Zeddophile

Back on original topic for a minute, having done some measurements of my current race seat, and some pondering on the Sparco seat dimensions chart, I've decided that the Sparco Corsa looks like it would be a perfect fit for me (better than an Evo, most likely). Only thing is, I'd still want to sit in one before I order it, and I haven't had the opportunity to do so yet (meaning no race cars have come in with one fitted ).... So if anyone sees one on display somewhere on the vaguely east side of Melbourne in their travels (Meridian Motorsport, Revolution, etc etc), I'd appreciate a heads up so I can head down and plonk my narrow ass in it!

Yep. 110% agreement. One thought I often have when driving on a freeway is that I'd love to seriously reinforce the chassis of some 4wd (maybe a Landbruiser), and SERIOUSLY upgrade the brakes. The purpose of this? So that I can slam the brakes on full hard while some dimwitted twit is sitting 2 feet behind me at 90 km/h in the middle lane, which would then write his car off completely while mine is completely unmarked (these dickheads sit so close their foot wouldn't even get to the brake pedal even if their brains had the function to comprehend this thought). Hello, I'm in the middle lane because the left lane is chockers with people merging (or attempting to merge and being blocked out by the nose to tail crawlers), I've got cars doing 90km/h in front of me, and yes, I know there is a couple of car lengths of space between me and the car in front, that's for a reason I'd show you if I didn't care about how the back of my car looks. I'd like to be doing 100km/h too, but its not possible, just look in front of you (maybe a distance further than the car in front of you?), then calm the f*&% down. To quote Top Gear... Cocks. Come to think of it, on the subject of letting cars in - there is one place I used to drive where I WOULD NOT let people merge from the right hand lane, and that is Elgar Rd where it meets Riversdale road. The reason? To keep going on Elgar rd, you need to be in the left lane, and then you get into a turning lane to keep going down Elgar towards Burwood hwy, the two lanes of Elgar coming down the hill from Box hill actually both feed into riversdale. So of course, the left lane banks up a couple hundred meters, because people can't get into the turning lane whille the lights are red there, and about half the traffic doesn't want to go onto Riversdale. So while 80% of people are doing the right thing, and being patient, you'll constantly see in the mirror some asshole pulls out of the line 100 meters behind you, comes screaming past in the right lane, then forces his way across the left lane into the turning lane, one after another. If they stopped to think, they'd realise that half the reason the traffic banks up so much there is because they're doing that. Nothing better than watching them come flying up, seeing an old Range Rover there, and they think its moving slow and they'll just jam their way in front of that. WRONG. Just as they arrive at 100km/h in a 70 zone, the gap in front of it suddenly disappears completely, so they slam the brakes on, and slow down (but still conserve their speed so they can jam in behind). Oh look, that Rangie is suddenly going really slowly.... Left a fair few of these dimwits stuck halfway across these two lanes being tooted from all directions

They tell me that adds flavour.... Can't see it being worth trying though.

Done very well. Know any specs on the engine, or is it standard? Like the strut brace in the front, a serious bit of kit.

Better option again - talk to Mark at Eastern Race Fabrication (0419 696 660). Just a couple of streets away from Brown Davis (he's at 3/7 Malvern St in Bayswater), and will likely be happy to let you do some of the job yourself. Have a talk to him and see what you can arrange - I'm sure he'll also be able to point you in the right direction in terms of what you need to do for certification etc. And for anyone who wants a cage built in their car, Mark's your man - priced very well (I think cheaper than Brown Davis), and the quality of work sh*ts all over Brown Davis's stuff. Plus he's straight up - tells you at the start what its going to cost, and where the problems may come from.

Very important factor in buying a race seat - is it comfortable for YOU? I find Sparcos to be pretty good for me, although most are a bit too wide. I'm told there is a narrower model, but I'm yet to come across one to try. The more expensive Cobra seats I tend to find curve far too much in the backrest, and make me feel like the hunchback of Notre Dame - downright uncomfortable for me. The best seat I've sat in though is actually a Recaro Racer SPG. Unfortunately, they aren't made anymore, and when they were made they cost $2500+. However, for me its spot on in the width across the bum, width across the shoulders, and the angle at which the base comes up at the front (also the depth of the actual seat). The other nice thing about it was that even though it had the side supports for your helmeted head, you could actually still see out the back corner of the car through them. At the moment, I'm sticking with my 10-15 year old OMP seat I picked up cheap, its actually a little more comfortable than a lot of the mid range Sparcos I've sat in, and its PRETTY close on the width. Its far more comfortable than the standard seat, to the point it resides permanently in my daily driver Alfa. Personally, I'm going to take a bit more of a look at the midrange Recaros (without the wings on the side), and see if I can find a narrower Sparco. Those are probably my top two at this stage, although I'd be interested to see how the Velo seats feel... I suspect they may be sized for persons with a normal sized ass (unlike my narrow self). Probably like to take a quick sit in the new OMP seats too... Two things I'd say when you are looking though - look in the midrange pricing of the seats (usually the models just below the ones with head restraints). I tend to find the entry level seats from all the manufacturers pretty ordinary. The other thing is try putting some of those velcro pads they sell in any areas that are uncomfortable. That's one of the things that makes my OMP so comfortable - a big velcro pad right in the small of my back. You may even be able to make the back of the seat narrower with clever placement, if you have the same issue with getting a seat that's narrow enough that I do.

