the design for cut and finish (see that angle finder - I told you - I arts and crafted the hell out of this!)
My friend Joe gave me a hand cutting the endplates out, and beltsanded them for me to clean up the edges
I generally had the holes lined up for install with the template, but my wife had a great idea to use fabric paint to mark the holes then place the carbon fiber panel over it to get an approximate location. I then started with a small drill bit, lined it up to see how it looked, then worked my way up in drill bit size until I got the best, snuggest fit
Goggles and mask are a must - carbon fiber might be my favorite material, but is nasty in small fibers
All lined up - not a bad Rotary Amuse original!
I wasn't initially sure what I had in mind for a design, so I cut up some cardboard templates to get to work.
My first design was a recreation of how we trimmed up my TCP pieces
My second design was terrible, but I worked my angle finder / ruler magic to get it to flow properly
I eventually settled on my last design. Nothing revolutionary as I used Voltex's design as inspiration. Hey, if the design works it works!
I mounted it up on my carbon fiber sheet to see how it lined up, then wrapped the panel in painters tape, and traced the design for cut and finish (see that angle finder - I told you - I arts and crafted the hell out of this!)
My friend Joe gave me a hand cutting the endplates out, and beltsanded them for me to clean up the edges
I generally had the holes lined up for install with the template, but my wife had a great idea to use fabric paint to mark the holes then place the carbon fiber panel over it to get an approximate location. I then started with a small drill bit, lined it up to see how it looked, then worked my way up in drill bit size until I got the best, snuggest fit
Goggles and mask are a must - carbon fiber might be my favorite material, but is nasty in small fibers
All lined up - not a bad Rotary Amuse original!
Last edited by ZumSpeedRX-7; 08-22-17 at 08:38 PM.
08-03-16, 01:39 PM
#319
Let me switch gears to house living before I jump into the motorsport season
So far, the house has been great. Back in February (please bear with me, I am jumping around a bit in my timeline), my wife, brother in law Tadz, and his girlfriend Aline tackled a wood shed. It holds about a 3/4 cord of wood. In hindsight, I should have reworked the math to get a solid cord, but it's good enough as is. And it was a great excuse to buy some new toys for the garage
Not sure why she did this, but my girl's company is always welcome : ) I think she just wanted to be closer to us
Getting there
Even Heidi is liking her new house toy
Old vs new
Fully functional - mission accomplished!
So far, the house has been great. Back in February (please bear with me, I am jumping around a bit in my timeline), my wife, brother in law Tadz, and his girlfriend Aline tackled a wood shed. It holds about a 3/4 cord of wood. In hindsight, I should have reworked the math to get a solid cord, but it's good enough as is. And it was a great excuse to buy some new toys for the garage
Not sure why she did this, but my girl's company is always welcome : ) I think she just wanted to be closer to us
Getting there
Even Heidi is liking her new house toy
Old vs new
Fully functional - mission accomplished!
Last edited by ZumSpeedRX-7; 08-22-17 at 08:38 PM.
08-03-16, 02:32 PM
#320
A little less house related, but more automotive oriented - thanks to the New England winter, an unseen piece of shrapnel in the road, and our dated tires and Subaru AWD system with multiple differentials, we had the fun of replacing all Stacia's tires with some new Contis. Not as sporty in feel as my old TT quattro and wife's old Protege's sets of DWS', but we don't need performance out of this one
One cool thing with the house is that the previous owners planted a good amount of trees, shrubs and flowers that have been popping up sporadically throughout the spring and summer
I don't foresee gardening replacing my motorsports, but I enjoy them
We also have a good amount of wildlife. I use the term "wild" loosely, since the rabbits seem a bit too domesticated
A beautiful HKS green dragonfly
These lil guys are cute, but run amuck throughout the neighborhood
One cool thing with the house is that the previous owners planted a good amount of trees, shrubs and flowers that have been popping up sporadically throughout the spring and summer
I don't foresee gardening replacing my motorsports, but I enjoy them
We also have a good amount of wildlife. I use the term "wild" loosely, since the rabbits seem a bit too domesticated
A beautiful HKS green dragonfly
These lil guys are cute, but run amuck throughout the neighborhood
Last edited by ZumSpeedRX-7; 08-22-17 at 08:40 PM.
08-03-16, 03:32 PM
#321
Oh right - this happened since my last official check in
Our official due date was this past Saturday. I'm currently on paternity leave for all of August, and we're still waiting for our girl to arrive, so I have some freed up time to update this photoblog.
Lucky you I'm getting all the stories out at once in an A.D.D. riddled fashion!
Our new addition has kept us busy. My wife prepped and painted our girl's dresser while I was out stripping the FD interior (more on that in a little bit) a few months ago
Her room came out pretty well if I can say so myself!
