Black Jack: Road trip! Home from the eclipse in Ohio. 24mpg!!
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Alright, folks have been asking for more pics. Decided a vid's even better:
View: https://youtu.be/KdAkyb73bJM
View: https://youtu.be/KdAkyb73bJM
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Well, I gave the Steeda Tri-ax a good try, and here is my verdict:
Back to the steel Pro-5.0 for me...
Back to the steel Pro-5.0 for me...
love it 
Pretty sure all I got was 4-5 degree with the MM setup and standard arms. Also keep in mind as you angle the struts rearward, it lifts the tie rod points on the spindles and creates bumpsteer.
Measuring bumpsteer is a royal PITA.
Measuring bumpsteer is a royal PITA.
Sunday, I'm planning to go to an autocross.
I wouldn't call myself 'settled' at Fort Bragg (Liberty), but I've gotten enough unpacked to be comfortable, and the new garage is reasonably setup so that I can start getting into my hobbies. So, with that said, I'm headed to the Southern National Motorsports Park on Sunday 23 APR, to show them what Black Jack can do around the cones!
In honesty, I don't care how competitive we are, this will be the first time I've been competing around corners in an organized event in close to 20 years. I'm stoked to re-develop my skills. It's going to be so much fun! I don't think any motoring event teaches driving balance & control like autocross courses.
Black Jack's recent mods to make it more of a cruiser, including a taller 2nd gear, the wheels/tires, Caster/camber plates with more caster & camber, and front B-springs should make it way more appropriate for handling, compared to the way it used to be setup.
I wouldn't call myself 'settled' at Fort Bragg (Liberty), but I've gotten enough unpacked to be comfortable, and the new garage is reasonably setup so that I can start getting into my hobbies. So, with that said, I'm headed to the Southern National Motorsports Park on Sunday 23 APR, to show them what Black Jack can do around the cones!
In honesty, I don't care how competitive we are, this will be the first time I've been competing around corners in an organized event in close to 20 years. I'm stoked to re-develop my skills. It's going to be so much fun! I don't think any motoring event teaches driving balance & control like autocross courses.
Black Jack's recent mods to make it more of a cruiser, including a taller 2nd gear, the wheels/tires, Caster/camber plates with more caster & camber, and front B-springs should make it way more appropriate for handling, compared to the way it used to be setup.
That's awesome man, I can't wait to get my car back and take it to the cones!
@FastDriver at Autocross with the [new] Tri-Ax
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFvW5tIDSOA&t=1s&ab_channel=KevinTalbot
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFvW5tIDSOA&t=1s&ab_channel=KevinTalbot
Had a fantastic time at Southern National Motorsports Park! I was terrible, but it was fun... And, my time improved with each of my 5 laps. It went from a DNF and 51 second lap, because I went off-course after misreading the cones, to a 42.6 on the final lap. This ended with me in 80th out of a field of 97. I didn't earn my username, today, but hopefully with more time, practice, and some gran turismo, I'll improve my standings. I'm confident with a few more laps, and the track conditions later in the day, I could have taken at least another 2 sec off my time... perhaps more.
There was only 1 other foxbody in the field with a full coil-over, panhard bar setup, upgraded brakes, and Auto-X specific tires. He was a cool dude and ran about 2 sec faster than I did.
Next time, in about a month, it will be at Rockingham and I hear it's a little higher speed.
No vids or pics, this time, but I'll see about getting a go pro for sharing and self-improvement.
There was only 1 other foxbody in the field with a full coil-over, panhard bar setup, upgraded brakes, and Auto-X specific tires. He was a cool dude and ran about 2 sec faster than I did.
Next time, in about a month, it will be at Rockingham and I hear it's a little higher speed.
No vids or pics, this time, but I'll see about getting a go pro for sharing and self-improvement.
That’s awesome! Who cares where you finished, as long as you had a good time.
80th out of 97 on a track day has got to be better than a day at work….. that much I’m sure of!!
Glad to hear you had a good time at the autocross event! THSCC is a very novice-friendly club. You may have seen that they recently gave me 10 spots for 79-04 Mustangs at their Novice School (at Rockingham). They are looking to get more Mustangs at their events. You're going to have a blast at Rockingham. It's a great venue for autocross. If you ever have any questions about autocross, please ask. I'm always happy to help. You might also want to check out my YT channel; you'll find videos about autocross mods & driving tips.
I did see your channel, watched a couple of your vids on YT. I didn't realize these were your local tracks, nor see the slots you had for novice school at Rockingham. I missed the boat on that one, right? I think that took place before the season.
Were you out there, yesterday?
Were you out there, yesterday?
That's cool man, just remember that in AutoX you're only racing against yourself and your best time. Who cares where you finish as long as you're improving.
Yeah, that really is my mentality, as my goal is only to get better and gain confidence with handling Black Jack, and foxes in general, at its limits.
I'm still going to take note of how it stacks up with the other competitors. It would be nice to see relative progress there, as well.
I'm still going to take note of how it stacks up with the other competitors. It would be nice to see relative progress there, as well.
