Well I was having way too much fun last weekend at the Chinmotorsport's track event at Barber. Finally got to run with my brakes. You know there is something "wrong" about blowing by a 360 Modena in a modded CRX but I did get a grin.

On sunday I was having fun in the first session after having replaced a pin hole leak lower radiator hose. Thought that might be my mystery temp spike. Was running the electric pump with the radiator cap off later in the paddock (because of a tiny temp spike) and found just a bit of oil in my fresh water/water wetter that had gone in the night before. So the head gasket is starting to go. No foamy dipstick, no miss upon starting, no steam out the back.

SOOOO, is there a head gasket or two that is superior to the others for hard, sustained track use. That is all the car sees. Anything recommended to also buy when doing the head job. Any "tricks" to a B18c head job.

You guys would have been proud of the CRX last weekend. This was a high dollar car event, GT3s, Porsche Cup Cars, Ferraris (multiple), modded E36s, modded E46s, Porsches out the wazoo, Z06s. I tangled with the Lotus Exige that I ran down in April at Barber. The driver has gotten a LOT faster. Now we are about even. He pressured me an entire session but never got the right to pass but even if he wanted to I would have let him and just followed him for a while. There was one guy with a modded E46 who is a new instructor and has a little red mist problem. He specifically was waiting for me to show up to grid (the last event I did not have my car and he was curious about it). This M3 has the stoptechs, chipped, cams, etc. I let him in front because I wanted to chase him (and apply pressure). On the throttle he gets me on torque out of the turns but I can run the car down some on the straights. The main thing is I was running him down under braking and in the turns. On the second green lap I passed him out of turn 6, the hairpin and went as hot and deep as I could into turn 7-8 (the museum turn). He wanted to maintain contact with the CRX so bad. I came out of the museum turn faster and after my 2-3 shift I looked in my rear view and saw the ass end of the M3 wiggle and then go into a very slow but big looping spin all the way to a dead stop sideways in the track. LOL. He spun trying to keep up with a CRX.

After the session he came up and said he realized his rear tires were two pounds off in pressure. LMAO. Oh, so that is why he could not keep up. Later in the day he failed to see a waving yellow coming into turn 14 and failed to wonder why those spec miatas in front of him were checking up. He dodged the miatas, lost it in the apex of 14 and then found out why the yellow was waving, there was a Porsche Cup car sideways half off the track. He tagged it in the driver's door. Ouch. $$$$$$$$. I doubt he will be instructing in the future.

If you guys could see me car up close you would see if is grungy looking. Looks like nothing except when you look at the brakes, wheels, the full cage, and the Sparco seats. That is a hint. I was all up an instructor's Z06 for the longest time. He could pull me some on the straights and in the turns I would make it back. He finally was nice and let me by. There was an stripped E36 with full cage that we played a good bit on track. I could not leave him nor could he leave me. He came over in the paddock with the hood raised on my car and said, "I knew it!! I knew you had something bad in this thing. I thought you were turbo". He was impressed with the car. He was a very good driver and I enjoyed my track time with his car. I bet I had a half dozen people come over to check out my car (with all these other pretty cars around) wanting to see just what all was done to the car. A Mississippi Highway Patrol officer who was at the event was freakin ecstatic about the CRX on track performance.

Have an ugly but fast "little" Honda is so much fun. I like surprising people with it. Now to get it fixed and back on track.

Barry H.

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88 CRX Si track car, stripped no a/c, modded B18c w/Hondata,Toda Spec B cams, bigger injectors, 72mm throttle body, ITR headers, ST cam gears, AEM fuel rail meziere water pump, fluidyne radiator, Koni adjustables/GC sleeves/Eibach ERS 450f/550r, Kosei K1 wheels w/Kumho V710 R

i have always heard good about cometic head gaskets

and if you are using arp studs, you will need deep 12pt sockets

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^^^

true on the head gasket!! I have heard good things as well.

