Aerodynamic upgrades.

With a disappointing end to the season with brake issues and having run out of budget, it was a good decision to pull the plug for this year and focus on getting the car ready for next season. Now with the intent of running a full season from start to finish on the cards this will be my first proper go at the championship and with experience gained over the past season i now know what I need to achieve with the car to get it to run up front without breaking out of the GT2 class limit. Again doing this on a budget is key but at the same time getting everything together during the off season, like spare brake pads discs tyres all consumables to make sure I’m not caught out part way through the 2012-13 season, making sure the car is as reliable as possible. So! Very little will be done to the engine other than a basic freshen up and check over, i am going to run E85 fuel with only a 80-100hp ATW maximum increase, with a huge leap forward in torque above what BP98 can offer due to engine timing freedom.

Most importantly will be the aerodynamic modifications, it was always the intent to build a traction car, not just a raw hp car. With a projected wheel hp figure of 500-503 and a small weight reduction of 20-30 kg, taking the car to just under 1100 kg wet, less driver and with a better weight distribution and proper aerodynamic changes should make the car considerably faster.

Change No:1

The biggest change will be the front wheels wells. This is one of the most important cheap mods you can do to a race car to decrease drag and lift in one hit. by removing the flat firewall component of the wheel well and rounding off to the door area relieves the pressure build up in this area. I will be flowing the body work from the wheel well right round to the rear guard passing under the top half of the original door. This will be fabricated in .7mm high tensile aluminium alloy with a .9mm bronze anodized outer skin to finish, producing a smooth air flow along the side of the car at the same time feeding air ducts to the rear brakes, shocks and diff.

Change No:2

The front bumper and splitter will be changed to accommodate front brake ducting and a reduced splitter to save weight and drag now the wheel wells are altered there is no need for a large high drag splitter to fight the lift that was present up till now. The front of any GT car is always the hardest to get down force and aerodynamics to work well with the front always first into the airflow and a lot of turbulence exists under the engine bay with little room to play with big wings and diffusers are not easily achievable. So with the front of a race car you need to focus on clean airflow with minimal drag and good control of the air over the rest of the car

Change No:3

Finally I have a secret weapon I am going to adopt at the rear. This will remain under wraps till the season starts and if it works as planed this will make the singe most biggest difference to the cars performance.

For now though all will be quite.

Both the boot Lid and rear wing are finished

This week I have been able to focus on the boot pin system and rear wing mounting fins. Also completed this week are the drivers floor tray and bonnet turbo scoop.

Check out the pics below.

The wing and fins are painted in etch primer with LJ racing colors on the boot lid. The idea behind the big fins, supporting the wing is to encourage good stability at high speed and to promote better air control around the back of the car at different cornering angles. The fins are an aerofoil shape and are closer together at the front than the back as far as centre lines are concerned, this should hopefully give a good advantage in the wet.

Floor Tray

The floor tray is made from 3mm thick alloy with drilled and pressed holes to help stiffen and lighten the tray. safety grip tape is added to stop my race boots sliding which would be a big distraction otherwise.

Bonnet Scoop

Made from polycarbonate, cut to shape and super glued together them framed with alloy to prevent the assembly blowing apart at speed from pressure. A cheap way of obtaining a scoop different to a bought one.

Rear Firewall

Rear firewall installed and painted. This is sealed to the body to make an air tight seal between the fuel tank and driver compartment. I have fitted the wall behind the shocks so as to allow adjustment from inside the car with a quick visual reference to their settings.

Rear Diffuser Complete

The rear diffuser is finally finished including all mounting brackets. The total weight came in at 19.5kg which I am very happy with as I was expecting it to be closer to 30kg. Check out the pics bellow.

Due to the diffuser being black when it is under the car it will be hard to see the mounting pins, so I have painted all the mounts silver so as I can see them for aligning reasons.

The whole assembly has come up better than I imagined and is very easy and quick to install (it takes less than a minute to fit.)

Fuel Tank Completion

This week has also seen the completion of the fuel tank. To my amazement, when I pressure tested the tank it had only one tiny pin hole at 4psi in the lid on the top corner. The worst leak was the only part I did not make which was the fuel cap, it pretty much leaked around the entire O’ring ( this has been remedied now ).

The pics below show the fuel foam going in before the tank was bolted together, plus some pics of the boot tray and tank cradle ass.

Rear Fire Wall

The rear fire wall is also in place and sealed pics to come soon, with the Boot lid/rear wing ass new on the list, which I am half way through completing. I have decided on mounting the rear wing just under the height of the roof ( by 5mm ) and will be fabricating some very different wing mounts, ( not your usual standard brackets. ) These will be quite big and there for a purpose. All will be revealed when I have finished them.

The first photo is of the clamps and bracing coming off, as the glue had dried between the first and second skins, once released the stiffness was quite noticeable.

After removing all the screws, I trimmed and sanded all edges ready for the expanding foam and fibreglass. I will put a narrow layer of glass cloth along all joins prior to applying the foam, I feel this necessary, as it will add tremendous strength to the joints.