Race Ready 7M

bloodasp90

JZwhore of JAPAN
Nov 9, 2007
529
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38
on the river
you know, i wounder how much weight could be saved by rewiring the main loom?? cause i know theres gotta be a couple lbs worth of unused wires in that rats nest we all call wiring under our dashes and threw our cars.. hmmm... lol..
 

Van

87t Hardtop
Mar 26, 2006
974
0
0
Oak Grove, OR 97267
I've been going back and forth on ditching the rear window glass, wiper and defroster for Lexan. You know, the visibility out the rear is bad enough the way Toyota set it up... Can Lexan take the heat from a defroster?
 

Van

87t Hardtop
Mar 26, 2006
974
0
0
Oak Grove, OR 97267
Well, the eight year old exhaust system has a hole in it, is rusted, and the catalytic converter is broken... Time for a new exhaust. I ordered a new one of these:
3inch DM exhaust.jpg
The DM 3 inch exhaust will work nicely with the BIC DDP that is on its way. Plan is to have them both installed on June 14th.
 

Van

87t Hardtop
Mar 26, 2006
974
0
0
Oak Grove, OR 97267
I called TAP Plastics on the question of using a defroster with Lexan plastic; they do not recommend it! It may cause the plastic to deform over time.
 

Van

87t Hardtop
Mar 26, 2006
974
0
0
Oak Grove, OR 97267
I took the Supra in to VIP Performance in NE Portland, to get these two items placed where they can do the most good...
3inch DM exhaust.jpgddp_new.jpg
Some minor fabrication is needed to be done to the DDP to get it all to fit up there the way I want it. An additional bracket to fasten the DDP to the transmission is planned to stabilize it more. I'll have photos up tomorrow AM showing it as it's placed now. I think the BIC DDP hangs too low, so that also needs work. Wryann already needed to cut the muffler off the exhaust pipe and TIG weld it back on to correct the angle of the muffler on the DM stainless MKIII exhaust. It was sitting at a weird angle once it was bolted up to the BIC, DDP.
I drove it home this afternoon with the baffle installed in the DM exhaust and the Supra ran noticeably less powerful. Tomorrow, I'll open it up and drive it around w/o the baffle and then give you my assessment. 'Til then...
 

Van

87t Hardtop
Mar 26, 2006
974
0
0
Oak Grove, OR 97267
As advertised, the 7M is now more willing and responsive than before the DDP upgrade. Still, I like my exhaust to be more tucked up under the car, so back in it goes for fabrication. Here are shots of it as it is now: WP_000237.jpgWP_000238.jpgWP_000239.jpgWP_000240.jpg
Here are two of the DDP: WP_000235.jpgWP_000236.jpg
The only time it's louder than the old exhaust, is when the turbo dumps. ;)
 

Van

87t Hardtop
Mar 26, 2006
974
0
0
Oak Grove, OR 97267
Supra28;1946844 said:
Every thing in this build seems to be very well thought out, which is why I'm asking this question; what's your reasoning for not recirculating the DP?
I'm still planning on having the dump recirc'd, but down stream, where the down pipe meets the cat at the flange, just to make it less noisy and so we don't have to smell the exhaust!
 

Van

87t Hardtop
Mar 26, 2006
974
0
0
Oak Grove, OR 97267
One word: OMG!
Well, that's three... Firstly, driving the 3300 Lbs Supra around this very fast track is also very fatiguing. By the end of five, 30 min sessions, I was done! I was in a Kirkey Aluminum Road Race seat, strapped into it by Schroth five point harness, so I didn't have to fight the G-forces placed on my body, while driving the car. In fact I was so tense trying to stay up with the changes on the track happening ever more quickly as I gained more confidence and speed, that I can say I was also mentally done. Braking would hang me off the harness and turning in and accelerating out of the turns on to all too many negative camber turns, just pounded me, both physically and mentally. I need to get into a weight lifting regimen so I can not fatigue so quickly. I don't think I could last 1.5 hours in the seat in an endurance race. I had to take Saturday off just to recover; just completely fatigued...
Next, the Supra was able to stay ahead of the pack until a niggling cooling problem reared it's ugly head. I took it out five times, and each time it did the same thing. The 7M pulling hard all the way to 6K, shift into the next gear and throttle up, brake hard before the corner with down shift, getting the revs at 3K and turn-in at the corner, throttle up getting to the exit of the turn... All the right stuff, but the temp gauge would start climbing, catching my eye and concentration would slip and I'd miss doing something correctly, which slowed me down.
The only item that we changed was to place the oil cooler before the coolant radiator (in the space previously occupied by the AC radiator), which may be causing the problem. My problem is I don't see where else we can place it so it isn't in the stream of air going to the coolant radiator.
I called Wryann at VIP Performance while I was out at the track and he asked that I short shift to see if that would help. I tried the short shifting and keeping the revs down, but that only delayed the rise in temps. By the way the oil temps were consistently below 220 degrees the whole day! So it wasn't a total disaster.
In another vein, the car doesn't get out of shape even when I was not paying attention as I should, to the road ahead. The car is very well balanced, by adding a few PSI in the front tires resulted in very slight push or, take a few psi out of the front tires and the car was neutral. Modulating power over steer is predictable on the throttle with this current set-up. All-in-all, it is a very stable platform. That resulted in being able to drive the car at the limits all the time and as a result, I was the fastest street car on the track yesterday, in my class. I also ran with two race cars, a 5.0 liter Ford Racing 500 fr500slivelead[1].jpgand a E36 GT2 BMW. 686302723_R8zn9-S[1].jpgI was faster down the straights than they were, but the E36 would catch me in the corners as it was being driven by a race driver on race tires, so he would carry more speed through the corners and it is almost 1K Lbs lighter. When I pushed my car to stay competitive, my car would start over heating, so I'd point them bye, for a pass on the straights.
The Wilwoods, shod with Porterfield 4-1, moved by Castrol SRF brake fluid, were just fantastic, never experienced brake fade, and maintained great pedal feel and modulation throughout the day. I was able to dive into the corners with more speed than all the other street cars, braking later, and shorter, to get the right speed for the tires and the suspension set-up, which is: RSR Racing springs (700f/400r), KYB Gr2 and Tanabe Sustec anti-sway bars. 1.5 Lf/1.75 Rf degrees negative camber, 1.25 degrees negative (L&R rear), with a little toe in front and rear (3 Ft/mi), with caster set at 7.75+ Lf and 8.5+ Rf. That set up was very well balanced at the limits, thanks to corner balancing. VIP Performance managed to get all the corners to w/i 15 Lbs. I highly recommend it to all who intend to drive their cars on the track.
One last bit; the BIC DDP. In it’s current form, perfect for the track. As I DD the car, I’m still planning on having it recirculated just before the flange that bolts up to the Cat, to keep the stink in the exhaust and out of the cabin. Also, the new wheels Drag DR-38, 17x9 +38, shod with 255/40/ZR17 BFG g-force Sport Comp2 performed well all day, communicating the track condition through the manual rack.
So, that was my Friday at the track. Now it’s back to the shop for more tweaking of the cooling system… My only other problem is as the car approached 130 Mph, it got light on the front end, resulting in the tires beginning to lose adhesion. The car set up w/o power steering, transmits a lot of information to the steering wheel.
In the near future, the 26 y/o CT26 gets a rebuild of the CHRA, as it is beginning to leak oil.
 
