So .. two events down and no real issues. I ran a hillclimb in Ruakaka (1-1/2 hours north of Auckland) where i drove the car to the event, competed, and drove home. The only thing that was a bit of a bummer is when i got to Ruakaka it split an oil line - so i am now well into the task of sorting that out.
I have removed all the oil lines, and decided it was a worthy opportunity to remake the oil lines and relocate the cooler to get some better angles for better flow. Managed to tack everything into place, then my local Pirtek guy decides "yep, you can Mig those fittings, then ill do the crimps" so why not ? ... I now just have to wait for him to crimp the fittings and then put it all back together.
Also .. just for a bit of a laugh, decided the factory exhaust just wasn't going to suffice on a race car for much longer so that just absolutely had to go, not questions asked. I went for a visit to Lynchbuilt (
www.lynchbuilt.co.nz) where Mark, myself, and Tony pulled the original exhaust off the car, and Mark proceeded to mig up a full 2-1/2" mandrel bent exhaust right off the back of the turbo with a single muffler. It doesn't sound hugely louder, but definitely goes better. Immediately it free'd up another 2psi of boost, so i think once the oil lines are on, a quick visit to the dyno might be in order to make sure the engine isnt running lean.
The downside to getting closer to the "reliable, and fast" status is that i think my valve stem seals might be giving up the go .. theres a moderate amount of smoke coming from the exhaust under deceleration, but clears once your back on the throttle. Might be time to lift the head off over xmas and do the seals, check out the state of the valves, and maybe do a light amount of port work just to clean things up a bit.
