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I had success with the Carbotechs, as has a friend. Another is using the G-Locs and the G-Locs are used on the MINI race cars. All the reasons I recommended them. MrBlah, it seems they may not be suited to everyone, their car and/or the particular track they are on. Good to hear the bad with the good...
I have not had a chance to try the Raybestos pads (ST43 or 45 or 47), although I have followed the discussions about them. And the price is really good on them too.
My only caution about the DTC60s is that if they don’t get enough heat in them, they become coarse abrasive pads instead of brake pads and rotors will disappear. As I said, I have had that happen.
The bottom line is, there is like a bazillion different brake pads suitable for the track. Conversations like this help with making choices. And with the way they wear out, it is easy to try a few different ones...
So last Saturday at LRP with Patrrons was pretty good. I tend to forget how hard this sort of thing is on everything, including my body. I was a little achy on Sunday. And it was really hot (91 on my car thermometer). Turns out I should have drank even more than I did, which I thought was a lot. It was a really good event. 2 run groups (slow-ish and fast, including instructors). 30 minute sessions and my sessions were on the half-hour (1:30, 2:30, 3:30) and then 4 - 5 was fully open track both groups together. A bit rapid fire with going out every hour for a half hour. So, only a half hour rest between sessions. The car did well, except I now have a rattle (front suspension? Don’t know) that I could hear on the way home and will need to chase down. I did ok. I was definitely “off” the first session, but by the end of the day was feeling pretty comfortable. As I usually do, I cut each session short.
No in-car instruction. But, they assigned a coach to a small group of people and after the first session (after subsequent ones if we wanted) we got to talk about how it was going. I was back to old habits with the downhill, which are not the best. My timing and speeds were off. The coach I had gave me some advice about how to set speed at the overpass and then concentrate on doing the turn-in at the compression. This is something I had been told before but had forgotten.
The guy next to me was someone I saw last year with a GenIII JCW. He said he had a blast with it but he ran it completely stock including the run flat tires. He said there were chunks missing from them. Not sure why MINI put such crappy tires on a performance car. It also seems that people associated with the LRP Club are immune to rules and the virus. I just stayed away.
CV19 was pretty well handled. They took temperatures of the people coming into the park. Before the event LRP said they would be parking us, but that didn’t happen (I was told rules and requirements were changing daily which was hard on the Patroons people) . So it was pick a spot. People were good about spacing out. They were also pretty good about wearing masks, although there was a group of younger people that were hanging out sans mask. So a little catch as catch can there, but easily avoidable.
A few other points about the day. Oil temp was in the high 260-270 range. Higher than I like. On the way home there was clearly a cluck/rattle from the front, maybe suspension or sway bar, that I heard on the way home. And then there was the road ‘gator (truck tire tread) in the middle of the lane on the thruway that I hit doing about 70. I cleared it with the front of the car and it hit something in the back. So some after track event work to do...
I spent about a half hour inspecting the underside of Smokey for any damage that the road ‘gator might have cause. Suffice to say, none found. i figure, it it did cause any damage it would take less than that amount of time to find it. There were some scuff marks on the underside, where clearly it rubbed while I went over it. There is big scuff mark on the muffler which must have been the spot it hit when I heard it. i really lucked out with this one. In particular I saw that one of the radiator hoses passes really low under the radiator and could have been mortally damage from this thing. Lucky
Also, the rattle from the front that I was hearing when I left LRP is now completely gone. No finding it now... However, if I had to guess, it sounded like sway bar bushings or endlinks. I expect those take a beating with that 27mm bar I have up there. I did check for looseness of anything like that while I was under there looking for ‘gator damage. Again, none found.
I just received an Email from Harbor Freight about a recall on the hardware that replaced a previously recalled piece of hardware. i thought people should know...
To the Harbor Freight Community:
I'm writing to apologize. I often reach out to tell you about Harbor Freight's commitment to quality and all the investments we've made to deliver quality tools at the lowest prices. Your trust matters deeply to me and I'm proud of how far we've come. So when we have a product recall, it hurts.
A few months ago, we recalled our Pittsburgh 3 ton and 6 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56371, 61196 and 61197) due to a manufacturer's defect. We asked customers to return them and receive a gift card that could be used to purchase replacement jack stands. I felt terrible about that recall because you should never have a concern about the safety of any of our products.
