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106
166
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Michigan
This is a super impressive build! Thanks for sharing
Ah, thanks man!
The thought has crossed my mind to find another clean body so I can completely strip it and go through it. Through the floor connectors, seam weld, full cage, etc. Prices on these cars are through the roof now though.
Heck yea! I have a friend with an 8 second terminator that made the same decision a few months ago. He's done all he can to the Terminator without cutting it up and it's a really nice car. So he bought a roller just like mine and is going crazy on it.
 
106
166
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Michigan
One week to my first scheduled track day and she sits on her own wheels once again. She's got a nice stance about her.

I really didn't like how far forward the my forward offset control arms put the wheels in the wheel well. I was about to order some ball joint collars to make another set when I decided to search marketplace real quick and found a set of brand new, zero offset MM control arms [used for mock-up on someones build, but never driven on] for 1/2 the price of new ones, and in the interest of time, I bought and installed them. I'll make another zero offset set of my own at some point in the future. For now, these are just fine.

I added the subframe connectors to the bottom of the car as well. Now, all I really HAVE to do to get to the track is an alignment, bump steer setup, and put the drivers seat in. But that's not all I'm hoping to accomplish.
_J2_0092.jpg

Here's some photos of what I've gotten done over the last week.

Torque arm
_J2_0073.jpg
_J2_0059-2.jpg
Panhard Bar
_J2_0077.jpg

Drilled out the knuckles for the big bump steer kit
_J2_0074.jpg

Very quickly whipped up a bump steer gauge
_J2_0080.jpg_J2_0082.jpg_J2_0084.jpg

And started laying out the strut tower brace. I already have the material for the brace, just need a couple hours to put some bends in the tubing and weld it up. But getting the alignment done and the suspension set up is priority. If I have time before Sunday to build the brace I'll be happy, though. I don't love the idea of running coilers without it.
_J2_0078.jpg

Still need to build the roll bar. But, at this point theres not a lot left to do to the car as far as my plans go. Of course I'll do 18's and big brakes one day. Maybe a splitter and wing. Probably a Torsen diff. But I'm really excited to get out on the track again and learn how to drive this beast and get it dialed in. Gonna be a good year, tater.

Brad
 
106
166
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Michigan
I got bump-steer dialed in as well as got the alignment wrapped up last night. Unfortunately, had to move the control arms down to the lower holes. The rack won't go up any higher and with the full stack of spacers on the tie rod end I still had .084" of toe-in at 1" of bump. I tried reducing caster a bit, which helped, but wasn't enough.

The control arm angle isn't as bad as I thought it would be in the lower holes. I wanted to run the upper holes to bring the roll center up. So, it's definitely better than it was in the factory K-member, but could be better. If you were looking for another argument for SLA swap...there you go. Or at least a different spindle.

But anyway, carpet and driver seat are in. Not sure if I have to put the back seat in place or have some sort of separator between the trunk space and the main cabin. Need to refer to the rules on that one.

Reworked the exhaust to get the mid-pipe flanges behind the torque arm crossmember. Battery is sitting in place.

T-4 Days to Waterford Hills OTD #1. Can't wait to see how it feels now!
_J2_0104.jpg
 
106
166
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Michigan
IMG_7380.JPG Well, first track outing was a huge success. I managed to run consistent laps 4 seconds faster than my previous best, and ran one 5.1 seconds faster! Someone caught me with a little inside front tire lock-up and power sliding into T1, too, haha!

The car behaves so beautifully and has so much grip. I'm sure my jaw was hanging open for the first few laps as I learned her new capabilities. I just kept saying out loud, things like "oh my gosh!" "Holy cow!". The car felt very planted and predictable. I finally understand what people have always talked about when they say 'use the brake pedal to rotate the car'. Watching footage, the car absolutely has another 2 seconds in it as is. I was all over the place. Overspeeding entries, braking late, braking early, oversteer, understeer...you name it. I ran the gamut of crap driving for the day. Once I figured out that I could brush the brakes and rotate the car, I got a little happy with it and put it into a power slide a few times, as seen above. But somehow still managed great lap times and got a lot of point-by's...all of whom came to find me in the paddock afterward to see what was up with this monster. That's the best feeling!

IMG_7381.JPG

Anyway, I just shared one of my sessions on my YouTube channel. But here's a short clip of me chasing down a C8. Granted, we are both HPDE 2 drivers, but he's got a lot more bells and whistles on that car, and he's not a bad driver as you can see from the video. He got the jump on me going around the Camaro onto the back straight, but I reeled him back in and had a nice flyer. Such a fun time!
 
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106
166
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Michigan
Well done. Best 3v build in here by far!
Dang. Thank you, man!
Dude. I'm happy for you. The fact you just got a point by from a C8 makes my day, lol.
That was the cherry on an already incredible time! Also got the point-by from a caged Miata, which is a huge accomplishment on a track like Waterford. He came and found me in the paddock afterward to see what the heck was going on with the car! It was awesome.
 
106
166
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Michigan
Very good job!
Going from the T4L garbage to the torque arm, and changing the front geometry must have been a massive change.
Thank you, Rob! All the hard work paid off that day and it felt really good. You're absolutely right, totally different animal. I literally was saying out loud over and over "oh my gosh! So much grip!" in my first session. Now I know what the car is capable of and can start working on driver mods :p. Though, I do have a few smaller items to attend to, car-wise.
 