And we got a new garage security monitor
and quite possibly too many presents
We took a trip up to HMS Motorsports a few months ago to get some hardware for my new helmet (more on that also in a bit), and went from badass motorsport seats in their showroom
to baby seat shopping. Turns out, nothing really fits in the E92. We have a few options now for both daily drivers though
Due any day, and still looking as beautiful as ever sweetheart!
I think the FD will definitely be taking the backseat for, I don't know, let's just say the next 18 to 22 years... it will be absolutely worth it : )
Our official due date was this past Saturday. I'm currently on paternity leave for all of August, and we're still waiting for our girl to arrive, so I have some freed up time to update this photoblog.
Lucky you I'm getting all the stories out at once in an A.D.D. riddled fashion!
Our new addition has kept us busy. My wife prepped and painted our girl's dresser while I was out stripping the FD interior (more on that in a little bit) a few months ago
Her room came out pretty well if I can say so myself!
And we got a new garage security monitor
and quite possibly too many presents
We took a trip up to HMS Motorsports a few months ago to get some hardware for my new helmet (more on that also in a bit), and went from badass motorsport seats in their showroom
to baby seat shopping. Turns out, nothing really fits in the E92. We have a few options now for both daily drivers though
Due any day, and still looking as beautiful as ever sweetheart!
I think the FD will definitely be taking the backseat for, I don't know, let's just say the next 18 to 22 years... it will be absolutely worth it : )
Last edited by ZumSpeedRX-7; 08-22-17 at 08:40 PM.
08-03-16, 04:25 PM
#322
Alright, back to cars
With motorsports, helmets generally expire every ten years. A little frustrating considering the condition of my outgoing HJC helmet, but I can't fight the system if I want some track time. I put way too much effort in finding a replacement, and went from a Sparco carbon fiber (which I was told the Snell 2015's wouldn't be ready until the fall), to Bells (which were backordered for two months, putting my delivery past my first event), to Stilos
With a goal of eventually getting my competition license then into wheel to wheel endurance racing with my friends, the Stilo ST5 GT Composite made the most sense. The fact that it was a damn good looking helmet in my opinion didn't hurt either
Roll bar mounted water bottle set up with lines
connecting to an integrated hydration system with bite valve
Built in communications with a Stilo to Chatterbox cable
connected to built in earmuffs/headphones, and microphone (see above with bite valve)
I also finally got around to buying a HANS Sport II since I would ideally not break my neck in my race car. One more thing that I hope to never use (like all of the grounded feeling inducing nomex that I wear - "why am I wearing this hot jumper? Oh right, in case I catch fire." Hopefully I don't catch fire...)
The helmet feels worlds apart better than my HJC, and although this generation Stilo is shorter and slimmer than their last, I am still uncomfortably too close to my roof (I am talking to a fabricator about having a new haloed seat floormountedfor more clearance - more on that most likely in the offseason)
I bought my HJC helmet 11 years ago from an ATV motrsport shop for the sole use of autocrossing. Don't quote me on this, but I think I could still use it for autocrossing if I ever feel the urge to go cone killing
It has served me well and I am a little sad to see it go
Good bye old friend
hello to the new face (quite literally) of Rotary Amuse
With motorsports, helmets generally expire every ten years. A little frustrating considering the condition of my outgoing HJC helmet, but I can't fight the system if I want some track time. I put way too much effort in finding a replacement, and went from a Sparco carbon fiber (which I was told the Snell 2015's wouldn't be ready until the fall), to Bells (which were backordered for two months, putting my delivery past my first event), to Stilos
With a goal of eventually getting my competition license then into wheel to wheel endurance racing with my friends, the Stilo ST5 GT Composite made the most sense. The fact that it was a damn good looking helmet in my opinion didn't hurt either
Roll bar mounted water bottle set up with lines
connecting to an integrated hydration system with bite valve
Built in communications with a Stilo to Chatterbox cable
connected to built in earmuffs/headphones, and microphone (see above with bite valve)
I also finally got around to buying a HANS Sport II since I would ideally not break my neck in my race car. One more thing that I hope to never use (like all of the grounded feeling inducing nomex that I wear - "why am I wearing this hot jumper? Oh right, in case I catch fire." Hopefully I don't catch fire...)
The helmet feels worlds apart better than my HJC, and although this generation Stilo is shorter and slimmer than their last, I am still uncomfortably too close to my roof (I am talking to a fabricator about having a new haloed seat floormountedfor more clearance - more on that most likely in the offseason)
I bought my HJC helmet 11 years ago from an ATV motrsport shop for the sole use of autocrossing. Don't quote me on this, but I think I could still use it for autocrossing if I ever feel the urge to go cone killing
It has served me well and I am a little sad to see it go
Good bye old friend
hello to the new face (quite literally) of Rotary Amuse
Last edited by ZumSpeedRX-7; 08-22-17 at 08:41 PM.