Today, I feel even worse. I'm disappointed and embarrassed because we've identified a welding defect in a small number of the Pittsburgh 3 ton steel jack stands (SKU 56373) that replaced the recalled jack stands. We're now adding these jack stands to our recall. Unfortunately, this defect wasn't discovered during the initial recall investigation. If you own these jack stands or any of the jack stands in our original recall, whether or not you have had an issue with them, please stop using them immediately and bring them back to your local Harbor Freight Store for a full cash refund or store credit (see details here).
We have investigated all of our other Pittsburgh 3 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56371, 56372 and 57308) as well as the Pittsburgh 6 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56368, 56369 and 56370) and Pittsburgh 12 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56374 and 56375) and did not find the defect. Although none of these other jack stands are being recalled, if you own any of them and have any concern whatsoever, please bring them back and we'll give you a full cash refund or store credit for those as well.
I want to apologize to all of our customers. While we've dramatically grown our team of engineers and inspectors, and intensified our tests and inspections, I assure you that the lessons learned from this will drive further improvement.
As the owner and founder of Harbor Freight, I want you to know that we stand behind every product we sell and that safety will always be our top priority.
I saw the original recall a few weeks ago. I have a set sitting in my garage, waiting to be returned. That's what I get for breaking my "Harbor Freight Rule" — Don't buy anything with moving parts.
I saw the original recall a few weeks ago. I have a set sitting in my garage, waiting to be returned. That's what I get for breaking my "Harbor Freight Rule" — Don't buy anything with moving parts.
Well, I wouldn’t go that far... I have their jack and 12v tire pump (one for each car). My rule is if it looks reasonable, buy it. If it falls apart, don’t buy it again... Their sanding pads are a waste of money On the other hand I bought a really nice pair of leather work gloves from them... Get it? “On the other hand...”.
But the jack stand thing is really scary. They (any brand) are iffy in my book, hence my use of 4x6 wood...
Any thoughts of doing the SCDA August event at LRP?
Last edited by Eddie07S; 07-08-2020 at 06:22 AM.
Reason: Fix typo
I went and checked mine risky moving part investment again and at least for now I avoid a trip to the store.
I kick myself for not buying four of the two Napa jack stands that were made in Japan decades ago. By the time I could afford the additional two, there were long replaced by Chinese made ones just like the HF ones. Generally I avoid anything electrical and electronic from HF, except some that I plan to use once only. Their cordless tools are hardly cheaper than many leading brands, and yet they are subpar. I don't even buy many of their no moving part tools like hammers worrying they can shattered and take out one of my eyes.
Their AL jack stands seems pretty good, and so far free from recall. I need to go and inspect it closer on the design and finish though. The teeth spacing is wider than the steel counterpart which makes sense giving cast AL vs cast iron.
I was hoping to get this HF message out to people I know and follow along here, and who are likely to have some of this stuff. If you know anyone else to whom this message would be important (life saving?), please pass it along.
A club member also emailed us on the recall on the recalled HF jack stands. Guess what? This past weekend at the track, one of my track buddy with an E46 track car had a 4-ton AC Delco jack stand snapped on his 3100 lb car on diet. The failure is the cast iron upper T-strut which saw mostly compression force. In the photo this stand looks nearly identical to the 3-ton HF one with added small steel plates on the feet.
the cross section of the break looks like sintered metal powder that has been exposed to insufficient heat - hence half baked
This is what you can get for paying a premium for an American brand that fly the flag. My take is the cast iron have a lot of impurity and probably had not reach adequate temperature when it was poured into the mold.
That does look like a bad casting and no or wrong post casting heat treat. That is pretty typical of a brittle fracture failure which should not occur if heat treated correctly.
Well, after a long break in the action, I made it out to Lime Rock yesterday. I was very late to register (6AM, day of) and was surprised to see that there was space available in INT 2. I decided to go because the weather was picture perfect, and, to be honest, I felt the need for some speed after all that's been going on. Glad I went: car felt very good, and the rust in my brain was pretty much gone after the first session. No other MINIs in my group, but there were a couple of R53s looked good in other run groups. I was parked next a Miata, and we sort of partnered up on the track.
I signed up for Palmer next Monday, running in the clockwise direction. I've only run there going counter, so I've been watching the track vids. Any tips on this direction would be greatly appreciated. It looks like the track was designed with this direction in mind to begin with, as the flow looks more natural than going clockwise. I've also signed up for Watkins Glen for a 2-day event Aug. 31/Sept. 1. MINIs get a $50 discount on this event, so your gas there and back should be covered, at least 😉.
