1999 Eclipse GSseX Road Race Build

[SmalltownDSMer]

Haha. Build looks great man, can't wait to see the finished product..

Jayson

 

[Atuca]

Got a new Dress.. err... Side Skirt!

It's official, I have a new found fondness and appreciattion for those who do body work. The side skirts, which argueably is the easiest of the kit to install.. took 2 days or roughly 15 hours to finish installing. Thats not even counting the time it will take to do fiberglass work, paint prep and paint. I count 18 DZUS buttons, thats about an hour a button! haha

I know I'm not taking the easy route with DZUS buttons, but knowing they exist and not having them was worse. I'll admit some of the time was spent learning how to use the clips, getting the springs set correctly, and figuring out how I was going to do everything.

Want to again throw a shout out to Kevin (greengoblin) for all his help and guidance on the actual install of the kit. His build journal and hours spent on the phone with me has already been so helpful even at this point; without him I be no where on this install. So some of the processes and pictures will look vaugely familure if you have seen his journal.


AMB Aero Design :: 95-99 Eclipse GT300 Aero Kit - Side Skirt Installation - January 17, 2013

The process of getting the side skirts on was similar to how the hood went on. Everything had to be mocked into place, lined up, and marked. Since there was a rear quarter panel over fender that lined up with the skirt, I had to get it in place, and to do that I had to remove my rear bumper. Now I have never removed a rear bumper from any of my eclipses, and now I know why... them suckers are on their good!

I had to remove the rear lights and center section to gain access to some bolts, and then the fender wheel well plastic, and then the bolts attached to the actual bumper crash beam. There were bolts everywhere, but eventually I got it off. Judging by the time stamps on my pictures, my first time took me an hour and half!

I use painter tape to get the over fender on and could tell immediately things weren't quite as perfect as I was hoping for. Based off the work I saw Kevin doing to hit kit, I figured I was going to have to as well.

I got the back part of the fender to the height I wanted, and started drilling 1/8" holes for using Cleco clips to hold things in place.

Once all 9 holes were drilled on the side skirt, I took a step back and made sure everything was still where I wanted everything. The Cleco clips held everything perfectly and I moved on to the next step.

I took the clips all out and, using the already drilled hole, drilled for the dzus springs using a specially made jig. I counter sunk those outside holes 120*, sprayed some automotive primer to help keep it from rusting, and placed in 120* counter sink rivet to hold the spring on underneath. This made everything perfeclty flush for the body panel to lay against. I drilled the center 1/8" hole out to the size of the dzus button using 13/32" drill bit (I bought a few of those bits...), deburred the hole, and then boom: that's it!

The side skirts button holes were a little tricky along the door here. There is no access to the under side of the metal here, so I had to get creative. I used a step drill to drill out where the plastic cover used to go, and then using one finger in that hole, and a magnent holding the spring in the other, I got the rivets through the spring holes realitvely easy. This took some practice, but after 3 or 4 springs where done, I started to get the hang of it.

Anyways, spent a few hours sanding the back side of the skirts, to get them flush against the body, adjusted the springs with a dzus spring adjustment tool, and then I was done!

Here you can see how much wider the side skirt is then the stock body.

And finished pictures:

Its not really "finished" though.. I still have to get the bottom side attached to the underside of the car. I will likely be waiting til I have a garage for that, plus it gives me some time to figure out how I want to do my under tray, and side exhaust. Well.. thats if I go the side exhaust route, but I most likely will. More stuff to think about, as I said.



There may be a bit of a delay til my next update. I am flying to GA on Saturday to get my DD (if you read back a few posts you will see I just drove here driving a U-Haul and my DSM in tow). I am driving it back here, so I expect some time Wednesday I'll return. Then I have an appointment with my local fiberglass supplier on that Friday to talk about materials and picking up stuff for the rear diffuser project I started. I will also need some of those supplies to do work on the aero kit pieces, so I'll pick up some extra while I am there. Then I need to turn the barn next to the car into a "clean room" so that I can work on fiberglass project, and then actually producing molds and such for the diffuser.

So as you can seen I'll be a bit busy with that, but if I get any down time (while stuff is curing right?) I'll work on getting more done to GSseX! Til then!

 

[greengoblin]

Looking awesome sir. You are lucky you didn't have to spend hours looking up tool that you never new existed until you found them.

Glad it going well for you and that I could help out.

 

[Atuca]

You are lucky you didn't have to spend hours looking up tool that you never new existed until you found them.

Right?

When I was reading your blog I was like jeeze.. what is taking you so GD long.. it's just some drilled holes and rivets.. not a big deal..

wrong.. wrong wrong wrong.. this takes so much time and is so tedious, and I even have help pulling rivets, drilling, ect. I'd say I could easily say this would have taken me another 5-10 hours without the help I been getting.

Mad respect for doing most the work on your car alone.. wait nevermind, not alone, you got a baby crying every 15 mins to tend to

 

[futuredsmGT]

From a long time friend:

Want to reintroduce myself since I am not new to these forums, but I am Atuca's childhood buddy if you will. I am also the gentleman who got his car on a truck and shipped to Georgia from CA. I practically grew up with this kid and it has been a long lasting friendship through the ups and downs. I have been in and out of his 99 GSX for the last 3-4 years helping him achieve his goals.

I just want everyone to know who follows Atuca, you are in for a treat as this is just the beginning. For as long as I have known him, he does not do anything 1/2 ass. He has kept up with his build since Season 1 and is not stopping now.

You have me so amped about this build buddy! Finish strong!

Stay tuned everyone...

 

[Killa_dsm]

Looks great Philip, lets just say you have done a LOT since I last saw the car. Keep up the great work man.

 

[lufkom]

wow nice

 

[Subie_Tech_Intl]

Whoa, i just read one of the most inspirational build journals ever! I'm new to DSM's and my automotive knowledge is limited. i had a similar relationship history and hence crashed at my family's house too. since moving to Guam i've been struggling to find work, but have since come up on a 2GB TSi AWD. i guess im looking to make a budget dd/racer out of it. im originally from SoCal, born and raised, and have never heard of any county that does not require smog... im planning to move back because im not liking it here and was wondering if i should move there when i go back?

 

[cait sith]

This is going to sound like a really mean question, but from what I've gathered, have you actually... driven a DSM on a road course? Have you actually driven a road course at all...? You seem to have really really huge goals in your head, but I think y'all need to get the car on the track before you do anything else.

Building a car is easy. Working the bugs out is harder.

 

[Atuca]

Eight Months Busy Doing Nothing Race Car Related

It has been months since my last update. This lapse of DSM time has been a little bit different, as I had access to the vehicle and I had money, and looking back it is a bit of deja vu. This post is just to talk about the last few months and where the car sits now.

