Sandy's Rebirth

Once Sandy is all back together she should be in her most competitive state to date.  The two major items that are being addressed are the brakes and engine.  Since the rubber seals on my old brake calipers were shot and I was getting noticeable brake drag, I decided to replace all four brake calipers with fresh rebuilt units.  The rears have also had the E-brake mechanism disabled, which reduces brake drag. I keep reading the key to making these cars competitive is to reduce all parasitic losses.  Ideally I would like to buy a rebuilt transmission but I don't yet have the money for that.

After the engine let go at Sebring I was talking to Stu of BSI racing about my different engine options.  He said, "Really the best thing to do is buy a new crate motor from Mazda then have an engine shop build it to the limit of the rules but, no offense, I don't think you have the money for that."  Called out for being poor!  He was right, I didn't have the money for that.  The new crate motor and shop build route runs anywhere from ~$5-8K.

  As we are talking, a man named Bill asks me what year my car is. I reply, 94.  He says he has an old race motor that has been sitting in a warehouse for years.  I ask how much he wants for it.  He tells me that I can have it.  I am ecstatic.  The motor is in south Florida and Bill arranges for Stu to pick it up at the next race which is in Homestead.  Stu calls me a couple days later saying the motor needs some work as there is no valve cover present and he believes the timing is off.  I decide to pay him to go through the whole motor, check it out, replace all bearings and wear items.  He quotes me $1200, which seems reasonable.  I have since paid half that amount and hope to have the remainder covered in the near future.

I plan on taking Sandy to the dyno first thing after she is back together.  I will also compare the horsepower function on the Traqmate when I run Sebring or Daytona again to get a feel for how much more or less power Sandy is making.  It would be awesome if I gained in the ballpark 5-10 hp with the new engine.  It would also be interesting to see how much more competitive that power would make Sandy and I.  We shall see.

One more item I still need to order is a race clutch from ACT.  That's another $350.  But it is one of those things that you might as well do while the motor is out.

Hopefully in the next month I will be putting the motor back in Sandy and she will be born again with a new stronger beating heart.

I will leave you with a couple GoPro stills, getting shacked