The Upgrades Begin

Below are pics of the changes to the front end. I took a week off work to get some of the urgent jobs done on the car, the big one was tying the front legs to the strut towers in an effort to stiffen the front up. I started by removing the windscreen air-box, factory pedal setup including the booster and removed the wiper motor to allow the strut bar access through the fire wall. The removal of the factory parts took a lot of weight out and freed up a great deal of room in both the engine bay and cabin under the windscreen. As the new pedal box will not utilize a brake booster in the system I can free up room around the intake side of the engine and means the master cylinder won’t be in this hot environment, the same can be said for the clutch.

The wiper motor will now also be relocated to the cabin and modified to run just one central wiper blade, the brackets are made and tacked in to test the moments and make sure I get a good swept area over the screen.

Not installed yet but soon to be added will be the engine bay fire wall strut brace, this will be a bolt in item so it can be removed for easy access to the engine and ancillaries.

Keeping Cool Under Pressure

Below are some mods I have made which I did not have time to do before the first race, but have since completed. As with most race car projects there is always something to finish or improve. In this case I have removed the headlights and replaced with fabricated aluminium parts, attached to the inner edge of the covers are gently curved deflector plates and a third deflector was added covering the intercooler which will separate and guide the air flow in to the radiator more efficiently, this will keep the inter-coolers heated air from flowing in to the engines water radiator. So two things can be gained here! One is better cooling and two is reduced weight up front, which will become important later on as I will be adding weight when I fabricate a proper wing shaped front splitter which will run right under the front of the car to just behind the steering rack with an estimated weight of 12kg’s including all steel mounting brackets following a similar design to the rear diffuser which takes only one minute to fit and 30 sec to remove.

Power Steering Cooler

Another big problem I experienced was the power steering fluid getting very hot. Below is a simple copper pipe in front of the radiator to aid cooling of the fluid plus a vent in the top of the reservoir to help with pressure relief.

Rear Window Venting

One of the biggest factors I was not prepared for with my first racing weekend was the heat build up in the car half way through each race. Since the first test day I have fitted two NACA ducts (now known as NASA)
one in each side rear quarter window mostly to provide air flow to the front and rear windows, but also providing cabin air to help cool it down, also I have provided more circulation by putting holes in the drivers side door window and after the Manfield round I have now altered the rear window by drilling holes in the centre and placing a cover over top to reduce any water from entering. The theory is by placing the holes near the top of the window the flow of air moving over the roof then dropping away suddenly over the window will create a vacuum which should help draw air out of the cabin.

Paint Scheme

The bonnet is nearly finished, with just the cover for the turbocharger hole needing to be made and mesh screens for the louvres. It is all painted with no mods required. It has turned out just as I had intended it to. Which is nice.

These shots show the cut away boot with the spare wheel tray gone. I have also strengthened the chassis rails with 40x4x2.5 box section, this also provides mounting for the boot liner, fuel tank and cradle. The top pic shows where I have panelled in where the front part of the spare wheel used to be, this is the grey area where I have primed.

The lower pic shows the riveted in section that ties in the back of the boot skin to the rear box section. I will be leaving the factory rear crash beam in that bolts to the chassis rails, as this will provide more fuel tank protection, plus a little weight at the rear to help with weight distribution.

As for the HICAS rear steering, I have after much deliberation decided to remove it as there is a surprising amount of weight in the system at the back and more importantly up front, not only will this save weight, but reduce the complication of keeping the system as it requires the factory ecu and its own special unit mounted at the back, plus all the wiring and dash connections. I do however feel that if the system was to be used it would be quicker round a track than without. However I also feel that given the overall weight savings without the system it would be just as quick. So 50/50 really, it’s a hard one to call!