106
166
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Michigan
Getting a little more done on the roll cage here and there. After a lot of contemplation I realized I'd for sure want a full cage in the car down the road. And since I really didn't see how I'd weld the tops of the tubes later without removing the roof skin, I decided to pump the brakes on the roll bar build and order some more tubing. Last week I started bending up a-pillar bars, built the front plinth boxes and welded in the rear shock tower boxes. And a special shoutout to @fabman302 for offering advice and answering my questions regarding the construction of the roll cage. This is my first cage build and there were a few forks in the road where I wasn't quite sure which way to turn.

I got the tubing in and started laying out/mocking things up.

_J2_0273.jpg_J2_0275.jpg

This little shop made press brake has been so freakin handy!

_J2_0276.jpg_J2_0277.jpg_J2_0285.jpg_J2_0288.jpg

The first attempt to bend the a-pillar bar/side hoop was unsuccessful. I spent a TON of time contemplating, measuring and mocking it up with wire and my dummy bend. It still came out wrong. Those rotational angles are hard to figure out.

So, I cut the tube that I had bent wrong in between the bends and was able to slide some 1.5" tubing inside which allowed me to rotate and fit the tube just right.

_J2_0320.jpg_J2_0321.jpg

The second attempt was two mirror image a-pillar bars that fit nice and tight to the a-pillar. I may still tweak the roof-line a little for some more head room.
_J2_0323.jpg
_J2_0328.jpg
_J2_0339.jpg
As you can see, would have been impossible to get a good weld on the tops of these tubes later after the main hoop was welded in place.
_J2_0341.jpg_J2_0342.jpg

That took quite a chunk of time. Aside from that I also built and welded in the rear shock tower boxes, as mentioned.
_J2_0257.jpg_J2_0262.jpg
_J2_0334.jpg_J2_0335.jpg
Thanks for following along. Cheers!
 
106
166
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Michigan
I'd be curious to know the pros/cons of doing A-pillar bars vs doing a halo. A halo seems like it would be easier and I've seen both.
I guess probably fitment to the car is the issue. With all those bends in the sides of the halo hoop to follow the roofline it probably wouldn't be any less difficult than the 'side hoops'...maybe even more difficult. Had I just done the straight bars from main hoop to the a-pillar break line this would have been substantially easier.
 
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106
166
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Michigan
More progress on the roll cage. My third attempt at A-pillar bars was successful and ended up cutting out some of the roof line bracing to get them tucked in really tight. The second ones looked pretty good but once I got myself situated in there with a helmet on I had absolutely no head room. With the new ones I can swing my head side to side without touching at all.

I built the windshield bar yesterday and started piecing together the template for the roof diagonal. I'm doing all the notching by hand with a cutoff wheel, flap discs and a drum sander in my die grinder. For some reason I just can't visualize the notches well enough to just wing it, so I've ended up making a 'mock-up' tube like my a-pillar bars for everything that has compound angles and notches.

Anyway, here's the progress....
New A-Pillar hoop with the roof bracing trimmed around it. I'll stitch weld the bar to the bracing anywhere it's close enough to.
_J2_0375.jpg
The rear stay and side hoop in place. (and windshield bar but can't really see it.)
_J2_0024.jpg
Windshield bar.
_J2_0023.jpg
Right side of the car.
_J2_0022.jpg

Despite what the shadows are saying, these copes are 100% tight. The magnets aren't holding everything EXACTLY in place. But I assure you there are no gaps. It's taken me approximately 3 hours to make each tube as I'm really taking my sweet time to insure a perfect fit. (Side hoops took somewhere around 15 since I had to make them 3 times...:banghead:)

Very happy with how the project is going so far. Under the gun a little since I'm going to Mid-Ohio in a couple weeks. So, won't have time (or material) to make the door bars or the rear stay diagonals before I go. My main focus was to get the side hoops and all the roof bars in so I can weld the tops of everything before getting the main hoop set in place. So I'll have adequate roll-over protection for running my 5 point harnesses.

More to come. Thanks for checking out my build.

Brad
 
106
166
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Michigan
This build is NUTS! I am not far from you, Fort Wayne Region. You have incredible talent sir!
My mind if officially blown haha!
Thank you! It's been a fun process.

I have a friend in your area. You know Tim Lehman? Fellow autocrosser. Has a laser red 94/95 GT and a Boss Laguna Seca. Might have seen him around...
 
106
166
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Michigan
Well, after much deliberation and a chat with Sal, I decided to remake my windshield bar to get it further forward in the car._J2_0020.jpg
_J2_0019.jpg
The template of the first bar of the roof X-brace.
_J2_0021.jpg
Sill bars.
_J2_0015.jpg_J2_0016.jpg

Things are moving along and continuing to evolve. Actually, the scope of the project has evolved quite a bit, as well. More on that later.

But, as for the roll cage, I had only planned on doing a single diagonal in the roof, main hoop, and rear stays and have now decided on X's. So, I had to order up some more material which should be in next week. The material is a little expensive, but what's another $280 when my life could depend on it? The cage is now being designed and built to FIA rally standards. I have an event coming up at GingerMan so will probably have to get the main structure of the cage welded up and welded in place, then finish the door bars and a-pillar support bar later; as well as remove the windshield to weld the a-pillar gusset plates in.

As always, thanks for watching 🍻
 

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