Anatomy of the engine mount

With uprated engine torque, I have a problem with engine movement. So it is time to think about some uprated engine mounts. There are few options, some more, some less expensive, but I would like to figure out some proprietary construction of my own ;).
First analysis needs to be done of what we have stock. I have taken old and teared away hydraulic engine mount:Cut top of it, to see what is inside. Quite complicated internals:Dismantled middle part:Nice pot to fill it with something (nylon? polyurethane?). Will think about it:
Burned remaining rubber with propane torch, however no pictures. It is interesting what would happen if to fill this area with polyester epoxy and glass fiber. Will it crack? We will see ;).

Some photos from 2008.07.26 event

Haven't mentioned that I was attending per4m day on 26 of July. Event was run on old airfield. I
have done G-meter run and some auto-x (fast slalom) runs.

G-meter showed 0-100 5.4s, 1/4 13.8s. Not bad (with stock ECU).

Could not run high boost due to high ambient temperatures (black car, heat soak, etc.) and my chineese made clutch :(. Of course none of photographers was not interested in taking pictures of my tired old car, but luckily shiny 350z was always nearby, so ppl took photos of both cars :D. Here they are (no onboard footage yet, still struggling to get it out from DVR):
Photos - (C) by Duskin

Tiny update - koni sport

As title says got adjustables for "race" struts. Still need to decide and purchase coil springs (expensive) and somehow convince local suspension shop to make coilovers for me :). They even smell like freshly painted:

Few updates for the June

Like always, no big updates for some time, and some consolidate update for the period. Here we go.

Under vehicle inspection after airfield "track day" revealed source of clunking noise . It seems, that being a zombie, I have forgot to tighten all four wishbone bolts. They were just slided in and nut put on the first few threads. Result - one lost nut and almost lost bolt (OMG!):
Everything was fixed and tightened properly. Did a few small jobs (leaks, cable fixings), not worth to mentioning. One which really improved something was adding flexi to the exaust pipe. Measurements:
And flexi welded in place:
Now I'm not loosing exaust (and burning handbrake cables) in the middle of track :). Ok some sound and effects are lost, but at least everything stays in place

Some videos (AVI) from local track day (yes, I'm slow). Two times passed by a race prep'ed civic with pro driver. One was really scary. Desperatelly need any suspension :(. Now it feels like I'm driving the boat with no engine, brakes, steering...

when I see it
when I don't

2008.05.18 The airfield

I will edit this post, when I manage to get videos from my DVR. However it seems that on board footage was screwed up. For some reason (fog on the lens?) camera recorded everything in blur, like car was full of smoke.

EDIT: Onboards are really screwed. Here are few static photos of the car (click on image, to zoom):



Driving (testing brakes, suspension, steering, gearbox) with stock boost (0.9 bar) was real fun. I like torsen and new flywheel. Also the taller gearing for 2nd gear. It was worth all the hassle.

2008.05.18 Pleasure starts :)

So after failing to attempt yesterday's event, everything went back from banzai! to normal working with pleasure - now it started to really feel like vacations. Cut few corners from glove box assembly:Pushed the wires on to the shelf, and vuala - it fits nicelly. No more spaghetti mess at the passenger's legs:

2008.05.17 The D-Day

Got up early, went to the garage, and continued to work with the car. It started to rain (to make things more complex), so I needed to cover areas, where holes were made for roll cage to connect to the front struts... It was quite a rush to connect, fix, bolt everything that is needed for car to run. Speedo was not working so managed to borrow GPS unit and make loom for it to work, etc.

When the time for the meet has come - I have noticed, that I have lost registration documents for the car... That was final hit, which put me down. Three weeks of "Go go go!" type activity, and that's it, FIASCO!

After few hours of searching - managed to find them (they fell out of radiator area in the car), however motivation was lost, event sports part has ended already, etc. Went home, and tried to relax and rest. It was too much for me.

In the evening, few finished touchings, and tried to go around the block. It was magnificient. Impressions are hard to describe (car with sound insulation vs car with roll cage and many holes to outside). It runs and feels like racing car (what a surprise). It was worth all the pain I've suffered in past three weeks.