Sounds very promising...glad to hear this problem is on the way to solution.

I hope you arent planning to drive that thing on the street much. My stock air dam on my 4th gen catches on everything it seems. Might take some new trailer loading and unloading techniques as well.....

Bock

Yea, trailer loading might be an interesting problem. However, it's mounted to the stock air dam and can still flex because of that mounting arrangement.

It only drug twice last night, and neither was much to be concerned about.... We'll see.

10 bucks says it will scrape on the oval to asphalt transition at Nashville....

Have fun

Bock

Self-clearancing, dual function front air dam. Just another outstanding Trackbird Engineering product. Very Cool. You might need to switch to studded snow tires for the winter, that looks like it will push alot of snow.....

How did the car feel at speed? I'm wondering if it may have front end lift at RR speed.....

I fully expect that. If it grinds a bit of clearance and still cools, I'm ok with it. I expected that it would eventually make its own ride height, all I have to do is drive it.




Um, uh, yea....lift doesn't seem like it's going to be a problem with this setup (and it didn't blow off of the car during our travels).

cool.....

Stuffed a high flow thermostat in it tonight. It runs 160-180 in town (35 mph) and cools to 160 as soon as I get moving. The oil came up to 180 instead of laying on the pin (that was coming out of the pan, not after the cooler) so I think I can get the oil temps working decent on track or with autocross abuse. We'll see what this does. First it wouldn't cool, now it cools too well. I can live with that, but I might need a 180 thermostat. We'll try the 160 first.....

Hope so those your cooling problems SOLVED at Mid Ohio.

I swapped the car to antifreeze and water before the last autocross event. It now seems to creep up to 200 or 210 degrees on course where it didn't do that on water/water wetter. That's with a thermostat in the car, but if I have to I can always remove it for a track day if needed.

Antifreeze doesn't have as much cooling ability as straight water. We always ran water and water wetter with only enough antifreeze to keep the water from freezing during the winter.

I was thinking that was the case, but I'm still wondering why I'm running anything approaching warm with the cooling setup I have in the car. I'd expect it to lay on the pin, no matter what was in it (as long as it's not straight anti freeze). Even so, I think it will be fine and I'll flush it again next year and go back to water.

I give you an old hot rod trick for coolant. use swiming pool water mixed with antifreeze. Also DO NOT buy that 50/50 antifreeze junk, but the full strength stuff and mix it down yourself. The "swimming pool water" is chemically treated water and will aid in picking up and disapating heat from the heads. Just kind of like how soap makes water wetter, so does the chemicals treating swimming pool water. It is generally good for reducing temps 10* over tap water.

Also, I just brushed over this thread for the first time. I wanted to comment on the old posts about the 5th page relating to camber. First as most everyone knows, its the tire that dictates the camber. A tire such as Toyo RA1's wants about -3* om anything. It depends on the tire brand and style. As for getting more cneg camber? *a little trick is to elther have the bolt holes on the spindles and struts slightly over drilled and offset drilled allowing the top inside of the wheel to be closer to the strut thus gaining neg camber BEFORE and strut mount adjustments are made. THere is a 3rd gen caster kit someone sells also that includes cam lobed bolts that do this very same offset. *another simple knowledge trick is in essence the lower the car the shorter the strut distance and the greater the angle to the sturt mount that can be achevied in both neg camber and pos caster settings.

Ahh, here we are 7+ months later...

It appears that it's getting to be time to make this thing legal for "something". So, there will be posts showing more progress in the near future. I'm working out the details of getting a Blaine Fabrication roll cage kit shipped most of the way across the country so we can make it safer. I'm shopping for fuel cells, fuel pumps, braided lines and the rest of a fuel system. I'm looking for race seats and I think it's getting to be time to get moving on this thing.

Right now it needs:

Cage
Fuel cell
Fuel system
Race seat
Radiator removed and cleaned by a shop (non distilled water causes calcium to clog things a bit, I knew better but was in a hurry).

