Joe's NB8B

[bruce]

Nice to see that I'm not the only person who gets frustrated with car things.
Actually it's not nice.....why can't it be easier!

[PaulF]

It's an OEM thermofan, right? That's pretty weird that it would be spinning backwards! The connector isn't reversible IIRC, so it would have to have been re-pinned somewhere in the circuit.

[Jeo]

Looks OEM? Could be aftermarket of course but more interesting is that it appears to be hard wired. As in there's no connector between the fan terminals and the loom, it's a twin core wire that runs directly back into the loom and then disappears. When I fix the polarity I was absolutely planning on wiring in a connector as it certainly made radiator removal harder than it needed to be, but was also meaning to ask if there should have been a connector already inline.

There is in the secondary/drivers side fan.

[greenMachine]

Geeze, that's not right, mine has a plug - because you need to be able to get that out easily to remove the radiator.

The reversed polarity won't matter sitting in your driveway, but on the road moving you are reducing the capacity of the radiator substantially as incoming air pushes against the fan flow on that side - does any air get through, even at high speed I wonder? You also run the risk when stationary/low speed of just circulating hot air between the two fans, given the relatively enclosed spaces they are drawing from/pushing to, it would be a nice academic experiment to set up a test for that!

I look forward to a report of cooling success from you next drive!

[bruce]

I reckon the connector is hidden, or maybe some super neat splicing/heatshrink is hiding where it was joined.

[rascal]

The factory connector is in plain sight just above the fan itself so if not there as suggested then that def points to it being non factory.. and the hard wiring provides them the opportunity to reverse the wires…

[Jeo]

Nope, no hidden connector or joins. Removed the tape/wire cover and it's just two individual wires going back into the loom.

Today saw disconnection at the fan terminals, a new connector added back near where it disappears back into the main loom, reconnection back at the terminals but now going the right way, and nice new split loam tubing and cable ties to boot.

The day before saw a decent drive around in 34 degree ambient. Didn't get it even to the point where the fan would turn on despite maybe 15 hard 20-100kmh pulls. Not 100% going to say the new radiator and thermostat have solved our problems without testing in motorsport conditions, but it sure seems like an improvement. Fingers crossed!

Well, that and the fact that the fan now spins the right way too. That'll probably help as well, so let's now rephrase it as at least one of those three things solving our problems.

[Jeo]

A few things have happened over the last month so now it's update time!

Zero for two khanacrosses so far this year unfortunately. First was the same weekend as my wife's birthday where we were down the coast instead. Second was last weekend which clashed with my wife running the half-marathon at the Australian Running Festival, which is her first serious run since before kids so I was on parenting/cheer-squad duty that morning. Or at least that was the plan until she came down with the flu a few days prior, but only actually throwing in the towel Saturday night. Interestingly I then decided it that I could steal her entry and go for a run with a few thousand other people on the Sunday morning instead! Zero training but held up surprisingly well. Was definitely a little sore the following day but didn't break anything so hooray! That and it rained pretty heavily so the khanacross would have been a mess anyway.

I've been driving the car to work once or twice a week and am now pretty confident in saying that the cooling issues are all resolved. The next problem I discovered through was what sounded like a dead wheel bearing on the front left. Checked that out maybe a fortnight ago and sure enough the hub definitely felt stiff so a new one was ordered and I got that installed last weekend. Getting the ABS ring off the old hub was significantly harder than the internet led me to believe, but otherwise was an uneventful affair.

I then found a very tidy set of Rays Volk GR-N on marketplace and decided they were a good idea to acquire. Couple of messages later and I realised I was talking with the lovely Trader, and was then at his place that evening to collect.

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That weekend they received a couple of coats of plastidip because of course they did.

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And all four got fitted.

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Interestingly it was at this point that I also discovered a reasonable sized dent in one of my 15" Integra wheels. So that was mildly upsetting.

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[Jeo]

While all this was going on I had also been trying my hand at 3D modelling and after a two prototypes I ended up with this printed blanking plate come gauge/phone mount.

