Green EK4

[iwearmoccos]

This weekend was another round of Gippsland Car Club hill climb at Bryant Park.
The weather wasn't looking great from the start of the week, though I was hoping that it'd somehow circle us and I'd be able to put the changes made to the car to the test.
I went up to the track Saturday morning to assist with the working bee. I spent a heap of time on the broom, which I don't mind at times!
Swept the garages out and then walked the track and cleaned it up. It is a lot steeper on foot!
20180414_103058 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr
The weather rolled in at about 11am and pretty much stuck around all weekend!
I had planned to take my girlfriend for a couple of laps that afternoon, so was kinda disappointed I didn't get to scare the crap out of her!
I only did two laps with her, at a pretty slow speed. She seemed to enjoy it, so the day wasn't wasted.
20180414_130114 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr
Last night was probably the windiest night I remember at my parents!! I was just waiting for a big gum to blow over out the back, but that never happened luckily.
Up at Bryant Park, it was terrible. Windy, rainy and cold. This is the 2nd hill climb in a row that has been impacted by this terrible weather.
We were running the clockwise layout, but times were way off.

First run I just dawdled around, slightly quicker than most people.
The second run a dry, well kinda dry line had appeared. I went out a bit quicker and made it most the way around until I looped it after the back straight. This can be found below. No heat, slightly damp. Combo for disaster.

The third run, there was a slightly better dry line, so went a bit quicker.
Then it rained again, and I'd had enough of the rain by this stage, so bailed and went home early.
I don't regret that actually! It rained all the way home and no one went quicker for the rest of the day!
Here is a photo of my car in the rain.
20180415_140236 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr
And a nice Celica.
20180415_123339 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr
A fair number of MGs were up there also. MG owners are a strange bunch!
Times for my class this time, 2nd fastest for the day behind a K20 EK.
Screenshot_20180415-203233_Dropbox by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr
I'm sure Ive mentioned running in Sports Sedans previously, with GCC only running a U2L class these days, it should mean there is some really good competition between a few cars.
And now I'm home watching Coachella.
Off to Wakefield on Friday!!
20180415_170214 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr

[iwearmoccos]

The scrutineers at Bryant Park always make the suggestion of running two return springs on the throttle cable, just in case of failure. It isn't a requirement for street registered cars, but they always harp on about it each time.
I decided to put a spare spring I had in the garage on and see if it had an impact on the throttle sensitivity.
20180418_192901 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr
Pretty straight forward, as you can see. I ran it half way to H Nationals and removed the spring, I'll find a less springy spring and test again.

Yesterday was H Nationals at Wakefield, so on Friday I got up nice and early to wander up the Hume. This isn't an exciting drive, so I set off quite early so I could take my time if I really wanted to.
Stopped in at the Proprietor in Albury for lunch/breakfast. Nice coffee.
20180420_102138 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr
I then arrived in Goulburn. 98 was 1.72 a litre.
20180420_143033 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr
I had not been to Wakefield since 2016, when I attended twice. My car had changed a bit that year, but both visits netted me 1:12s. As a comparison, I believe I would have been doing 1:43s at Winton at this time. I'm now doing 1:37s. I know there isn't a direct 6 second reduction in time at both circuits, so after watching a B16 ED do a 1:10 on BYPs Youtube channel, I figured that is a reasonable lap time to aim for on a circuit I'm definitely not too familiar with. Or rather, have no current experience.

Saturday morning we woke up to quite a nice morning and headed out to the circuit.
As one of the few Victorians on site, I got my car sorted, signed on and spent the time before drivers briefing scrutineering cars.
There are always a few cars that leave you shaking your head, one in particular was a fire extinguisher zip tied to the bar that you use to adjust the seat. When advised to fix the issue, the answer was more zip ties!

These are the lap times for the day.

