Lots of surface prep going on:


After quite a few spot welds, got the new radiator support in place:


I've started to prime the bay, but I don't have any picture of that yet.

I ordered a bunch of parts to keep the project moving. There's still quite a bit of rust repair left, but, I'm truckin' along

Been a bit busy last month or so getting ready for and participating in Texas autox weekend; FSAE cars are high maintenance vehicles. My cameo is at about 2:30, orange car with huge wings: . I didn't place well, but, it was still fun.

Anyway, finally found some time to spend on FUBAR this week. The topic of this update is safety.

With the engine out of the car and the rear subframe still installed, the only places to support the car from the back without the front lifting up are the rear subframe and the towhook. But, I need to take the subframe and gas tank out AND, the tow hooks are very narrow. So, I fabbed up a solution:

Spans between the tow hooks, constrained by a removable fastener and washer:

Plenty of clearance to allow tank removal:

Moment created by jack stand balanced out with standoff against the unibody:

Lots of access to everything under the car now:


And now the car is extremely stable and... SAFE to work under. I tried to kick the car off the stands and couldn't do it. Cost me about $10 worth of material and took about an hour to make. I consider this a win

iceguru1114 updated 1992 VR4 #71/1000


View updates to this DSM profile...

Engine Bay Prep

So back to the build. Took the bay down to bare metal as best I could:



Got the bay about 75% primed:


Dropped the rear subframe out:

I'm not sure if I ever shared this link, but I found some interesting history on this car awhile back: http://www.galantvr4.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Board=UBB12&Number=528815&page=0&fpart=1

Just as I suspected from general observation, FUBAR was not well cared for.

Finding a Purpose for FUBAR

At this point in the build I was really struggling with what direction I wanted to take the build in. A friend of mine told me that when passion aligns with skill, that's when good things happen. I have a racing background and, for cars anyway, that's mainly been autox (see "FSAE"). One day I was reading through class rules for SCCA solo racing and found, in my opinion, to be the perfect class for FUBAR in D street prepared (DSP).

Although I'm not the first person to have this realization with the GVR4 and it's potential in this class (especially with the update/backdate rule spanning every Galant ever made), I do believe that I may be the first to completely dedicate a GVR4 build to that class of racing and make every decision on the car based on said class rules. After I convinced myself that this was a good idea, the build became very focused and, in alot of ways, much easier.

Change in plans for FUBAR. After looking at the solo national champions as well as various class build constraints, I'm convinced I can make a competitive DSP entry. Executive summary: my disadvantage will be weight distribution, my advantages will be power and traction. Weights are comparable. Car to beat is a 2001 BMW 330i with 315 A7 Hoosiers all around.

Also, a few things I'd like to stuff in here for my own future reference. Link to DSP class rules: http://cdn.growassets.net/user_file...on-15-street-prepared-category.pdf?1484692558
and the larger rule book:
https://dk1xgl0d43mu1.cloudfront.ne...07-Solo-Rules-complete-reduced.pdf?1496872177

The rule I intend to exploit most shamelessly in pursuit of a competitive advantage:


How I intend to exploit this rule so completely:


For starters, ABS was optional on the E39 Galant, and the Galant GSX came without 4WS, so those are both out, no questions asked. I'm still hunting for an example of a VR4 Evo or a VR4 Monte Carlo sold stateside at some point so I can use the 16g turbo. So far this is the closest I've come to opening the floodgates to JDM parts: https://www.japaneseclassics.com/vehicle/1988-e38a-mitsubishi-galant-vr-4-rs-5-speed-awd/

Here's an old discussion about the GVR4 in DSP: http://www.galantvr4.org/ubbthreads...al=&newertype=&olderval=&oldertype=&bodyprev=

This is the winner from last year's nationals, Eric Campbell in a 2001 BMW 330i:

Here's another example of a really well-prepared DSP car from nationals that's almost as fast as the Bimmer, Michael Kuhn in a 2004 RX8:

link to build thread: http://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-multimedia-photo-gallery-6/mike-kuhn-racing-2014-dsp-build-251510/

This is a good article from the SCCA about the Bimmers in this class: https://www.scca.com/articles/2003774-shopmanual-chapter-9-d-street-prepared

The champ car weighs in at about 2900 lb, and the ZHP engine package probably used with a bunch of n/a aftermarket jazz thrown at it usually produces numbers in this neighborhood:


Very generally speaking, the power/weight ~= 0.07896 hp/lb. To get similar acceleration out of the corners, I'll also want to target >= 224 lb-ft @ 5000 RPM... I'll do some motive force calculations later.

