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October 15, 2021

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In Reel Time Fishing
Ramble Time

Part 1: Aisin AR5 swap into an LS Thirdgen F-Body

An 11,000-mile Aisin AR5 transmission from a Chevy Colorado. A staple in the drifting world, let's see what it will do in a thirdgen F-Body behind an LS engine for autocrossing. Project Whack-A-Mole continues. I finally figured out the fuel pump issue. The old Delphi fuel pump, struggling to deliver fuel, was replaced with a new Deatschwerks fuel pump which seemed to cure things. So I took the Camaro out for a test hit. The car felt good driving it around some shifting through the four gears. Then I got on a more open road, mashed the throttle in second, shifted fast to third, but the car wouldn't accelerate under its own power in gear. Clutch pedal went dead, it would go through gears but they wouldn't engage. I suspected it wasn't an issue with the T10 transmission but back to the hydraulic throwout bearing, which had already failed once before. I called Karen (she answered the phone, "Where are you?"), she picked me up, we got the Lightning and trail

If you ain't first, you're last!! But what if you are also first and last?

Shiny new thing! bigger radiator. Will it fit? Does it work keeping coolant temps down? See below. Once again, took the win in C-Prepared! Because nobody else showed up in CP. As the great Dom Toretto said, it doesn't matter if you win by an inch or mile, winning's winning. With a guaranteed class win, my focus was trying to make myself better. I figure right now, I'm about two SECONDS off being competitive on a national scale in CP. One second is just the guy in the mirror -- ME -- and another second is making the car better. Still a lot to do on the latter, but the cheapest way to fix things is to drive better, of course. Since I basically haven't autocrossed full-time since 2014, I have to be a little rusty and not mentally into it. Like just going through the motions driving parade laps. No rain was in the forecast, and temps were going to be mid-80s. I was driving in the second heat, so the course was going to be clean. My first run was tentative, as always it seem

Invasive species! Autocrossing the Camaro again with a Porsche club

In grid waiting for first runs. Completed six ( SIX! ) runs at the local PCA autocross on Saturday. If you're scoring at home, the car has now finished 15 autocross runs since 5.3 Volume 1.1 has been unleashed. There weren't any issues with the car other than coolant temps were running close to 220 near the end (and with only a couple of minutes pulling to the line for a rerun after "stopping" for a downed cone on my final run). Although poking around online that doesn't seem too unheard of for LS operating temperatures, so maybe I'm over-thinking. I did make one small change to the car after the WDCR autocross -- 1,050-pound springs in front with new UMI weight jackers . Previously the car had 950-pound springs and a weight-jacker kit from some other company I won't name (been dealing with them since back in the SR20DE days and vowed never to buy from them again ... so swapping out their weight jackers for UMI's was something I've been wanting to

Downforce or downfarce? Fabricating a rear spoiler

Around the time I semi-retired from autocrossing, aerodynamics (wings and things) had started to become the rage. My initial impression was that aero on a car doing 60 to 70mph was pointless. When I returned "full time" earlier this year, it seemed EVERY car that could add aero had something done. Big wings, splitters, louvers, etc. Talking with Maryland Mike Snyder earlier this year, he had added a spoiler and splitter to his C Prepared Mustang last year, and he said it made a noticeable difference. He's a friend who I trust so I started thinking how to add aero to my Camaro. Camaro aero! I decided the easiest thing would be to fabricate a rear spoiler for the car. While other Prepared classes have the flexibility of adding a wing, CP only allows a spoiler no taller than 10 inches from the trunk/deck lid. "It is a non-production rear spoiler which is mounted to the rear portion of the rear hatch, deck, or trunk lid. The spoiler may extend no more than 10.0” (25.4