February 2013 - August 2013

The first hurdle I had to over come was yet again moving. The first move was to a friend's house who had a garage! The problem though for GSseX was that I had a pre existing obligation to the rear diffuser project I started a few months prior. We set up a cool garage "paint booth" plastic shrouded room in the garage and got to work on that project. I learned a lot about how to fiberglass properly, different techniques and through trial and error finish a mold.

The space that project took up though pushed the DSM to the neighbor's garage and there is were the car stayed for the several months I found time to work on the diffuser. So all the time from January through June, it sat untouched.

Staying at my friend's house was just temporary, it was closer to my job when I had to go into the office, and saved me money compared to living with my parents (crazy I know) When I wasn't working on work or the diffuser, I was looking at houses and began the house buying process yet again. It was anything but a smooth process. The combination of divorce from my ex-wife, new job, and student loans compounded a problem of having unseasoned money to buy the house with. I'll spare you the details, but for nearly 7 weeks, I was lucky to get 8 hours of sleep with the amount of paper work and paper trailing I had to do; I could literally hardly leave the house because I had to sit by the phone in fear I would have to sign yet another document or get word I needed to drive to an old work place to get an old boss/company to sign some document that had to be turned in by the end of day. It was just crazy...

However, this time, un deja vu like.. the house closed! This house even had a three car garage to house my hobby and new toy!

As part of the divorce and separating assets (well in this case debt), I sold the Civic.. and replaced it with a brand spanking new WW 2013 Mitsubishi Evolution MR. A much needed upgrade because now I had no regrets in a new direction for the race car: 100% track only dedicated car. I think I was heading this direction already, but there is just a mental block that I had to get over that I would never again drive this vehicle again unless I was on a track.

This decision helped me with some problem I was facing internally, like keeping the moon roof, power locks, the vision I had for the interior ect. I began this journey with the goal of having a show car quality type street/race car. But seeing real race cars proved to me that you can't be competitive if you are making sacrifices that are too easily avoided by going full race car.

I met a new girl, Mya, which like I would like to attribute some of this coming of decision to. The first thing she did was give the car a proper name. Being a gamer girl, she named the Evo "Tifa" for its white and black color, and appropriately named the DSM "Cloud". I really couldn't come up with an actual name for my car but it came so easily to her that it took no time for me to accept it permanently.

How she helped me decide on full on race car was this though: She took me to Sonoma/Infineon Raceway on a SCCA test and tune / qualifying day. Seeing the cars there was so amazing! You could really see the variance in a car that showed up as a DD and a car that had been converted to a full blown race car. I would have talked to some of those teams, but they were so busy checking on everything on their vehicles that I knew I be holding them back. I was so excited to be in this environment and I had been reassured this was a hobby I wanted to take to the next level.

I have finished installing the aero kit aside from the front bumper, and I couldn't install that without some major structural support in the front. So while I wait to sort out a tubular front end of some sort, I moved onto other important things.

Battery Relocation - June 28, 2013

This is actually an on going project, but since I wasn't able to go to my friend's house to work on the diffuser (the diffuser project is staying at his house since he has everything set up there), I had a couple hundred bucks I wanted to spend on Cloud. I followed once again one of my role models, Eric, and his take on how to over do a otherwise simple and cheap battery relocation.

My battery had been sitting in the passenger foot area under the dash temporarily, for the last 2 years. I knew it needed to be done, and to get the car on the track it was required to be done, so it was a logical place to start working on the car again. I bought everything on his list from his build journal:

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/han...-relocation-project-log-16.html#post152022910

I take no credit for this, and I appreciate once again his openness in what he has done to his car. However, that relocation was done almost 4 years ago. What I didn't research and what wasn't as popular back then was the invention of lithium ion batteries. After some deliberation on the forums and checking with the rules, the full size 4 pound battery would be the perfect "dry cell" solution for my application.

Its been a while since I received car parts, and boy do I miss it!

The problem with just copying Eric however was I had this very high quality nice HEAVY 2/0 gauge wire that easily tipped the scales at over 20 lbs of wire (I wouldn't be shocked if it hit 30 lbs) and the battery is a 1/4 of that.

The reason people put their battery in the back aside from engine bay space requirements, is to take a 30-40 pound battery and place it where the weight distribution was best (and granted most people don't use heavy 2/0 gauge wiring). Well with the weight distribution gains negligible, the battery placement became a matter of weight savings.

The lithium battery suggested a longer life span when kept at reasonable temperatures. While I doubt it would be bad for the battery in the engine bay as designed, I had already allocated that space for a catch can. I haven't decided exactly where, but it will be tucked up under the dashboard near the passenger foot area. Ironic it's ending up near where its been sitting all this time anyways, but at least this time the wiring will be safe, the battery will be securely mounted, will have fuses, breakers, a distribution block, and a cut off switch.

This is what I was doing, routing the wires back to their stock locations. I'll admit this was not smart, but it was what I had to do.

Here is everything I needed to do the relocation properly, short of the cut off switch which came the next day.

Most of the wire used the solder slug system, where you eat up a solder pellet in the end with a torch and soon as it melts push the wire in. It creates a solid connection and I love that Eric found this.

A completed starter to firewall cable.

I still am waiting to buy the 500 dollar battery, so this project is still on the to do list.

Interior re-wire (again) - August 3, 2013

Without being able to work on the battery relocations, I tackled once again the interior wiring. I sat in the car and thought about everything I didn't need to finish a race. I don't need power anything, so first began removal of the power locks, mirror, and window motors.

Like I have always done, with the part coming out also came the wiring. I'll get manual side mirror off an RS likely. I figured while I was taking everything out of the door, one huge area I could save weight was removing the windows from the doors. I looked up the rules and aside from classification rules, removing the windows completely was ok. The windows had to be down during a race even if I kept them, and since I don't need windows for anything else, out they came.

Other things I took out include: The horn, stereo wiring, rear 3rd brake light, blinker (this was easier to do mentally after I had to remove the side markers for the aero kit), rear defroster, hazard lights, stock anti theft, door/rear hatch ajar buttons, rear wiper and motor, all the interior lights, the ETAC and Cruise Control ECU, and all the dash buttons and gauge cluster wiring for these systems.

I need to wire in DSMlink v3 sensors for SD and remove the engine bay wiring for the GM MAF and wiring to the horn and blinkers, as well as the new GM alternator improvement pig tail:

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/cus...tant-improvements-saturn-alternator-swap.html

I think my goal will be after a year of racing I'll to a mil spec wiring harness once my harness stops changing so often, but right now I keep adding and removing, and just in general moving, things around that it would be too expensive. I plan on a fully stand alone ECU when I out grow the abilities of DSMlink, but for now it is just something I cannot justify at my driver level.