It will likely also get (budget and time permitting):

Mini starter
MSD ignition
Camshaft change
Starter switch/panel
More wiring removed
Aftermarket steering column
Lift off 'glass hood
Paint?


More to come (see, I told you guys to buy this thing ).

Win the lottery?

Nope. Just a broke guy "goin' racin'". Just like everyone else...

A broke guy with a renewed focus on doing something with this car. I can't seem to sell it for anywhere near what it's worth (my asking price was about 50% of what's invested in the car) and I can't race it as is. So, I guess it's back to Ramen noodles for a while.

Sadly, I could have probably finished this thing for what I've spent on chicken wings and beer in the last few months of being single and trying to keep myself entertained.

Cage kit order has been placed with Alan for a full cage and drivers NASCAR door bars.

One down, thousands to go...

Schweet!

Simplicity,
here is all the switches you will ever need.... placement is due to missing dash, plus I always wanted switches up top, like in a airplane. "ready for take off"

guess I know what I'm doing this winter.......

And some fab work.

Heh, that's one more than we have, and I'm counting the battery kill switch.

well yeah, but that is next to the b-pillar, in easy reach of safety crew

Started cleaning out the garage today so I can pull in a couple 220V sockets for us to weld in a cage. And, a 210 amp Hobart mig welder followed me home (with a cart, 10 lbs of wire and all kinds of good stuff). Now I need to buy another welding bottle (man, those have gone up since I last bought one).

I'm thinking 60 cu ft minimum, or should I go for an 80?

I can't remember what size my tank is, but it is the biggest tank that you can purchase / own. Any bigger and I would have to rent it for a monthly charge. Not sure if it is a state law or ?

http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=13848

I think I have the 125 cu-ft. I wouldn’t go any smaller myself.

Yea, 125's are large. My cart is limited to a 75 lb bottle. I might push that a bit, but I'll have to start welding on the cart to make anything like that fit.

Take plenty of pics on how tight the main hoop fits, as you know im kind of in the boonies. I think I could manage the rest of a roll bar in my car if I manage to get just a good fitting main hoop.

PS - I never heard from you about that hood. I still have it.

You never gave me a phone number to call you while I was coming through town on Sunday. I was going to pick it up, but couldn't call you.

Alan is sending me the "kit" (he has templates from this cage) shown here:

http://www.skyhighway.com/~bfpix4/IMG_1880.JPG

I have an 80lb bottle and it's plenty big enough, 60lb are OK. I use my MIG in stages, do enough welding to go through a bottle in a week then I won't touch the MIG for 9 months. A mega big bottle is a PITA to move around. If you are a fab shop or do work for people on the side then I can see a 125lb of bigger making sense. But most of us don't weld enough to use that in 2 years! Except when you are initially building a car of course.

The number was in fact emailed to you. Well it'll likely still be here next time. LOL


Mainly I just want to see if the cage is tight enough to tie into the b-pillar area.

Oops. Somehow I missed that message (or forgot). Crap...

I'm probably going to do a 60 cu ft bottle. 60's are expensive these days, 80's are worse. The last 60 cu ft I bought was about $125 full. Looks like they are going to be $200-ish now.

I've gone through 3 125’s of 100% Argon in the less than 2 years TIG welding. But I might use more gas since I have an air cooled torch and I use about 20-30 seconds of post timer.

I never thought a 125 was hard to handle. I can load and unload it from my truck myself without too much stress, but that could be because I’m a beast of a man.

I have some 250’s too. Now those are BIG.

Something else to consider is I think they charge less per /cu/ft to fill larger tanks than smaller ones. At least they do for propane.

I have 125's - they are the largest that I can get into the truck. Go smaller only if the LWS is close, and open on Sat. You can blow thru 1/3 tank on a weekend, and you don't want to run out Sun afternoon when you're on a tear.


edit - there's the rental option, too. If you don't think you'll use the welder much after the cage build, then buy a 60 for futures and weekend backup, and rent a 125 for the duration of the build. I pay about $40 for a 125 fill out here - you'll go thru a 125 on a full cage.

