Post-Race Analysis

Alan
Update by Alan Cesar to the Mazda Miata - Sunburst Yellow project car
Dec 27, 2013

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The cluster checked out OK, so we determined that the problem was in the wiring.

Our rear main seal is leaking, so it's spewing oil out of the shift fork boot.

These BFG Rivals lasted us a race and will easily last us another one or two.

Hawk HPS pads did a great job on the front and never faded, but they appear maybe a bit more than half worn. We expect to get maybe half of another race out of them.

This explains the wheel vibration we got near the end of the day. The wheels were chock full of OPR—other people's rubber.

Our yellow Miata ran the crapcan race in September and finished with few problems. One thing that we had to deal with the whole time was fuel: We tracked how much fuel we put into it and got a good idea of how long we could go on a tank as the race progressed, but having a gauge would’ve made that job easier.

On our post-race examination, we found that the wire to the sending unit got damaged at some point, probably during the cage installation. Instead of tracking down the break in the wire and patching it, we just ran a new wire back to the tank.

The rest of the car showed that it would take another race easily. Our BFGoordrich Rivals had plenty of life. The Hawk HPS pads might not last a full 14-hour race, but LeMons races are often split up into two 7-hour days. If necessary, we could swap the pads after the first day of racing and have a fresh set for day two.

The only issue we have to rectify is a leaking rear main seal, but that may have to wait until after the next race. Right now we’re hoping to make it to Barber in early February. Fingers crossed.

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Comments
wbjones
wbjones UltimaDork
11/12/14 7:11 a.m.

while the HPS is a decent pad … I'm betting you'd be happier in the long run with a pad (Carbotech, Hawk …etc) that was made for endurance racing …

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