I get an alignment before every big event but the last "big event" I went to was the NJ ProSolo in May and since then we had changed transmissions which required dropping the front subframe so this was long overdue.
SJF Performance blocked off the entire Sunday for me in case we ran into any issues.
 |
Final alignment before Nats - 8/16/2015
SJF Performance |
I'm so glad we did check the alignment because apparently it was all over the place. Not enough front camber in the front left, lots of camber front right, toe out right rear, etc.
 |
| The pre-alignment numbers were insane - 8/16/2015 |
 |
| The wheelbase is a perfect 94.3" left and right |
Looking back it's actually kind of nuts that Hez and I were able to put down the times we have with this kind of wonky alignment. The good news is that fixing this alignment means putting the setting back to "fast" and that's an exciting prospect. After re-adjust, the final alignment was:
Front:-3.1 degrees camber
4.9 caster
0 total toe
Rear: -2.5 degrees camber
0.06 degrees total toe in (1/16")
The next step was to switch back to running ethanol to maximize the power we make (just a 10hp/tq increase across the powerband). This involved draining all the fuel out of the tank which is thankfully is as easy as hooking up a 3/8" fuel hose to the return line on the flex fuel sensor and emptying it into a fuel container. In total we drained 7.5 gallons out of the car and put 10 gallons of ethanol in. #InsertCornToPlay
 |
| Tapping the fuel return line to drain the 93 octane fuel - 8/16/2015 |
 |
| Hez helping me drain the fuel - 8/16/2015 |
For even more speed, we mounted up a fresh set of 295/30/18 and 315/30/18 Hoosier A7s on the second set of CCW Classics.
 |
| Sticker set of Hoosier A7 - 8/16/2015 |
Lastly, since the tires on the trailer were looking a bit tired after 2 years and 10K miles, I swapped in a new set of wheels/tires all around.
 |
| Getting ready to mount new wheels/tires - 8/16/2015 |
 |
| New wheels and tires mounted on trailer - 8/16/2015 |
One last thing is that while the car was in the air, SJF noticed some oil leaking around the oil pan. It turned out that the fitting coming from the oil catch can to my oil pan had vibrated loose. A quick re-tightening fixed that issue right away. We also changed diff fluids to make sure everything is nice and fresh for some serious throttle aggression on concrete.
I think we're all mechanically squared away for nationals. Weather permitting we'll be doing a final sanity check and scrubbing in the A7s next weekend and then onto the big show.
