Bought a POS, this is R3Vs fault

[2mAn]

Alright, lots to share about the journey to Monterey, but its easier to share on the upcoming video.

A few years ago I took my 996 on a 'Targa805' rally through the central coastal area of California. On my way up I decided to pass through and grab a quick pic "stopping for fuel". Cool little historical town.





Stopped here for a cool little pic of an awesome vantage point, not sure my pic justifies it ... but here it is



About 12 hours later, after some shenanigans running around Monterey/ Carmel etc my tent was pitched





Finally, an example of the love the E30 was shockingly getting. I actually just ventured across the street to take the pic and noticed someone else also taking a pic of the car



He exchanged IG handles and he sent me his pics, in addition to tagging me in the one he took.



Cool


Video will come... soon...

[max.rodriguezzz]

Alright, the car is prepped for another ~700+ mile road trip up to Laguna Seca for the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion (such a mouthful...) ... I will probably hit up some of the Car Week shenanigans, but I enjoy the vintage racing that happens on track and it avoids all the annoying BS. With the brakes sorted, I also had an interior 'clean-up' I wanted to get done. The mess of disconnected wires behind the half-assed dash install meant I really wanted to make sure the cig lighter was at least hooked up and hopefully will work so I can actually have a power source while I am slumming it on track.

Anyways, so one major milestone I needed to accomplish was to finish hooking up the rear speakers I prepped earlier. E30Bastard is a serious audiophile and harassed me into buying the Hertz components for the rear and some 14ga wires to run to the Blaupunkt headunit. Pain in the ass, but do it once and do it right.



That was the 'easy' part, and left me with trying to make this mess a little cleaner...


I was able to route the wiring down to the center console and connected the cig lighter. Initial test showed the cig lighter has power, but we'll see how this all shakes out. Still no lights on the center console, but it looks like all the bulbs are there. Probably a ground somewhere thats not grounded. Fun stuff...

OBC still has the UHC flashing situation. I am convinced the single yellow un-plugged connector might be the reason its still useless, but I have no idea. There is no female side, though there is a yellow wire in a small loop with 2 other wires that have cut ends... Might see what happens if I connect, probably not until I am sure of it. I am taking my Bentley to the track and something to read also, just to kill the time when Im bored, if that happens.



With that all done, I washed one month of dust and grime off the car... shes still a POS but she cleans up ok and rips.






I took it out yesterday and had a mk7 GTI with all the pops and bangs line up next to me at the freeway on-ramp light but I was able to merge onto the 405 quicker than him...

niceee man, I bet that'll be a fun trip

behind the dash wiring sure is fun isn't it! For what its worth, back in the day I converted my 6 button to a 13 button obc, and I could never get it completed right. I have like 2 or 3 loose yellow wire connectors on the passenger side too. Genuinely I have no idea what they go to, I think There's a second harness or something that im missing. But just know you're not alone lol. drive safe man, have fun!

[2mAn]

Alright, the car is prepped for another ~700+ mile road trip up to Laguna Seca for the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion (such a mouthful...) ... I will probably hit up some of the Car Week shenanigans, but I enjoy the vintage racing that happens on track and it avoids all the annoying BS. With the brakes sorted, I also had an interior 'clean-up' I wanted to get done. The mess of disconnected wires behind the half-assed dash install meant I really wanted to make sure the cig lighter was at least hooked up and hopefully will work so I can actually have a power source while I am slumming it on track.

Anyways, so one major milestone I needed to accomplish was to finish hooking up the rear speakers I prepped earlier. E30Bastard is a serious audiophile and harassed me into buying the Hertz components for the rear and some 14ga wires to run to the Blaupunkt headunit. Pain in the ass, but do it once and do it right.



That was the 'easy' part, and left me with trying to make this mess a little cleaner...


I was able to route the wiring down to the center console and connected the cig lighter. Initial test showed the cig lighter has power, but we'll see how this all shakes out. Still no lights on the center console, but it looks like all the bulbs are there. Probably a ground somewhere thats not grounded. Fun stuff...

OBC still has the UHC flashing situation. I am convinced the single yellow un-plugged connector might be the reason its still useless, but I have no idea. There is no female side, though there is a yellow wire in a small loop with 2 other wires that have cut ends... Might see what happens if I connect, probably not until I am sure of it. I am taking my Bentley to the track and something to read also, just to kill the time when Im bored, if that happens.



With that all done, I washed one month of dust and grime off the car... shes still a POS but she cleans up ok and rips.






I took it out yesterday and had a mk7 GTI with all the pops and bangs line up next to me at the freeway on-ramp light but I was able to merge onto the 405 quicker than him...

