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S197 3V Fabman's build; How did we get here? Build Thread

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Frank.JD.Perez

FJD Performance
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Pleasanton/Hayward, CA
25 hours........ Like actually 25 hours?? Holy Shat!!
Yea, you never heard of nasas 25hrs race? Its intense. They usually run thr first weekend of December and theres always rain
 

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
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W2W Racing
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Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
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Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
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Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca
hmm, I want to find a way to go back and run WTRLS again - I was hoping NASA Norcal would run it (well, maybe not with their "pro" ST4 drivers)
Doesn't seem to be on the schedule at this moment, but one can hope.
You could always do an SCCA race....
 

Fabman

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Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
6,519
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Exp. Type
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20+ Years
Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca
322563717_1196080064368692_6661725513709069899_n.jpg
 

Fabman

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Sep-16-2022-Nasa (Fri) [[b7801585ec]] - Group E - Qualifying 2 (Corkscrew) - LS1_6086_Sep1622_...jpg
 
49
31
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Autocross
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Under 3 Years
socal
wow such an epic build, just finished all 201 pages. Fabman, I'm genuinely happy that you didn't throw in the towel even though you came close to it a few times and congratulations to you for all of your accomplishments with this car. So many highs and lows with this build that I didnt know whether to grab popcorn or a napkin to cry in. I do have a few questions though and I will number them to make it easier.

1. I noticed that you have 1 3/4 long tubes, but what size is the remaining exhaust with the x pipe that you have.

2. what capacity was the catch can that you made and how often do you empty it?

3. where did you get that candle with the picture of your car on it? lol

4. are you running distilled water and water wetter? any lubricant in the cooling system for your electric water pump?

5. would you trust those quickjacks you have if you were at an event and you needed to fix something underneath the car?

6. where did you mount the ground from the back of the head when you installed the mmr head cooling mod?

7. Did you choose the oil pump and gear or did shaun recommend it?


Thank you. I genuinely enjoyed reading about all of your modifications and will be adding a few of them to my list as well.
 

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
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wow such an epic build, just finished all 201 pages. Fabman, I'm genuinely happy that you didn't throw in the towel even though you came close to it a few times and congratulations to you for all of your accomplishments with this car. So many highs and lows with this build that I didnt know whether to grab popcorn or a napkin to cry in. I do have a few questions though and I will number them to make it easier.

1. I noticed that you have 1 3/4 long tubes, but what size is the remaining exhaust with the x pipe that you have.

2. what capacity was the catch can that you made and how often do you empty it?

3. where did you get that candle with the picture of your car on it? lol

4. are you running distilled water and water wetter? any lubricant in the cooling system for your electric water pump?

5. would you trust those quickjacks you have if you were at an event and you needed to fix something underneath the car?

6. where did you mount the ground from the back of the head when you installed the mmr head cooling mod?

7. Did you choose the oil pump and gear or did shaun recommend it?


Thank you. I genuinely enjoyed reading about all of your modifications and will be adding a few of them to my list as well.
Its been quite a ride, that's for sure.

I'll address your questions by number:

1) Pipes are 3"
2) I made a few different oil tanks, the last one was 5 quarts and would fill up in a days racing.
Ultimately I solved the problem with the GT500 valve covers and fully gutting the PCV as outlined earlier in the thread.
3)The candle was a gift :)
4) I'm currently using filtered water from my office water cooler and 3 bottles of water wetter.
5) After every run the car goes on jacks and something gets changed or adjusted, so I'm under there constantly....so far so good.
6) I think we used a motor mount bolt to attach a ground.
7) The scrapers and windage tray were chosen by Shaun. The pan, pickup, oil pump, remote filter adapter, -12 oil line sizing, oil filter, remote filter pad and oil cooler were selected by me.

Glad you found some entertainment value here, I don't keep any secrets so if you duplicate any of my mods you can be sure they have been thoroughly tested in competition. Anything that didn't work as expected is addressed in the thread so anyone who follows from beginning to end (like you did) will know which mods to adopt and which ones to skip and why.

If you have any other questions please feel free to ask away.
-Sal
 
218
369
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
CA
Todays project was an oil cooler mount.

The stock hood latch bracing was blocking access to the top of the radiator and there just didn't seem to be a good way to build a nice tight shroud that goes all the way to the top, so like a bad tooth, it had to come out.

View attachment 60155



I Hacked that section off and made a plate from .062 cold rolled steel that welded to the bottom of the open channel and spanned the distance from the grill all the way back to the radiator in one fell swoop. This will give me a nice flat platform to mount the cooler bracket and ducting to. I removed the paint via wire wheel but TIG welding this was a real chore.
Seam sealer kept seeping out from between the layers of factory sheet metal and attacking my tungsten.
I did a rudimentary pass and then after all the poop burned up I went back over it with a wire brush, re welded it, and was ultimately able to make a half decent connection. Had I to do it all over I would have MIG welded it.
MIG is far less fussy about paint and seam sealer and other icky stuff.

View attachment 60156



I boxed in the top to make a nice stiff structure. The cooler mounts are welded to the bottom.

