S197 BOSS 302 Race Car Build Thread Build Thread

[ArizonaBOSS]

OK the car is still not out to paint, but the cage is complete! They are bundling up all the wiring now and sending it to a paint shop down the road today.

Here are some pics...still a lot of little odds & ends to be done once the car comes back.

Driver's door zipped out:


Window net mocked up, both upper brackets are in-place. Non-S-Bend NASCAR bars with entry clearance, both sides of car:


Using the factory dash cross-beam, gusseting the cage up to that. You can see how close they got the downbar to the chassis:


Door bars again:


Closeup of TIGing on door bars:


Upper front bar:


Back half of cage completely welded:




Passenger door getting zipped out shortly:


View from Passenger side



Gonna be cutting it close but the car will be ready in time to race

 

[Grant 302]

Niiice. I really like the splayed angles on the door bars. Really nice details and much stronger than just parallel installations. You're really going closer to a complete R/S build than I'm imagining for myself!

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

OK well they painted the interior a lot faster than I thought!

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

Also got my hardwired transponder and cheap car cover in today:

 

[blacksheep-1]

Nice! I can tell you from experience that painting round tubing is a major pain, trying to keep ALL the painted surfaces wet at the same time in order for it to turn out glossy is real hard to do. I think you did very well with those fabricators, IMO they gave great value for the money spent. Hopefully you are well pleased because it sure looks good from here.

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

Yes I am very happy with how things are turning out! The car will be wearing their shop logo on either side as well as part of our deal.

 

[Roadhouse]

Lookin good 8)

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

Car is coming right along, hopefully picking it up tomorrow afternoon or Saturday morning.

And no, that is not the real rollcage padding--just some stuff they put in-place to keep the cage from getting scuffed up while the workers are moving in/out of the car and bringing hardware/tools in/out.

Switch Panel getting mocked up. Looks like we are going to cut the panel a bit to install the Cool Shirt control unit. Not a big deal since the cage design allows the stock headlight switch location to be retained.





Fire system nozzles in the engine bay:



Not much cutting of the dash was necessary with the tight fit of the downbars. I'l be replacing the vents since they didn't need to be cut up.

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

Just got a call from the shop that the wiring harnesses have all been installed, the car has been fired, and everything works!

Now they just have to install the final items on the car...belts, padding, seat brackets/seat, cool shirt system, fire bottle...

 

[steveespo]

That is a real nice job, love the cage and how tight it is. Best of luck going wheel to wheel.
Steve

 

[further]

Fascinating thread. Love the final paint job.

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

OK I brought the car home last night!

She weighed out at 3475lbs with half a tank of fuel and 170lbs ballast in the driver's seat, so just over 3300lbs without driver. Better than I expected! Power to weight is 9.02:1 Perfect
This is without taking full advantage of other weight saving opportunities like lexan and an aluminum DS.







Still a list of small items to take care of this week...

Transponder install
Swap all brake pads/rotors to race stuff
Flush brake fluid
Install harnesses
Lower seat 1/2"
Install roll bar padding
Find proper screws for center stack plate
Relocate trunk switch to center stack plate
Check all suspension fasteners
Install Whiteline Trans bushing

...

 

[VoodooBoss]

It looks awesome. Are you using the stock calipers?

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

Yes still stock calipers and one-piece rotors. No real reason to upgrade or change at this point, at least no reason worth the $$$$ to me right now.

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

This is WITH 170lb driver ballast.

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

I will use this thread to chronicle the build progress of my 2012 BOSS 302 into a wheel-to-wheel race car (without a license plate).

FWIW, today I removed my license plate from the vehicle...RCWOALP!

 

[Roadhouse]

RARARARARacecar

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

Last night captdistraction and I got all the harnesses mounted and the seat fully bolted up.
Here he is doing his best Vin Diesel impression:


Also he installed Autosport Labs' Race Capture Pro data acquisition system as well as a GoPro3 to capture some video and GPS data for this event.


Also we finished the roll bar padding, and sort-of tidied up the door wiring that remains.


Decal guy is coming over after lunch to get the car fully stickered-up!

Later tonight we'll switch over the brake consumables and install a Maximum Motorsports rear PHB w/ rod ends.

 

[Jimmy Pribble]

Last night captdistraction and I got all the harnesses mounted and the seat fully bolted up.
Here he is doing his best Vin Diesel impression:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa5BDiCgBAw[/youtube]

 

[ArizonaBOSS]