BTW...we're all still waiting for video

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^^^
I got one, the thing is tits. Best head gasket you can get for the money

same headgasket i had on my gs-r and it was reccomended by alot of people.

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Hey Jadkar,
No video from last weekend. My camcorder decided being bolted to a roll cage was not fun and crapped out. I have to send it off. Anyone used stucktape.com for service on camcorders? My april video I forgot to have it copied to mpeg. I swear I am going to get it copied to mpeg so a supra buddy can edit and upload. Not that exciting because I dump the cars so quick.

Video last saturday would have been awesome. Really duking it out with some nice cars. The weird thing (besides passing the ferrari) was the two grand am cup cars that were in my group. They were slow for cup cars. I could not figure it out. The first time I saw them behind me on a straight I gave them (matching Porsches) the point by early but they were not bearing down on me like I thought they should and once in the turns they were not leaving me. It was odd and another buddy of mine felt the same way. Hoping to get the picture of me in front, two cup cars behind me with the lotus exige.

Barry H.

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88 CRX Si track car, stripped no a/c, modded B18c w/Hondata,Toda Spec B cams, bigger injectors, 72mm throttle body, ITR headers, ST cam gears, AEM fuel rail meziere water pump, fluidyne radiator, Koni adjustables/GC sleeves/Eibach ERS 450f/550r, Kosei K1 wheels w/Kumho V710 R

Barry, I'm SLOWLY working on your clone. After this weekend I'll be one baby step closer.

I think you'd be just fine with another OEM unit, but Cometic is good too. I'm a big fan of OEM parts so taht would probably be my choice. Also, some new ARP headstuds is a must for your track car.

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~Will

88 CRX DX + 97 Spec JDM B18c(R) + some suspension goodies = Lots of fun!

JDM 4.785 final drive, ACT HDSS and Prolite 8lb flywheel, K&N, Kteller 2.5 w/magnaflow, NGK, Distributor King, Fiberimages, Koni, Neuspeed, ST rear 22mm sway bar with ITR LCA's, Konig Heliums, Russel's Brake Lines, Rywire Harness w/JKOBD, Hasport Hydro EFB2 Mounts and Linkage, Phearable.net P28, Full-Race

Well you will love your clone. Threshold braking on track is pretty exciting. I have to look into a brake proportioning valve to expirament with brake bias. Last weekend someone said, "you were smoking the rear tires some braking into turn one". My Lotus Exige track buddy said "you were locking up the right rear and smoking the tire some in turn 14". Someone else said, "I was behind you in the museum turn and you were smoking the rear some under braking". So from that I gathered I smoke a rear tire a lot! But no flat spots. The Type R brakes are great. BUT under threshold braking if the track surface is a little bumpy in the braking zone boy can you feel the rear end just wiggling back and forth under braking. Feel kind of weird at first and then you just get use to it. It does it major coming into the hairpin (turn 6) which is downhill, a little bumpy, and increasingly off camber. I wonder what my students are thinking when they feel that?

Barry H.

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88 CRX Si track car, stripped no a/c, modded B18c w/Hondata,Toda Spec B cams, bigger injectors, 72mm throttle body, ITR headers, ST cam gears, AEM fuel rail meziere water pump, fluidyne radiator, Koni adjustables/GC sleeves/Eibach ERS 450f/550r, Kosei K1 wheels w/Kumho V710 R

^^^^

There are thinking the same thing I thought when I went out with my instructor in his NSX........

"This guy is just trying to show off and he's going to far!!..........I'm gonna die today!!"

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riding with a real fast car and a really fast driver will about make you shat your pants!!!!! one of my first rides was in a fully modded 911, i didnt think he was going to make the turn and we made it, bad thing was it was just on the warm up lap!!!!

JEALOUS!

ok now that I got that out of the way - good to hear from you Barry as always!
You definitely need to post close-up pics of the car and vids!

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