As verified by a representative at Tire Rack, the A6 compound was used by last year's champs: http://blog.tirerack.com/blog/make-driving-fun/hoosier-r6-and-hoosier-a6-race-tires-v1 so the updated A7 is the probable option in one of the sizes shown here:


Some input from a GVR4 guru about wheel fitment:


And another community link to wheel fitment, but most of this goes out the window because I'll need flares: http://www.galantvr4.org/docs/knowncombos.htm

Speaking of flares, 808/1000:

employing some custom molded flares from ZG: http://www.zgfenderflares.com/

A really good link for the E38 and E39 GVR4 trim levels made: http://philsparts.co.nz/vr4/

Finally, the closest I've come to developing a tech profile for what I need:

-Target power/weight ratio >= 0.1034 hp/lb (~24% better than best in class)
-Target weight 2900 lb without driver
-300 hp (~24% more than the BMW)
-240 lb-ft @ 4000 RPM
-Peak boost < 4000 RPM
-275/35R17 Hoosier A7 on 17 x 9.5" wheel w/ +12 offset

OK. Now I have all my research documented in one place

A few more resources to reference later regarding the big weight distribution problem I'm going to have to overcome:

http://www.roadraceengineering.com/eclipsetech/cornerweights.htm:


Which breaks down a bit more specifically as follows:


I'm working on some basic vehicle dynamics calculations for braking, turning, and accelerating that I can share some results for soon. More specifically, the limits of the tires for those scenarios. When those are done, I'll be happy to turn it into a google doc and share it with anyone who wants to use it.

Begin the Rust Repair

Although there is some overlap with other milestones, this was really the beginning of diving headfirst into rust repair for FUBAR. I've seen some GVR4 projects that were a little bit worse, but not by much. FUBAR has been a difficult salvage.

It's been cool to learn how to do all this stuff and even cooler to bring a GVR4 back from the brink, but in the future I'm not doing this again. No more rusted up project vehicles for me, certainly not ones that are this bad.

Finally made some time for FUBAR this weekend.

I started cutting out some rust:



Got the disgusting carpet out:


The interior is pretty much gutted:


I'm eyeing up the sunroof for removal:


And, as much as I'd like to run the 16g, it just ain't legal in DSP, so I got some 14b's in need of some TLC. It's surprising how damn hard these are to find without being totally trashed:

Trunk area down to the bones:



All the fluid-carrying lines running the length of the car removed:

Finally freed up the parking brake cable to get the rear subframe out:

Dropped out the fuel tank, she's a little rough, but salvageable:

There's nothing but unibody left under the car, so the major rust repair is slated to start soon:

Also, got the sunroof removed, thing must weigh atleast 30lb:

Looking good mine going under the knife too I was,able to find a donor car for SD rust repair.

Initial stages of driver side rocker panel rust removal:

Gutting the Interior

Speakers and trunk section of harness are out. Project now has a finish it or sell it deadline so I'm working hard to avoid the latter:


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Wiring harness is out:


A/C module and all other interior pieces are out:


After a disc exploded in my face earlier this week, I decided safety glasses weren't enough:


And, finally, partook in what I think should be the final cancer removal prior to the next phase of rust repair:

Sound Deadening Removal

It's important to qualify this section to remain compliant with the spirit of the DSP rules. The sound deadening removal on FUBAR was not done for weight savings or a competitive advantage. The reason I had to do this was in order to get to the unibody under the sound deadening to perform rust removal and frame rail damage repairs highlighted later in the build.

Couple of things went down this weekend that I hope will be educational to people. I'll put them in two separate posts: sound deadening removal and deleting the moonroof.

For the sound deadening removal, I tried 3 methods: brute force, removal by torch, and the tried and true dry ice method. For DSM cars, with all the ribs in the unibody, if I could do it again, I'd start with dry ice and finish up with the torch; dry ice does not get it all, and brute force is a total waste of time.

So, here are the tools I used; a variety of chisels, a scoop, a respirator, about 10 pounds of dry ice, atleast 1 liter of isopropyl alcohol, some really well-insulated gloves, and 3 buckets (1 for holding the dry ice, one for mixing the dry ice with the isopropyl, and one for discarding sound deadening).


Mix the crushed dry ice and isopropyl until sublimation looks about like this:


Watch some instructional videos for the rest of the process on youtube. However, one thing you won't find is that you need to perform the removal section at a time because this process is time sensitive. Once the crackling sounds stop, it's best to get the sound deadening out ASAP. After you've done the whole here is the before and after:



The dry ice will not get it all, though. There will be some section like this left over:


For these sections use a propane torch and go over what's left in sections no larger than a few square inches at a time. Again, this process is time sensitive. You want to get the material just hot enough to see some small bubble formation on the surface, then is should come up like wet mud. If it's not really easy to remove, you didn't apply enough heat, if its too goopy, you applied too much heat. This is an example of too much heat:


The bubbles around the periphery of the flame are about right, but the center is way too hot.