Anyways, I have pulled out two piles of unneeded wiring, and I am sure I'll find more as I continue to make my car's electrical reliable.


The Future

I just found that an E85 station opened up near my house not 5 miles away! I think that I may be making the switch finally; I am sure the 3052 will thank me.

Mya is very supportive of my hobby, something I truly appreciate in a girl, and now required ! Having a 3 car garage of my own has been a huge help in getting back into my hobby. Moving into a house took almost every bit of my free time when I first got here, but as that settles down and I am finding more free time, I expect to get back to Cloud a bit more regularly. The only major distraction at this point is finishing up the diffuser, and that takes coordinating with my friend. That project is (still) nearly done though and then I can focus full time on Cloud.

I also have my eyes on a new rear air foil that Andrew designed that has to be tied into the frame of the car by means of a structural roll cage. I can't run the car without a rear wing with all the front down force, and I cant run a rear wing without a roll cage. One would deduct I have myself a conundrum. I spoke with Road Race Engineering on my way over from GA on the move back, and they quoted me a ball park of four thousand for a full road race cage that would tie in the rear spoiler. If it was a matter of dropping the car off and being done with my supervision I might be ok with that, but they are nearly 7 hours from me, and it would take over a month for them to finish. So since I don't own a truck or trailer (yet ) it would be a huge hassle for me to do that. Thinking about this, I realized that even if they did the cage, I would still need to fabricate the tubular front end for the bumper. The tools I would need to do the front end are the same as a roll cage, so I have come to the conclusion, like everything else on my car, I will tackle this project. Since this is such an important part of the car structurally and safety, this project will be a huge undertaking as I have to research not only the rules, but the philosophies and techniques to create a sound cage. I have been reluctant about this decision, but know with as careful and slow and tedious as I am, I am sure will be a successful project. A NASA scrutineer will have to verify my work before it is signed off anyways, so I believe I will have no issues in trusting my work on the track.

I have purchased the Harbor Freight Tube notcher, and am looking at my tube bender options. I have found many good reviews on the NASA forums for this bender:

https://www.jd2.com/p-32-model-3-bender.aspx

and as the weight of my car will be under 3k, SCCA/NASA/Red Line TA all say I should use 1.500" x .120" DOM tubing.

I will probably create my cage in an auto cad program and ask for suggestions here, but that is a future project and something I continue to research even now.

If you have been following me for length of time or just read through the journal, then you know life keeps throwing wrenches into my plans, but somehow, sometime, I find a way to come back. I hope this time I am able to stay longer before anything tries to get in my way!

Oh, and going through my photos from January, I found this video.



It was the first start up after I installed V3 DSMlink, and shows a walk around of the car. Figure you guys might like that

 

[greengoblin]

Looking good sir! keep it up.

 

[TSiAWD666]

Just happened to glance in here, and speed read some of the last update. You mentioned you thought you had to have a roll cage to mount your rear wing. I'm not sure that's the case. Why not just tie the rear wing mounts down through the trunk on top of the rear frame rails? It's still connected to the frame of the car, which is to what the roll cage would be connected. Just offering this up in case it helps your order of operations to make your project smoother.

 

[Atuca]

Hmm.. I suppose it would be one and the same. Andrew didn't say specifically "roll cage" so you are right, it just needs to be tied into the frame rails. That might save me a few weeks of installation of a full roll cage, but to be honest I'd want to have it all designed at least to make sure I have the angles right. I hear triangles are the name of the game and "T"s are your worst enemy.

I spoke with APR directly last week and they said the wing may be finally available this week, I think I might give them a another call! I'm still a few weeks of work from ready to start work on the rear wing mounts and supports, so I'll probably wait on second thought, but I am surely excited that collaboration between Andrew and APR worked out.

In other news I may have removed a wire I shouldn't have from my interior. The grey/blue and grey/red wire going from the flasher relay to the brake lights was removed, as I found no other wire connected to them and I believed them to be wire just for the right and left turn signal. After a quick test I flound my tail lights work with the headlights, but not when I press the brake pedal. After doing some research I believe the grey red and blue wires not only carry the high voltage for blinking the tail lights, but also for the brakes. I'm not 100% sure but I dug the wires out of the garbage and have them on stand by. Even if they control the brakes, I am going to have to rewire them into the brake switch as there is no longer a relay to drive them.

 

[Atuca]

Interior Clean Up (Round 2) FIGHT

This is just a small update. First off wanted to throw a shoutout Eric, who sent me some rubber gaskets to help keep my battery wiring safe as a route it through the car. Thanks turbosax2!

August 8, 2012

I found a very strange button installed on my car. I had seen the wire in my passenger cabin but never knew where it went. Well right now I am going through the car and doing a thorough interior cleaning: Either it is restored, or it is removed. I spent about 3 hours trying to get this thing out, asked on the forums trying to get help, but in the end, I ended up just man handling it and tearing up the car a bit. I'll probably drill the hole out bigger and then either weld it shut or find a large rubber gasket to block it. Either way I have no idea what it was for, but it is out.

Along with that, I been going through the frame rail, between the B pillar, and other places that no one should go, yet I am finding little bits of plastic, and even a large piece! I would attribute this to some OCD and weight reduction.. blah blah.. but in all honesty, this stuff just rattles in the car and I am finally able to rid the car of it! I taped a little rubber hose to the end of my shop vac and have been going to town sucking up dirt and plastic tabs everywhere it could be hiding. In some instances I used a strip of metal bent at the end to use as a hook to fish things out. Quite humble, but it works.

I am trying now to finish the interior rewire. Since I don't need even more of the few things I left in the car, more wires are coming out and relays, fuses, ect. The few things going in was the 3 wire CS alternator pigtail, an AIT and Omni 4 Bar MAP, replacing the GM MAF that was in the car. I am replacing the GM MAF with a straight pipe with a welded AIT bung. That places the bung at about 10 inchest from the TB, right at the top of the limit I've read about; it just seemed the easiest way to do this.

I had been chugging along working on my battery relocation but have put a small stop on it. I am going to be mounting my cut off switch off the driver side halo support beam of my roll cage.. except wait.. I still don't have a roll cage yet. I am waiting to get the welder from my cousin still, and another pay check before I buy my tube bender. Still doing research on the design, but I am feeling much more comfortable now with everything!