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Van

87t Hardtop
Mar 26, 2006
974
0
0
Oak Grove, OR 97267
I'm almost embarrassed to admit this... Just moments ago at 10:30 this AM, I noticed that I forgot to hook-up the one gallon, coolant surge tank hoses to the coolant radiator. WP_000246.jpgGeez! I'll have that done and tested next week. That all needs to be tested again at the track, to see if what it was designed to do (more coolant reserve) would be effective in decreasing engine temps.
 
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Van

87t Hardtop
Mar 26, 2006
974
0
0
Oak Grove, OR 97267
At the track yesterday, several racers noted how well the car scrubbed speed while braking hard before a corner; I'm talking about going from 110 to 50 in one hundred feet on turn one, then in another 5 seconds in turn four, from 80 down to 50 in under 100 feet, and lastly, another high speed braking zone in another 30 seconds at turn 10, from 130 down to 60. I was not experiencing any brake fade during the twenty minute sessions. I hadn't been looking at the oil pressure during braking as I was looking where I wanted to go. The driving school instructor also didn't pay attention to the gauges as he was making sure I was doing as I was instructed.
The racers were asking me if the oil pan is baffled so as to keep the oil from rushing to the front of the sump and potentially exposing the oil pump pick up to air. I looked at pics from the modified sump in the car, but I am not sure if what I'm looking at is also a baffle or just a windage tray?
Windage tray in modified oil pan.jpg
 
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Van

87t Hardtop
Mar 26, 2006
974
0
0
Oak Grove, OR 97267
CajunKenny;1947699 said:
With your pan, running an additional quart of oil should take care of that possibility.
Good and simple solution. I'll try that next time for added assurance that there will not be a precipitous drop in oil pressure. I may also need to go to an AccuSump type set up? I currently have one quart in the oil cooler and hoses, then another seven in the motor. I'm asking questions and learning... ;)

1986.5supra_kid;1947710 said:
42 pages of supra glory :) good reading
Thanks Kid for your interest. My original intention was to document the build for Class Racing. In the meantime, if the build inspires others to enter their Supra in Club racing, then I'm happy to have been a part of it. :eek:
 

bloodasp90

JZwhore of JAPAN
Nov 9, 2007
529
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0
38
on the river
Van, what size oil cooler and lines are you running? and what kinda pressure have you been seeing with the oil on the track? and how is it posistioned? cause i noticed on my car that i had to redo my own oil setup cause how it was postioned wasnt allowing it to fully cool it down.
 

Van

87t Hardtop
Mar 26, 2006
974
0
0
Oak Grove, OR 97267
Hi Eric,
Thanks for reminding me... I'm running the RX-7 full oil cooler. It uses a thermo pellet design (on upper hose connection), starting to lift off the seat at 170 degrees F., and gradually opens as the oil temps rise. It is a two pass design that maintains pressure in the oil cooler, holding about a quart of reserve oil in the cooler behind the thermo pellet. The pellet never fully lifts out of the way of the oil passage. That Pellet was to have been removed prior to track day, as it acts as a restriction during high demand, track conditions! Still, we didn't see oil pressure rise above 45 psi the whole day. Additionally, the oil's color is still amber.
This set up needs more development time, before it goes back out on the track.
WP_000120.jpgWP_000121.jpg
 

Van

87t Hardtop
Mar 26, 2006
974
0
0
Oak Grove, OR 97267
Here is IJ reply to my question on oil pressure loss under braking at the limit of tire adhesion:
IJ.;1947727 said:
Unless there's a forward trapdoor under the stock tray you're running the risk of RKing it under braking, I lost my first 7M this way on a freeway when I had to do an emergency stop...

For your use I'd be fitting a 3Qt Accusump ASAP.

Van;1947730 said:
I thought so... I looked at the spec sheet just now, he didn't put in a V shaped baffle. Thanks, IJ