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Couple of updates. Added a battery switch for when storing the car as to not kill the new Odyssey battery.
Also Gutted the rear doors in preparation for the cage. Ill re-panel these with carbon once I get the cage in and figure out fitment. The windows are now zip tied in the up position, water tight and speakers and door controls are removed.
I also pulled all the vents that duct to the rear cabin since there will be no more passengers and sealed off the feeder ducts.
I also received the new steering wheel that I had done. Its thickened over stock and alcantera covered.
Before assembling everything I pulled the airbag detonator out of it and saved about a pound. That was the last air bag to go from the car.
Now I had the gutted wheel I re assembled for installation.
I also blacked out the Texillum center console and window switches. I always thought the silver fiber looked flashy in a cheap kinda way. I also blocked off the seat heater control provision since those are soon gone with the OEM seats.
After pulling the knee airbags it allowed me to move the OBD2 port to a much more accessible position. Its always good on track cars where you want this stuff accessible without laying on your back under the dash board, especially when the car may be caged.
After waiting on shipping the 2 inch tube for the ECU cooler finally showed up and allowed me to connect the carbon duct with the OEM one.
Added the Seibon carbon hood to get some better flow out of the radiator. This is a big step in fixing all cooling issues for good on the ISF. Donno about carbon. may get it sprayed black to match the car. we'll see.
I also cut some vents into the rear bumper al-la Novel ISF. Wasn't sure how i feel about this- but since I had planned on getting a new rear bumper or painting this one I figured it was a good experiment. I used some stainless steel mesh and attached it to the opening to make it look a little bit more 'finished' I also added quick disconnects to the rear bumper. Now both front and rear bumpers can be removed in about 5 seconds flat. This is good if you need to tow the car up a steep trailer or out of a big gravel trap.
I also started to mock up the new wing stands. Ill need to have the base measurements dialed before I build the base plate stations off of the rear section of the cage. These will soon be finalized and sent off to the water jetter. Toying with the idea of making these out of carbon- but for the sake of just getting it done ill probably settle on aluminum as usual for now.
Waiting on a few things before fabrication starts. As of now I'm just driving it around to make sure all of the fittings and coolers are leak free after having everything apart. So far so good. There are some squeaks and rattles I want to sort out but ill have to do all of that stuff when its in its final form.
This is a great build. I’m curious, why build this over the CTR? It is so much lighter.
I have a quite a few trackcars ATM, mostly FWD for the past few years. CTR is fun-ish its wicked fast and reliable, i still take it out every now and then but honestly it kinda fails to light the fire.. Also there not much to do to 'build' one other than buying parts and slapping them on. And that, to me, does not constitute "building" anything.
My other FWD racecar(s) are much faster and MUCH more fun than the CTR. Sure i could put money into it but i will come out the other side with a similar, less inspiring version of what I already have. Will it be fast? Yeah sure; is that the point for me on my 4th trackcar? Naw, not really.
Bottom line is I really like the FR layout and never actually owned a v8 that's not been in a tow rig. So this is kinda new, fresh and exciting. It ticks all the right boxes for me as far as what makes a car 'cool' (Rare, capable, good looking) also the fact that i NEVER see them driven hard was kind of a challenge. I also really enjoy engineering and figuring out what i can do to make something faster/better. This car has a build ethos that im sticking for the moment.. and only somewhere near the bottom of the priorities is a laptime goal. Don't get me wrong, i really think this car will turn out to be very capable when i get done with it but thats not the "point"
Also, like Lance was saying, getting the car for $125 sorta opened all doors in my twisted mind that's its A-OK to dump money into it.
You obviously have a- lot more on track experience than most of us here (definitely including me). A couple of questions/comments:
I hear you on the price of the FIGS arms, but this is a pretty small market, they do good quality work and price accordingly. My lowly daily driven tree-fiddy has the same FIGS rear suspension arms that you have, and I really want to add their FUCA, so I'm very curious to hear how you like the setup both front and rear.
Originally Posted by illwillem
Figs stuff also showed up. As painful as spending $800 bucks on upper A-arms alone, I always figure its better to get the right stuff first. I know myself enough to know i would just have to rebuy them in the future had i not. I also don't mind supporting business who make cool parts for out of the ordinary cars.
Do you do your own carbon fiber work? Especially curious about your side skirts, the pictures make them look like they have nice radiused edges rather than just using flat stock, but then again pictures can be deceiving...
With the front splitter, side sills and rear wing in progress, how long until we see a custom CF rear diffuser?
Originally Posted by illwillem
I made some carbon sills for to run as a side splitter down the length of the car, this will decrease lift and drag by maintaining a smoother stream along the bottom of the car. It also just looks cool.
Last of all, I'm guessing you do your own alignments? If so what is your process?
LAMMY- That's a very generous offer, thank you! I am having some templates milled out of birch stock for test fitting then ill have the finals milled in aluminum and carbon covered. Im stealing the rcf gt3 wing upright design as close as i can. The wing cord im having made is 14 inches, so its a bit bigger than typical swan neck wing so I don't think the Voltex uprights will work . Decided to go with a bigger element so i can balance the front diffusers and splitter with no rear diffuser. This is all coming together real soon.
Wylie- I totally agree about the Figs stuff. Im willing to pay for quality parts and am thankful that someone in the US makes them. I drive my cars reall hard so the truhart stuff would 10000% gaurenteed slip on me at the track. The figs stuff lets me dial in camber and be sure its not going to move. I will say that i maxed out the front camber at -3.6 with the upper arms. I don't have the offest bushings installed in mine as i really don't like those in general. I suppose when i need more camber after graduating to a stickier tire (-4.4 is around what i run on my Toyo RR and Hoosiers) i can either cut and shorten the arms myself of just try a set of the offset bushings. As far as carbon, I have done my own in the past. but after moving to the new house i sold much of my material, it just takes up SO much space. Now days out of ease of life I have specialist handle the more complex stuff, there are quite a few very talented people around California.
This last weekend I decide to take advantage of the blazing hot weather to test the new cooling systems and get some baseline lap data in the car. Its not 'buttoned up' the way it be eventually with missing interior panels etc but i made sure all the important stuff was there so i could get some laps in. I decided the ultimate test would be to do TWO separate track days in one day while the temps were well over 105.
4am to 130am door to door. 560 freeway miles, 8 track sessions, 4 corded tires, 30+ La Croix, 1 sunburn and ZERO car issues. Heres a recap video ---
07-09-19, 04:53 PM