Lastly, I am still very excited about the wing my car will have. I think Andrew and APR timed this together, but this week they both posted pictures of the wing and the pre production prototype adjustable mounts on facebook. I can't wait to get my hand on mine!

That's it for this week on Cloud. Next week or so won't be any more exciting picture wise. Just going through the FSM and removing wires til there is only the bare essentials left. I'll then cut every wire to length, and draw up a final schematic of Cloud's wiring. Then when/if funds and time come, I can do a mil spec harness with new pins and connectors. Everything on my car is being soldered and shrink wrapped/electrical taped and is safe, but with so many cuts on the wire, connectors half filled, and just general ugliness, I would take alot of personal gratification knowing the wires were all thinner, lighter, and "unhacked". Til then...

 

[nitroaddict88]

You know i think i had seen that button at one time or another when i was working on the car way back when but i never had the guts to push it and never followed the wires.

Any idea what it was controlling?

If the original owner was still in this country I would ask him for you.

Build is looking good man keep it up!
Gotta make sure you treat my car right haha!


-Kyle

 

[Atuca]

HA! Bet you never dreamed I be taking it this far haha. The wires were cut and ran somewhere near the seat belt where I found it. Since I rewired the whole car I can comfortably say there were no other similar matching wires anywhere else in the car, so I can't say what it controlled. It was a ***** to get out but.. it's out now and I can move on.

I will have to do a proper update when I can, but the last few weeks have been spent on the diffuser project and making a new garage floor mounted pedestal for the tube bender for making the roll cage.

 

[Atuca]

Life is Crazy

Life is just that way sometimes. This update won't bring much light on Cloud, because he hasn't been touched much lately. This is more just an update on car stuff in general. If I had another avenue to keep track of life events at a more personal level I might do that, but I don't really. I don't have a real organized way to share this information so I am just going to start typing and hopefully get this journal caught up again!

December 27, 2013

I can bunch up a good portion of October and November into one category, and call it "more wiring rewiring part 28937423098". There really isn't much else to add as far as discussion, it is just a super tedious task that requires tremendous amounts of thoroughness and thought.

I believe I stated this once, but if not I will again, I am really appalled at the lack of craftsmanship in Mitsubishi's wiring in the DSM. There is just a nasty amount of splicing, splitting off, and general uncleanliness in the wiring, and I cannot wait to completely remove it. At this point, while the pictures more recently looks a bit messy , my plan is to schematic the layout of where I want everything and mil spec it. I kept thinking mil spec as a luxoury later, or maybe just to tighty things up, but it is becoming more apparent now as I am adding sensors to the harness, and redoing the power and grounding points that it will become something much higher on the priority list. For now, I'll clean it up and and live with it, but I am extremely unhappy with it.

I am bitter, tracing wires and going through FSM and the distractions and other project priorities just put this way behind schedule, but as pictured, the car started up for the first time in about a year yesterday on speed density! I was extremely pleased that my time and effort paid off, though I still have a few more wiring related projects to do.

1) I want to relocate my Front O2 sensor wire routing, through the driver side of the car
2) I need to finish wiring my brake lights directly to the brake switch (since I removed all of the flashers, hazards, the wiring no longer goes through a relay.)
3)I need to eliminate a few more "idiot" dash lights as I do not intend to run the stock dash for much longer and they will no longer be required. i.e. oil light, coolant level, ect.
4) and one of the ones I am more excited about, is for Christmas my girlfriend got me a Lithium Pros C680 Lightium Ion Car battery!! Need to figure out mounting solutions for it and wiring it in near the firewall to take advantage of the light weight and not waste weight on the 2/0 gauge wiring I got (that is heavier than the battery!!)

I started a thread about the battery on the forums here, and my girl friend secretly created an account on the forums, searched the battery I wanted (she knew I wanted one, but had no idea which one) and bought it for me for Christmas. I give her mad props and may have to start leaving clues on my posts from now on to get more car parts next year! I think this girl might be a keeper

I been busy fabricating mounting brackets in different places of the car, and have collected a few things to install later, like non ABS hard lines and a 3g brake booster to go with my brembos.

I am pretty much still sitting on the fence with the non abs swap. I have read numerous articles about stock ABS computers, brake bias, and how everything changes with non stock brakes (BBKs), stickier tires, and aggressive braking. I think in the end the ABS will have to go. It's just a gut feeling at this point though, and for now it stays, but if/when the time comes, I am ready for it.

I had to drill and tap my intake manifold for the MAP sensor, and there is a short 4" hose between the two. I tapped it right on the back to the left of the brake booster on my 1g manifold. I also decided to paint the plug pigtail black, as nothing else in my engine bay is green. I didn't do anything special, little spray paint, and I figure I will replace the plug with a black plastic one later when/if I do a full mil.spec harness. For now, it removes the eye sore.

Got a small piece of piping to replace my GM MAF with a bung welded for an AIT sensor. Sprayed it black with a few coats of paint, and it went right in.

I have started a full roll cage build. It's a huge post just to explain the different things I have had to do just to get ready to bend tubing, not to mention the actual thought process and design that has gone into it. I'll save that update when I have more to show for it.

The other things that have taken my time is the continued work on the rear diffuser, which any day now will be completely done and out of my mind. I had to take some final measurements on everything with my stock rear bumper on one last time, and then suddenly another distraction came into play.

My best friend bought a 98 GSX. It was a complete chassis and engine, but needed a complete rebuild. In exchange for my help and garaging his car while it was built, he is allowing me to use his car for testing the rear diffuser, so now that is one less thing I need to do with my car and bumper and lets me move on with my aero kit installation. Luckily for me, we did a very mild rebuild and the car was in and hopefully out in less the a month. That is assuming it starts up this weekend, but I don't have any doubts, we'll see

Lastly, just to document, I got into a major car accident mid December. My girl friend's DD was totaled on our way to a concert together in San Jose. I say major in that both cars were completely totaled, but I did walk away unharmed. The jackass that T-boned us on the side went to the hospital though, doing 45 in a 25. That put my girl friend on a week off work and a huge headache and money sink getting that squared away. She is mostly healed up now, but with a torn leg muscle, she was put on light duty at work. Not a fun experience, and I still hate the bay area.

Life is crazy and unexpected. I know I said that last year, I set goals and miss them, but I don't let it get me down. Just got to stay positive and roll with the punches. Cloud starting up was a huge and much needed inspiration and can't wait to start spending more time on it this year; I am in a much better situation to be doing so as well!

Sorry I do not have any nice pictures. But I just wanted to share the state it is now. Someday it will be beautiful again

Till next year!

 

[Atuca]

Happy New Year - 2014!