1:33.9787 1:13.6989 1:12.1616 1:11.1853 1:11.8313 1:12.1523 1:18.2905 1:10.7519 *:**.****
1:48.8838 1:18.7823 1:13.0192 1:12.2171 1:16.8196 1:10.6939 1:10.8249 *:**.****
1:39.4678 1:12.0625 1:10.3410 1:10.3216 1:10.1667 1:21.3802 1:10.4155 *:**.****
1:32.2777 1:10.5139 1:10.2303 1:10.4202 1:19.7016 1:10.4397 1:13.5432 1:15.1480 1:14.9012

First session was untimed as it was a passenger session, so overall there was 5 sessions.
I definitely took my time in the first session, coasting through most of the corners and getting a feel for the circuit. I couldn't remember how grippy it was, so edging to the limits was preferred.
According to Racechrono, I did a few 1:14s in this session.

2nd session out, I wanted to push a bit harder, particularly going deeper into T2, less braking at T4/5 and then flat through the right after the fish hook.
Once I had gone flat through that right hander, it gave me enough confidence to push harder everywhere else and I ended up with a high 1:10. I'd reached my goal, so wanted to work on a 1:09.

3rd session I ended up chasing another EK for a couple laps. It sounded like it had a K in it and had 20 on his number plate, so I'll guess he had a K20.
I was able to get up on him through the corners, but when we got to the straight and he moved off the line for me to go past, all I could do was throw my hands in the air as he pulled away. It was fun to follow another similar car, see our strengths/weaknesses. Also confirmed how damn well my car handles!!

4th session was just consistent low 1:10s. These laps were split up between fast first half/slow second half and vice versa! Just couldn't quite link all the sectors up for a good lap!! I also did my new PB of 1:10.16 in this session.
Here is that lap.

Not a bad base lap, but still plenty of improvement.
1 - A slightly wider and slower entry into T2 will give me better drive up the hill. Lack of power means anything will help.
2 - Less lift into T3, I can carry more speed through there.
3 - I have a feeling, with carrying more speed through T3, I can stay in 4th until after T5 and then coming back down the hill. From the video above, I don't think I need to go to 3rd as the revs are a little too high. Also slightly slower to get back on the accelerator before/into T4 with a gear change there.
4 - Not specifically this lap, but on multiple hot laps I struggled with brake fade into the fish hook. There were a couple laps in the last session that I overshot the apex resulting in slow lap times. This isn't something that has an impact on me usually, so it isn't of major concern. I do know a guy with a good value BBK solution, so I might talk to him in the future.

Oil cooler did its job once again. VERY happy I installed this.
Couple of photos.
20180421_160923 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr
Seeing Adam in the JDMYARD EG was a treat.
20180421_161349 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr

And then today I wandered back down the Hume and now I'm almost ready to fall asleep!

I really enjoyed heading up to Wakefield, the circuit is a heap of fun and quite technical. With some extra days there, I think I could push a low 1:09, 1:08 if I want to get a bit ahead of myself. One negative is how much of a percentage of the track is straight, so my Best16 is always going to be impact my laps.
It was also great to catch up with people that I only talk to on the internet, or know their car only. Everyone was up for a chat and were quite positive about everything.
All the people who put in effort to run this event did a great job. If anyone was there, there is more than just the people standing up at the drivers briefing that put in a heap of work into these days. It is definitely a team effort.

The last of my 4 events in a row is next week, with a round of the Vic hillclimb championship at Bryant Park. Weather looks good so far, I don't want another wet hill climb!!
I also need to call the local CAMS log book guy and sort that out.

Thanks.

[amee-reb]

Good job man. Thats one heck of a time.

[Toddxxx]

Awesome work rhys. Always good to catch up. 1:09s for sure next time! And yes that other ek is a k20

Sent from my VTR-L09 using Tapatalk

[Apu]

That’s a pretty good time for someone who doesn’t do Wakefield regularly. I should have come up to say hi but was really focused on getting into the 7s...and whilst I did get a PB, disappointed that I didn’t get there.

Good event though, and enjoyed it.

[iwearmoccos]

Good job man. Thats one heck of a time.

Thank you.

Awesome work rhys. Always good to catch up. 1:09s for sure next time! And yes that other ek is a k20

Sent from my VTR-L09 using Tapatalk

Definitely, and the exchanging of many items!
Here is a video of that chasing and a few more 1:10s.

