Duke Racing Celica GT-Four Time Attack Racecar

[GDII]

I have taken smaller Corolla engines out the top but can be awkward.

The GT-FOUR pretty much has to come out the bottom because the gearbox and 4WD system is there.

Very unfortunate that the head is cracked. Hopefully you can gain some more power with a new modified head installed.

 

[Thatman]

Old cars... At least yours is running right now, I still have to wait for my ECU. Its been like 6 months since I heard it.

 

[Punknoodle]

Well, here is a picture of the crack, when the engine is running so you can see the oil seeping out of it:

I bought some JB Weld as a temporary fix until I build up something else. I'm hoping it works well.. Heres what it looks like patched - I'll be driving it tomorrow to see if it has worked:

I used a dremel on it first to scuff it all up, then I used Prepsol to clean it really well.

Oh, and by the way, the windscreen got changed and now there are no more squeaks! It is so much better! I can't believe I let it annoy me for so long..

 

[Paulie]

Hah, always nice to eliminate an annoying noise.

 

[Punknoodle]

Yes, very nice! The leak is still there, however I thought that might happen, it's coming from where the cam cover meets the head as I couldn't get the JB Weld in there nicely. So next job is to pull the cam cover, again, and seal the crack with JB, then reinstall the cover. Fun and games. Getting closer.

In other news, Paulie, I'm planning on doing this:

If you wanna go for a burn around QR in my passenger seat, you are welcome to come dude.

And on a non GT-Four related front, I'm doing the Bridge to Brisbane run this year, and my charity is WSPA, who I think are very deserving of more cash. I'm looking for donations! So I would really appreciate anyone following this link to chuck whatever you can towards the cause
https://b2b2013.everydayhero.com/au/nick-winsor

 

[Sly Guy]

Now I need to go and check my spare Gen2 head for cracks

 

[Paulie]

In other news, Paulie, I'm planning on doing this:

If you wanna go for a burn around QR in my passenger seat, you are welcome to come dude.

Hell yeah I do!

And on a non GT-Four related front, I'm doing the Bridge to Brisbane run this year, and my charity is WSPA, who I think are very deserving of more cash. I'm looking for donations! So I would really appreciate anyone following this link to chuck whatever you can towards the cause
https://b2b2013.everydayhero.com/au/nick-winsor

Are you doing the 5km or 10km? I'll almost certainly be in the 5km, I hope to improve my time from last year of ~22mins. We might even see each other out there.

 

[Punknoodle]

I'm doing the 10km mate I'll message you closer to the time then regarding the track time. I just paid today so it's all confirmed.

 

[Punknoodle]

I wanna get people's thoughts on this - when my car was tuned the place that did it applied password protection to the map, so only they can access it. I can plug in an to logs, see real time data from the sensors etc but the fuel and ignition tables are locked out and invisible and I can't change any settings.

Basically, the way it is, I can't go to anyone else to make a minor change, and certainly can't do it myself.

Originally I thought, well, fair enough it's kind of their intellectual properly, but now I don't have that opinion. It's my car, my ECU, I paid them to do the service so I should be able to access it any time I like without losing the tune they did on it..

Of course if it is there so that they can guarantee their work that's understandable - it would be bad if they were to tune a car nice and safe only for someone to modify it, cook their engine and say that it was their fault, but surely I can ask for the password if I agree that it will void any warranty on the work performed?

Opinions?

I would like access to the advanced settings so I can change warning limits as I think they are set too low and I'm getting the check engine light come on all the time and according to the Haltech staff I've been emailing I need to make a change to the settings..

 

[motortrend]

I think it's fine to lock it as long as they make the adjustments you specify free of cost. If not, you should be able to find a better tuner IMO

 

[Punknoodle]

The problem with that is what if I'm away from town and need access to it, for instance at a race meeting in another state? I now have no ability to go to another tuner without getting a complete retune, and I think if I've already paid for it, that intellectual property belongs to me, as I was paying for the time spent doing the work and it'sy vehicle..

 

[motortrend]

It may be similar to open sourced software such as android and "closed" like the iOS, it is very debatable the difference between owning a copy of something and actually having the rights to modify it. I agree with you that you should be open to doing as you wish with it but if you are not pleased can't you go with some respectable tuner that does allow this?

 

[MaliciousMD]

The problem with that is what if I'm away from town and need access to it, for instance at a race meeting in another state? I now have no ability to go to another tuner without getting a complete retune, and I think if I've already paid for it, that intellectual property belongs to me, as I was paying for the time spent doing the work and it'sy vehicle..

