HPDE/Time Attack build

[Jabbit]

Funny that I missed something so simple. So I'll vacuum fill (again) with my newly created 75/25 water/coolant mix with a bit of water wetter. Vacuum fill with the heat on this time. Then open the valve on the radiator - couldn't I just bring the car up to temp with this valve open? any thoughts on that?

 

[dhminer]

Funny that I missed something so simple. So I'll vacuum fill (again) with my newly created 75/25 water/coolant mix with a bit of water wetter. Vacuum fill with the heat on this time. Then open the valve on the radiator - couldn't I just bring the car up to temp with this valve open? any thoughts on that?

Negative on bringing up to temp with it open. It’s not the highest point in the system, so once the air is out you have to cap it back or it’ll just pour coolant everywhere. It’s just a pocket where air will get trapped when filling. Fill, bleed, cap, top off reservoir.

 

[Jabbit]

Negative on bringing up to temp with it open. It’s not the highest point in the system, so once the air is out you have to cap it back or it’ll just pour coolant everywhere. It’s just a pocket where air will get trapped when filling. Fill, bleed, cap, top off reservoir.

Fill, open radiator valve to bleed, cap off again, bring car up to temp, let it cool down, bleed from valve again, close valve, top off. That is logically what I think makes sense.

 

[Dialcaliper]

The sequence that worked like a charm for me was (using the vacuum)

1) vacuum fill
2) bleed radiator top
3) start car and bring up to temp with heater on, then shut off and let cool. My particular car would only blow cold air at this point.
4) reconnect the vacuum and pull vacuum on the system (15-20”Hg) for a minute or so until you see the little bubbles come into the expansion tank (assuming the OEM tank). Just watch out for foaming, don’t suck it into the line.
5) release vacuum and repeat vacuum burp a second time.
6) Start car, verify heat works
7) Profit.

I ended up doing the same thing 2 more times (flush, rinse, fill) and it worked perfectly each time. And every time there would be a little stream of 6-7 bubbles that came out with the vacuum burp.

The cold air thing makes me suspect it’s because of how the heater valve is positioned at a high point in the system.

 

[dhminer]

Fill, open radiator valve to bleed, cap off again, bring car up to temp, let it cool down, bleed from valve again, close valve, top off. That is logically what I think makes sense.

Yessir that’ll work

 

[Jabbit]

The sequence that worked like a charm for me was (using the vacuum)

1) vacuum fill
2) bleed radiator top
3) start car and bring up to temp with heater on, then shut off and let cool. My particular car would only blow cold air at this point.
4) reconnect the vacuum and pull vacuum on the system (15-20”Hg) for a minute or so until you see the little bubbles come into the expansion tank (assuming the OEM tank). Just watch out for foaming, don’t suck it into the line.
5) release vacuum and repeat vacuum burp a second time.
6) Start car, verify heat works
7) Profit.

I ended up doing the same thing 2 more times (flush, rinse, fill) and it worked perfectly each time. And every time there would be a little stream of 6-7 bubbles that came out with the vacuum burp.

The cold air thing makes me suspect it’s because of how the heater valve is positioned at a high point in the system.

I'm not sure about pulling vacuum on an already full system. Also I have the Pro Alloy expansion tank so not much visibility into the tank other than overall fill volume.

 

[Dialcaliper]

I'm not sure about pulling vacuum on an already full system. Also I have the Pro Alloy expansion tank so not much visibility into the tank other than overall fill volume.

You could pull vacuum for 2-3 minutes which would be plenty, just keep it around 15”-20” and make sure you don’t pull foam. And when I say pull vacuum, I mean pull it under vacuum, and then close the valve to the car side and let it sit “depressurized”’ for that time

Besides bleeding the radiator top valve before starting the car, that was the “trick” that seemed to make the difference for me. (Vacuuming after running car to temp and cooling)

 

[Jabbit]

You could pull vacuum for 2-3 minutes which would be plenty, just keep it around 15”-20” and make sure you don’t pull foam. And when I say pull vacuum, I mean pull it under vacuum, and then close the valve to the car side and let it sit “depressurized”’ for that time

Besides bleeding the radiator top valve before starting the car, that was the “trick” that seemed to make the difference for me. (Vacuuming after running car to temp and cooling)

What would be the indicator that I was pulling foam - literally foamy coolant coming out of the vacuum passthrough hose? Also you are saying pull 7-10psi then close the vacuum so the car sits at 7-10psi vacuum for 2-3 mins?

 

[Dialcaliper]

What would be the indicator that I was pulling foam - literally foamy coolant coming out of the vacuum passthrough hose? Also you are saying pull 7-10psi then close the vacuum so the car sits at 7-10psi vacuum for 2-3 mins?

