THSCC Forums

I just registered for next week. Should be fun, decent # of entries, as well.

I'm bringing our Magnum, PU Prelude with our new head gasket for a test. I'll have my fingers, toes, and every appendage I have that can be crossed, crossed that it doesn't overheat...like the last three tests.

If it stays cool I look forward to tossing it around CMP's full course. The carousel is a blast in a FWD car with lots of off-throttle oversteer!

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Vincent Keene
'06 Ford Mustang GT (track rat)
'15 Dodge Charger R/T (yeah, it's got a HEMI!)
'07 Ford Fusion SE (205,000 miles and counting)
'98 Chevy Z-24 (retired)
'93 Acura Integra (Team SWB 24HOL Car)

I can't tell you how bummed I am that I can't go. I lobbied for rescheduling the dance recital, but couldn't get the other 200 parents to go along. I'll be shlepping props back stage while y'all are having fun.

Cash

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09 Bullitt - DD
11 Fusion - Wife's DD
03 Mazda6 - Track car
00 PSD Excursion - Tow rig
67 Firebird - Don't you still own your 1st car?
61 F100 - Dad's truck
90 Moto Guzzi Calif III - Tourer
00 Cagiva - Adventure bike
00 DRZ400 - Woods bike

80F-ish and overcast the entire weekend in exchange for 30 minutes of rain? I personally felt it was a good trade-off.

Great event, hope everyone had fun.

CMP was epic…. After hearing CMP to VIR comparisons over the years I was expecting “less than” VIR. This was my first time running CMP and I came away with the opposite. The Track was an absolute hoot. I wasn't terribly fond of the straights, but 3-9 and 11-14 were freakin’ awesome. 4-7, and 8-9 were my favorites. I have never had that much fun on track. I can’t believe it took me so long to get my ass down there. The 5.5 hr drive from Richmond kind of sucks, but I’ll be back.

Hats off to the staff. Everything ran like clockwork. Vincent (My instructor), Ron (Classroom), and the rest of the track staff did a great job.

On the other hand.... my new tire said it had enough. I packed it in the last session Sunday and played it safe.

After talking to a few others this may be my first and last time buying ZIIs.

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2001 Honda S2000 - SOLD
2012 Boss 302
2003 BMW 330i

Is that a front left by any chance? CMP is brutal on that tire. Black Forest brought a sticker front left Hankook C51 to the cords in ~6 sessions. I still haven't looked at mine but I'm expecting devastation, even with -2.8* of front camber.

BFI had it "through" the cords by lunch Sunday. There was still steel there, but it was starting to balloon. I joked I wasn't giving him any point-by's because I wanted him behind me when it blew. :-) Not that we were on track after lunch Sunday, trying to figure out how it's boiling all the water out, but not over heating.

Yep, 6 sessions on the front left and 1 on the left rear.

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2001 Honda S2000 - SOLD
2012 Boss 302
2003 BMW 330i

We had the same thing happen with ZII's at CMP. Azenis or Rivals seem to hold up better.

The Duff car problem was the radiator. It was flowing well enough that the car wouldn't overheat at speed, but it would boil the water out of the water jacket if it wasn't moving. A new radiator cost $100 and took about 10 minutes to replace, so I think that we are good to go for Sebring next month.

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"Every ship is a minesweeper, once."

How did Magnum hold up?

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2005 Mazda RX8 STX 11

NCR Solo Chair & Cape Fear Chapter Coordinator
http://www.ncrscca.com

Not well. No overheating with the new headgasket, but there are now oiling problems. It seems the new rings may not be doing their job.

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2001 Honda S2000 - SOLD
2012 Boss 302
2003 BMW 330i

I might have some footage of Magnum smoking when I was behind it.

I left my laptop (& SD card) at work so I don't have the video. I was behind Magnum for 3-4 laps on Sunday. You guys got big smoke when going from decel to accel as well as puffs of smoke at light load cruise (cool down lap) and idle. I don't remember there being excessive smoke at full throttle. On the hot laps I wasn't really close enough to see any mild/medium smoking though. Combined with your blow by you have basically the exact same symptoms my Miata did when I melted the pistons. Hopefully it's just the rings not controlling the oil properly and nothing more sinister.

I only saw smoke after deceleration, so I figured valve stem seals or rings. What are the compression and leakdown numbers on it?

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"Every ship is a minesweeper, once."

Last weekend at CMP I found out that there is a lot more to HPDE’s than learning how to drive. My instructor, Bryan Settle, was working on my braking window and left foot braking. I’m a slow learner, but all was going well. An aside, for those of you who have been following GM and the safety problems associated with ignition switches, that’s a minor problem compared to the failure mode of their ABS system. Coming into turn 8 at 105 mph, the ABS failed, the rear tires locked up as if someone hit the E-brake, the tires billowed significant smoke, and the car decided where it would go. The ABS warning light was the last thing to turn on. Maybe that’s why they call it a dummy light. After checking our shorts on pit lane, Bryan and I decided that we would change our lesson from threshold and left foot braking to smooth braking and modulation. Without ABS, Corvettes, have a very heavy rear bias and want to swap ends very quickly. The real cherry on top, was that it now started to rain. On we trekked, at turn 14, the Mustang behind us probably had to check his shorts. I’m now starting to get a real feel for smooth brake application. Fear is the fastest teacher.
After pulling in from this most memorable session, Lee W. helped me jack up the car, Judy lent me a pair of jack stands, Kevin B. pulled up the Z06 service manual and Rob K. helped check out the wheel sensors, and found a cracked front rotor. We replaced the front rotors with spares that Mark Barnes had given me at a previous event, but could not get the car back together in time for the last session. The day over and the car in one piece, Mark B. handed me the one of the best tasting beers I have ever had. The best tasting beers are always the ones that are drunken when most needed.
Sunday was uneventful even in the rain. I learned a lot about driving, a little about adversity, and the most about how truly good the people in Tar Heel really are. Thanks for making my CMP weekend so wonderful.

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Mike Miller
AutoX VP 2016/2017
Just a C Stock Miata DD
Mazda Speed 3 Family Car
Corvette Z06 Toy