Building for the road course...again

I'm assuming the clip is not magnetic itself...? If not, maybe a drain grabber thing will fit and grab?
It’s ferrous thankfully so the magnet can grab it BUT it’s position wouldn’t allow for the magnet to reach it

Also the way it was bent. When I finally got the magnet on it it was just catching all the spark plug threads it was impossible. Couldn’t get it straight enough to come out.


There’s a hell of a story here lol
 
So…I was ready to literally kill myself. I was so over this shit. The magnet couldn’t reach it. It wasn’t happening.

Thankfully my friend is a patient man because I was either unaliving myself or starting to drain fluids to pull this engine. In my mind it was one or the other.

Little bit of luck, little bit of patience, little bit of alcohol, and this hook I made and we got the piece out thankfully. It was a nightmare
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so whats my best bet for head/block prep for reassembly? Last time i did just the head/gasket i didnt prep the block and the headgasket went after 8 track days.

Do i just scrap the block clean with a razor or what lol
 
Machine shop not an option here. I’m not fucking with the bottom end at all. I’d rather steal the head for my build and buy another unopened long block then do what is essentially another build.


This isnt cost or time effective so it ain’t happening.

gonna be 110% DIY and if that’s not gonna work then this refresh ain’t happening
 
scrape it as clean as possible. use a machinists straight edge to check for flatness in as many orientations as possible. if its not fucked just use a thicker than stock head gasket for extra squish
I like this. My buddy has some big honing stones which are flat. Those work well for block prep.

My big mistake last time I did this was not cleaning up the block deck. I left some teflon on there from the previous head gasket and of course it ended up leaking at that spot.

So razor blades and hone stone it is.

I never considered a thicker head gasket. They do make them and they’re easy enough to get. That might be a good idea
 
This head/block should be in good shape. We’ll see anyways. I’m not trying to set records here just have a 210hp spare engine lol fuck.

I’ll do valve seals and maybe my oem+ cams and good enough
 
I spent the last couple of weeks going through your thread start to finish. It's been a fantastic read. Looking forward to next season and watching how it shapes up for you.

I've been trying to make sense of time attack classing for my build, but I find it worse than autocross. What rule set do you run under?
 
I spent the last couple of weeks going through your thread start to finish. It's been a fantastic read. Looking forward to next season and watching how it shapes up for you.

I've been trying to make sense of time attack classing for my build, but I find it worse than autocross. What rule set do you run under?
Thank you! Im sure it was a mission to get through all of this lol but its been a journey for sure.

So classing is always a pain. I compete in 2 different local series here, Ontario Time Attack, and CSCS. They use 2 VERY different rule books.

CSCS - more so "here are the rules, build to the letter of the law and you are OK"
OTA - more so "keep the car as stock as possible, anything you touch you get a penalty point for and that will push up your classing"

CSCS is more of a bring the most hectic crazy build you can and try to drive it well where as OTA is more so a drivers series where driver mod and a lightly modified vehicle is heavily rewarded.

This makes is very difficult to make the car work for both series but im doing it the best i can lol. Why run two series? They run some different tracks which i like and the energy is very very different between the two series and i enjoy both so why not.


OTA apparently uses a modified scca rule book/pax/points system
CSCS rule book is completely homebrewed based on nothing other than what will make them the most profits

OTA operates like a racing series trying to level the field for all competitors where as CSCS operates like a business trying to make the maximum profit and if they need to change rules to get more registrations they will and have done so in the past
 
Thank you! Im sure it was a mission to get through all of this lol but its been a journey for sure.

So classing is always a pain. I compete in 2 different local series here, Ontario Time Attack, and CSCS. They use 2 VERY different rule books.

CSCS - more so "here are the rules, build to the letter of the law and you are OK"
OTA - more so "keep the car as stock as possible, anything you touch you get a penalty point for and that will push up your classing"

CSCS is more of a bring the most hectic crazy build you can and try to drive it well where as OTA is more so a drivers series where driver mod and a lightly modified vehicle is heavily rewarded.

This makes is very difficult to make the car work for both series but im doing it the best i can lol. Why run two series? They run some different tracks which i like and the energy is very very different between the two series and i enjoy both so why not.


OTA apparently uses a modified scca rule book/pax/points system
CSCS rule book is completely homebrewed based on nothing other than what will make them the most profits

OTA operates like a racing series trying to level the field for all competitors where as CSCS operates like a business trying to make the maximum profit and if they need to change rules to get more registrations they will and have done so in the past
It was definitely a long read going through it all, but well worth it.

I am a fellow Canadian, so I share your pain in the cost of building a car. Just like you, if I drove an hour across the border I could do things for half the cost, until all the stupid tax, duties and exchange rate kick in.

Our local time trials series here runs with SCCA rules. How they word engine swaps, turbo upgrades has been confusing to decifer. Non of it crosses over well to the Autocross classing which the car was built for orignaly. Sounds like the OTS use some of the Grid Life rules mixed with the SCCA rules..

My Max 5 Mazda 323..
 

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It was definitely a long read going through it all, but well worth it.
There are not many people out there still reading entire threads like this so props to you! i know i have done my fair share of long thread readings lol


I am a fellow Canadian, so I share your pain in the cost of building a car.
Yea so you know exactly how it is. Its almost exactly double to build the same car in Canada that you could build in the USA which makes everything take longer and its far more important to get it right the first time. Makes things stressful but it is what it is. We love this stuff so we just deal with it and make it work

Our local time trials series here runs with SCCA rules. How they word engine swaps, turbo upgrades has been confusing to decifer. Non of it crosses over well to the Autocross classing which the car was built for orignaly. Sounds like the OTS use some of the Grid Life rules mixed with the SCCA rules..
Yea so same problems i have. I am not so much an Autox guy but ive tried it a few times. I didnt really look at classing just listed my mods and they put me where ever and thats ok for doing a random event here or there but if you actually want that podium then it becomes a huge pain.

We had a local series here that was built/funded by a rich guy from China, big money spent on renting out tracks and giving away thousands of dollars in prizes which no one else does.

This series used the gridlife rule book which people LOVE. Now my car also doesnt fit in well with the gridlife rule book but at least it makes some more sense.

I feel like all time attack series should just go the gridlife route. As gridlife gains popularity there are more and more local Ontario teams heading out to grid life events. Would be nice to not have to do a mini rebuild for every single series lol. I want to visit gingerman for midwest fest 2026 which may be doable but as im sure you know, ClubTR is ridiculous those cars are pushing 250-280whp, completely gutted/aero'd golden era hondas so you know they weigh like 2300lbs...and id be in that class. Street class which is the next class up is all turbo stuff or V6s/V8s making real power. Tough to slot in there but for me it would just be about the experience. I dont expect to be competitive against guys who have been running the series for years and are built to the rule book. Ah well lol this is racing


My Max 5 Mazda 323..
This looks like a blast to drive! small and lightweight. thats awesome. Primarily an autox car it sounds like?
 
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