It's a new year and I'm excited to be working on my car more regularly. I finished up the diffuser project and now my friend is finishing the fiberglass work this week and I got a weekend to work on the car. Looking at my last update, the wiring was quite a mess. It has been for a long time. I kinda wrapped it up and tapped it for a few drives here and there, but it never was quite finished because of the battery wiring. Well with the plans of a tiny battery going up front in the works, I decided it was time to focus attention on the wiring once and for all... well.. til I decide to rip it all out and mil.spec it. but that is a 1k+ wiring job I can wait on.

Reverse Switch - December 27, 2013

Thought I sneak this in real quick before the year The reverse switch has a plug in the back of it but now no wiring to go into that plug since I removed my reverse lights. It took a little searching but a M14 x 1.5 fits the threads and now it looks much cleaner. Don't you agree?

Fusebox Relocation and Mounting - January 13, 2014

To be honest.. I don't even know what I did this weekend. I worked for a good 10+ hours on the car and I have basicly one photo to show for it. I did relocate one last sensor and wiring: the front O2 sensor. It now routes through the driver side fender and the wires no longer lay over my turbo/radiator like stock. I remeber it being one of the last sensors to do because I had to depin it and be careful about the shielding wire. It really wasn't that bad once I got going but it's done now

I removed some more wiring from the mess of wires in the pile. I still find traces of unhooked up wiring that is no longer needed. For example a few wires to my dash cluster for accessories I no longer have. The wiring kind of eluded me because it comes from the interior fusebox and for the life of me I can't find an easy to read wiring diagram that shows all the ins and outs of the thing. It's not simple like the engine compartment fusebox. Some day I will make a new fusebox and solid state relays, but til that day (wishful thinking at best atm...) I wanted to get things cleaned up.

Now the wiring mess, the heart of the problem here. There is wire that goes from the engine bay, and from the engine compartment fusebox, across the car to the driver side mounted interior fuse box. From there, it runs back across steering column to the dashboard buttons, steering wheel mounted switches, ecu, windshield wipers, ect ect. It was quite bonkers how unnessesary it all is now.

So my solution was to not only relocate the engine fusebox, but to also relocate the interior fuse panel. I did that almost all in just this weekend. I welded up some brackets and with them securely mounted (finally!!) I can do my final wiring routing. The ecu will be mounted just under them; I have to make one more bracket for it to be done. Looking at the photo now it doesn't look like much, but I know to me (who reads this a lot, it is a journal right?) I will realy appreciate this image later.

They are both nicely tucked up to the passenger side footwell, under what would normally be the dashboard. With the ECU on that side and where the engine harness enters the Hopefully next weekend I have a photo of the wiring all routed and plugged in! That's the goal!!

 

[Atuca]

Playing with Metal

Well when I set out to build a roll cage, I didn't know how to weld, I didn't have a welder, I didn't know how to design a roll cage, nor any of the tools to tackle the project.

Those were all problems.

The solutions, though, took me down a great and wonderful learning experience and I love the approach I took and do not regret a second of it. It is still an on going project, hell.. nothing really is even complete. But it took months of work, research, and lots of money to get to the point I could even say, "I can build a race car roll cage". And let it be known I am still learning and open to suggestions!

The welder - August 10, 2013

Please excuse a bit of the back dating. I didn't think I had accomplished much in the beginning and wanted to have something to show for all the time I put into this project.

It all began back in August of last year when I decided for my safety, I needed to have a roll cage put into my race car. Wanted, may have been the better word to use there, because there are still dozens of things I need to buy to get my car able to drive on the track. What got me on this track though was considerations for the aero kit, and funny enough, the battery relocation. There are rules for battery cut off switches and I wanted to comply, obviously. I am choosing to run it right off the pipe off the halo near the A-pillar on the driver side. This is a place that is easily accessible to the crew, and me!

OK, enough of the dreaming, I had to see what I needed to do to get this project going. First thing was first, a welder. I remember that my cousin had purchased a welder a few months back and was having a blast doing little projects here and there. A quick drive up and I had myself a Lincoln Power Mig 140. It is a little 110v wire feed welder that could be hooked up to a bottle if I ever chose to MIG with it. I didn't know if I could even pick up welding, so I just started welding stuff.

SPARK SPARK SPARK, bleh. The flux core wire splatted everywhere and I felt like I couldn't get anywhere with it. I couldn't build a puddle very well and I don't think I was even getting better. Everywhere I read different ways of welding, but flux was barely cutting it. It made metal stick together, but I wasn't very satisfied. I tried anyways to do my very first project. I made a fuel pressure regulator bracket. I welded and grinded then welded and grinded til I eventually got the corners to look good. I know that you shouldn't grind your welds when you are going for maximum strength, but for a bracket holding a 2 oz FPR I didn't think it mattered much.

I had a hack saw and cutting the metal to do this project was very tiresome. I needed to first cut some base plates for the roll cage and I needed several boxes of metal. I was litterally spending 20-30 mins per cut. My arm was tired, I was pissed off it was taking so long to do such simple cuts, so I decided I was not going to live another day without a metal chop saw. I picked up a DeWalt metal chop saw and have no regrets. This again added a another expense to my roll cage project but it was one I had to do. With it, the time I saved was invaluable.

So now.. where to put the roll cage. I have been pondering moving the driving position rear ward for weight distribution, so I knew I wanted to give myself as much room as possible to do that.


Option A:

Option B:

Option C:

I ended up deciding to go with Option C and place the first base plates right at the edge of the rear seat. The area was not flat though, so I had to try and contour the metal to fit. Well after 15 minutes trying to bend it with pliers and a hammer.. I knew I had to also go buy a table top vise. So off I went to get one of those!

 

[Atuca]

and prepped:

Next bit of business was trying to weld the base plates down. There were a few options I had. I could either drill a hole to let the main hoop drop down when I was trying to weld the top of the cage, or I could just move the whole cage off base pedestals. Since the main hoop was near the edge, it was almost like it was sitting on a pedestal. So my plan now is to build pedestals for the front mounting plates so I can slide the main cage down when it comes time to weld the top. Worse comes to worse, I cut out the base plates and I weld in some bigger plates after drilling holes.

I tried welding some thin sheet metal to the thicker metal for the base plates, and thick flux core just didn't want to weld that thin metal. After just a few days with the welder, I ended up at a welding shop local to me looking at renting a bottle.

After walking out of the store with some new solid wire and a new bottle I PURCHASED.. I knew I had been bitten but the fabrication bug. I was going to end up buying my own welder eventually anyways and I couldn't imagine not having a welder now, the bottle was mine.

