Topic: Super K Basketcase: Needed Repairs and Poorly Considered Advice
Post NHMS / Pre Road America / Sonoma working discussion on making this safe and fun to run.
I've asked a few prior K owners to subscribe and give some thoughts on the current state of affairs and to brainstorm on solutions. The guys running Road America probably will have a day or two to deal with fixes before it gets sent to Colorado (pre-stage for Sonoma).
Brakes/tires:
When they are pushed to locking and you release the pedal they stay locked for half a second. At a minimum this is killing the tires. This is only on the fronts.
Everything looks okay - though the passenger-side floating caliper is very floaty,,, you can easily move it by hand. This could be a non-issue or an unrelated future issue as the driver side locks too and everything looks factory on that side.
It's possible the caliper piston(s) and/or o-rings are slightly damaged OR there could be a problem with the master cylinder (wonky piston seal?)
Rotor and pad wear normally and appear good to race at RA.
Throttle-stabbing leads to sputtering and stall out:
When you roll smoothly onto the throttle the car runs fine. Stab it and it sputters and wants to stall out. On very infrequent occasions it runs pretty well.
All recent parties generally agree that under these conditions the timing is not advancing and/or it is getting too much fuel to process.
The MAP sensor is new.
The Throttle Position Sensor appears to be working (a NIB one is with the spares and didn't change anything) and the two hot TPS wires are getting/putting out voltage, so the ECU (which dictates advance) is getting signal.
We pieced together a distributor unit from all the best bits of the three we had on hand. No change.
We searched for cracked vacuum lines, tried alternative vacuum line routings as well. No change.
We notice that the fuel pressure fluctuates pretty wildly when you stab it vs rolling on. It sits at ~40 psi at idle. A smooth roll on takes it to 42-43 psi where it sits and where we understand it is normally supposed to be. Stab the throttle and the fuel PSI jumps to 50 psi starts bogging. We think a possible solution is to put a new inline regulator just before the gauge (top of engine) and dial in the max to 43-44 psi.
Front suspension / motor mounts / strut nuts (top and bottom) / spindle nuts:
All of these components consistently loosen up between Day 1 and Day 2 and to some degree between transit points. Check 'em before each racing session unless someone decides to Lock-Tite them all, but I'd still check 'em.
The spindle nuts need some big washers (to push the nut out towards the cotter pin hole) and the nuts probably need to be changed to castle nuts w/ a proper locking castle nut cap.
This car has to remain road legal:
You smash it = you fix it. It needs working headlights, parking lights, turn signals, exhaust that exits the perimeter of the car behind the driver, and a windshield + one working windshield wiper.
'10 Summit, CMP3, Autobahn, '11 CMP1, NJMP, CMP2, Summit, G'man, Stafford, Charlotte, Autobahn, ECR '12 CMP1, NJMP, G'man, NHMS1, Summit, CMP2, NHMS2, ECR, '13 CMP1, ECR, Summit, NJMP, THill, CMP2, MSR, NHMS, Sears '14 Barber, Sears1, ECR, CMP1, NJMP1, BWillow, Sebring, CMP2, THill, Sears2, '15 Sears1, Barber, Ridge, THill, '16 Sears1