It'd be great to have some MINI company there, or at Palmer, so please post if you'll be at either event. In the meantime, "If in doubt, go flat out!"
I've also signed up for Watkins Glen for a 2-day event Aug. 31/Sept. 1. It'd be great to have some MINI company there, or at Palmer, so please post if you'll be at either event. In the meantime, "If in doubt, go flat out!"
Good to see you back on the track! I am going to WGI so I will see you up there and I will want some tips from you because I haven't been up there in 10 years! (But I have been practicing on my XBox).
As for doing Palmer CW, I prefer that direction. Here are a few notes from my cheat sheet (turn numbers refer to the CCW direction because in classes they did it that way and the standard Palmer map labels the turns that way).
- In general, aim for late turn-ins and apexes
- At the top of the hill (turn 14/1) apex at the end of the curbing
- Try doing a long lift through 13 and 12 instead of braking
- Definitely apex late on turn 8 then favor the outside around turn 7
- The esses through turns 5 and 4 make me crazy. If you find a fast way through without serious understeer, let me know
- The big curve from turn 2 toward turn 1 can be turned into one long steady radius turn
- I find I can get disoriented at Palmer and forget what's ahead. When going clockwise, I try to keep this track visual in mind: Uphill to right hairpin > Downhill to left hairpin > Uphill to right hairpin > Downhill to the S.
That's all I got VV. See you on August 31!
That's great, GKP! Those tips, along with the videos should have me pretty well prepared by next Monday. I hope we have good weather at WGI. Even though you haven't run there in a while, I think it's the type of track that once you learn it, you've got it. At least in my mind, it is easier to visualize WGI as a whole than Palmer. Perhaps that's because of the number of times I've run WGI vs. Palmer, or because the layout of Palmer isn't intuitive. Palmer reminds me most of Monticello; the designers were trying to get as many 'features' in as they could. Running a track in both directions just doubles the confusion!
Looking forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks. I'll be happy to share what I've learned over the years @ WGI and then watch you lap me at least twice during each session if you're in INT 2. 😊
Who's up for a group buy, say 4 of us @ 10k apiece? I bet those cars were thrashed around quite a bit and driven at the limit, though. Will be interesting to see what they eventually go for.
After a good day at Palmer, (the T-storms held off until just after the event ended) I'm prepping for a couple of days at WGI. Car felt very good; driver still has some rust spots, but I think Palmer flows a little more naturally going in the counterclockwise direction.
Anybody planning on LRP on September 8th? I'll be there...
$40k for a heavily used, “new” condition race car? Half that, I’ll get a truck from Tony...
V V - Good to hear that Palmer went well.
LRP on the 8th is very possible. I’ll post back when I am sure.
I just finished 3 days at WGI with the JCW. Definitely had mixed feelings about the car. MINI not having available a mechanical LSD for it is just wrong...
I made the following posts about my little adventure. The first link is to my write up after I had thought about the event and my time with the car. It focuses on the positives of the event and the car. The JCW is pretty good as a track car and this is a less negative than my first set of posts:
When I made my first post I had focused on the negatives about the car and the long standing resentment of MINI for cost cutting measures (no LSD, etc). This is that post and a follow on post: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post4550935
And made a video of some of the cars out on the track. I have video of me in the JCW, but I am struggling to come up with a way to edit it... Ugh... https://youtu.be/hAspFyKIig8
Too bad you don't live closer. I do a lot of video editing using a Mac and Final Cut Pro and could help you out.
Thanks for the offer. I’ll eMail you about what we might be able to do. I like the iMovie app that Apple has for what I do. That is what I used for the video above. Of course those video clips were all taken on the iPhone.
The in-car files I have are xxxx.MTS files, which come from a really good Panasonic video camera. I did some research and found that Apple has nothing that deals with those files directly. The only way I found I could deal with these files was through 3rd party software. I found apps that would play these files, but, for the iPad, nothing that would edit them. The only things I could find was for the Mac, like you have.
Originally scheduled for the 11th, but moved to the 8th for some reason I am not privy to. Half day event starts @ 1 and is unmuffled, so there will probably be a bunch of high horsepower, high dB cars there.
06-15-2020, 05:32 PM
Lucky 
In the photo this stand looks nearly identical to the 3-ton HF one with added small steel plates on the feet.
