Building for the road course...again

[Crazycanadian]

apparently they do have speed 3 coilovers. the 500 series which is street oriented. Theres some facebook shop that has been pushing them for a few years now. Grave yard performance i think it is.


The support from these guys has been top notch. Its really impressive. I love that i called them twice and both times i hit option 2 for technical support and both times someone answered on like the second ring. Answered all my questions and told me to call back if i had anymore.

This seems like a small thing but damn. Awesome support, awesome service. The aluminum rear damper body upgrade is 150 usd so 200cad. We didnt even discuss it and it wasnt on the bill. They just did it. I know i have a special deal with them but still, they didnt need to do that and i wouldnt have even known


Speed 3 500 series

Having support that you can actually talk to is a major thing these days. It's horrible when you've gotta go through all these prompts and still can't get someone on the phone. When I was dealing with KAAZ and K-sport back in the day, they both had great customer service.

 

[gotovato]

In other news...of course with the good news of my suspension yesterday i also received some bad news last night.

I was informed my machinist has passed away. We spoke last February 4th and he said he was feeling good. He passed on the 6th. I just found out last night.

This is upsetting. He was a good guy. He loved what I was doing. He was big fan of all of it. We spoke a lot. We were friends. I can’t believe it. Last we spoke he was feeling great said he was on the up. That was 2 days before he passed. fuck

 

[Enki]

Quick note: Don't do business with Graveyard. Shady and dishonest.

Edit: Missed that the page count increased. RIP to your machinist friend, and I'm 100% not surprised that he felt better before departing. I've watched several relatives leave via cancer and this happens just about every time.

 

[Easter Bunny]

 

[gotovato]

He will be missed for sure. He was a good guy and we talked a lot. He loved what I was doing and he was a big fan as well as a supporter and a sponsor. It sucks. It sucks bad.


I hope I can get my stuff back as it’s too much to eat the loss on all of it. RIP Harold. I wish we could’ve at least finished one more engine

 

[gotovato]

His son has replied to my email. Mentioned he is in the process of gaining access to the shop and the books.


It’s too bad…I told him his father wasn’t really a “books” guy. We operated on handshakes and cash.


Here is hoping I get my stuff back.


As for my hunt for a new shop….nobody works on Honda stuff it seems. Fuck

 

[Awafrican]

sorry for the loss of your friend and engine builder, hopefully you can get your parts back and find a new builder.

there's a good engine builderin Peterborough, Mark at Peterborough machine that's done a bunch of speed engines, including a couple of friends, I wonder if he'd do Hondas

 

[gotovato]

there's a good engine builderin Peterborough, Mark at Peterborough machine that's done a bunch of speed engines, including a couple of friends, I wonder if he'd do Hondas

I’ve talked to him before back in my speed days. He did a block for me which is still in use somewhere.

He’s far is my only problem. We’re talking almost 2 hours one way

 

[gotovato]

Looks like I have a brake pad sponsor coming onboard for 2026. This is great news. Consumables suck!

Cobalt Racing Brakes - High Performance Brake Pad Technology

Leading manufacturer of performance brake pads for track and racing disc brake applications. Our carbon-ceramic XR series pads are proven by winners in all disciplines of motorsports.

cobaltbrakes.com

These guys are a smaller company. Maybe that’s why they are so good to deal with. Waiting on the final details of the deal but yea. 2 sets of pads per season means I don’t need to run them down to the backing plates anymore. This is nice lol

 

[gotovato]

Spent 2 hours or so today prepping the car to drop the subframe and transmission tomorrow.

I believe the throw out bearing which I reused once or twice now is making a hell of a noise. Pushing the clutch pedal stops it. Typical symptom I’ve seen before for bad throw out bearing so here is hoping I’m right.

Please don’t be the input shaft bearing lol. Fuck.

Only thing left here is 6 subframe bolts and that’s it. It’s coming down. Looks like I’ve done nothing lol

 

[gotovato]

All done.