Might have to build a larger welder cart, or beef this one something serious. I'm sure I'll use the welder a good bit when I'm done. Maybe not "this much", but enough. Between Racerdad and I, we'd have two 60's (if that's what I buy). That might hold us, just keep them both topped off. Hmm...

Or find a "sponsor" that keeps you stocked in gas (Mig mix/argon/nitrogen ... even CO2 to make dry ice for that cool suit), wire, cut-off wheels and all those little things that add up over time.

Thanks Steve!

Natwel Welding Supply
702 Culebra Rd
San Antonio, TX 78201
(210) 736-2444



/shameless sponsor plug

Wow... you need to snap some pix of that garage in "clean-mode" cause I have a guts feeling it's one of those priceless Kodak moments that almost never exist...

Nope, I just have a very liberal definition of "clean". It looks about like it did, but I can find more floor space in 5 minutes by stacking stuff on the car.

Actually, I need to move some stuff upstairs into my ex wifes walk in closed (boxes and stuff). Guess she's not going to be needing it anytime soon.

Ok, the garage is now actually pretty clean. We have room to park the car in the center and open the doors to work. The 220 volt outlets are installed and wired and the welder is up and running (on flux core for now, should pick up an 80 cu ft bottle this week). I have a chop saw and I'll get a tubing notcher and we should be ready to go once the cage parts arrive. I'll try to post some pics when I get a chance.

And, I'm actually going to buy my 80 cu ft bottle from tractor supply. They want more for the bottle, but less for refils and they do bottles on exchange (and they are 1 mile away and open weekends). So, refils are going to be easy to get (even if we are at a track out of town) and they are cheaper refils. The initial price of the more expensive bottle and cheaper fill is about $10 more than the welding shop. But the welding supply wants $44 to refil an 80 cu ft and Tractor Supply wants $28. I just need to stop by and pick one up.

Ok, garage is now clean and equipped with a 210 amp mig welder with a 125 cu ft bottle of Carbon/Argon mix. So much for buying an 80 cu ft. Oddly, a 125 is 6.6" in diameter (my cart is for 7" and under) and weighs 75 lbs (which is the max rating on my cart, concidence? I think not...).

I thought 125's were too "large"

I was thinking of 250's. A 125 is not the size I was thinking. I was thinking of the restaurant sized Helium tanks and thinking those were 125's. Those appear to be 250's and a 125 followed me home.

I have to be real careful lifting things or I whack my back and I'm whining for a week. I've figured out how to get 125's in/out of the truck without using my back at all: I get positioned alongside the tank about 2' behind the tailgate. Bend the leg nearest the tank, keeping back vertical, and grabbing the cap of the tank with one hand, pull the tank over on my knee - I put the knee about 1/2way up the tank, and roll the tank about 120degrees, putting the bottom of the tank pointing up at the tailgate. I grab the bottom of the tank with the other hand as it rolls upward. A little heave towards the truck, catch the tank on the tailgate and slide it in. Out is the reverse. My typical gas run is 4 tanks, in and out of the truck twice, this works well for me.

Tie the tanks down well in the truck - a couple of spare tires back there help, and a pair of car tiedowns looped around the cap, one from each side. I once had a tank come loose on Hwy 17 - the thing bashed in both fender wells pretty bad before I made it to a turnout.

I strapped mine down to the back corner of the bed and then added a loop around the cap to keep it from flipping over the side of the bed (that could be really bad). Luckily I only have to transport it a mile or less.

When I was using the little Mig with the AR/CO2 mix, I had an 80 and would go through them pretty quickly (The mig has been on loan to a buddy for about 5 years now!). It sucked to be 90% done, and run out (sure - I've got just enough to finish the job! Right...) I now use a T size (300 cu ft, I believe) Argon rental bottle for the TIG. My skinny butt can "shrug" it up off the ground, lean against the back bumper of the durango, pivot it horizontal, and slide it in. Reverse to take it out, and then roll it on the bottom to the metal fab table/cart. Then it's the bitch lifting it 6" onto the mounting pad. Tank rental is about $60/yr from Abco, and about the same for a full bottle exchange, and lasts me about one year. I'd love to buy one outright, as I'd make back the rental fee, but no idea on how long a cert lasts, and what it costs to get it re-done.