I setup the welder to do MIG, and ran my first bead. All of a sudden it seemed like I could actually weld now. The bead was pretty decent for my first time on MIG if I do say so myself.

After a few practice runs welding the thick base metal to the thin sheet metal scrap I had, I was ready for the first time directly on my car. On to the next step, bending bars!

practice:

The Tube Bender - September 17, 2013

After much searching on tube benders and what is used in fabrication shops, actually visiting one (FXMD) I decided on a JD2 Model 3 Tube bender.

JD Squared, Inc. - Model 3 Bender

It had great reviews and simple use. Non galling dies perfect bends at home. Now the next step was the base for it. I bought the proper 1/2" thick steel and 1/2" thick tubing to make the mount. Also rented a drill to drill into my garage to make the floor mounts. I tried to use my DeWalt hand drill and it just doesn't work.

Once that was done, the bending commenced!

I'll share that the cage has not been finished, and trust I have done all the research in the rule books for metal thicknesses on the base plates and in the tubing. I ended up with 1.500" x 0.120 DOM tubing and 1/8" thick base plates, both of those dimensions work in NASA and SCCA, which is also the same rule books Redline GTA use. Although I plan to focus solely on NASA TT1, I like to comply for perfectionist sake.

The roll cage could possibly be thinner if I could get my weight under 2500, but since I am not TIG welding this using chromoly for those weight savings, I am not as concerned with maximum weight savings just yet. If I get a TIG or weight becomes my number 1 enemy, I have no problem redoing my roll cage. I've learned so much as it is and I am sure I'll learn more by the time I am finished. Who knows, I may end up with a TIG welder and a desire to redo my cage sooner then I care to admit Til then, this first cage (strictly metal cost) has been under 500 dollars. That is cheap education if nothing else.

General News - February 11, 2014

Anyways.. in non-roll cage related news, there are some other huge developments for the car to get it track ready.

I built another DSM with a friend and that was the main reason the cage hasn't been done. And by I built, I basicly made him do everything and I just told him what to do, I think he learned more that way That project is rolling out of my garage this weekend, very proud of him. This means I get my space back so Cloud can stretch his legs. and by stretch, I mean have room in the garage to bend tubes again.

I also have my suspension plans semi worked out. I have had some great help from the same who usually chime in: Andrew, John, Kevin, and Brian. These guys helping me piece together a setup based on what they all run (or at least a variation) The KW v3s coilover based on the DG suspension setup. In just two days they took me from not knowing what a spring perch was to.. ok well I know what a spring perch is now at least. I still got a long way to go and I am still learning but I am glad they have been helping me along this path.

I am also working on getting a new front splitter. That was the reason my wiring didn't get finished; had to get my front clip off and down to a fabrication guy in preparation for the new splitter. Bigger lighter better then what I had originally planned, the balance of the car has been altered now but with this decided, I can make final plans on my rear wing. I had expressed interest in the APR duel element GT-1000 wing, and now that may or may not have enough down force to balance the car. There are a few solutions: bigger wing or new gurney flap, but that will depend a lot on how else I have the car setup. I have so much to learn but hopefully I can get it setup to a point I can be track ready this year. Kevin is another getting a front splitter but I doubt he'll beat me to the track to give advice on his wing selection I thought I could just copy Andrew and be done with it, but learned that since I am AWD and weight for me in the rear is much different than him, I have to make changes to my car and it is not something Andrew can just whip up with a magic computer. I have to get the car weighed, setup, and see how it actually preforms before I can get feedback. So much I didn't think about, but that is why he is poised to win a WTAC class and I am a guy in a garage

I am trying to just do the minimum to get the car on the track now, and that is balancing the car aerodynamically, and with a suspension to keep from bottoming out the stock stuff I have now. Short of wheels, tires, seat and harness, I think, I am nearly certain, I will drive the car this year on a track!

Long term though there are more big plans for the car, and I can't wait to share them. For now, that is your update!

 

[nitroaddict88]

I love popping into this thread every now and again to check up on things. Congratulations on the house dude!

I wish I could have a 3 car garage at my place.

Keep it up! Build is looking clean and professional.

-Kyle

 

[Atuca]

Late Mid Year 2014 Update

I know I haven't updated in a while.. but I sold the car...

Nah.. I'm just playing, things just going slow as they always have. Well.. slower then I want them to, but I am at a point where I can't seem to set a finish goal and make it because I keep collecting other fun stuff and more ideas that lead to more projects and down time. I've waited a bit to let DSMtuners work out site kinks before I start posting again, and while I am unable to fix the images in the reply above, I have many more pictures to include that will make you not even miss them.

SoCal Trip de Aero

So to start things where I left off, I made a trip SoCal. Did a bunch of things down there. Went to Disneyland, dropped off a finished rear diffuser to my first tester, and stopped in at Evasive Motorsports for some car parts. There I picked up a APR GT-1000 Dual Element Wing.

I also picked up my new front splitter from a good friend and fabricator of Andrew's that has done many composite projects on his time attack race car:

There is a full jabroc edge along the bottom to prevent damage to the all carbon fiber construction of the splitter. There are little bits of aero above and below the diffuser and features a 9" lip tip to bumper. There will need to be a lot of reinforcement in the front of my car in places I hadn't prepared for using the first splitter that was molded with the front bumper. Since this is a separate piece, there will need to be new mounting provisions made, but all worth it in the end for more down force!

Oh, one other thing I got while I was in SoCal, RobiSpec KW v3 coil overs!

I met with Robert who re-valved these coil overs for me and actually drove towards LA to save me a few hours of driving from where he was. The man is great guy and even offered track time assistance when I go to set them up. We'll see if a year or so from his initial offer if he even remembers me haha!

Mounting the Wing

This air foil is awesome, but requires a frame mounted solution. So what I came up with was way over kill, but easy to accomplish with the one die and metal material I already had. Here is a post on what I came up with:

http://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/structural-adjustable-wing-mounts.468644/#post-153434864

The only thing really to add to that is while I did have a friend to do the CNC work for me, they are still not done. Luckily I have a dozen other projects to work on so no biggie. He finished one, but still needs to do the other 3 and drill and tap them for the aluminum uprights, which still need to be designed at this point even. Using a laser level helps to get things more exact, but getting the wing correct in 3 dimensions and level is pretty tricky.