[2mAn]

The pins were super tight, so I’m sure with all that extra strain it wasn’t sliding evenly

[varg]

That pad wear is super uneven. I wonder what your caliper pins and bushings look like. I know mine are shot.

[2mAn]

The sliders definitely needed to be greased up

[uturn]

Pad wear looks uneven. Did you check if your slider pins are binding? Grease them back up or replace them outright?

Replacement kits are fairly inexpensive.... ~$50/wheel

Brass bushings are also an option if you want to swap out the rubber ones.

[2mAn]

In what usually is an 'afternoon' brake job, this job took place on 3 different days.
Day 1 was to prep. Car up on jack-stands, wheels off. I was going to rotate them also so all 4 came off. Rears wheel well was inspected and rotated wheels install... easy. No pics of that, but this was pic was taken of the 'carnage' from the Track Day.


This is out of order, but heres the rotor and pad removed...


Day 2 was when I finally got to work, but Day 2 was actually taking place at night. Kiddos were put to sleep and I got to work. Parts to install prepped and ready. Pads will be my 'street' pads, and Im likely to get a noisy/ dusty track pad to maximize stock sized brakes



Day 3 started with this.. again once kid was down for a nap. Passenger side was done, but no pic taken because it was dark.


The broken bolt that was holding the dust shield needed to come out.


Dremel was used to cut a slit and pray thats all it takes. It was Sunday, so God showed me favor.


Whew...


This was fun. I cleaned out these lower fender crevices a while ago, and here we are again... Cleaned out again. A lot more tire rubber this time, and a little bit of dust & dirt to join it.

[2mAn]

So is the 2.8 in the car?

I'm kind of shocked by the numbers on the 2.7. I recall my tired m20b25 putting around 145 hp/tq to the wheels. I would expect a budget stroker (885 head on an eta bottom end) to make the same hp, but a little more torque. I'm hoping that my 2.7i (885 head, decked block, 81mm crank, 135mm rods, b25 pistons) should make closer to 180whp/tq.

Nice to see you at sonoma! I keep bugging my wife about moving back to the bay and getting out to that track would be a ton of fun. I guess I should find some local tracks while I'm living here.

Yea should be in the mid 2700cc so rounded up to 2.8

It did exactly what you thought 145whp & just about 160 wtrq. The key comes from the final CR. 180 is possible.

And, I grew up in NorCal so Laguna Seca a few years ago and Sears Point this year were major bucket list milestones... BTW Didnt get many clean laps but I did see a few 2 minute + teens, 2:12 being my best

[McGyver]

So is the 2.8 in the car?

I'm kind of shocked by the numbers on the 2.7. I recall my tired m20b25 putting around 145 hp/tq to the wheels. I would expect a budget stroker (885 head on an eta bottom end) to make the same hp, but a little more torque. I'm hoping that my 2.7i (885 head, decked block, 81mm crank, 135mm rods, b25 pistons) should make closer to 180whp/tq.

Nice to see you at sonoma! I keep bugging my wife about moving back to the bay and getting out to that track would be a ton of fun. I guess I should find some local tracks while I'm living here.

[2mAn]

It was good to see you too, AND the Datsun... and somehow, I did NOT take 1 pic of the dang car ...

Zero issues the rest of the way home other than that warped rotor. Already ordered a new set from FCP Euro so I can cook as many as I want from here LOL

[BlackbirdM3]

That was a fun day at the track. I'm glad I got some good pics (I still have more to process) and instructing was a lot of fun. You guys picked things up quickly. The car felt good. That flat power curve was really nice. Its high enough that its useful, but wide enough that you can have a lot of fun with it. Did you have any other hesitation issues on the way home? That was a strange issue as it was happening on the straights, well after turn 11. I'm really curious what you could have run if you had gotten a really clean lap. The pit steward didn't have a clue as to how to break up a conga-line. That was super irritating. I hope you decide to make the trip back up in the future to run the track again.

That pic with the FD RX-7 and the Rabbit was kinda funny since it was the Rabbit that was the first car to spin in the FD's slick.

[e30m3s54turbo]

Thanks for showing the pics on the track. It’s been years since I’ve been on track.

[2mAn]

How did the car run?

The car was fantastic... absolutely love it. There was several cars with a LOT more BHP that couldnt shake me anywhere on the track except for the long straight but I would be right on them again at the top of the hill braking for Turn 3.

The flat power curve is amazing.

[Panici]

Looks like a lot of fun Simon!
I don't know if I would have survived the 2am arrival though.

How did the car run?