AggieBlake's '05 ZHP school bus + track car - Maintenance and Mod Log

[AggieBlake]

Peter,
You'd asked about how much the wheels stick out. Here's a profile pic. I tried to send this as a private message, but couldn't attach a picture. I must be doing something wrong. But I know how to insert pics here. These are 245/40 17's on 8.5x17 et40 arc-8's. No spacers. Stock ride height.

[AggieBlake]

Repainted front grill and popped out alignment pins

Nothing big today - I just had a little time after work. First, I repainted the front grill that had faded into a black/silver mess. I checked on removing it, but it looked like a pain. And I had a bunch of painters' tape, so why bother?! Here it is prepped.


Here it is finished.


Then, at Derek's suggestion, I popped out my front alignment pins so I can get closer to my target -1.5 degrees of front camber. I've seen people online mention drilling them out. I'm not sure why. A punch and ball-peen hammer make very fast work of it.


Finally, pulled out my redneck camber gauge (made it for the track miata I used to have - looks like crap but works surprisingly well). I'm around -.8 on passenger side; -1 on driver's side. I've still got half the slot left on the strut tower bolts, so hopefully I can get to my targets.

[slater]

nice work, blake! thanks for the wheel pics. that's pretty aggressive for the fronts, maybe i not sure i can go 18x8.5 ET38 up front if i end up going to stock springs - but maybe!

[BMWCurves]

Good stuff. I resprayed my lower grille a couple of months ago and it's held up fine so far. Granted it's been cold, out of the sun, and parked in a garage for the most part.

[johnrando]

Yup, good stuff

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Vas]

Nice job

[theothersawyer]

Car looks great! Keep up the good work!

[derbo]

Nice Blake! FWIW,

this is my setup with -2.5 camber and a small 3mm spacer to clear the stoptechs comfortably.



I think this is with a 10mm Spacer or 12.5mm I forgot..

[AggieBlake]

Nice Blake! FWIW,

this is my setup with -2.5 camber and a small 3mm spacer to clear the stoptechs comfortably.

I like the looks of that Derek! The spacers are also getting you a bit extra track width, though it's probably insignificant. But anything helps! I'll have to add that to the list.

I think I'll do the brakes first though since that seems to determine what spacers should be run. I've got good fluid, but need to upgrade front rotors and pads sometime soon. That was a weakness during my track sessions. Not a "I'm going to hit the wall!" kind of weakness. But still left me feeling less than fully confident in the car. When that's done, I'll know more about what I should do with spacers.

[AggieBlake]

First alignment

Alright, I finally got the car in for an alignment with a really quality local shop. Here's the before and after. Car had ~140# ballast in the driver's seat and a full tank of gas. Turns out I didn't need much adjustment! I got the -1.5 degrees negative camber I wanted up front by popping the pins (I set the camber myself before going to the shop to validate my spec sheet). I set rear camber to -1 based on Peter and Derek's advice that it should be a little less negative than front (thanks guys!). Caster's a little less than I wanted, but not adjustable and really not that big a deal. Zero toe front for more aggressive handling. 1/16" toe in per side in the rear. I don't know why the sheet is saying 1/16 toe in per side and also 1/16 total... should be 1/8 total. Rounding error perhaps.

The car feels great on the street. Not twitchy, but very direct and responsive. It tracks well at all speeds. I'll keep an eye on tire wear. The real test will come on track next month.