Blue track/street build - salvage restoration

[Jabbit]

This is the first time I've really hammered on the car, it's amazing. RE71rs heated up really fast and caught me off guard first session. Second session I lowered the tire pressure a lot more and car hooked up great. Dropped it even more for session 3. Man I need an LSD bad, definitely on the books for the winter. Also happened to end up in the pits next to a shop team, they helped be diagnose a battery issue as bad alternator. Remove and replace at some point but on a charger for now.

 

[Jabbit]

Alternator wasn't just bad, it was seized or something. Not 100% sure. Got lights on dash, then lost gauges, then lost power steering. Started smoking and sizzling like crazy, cracked the hood and sprayed an extinguisher underneath. Not sure if there were ever truly flames. Opened the hood and the smoke was very clearly coming from the alternator. In a tow as I type this. Going to replace the alternator tomorrow and start her back up and see what happens.

 

[Woods247]

Man that’s crazy! Glad it didn’t burn completely

 

[TyphoonFiST]

Alternator wasn't just bad, it was seized or something. Not 100% sure. Got lights on dash, then lost gauges, then lost power steering. Started smoking and sizzling like crazy, cracked the hood and sprayed an extinguisher underneath. Not sure if there were ever truly flames. Opened the hood and the smoke was very clearly coming from the alternator. In a tow as I type this. Going to replace the alternator tomorrow and start her back up and see what happens.

Miles on the car?

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[Jabbit]

Yup I'm glad too, could have gone very poorly had I not caught it when I did.

Miles on the car?

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48k miles. I suspect it some how got damaged when the car was totalled. However this was my first time putting a sustained load on the car so I'm sure that made a difference.

 

[Woods247]

My car has over 20k on-track miles, no bullshit. Zero problems. It blows my mind every time I look at the odometer. It’s well cared for and garaged which definitely helps. I’m sure the accident your car experienced had something to do with it. Not sure if you use track insurance but RLI and Open Track are cheap. Open Track is the only company that offers liability if that’s a concern. Sometimes I buy their $2mil liability policy. It’s cheap insurance when unexpected stuff like this happens at the wrong time.

 

[Jabbit]

My car has over 20k on-track miles, no bullshit. Zero problems. It blows my mind every time I look at the odometer. It’s well cared for and garaged which definitely helps. I’m sure the accident your car experienced had something to do with it. Not sure if you use track insurance but RLI and Open Track are cheap. Open Track is the only company that offers liability if that’s a concern. Sometimes I buy their $2mil liability policy. It’s cheap insurance when unexpected stuff like this happens at the wrong time.

I knew there would be some sorting out I needed to do with this car, it's for sure lived a rough life. Hoping it has more years ahead of it than behind. I'm only at ~10 total track days in my life so a LONG way to go before I consider myself an expert. I've had a long talk with my insurance company about high performance driver education and they've noted on my policy that I am covered at these events. Will they actually come through if something were to truly happen? I'm not sure.

 

[Woods247]

I knew there would be some sorting out I needed to do with this car, it's for sure lived a rough life. Hoping it has more years ahead of it than behind. I'm only at ~10 total track days in my life so a LONG way to go before I consider myself an expert. I've had a long talk with my insurance company about high performance driver education and they've noted on my policy that I am covered at these events. Will they actually come through if something were to truly happen? I'm not sure.

Wow! Who do you use? State Farm used to cover it but now the policy is written in a manor that gives them an out, which they will take 100% of the time. One of the reasons I use this car for track is the price of track insurance. Track damage is extremely expensive and lawsuits will happen wether waivers are implemented or not. If something unfortunate happens I only have to make one call. RLI, Hagerty (they use RLI) and Lockton have saved my buddies a few times. I wish those three covered track damage but they don’t. Only Open Track’s liability policy does right now. Armco is EXPENSIVE.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Alternator wasn't just bad, it was seized or something. Not 100% sure. Got lights on dash, then lost gauges, then lost power steering. Started smoking and sizzling like crazy, cracked the hood and sprayed an extinguisher underneath. Not sure if there were ever truly flames. Opened the hood and the smoke was very clearly coming from the alternator. In a tow as I type this. Going to replace the alternator tomorrow and start her back up and see what happens.

I'm wondering if it somehow got damaged in the 'total' accident before you salvage bought it, if it was not just age/heat damage.

 

[Jabbit]

I'm wondering if it somehow got damaged in the 'total' accident before you salvage bought it, if it was not just age/heat damage.

Yes I suspect that's what it was. I just think it's weird in the 4+ hours I've driven the car before the track day, that there were no symptoms.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Yes I suspect that's what it was. I just think it's weird in the 4+ hours I've driven the car before the track day, that there were no symptoms.

Sorry, somehow I missed your post above stating a suspicion of this as well. me->

 

[Jabbit]

There was a small piece cracked off the alternator, I suspect that it worked it's way inside and caused havoc. $250 later and I'm back up and running. Battery tested good and new alternator didn't catch fire in the 2 mins I let it run so that's a plus. Alignment tomorrow, car show Thursday, track day Saturday. Still have to do a lot of cleaning to get the fire extinguisher powder out from all the crevices.

 

[Jabbit]

Can't win, belt broke on the way to alignment. No idea why. Is too much tension a thing? Getting towed....again. New belts en route.

 

[turpid porpoise]

Were you using the same belt that was installed when the previous alternator failed? Did it show any signs of wear before snapping?

 

[Jabbit]

Were you using the same belt that was installed when the previous alternator failed? Did it show any signs of wear before snapping?

Yes same belt. It didn't actually snap, just frayed/etc. Have not looked super close yet. No visible signs of damage but I didn't pull it all the way out either. It looks like the idler/guide pulley that is hanging off the alternator didn't get installed straight (by me) and that might have thrown the belt off line just enough to cause wear. Not sure yet.

 

[Jabbit]

Found the culprit - the tensioner pulley was in bad shape. I suspect this happened from the original accident. Ran to the auto part store and got a new pulley even though it was slightly bigger. I ditched the idler pulley on the alternator (red x indicates where it would go). Should be good to go now.

 

[Jabbit]

At the track again today, have about 100 miles on the car with new alternator and belt. Still on a tune revision making about 21psi on the S280 but it still goes pretty good.

 

[Jabbit]

Fastest time yet, car is running great. Coolant temps didn't go over 194. Playing cat and mouse with a K-swapped Civic hatch and a gutted turbo Mini on slicks. Very good day so far.

 

[D_D_973]

Happy that you’ve got her running well. Post some pics from the track please.

 

[Jabbit]

Ran a 1:08 flat at Lime Rock, no idea if that's good or not. Passed a lot of cars in my group but I am running novice since I haven't driven on LRP in 20 years. Car feels amazing and super dialed, can't wait to keep pushing it. Still on only 22psi on the S280 so looking forward to more.