That’s a pretty good time for someone who doesn’t do Wakefield regularly. I should have come up to say hi but was really focused on getting into the 7s...and whilst I did get a PB, disappointed that I didn’t get there.

Good event though, and enjoyed it.

Thanks Apu.
I was looking at your car and trying to work out how I knew it, but couldn't put my finger on it. Should have asked Pete or Todd!
Next time! When you drag it down to Winton in August!

[eskimo_firefighter]

Nice driving as always Rhys, thanks for making the trip up to Wakefield with us. It was a really fun weekend despite not bringing my S2000 up.

Victoria needs to up their game and go to more Wakefield days!

[iwearmoccos]

The past weekend was the 4th event for the month, a round of the Vic hill climb championship at Bryant Park.
I've thought many times of running the Vic hill climb series, though the other hill climb options in the state really don't compare to Bryant Park. I also have other interests, circuits like PI and Winton, so I don't really see I'd benefit, both in driving skill and satisfaction, running that whole series.

On Saturday morning I visited a guy to run through the CAMS log book inspection, a part of another undefined process from the CAMS world. This is required for state and national events, and I want it so I can run the Australian hill climb event at Bryant Park this year. I spent an hour with this guy and I'm still not sure we've completely everything as it should be. I need to take some photos to accompany my forms, so will see if its done correctly. It can't really be that difficult as heaps have log books, just seems like a really open ended process. Someone at CAMS needs to take an action to refine this process!

There was no practice on Saturday and I had a 1st birthday to attend anyway, so I woke up Sunday and headed up to the track. There was moisture in the air, so I hoped it'd just pass and we'd have a dry day, but unfortunately it did not.
This is the 3rd hill climb in a row that it has rained and I was pretty disappointed.
The 1st run was just damp and then it was about 95percent dry before the fattest rain drops fell from the sky. There was water running across the track at some parts, so they paused for 30minutes.

By the time it came around to my third run, the track was dry and I was hoping to hit the 79 second mark on this clockwise plus additional loop layout, which I was consistently hitting last year. I spun it a bit too much off the line, was a bit hesitant through a few corners and ended up running an 81.10. This was pretty frustrating, as the rain really ruined my mood for the day. All I want to do is go as fast as I can, and a previously rained on track is never going to be as fast as one with a bit of rubber on it.
This was my fastest for the day and can be found below.

If you find my 79 second run from last year, it looked (and felt!) so much nicer. I was much more fluid in my movements, as well as more confident in myself and the car's abilities.

We only got 4 runs for the day and the last was a slightly slower 81 run.
As I was in the non log book class and the fastest of the undocumented, I got a medal for my efforts.
My time was competitive in Sports Sedans up to 1600cc, though I really have no interest in beating people if I'm not driving as great as I can.
I met a few other hatchback enthusiasts that I've followed on socials or known about, and they did mention that I should run the series as I'd probably win my class. I'm much more interested in my own goals, not winning a class because it is easy. Maybe I'm completely wrong having never been there, but Rob Roy looks like the most boring place. Runs are under 30seconds and its 2.5 corners!
Some photos for you.
20180429_095725 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr
Great setup!
20180429_102233 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr
20180429_121544 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr

Abdul and his EK4 were down.
He is following a similar formula to my car, having recently install A050s and MCA Blues.
20180429_124613 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr

B16 in a CR-X.
20180429_141407 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr

Weather at the end of the day. Would have liked this the WHOLE day!
20180429_163043 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr

I re used my H Nats numbers, as I ended up with 44 again.
20180429_171155 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr

Next event is EXE double day at the start of June!
No changes for the car between now and then. Will probably get an alignment freshen up, otherwise we're good to go!

[iwearmoccos]

Outright results from the above hill climb for future reference.
29AprilOutright by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr

[iwearmoccos]

The past weekend was the EXE Winton double header, in which I had entered both days.
Nothing had changed since my month of madness aka 4 events in 4 weeks, I hadn't even bothered getting the car aligned again, so I was going in with a setup I was used to. I don't switch too many things up anyway.
Changes to the car since my last Winton track day, where I ran a 1:37.47 were 9 inch wheel and the additions to the Honed geometry kit - extended ball joints and rear roll centre correction.

