WOW !

[dmiller]

i gradually opened the throttle,all the way, today in second and third gears, kept rpm below 4K, but what a thrill.

with only 400 miles on engine, i'm hesitant to load it up too much now. but, i think i can say these things are scary fast.

doug

[gasman]

Yep, welcome to the thrill seekers. Have fun, be careful...

Steve Foushee

[pgermond]

As Steve said... be careful. You can get side-ways real quick if you're not careful. I'm actually considering going to a driving school!

Phil

427 Roadster, #4279436
Southern Automotive FE
3:31 and Toploader

Roseville (N.Cal)

[dmiller]

phil,

the best money i ever spent was a two day "track day" with supervision in my honda S2000 at Texas World Speedway, Byran, Tx. on the infield road cource. lots of fun, and having the supervision in the car made the whole event "SAFE" from having poor/stupid drivers driving beyound their level, and educational having the instructor there to coach every turn.

it was really eye opening to see what the car would do, far beyound my expectations. and also knowing that if you lost it, it was just a trip through the infield dirt. not into oncoming traffic or roadside telephone poles.

have fun.

doug

[brfutbrian]

doug if you thought that was a thrill, wait till the first time you mash it to the floor in first. you wont think its scary fast, youll know its just plain scary. especially if youve got a big block. be safe and work your way up to that point. enjoy, brian.

[ralphscott]

Doug, The really neat thing is that the thrill does not diminish with time. I've had my car on the road for three years and every month of each year. Bet you still can't get that smile off your face!! I had smile cramps for days! Glad you could get it out and open it up a bit. The guys are right it can get squirrelly till you get accustomed to it's traits. How did the alignment go?

Ralph

[dmiller]

alignment, went to 4 shops before i found one that could put it on the lift. even then, the side pipe scraped just a little.

they found the front had "toe out" which probably accounts for the "squirely" steering, real twitchy, now it is considerably better, but still very sensitive to steering input just off center.

that one shop declined to work on rear end. i "see" that it needs some chamber? adjustment, the top of each wheel is slightly more toward the center of car than the bottom of the wheels.

i think i'll take it to a jag dealer and see if they agree.

a marvelous little play toy!

doug

[brfutbrian]

chamber adjustment on the rear is just a matter of adding shims between the axle flange on the center section and the axle itself. you should be able to get the shims at a jag dealer.it amazes me how an alignment tech cant figure that out, its so simple. brian

[ralphscott]

Brian's right on target. I found that handling, with all the power on tap, is very important. I think the Jag dealer would be a good choice. Doug I don't know if there are Unique owners in your area (Shrevesport LA) perhaps some of the guys on the forum know and could steer you to them or a shop in your area that can do it all!

Ralph

[spd4me]

If you think running up to 4000 rpm is awesome, wait till you run up to 6,000 in each gear. Except 4th. 6,000 in 4th might go airborn!

[JerryBP]

Doug,
"i "see" that it needs some chamber? adjustment, the top of each wheel is slightly more toward the center of car than the bottom of the wheels."

some (2 to 5 degres) negative camber is not a bad thing on the Jag rearend if you plan to drive fast through the corners.

Work in Progress, Unique 427-9429 400+hp 351C Tremec 3550-2 5spd Coal Black
by Bruce, Greg & Jerry Porter Caldwell, Ohio

[dmiller]

good to know about the negative camber being ok.

i'd like some information on where the shims are meant to be installed to adjust camber. i looked yesterday, and i didn't see anything that made me think that is where shims go. any more description would be appreciated.

thanks

doug

[JerryBP]

Doug, The shims go between the brake rotor and the end of the axel,
the more shims you add the more positive the camber becomes,
lengthing the axel and pushing the top of the wheel out.

Work in Progress, Unique 427-9429 400+hp 351C Tremec 3550-2 5spd Coal Black
by Bruce, Greg & Jerry Porter Caldwell, Ohio

[dmiller]

i look there tomorrow. thanks

doug

[JerryBP]

Doug, there aren't any shims in our chassy either but there appears to be some negative camber so there is room to adjust toward positive.

the way some jag tecks set camber is to remove all jag shims then use open ended shims (like those in the fron suspension) to get the correct setting then replace those with the same thickness of jag shims.

Work in Progress, Unique 427-9429 400+hp 351C Tremec 3550-2 5spd Coal Black
by Bruce, Greg & Jerry Porter Caldwell, Ohio