08-03-16, 05:20 PM
#323
You might be surprised with how many Stilo's I see not only at our endurance race weekends but even at our club level weekends
This made me want to make mine a little more unique. Ideally I would have painted my helmet, but a good finished product costs understandably a bit more than I wanted to spend on looks alone
Next best option was vinyl. I found a gentleman (Van Svenson) while searching for my helmet that does custom Stilo visor vinyl. Turns out he could do some RA logos as well
We went back and forth a bit on design, agreed on the best approach on how to best contour vinyl around a helmet (which took a couple tries - see below), and he shipped everything out
The visor vinyl install went pretty well thanks in part to Van's guideline diamonds on both the background and lettering layers to best center it
and in part to the soapy water (warm water with two to three drops of dish soap) that helped to act as a buffer to slide the vinyl around before placement
I allowed the background to dry fully before I peeled the contact paper off to lay down the lettering
I added some more soapy water to both the backside of the lettering vinyl and the visor, centered the letters on the background with the diamonds on both sets of vinyl, squeegeed out the water, and pressed it in place with a plastic card being careful to not contact / scratch the visor
This made me want to make mine a little more unique. Ideally I would have painted my helmet, but a good finished product costs understandably a bit more than I wanted to spend on looks alone
Next best option was vinyl. I found a gentleman (Van Svenson) while searching for my helmet that does custom Stilo visor vinyl. Turns out he could do some RA logos as well
We went back and forth a bit on design, agreed on the best approach on how to best contour vinyl around a helmet (which took a couple tries - see below), and he shipped everything out
The visor vinyl install went pretty well thanks in part to Van's guideline diamonds on both the background and lettering layers to best center it
and in part to the soapy water (warm water with two to three drops of dish soap) that helped to act as a buffer to slide the vinyl around before placement
I allowed the background to dry fully before I peeled the contact paper off to lay down the lettering
I added some more soapy water to both the backside of the lettering vinyl and the visor, centered the letters on the background with the diamonds on both sets of vinyl, squeegeed out the water, and pressed it in place with a plastic card being careful to not contact / scratch the visor
Last edited by ZumSpeedRX-7; 08-22-17 at 08:42 PM.
08-03-16, 05:26 PM
#324
Now on to the hard part
My wife spent a summer working at a sign and vinyl shop after college, so she had a better idea of what we were getting into with affixing vinyl onto a contour surface. Much trickier than I thought!
Attempt number 1 - I swear this bandaid was not from this project, so don't make me feel bad about the wifey labor
It didn't look entirely bad until we tried to line up the red RA vinyl. We could have laid it down, and no one else might have ever noticed it. But I knew it would drive me crazy everytime I looked at it... back to the drawing board!
Fortunately Van sent two sets of vinyl knowing it was not an easy job. On the second one, we brought out the laptop for some reference as we laid it down, and took a different approach doing individual items from the black and red layers as they made sense instead of the black layer first then red layer second as we did the first attempt
We added some cuts in the vinyl to help with the contour on bigger pieces, and separated the vinyl in certain spots to make it easier to lay down smaller parts (e.g. individual leaf pieces)
Finally, the last piece!
I really like how it came out
It might not look like much, and I agree with you if you read this full post this is probably more attention than vinyl ever deserved, but this was honetly one of the biggest pain in the a** projects that I decided to tackle in recent memory
So much gratitude to Heidi for all your help with this! You're the best!!!
My wife spent a summer working at a sign and vinyl shop after college, so she had a better idea of what we were getting into with affixing vinyl onto a contour surface. Much trickier than I thought!
Attempt number 1 - I swear this bandaid was not from this project, so don't make me feel bad about the wifey labor
It didn't look entirely bad until we tried to line up the red RA vinyl. We could have laid it down, and no one else might have ever noticed it. But I knew it would drive me crazy everytime I looked at it... back to the drawing board!
Fortunately Van sent two sets of vinyl knowing it was not an easy job. On the second one, we brought out the laptop for some reference as we laid it down, and took a different approach doing individual items from the black and red layers as they made sense instead of the black layer first then red layer second as we did the first attempt
We added some cuts in the vinyl to help with the contour on bigger pieces, and separated the vinyl in certain spots to make it easier to lay down smaller parts (e.g. individual leaf pieces)
Finally, the last piece!
I really like how it came out
It might not look like much, and I agree with you if you read this full post this is probably more attention than vinyl ever deserved, but this was honetly one of the biggest pain in the a** projects that I decided to tackle in recent memory
So much gratitude to Heidi for all your help with this! You're the best!!!
Last edited by ZumSpeedRX-7; 08-22-17 at 08:42 PM.
