Another Ford (LOL) Falcon Thread

While I was on the topic of using the brakes, I figured that while the rear brakes were working pretty well (after taking several years to stupidly get the right master sizes in place), they could be better.  Why not add some unsprung weight in the process?

First, I have to point out the that original (1992) PBR calipers are kind of genius.  They are only single pistons (large pistons), but they are all aluminum, finned for heat dispersal, and have an integrated mechanical parking brake.  They worked pretty good with PowerStop trackday pads.  But they are old and filthy, and it might be a matter of time until absolutely nothing goes wrong with them . . .

So back to the idea of adding unsprung weight:

So these are four piston calipers, not monoblocks (Baers on front are--very difficult to clear wheels), but thick multi-piece aluminum.  The rotors are nearly an inch more in diameter (nearly 13"), and maybe a bit thicker than the originals.  The pads have some serious chunk to them.  I do not intend to move to wheels that are greater than 17" in diameter, so this stuff fits perfectly (lots of space for movement and whatnot).

This kit came with some really cool little mechanical calipers (MC4) for the e-brake set-up, but they are kind of heavy, and they are not supposed to work with the stock cable.  With this in mind, I realized that I have used the parking brake maybe once or twice in five years, so it can wait for some other time to be installed (with a not-cheap Wilwood cable, probably).  The stock Corvette e-brake handle sucks, anyway . . .

More pics for perspective:

For any eagle-eye brake engineers looking at this, the current master for the rear is a 3/4, while the one for the front (four-piston Baer Track 4s) is a 5/8.  I am thinking that this will work nicely.

So to address a "real" problem, one of fuel starvation, I turned to the world's most expensive sanitary napkin.  To clarify, the tank I have is actually pretty good, and it has a big wall in the middle of it (with holes to allow fluid transfer), along with a kind of tray at the bottom to resist allowing the (EFI) pump to suck air.  It's a Tanks Inc. universal pick-em-up truck tank.

The car does not starve for fuel a lot, but when it does, it does it in right-hand turns when the fuel level gets down to about 1/2 empty (or full, for you shiny-happy-positive types).  Typically, I would just add more gas, but given today's fuel prices, I figured a more betterer solution was in order, hence the Holley Hellapad, or whatever the hell it's called.  This thing cost about as much as the tank . . .

People say these work, so I figured this would be easier than going to some painful bladder-type thing.  I'll post when I know.

Looking forward to hearing about the results. 

This day didn't end well . . .

Oh E36 M3. Everyone walk away?

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :

Yes, we're both okay. Crazy day...I will also need to update my ND Miata thread soon unfortunately.

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :

Yep, just a few broken/bent car parts--the Falcon just got a little uglier in front (and gave me more welding opportunities I didn't want).  Travis's car, on the other hand, well, I'll let him document.  Miata airbags pack a mean kidney punch . . .

Road Atlanta was not the grippiest place last weekend.

Fuuuuuuck. I hate to hear this. 

berkeley.

Glad you guys are ok, but berkeley

Test pic:

Sunday was weird.  The weather seemed nice, and the track at Road Atlanta was basically dry, aside from all the dirt (lots of towing-involved incidents) and slightly damp patches.  It was not warm (50-ish), but once you get going on adrenaline, only experience can tell you how stupid you are . . .

There were wrecked cars here and there, as multiple racing events were held over the weekend (including carnage-infested, rainy Saturday).  Our SCCA group was jammed in between race sessions of much more dedicated track people.

Around the end of my first 20-minute session, all four tires decided to get light, and I began to pivot clockwise while the suspension was unloading, maybe around 50 miles per hour, somewhere around Turn 2.  The front tires touched wet grass and mud, and I saw the white concrete barrier coming toward me, and it was basically just time to clench whatever was fixed to the car at that point.  Somehow, I managed to hit the concrete barrier nearly head-on, which would turn out to be a good thing . . .

\

The damage was mostly superficial.  The C4 radiator structure underneath got somewhat bent, but most of the damage went to the bumper and the bracket I made from 1x1 to attach it to the C4 frame rails.  Aside from the bumper, which did its job nicely, all of this can be fixed cheaply.

This was only my first wreck of the day--learning mode never engaged for me.  The next session had me as Travis's passenger in his Miata . . .

I do not like this story, Sam I am

Ugh, that brutal. I'm glad to hear it's repairable at least.

Here's one last pic of the ugly, thanks to the SCCA lady:

The front end got smacked top to bottom, kind of like a bulldog.  Still, it's not something that requires insurance forms, which is great for my minimal sanity.

Two conclusions I may have come to are as follows:  1.  I will be going back to normal car tires, i.e., 300 treadwear Nittos (as opposed to the NT05s, which are a bit long in the tooth now anyway).  2.  The Tremec TKX is coming out (to be sold).  It's nothing against the transmission itself, but the gear ratios do not make nice with the Falcon's rear end gear at all, let alone the stupid cam profile in the engine.  Getting up my short, yet steep driveway is a hysterical embarrassment every time, and I do not have any intention of changing the rear end gear.  I miss my 6l80 . . .

After a couple of weeks losing my mind doing nearly nothing physically, I started pulling stuff off of the Falcon.  Some things unbolted, but most required the angle grinder and the Sawzall.  Diablo blades rule.

I quickly realized that I am still very much in recovery with a bruised bag of ribs.  Wrecks have a way of throwing up odd new little points of pain days and weeks after the fact.  There's no whiplash, though . . .

I was hoping I'd be able to re-use some of the bumper structure I'd made to mount the Falcon bumper to a Corvette frame, but no such luck.  My design does seem to have helped avoid greater damage in other places, though, so there's that.  It was largely a few pieces of .120 1x1 tube, and there used to be a tow hook welded to it, but that got smashed over in the impact with the wall.  Good value.

The black frame is basically what used to go under the old C4 radiator; it also provided some sub-structure to the front of the frame, but I think I've made up for that in other tubing.  The current radiator (and former intercooler) mount was lightly attached to it, but it wasn't necessary.  The frame went nowhere with the impact.  The Aerocatches on the hood still line up perfectly.  Fortunately, I have a spare oil cooler (old one's not leaking, but is bent/slightly mangled), which will also get flipped over (yay, I get to build/weld a new bracket) so as to allow for draining out when not being used.

Once the tension from the bent bumper, mangled bracket, and lower structure was relieved, the fenders popped right back.  I think there's a new dent on the passenger side fender from the bumper pushing in, but I am not actually sure.  There's a really nice black version of this model Falcon that used to race in CA with no front bumper, but I am not tempted--the bumper and structure clearly worked.  The new bumper already arrived, but it will be a while before I feel like doing the work to make new bracketry . . .

In case anyone's wondering, the Jack in the Box ball/head thing stays on the antenna at 125 mph+.