Long time since I read this thread.

They are probably thinking it is their best interest and your best interest to leave the tune alone. Slip of a finger in the wrong menu can mean blown engine, fried ignition coils, and so many more issues. From past experience I will password lock ALL tunes if the ECU will allow for it. Enable closed loop correction and send it on it's way.

However I do not with hold this information from my customers. I merely keep a copy of the tune for my own records. Should an issue arise I just compare data logs or MAP's...

There is always the tricky part in the blame game when someones engines goes *POOF* at the end of it all. Customers honestly do not care about the guys who tune their ECU's. I really feel many are looking to someone to blame when it blows from poor design (lack of expected output) or poor assembly. Or why you see so many people with over inflated dyno numbers (catering to customer expectations).

In the end, you have the right to access the tune. Unless you have some type of written agreement they are the only tuners (we do this with race teams that only our guys tune their cars @ events), get the password from them. All bets out the door when you begin to modify their MAP's I'm sure...

Every tuner has preferences. Personally I will not touch a car unless it meets the following stipulations (what I feel is needed for a proper tune).

- Complete Engine Build Spec (if you don't have this your engine builder is an outright hack.)
- Wideband O2 in the exhaust system and NOT clamped to the end of the exhaust.
- Additional O2 bung for me to run my Innovate LM-2 or dyno O2 for comparison.
- EGT probe for EACH cylinder or rotor.
- AIT reading not taken pre-turbo (why people do this is beyond me and I charge hourly to properly re-route this post turbo to the TB elbow or intake manifold).
- Proper electronic stand alone or ECU built in boost control.

 

[Punknoodle]

I completely understand dude, and I really wouldn't go adjusting the fuel or ignition tables or settings, it's just that it would be good to he able to do small things myself, like add in an oil pressure signal and have the ECU log this and add in Engine Protection settings for the oil pressure, as well as set up like a dash display or something, as you need to access the settings to do that.

Haven't got around to calling them yet to be honest.

I have a car show this weekend at Queensland Raceway, it's called the Japanese Nats, and I'll be entering the car in to the show and shine for a bit of fun, which will enable me to do a bit of a drive around the track before my proper track morning on the 6th.

 

[Paulie]

You mean track morning on the 8th?

 

[Punknoodle]

Yes, yes I do

 

[MaliciousMD]

I completely understand dude, and I really wouldn't go adjusting the fuel or ignition tables or settings, it's just that it would be good to he able to do small things myself, like add in an oil pressure signal and have the ECU log this and add in Engine Protection settings for the oil pressure, as well as set up like a dash display or something, as you need to access the settings to do that.

Haven't got around to calling them yet to be honest.

I have a car show this weekend at Queensland Raceway, it's called the Japanese Nats, and I'll be entering the car in to the show and shine for a bit of fun, which will enable me to do a bit of a drive around the track before my proper track morning on the 6th.

Most people have more common sense then to do anything major without a load bearing dyno. Keyword is most, lol...

I understand your need to go in and set new dash warnings for pressure and temps, etc. Or even use the ECU inputs to drive a gauge perhaps. This is why I give out passwords. Access only to those who really need it.

Give them a jingle, I'm sure it's a case of making sure only you have access...

 

[Punknoodle]

I went to an event today called the Time Attack Japanese Nationals, which was held at Queensland Raceway. It was a great event, the cars there were unreal, I'll do a post later in the relevant section and link it from here detailing the cars that were there.

Anyway, part of that was a Show N Shine, which I decided to enter the car in to, to show it off. I know it's not a show car or anything special really but you don't see many of them in good condition so I thought I'd do it. During the day I had a quite few people come up and talk about it with really positive comments which I was quite chuffed about.

After that there were some fun laps around the track. I thought that would be a good opportunity to lean on the car a bit and see how it went and I was fairly happy with it, it performed strongly enough, I was racing people down the straights (there was no racing through corners, although when I had clear track I attacked them) and it was showing a few people up so I can't complain about that.

It was only a short track session, and I didn't lean on the brakes too hard, and didn't get up to a crazy speed (they said they didn't have a set speed limit but to not go too far above 110 kph - I got up to 160kph) but the brakes started giving up on me, and that was with giving it a rest between hard applications. I had a pretty soft pedal all the way home, its come back a little now but I certainly won't be able to use them on the 8th for my hour long track session..

