Finishing the racecar blog. Yes?

[SVturbO]

Good read, car(s?) look great!

Nice spindle setup up front, but why didn't you get the big ones?

[Horsewidower]

What, NASCAR spindles and hubs aren't big enough for you? I'll get some off a Peterbilt next time

[Horsewidower]

Well, I called in the Cavalry. I used to crew for a guy that ran an SCCA super production car. Its a regional class for purpose built tubeframed racecars, pretty much unlimited. He retired a couple of months ago and his wife told him that he needed to retire from driving, but crewchiefing was ok. He is coming over Friday to help get the body panels on. Four hands are certainly better than two, even with clecos.

Tomorrow I'll set the car back on the ground, set it to ride height and make sure I've got the centerline marked.

Here are some pics of the trunk lid mounted and pinned. It's the steel skin with all the bracing removed and hinges removed to lighten it. Also the rear window lexan blank. We are going to need to build some new flanges to mount it to given that we want it flush. The flanges will need to be a least 3/4 of an inch shallower in order to get the lexan where we want it. I thought about just cutting the existing flange loose and then rewelding it as needed but I really don't want to burn the paint and do all that seam welding. So I think we will just use some aluminium L channel riveted to the correct depth and some artful bending in the corners. Should be interesting.

The same solution won't work on the windshield. We screwed up when the wiring and master cylinders were mounted. They can only be serviced by removing the windshield!! Ease of installation should never trump servicability. We will need to weld dzus fastner hardware on. What a pain.



The Pics:

[Horsewidower]

Hanging the body work.

Below is what we started with. The car on jack stands, then added the tires and set the car to ride height.

[Horsewidower]

Another ride height photo, the body parts to be hung, and the evil clecos.

[Horsewidower]

The Cavalry arrives

Here you can see my buddy Roger making patterns for the door block outs (where the hinges used to be), installing them, hanging the fenders with the openings centered on the hubs (added about two inches to the length, I'll have to either make another cowl extension or just ignore it) and Roger welding in the bumper.

[Horsewidower]

Here are some pics with all the body panels hung. We will need to lengthen the hood to cover the extension of the fenders, finish some bracing for the lower part of the bumper cover and finalize a spacer for the middle of the bumper cover. Windows still need to be hung. Not bad for a day's work. Four hands are definitely better than two and a box of clamps!

[KarlRodg88]

so is that thing gonna be ready for the spring sprint???

[Horsewidower]

No. Shooting for the open test day for IT cars on June 6th at Thunderhill. I'm going up there next weekend to watch the NASA AI/X run group. They're saying that they will do a real inspection of the cars, so I want to see what they are looking at. I'll take pictures and post them.

I shouldn't have gotten side tracked by the street car. But, its a lot more fun to drive now.

[Horsewidower]

Engine install time

I'm going to start getting the mule motor ready to go in. Hope to get the engine and tranny in over the next couple of weeks. I still need to make sure that the clutch is working properly and create a pedal stop so that the hydraulic throw out bearing doesn't over extend.

Anyhow, here are some gratuitous exhaust photos.

[Horsewidower]

American Iron race at Thunderhill.

We went over to the race at Thunderhill to talk to the AI director and meet a couple of the guys. It was cold, windy and rainy, and we needed to get back early in the afternoon. Just so the qualifying, a number of the guys kept their cars on the trailer. Here are a couple of Pics:

1st picture is Vageli Karas' car, he built it himself and it is very nicely done.
2nd picture is Ernesto Roco's, he is the National AIX champion.

[KarlRodg88]

thats awesome, they just had an article in the new 5.0 magazine about AIX. anymore pics?

[vrinner]

1st picture is Vageli Karas' car, he built it himself and it is very nicely done.
2nd picture is Ernesto Roco's, he is the National AIX champion.

Why do both cars have plastic over the front lights? I also see that they both have the cooling fins above the front tires on the fenders.

[Horsewidower]

No, no more pics. I usually take a bunch, but most of the cars were covered due to the rain. We left shortly after the qualifying session, just not a lot of opportunities.

Vrinner: Aerodynamics. The fins above the front tires are not for cooling, they are to relieve lift created by the rotation of the tires. Tires are like big air pumps, they create a high pressure area above and behind the tire. The fins are used to relieve that pressure.

The temporary plastic (that thin film on the front) is just to keep the rain out.

[Horsewidower]

Crank trigger pics

Starting to work on dressing the engine. I bought a kit from pyropete that works with the EDIS system. I'm going to have to create a pointer for TDC to go with the Essy pulley system. You might note the need to trim the belt cover to keep it from hitting the trigger wheel. I don't know that it needs to be done on all covers, but I'd check. You can see the use of the EDIS coil that has been mounted over the top of the powermaster alternator. Also tossed in a photo of the solid motor mounts that we made out of stock mounts and the moroso 5.0 solid mounts.