In reply to PunchyWrench - Ed Higginbotham :
That makes good sense. I was thinking I might be missing something to do with oil flow etc. and would like to get this right the first time. Thanks
In reply to PunchyWrench - Ed Higginbotham :
That makes good sense. I was thinking I might be missing something to do with oil flow etc. and would like to get this right the first time. Thanks
220 isn't that alarming to me. The vette guys start taking notice when they get to 250. I'm not familiar with the BMW motors but sounds like you're probably doing OK.
and nice save...
In reply to adam525i :
I do not believe there is any kind of downhill/uphill effect at play since it's all under pressure. However, I do think it's bad practice to mount a cooler so the fittings are at the bottom. I would think that would stop the cooler filling all the way with oil.
In reply to jfryjfry :
Hey the great jfry has graced my humble build thread! And yeah I see anecdotal evidence of people saying up to 250. Other people with these engines say it shouldn't go above 220. I kind of took a baseline at the track with a few Spec3 folks and it seems 200-220 is kind of the range, depending on track conditions, weather, oil cooler installed, etc. So while I don't think it was severely hot, I think it's worth controlling the temp some. But yeah, the anecdotal evidence for temps is absolutely all over the place.
Curious to see where the temps sit at Pitt this weekend with the cooler installed. The forecast looks extremely similar to the last race at Summit so it should be a good comparison.
The oil cooler rig is very sexy! 
Pitt happened. Hung out with the fantastic Spec3 crew. Fun times as always. This was my first time at Pitt Race and I totally enjoyed learning the track. Very slippy-slidey track.
The big takeaway on the oil cooler is that it works great. Oil temps stayed about 20-25 degrees lower than previously seen, and this was during a hot weekend in Pittsburgh. Oil temps hovered around 200 all weekend and oil pressure remained almost exactly the same as previous. Great success!
As for results, the best part of my weekend was qualifying. Managed to qualify 5th out of 8, 0.01 seconds away from 4th.
The start of the race was very interesting.
And lap 2 of the same turn was even more interesting. TIL that without ABS, my car locks up the right rear first. A new (used) ABS module has been ordered this morning via eBay.
I also lost another fuel pump with two laps to go. Was able to make my way past Alex to finish 7th. (Poor Alex had a leaky brake line and a rear sway bar mount about to fail.)
Taylor the spare parts king lent us a fuel pump for the Sunday events.
The top of the to-do list now includes:
Chiming in to say...
the Spec3 guys are a great crowd and fun to hang with.
My performance on Sunday was abysmal, but in spite of my awful performance, the weekend was enjoyable and pretty awesome.
Ed is a solid driver...hopefully the abs module and front shocks help this old guy get a bit more competitive at NJMP and I start to pull my weight as a teammate. .
Hi Ed, just dropped in to say hello, and very happy to see the red back axle-less car out and doing what it's supposed to!
Entertaining videos too, especially that 2nd one__glad you didn't hit anything and was able to keep it going ;)
Best of luck to you!
Great to hear from you Randy! Happy to report that even with all my abuse the subframes are still attached to the car. Really can't thank you enough for the fine work you did on those reinforcements. Hope you, the mrs, and all the Z cars are doing well down in FL.
yikes! narrowly missed some carnage with that barrier! A couple of nice avoidance maneuvers there. Looks fun!
In reply to Lof8 - Andy :
Extremely fun overall! Highly recommend Spec3 for what I think is the most fun for the buck in spec racing. And it's growing in lots of regions around the country... Including NASA Florida! 
Also I honestly didn't realize I was so close to the wall until I saw the video. In the moment I was 100% focused on trying to mentally slow down the car to not slide into @Brake_L8, the pink car in front of me.
Got a couple things straightened out this morning. Removed the old ABS pump and installed an eBay replacement. Super easy. Just unplug, loosen all the brake lines and remove the one nut that fixes it in place. Removing the intake elbow allows enough room to do the job.
hopefully that solves the abs issue. Just need to bleed it.
Next was assembling a new set of Spec3 struts with the required Koni inserts. Pretty straightforward. Start with an old set of E36 M3 OEM Struts. First find the center of the bottom of the shock.
