18-04-10, 04:55 GMT+10#132 instead of responding with pics, and a video, like you all requested, i thought i might continue the theme of this thread by writing an essay... sorry chris(EVL) i know you dont like my essays, promise ill make it up with some good pics and maybe a video or two soon...
the story so far:
well as you've all read up to this point had some ins and outs, and eventually got there, with pretty much zero costly mistakes or bad decisions. as some of you may know i went slightly over budget, i originaly started with something like seven grand in mind about a year and a half or so ago? everyone said it couldnt be done, i said id try anyway, i spent more than that in just parts for the build in a few months leading up to me even starting to take **** apart...
anyway, the last few weeks the car has been running, but untuned, lee was waiting on rotormotion whos dyno was(is?) broken temporarily, had a voltage issue and a part needed to be replaced. i got the call a week or so ago to bring down some fuel, so i filled up the big drum and took it down and left it in the workshop, this was a mistake haha, i got sidetracked chatting to the guys down there and forgot to mention it was there, i thought theyd put it in, they thought i had already put it in.
so the car went off to ovaboost instead, at vast expense to the RAC (i spun them a story) good thing i have platinum cover, 50kms for free haha.
so the car was dropped at ovaboost on tuesday, i was in high spirits, it was almost there, a few phonecalls to ovaboost as the day wore on got slightly more depressing, issues with fuel pumps or something? they were going to look at it the next day. got a call from lee in the morning to say it had run out of fuel, at this point we both realised my gerican of fuel was still in his workshop, i dont blame him, and he didnt blame me, it was a communication error that i learned from. ovaboost put some fuel in it and couldnt get it running, they were pretty sure it was a fuel pump.
this time i had to pay to get the car towed back the 50kms, luckily it wasnt too expensive haha. lee tipped the fuel in and almost instantly it was running again, still is now! bit of a bummer really, beause ovaboost only tuned it safely to about 2k, rather than a full run-in tune, so its all ****ted up still. i picked it up on thursday, and have only had two solid outings driving it, its an absolute pig, and more like a pigc**t when its cold. it doesnt run smoothly untill it gets warm, and even then when letting the revs drop from 3k or there abouts you have to give it the slightest tap as it gets near 1k or it forgets that its an engine and goes into anchor mode.
so right now i'm kind of stuck in a bit of a dilema, do i try and squeeze 1000 kms out of it and just get a decent 1bar tune? or shell out another couple of hundred (or more for ovaboost) and have another attempt at a run in tune done. the car is in no real danger, i just need to make sure i constantly check fluids, coolant seems fine, havent checked the oil yet, will do it 2moro. the only issues im really having now has to do with the clutch and revs. as ill explain in the next section of this essay
personaly i have owned 3 cars. all of them manual, this calais is the 2nd, when i got it the clutch was a dream, felt like a new car, always drove sweetly too. i went the twin plate because in my head i was picturing just like that, but only a little firmer. god was i wrong, this is fu**ing nuts! i have stalled the calais more times this week than i ever stalled the whole time i was learning to drive. its an embarressment to drive haha, an embarressment to be seen with me.
im no wanker, im not going to pretend im a s**kc**t driver that can jump in anything take it to redline whilst reverse parrallel parking, i consider myself adept at driving, jsut never encountered a clutch that behaved like this one. its a good thing, its firm and grips so well, it jumps into gear, i can just feel with some revs behind it as i climb through the gears its just going to want to keep going haha. really i am just in the learning stage so to speak, finding out what works and what doesnt. it doesnt help with the rev issue, it feels like it constantly wants to stall, add that a clutch that loves to jump off in first it kind of leaps forwards, has an issue with the load changing on the revs, faulters for a second, then dies because its faltered, partly my fault, because im being too kind to it, which in turn is hurting it more. trying NOT to rev the **** out of it and let it go forwards because 1: i dont want to spin the wheels (though it tends to spin the wheels anyway because it leaps forwards and stalls) and 2: because i dont want to hurt the engine haha.
lees instructions were just dont ride the clutch. oddly im better at reversing the car than taking off in first... i simply just need to practise more, and get used to the clutch. im feeling that im better off reving it a bit harder and letting the car go forward, rather than trying to maintain a lower smoother rev start off, i just dont want to draw too much attention to myself. so far i've only done 100kms, ideally i want to do 1000 before the cruise and get it tuned to 1bar, but i dunno thats two weeks from now, doubt ill be able to find the time AND have it tuned ready to go. i feel i'd be better not rushing it and getting a run in tune before the cruise and use the cruise to clock up some kms on it.
i have tickled it onto boost once or twice, just the very start of boost at around the 3krm point in 3rd and 4th, it wants to come on and go, supprisingly early on for it to be boosting, but thats a good thing.
all of the hassles of the car trying to stall out when slowing down and my poor heavy duty clutch handling skills aside, the car behaves fantasticly, and it sounds perfect, it sound f**king mean... the cam really puts out a great note, and im so glad lee talked me into the 3.5" exhaust, its cop bait but who gives a **** when it sounds that good haha. i dont want this post to sound like im not happy with the car, im extatic, it runs great once i get it out of 1st, and i have a feeling that the problems im experiencing are atleast 70% my own and when the car is tuned to run just that little bit smoother i reckon it will come perfect in no time.
there a few bearing noises in 4th and 3rd, im more than a little bit worried about it, but i cant tell if its effecting performance as of yet. also the autometer tacho seems to be reading about 40% different to the standard one, eg 1.8k on the big tacho or 3k on the dash one, need to get that fixed as i dont know whether im reving it too much or not enough. ill also need to swap the speedo gears over (still) hoping it will be a straight swap and i will be able to read my speed propperly.
the minispool is as much of a c**t as always, constantly skipping and making my life hard by squeeling when i take off, wouldnt have it any other way for now, im sure it will be a welcome part of the car as it gets some power.
all i have left to do myself is purely cosmetic, im thinking step one ill paint around the fuel pumps and surge tank etc black, then buy another boot carpet and cut a few holes in it to make it fit in nice, and glue it down. the car starts perfectly, just needs the slightest touch of revs when cold to get it going, then just hold the revs on a little till it gets warm. all of the instrumentation still works, fuel, volts, temp and oil, all good stuff.
cant wait to get it out and about, have some serious cleaning to do, going to get a toothbrush to clean the hard to reach places and have it all shiny for the bbq cruise.
the main reason i havent added photos or vids yet is because its still not finished in my eyes, will update with more soon, was my bday last weekend and my brother has promised to take some proffessional style photos of the car. otherwise you will all see it on may the 2nd!
EDIT: felt bad about all the text, didnt realise it was so long untill i un-maximised it from fullscreen on my 22inch monitor... woops... so i thought i'd include a picture of a hottie washing my car (its sanders):
just want to add since its pretty much done, im really glad i paid someone to do what lee did for me, there is some **** i can do myself, and more i could do if our garage wasnt set up the way it is, but the level of workmanship that the guys at sanders racing use is out of this world. the guys were always friendly and willing to chat, they've got their own little group dynamic going on in the workshop and they seem to genuinely give a **** about what you say, which i kind of expect since im giving them all money! just wanted to say i agree with daniel saying "bought not built" sure i didnt buy a whole package, but it is entirely of my own design where we ended up and as things stand im happier now, with the way its going and how it looks, compared to how it would be looking now, or 3 years down the track in a shed somewhere still not running. (thats not to say those of you who do build your own cars all have busted up pieces of **** in sheds not running, i just know the car wouldnt not be where it is today, or maybe ever, if i didnt send it to a proffessional)
Some original photos have not been recovered yet.
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