I've been trying to get the Tangerine Dream ready for an SCCA race at Lime Rock next Saturday. Its been almost 4 years since the car was operational.

The car has new front and rear suspension components, revised oil cooler location and ducting, new engine cooling duct running through the car from a foglight opening in the bumper, major body repairs & new paint. The bumper/airdam is one of Kevin Groot's carbon fiber units

The engine was rebuilt in 2005 as a backup, just before I went to the Runoffs in Sept., but never was run. Tonight at 6pm I fired it up for the first time. It ran pretty good right away, except for a little unexpected valve noise from cyl. #4. I expect it to produce about 160hp @ 7000 rpm if the valves don't float first.

I still have a lot of work left before the car can be driven but this was a major step forward, and in plenty of time. I think I'll go have a

I for one and very very glad to hear you will take another run at racing....you learned alot and it was fun...

Lemme know when you are running local (Limerock and NHIS) so I may have a chance to see you.

Rich

has it really been 4 years since you got Miataed?

Good grief, how time does fly.

Zach

Great to hear, welcome back.

BTW, does anyone else have an problem when breathing the fumes of high octane cars in front of you on the track?

It might make me even sicker than riding with a jerky driver.

That really must suck not racing for 4 years.

A few pictures:

Do the rules allow you to use one of the lighter hi-torque starters? At the very least, it would save you about 6 or 7 pounds.

How does your clutch set up work?

No alternator? Guess you don't need to charge for the races?

I really like the corviar set up.

I really like the 935 front suspension. What are the benefits?






secretly been thinking of putting those and fox shocks on in the spring.

I could install a hi-torque starter but haven't had any issues with stock so never considered making the change. I never thought about the weight difference. I have one, so I will measure it and may put it on the list of things to change in the near future.

The clutch is a stock cable setup. The bracket is something I developed to improve ground clearance and cable routing with headers. I have a couple in stock but haven't listed them on the website yet. Installing one on my race car was one of the last R&D steps I needed to do. One feature is two sets of mounting holes for the tranny. By moving the bracket back half an inch it effectively shortens the cable. I often have to run the adjuster nut way down on the cable end or add a long sleeve to move the nut closer to the end. I hate having to turn the nut(s) such a long distance in a rather inaccessible spot

No alternator. The rules require it to be in the stock location if I use one. I quick charge the battery at the 40 amp setting on my charger for half an hour between on-track sessions. It shortens battery life so I typically change them out every couple of years. I'm reluctant to purchase an Optima and then treat it that way so I just use a standard 5 year battery. It has to be inside a marine container because I have it located inside the cockpit for better weight bias and theres no point in using a lighter battery since I have to add ballast to meet minimum weight anyway

I like the corvair style cooling too. I keep saying I will do the final development to turn this into a real product and make it available to others but other priorities always push it down on the list of things to do.

The design allows for adjustments to the geometry that a stock a-arm doesn't have. The pivot point is moved inboard and upward which does two things - improved camber curve through the range of motion and better control over bump-steer.
The stock undertray no longer attaches so I will have to do something to smooth out the bottom of the car there. Something that also stiffens the chassis at a what may be a weak point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeNp6z_G1vs

go Chris go .....good luck

Exactly...

So how much run time do you get without the Alt? Never thought about that.

Did I notice one of the rare Porsche "red" racing transmissions insstalled? How does the red transmission improve your top speed?

Eric

I paid a lot of money for that Rare Red Porsche Trans so my top speed would be improved.
But I haven't ever reached top speed, so I don't know by how much yet. The fastest I've gone with that unit installed is 120mph, and with my best engine I expect it is good for 130 or better.
It has gears A,I,M,Q,V, an 80% Ltd Slip Differential, new bearings, syncros, and more. The output flanges are coarse spline 915 for 110mm CVs with 10mm bolts.
Next upgrade will be a transmission cooler.

I generally charge the battery after every on-track session, but I have forgotten and made it through two 20 minute sessions without suffering. I don't think it would be good for a third without some help.
The starter is what sucks the battery down quickest. If I have trouble starting the engine it will go flat pretty quick.
After that there is brake lights, fuel pump, ignition, gauges. The Hyfire ignition still seems to work ok when the battery is only putting out 10 volts, knock on wood.

Chris,
Think about this...

There are some very nice and heavy duty M/F battery plugs that are quick disconnect style.
You could wire one into your battery and use a portable jumper to start it with that plug...also good for charging.
I evisioned mounting it so the person with the jumper would not even have to reach into the car.

Rich

Rich,
I have one of those plugs already wired to the battery for connecting the charger, but I don't have a jump pack.
I still need a generator and battery charger at the track because the jump pack can't carry enough charge to last all weekend.
The jump pack would be good but not sufficient by itself. All it would do is keep the battery from becoming prematurely drained from multiple starts before entering the track.

When I was into WWII armored cars, I once drove one all weekend w/o a charging system. We used a second battery for starting the beastie, and ran ignition off the first. Never had a problem with it, though we did eventually fix the generator.

Zach