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S197 BOSS 302 Race Car Build Thread Build Thread

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You've been busy!
 

racer47

Still winning after 30+ years
392
497
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
SE WI
Going to be a lot of work between now and a test day upcoming on 8/25 to make sure everything works correctly. Cross your fingers.

Good luck with the test and getting the car ready. The workmanship looks good as does the entire car. I like this part the best....
win.jpg
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
Moderator
8,730
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Arizona, USA
Got a little more done last night. Pardon all my dirt, dust, and grime. The car needs a serious cleaning once I finish my work.

AFPR mounted up in the engine bay. That dial gauge looks just about useless.

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Fortunately, I was planning on also running a pressure sensor to output to AIM, so I decided to just route that directly from the AFPR instead of from after the AFPR.

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I am hoping to keep the pressure sender itself in this location behind the fender liner so I can pass the wires through to the cabin easily. I may have to move it if I am unable to get the liner back on. I also secured the fuel hard-line.

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Also, I completed the aft end of the hardline, connecting it to the bulkhead fittings that pass through to the trunk area. I will do the same with the fuel return line, but I am waiting on another batch of -6 line from Summit so I can make the return line one continuous piece (hopefully).

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I applied some heat sleeve to the pressure feed side and will do the same to the return side to protect from radiant exhaust heat.

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Not pictured--I connected the output side of the AFPR to the fuel rail with a Russell screw-on adapter for the stock rail, worked like a charm. Wrapped that line in heat shield as well.
I am thinking to purge about a gallon through the lines once everything is complete to clear out any crud that my air gun was unable to get. After that I'll re-connect it to the fuel rail and adjust the fuel pressure.

I think tonight I will start mounting the transmission cooler hardware and planning the -8AN line runs for those, since I am waiting on some stuff to complete the fuel side. Or I might finish up the wiring in the car. TBD. Lots to do this weekend before an early morning test day on the 25th.

Great thread!

While you went with the Watts link, any reason you didn't go with the Torque Arm also?
Hi Coz:

I hadn't really considered the TA since I just upgraded my third link, also I am not (currently) interested in reducing the ground clearance on the car any further as I am usually fairly aggressive with curbing etc.
 
1,289
1,113
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
Philly Metro Area
I hadn't really considered the TA since I just upgraded my third link, also I am not (currently) interested in reducing the ground clearance on the car any further as I am usually fairly aggressive with curbing etc.

Interesting point. I had always looked at the clearance as a non-issue - save for a manhole sticking up - but can see how a curb running longintudaly could result in sparks.

Best of luck with your latest mods
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
Moderator
8,730
2,734
Arizona, USA
Did some work on the "wiring panel" tonight. This will fit into the slot where the glove box was.

Started out with a posterboard template and then transferred it over to some blank aluminum sheet from ACE.
Here I have already dimpled all of the holes that will need drilling for bolts to pass through, rivets, or slots to slide over existing bolts in the car.

vzK3WXW.jpg

After making a few cuts and doing some rudimentary 90* bends without a brake, I used some cleco temporary fasteners to prepare for the rivet work. I had never used the clecos before but wow they make riveting a lot easier.

FAX5ooY.jpg

Here is the unit basically assembled. It's not the most elegant thing ever, but it will look a lot better (and stealthy) once I shoot it with a coat of satin black. The fuses and relays will be easily accessible from the passenger side of the cabin.

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The fold also creates a wall that separates the hot bus bar from the cabin, along with all of the connections to it. I will run a hot lead from the "activated" side of my master kill switch so that everything on these circuits will also be deactivated if I hit the master kill switch.

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ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
Moderator
8,730
2,734
Arizona, USA
I ended up having some fitment issues and (predicted) flex/vibration issues with that thin-gauge sheet so I had to quickly abort that approach. I ended up mounting the bus bar in the engine bay and the relay box where the passenger airbag would normally go in order to keep things moving. Then I made a 4-gauge cable to feed power to the bus bar, and terminated the cable on the switched side of my master kill relay--so if I hit the master off, the fuel pump and trans cooler pump will die (as required).

