Erika Builds a Race Car

[erik*a]

I have been meaning to get you girls into my project and have been so busy (with the project) to do much else. My blog is behind but I will update it soon.

Mission: I feel a sense of obligation to women, myself and perhaps the world… to try something uncommon and challenging. I am relying on skills that I don’t even know if I know yet. Taking the leap to learn the way I choose it. Trusting an idea, a school, a car and a community to teach me how.

Start: Starting is the hardest part they say. It began with an idea and change in view. A worn out car or a race car? I have a lot to learn and many things to share with you. Please follow along and help me build my car.

Check it out! www.erikadetota.tumblr.com (http://www.erikadetota.tumblr.com/)

http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_krsp0wtUJx1qa9x0wo1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId =0RYTHV9YYQ4W5Q3HQMG2&Expires=1261613997&Signature=k4%2BaKRB6SaFbci2GRewIm6jKyy0%3D

[xxthat girlxx]

Glad you're keeping us updated. You are our official rally girl. :D

You either need to host them somewhere and use the little "insert image" button OR when you make a post you can "attach an image" off your computer.

[StripesRX]

You ma'am are my hero!

I want to make a rally car sometime in the future because I"m tired of all the guys hoggin all the fun!

*worship*

Best of luck and if you need an extra set of hands on any project, I'm only an hour an a half north of NYC :)

[RagDoll]

I'm very impressed...I can't wait to see more of the progress!!! Keep updating us!

[erik*a]

You ma'am are my hero!

I want to make a rally car sometime in the future because I"m tired of all the guys hoggin all the fun!

*worship*

Best of luck and if you need an extra set of hands on any project, I'm only an hour an a half north of NYC :)

You coming out to NY Winter Rally? Not sure if I will be competing but I will be there! Thanks for all your support!

[jessickascarling]

this is def inspiring... thanks for keeping us up to date :D

[StripesRX]

You coming out to NY Winter Rally? Not sure if I will be competing but I will be there! Thanks for all your support!

Well, its only about two hours from where I live... I may have to magically cancel all my plans and come see it.

Edit: Plans moved! I'll be up there Sat. and probably leave a smidge early. :D

[erik*a]

Yeah Jay (munkis) thanks for working so hard on my transmission this weekend! You are the best!

M-Factory Limited Slip Differential
WRX Transmission
Jay is making it front wheel drive for me- I am so luck to know such amazing people to help me so much with this crazy custom rally car!

[im_so_blue]

Thats actually the one thing that amazed me when i looked at the rule book is when ya first start out the cars gotta be fwd. Threw even a few people that know more about rally then i do off as if to say "oh really now..." lol.

Thats what i am gonna do to start with a awd and convert it and keep everything so its easy to convert it back when the times right :D

[turbo_turtle]

Why is that plate on there hiding the good stuff?

Maybe Jay can give us some pointers for rebuilding a tranny.

~Dan

[erik*a]

Have to ask Jay about that- idk

As for the rules with starting off in rally...

["Thats actually the one thing that amazed me when i looked at the rule book is when ya first start out the cars gotta be fwd."]

You do not have to run front wheel drive... just Naturally Aspirated (N/A non-turbo) and this is only in Rally America. I am making my car a fwd set up for a lot reasons the most notable is that my driving instructor Tim O'Neil (teamoneil.com) believes strongly that you should start in an underpowered fwd car for learning.

So here I am...

But, yes- I am setting the car up to accept the awd system easily. As fwd parts are not easy to find anyways.

[jessickascarling]

Dan and I did a lot of research on rallying for a paper he was writing on rally for his shipyard classes and one of the things we found out was that it's cheaper and easier to run fwd when you don't have sponsorships like block and pastrana do. a cheap little neon with parts galaore at the junk yard is a good way to start.

[munkis]

Why is that plate on there hiding the good stuff?

Maybe Jay can give us some pointers for rebuilding a tranny.

~Dan

hehe not hiding anything, its a step most transmissions rebuilders don't do, all the measuring that needs to be done to rebuild a trans correctly.

In that picture I am setting the depth of the pinion shaft. The one that is in the case. That plate is actually a gauge I use that will help me determine the amount of shims I need to install in order to position that shaft correctly in the trans case.

It's just one of many measurements and adjustments that need to be made.

Here is the trannie with all the shafts and diff in place.
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr312/MunkisD/MonDec28225951AmericaNew_York2009.jpg

close up of the diff.
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr312/MunkisD/MonDec28225949AmericaNew_York2009.jpg

Cases back together, making more adjustments for backlash and diff bearing pre-load, almost done.

http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr312/MunkisD/MonDec28225944AmericaNew_York2009.jpg

Jay
Team Broken Racing

[turbo_turtle]

Awesome! So is that plate ST 499917500? Or self made? This is the most confusing part of the rebuild process for me. I don't totally understand how it's supposed to work.

If you are using the same pinon shaft with the same crown gear and only swapping the front diff, do you still have to check the depth of the pinon shaft? Or can you still go by the numbers on the end of pinion gear?

How do you zero out your plate "scale"? Do you zero it out before you put the plate on? When you are checking the depth, do you put the pinon shaft in (with no shims) and bolt in the bearing at the back end with only two bolts? How do you get the plate end and scale end "on the same level"? How does that scale work??

~Dan

[munkis]

its actually 501 vs 500 same thing. You should always check your measurments even if you are using the same crown gear and pinion shaft. When you rebuild shafts the gears may not sit in exactly the same spot as the gears you took off, this could affect the position of the shaft in the case.