Then punch the center and drill a smallish hole on that mark. 
Then pump the strut in and out to drain all the oil out of that hole.
Next, cut the top off the strut and remove the internals. I cut mine a little low because I wasn't sure how much the strut insert would stick out. After finishing I learned that it can be cut pretty much all the way at the top.
Next, expand that small hole you drilled in the bottom to 1/2".
Then slide the insert in. It was a very tight fit and I had to smack it on the work bench a few times to get it to seat all the way.
Then use the supplied bolt and washers and torque to 55 ft-lbs.
Then flip it over, put the rubber boot on the top and you are all done!
This weekend we're racing with NASA Northeast at New Jersey Motorsports Park. A couple people who have built Spec3 cars in the northeast region are joining. I've never driven this track and am very excited.
New struts have been installed. New tires have been mounted. ABS is maybe fixed.
Getting pumped. jh36 will do a day of test and tune on Friday.
@trumant if you still want to come out and hang for bit, please feel free!
My weekend is still free and clear so I'll try to make it down on Saturday.
PunchyWrench - Ed Higginbotham said:This weekend we're racing with NASA Northeast at New Jersey Motorsports Park. A couple people who have built Spec3 cars in the northeast region are joining. I've never driven this track and am very excited.
New struts have been installed. New tires have been mounted. ABS is maybe fixed.
Getting pumped. jh36 will do a day of test and tune on Friday.
@trumant if you still want to come out and hang for bit, please feel free!
So excited that there are some NorthEast cars being built and joining y'all! I will be loading, driving, and unloading a U-Haul truck to help my parents move so I'll be eagerly/jealously keeping tabs via RaceHero.
In the words of Mama Ru...
Well that was quite a weekend! This was the first Spec3 field at NJMP since the class was improved and updated. We had a field of four, but Alex dropped out without running a session, as he was battling some brake issues. The newest Spec3 driver Joe was there breaking in his car and set some very good times for a first weekend out in the car. Taylor beat the Spec3 track record on his first visit with a 1:35.946.
Really enjoyed the track, though I'd say it's in desperate need of a repaving. Some parts are very slick, some are rough, and there are some patches throughout that have a ton of grip but you can only use them for a split second. Jim Tramontano, a local Spec Miata driver paid us a visit in the paddock after practice and delivered some invaluable tips on how to approach certain corners.
First of all... NOTHING BROKE! Very excited about that. Besides adding a little power steering fluid and switching out the front brake pads Sunday morning, nothing had to be touched on the car. We did find out the new pump didn't make my abs operational though. The new shocks made a huge difference in feel. The originals must have been very blown.
On my way to grid for the Saturday race I realized I hadn't added gas after qualifying. But the gauge said half a tank and that's enough to get through a 30 minute race. But turns out one of the fuel level sensor arms must have been hung up because on the warm-up lap the gauge dropped to a quarter tank. Oof. I got the jump on Taylor at the start, ran a couple laps in the lead but couldn't hold him off for long. He passed me and then put a couple seconds between us. Pretty much ran the rest of the race with him on the horizon. With three laps to go, the car sputtered. Ran the last few laps slowly in 4th and 5th gear only. Made it to the finish on fumes. When I parked at our paddock spot the gauge was reading below the reserve light.
The Sunday Race was much more interesting and it was honestly probably the most fun race I've ever taken part in. jh36 ran qualifying earlier in the day and put us comfortably in 2nd on grid again. A large thunderstorm rolled through just before race time. The track was extremely slick to start, but dried out throughout the race. Taylor and I went back and forth and ended it with a side by side finish with a 0.1 second gap. If the finish line was another 100 feet down the track I think he would have had me. But here we are, it's kind of an asterisk win with the smaller field but it's a win none the less and I'm pumped!
Next we're taking the show on the road and racing at Roebling Road in Georgia in two weeks.
Oh and nice meeting you trumant! Sorry things were a little boring when you came by. Hope you enjoyed yourself!
Awesome! Congrats on the win and weekend with no breakage! That makes things a lot more enjoyable.
Thanks Andy!
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