Day 1

The weather was crispy cool with bright blue skies, not being at Winton for 9 or so months, I went out to get a feel for the circuit and then get straight into reducing my lap times.
I generally wanted to tidy up my lap, go faster through T2 and also try 3rd gear into T7 to reduce my rev limiter banging. I'd then change back to 2nd gear for T8.

Lap times for the day.
1:55.3820 1:42.9710 1:42.0930 1:39.0160 1:42.5660
1:50.4680 1:38.3710 1:38.4190 1:38.3330 1:49.2370
2:00.6440 1:38.1030 1:39.2410 1:37.9080
1:53.7360 1:37.8320 1:38.3750 1:39.3740 1:37.8110 1:38.5740
1:55.3720 2:08.7640 1:37.4790 1:37.5850 1:41.9460 1:58.7050

It actually took me a little while I get back on pace, as you can see above!
The track was very cool in the morning, so it took a couple laps to get heat into the rear and then the rest of the day I struggled to string a lap together, running different parts of the circuit fast in some sessions and others in the next.
I did go to my 3rd gear technique previously mentioned quite early in the day, which improved throughout the day as I got used to left foot braking into/through the turn. I would like to use this technique coming onto the main straight also, but didn't quite get around to it over the weekend.

I did end up matching my PB later in the day, but it wasn't a memorable lap and I was probably a bit disappointed in myself by that stage. Still a good day out in the car though! And nice to be back at Winton!

Day 2

Lap times
2:08.6280 1:45.1070 1:39.7440 1:37.4450 1:37.8260
1:56.1740 1:38.0070 1:37.2560 2:03.1510 1:37.3720
2:00.9670 1:37.7590 1:36.9780 1:37.3760
1:56.1740 1:38.8680 1:37.4620 1:38.1270 1:37.5070
2:02.9370 1:37.9870 1:37.1820 1:37.4970

I was put in Group D for this weekend, as there were quite a few fast cars filling up the usual Group E I'm in. I'm always the slowest in Group E, which I think works in my favour as I know I'm never going to catch anyone on a flyer and the driver etiquette is generally very good.
Group D has a bit more variety, which I soon learned that I get better laps if I go out first and then do a really slow out lap to ensure all cars are out of the as I got out of the dog leg. I could then get straight on it and not catch a car on their out lap. A few times I got caught out as I came up on cars with no spacial awareness who then threw a token blinker to advise me to pass. Useless people.

Anyway.
I always prefer the 2nd day, I've had a chance to eat a heap of pizza, think about the positives and negatives of the day before, while then putting a plan together to conquer all PBs.
I removed my 15kg front seat, to contribute to the placebo and weight saving benefits and then went out in the first session, where I matched by previous PB again.
This was a nice feeling, so I went out in the 2nd session with a bit more confidence and set a 1:37.2. This felt quite good, but I knew there was more in it.
The 3rd session I only ran a couple laps. One of those where I was up by .40 until I got to T7 and understeered wayyyyyy wide and then a lap where I barely snuck into a 1:36 lap! My Racechrono on Saturday was running fast, but was running slow on Sunday, so a 1:37 flat fell on the right said when I checked Natsoft after the session.
I didn't think this lap was that exciting until I came home and reviewed the footage and I was suitably impressed. *Pats self on back*

That lap is right here.

The last couple of sessions I chased another 1:36, but was pushing the car too much, getting quite loose through some of the corners. They were still low to mid 1:37s, but that isn't what we're after!!
I wasn't too fussed about it, I'd made a .5 second improvement on my PB and had a great weekend at Winton.

Some photos of things you've already seen.
Tom's CR-X and my Civic. I need to paint those 6ULs silver.
20180603_073754 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr
Some fancy pants trailer queens. :P
20180603_103412 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr

I thought this was generally interesting, my 1:37.47 v 1:26.97 (RC-1:37.01) laps next to each other. Graphing it would make more sense, but screenshots are so easy.
41646901505_59d2e0c851_o by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr

And that is that.
This weekend I plan to change all the fluids, replace my rear brake pads as they have been low for a very long time.
There are some Honed rear upper arms waiting for me, so I'll install those soon and get the car aligned.
The next event is 24th June, a hill climb at Bryant Park.