You can see the dot is just barely visible on the second air foil, with the second under the height of the vehicle. This is where I was told to put it by the guy who not only made my aero kit, but who designed the wing, so i'll take his word for it. Anything that needs to be adjusted can be done after I get the initial placement correct. Much more work then I ever expected, but once a part of it comes together, its pretty awesome:

Ah.. the little things in life (see, that was a joke.. because the base wing mount is little ^ Ah.. I just ruined it.. w/e )

KW v3 Coilovers

Nothing goes easy with this car, not even off the shelf coil overs. KWs makes some pretty good shocks, but as many of you who peruse the road course forums knows that Dennis Grant came up with a way to make spherical bearing upper hats for the 2g DSM that greatly benefit ANY damper really.

But let's complicate this a step further. KWs come with 60mm springs and a decent selection of springs you could use, while Hypercoil makes dozens, maybe hundreds of different springs rates in a 2.5" spring. Half of the work needed to make that possible was done with custom lower stand offs machined for me. For the upper perches I was on my own. It took some searching, but I eventually found some 60mm to 2.5" spring seat adapters and mated that to some (seemly unknown origin) KW upper hat. John F. (owner of the black AMB kitted time attack race car) found these perches in a catalog of perches for other cars from KW, and found one that looked like it would work. Very glad he did though, because it saved me countless hours of searching.

The other thing John helped me out with was the stand off from the coaxial bearings. DG gives a very generous amount of space that does nothing but eat up shock travel, so even on the custom DG spec I customized to fit the smaller shaft of the KW shock (when compared to the Koni shocks they were designed for) I add some more shock travel.

This section took me about 2 minutes to type out, but took over a month to bring to fruition. They already know who they are.. but John, Andrew, Kevin, Brian, huge thanks, and a special thanks goes out to Jay at Jay Racing (http://www.jayracing.com/) for working through and with my design revisions.

Here they are assembled.

Using DG spec stand offs, this is the amount of space between the spring perch and the hat.

And using my modified stand offs. I still have plenty of movement but an extra 1/4" of shock travel.

The spring seat adapter that makes this possible. I may in the future make a custom one piece upper spring seat, but this cost less then 100 bucks and was available off the shelf. My friend working on the wing mounts already has his hands full figuring out his CNC machine, so I won't add anything to his platter til that is figured out.

All fine and dandy, new torrington bearings and everything looks great.. except that one purple eye sore. I had to get ride of that.

Using a drill, it made sanding these down very easy. They are some type of purple plastic, so just roughing up the surface here.

Primered.

Blackified.

And done. Assembled you can't see the purple, or even tell there is a spring size adapter, so I am pretty happy with the little time I invested in this aspect of the project.

Now I haven't installed them yet because I wanted to do all my suspension work at once, so thus far my list of collected parts consists of:

RM front and rear sway bars and bushings.
Paul Volk's rear toe arms
STM Rear camber kit (err.. washer kit?)
2x SPC 67170 (1.50* Adjustable Balljoint for front camber)

And things I'd like to collect and do are:

1) modify my front upper control arms:
http://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/ho...nt-a-arms-for-maximum-negative-camber.475596/

2) collect a set of 3g rear tubular control arms.

3) purchase wheels and tires so I can also do body work to make all the suspension and tires fit and work together.

Roll Cage update

Interestingly, some of the work I did above and welding in base plates, in the end were removed as the actual cage came together. There has been a ton of work involved with the cage, but none of it actually completed. The project got put on hold while it was realized more importantly was the placement of the driver to determine the proper bends for the cage.

Safety

It was decided the seated position would be moved back, nearly a foot further back then the stock seat mounts, and use a floor mounted pedal assembly. The benefits include: I gain duel brake master cylinders that allow me to control the brake bias balance between the front and rear with the turn of a knob, over all weight balance of the car is shifted by moving ~200 lbs rear ward, and the seat is just 1 inch off the floor board, so lower center of gravity ever so slightly. I won't have to worry about height issues while wearing a helmet, or sliders on the seat just to reach the pedals. Everything will be "custom" tailored to me so this also marks the last time any of my friends drive my car (or get to sit in the passenger seat for that matter. There isn't one!)

So with this decision, the part collection began:

Schroth Racing Profi ii-6 point HANS harness

and

OMP SuperTurismo Steering wheel

I got the HANS version because I will be using a HANS device at all times on the track. It's like a seat belt in my head; you just always wear one. The steering wheel has two buttons and is 320 mm in size, that I am sure i'll come up with some uses for.

Works Bell Racing weld on Quick Release

This little piece requires a little story. First, a video of it:



Basically, this is a SFI approved quick release that NRG tried to copy, but failed pretty miserably using cheap materials. This is probably one the most expensive quick releases you could buy, but for a clean non hub AND non splined that makes the wheel go on straight every time with nothing to line up. No holding the quick release as you place it back on either, just slide it on, turn it til it clicks, and go! There were a few others quick releases I had considered, but I think this is the best one out there. As a bonus, it has a 12 pin electrical kit that allows the steering wheel buttons to pass through the steering column without having a spiral cord wrapping around and dangling around your steering column.

For my bum, I selected the Sparco Pro ADV competition race seat. This seat is light weight (20 lbs) FIA certified and both HANS and 6 point harness compatible. If you haven't noticed, I take safety pretty seriously, and so do the racing organizations I plan to race with, so everything is certified to make sure if the worse happens, I can write a blog about how it saved my life later. While I fit just fine, the seat dimensions fit my body's frame snug, so I will probably have to do a little weight reduction to myself and lose an inch off my waist and maintain it as long as I own my race car, but there's nothing wrong with that, right? Lastly, I got the aluminum Sparco seat mounts to save a little weight and to save me some fabrication time.

Mirrors! Have to be able to see now my vision is slightly impaired by a helmet and race seat that has head protection. This is a huge 14 inch rear view mirror from Longacre that has provisions to mount to roll cage tubing, not to the windshield or just some clip on mirror. This thing is solid. The side view mirrors are also APR aero pieces that are all carbon fiber construction and weigh about 1/5 of the stock power side view mirrors.

Current Plans

Well, posted above are a list of projects in progress, plus a few others I want to get further into before sharing, but it feels like the car is finally coming together now the projects are all underway. I wish I had a better way to end this besides til next time, but this stuff just takes time. At least its still fun!

 

[Atuca]

Early 2015 Update - Seat Mounting, Suspension Work, Wheels, AND RACING!

I realize I could really use some help keeping this thing updated. I been super busy with car stuff and things are going great! Here is some of what's been happening in the last few months.

Sparco Seat installation

This project seemed so much easier then it was when I started. It really was too, except I like to complicate things. I decided on having the seat mounted as far back as possible, right up against the rear seat. This moved the seat back about a foot from the stock mounting location. So I thought "Hey, I'll just fab up some mounts, and weld them in!" And in reality, that is all it was, but it wasn't so easy. The stock floor was not cooperating. I think it's spacing for the catalytic converter, so it bulges out. Not an issue normally because you sit far enough forward your feet don't interfere with it. With the seat a foot back though, it was in the way. I didn't get a good before picture, but here is my attempt and "massaging" the bump with a hammer. The results weren't very charming

So I cut it out!