Did anyone notice in the relisted version of this, there is a photo of what looks to be a turbo exhaust manifold and dump pipe, possibly L28ET (sitting on top of an EFI intake manifold)? Also looks like on top of the wheels there might be a second EFI intake without the pollution crap, although it may be the one in the other photo but viewed from the other side. It looks like the two cars share a communal bonnet....

You see that quite a bit at sprint days - have an amusing image in my mind of watching a mates brake lights flickering from about halfway down the main straight of Sandown, only to lock the front wheel into turn 1 and end up rallying through the grass while I casually sailed by on the black stuff giving him a toot and a wave . The time you have available to sit and observe while driving a standard 4 cylinder on a racetrack... Lurch is of course correct though, you'll probably find the first and maybe also second pump feels spongy, but after that it should be a good firm pedal (until you take your foot off, then you have the old rinse and repeat!) Apart from that, I think you are taking the sensible approach to this meeting - iron out the little kinks, and see how it really runs, then you'll get an idea of where (if at all) to make more big changes. Good luck, and have fun!

If you wanted to come out to the outer east side of Melbourne I'd do those two jobs for you, but I'm guessing you don't really want to head out this way.

Heard the tiles shift on the roof, actually sounded like a gust of wind getting under them, but without the build up that a big gust of wind takes. Didn't feel the ground shaking or anything out here, didn't realise it was an earth tremor until the news about 1.5 hours later.

Technically called a decelerometer, but yes, it measures G forces under braking. Usually they bung it on the floor, drive at a certain speed, than jump on the picks, and the scale is frozen at the highest reading it sees. Maybe his own personal thing, that he likes to see these higher powered cars have what to him is a better safety device. As you say, no big deal anyway. I do like your Freudian slip about "Z models and their festures" though! Wish I knew of a similarly reasonable engineer in Melbourne... wouldn't mind getting the GTV engineered....

I'd almost guarantee that the $140 price was before GST.... Lots of auto spares places (and some workshops) quote like this, and it drives me up the wall.

I will happily vouch for the quality of Paul Rankins work.... I have a lot to do with some of the Alfas that come out of Pauls booth, and the quality of the paintjobs is always flawless. Smooth as glass, and never the tiniest dent or imperfection in any panel. Hence the reason my GTV6 will be heading there when its time to finally bite the bullet and derust it. He sprayed my engine bay while I had it empty for the motor conversion, and even though its only an engine bay, it makes the outside of the car look like it was painted with a roller and never rubbed back.

Damn bureaucrats!

Ah, okay - I thought the toe adjustments was the reason why the rack end had been fitted there, didn't even think of HICAS at the time. Still a bloody smart idea though!

Heh - never seen a rack end on that end of the car before! Ingenious solution that, I like it!

This threads becoming quite interesting to see what other cars people have (besides zeds)... maybe we should start a thread for that?

I did have the thought a few months ago that it may be possible to cut the sides of an auto brake pedal off to use it as a manual pedal... had a quick look at the one laying around, but can't remember if it was actually feasible or not, and don't still have the bits lying around.

Its a pity you aren't in Melbourne, else I could put you onto a guy who would do a welded in 8 point cage for about 2500-3000. And the workmanship is superb. Definitely a good idea. Maybe you should take a step back, and a break from working on it for a couple of weeks, and you'll find the motivation will come back - you'll go out, tinker with something easy, then next thing you know you've fixed a whole bunch of little things which, although not serious items, make you feel much better about the car. As long as you enjoy driving it, what does it matter if you only race it once a year?

1/3 of a second probably covers nearly the top ten places in V8 supercar qualifying, so its not exactly an insignificant gain! And any gain is of value.

Bit late to this party, but don't undersell it. We built a group S Alfetta GTV racecar for a guy which cost him around 25k - ratty interior (needs to remain fitted for group S), not fantastic paint, but mechanically strong and very fast (1:55s around Philip Island in a 2 litre!), he sold it for 50k

Ceramic coating definitely seems to last well on exhaust manifolds, even on race cars (know of a couple of exhausts that were done probably close to 10 years ago). I think on something a bit cooler like an intercooler pipe it should last forever, my only concern would be whether it will cure properly.... I know when my exhaust manifolds came back there was a fairly involved note to do with first startups, and ensuring that the car was not running lean during this period to ensure temperatures were correct for the final curing of the coating. Perhaps that's a question for the coater, maybe they do it a little differently for an intercooler pipe.

For that you need to look at your rear tyre wear patterns, and work it out from there. The thing to remember with XA73s suggestion is that it is part of a full package setup in a particular way, and the ingredients in your suspension setup are quite different. I'd almost be tempted to develop the front end more first until you notice less rear grip than front..... As far as brake pads go, I like QFM A1RM. Run them all round in my GTV6, no issue at Sandown, and they are cheap. Not quite as cheap as the Lucas pads I believe, but not far off.

Mines just the engine bay of my alfa, before the throttle bodies were attached to the intake runners....

Now that is really REALLY true. Deal with a few Italians through work, and thats about how it goes!