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The good news is that I got everything electrical finished two days before my test day, and the car fired up without issue the night before the test day!
I started the first session with ~5 gallons of fuel in the tank and finished with around a gallon left, meaning that this cell and surge tank arrangement has no issues picking up fuel at "low" levels. Car is almost ready for COTA, save for some brake system TLC, new brake ducting, and a full corner balance/set up.

Here are a couple quick photos from my shakedown that also visually show the advantages of the CorteX cambered rear axle vs. a stock axle on good suspension w/ track tires on both cars:

Here is a good example of camber loss (positive camber when loaded) in the rear w/o camber, plus stock axle bearing deflection (black car) vs. cambered rear axle (red car):

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racer47

Still winning after 30+ years
392
497
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
SE WI
Looks good. I like the busbar :)
busbar.jpg
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
Moderator
8,730
2,734
Arizona, USA
Great minds... ;)
I almost went with red, myself. But originally this was going to be hidden behind the dash or possibly on the other side of the false firewall that we have both mounted on.
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
Moderator
8,730
2,734
Arizona, USA
Inching closer to readiness here.

Got the passenger side front friction ring replaced and installed the KohR/MTC 4" brake ducting. Will repeat on the driver's side tonight.

1N12IR2.jpg

Also I moved my AHJ/RHR canards a bit further back to where I should have mounted them in the first place.

u9kI5Lq.jpg

Close up of the CF 4" oval inlet. Had to trim out a bit of the inner fascia insert for clearance but overall a nice fit. Was able to use an M5 rivnut in an existing fascia hole for mounting.

ZxgO6v2.jpg

Driver's side rotor outlet mounted up. I had to use some spacers due to the length of bolt I was running with my earlier kit. Good place to save 4oz weight later...

OjnHnaH.jpg

At this point I need to finish the brake ducting install, then flush/bleed the system, corner balance the car, and change spark plugs. Also clean this pig up! Should be ready to load up this weekend and off to Austin on Monday.
 
1,289
1,113
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
Philly Metro Area
Great thread and awesome car! Best of luck in your future competitions.

Pardon my ignorance but with respect to the Cortex Axle, how can there be negative camber without the splines on the axles being misaligned longitudinaly with the differential gears? Will there be additional wear on the worm gears and or carrier bearings?

Or are the angles so minimal any additional wear is negligible?
 
492
387
DFW, TX
I'm assuming barrel splines, curved profile, not straight.

Pardon my ignorance but with respect to the Cortex Axle, how can there be negative camber without the splines on the axles being misaligned longitudinaly with the differential gears? Will there be additional wear on the worm gears and or carrier bearings?

Or are the angles so minimal any additional wear is negligible?
 
348
181
US
Great thread and awesome car! Best of luck in your future competitions.

Pardon my ignorance but with respect to the Cortex Axle, how can there be negative camber without the splines on the axles being misaligned longitudinaly with the differential gears? Will there be additional wear on the worm gears and or carrier bearings?

Or are the angles so minimal any additional wear is negligible?
CV joints at axle bearing area I believe

Sent from my LG-H932 using Tapatalk
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
Moderator
8,730
2,734
Arizona, USA
Great thread and awesome car! Best of luck in your future competitions.

Pardon my ignorance but with respect to the Cortex Axle, how can there be negative camber without the splines on the axles being misaligned longitudinaly with the differential gears? Will there be additional wear on the worm gears and or carrier bearings?

Or are the angles so minimal any additional wear is negligible?

It's a full floater with CV drive ends--no janky axle bending stuff or weird stresses.

http://cortexracing.com/product/cambered-full-floating-cv-ball-drive-axle/
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
Moderator
8,730
2,734
Arizona, USA
Race Report: NASA Chamipionships 2018: Circuit of the Americas

As those of you that have been following this thread know, I have been preparing all year to race for the win in NASA's Super Touring 2 class at the 2018 Championships at COTA. I have made many changes to the car with the help of some very supportive partners like @cortexracing and JRi Shocks, and have matched or exceeded my personal bests at every track I have been to, on slower tires with those changes. Things were looking promising heading into the Championship weekend.

A group of us headed out from the greater Phoenix, AZ area early in the week to head to COTA. My rig is the runt of the litter :)

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After two days on the road, we got to COTA and got everything unloaded. My car was set up and ready to execute a test plan on Thursday. I didn't have to do anything on Wednesday, so I took some time to help @captdistraction get some tire data during his own practice day.