Now I don't have a way to bend metal, no metal brake, or any way to make a smooth radius to match the stock metal. So I got creative and did the best I could. And I think it turned out great!

Terrible at modesty here, looking at this 6 months later (today) I am still surprised how well it turned out with the tools I had to work with!

The actual seat mounts I designed twice, but am really happy and feel completely safe with how they turned out.

I wanted the "nuts" to be securely welded and not have any chance of breaking or releasing my seat in any circumstance. So I used metal rod, welded it, drilled it, tapped it, and bam done. That "nut" will never dislodge and because of the way in which I did this process, didn't have to worry about the threads becoming damaged from welding as thorough as I did (not just tac welds)

My welds have come a long way from when I first started.

I threw some self eteching primer to prevent rust for now, so here is the semi "finished" photo! I may clean up the "edge" a bit more, but I am satisfied for now.

KW v3 Coilovers

Never gave a finished picture of the coil overs, so here is one!

Still working on the suspension though.

I picked up some 3g tubular arms.

I want to get this car on the track this year, so I don't have time to do all spherical bearings and bushings, so some of my arms are, some are going poly. I am for sure eliminating all rubber, but I'll revisit this project later. So to get it going along I got a shop press and a little elbow grease.

I still got a few more I need to do in the front, but news today is Paul Vaulk is going to make his front LCA available so there is another arm i'll just buy and not have to poly. Makes my life easier.

Wheels and Wheel Bearings

I got some wheels and tires finally. After years of sitting on my evo 8 wheels, I can finally work on the rear quarter of the car to clearance for big wheels/tires. I felt like a scum bag because they are the same wheels Kevin has, but he assured me it was ok. We just agreed they were one of the best wheels in their price range, weighed nothing, and didn't cost over grand a piece. I've never understood before why someone would waste enough money to make the statement true (or was perhaps was exaggerated), but now I know how someone can roll up next to a ricer and say "My wheels alone cost more then your car is worth"

Weds Sports TC105N 10.5x18

 

[Atuca]

Early 2015 Update - Seat Mounting, Suspension Work, Wheels, AND RACING! (continued)

ARP Wheel Studs

One of those perfect timing things, having the press allowed me to easily install these longer ARP wheel studs. This was really one of those as easy as it sounds it was. only took a few hours, and that was only because I cleaned all my suspension knuckles by hand

(note, my fiance is still with me, but it took lots of counseling haha!) I guess I need to look into a proper parts washer soon!

NASA Racing

I could (and probably should) write a wall of text describing this, but I did finally get to the track with NASA. The race car never was designed to have provisions for an instructor in the vehicle with me, so I needed to get signed off for solo driving. I took my Evo X out and spent the weekend with NASA HPDE instructor Mario Lento, an accomplished race car driver, who actually raced for Robert and Robispec's Evo for the inaugural GTA time attack event few years back! (the shop that did my and Andrew's suspension and coil over design and work)

It was a great weekend with lots of great cars. I took the opportunity to get some photos taken professionally and use the safety gear I had been accumulating for my race car at the track and make the most of the weekend as if I were in me DSM.

That man earned all my respect when in his 250 HP MIATA passed a McLaren F1 during a Time Trial I got to ride along in!!!!! A quote from him:

The coolest car out there was the McLaren F1... and the guy was driving it pretty hard... The fun part was that we got to see that gorgeous car from every angle - from seeing the rear of the car early on - to the side of it and then looking in the rear view mirror to see the beautiful front of it!

LOVE IT! But this also put into perspective the HP numbers mean very little when compared to the complete package of a properly prepared race car and driver. I am sure my 15 year old "dumpster DSM" will be equally jaw dropping for another McLaren driver if I ever pass one One can only dream...

Future Plans

I can only post so many picture per post and its hard to not share every photo I have and all the project I been up to. Hopefully, and I know I keep saying it, I will keep my thread more up to date. Will help with not having so many photos as once.

Look at all those boxes! Those are all parts I bought in the last month or two. Jegs, speedway, Amazon, Jay racing. Some of those parts were for redoing my brake lines.

With the seat moved up I needed a floor mounted pedal assembly, and all the new hard lines to work with it. This started as just moving the seat back, and it turned into one thing leads to another The assembly eliminated the brake booster, and now has two master cylinders for the brakes; one for the front and one for the rear. I have a remote brake bias adjuster that will let me dial in the brakes much better then the stock ABS could have ever done. I had kept ABS all this time and would have even kept it longer til I finished my earning my racing license, but this was the final nail in the coffin. That thing is gone, and now I got a much better solution I think to controlling my brakes.

I'll get into more details as I install all the new AN fittings and line for the remote reservoirs, brake and clutch lines, and floor pedal mount (so i can retain some form of adjust ability since the seat doesn't move) I'll also have to fab up a custom throttle cable, and thus far I am still in the research phase, though I got a good idea of what I want to do.

I am also working with Magnus and a new thing I am not even copying Andrew with (A first probably!) I am going to be running one of their dry sumps, that is rare, but not unheard of. What is new on a DSM though is running a power steering pump AND a Aeromotive hex drive fuel pump off of it! My power steering lines will be about 6 inches long and my fuel pump will be good to few 1000 horse power without any complex series of pumps or added heat fluctuation for a more stable tune.

Magnus still working on a support bracket, but here you can see the fuel pump barely fitting past the starter, with barely enough room to fit in a hex drive power steering pump before hitting the transmission. SEXY <3

Last, I got a new TIG welder, a water cooled HTP invertig 220. The thing is a beast and I love it so much. I can now weld the chromoly wing uprights, as well as anything else in the car now or ever. Going to take a bit to get good, but I am sure i'll get there!

Grabbed a dual port flow valve so I can back purge properly with the huge cylinder bottle. Its a 278cuft 100% Argon tank.

HTP had everything I needed, tungsten grinder, 25 foot long negative lines as well as the matching 25 foot long water lines and such for the torch. I got plenty of wire to do a cage and then some!

And here are my first TIG welds Look a lot like MIG hmmmm, wonder how long til I am welding like Colin from Toxifab and stacking them dimes !

That's all I got time for now, hope to share more soon!

 

[danielsl1999gsx]

NICEEEEEE!!! I was scared you gave up on this car but boy was i wrong. Keep up the good work man.