For privacy reasons, I don't put my location in my videos. But I do run with THSCC and Triad Sports Car Club (both have events close to you). The THSCC Novice School was on 3/25, but every THSCC and Triad event has perks for novices (a guided course walk; instruction; ride-alongs with experienced drivers). Unfortunately, I wasn't there yesterday; Triad had an event in Winston-Salem and I have to balance out events between the two clubs to stay in contention for Season Championships. I expect to be at the next Rockingham event. I'll be more than happy to jump in the car with you and help you get faster.
Your first few events are all about learning the fundamentals and how to "read" the course. As you build good technique and eliminate bad driving habits, you'll be able to push your car harder and get more comfortable with its personality at the limit of traction. The focus is mostly on how you are improving your own times, but it can be helpful to compare your times to your fellow novices, and to people in your base class (CAM-T). Tracking your improvement relative to other novices and seeing how much closer you are getting to veteran autocrossers shows you how much you've improved over the course of a season.
Quick update:
Oil Change:
Oil change on 14MAY23. Odometer non-functional. So, I'll have to guesstimate when to do it again. I'm still not happy with the crud coming out of the motor. I should probably have flushed it when I bought the car back.
Rear Diff rebuild & New calipers
On Thursday, this week, I'm letting Automotive Performance & Chassis rebuild the rear diff. I don't want to learn how to set back lash and all the stuff and things and tools that go along with it. It's leaking from the front of the pinion seal, and since I'm still getting a vibration above 60, despite my best attempts earlier to hypnotise myself into believing I could live with how small it has become, I'm so focused on it, now that I really have to keep trying to get rid of it. So, new pinion bearing, carrier bearings, seals and anything else they determine needs servicing while in there. I've had some extra 75W-140 Royal Purple with friction modifier on the shelf since I serviced the diff in my truck years ago. So, that's what'll go back in it. Correct me if wrong, but Ford was apparently putting that weight in all 8.8 diffs by the 2000s. So, that should work fine for my application.
While they've got it, I've asked them to replace the front calipers & lines in an attempt to get rid of the pull to the left upon pressing the brake pedal followed by a pull back to the right when letting off. I traced the lines and couldn't find any kinks or problems.
Other notes:
There's an AutoX, next Sunday at Rockingham that I'm planning on going to unless the diff rebuild is delayed. Also, I've been very interested in a couple of products that may find their way into Black Jack in the near future:
https://foxbodybrakes.com/collections/4-lug
- They've apparently got everything I need to swap to a 13" front/11.6" rear, including the right master cylinder. Seems like a nice way to keep costs down. I think I can get it all for $1,900, assuming there aren't any discounts. Nice to keep stock spindles, the 31-spline axles I already have, etc...
Recaro Specialist seats. (Or something close) Not sure how to decide on the correct size yet, though.
Oil Change:
Oil change on 14MAY23. Odometer non-functional. So, I'll have to guesstimate when to do it again. I'm still not happy with the crud coming out of the motor. I should probably have flushed it when I bought the car back.
Rear Diff rebuild & New calipers
On Thursday, this week, I'm letting Automotive Performance & Chassis rebuild the rear diff. I don't want to learn how to set back lash and all the stuff and things and tools that go along with it. It's leaking from the front of the pinion seal, and since I'm still getting a vibration above 60, despite my best attempts earlier to hypnotise myself into believing I could live with how small it has become, I'm so focused on it, now that I really have to keep trying to get rid of it. So, new pinion bearing, carrier bearings, seals and anything else they determine needs servicing while in there. I've had some extra 75W-140 Royal Purple with friction modifier on the shelf since I serviced the diff in my truck years ago. So, that's what'll go back in it. Correct me if wrong, but Ford was apparently putting that weight in all 8.8 diffs by the 2000s. So, that should work fine for my application.
While they've got it, I've asked them to replace the front calipers & lines in an attempt to get rid of the pull to the left upon pressing the brake pedal followed by a pull back to the right when letting off. I traced the lines and couldn't find any kinks or problems.
Other notes:
There's an AutoX, next Sunday at Rockingham that I'm planning on going to unless the diff rebuild is delayed. Also, I've been very interested in a couple of products that may find their way into Black Jack in the near future:
https://foxbodybrakes.com/collections/4-lug
- They've apparently got everything I need to swap to a 13" front/11.6" rear, including the right master cylinder. Seems like a nice way to keep costs down. I think I can get it all for $1,900, assuming there aren't any discounts. Nice to keep stock spindles, the 31-spline axles I already have, etc...
Recaro Specialist seats. (Or something close) Not sure how to decide on the correct size yet, though.
The one thing I would suggest on the rear end is a solid pinion spacer with shims vs. the typical crush sleeve. This allow you to replace the pinion seal without having to mess with having to correctly preload another crush sleeve or to try and use the old one again. I have the solid spacer and shims on both my cars and recently had to replace the pinion seal on the Coupe and it took longer to jack it up and remove the DS than to replace the seal. This is the one that I run but I believe several other companies make it as well:
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