The Red Drift ///Machine - 2026 NASA TT4 adventures

[bigjae46]

Infusion completed!



Came out pretty good! Used scrap pieces of carbon and core. It came out to the same weight before trimming. Should be closer to 1.8lbs. More importantly the structure adds stiffness for my splitter mounts.









The mold for the top half is done. Hopefully will have a carbon part by Sun.

[bigjae46]

Just waiting on the epoxy to show up…


Finished the carbon splitter mounts. Saved 1.8 lbs!


Prepping to make this carbon hood again. Supply Chain!!! Waiting for some stuff to arrive to start the mold.

[bigjae46]

Working on the upper half.

I really don’t need these since I use hood pins.


Just drilled out the rivets. The carbon parts should be much stiffer so I don’t see a downside. I can always rivet them to the carbon parts…worst case. But these weigh 1lb.

Starting to prep to make the mold for the upper half.


I am going to make this really stiff (that’s what she said). I’m not sure how much weight I am going to save here. I am willing to make it heavier.

Next step will be to look at ways to tie this to the strut brace…probably will be an end of year project.

[bigjae46]

I need to get as much weight off the front end as possible. I’ve been looking at ways to improve oil cooling while using a smaller cooler.

I think I’m going to mount my secondary cooler on the back of the radiator. It should warm up the oil quicker so I can delete the external thermostat and provide more efficient air flow than my current setup.

With everything apart and brainstorming…I came up with the idea to make the front crossmember out of….drumroll…carbon fiber. I can cut about 2-3lbs.

The lower mold is complete…

[bigjae46]

Haven’t made much progress. I fix one thing and find two more. So I FINALLY got an OFH gasket, chain tensioner, and vanos sealing plate in. Found the oil pan gasket is leaking. Got that replaced, found two circlips on my control arm ball joint boots missing. Ordered those and then found a tear in the right tie rod boot. And I still have an oil leak…not sure if it’s from the oil pan gasket or rear main. Ugh!

Pro tip. I stripped the threads for an oil pan bolt that goes into the bottom of the front timing cover. I was about to throw on another cover and found that the hole is NOT a blind hole. In goes a slightly longer bolt!

[mrgizmo04]

Do I only use 1 rotor bolt instead of 2 to save weight? Absolutely!

Why do you use even 1?

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[bigjae46]

Do I only use 1 rotor bolt instead of 2 to save weight? Absolutely!



I also trim off some other unnecessary things. Seems minor but do 15-20 of these things that’s 2-4 lbs removed!

[bigjae46]

Removed the front end. Takes about 15 min to remove, not usually necessary to do this stuff



Chasing an oil leak. I noticed some oil around the lower half of the freeze plug. I’ve pulled the solenoid and cleaned that area up so I’m pretty sure that is a leak point. Also signs of an oil filter housing gasket leak. Hopefully that’s it for oil leaks.



I tapped the bottom of the plug to get it to rotate in the hole.



Then pliers to pull it out!



The VANOS solenoid plug came apart. There is a replacement socket - 61-13-8-383-300. That does not include the pins. As long as the wires, pins and insert are intact you’re good! Waiting on the part, I’ll post details.

[bigjae46]

Here is an update on the carbon front reinforcement panel - overall I rate it as a success with some possibilities for improvement!

https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/main-forum/e46-2001-2006/159877-carbon-fiber-front-reinforcement-panel?p=195875#post195875

[bigjae46]

Its been awhile since I've updated...back in May I added a gurney flap on the rear wing. 1/8" aluminum angle with aluminum tape to smooth the edges.



The end plates reduced the over steer tendency but the gurney flap made a significant different in the aero balance. I really have to try and break the rear end loose, it actually is causing some understeer when on throttle. I think its right about where I want it. My top speeds are down from about 5-6 mph on the back straight at COTA. Hit 143mph last year, this year with the gurney and end plates - 137mph with a better exit before the straight.

Other than various issues and the carbon plate, nothing majorly new. I had an issue where sometimes there would be a bunch of smoke after coming out of right turns, finally figure out it was a leak right side diff seal.

Averaging 10 days on brake pads, 30 heat cycles on tires, and about 8 MPG. The red drift machine has been really good on the consumables!

[Lavatoad]

Glad you were able to sort the "custom" exhaust at the track.

I rewatched my spin going into jawbone. Got pretty lucky...

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[bigjae46]

I am building a carbon front reinforcement plate.

[bigjae46]

After 13 full years of going to the track, first track incident back in Dec. I consider myself extremely lucky because it could have been a lot worse. An oversteery car with too much confidence ended up biting.

I couldn't collect the car and I had some traffic behind me that I just passed. Instead of potentially hitting an expensive Porsche, I decided to just give it up and go off. It is an open area, the drainage ditch is a ways down the straight. Somehow...I managed to hit the only thing in a huge field....the corner worker station. Fortunately I just brushed it. I couldn't imagine how it could have been better. Wouldn't say I was happy...I think fortunate is a better way to describe my feelings.





The car is fixed. Installed 3.91 gears, relatively straight forward. I reused the same pinion shim and swapped the carrier shims side to side. The carrier preload was 10 in/lb, pinion preload is 14 in/lb, and the backlash was .0035".... everything is in the sweet spot! No issues although the diff does whine a lot more.





Over the short TX winter, I wanted to improve rear downforce. I know the car is very well balanced without the aero. I spent a lot of effort getting that right before putting a wing and splitter on. The front end is very sharp and turns in accurately at all speeds. The issue is the rear tends to be a little nervous at low and mid speeds, especially coming out of slower corners.

My wing is a $400 NRG wing that I bought using Hilton Honors points on Amazon...lol. Before I spend $2000 on an AJ Hartmann wing, I am going to try larger end plates and then a gurney flap. Off to my first event of 2022. Goal...don't crash and test out the diff and end plates.



The first event went well. Had some minor issues (exhaust broke, crossover fuel line from left pump came off, and an EML light for the gas pedal), all of which I fixed at the track.

I'm pretty sure the larger end plates helped although I wasn't really pushing. The 3.91 diff worked well. At MSRH there is only one straight where I now have to shift to 5th. With the 3.73, I was right at the redline at 128mph. Best ever top speed is 130mph. I think I can get to 133-134mph so I'd have to shift to 5th either way. For now...I plan on keeping the 3.91.

[bigjae46]

The previous splitter still flexed at the outer corners so the splitter would scrape quite often. So enter front splitter V2.1. Similar process. Wet lay, bleeder and pull vacuum on it. I used a heavier CF fabric and incorporated unidirectional tape running to the outer edges. It replaced some pieces of angle aluminum I riveted to V2.0.

Still using a foam core that I punched holes in. Still get some air entrapment on the mold side. Again, should have bought foam with channels cut into the surface so air pulls the epoxy through the mold surface. Much stiffer! To the point where I'm having a balance issue. The front axle is sharp and allows trail braking super deep down to the apex. The rear axle is now too loose. I will add a gurney flap and larger end plates to the rear wing which should help the balance.

[bigjae46]

Clutch issues at Eagle’s Canyon this weekend.





The SAC mechanism broke.

I have a ZF320 mated with an E46 M3 JB Racing flywheel, E34 M5 clutch and an OE E46 M3 pressure plate. The E34 disc works…just goes in only one way. Or the springs interfere with the SAC.

Going to use an E36 pressure plate with the same clutch (looks like new).






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