My Garage Imaginarium

In reply to BigD :

I think I warned you about stirring Aeropoxy. Triggers my tendenitis every time

TurnerX19 said:

In reply to BigD :

I think I warned you about stirring Aeropoxy. Triggers my tendenitis every time

Yup :) My primary difficulty was finding a container and a stir stick that I wouldn't shred to pieces. Ended up annexing a pyrex bowl and a butter knife from the kitchen. Until then my attempts looked like what I imagined the unfortunate feller's bootypipe looked like, who came to a hospital with expanding foam filling it up and various broken off implements around the perimeter, which he tried to use in a desperate attempt to remove the painful obstruction placed there as a misguided attempt at prolonging his long haul trucking stints without stopping for the calls of nature.

Finished the passenger side and set the ride height and camber. Resulted in a good SEMA stance but won't work on track. The front of the tire will rub the fender as I turn in that side's direction. Going to need to open up the fender openings.

Back from PRI, got my eye on a few things that might add to the scope creep, including a Radium fuel cell. Also got 4 bright-ass LED halos the size of OEM lights, got a cool idea (defined as something that makes me giggle) for the new "headlights", also tying into an insulated box for the air filter.

Plodding along in the meantime, finished the driver's side slats and fender opening. Good clearance now, maybe just widen it a bit more.

Finished shaping the wheel opening, perfect clearance now at ride height and practical lock.

Also raised the splitter since I lowered the car. I used to have the ride height set to where the splitter was clearing and a friend reminded me that this is ass backwards - set the car where the suspension geometry is optimal and get the aero/bodywork to fit. Still results in a nice up-slope of the floor back from the engine crossmember to the rear diffuser.

Buttoned the exhaust back up, installing the Vibrant Titanium zebra

Starting on the shock pot install. Step 1, harness to receive the signal and supply +5 and ground to the pots

Things are still happening

Tire temp cameras from Professional Awesome, writing them the config app in exchange, should be out soon

Very cool!

Fitting the airbox wasn't nearly as bad as I feared, it initially looked like it wasn't even going to be close and I'd need a different filter solution for this airflow. But it didn't require all that much hacking, even with the giant V60 gate. Now I'm not even sure I'm going to stick to the original plan to cut the insides of the passenger headlights to duct the air to the box but instead do it through the hood. Still a few more touches to do with the airbox, like the lid and then add the adhesive thermal shield to the outside. I'm also adding temp and pressure sensors to the box and the pre-intercooler chargepipe to profile all of it.

Awesome Project

BigD said:

Until then my attempts looked like what I imagined the unfortunate feller's bootypipe looked like, who came to a hospital with expanding foam filling it up and various broken off implements around the perimeter, which he tried to use in a desperate attempt to remove the painful obstruction placed there as a misguided attempt at prolonging his long haul trucking stints without stopping for the calls of nature.

ermagerd, I hope that didn't really happen

AngryCorvair said:

ermagerd, I hope that didn't really happen

100%, first-hand account from one of the humans unfortunate enough to be tasked with helping him. It didn't end there either. He asked to be catheterized but asked to do it himself. They caught him spanking the monkey with the thing up his pee hole. These are the people operating the big rigs you drive next to.

BigD said:

AngryCorvair said:

ermagerd, I hope that didn't really happen

100%, first-hand account from one of the humans unfortunate enough to be tasked with helping him. It didn't end there either. He asked to be catheterized but asked to do it himself. They caught him spanking the monkey with the thing up his pee hole. These are the people operating the big rigs you drive next to.

Methinks someone misunderstands his plumbing...

I like this new grill/headlight setup a lot more than the previous one. Nice work. 

JeremyJ said:

I like this new grill/headlight setup a lot more than the previous one. Nice work. 

Thanks! I like it all since everything that is or used to be on it, represents what I knew how to do at the time with the tools I had.

So many wows.

Just checking in, I haven't taken up knitting or anything, just trying to balance life with the kid. My wife's gone back to work so my car time is now during lunch when my son's at daycare and weekends but I'm making progress. Not sure I'll get to drive it this year anymore, but still hoping to at least dyno tune it, and maybe some test laps at a small local track. I've sprayed some matte black etching primer on parts of the fenders to keep them from surface rusting, and I'm getting crazy ideas about spraybombing the whole car with matte black rustoleum... not have to do the whole Dexter murder booth and spraying urethane with a hazmat suit, and fixing any oopsies will be trivial. And it would look more Mad Max than ever...