I've purchased all 7 of my tanks over the last 12yrs or so, and have never had to pay a cert fee. My LWS exchanges the cylinders rather than refilling. They must roll the cert fees into the gas cost.

They will exchange mine for $39.99 (125 cu ft) and I'm guessing it's the same thing.

It appears that this thread is going to wander on and off topic (which is fine) and eventually (hopefully) end up with a completed car...and maybe a clean garage.

Progress (I think).

AFCO radiator is out so I can have it cleaned. Yea, I know, use distilled water. I didn't, now I get to have a radiator shop clean it out. I know better, but I was in a hurry for the nashville thrash last year.

Harmonic balancer has been removed. I believe it is going to be headed off to one of our members soon.

While it's all out, I think I'm going to relocate the power steering cooler. I just have to find out what I'm going to do for the new mounting.



First pic is before:

Second pic is a sure sign that I'm working on something in the area. The only things missing would be a hammer and

Third pic is the new toy.

Fourth pic is after (lather, rinse and repeat):

Fifth pic is how I change power window motors from now on.

In the sixth pic, I invented the right angle saber saw blade.

Not to be out done, I then invented the offset sawzall blade. Seems that I'm hard on tools sometimes.

Anyone need some 3rd gen door glass or power window parts?

Well, a couple weeks ago, I pulled the radiator to have it cleaned at a shop. It had developed calcium deposits from the water I was using (I was in a rush and didn't use distilled water). While it was out, I pulled the harmonic balancer and shipped it to its new home with ReEntryRacer (here on frrax). I made some calls to ATI and wound up purchasing an aluminum "3 ring" 7" balancer. It was a special order and took a week or so to arrive. It's a bit lighter than most similar balancers. And, since 2-3 lbs is 2-3 lbs. I'll take weight savings where and when I can get it.

Upon reading the instructions, I was reminded that ATI balancers come "tight" and must be honed to fit. I checked the measurements on the crank and the balancer and decided I was only .0003" tighter than specified. So, I heated the hub in the oven and installed it...mostly. When it got almost seated, I stopped (thinking it was on) and it cooled. When I tried to move it the last 1/4", I broke my Blue Point balancer installation tool. Oops... Checking my measurements shows that I managed to make a "slight" mistake and it was a far tighter fit than I thought. Hence the broken tool.

Anyway, long story short. This morning I had Mike at Fast Racing hone out the balancer hub. While I was out, I renewed the tags on the car (because I really SHOULD drive this thing on the street). Then I installed the balancer and radiator as well as all kinds of other stuff. Put the car back together and backed it off the ramps, and out of the garage. This is where I learned how handy it is to remove the very large drain pan from under the car before backing down the ramps. I managed to drag it out into the driveway, crush it and leak coolant "everywhere". I had to jack up the car to pull the pan and then put the fluid in a container that would keep it from getting spilled even more.

On the other hand, taking it for a drive was worth all the headaches. This is the first time I've had this car legal to drive since last October. So, I went out to burn some fuel out of it and enjoy the nice weather. It's not the track, but it's a good start.

Been there done that brother.

Glad you're making progress even if it seems like small steps.

Hood is mounted. It lines up "mostly well". I may have to move one of the dzus plates a bit, but it should work well enough for now.

Wipers, linkage and wiper motor are gone. The wiper arms didn't clear this hood. So, I'll consider the HRP race wiper setup if I need one. In the meantime, I'll just refresh the rain-x on the windshield.

Ok, I've learned something else interesting this week.

I was grinding some of the brackets out of the car and making a very impressive shower of sparks. Tonight I went to drive the car and when I sat down and noticed that there was "dirt" on the windshield. Turns out, that's not dirt, it's metal and it's embedded into the inside of the window. Oops.

Guess it's lexan time after all.