View attachment 60157




I bent the last inch of the top plate at a 60* angle to reach all the way up to those last two rows at the top of the radiator.
I paid for those suckers and I'm gonna get my use out of every last one of them.

View attachment 60158



Rubber edging seals the top plate to the radiator and keeps metal to metal contact at bay.
I built the top plate and cooler mount on the bench and installed it as one piece.
I'm getting too old to lay on my back and weld stuff upside down so a little planning made this a piece of cake.
The tubing is 3/4" x 1 1/2" x .062 so its plenty stiff and super light.

View attachment 60159



I wanted to mount the cooler in 100% rubber so I used studded rubber isolators and made the bracketry so that the cooler sat on top of them instead of loading them sideways or hanging from them. It was a lot of extra work but I feel much better doing it this way. Sticky backed neoprene foam strip on the end tanks seals it to the radiator and prevents any unplanned metal to metal contact.

View attachment 60160



It would have been a lot easier to hang the cooler upside down with the lines at the bottom but that's a good way to trap air in the system and also when it drains back into the pan it would give a false fluid level so that was out. I also looked at hanging it sideways as the plumbing would have been much easier but again, I didn't want it draining back into the pan and I just didn't like hanging those isolators sideways so I went the extra mile and took this route. A side benefit is that the box tubing will make a nice frame to attach a duct within a duct that feeds the cooler. Thanks @captdistraction for your write up detailing the effectiveness of a separate dedicated duct as I would probably have just stuck it in the wind and sent it.
There is just enough room above the cooler for a pair of 90* hose ends and it will just peek into the bottom portion in the grill. The bulk of airflow will feed from the lower opening at the bottom of the nose.

View attachment 60161



A good straight shot to the cooler. I'll dream up some ducting to maximize this later.

View attachment 60162



That 60* bend and rubber edging mates up nicely to the top of the radiator and by golly I got full use of ALL the rows.
I would have had to make a separate filler panel to do this and it would have been difficult to finagle it around all the little factory bumps and curves and still get a good seal so making this all in one piece worked out well.

View attachment 60163



I whipped up a bracket to mount the computer for the Ford Performance control pack where the windshield washer would be. We cleaned out (actually Kevin @Albino500 cleaned out) most of the factory wiring. The stock computer and a tiny fuse box will be mounted inside the cockpit. There are far less circuits in the system now so we can maximize space by substituting the big stock fuse box with a much smaller one. So far as I know, no one has figured out how to make the ABS work with only the Ford Performance control pack so there is going to have to be 2 computers and two fuse boxes.
Might as well make it tidy as possible.

View attachment 60164



I popped the grill on and it looks like nothing happened. Sweet.
Next project: Ducting! Stay tuned.

View attachment 60165
Man, this is so slick! Fantastic solution Sal. The hump from the hood latch is quite unfortunate. I wish I could just cut it out, but it looks rather structural.
This is referencing a two year old post.
 

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
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20+ Years
Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca
Man, this is so slick! Fantastic solution Sal. The hump from the hood latch is quite unfortunate. I wish I could just cut it out, but it looks rather structural.
This is referencing a two year old post.
Welding in the plates both top and bottom made it stronger than stock. 2 years of w2w battle has tested it well…..so far so good.
 

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
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Exp. Type
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Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca
NASA Championships 2022

Group E Sunday Championship Grid

@Fabman is gridded in 36. Weather and yellow flag limiting I can see Sal as 1st in class and passing 16+ drivers - even with the split starts.

Group E Championship Race @ 4:15 PM (California time) 45 minute race.

Raining there now but might get lucky with the way the radar looks and developing. There's about an hour and 45 min before the start. Point of ref is San Jose just to the right.
View attachment 79213


Race live video feed.
Looking back at this and you nailed it! I passed 17 cars….some of them several times as my trans would lock me out of gears and I’d get smoked….then re pass over and over. If my trans hadn’t screwed me I’d have moved even farther up the field, but man, did you call it or what?
 
Looking back at this and you nailed it! I passed 17 cars….some of them several times as my trans would lock me out of gears and I’d get smoked….then re pass over and over. If my trans hadn’t screwed me I’d have moved even farther up the field, but man, did you call it or what?
Hope to see you in the Burgh! I'm pretty sure @JeffV8 and I plus a few other guys from this side of the world would be there to hang out and cheer you on.
Screenshot_20230118_185526_Firefox.jpg
 

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
6,519
8,154
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca
Hope to see you in the Burgh! I'm pretty sure @JeffV8 and I plus a few other guys from this side of the world would be there to hang out and cheer you on.
View attachment 82794
Its like 2750 miles away, I'm afraid the commute would kill me....think I'm gonna sit this one out.
Thanks for the encouragement though. :)
 
Its like 2750 miles away, I'm afraid the commute would kill me....think I'm gonna sit this one out.
Thanks for the encouragement though. :)
You didn't hear? I called NASA. They're are sanctioning a race across the country like a cannon ball run for you guys on the west coast! I bet they set up checks points along the way with free tire changes, oil changes, fuel and repairs.

What a pipe dream..… Wouldn't that be cool though?!?
 

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