So I just picked up some Penrite racing brake fluid and ordered some new Project Mu HC+ brake pads, front and rear, which will go on before then. Anyway, pics of my car!

 

[Paulie]

Perhaps I should have come out, but I'd look a little wierd with a Holden shirt on in that crowd. Looks like it was a good day (a shame about that nasty wind), and you can never under estimate the importance of having a good brake setup, especially if I'm in the passenger seat in a couple weeks time.

 

[Punknoodle]

There were plenty of people who didn't quite understand the theme, as there were German cars, English cars, American cars and yep... Australian cars there. I had a bit of a drag race vs a Statesman actually, and he didn't pull away from me so that's a plus!

And yes, I wasted no time in ordering a new set of pads to ensure they would be here for the 8th - and my main motivation was that I have other people in the car to worry about!

 

[Ibonibo]

Nice pics mate.

Your car is splendid for show'n'shine.

Most s'n's cars are ridiculous tuned (which is fine when your 20). Yours is great 👍

 

[Punknoodle]

Thanks man

I'm taking the Penrite brake fluid I bought back tomorrow, as after some research I've decided to go with Castrol SRF Racing brake fluid instead as its a much better fluid, and when your brakes are too small and they overheat the fluid, it suddenly becomes very important to have the best fluid you can get. It probably wouldn't be as important if I had nice big rotors and pads but currently, I don't.

I did just order new front rotors though, my current ones probably aren't that bad, there is only a minor lip on the outside and the surface is nice and flat, but I wanted to get the best possible brake performance I can get for the track morning and the best brake feel, and figured I may as well seen as I'd have the calipers off. I got slotted and dimpled rotors. I didn't bother getting rears though, they don't do as much work as the fronts obviously, so I really don't think they would benefit from being upgraded and they had even less wear than the fronts. I did get the same compound pads for the rears as I got for the fronts though so that will be a big plus.

Hopefully it holds up a little better. I still think they will definitely fade, but hopefully after a few more laps than last time! And I'm ignoring the amount of money all that cost because brakes are a maintenance item and very important.

 

[Paulie]

Have you installed the Castrol SRF yet? I'm interested to hear if it makes much difference to pedal feel, I hear it's basically the best brake fluid on the market.

 

[Punknoodle]

At $140 a bottle it better be lol. It's not in the car yet, my new pads haven't arrived yet - if they don't turn up in time I'll have to install some generic bendix pads or something just to be able to use it, which isn't ideal and they will fade but I'll just have to take it easy

 

[Ibonibo]

Which Pads did you initally planned on getting on it?

 

[Punknoodle]

I've already ordered Project Mu Type HC+ pads from Japan for it. I'm perhaps thinking maybe Ferodo DS2500 pads might have been ok, and probably would have only had to come from Melbourne so would have been here already but the Mu's get excellent reviews for a street/track pad.

 

[Ibonibo]

Never heard of them but I am not that well founded in JDM aftermaket parts.

While Ferodo and EBC are generic, I never heard bad stuff of them.

Then you have the pads that cost as much as some brakes (like Pagid).

Will look forward to your review of them 👍

 

[Punknoodle]

The problem is that the ST185 calipers don't have a huge amount of support. Project Mu are actually a high end JDM brake manufacturer, they have the teal coloured brake packages you see on a lot of Japanese race cars and tuned cars. The HC+ pads have some pretty impressive specs, as you can see here:
www.project-mu.co.jp/en/products/pad_hcplus.html

I'd love to have a full Project Mu set up on mine, nice 6 piston calipers and huge 2 piece rotors but they would need to be custom made.

Ferodo's motorsports range of pads is actually excellent and their DS3000 compound is what the V8 Supercars run from memory. The DS2500 compound is a street/track pad, whereas the DS3000 is track only as its cold performance is obviously not too good, but that compound isn't available for my calipers anyway.

 

[Paulie]

Thanks again for the ride today, that was really good fun.👍 Your Celica still ranks as the best Celica I've come across in my travels, pretty quick too.

 

[Punknoodle]

No worries at all mate. Here is a small video of the morning - as you can see there were a lot of cars there and racing through the corners wasn't allowed as it was just fun laps, but it was still good to stretch the Celica's legs.

Brakes held up pretty good, no dramas there. If I add more power they will definitely need to be upgraded to bigger rotors and calipers though.