[iwearmoccos]

A few photos from Cathy Wong.
The brake dust and addition of Justin's BMW indicates this is Sunday.
FB_IMG_1528116388290 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr
FB_IMG_1528116281466 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr
FB_IMG_1528116064920 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr

[iwearmoccos]

My 1:36.97 with Racechrono data overlay.

[iwearmoccos]

The past weekend was a hill climb at Bryant Park.
The weather has been clear all week, which usually means some weather will move through on the weekend!!

Saturday morning was the working bee. It seems my job has become garage and track sweeper, which I quite enjoy.
In the afternoon we have practice for Sunday's event and it tends to thin out pretty early in the day. I ran 15 laps and revelled in the grip you have around that place when you've got real heat in your tyres!!
Massive grin on my face after those laps and also glad when the rain started coming down, as I would have continued until I ran out of fuel!

Saturday night I saw Jurassic World, which I'd recommend.

It didn't rain much overnight, but the ground was wet when I left my parents.
The track would dry by lunch, but there was never any real heat in the surface. This is one definite advantage to FR over FF because at least you can do a burnout to warm the rear and steering helps with front wheel heat.
The guy next to me in an Integra and running A050s measured his rear tyre heat at 19degrees after his 3rd run. He was blaming all kinds of setup issues at his slippery rear! Its the cold m8!!

In terms of car setup, I ran the rear two 'clicks' from hard, front the same as usual. This didn't really change much and maybe a softer setup would have helped with grip. The car would step out at points that weren't really oversteer issues, just lack of grip spots.

Results from the day. Top 20.
24th June Top 20 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr

As you can see, reasonably consistent but a few seconds off where I should be on this layout.
This is the cause of my slower run!

The car came out quite dirty, but unscathed luckily!!
I think all the mud helped to soften my landing!!
An action shot
36087584_1640293379402490_2473891533179322368_o by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr
And post my spin, completing my lap.
36199920_1640293309402497_2091620734957780992_o by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr

It was a great weekend, as it was nice to not be in the rain all day!!
The next one is Nug Nats on the 22nd July at Bryant Park. Come along if you like!!

And my fastest lap for the day.
https://youtu.be/G5ZwkxlyA7E

Thanks.

[Toddxxx]

picture of the spin is a classic. glad nothing was broken!

[iwearmoccos]

Couple of little jobs this morning.
I like mismatched wheels as long as they are the same colour, so I painted my 6ULs with some silver wheel paint.
Seemed to turn out reasonably well, will see how they hold up with some heat and brake dust.
20180714_162846 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr
20180715_112901 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr
The next job was installing a Mustang GTsomething bonnet vent I bought a while back.
I had marked this out last weekend but got scared about cutting up my bonnet. The vent was up for sale this week, and no one bought it, so I figured I'd install it.
As the hole required is much smaller than the actual size of the vent, its quite easy to cut and cover up your mistakes.
Cut the first layer with my Dremel to try and create less noise in my block of units, but all it did was take longer than with a fresh cutting disc on the grinder, so I used that for the rest.
20180715_122510 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr
You can see the second layer through the hole above. And below is with that removed, before I inserted the vent.
As this is an OEM Ford item, there are clips on it that make securing it much easier than an aftermarket one that may require rivets.
20180715_135224 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr
You can see the vent sits above the front of the valve cover. I figure at pace, this is where the air is going want to go after it comes through the radiator fan, as well as the heat off the headers etc.
20180715_143045 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr
From above.
I also used double sided tape around the edges as a Mustang bonnet and an EK Civic are a slightly different shape. This should keep it in place.
20180715_142547 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr
Looks better than I thought it would.
20180715_143004 by I WEAR MOCCOS, on Flickr
Nug Nats at Bryant Park on Sunday.
If you're not entered, you should come down for a look!