Unloaded and ready to heat-cycle some fresh R7s...
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We were under constant threat of rain. Two 'stangs all bundled up for the night.
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CorteX sent me a spare set of front struts in case I had any issues during the weekend!
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And unfortunately, I did have some issues. During the third session of Thursday's practice, I lost steering going through the Turn 2 90-mph downhill right hander. Instead of continuing along the track to the right, the car decided to go straight, and wouldn't accept any further steering inputs!
I ended up plowing into a "safer" style barrier around 30mph, which munched all of the front end panels on the car :( For a while I thought my weekend was over.

(Language warning)


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The aftermath:
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It was later found that a ball joint sheared on the passenger side of the car mid-turn. This was about 3 seasons old, so this is probably my fault. I'm making these a yearly replacement item now, along with inner and outer tie-rods. We were able to get the fenders and fascia off of the car and bang the fenders out with a mallet. We were able to salvage the splitter and lower fascia insert as well as the splitter rods and brake ducts.

I was considering trying to pack it up for the weekend but my wife and a few friends wouldn't let me quit. One good friend even overnighted a fascia from Detroit so that I would be able to run and meet the cosmetic requirements to start the race!

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With a fresh fascia, some gaffer tape, and a lot of metal zip ties, the car is almost ready to race. I installed a new spare ball joint as well as inner and outer tie rods on the passenger side. Special thanks to my buddies @mattlqx and David M. who helped disassemble and salvage panels and "massage" everything back to general fitment.

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Tiger hood is destroyed but will last the weekend. Wall art incoming...​

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Everything cobbled back-together as much as it could be.​

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Some of my friends from NorCal brought a really sweet alignment system to the track and offered to help me get the car back in-order for Saturday's qualifying race. They use the "WunderAligner" system--it was fast and dead-on!

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I got a chance to shake the car down in the morning warmup session and everything functioned as-intended. We were left with cosmetic damage only. The hood needed a little reinforcement, so we got a strip of 6" wide fiberglass and riveted it to the underside of the hood. This made it almost as stiff as new, and much more comforting to run.

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I was set to start at the back of the qualifying race group, but weather was looming. My forecast app said that the weather would be clear until the very end of our qual race. Due to this, I decided to go out on sticker A7 tires, and hoped that everyone going out on wets would be SUPER slow in the dry. Unfortunately I made a 100% WRONG call as it started to rain heavily before we took the green. I decided to pull-in from my last-place spot instead of trying to fumble through the wet on slicks. I'd done enough damage already.

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@captdistraction made the same wrong call on dry tires that I did, but he was a little more motivated and ducked in about a minute after me to put wet tires on. Myself and a handful of others swarmed over his car to get the tires switched out and get him back on the track, and he even had a decent result in that race!

My tire error and subsequent retirement meant I'd be starting from the back again for Sunday's Championship race. My hope for a win was razor thin, at this point the goal was to just pick up as many positions as possible, have a good time, and not do any more on-track bodywork.

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The grid for Sunday's Championship race. I am starting 17th out of 19 in ST2.​

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Video from the race:

The start was a bit of a mess, but I managed to pick off 10 or 11 people during the race before (I think) my fuel pump overheated with two laps to go. I chose to retire instead of blowing up the engine. Lots of big changes with limited test time. I’ll get it right soon.
I have some extra heat shield material en-route now for the fuel cell and plan to wrap the exhaust in that location as well. I had tested at 20 minutes running but not 45 minutes!

O7nKdT7.jpg

This wasn’t the weekend I planned on but as they say, that’s racing. Despite my troubles, I had a wealth of support from friends far and wide to get me operational on race day.

The car handled great thanks to the arsenal of suspension components from CorteX Racing and JRi Shocks, and as expected the T56 Magnum from Dederichs Motorsports was rock solid. Thank you Filip @ CorteX, JJ @ JRi, and Joe @ Dederichs Motorsports for all your support over the past year. With better luck we would have been way up front.

Now it is time to rebuild and come back stronger, lighter, and most importantly--faster. I'm hoping to have the car out for our annual Thanksgiving event, but that's dependent on a lot of things coming together over the next few weeks.

Stay tuned...

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