John McM

Plastic paint. You can buy it on Trademe. Dave used it to paint his wheels. I will do the same. The beauty is that when you get sick of it you peel it off. They're making a clear version as well, which you can use instead of plastic as paint protection.

gt38088

in HK on the way home
haven't caught up with the last few pages but the car is looking real good John. You have got the macca disease and of course its all good.

John McM

Engine felt tight when I left for Hampton Downs. I was told to run it in the mid rev range so I kept it at 3,500 to 5,500 rpm. The trip to HD and a few laps seem to have loosened it up a bit. It pulls cleanly, idles well and doesn't leak a drop - success.

On the downside, the rear vision mirror fell off and CCS's special adhesive doesn't seem to have done its job. Not a biggie. The fan also gave out. Again not a biggie.

I also had a few hydraulic pressure alerts in conjunction with turn 8. I think that's a level issue. I did have a 4wd alert in session three and finished for the day. Again, I don' expect anything major. The trip back home was uneventful.

John McM

General thoughts from here are to work on my driving technique with the AIM helping and to make the ergonomics better. I need slightly longer clutch travel, firmer brake pedal, my Momo Mod 07, and i'll work on the gear shift.

The tyres were great, brakes worked well, but then again I only hit 1:30 chasing Paul so they weren't working that hard.

Macca

Dave. Wheels look real good! Loving the grey. Was this just plastidip grey?

John. Good to hear the engine ran fine. Sounds like a few small teething issues which I'm sure you will have ironed out over the next few HD days. 1.30 on R compound leaves plenty for incremental improvement once the engine is run in and the car is sitting at proper height. By the 7th September Ill need my new suspension and R compound tyres just to keep you in my sights!

kiwi 911

John - we will have you down to early 1.20's in no time............

With a bit of a push you should get down to sub 1.25 without too much effort. You need to do a twilight with Racing Ray in the car for 2 hrs - he will beat it out of you............

Pete is probably getting under 1.20's now - it's not a competition, but should give you inspiration of what you and the car can get down to as your confidence and experience increases.........

I have just ordered some red plastidip - is this enough to do 4 rims and do I need to buy the gun??

kiwi 911

peterC2S

Great to hear John - making it home without a flatbed is progress indeed. Those mirrors are a pain - mine fell off too. Smith and Smith did it for me.

See you next Saturday

Macca

John. Don't listen to Paul. Hes always optimistic with his times LOL! Pete is running 1.21s. Pauls advice re Ray is good. Just switch the AIM screen off and drive for the day then go home and figure it all out on the PC over a beer. Haling out the gremlins and getting it set up so you feel comfortable driving it at this stage is the name of the game.

John McM

I didn't say anything on the day as I didn't want to score an own goal and be excluded from the track. That's why I didn't see all of you bandits creeping up on me. The day sure did highlight those with excessive red mist. The fact it was a regularity event was lost on a few of you!

Macca

I understand the mentality. Regularity trials must seem like something constipated people pray for when you can easily post under 1.27 at HD and have some "free" laps.

I can honestly say regularity trials are not for me. Vent sprints, Hill climbs, Auto X, Targa and Track yes. Constipated Trials - No Way. No offence intended to those out there that enjoy being consistent....

Maxem

Yep, just grey, actually looks a bit lighter than in the pic

Maxem

1 can was enough to do two wheels at 5 coats each with a bit left. D90's have quite a bit of surface area too. Thicker is better for removal apparently. Gun only req to avoid sore nozzle finger.

John McM

I'm fast learning that front straight speed and lap times are best measured independently . I've mentioned my radar readings before and I'm the first to say it is only a relative measure. References before were Peter 188km/hr, Chris 193km/hr, Macca 193km/hr and Neil 220km/hr. Yesterday I had Paul at 175km/hr, Patsy at 217km/hr (GTR) and Matt @ 212km/hr. BTW Matt was having issues with a yellow 996 TT that he had trouble getting past so that may have taken a few km/hr off what's possible when given a clean run ( he bested Patsy on lap times)

At the PCNZ day, I timed Peter at 1m21.3. Yesterday, Matt had at least one sprint race win with 1m16.21. Both were similar track conditions. Maybe Peter can run under 1m 20 with less weight etc, but if incremental improvement is the goal, then he's going to be frustrated unless everything is perfect. Moving to a more powerful car will instantly improve his times, but to what gain as he's not racing per se?

So where's all this going? Well, for me it's about improving my driver craft levels to where Peter is now. There will always be someone in a faster car or more aggressive (Scott would nominate Paul for that honour). I'll know I've nailed it when I'm held up by the inherently faster cars. That's the goal.

kiwi 911

Hummmmm...................nice GT3..................

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used...-613317111.htm