You zero the plate by placing it on a perfect flat service, like a strait edge or machnied measure block. Loosen the bolts and line up the alignment marks and re-tighten the bolts. The gauge is now "zeroed" and ready for use.

I do two things, first I bolt the shaft in with the shims that were in the transmission. If the gauge reads zero you are good to go. With Erikas transmission someone had already been inside it and the pinion depth was not set correctly, wich probably is what lead to the failure of the center diff. So since the depth was incorrect with the shims in the trans, I then took the shims out and bolted it back in with no shims. Make the measurement and do the math and select the correct size shims to put in.

The only thing the numbers on the end of the pinion are used for is the above math. If there is a number etched in the pinion you add or subtract that number depending on if there is a + or - preceding the number from your shims.

[munkis]

Last picture, setting backlash.

The trans is done, now just need to complete rear section with the FWD conversion, wich is top seceret so dont ask how I do it :) ahaha.
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr312/MunkisD/WedDec30000546AmericaNew_York2009.jpg

[RS22b]

Yay! I will be over to pick it up at lunch today!

[turbo_turtle]

Makes sense now, thanks Jay!

Now how do you get the dial gauge needle at a right angle to the crown gear tooth surface?

~Dan

[munkis]

you need a horziontal dial indicator.

[turbo_turtle]

Well that makes sense! Haha... thanks!

~Dan

[erik*a]

Little update. Not running yet but the trans and engine is assembled and in the car!!! Still so much to do. I will update pics soon!

[Jonathan]

Yeah, you are so close... now comes all the little things... the temptation is to say to yourself "I am almost done", and work hard at getting the rest of the stuff done ASAP... Don't give in to temptation. Take your time and get it done right. :D

[snowman87]

So after you get some stages under your belt will you be re-converting to AWD in this car?

[xxthat girlxx]

Sweet. Getting close!

[boricuajr]

nice... the anticipation!

[erik*a]

So after you get some stages under your belt will you be re-converting to AWD in this car?

I have many components set to be able to convert the car to awd but am not sure. I went to Team O'Neil Rally school- became pretty close with the instructors up there who have helped me out a lot with this project. Their philosophy is to start with a fwd under powered car. By doing this you don't have the beauty of awd pulling you out of mistakes. Building a more solid foundation allows for growth as a driver to be bigger- then if I want to kick it in a fast awd hopefully my basics will be strong enough so I can be really fast-

All I can say is stay tuned. But picture the car with a wrx motor- still fwd- Oh yeah that will be next before the awd conversion.

[Jonathan]

All I can say is stay tuned. But picture the car with a wrx motor- still fwd- Oh yeah that will be next before the AWD conversion.

Erika - I am not sure that I agree with you here. Yes, having AWD lets you get away with being sloppy and imprecise... Yes, it is certainly best to develop good car control skills first.

However your desire for more power should be qualified some what, in my opinion.

Please understand that your basically "gutless" 1.8 Litre motor offers you something that many race cars don't: predictable throttle response. While, for sure, you could go faster with more power. The goal isn't for you to start winning right out of the box, but instead to build up some important skill sets and confidence in the skills you already have while not having to deal with high expectations.

Learning how to use throttle control skills is clearly very important. You learn best one step at a time. These skills are very hard to learn with any sort of peaky high output motor. Heck even after you have learned to use subtle throttle inputs, to enable you to go fast smoothly, its still very difficult to learn to use these skills with a motor (with or with out a turbo) that suddenly comes alive at a certain RPM threshold.

Driving with such a motor, you are perhaps more likely to find yourself sea-sawing through corners very much on the brink, and in a highly spectacular fashion. Sure, you can eventually develop some highly spectacular car control skills. The problem is that when you let yourself drive like this, you often times wind up going slower, not faster.

[StripesRX]

1)IIRC Erika has a 2.2 motor in her car and 2) Sure she might be slower, but when she upgrades to the final product of an AWD Open class car, her skills will be lightyears beyond most other drivers. Its not always about going fast in the beginning. :D

Erika - need another crew member for April 16th? *wink wink* I have my first track day on the 17th, but I still want to get out there. :)

[Jonathan]

1) IIRC Erika has a 2.2 motor in her car and 2) Sure she might be slower, but when she upgrades to the final product of an AWD Open class car, her skills will be light years beyond most other drivers. Its not always about going fast in the beginning. :D

Yes, you are correct. She is running an EJ22 "interference" motor from a 1997 in her '95 Impreza. I didn't notice that earlier. I had assumed she kept the stock motor the car came with. Thank you for pointing that out to me. Both the 1.8 and 2.2 N/A motors offer predictable throttle response. I think we are in agreement that its best to build skill sets with such motors before taking on a much more difficult WRX motor.

[erik*a]

I agree the mention of the wrx motor still fwd was just to say I will step up to a fast(er) car fwd before awd. But I am not debating if I am ready for that yet.

It is 97 2.2 motor with a wrx trans-
Which I had some problems with at the tarmac event this spring. 3rd was popping out of gear on load. So the whole box is on a trip to RalliSpec. While there she will also be getting an upgraded LSD (my old one is helical so turns to open- aka not very good for getting stuck). And I am getting the 444 final drive! So things should be feeling much improved for me without more power.

I plan on running NEFR!

Thanks for your support guys!