Yes, that’s it exactly. If I’m not mistaken, the proalloy has a sight gauge - you’ll be able see the level rise as the coolant hoses squish, and you may see foamy “scum” on top of the sight gauge (basically the glycol foams under vaccum)

 

[Jabbit]

So I did yet another drain/fill. Drained the coolant, then made a 75 water/25 coolant 3 gal mix with 12 oz of water wetter. This time I "primed" the vacuum fill line with coolant before filling the system. As soon as the system was full I unscrewed the bleeder at the top of the radiator and it let out so much air! I feel like a dummy for missing that previous times. Then I topped off the expansion tank, brought the car up to temp, and the hvac heat was so hot I could nearly burn my hand. I think I'm going to refrain from vacuum burping again as it's late in the day and I have a track day tomorrow, I don't want to introduce more variables into the process. Fingers crossed that I can keep it at ~220 max where I was seeing a peak of 238 before.

 

[Jabbit]

Must have done something right, car never went over 215 all day. Weather was 72 so I'm sure that was a factor. Also I bullied a late-model Camaro ZL1 and brand new M8 Competition. They pulled away on the straight but then I caught up to them (some might say outdrove?) during braking/turns. Not new drivers either. I know nobody will believe me so I'll upload video from my Catalyst soon.

Edit: thank you to @Dialcaliper and others for talking me through the cooling issue.

 

[shreddie van halen]

Must have done something right, car never went over 215 all day. Weather was 72 so I'm sure that was a factor. Also I bullied a late-model Camaro ZL1 and brand new M8 Competition. They pulled away on the straight but then I caught up to them (some might say outdrove?) during braking/turns. Not new drivers either. I know nobody will believe me so I'll upload video from my Catalyst soon.

Edit: thank you to @Dialcaliper and others for talking me through the cooling issue.

This is awesome to see! I am happy it was an easy fix!

 

[Jabbit]

She's officially for sale - https://www.fiestastforum.com/threa...urbo-fuel-lsd-13-5k-firm-salvage-title.31465/

Please help a member out and post this on your local Facebook groups, the national ST groups/buy/sell FB groups, Instagram, etc. If you find me a buyer through one of those platforms I'll send you a $250 Whoosh gift card and a few ST goodies.

Long and short of it - I want to build something. Not now but down the road. I've really enjoyed the building aspect WAY more than the driving. I picked up a low mileage first gen Tacoma that I'll be restoring. I've enjoyed learning to weld/etc and I'd like to take on a challenge. I'll be running my Tacoma and Focus as generic cars until I find my next project. I'm stashing money for something unique to rebuild as well as probably an Exocet or something similar in a few years time.

Any questions, let me know.

 

[dhminer]

 

[dhminer]

You won’t regret a kit car build like an Exocet or a factory five 818 if you want something more street-able. Building a kit car with my dad when I was in high school was an awesome experience after you get over the initial sketchiness of brake testing when you’ve had to bend all the brake lines yourself hoping you didn’t fuck it up somewhere.

 

[WannabeST]

You won’t regret a kit car build like an Exocet or a factory five 818 if you want something more street-able. Building a kit car with my dad when I was in high school was an awesome experience after you get over the initial sketchiness of brake testing when you’ve had to bend all the brake lines yourself hoping you didn’t fuck it up somewhere.

I've been strongly debating selling my mustang for an exocet. The price tag is not bad at all. and the engine swaps are virtually anything. For the same money I can have a car LOADS faster

 

[dhminer]

I've been strongly debating selling my mustang for an exocet. The price tag is not bad at all. and the engine swaps are virtually anything. For the same money I can have a car LOADS faster

They’re really cool. I saw a type similar car at cars and coffee with a Chevy 2.0 turbo from a cobalt SS. I bet they’re hilarious to drive

 

[Jabbit]

They’re really cool. I saw a type similar car at cars and coffee with a Chevy 2.0 turbo from a cobalt SS. I bet they’re hilarious to drive

That's a DF Goblin, similar idea behind an Exocet.

 

[Woods247]

Bummed to see you go. Thanks for all the help and time invested here!

 

[Jabbit]

Update: Car is still in my shop, no interested buyers yet. I feel like $10.5k is a steal for this car but it's winter here. Maybe I'll have better luck in March/April. Also the car needs a unique buyer that understands the value of a well sorted track first, street second car.

I waiver between keeping the car/going further and selling it. I have so many parts on the shelf to make this car faster but they are just sitting until I make a decision - at least one mod I have an idea for hasn't been done on this platform and I have all the parts for it waiting. I've also thought about getting it state inspected and driving it more often.

I've owned 50ish different cars in my life, and this is the only car I've owned more than once - three different Fiestas to be exact. I love the car but I love cars in general, I typically find something endearing about a car and enjoy the drive. I had a Neon SRT-4 back in the day when they were new, that's the only car I regret selling. I'm wondering if I'd feel the same way about this platform. But on the flipside, there are opportunities I haven't tried yet. My current stable consists of a Kia minivan (wife's daily), Focus sedan automatic (my daily), low mileage first gen Tacoma (restoration and occasional daily), low mileage 2nd gen Crown Vic (daily beater/loaner).

Decisions decisions...