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Apparently I didn't take any photos of the "finished" version in the car but this picture of one of the earlier prototypes should give you a pretty good idea of what I was going for.

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I'll definitely be remaking this eventually as I want the gauge to be angled slightly upwards as well, and the phone mount has a little too much play in it as is. But it's good enough for the time being.

And finally for motorsport things I was lucky enough to jag an entry to the Beat the Blue event at SMSP next weekend. A charity event run by the NSW Police Legacy Foundation where people get to race around the skidpan against cops in cop cars. Dad will be making the trip up with me, before he and mum disappear to SE Asia for a couple of months only a few days later, so that should be fun on a couple of fronts.

[bruce]

That's a shame your missus got sick before the big run. Must have been very disappointing - I feel bad if I have to skip just a regular run, missing a half-marathon is a major bummer.

[Jeo]

Definitely was as shame thanks Bruce. Like I said it was supposed to be her first serious run since our eldest was born 5.5 years ago, and based on her training pace she was likely to be within a minute or three of her PB. She's entered a YMCA half next month which while fine, isn't the same thing as the big running festival. Bike paths through suburbia with a couple of hundred people vs running on closed roads throughout the parliamentary triangle with a couple of thousand people - somehow the former isn't as much fun.

One thing I will say for the closed roads part though is you get a far better appreciation of how much elevation change there is that you just don't notice in a car. I drive along Parkes Way a couple of times every week and had I not known better I would have said it was pretty flat. Spoiler - it is not flat. Similarly people should always take track walks when given the opportunity to do so; you get a much better appreciation of what's going on when you're physically standing on it.

[Jeo]

Charity motorsport!

Left Canberra around lunch yesterday and made my way to SMSP to take part in Beat the Blue - I would explain it in my own words but instead I'm just going to quote the event organisers themselves.

"Our main event which is held annually (pushing for bi-annualy) Includes a show and shine with a driving component. 99 members of the public via an express of interest are given the opportunity to drive off against members of the NSW Police Force Traffic and Highway Patrol. These officers drive in every day operational police vehicles on an obstacle course setup on the skid pan at Sydney Motorsport Park. While it is a drive off, the night is a bit of fun and aimed at bringing the community together in the spirit of safety and community spirit."

How the night went was that we all had one race against the cops then faced off against other entrants in a single elimination, winner stays on, repeat until an overall winner is left standing type event. I easily had one of the cheapest cars there (if not the cheapest) with no shortage of Porsche, McLaren, Jag's, plus your standard spattering of WRX, evo, GR Yaris, VAG things.

My police run was against a Chrysler SRT 300. I was in front at the last corner then proceeded to run a little wide and fishtailed the whole way from the exit of the corner to the finish line. Damn it. Could have, should have, would have, etc.

Went and grabbed some dinner then lined up for my first run against another entrant and got paired up against a brand new GR Corolla. While I absolutely still left time on the table, my run was much cleaner and I was pretty happy with my pace, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to keep up with 220kW and AWD on a wet skid pan. Our race was his closest of the night as said Corolla went on to win three more races and made top 8, but that's the joys of single elimination and random draws.

Still, was a great evening. Awesome atmosphere, first time I've ever raced with spectators or under lights. Good mate took out the overall victory in his Audi S1 so that was a nice end to the evening too. Overall, thoroughly enjoyed and hopefully they'll have me back next year.

[PaulF]

I've always been curious about those events, sounds like a good time. Wet pans have such patchy grip, it's always going to be hard to compete against an AWD, but it sounds like you held your own.

Good mate took out the overall victory in his Audi S1 so that was a nice end to the evening too.

Reece?

[Jeo]

Yeah. Huge surprise there right? Reece won every race pretty comfortably, plus some significantly more than comfortably. I gave him stick in the lead up that he should have entered his M3 rather than the S1, and while he did say that he was interested in trying it on 'hard mode' he was more interested in winning. And to be fair, I probably would have done the same if I had the option.

Also his fault that I got involved in the first place.

[ManiacLachy]

Sounds like a fun event! You did well to hang with the GR Corolla! I haven't even seen one on the streets yet.