Dumb, Stubborn, and bound to end up penniless…….

[aw614]

I might just have to get one of those dizzys from japan just to keep as a spare...

The rear shift bushing was the cause of most of my shifter vibration. I had the mfactory rear bushing along with the spoon duracon shift knob and it would vibrate all the time during highway cruising. I ended up putting back the stock bushing, but kept the front stiffer mfactory piece. It reduced the vibrations I had.

I do think having a heavier shift knob also absorbed the vibrations that the Spoon knob didn't, but it was tolerable with the combo I had.

Oddly enough I had the mfactory bushing when I was non VTEC and it never vibrated or rattled. Only difference was the motor mounts of stock and with mileage vs new Spoon rubber mounts

[aklackner]

Ok continuing with trackday prep:

Drained the Redline 5w30 and sent a sample to blackstone labs. This will be the first sample I have analyzed. The current oil couldn’t have seen more than 300mi but had been in there since January When I dropped the pan due to the oil pick up issue. I really love the Fumoto quick drain it made this super fast and tidy, even with the Laile under panel. It will encourage me to do more frequent maintenance! The oil drained a bit darker than I anticipated but the surface didn’t give any indication of coolant, metallics, or other things that could keep me up at night.

A new Royal Purple filter went on and in went almost 5 qts of Redline Race 40wt to get to the top level indicator. The Redline 40wt is supposed to be close to a 15w40, poured well and should provide good protection at track temps. While it’s in there I’ll take extra care to warm it up before I move it. I’ll probably drain and return to 5w30 after Willow Springs since I want to avoid any unnecessary wear on the motor and the Redline Race oils don’t have any of the normal detergents. I’m also eager to get more data from analysis.

No issues with a cold start, Full warm up, and short test drive. Hi Mikey I think he likes it.

Also starting to get things organized to take with so far I have:

Safety and personal equipment:
Helmet & headsock
Simpson hybrid neck restraint
OMP socks
Driving gloves
Driving shoes
Cotton pants
Cotton long sleeve tshirts
Water bottle
Sunglasses
Hat
Sunscreen
Wheel chocks
Window wash supplies
Tire inflator
Tire gauge
Rags
Track maps
Wallet and AAA card
Camp chair

Spare parts and fluids:
Rubber gloves
Set front brake pads
Throttle cable
Spark plugs
Distributor
3qt Redline 40wt
2qt MTF
1L ATE 200
1/2 gal Redline supercool

Tools
Wheel lug adapters
Alum. Jack & (2) jack pads
(2) Alum jack stands
Coilover spanner
Strap wrench
1/2 torque wrench
1/2 ratchet, deep well sockets, extensions, and wobble
3/8” ratchet, deep well sockets, extensions, and wobble
Small funnel & hose (hose allows adding trans fluid from top by removing one bolt and pulling speed sensor)
Long handle box end ratcheting wrench set
Standard open end wrench set
Flare nut wrench
Knipex pliers
Philips and flat screw drivers
Hex wrench set
Caliper spreader
Laptop and OBD2 cable (to read any codes)
Kneeling pad

I’m not planning to do any major work or try to fine tune anything. If something comes up that’s serious I’ll just tow it home, but I do want to be prepared to address minor issues that would otherwise prevent me from completing the training in 01-0386.

[aklackner]

Even a small trans. leak bugged me so I drained the fluid again today, replaced the seal and seated it with the outer diameter maybe .5mm below flush. When I pulled the shaft the sealing surface looked to be in good shape but it looked like the outer lip of the seal was right at the edge of the sealing surface.

Took it out for a couple miles and no sign of a leak.

Unfortunately however, the hybrid racing shifter went from bad to worse and complete separated from the ball bearing. The shift rod was still contained and you could shift but had 4” of vertical play since only the shift linkage was keeping it down.

Hybrid did ship a new shifter to me but FedEx is showing it as delayed until EOD Saturday. I real didn’t feel like trying to deal with it the night before Willow Springs so in the stock (well for someone) unit went in.

It certainly classes the cockpit up




Here’s the Hybrid unit:

The cir-clip was just floating on the lower shaft and even if you bend it back down to size, just seating it in the shaft stretches so it’s too large to work.


Here’s the under side the cir-clip should seat on the black sleeve but is currently free to float.


New movement limits


In the last one there you can see clearly where the cir-clip should sit.

[Stin1]

The Oem shifter looks a lot more comfortable than the pool stick . What did you do to mate up the 98 shift knob? Switch out the ring?

[aklackner]

It’s been a while since I sourced all the parts but iirc it’s something like JDM ctr shift boot (ITR is short) and an EM1 ring all transferred to the ITR surround/frame.

The downside is it’s pretty far from the steering wheel and with my helmet and hybrid neck restraint on it will be entirely out of view.

I’m eager to get it out for a test drive to check seating position and feel.

[aklackner]

Few last bits before the Willow Springs trip:

In addition the the projects below I managed to add about 50mi to the odometer. I’m loving the OEM shifter and the car overall. It’s a great drive!!!


Installed a blanket for the Comptech header. This helped some with bay temps but seems to have dropped peak oil temps around 20F!



I also wrapped the GReddy bpipe hopefully this keeps some heat off the shifter and gas tank.

[aklackner]

Last item before Willow Springs:

Just in case…



I followed a bit of the tried and true and made my own adjustments. Two rubber tourniquets are used to retract the strap. One pulls the middle of the strap back to the factory tow hook, the second retracts the loop to the bumper skin.

It’s mounted to the bumper re-enforcement but braced inside the beam so it can’t collapse and with washers inside and out so it actually pinches the steel sheet at top and bottom of the beam. Since it was all done with the bumper skin in place you’ll have to visualize the washers and spacers inside and outside the the beam as separated.

[Stin1]

Nice way to protect it . I like that thin India wrench. Looks to thin for a bike tool and to thick for a bicycle tool . I want one .Great job on the car. I am looking forward to seeing your track pics.

[aklackner]

The replacement Hybrid Racing shifter came today. I think I see what happened now. It looks like they glue the adjustment sleeve in the bearing. The cir-clip backs up the adhesive. The cir-clip itself has play within the retaining groove on the shaft. I suspect the heat from my exhaust caused the adhesive to fail and allowed the rattling and ultimately the cir-clip to be pushed out of the groove.




I might try to see if I can find a circlip that fits a little better (is thicker/stronger) but since I’ve really liked the OEM shifter I don’t know that I see myself putting one of these back in.

[aklackner]

Nice way to protect it . I like that thin India wrench. Looks to thin for a bike tool and to thick for a bicycle tool . I want one .Great job on the car. I am looking forward to seeing your track pics.

This is the wrench set, I think I picked it up for the Koni jam nuts since my standard open wrenches where too wide to hold the lower nut. It’s great since they double sided each end is 1mm increment for awkward sizes (or closer imperial equivalents). It would be nice if they were a bit stronger but really come in handy in tight spots like F. Upper control arm bushings.

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