*** DEEP BREATH ***

Shock pots installed

Tire temp cameras installed, configured dash pages to show idiot lights on the track page and detailed gradient on the diagnostic page

New airdam/splitter done, headlight panels powdercoated

Turbo fully plumbed with Vibrant PTFE and using the Turbosmart oil pressure regulator, since my drusump chugs major pressure, this thing keeps the pressure at a steady 40psi.

Random gratuitous bum shot

Controller panel powdercoated and interior reassembled. Don't have a pic of all the wiring cleaned up but it's all pruned and spiffy

Fuel cell panel finished, powdercoated and installed, along with some goodies. The cubby is for the ID pump controller which is the main thing holding me back right now. They keep updating the firmware but I may get one shipped tomorrow, they just got the "final" boards yesterday.

With the trunk occupied by the fuel cell, I had to move the drysump tank to the rear seat. I needed to recess it into the seat to get it low enough so the vent is at an incline (and a bonus of lower location of the mass). Of course I couldn't do it a simple way, and I hadn't TIG welded in a long time so instead of zipping it together, I started zipping together 22ga mild steel with 0.030 MIG wire. Definitely got it out of my system.

To be continued... will try to make the next update sooner than 7 months...

Looking fantastic as always!

So, you started off with installing "shock pots", as in shock potentiometers? Like to monitor shock travel? Seems very interesting! 

AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) said:

Looking fantastic as always!

 

So, you started off with installing "shock pots", as in shock potentiometers? Like to monitor shock travel? Seems very interesting! 

Thank you!

Yessir, linear potentiometers at the 4 corners, being logged at 1kHz so should be able to get some interesting data from it, like damping (if it's spending too much time in compression or rebound) and maybe poor man's wind tunnel (map the pot travel to the travel at the wheel and spring, and then do the math by spring rate to see how much the corners of the car are compressing at what speed).

Started on wiring the fuel system. Mounted the regulator which of course had to involve all kinds of whacky welder settings and techniques but the FPR-D is in and plumbed.

This project is still awesome.  I think I joined this site to comment on this car.  Here's a fun parallel:  If racing were part of bungee jumping, this is the kind of build that it might inspire (accurately). 

I look forward to seeing a (brief) driver's face-only video of this thing in full-anger mode on the track.  Really, I don't, but it's just too interesting to imagine how exceedingly competent (or constantly surprised) one must be to drive such a thing to its full potential . . .

Your completely reasonable efforts are appreciated, sir!

In reply to rustomatic :

Hah, thank you! 

This car is actually unbelievably easy to drive but that's probably because I'm so far away from its limit still. It just feels like everyone else is going really slow for some reason. I remember a former driver turned pundit saying something like anyone and their grandma can drive a modern F1 car at 9/10ths, it's that last bit where you have to be up to the task (and maybe a little nuts). I'm wound up tighter than a rodent and I intentionally overcompensate, so my facial expression will probably not deliver but I want to get extensive footage of testing the car next year with the Speed Academy guys, and they have all kinds of gopros, might as well point one at my face. Granted, if I start pushing the car harder, then I may start resembling a first gen BMW 1 series more - that look of unexpected and not necessarily welcome intercourse.

Thanks again!

Plumbed the Commie filter, just the main lines to the fuel cell left. It's funny the filter even has an equality of outcome gauge

Slow progress learning to balance being a dad with a 1 year old and my wife being back at work but still moving forward. Time for some updates...

Finished up the fuel system, just need the controller now. ID should have one for me any day now, they have extremely high standards for performance and they kept finding corner cases where it didn't quite do the right thing (none of which affect my use cases but he wouldn't let it leave the door until he's happy that it's as good as he can make it).

Ran the lines, using a combo of peasant padded P clamps, billet P clamps and hose separators from Vibrant.

The pump outlet is a collector which merges the outputs of the two pumps inside the surge tank, so it's quite proud above sea level. So much so that a full flow hose end and an adapter wouldn't clear the filler neck. Except the supply line is -8 and the pump outlet is -10. Vibrant to the rescue with their crazy selection of various fittings. This -8 PTFE to -10ORB fitting was money.