R
First Track Day Ready
Track worthy: service and improvements
A large break between this and last post can be attributed to nothing else but laziness… and a job change. Coming up is my first track day with this car. To bring you up to speed, I have combined all the work I have done in the last two and a half months into a single post.
Part One: “Fixing the water leak”
This car, having a 30 year old targa top is prone to have some leaks. There are minor ones here and there but what I was not expecting is a major leak causing water to pool under the dashboard on the passenger’s side. First, I thought the issue is the windshield glue that has become brittle and cracked at the bottom of the windwhield. Implementing a quick fix did not resolve the issue and I turned to the all-knowing Facebook groups. This is fun thing about having people with experience at the ends of your fingertips. A single post with a description of the leak caused the group to explode with exactly the same answer: “Wiper cowl seal”.
Sure enough, replacing the seal was the magic trick of solving the longstanding leaking problems making the car actually pleasant on the nose.
Part Two: “Rear Trailing Arm Bushings”
After replacing the front LCA, the clanking noise was now only coming from the rear. The biggest culprit being the rear trailing arm bushings. They have been begging for mercy for years judging from their appearance. Don’t believe me, well, have a look below.
This has been one of the most stressful jobs to date, as the bushings need to be press-fit and the tool to do so cannot be easily found at Canadian Tire or Lordco. Despite mixed reviews, I decided to take my chances on a $90 Amazon special. The tool sat in my pantry for a month before I gathered enough bravery to approach the task. It definitely took a lot longer than expected but, as a result, Spicy now has brand new rear trailing arm bushings and a random seller from Amazon has a 5-star review.
Part Three: “Belts, Fluids and the Brakes”
Now that the big jobs were out of the way, it was time to resolve the leftover grieveances. The belts were replaced, coolant, brake and clutch fluid were flushed and new brake pads were installed. Now here I want to state that ALL brake hardware is important… Including all the clips. Why, you ask? Well one of the clips was missing from the rear right brake for no one knows how long and that caused additional clanking noise, as well as slight deformation of the brake rotor. So now even despite having brand new pads, there is a grinding noise when braking. This is not something that concerns me as I will be replacing/upgrading the brake rotors and calipers in the near future.
Result
With all that work done and a helmet purchased. I am now happy to take Spicy for her first track day and grow as a team moving forward.
What’s next
Next up I will be taking Spicy to the track and using that experience to drive future service and modifications. Chat soon!
The car doesn’t need to be perfect. It needs to be fun.