More coming on the moonroof delete soon.

Moonroof Delete (part 1)

Deleting a moonroof is legal in DSP when done in a certain way. You can't completey remove it, you can't replace it with a lightweight panel, and it has to be filled with whatever the base material surrounding it is... it essentially needs to look like it was never there when you're done.

Considering the weight and polar location of what I pulled out, this should be a noticeable performance adder to FUBAR's performance. It's also a sign of how dedicated I am to building a serious contender for DSP.

Now for the moonroof delete. Obviously, take out the moonroof:


Prep the surface for welding:


If you're prepping your car for DSP, you have to use the same gage steel, which is about 20 gage. The steel is so floppy that you can place it over the hole, weigh down the edges, and trace the shape directly without the intermediate posterboard step. When it's cut out, this is a nice trick to help hold the piece in place if you're doing this on your own:


Then you tack it and remove the tape:


Weld it up. You'll have to do this one dime at a time because the gauge is so light:


Smooth out the welds with a grinder:


At this point the weldment is going to be completely deformed from all the heat. My solution was to build this little stand on the inside of the car and apply heat with a torch to remove the residual stresses from welding and reshape the weldment properly:


I'm going to leave the wood in place as long as I can to allow the material to relax.

All that's left now is a bit of body filler for the various imperfection after final grinding, re-sand, prime, and paint.

Wow.

This is a serious amount of work. I've put in tons of time wrenching on Galant VR-4s, and I'm not even sure I'd be comfortable biting off as much as you have. I can certainly appreciate the amount of time and effort you're putting in here, though. I love to see people restoring these cars, especially when they are past what most people would just take to the scrap yard.

Keep up the good work. I hope you timeline restraints don't end up winning in the end.

GST with PSI said:

Wow.

This is a serious amount of work. I've put in tons of time wrenching on Galant VR-4s, and I'm not even sure I'd be comfortable biting off as much as you have. I can certainly appreciate the amount of time and effort you're putting in here, though. I love to see people restoring these cars, especially when they are past what most people would just take to the scrap yard.

Keep up the good work. I hope you timeline restraints don't end up winning in the end.

Click to expand...

Much appreciated. That makes two of us on the timeline; my girlfriend is being pretty understanding right now with the amount of time I've been putting in on this so I'm optimistic

Love it. Thanks for sharing the updates with us. Hope to see the finished product eventually.

Ludachris said:

Love it. Thanks for sharing the updates with us. Hope to see the finished product eventually.

Click to expand...

No problem . The build journal is half the fun.

I keep marching along here ... I got FUBAR sprung again so that I could roll it into the driveway every time I need to do some sandblasting:


I got my sandblasting setup working. It's a hodge podge of harbor freight and Amazon parts:


And I took the sandblaster for a little test run, I left a section unblasted to illustrate the before and after. This is waaay faster than a whire wheel, but due to the layers of rust, there are still going to be some sections that need some wire wheel love:

Stripping the Steering Column

Kicker panel repair is underway, but not done so no photos. In the meantime, I need to pressure wash the inside of the car, so I had to strip down the steering column. In the spirit of sharing knowledge, here's how to do that if you've never done it:

Remove the horn and the center lock nut:


If the wheel doesn't come right off, alternate jerking of different sides of the wheel until it gets freed up and comes of. Then take off the stalk controls via the 3 phillips screws and slide if off:


Then you have to drill the heads off the anti-theft fasteners:


If you want to re-use the ignition lock, be careful to only drill off the heads; stay away from the aluminum. Once the heads pop off the fasteners unthread easily by hand:


When you're done you have your pile of parts and a bare steering column free of electronics so that you can pressure wash the inside of the car, then slap on the wheel to roll it around when you're done :

Ahhh! Can't see photos in your latest update @iceguru1114 photobucket is holding them hostage. I'm impressed with the progress your making on this, most guys would've given up and walked away! Me probably being one of them.

19gsx91 said:

Ahhh! Can't see photos in your latest update @iceguru1114 photobucket is holding them hostage. I'm impressed with the progress your making on this, most guys would've given up and walked away! Me probably being one of them.

Click to expand...

Yeah, photobucket decided to change their policy a little bit:


Soooooo, I'll have to figure something else out.

Just wanted to warn you before you got too much deeper into the build thread and lost all the pictures, it's already happened to a few of the guys and they are none too pleased.