Car is back together(mostly).
Seems it was the throw out bearing. Picking it up and it sounded like a maraca. Can hear the metal rattling around. New bear was nice and tight. 0 rattle under the same tests. Made sense when I clutched in the noise was gone.


Next up we are getting round 3 of winter so coilover install will have to wait but that is next!

 

[gotovato]

While my eye is still healing(fucked it up bad putting the civic back together) and I’m fighting the -20c weather this week…

Nice little sponsorship package arrived from cobalt brakes. These guys have done a lot for me already. Seems like a great company to work with. I didn’t expect the extras!

As someone who has tried a few different big names on track before I can say without hesitation that the cobalt pads are far superior. Fantastic modulation with the best release characteristics I’ve felt so far. The bonus is they seem to outlast all other brands as well

 

[Enki]

Carbon ceramics with iron rotors? Either that's gonna eat the rotors or make a hell of a noise when cold (if memory serves, could be wrong here).

 

[gotovato]

Went through a set last season already. Not sure on the whole carbon ceramic thing but they make the same noise as any other "track race" pad. They are all loud as hell once you get away from the street stuff.

Rotor wear was also amazing. 9 events on a set of pads and the rotors were already 4-5 races old. Not sure what magic they use but it works

 

[Enki]

Damn. Sounds like good shit.

 

[gotovato]

I was most impressed. I tried them once back when the car was stock. Got a good deal on their pads for the oem caliper.


From that point onward I knew they were the best pad I’ve ever used but I went around and tried all the “trendy” stuff.

Now back to cobalt as nothing else I tried was even close. The fact that they’re down to support the program is just that much better.


Last season I gave them 5 business days to come up with pads for my caliper. They didn’t have the correct thickness in stock. Race was Saturday. I needed them by Friday. Order was placed the Monday.


I wasn’t even able to get hawk pads locally in this time. Somehow cobalt pulled it off.


This is the type of support I need. That was actually amazing

 

[gotovato]

Spent some hours in the garage lastnight doing the proper coilover setup. No more “set 5mm of preload and good to go”. Unfortunately that’s not really correct.

I was quoted $1400 for this job which motivated me to DIY it. I now fully understand the quote. This is hour intensive. 2.5 hours in and the one corner isn’t even done yet.

that said I’m learning as I go so that’s OK. Love to learn new things.

Working on setting correct droop travel, compression travel, and bump stop. It’s some work for sure. Hopefully it pays off. Correct setup is often worth more than just fancy parts alone. Kinda like an engine. The tunes gotta be good or what’s the point!

 

[Crazycanadian]

The average driver won't notice the benefits from all the work you are putting into setting this up. But for someone like your self who's running the car at limit all the time. You'll notice it. Most of your time gained wont come from the increase in grip. It'll come from the predictability, consistency and the confidence you'll have.

 

[gotovato]

Most of your time gained wont come from the increase in grip. It'll come from the predictability, consistency and the confidence you'll have.

100% This! You got it. This is what I’m hoping for. More throttle commitment, more consistency, more curb eating abilities. Not having to lift in certain spots.

There are definitely a few spots at a few different tracks where I could feel i was limited. Either eating the bump stop which just sends the car into orbit or having to lift cause it just doesn’t feel planted.

Rear spring rate increase from 16 to 18k might make a small difference but it shouldn’t be huge.


Talking to other buddies who are much more casual, they describe their car through the same corners and they are all on bump stops forcing them to over slow or lift. It’s a very uneasy feeling rolling through a corner at speed, already close to the bump stops. Then you hit a curb and it’s orbit time.


Excited to try out the new setup. It might not be much, but worth a few tenths at least


The new setup should be night and day in these situations

 

[gotovato]

Finished the rear of the car today. Wasn’t too bad.


I think I need to raise the car all around a little. At least a few turns of the collars lol. It was way too high at first now I think it’s too low.

Gonna put a little more rake in it as well.
Took it for a quick drive around the block with both sway bars disconnected. Felt great. Stiffer rear springs doing their job. Seemed really good.