V1 Cheqmate5000's Track Goblin #527 - 06 LSJ

[Desert Sasqwatch]

The driver's seat is moved over how far? Looks like at least 3 inches? Is there still room for a passenger seat - or no seat?

 

[Cheqmate5000]

Pics to come but yes, 20" aluminum seats with covers con both sides bolted in with space for the shifter and tunnel. They are within the outer tubes as well

 

[Cheqmate5000]

Welded in inserts so that bolting the seats down didn't crush the tube. Moved on a raised harness bar as the stock one is too low for where my shoulders sit with the seat installed.

New tool alert! Sandblasting outside with the big pressure pot is a mess so picked up a blast cabinet. Immediately upgraded the lighting, the supply hose, and the media pick up for better performance. Very nice tool to have for this project.

 

[Cheqmate5000]

Added tabs for bolt in back supports for the aluminum seats.

Decided I didn't like the stock brake/clutch reservoir so added a bracket for the aftermarket one.

 

[Cheqmate5000]

Lots of welding and cleanup and the chassis was ready for powder coat. The plan was to match the reddish orange of this Fiesta ST, I think molten orange.

Ended up not being as easy to find the right powder coat shop. Some seemed too busy, some were to expensive.

I ended up picking Prismatic Illusion series because I wanted the look of flake. Closest seemed to be illusion orange (I didn't want to end up too red). Finally picked a place and dropped off the frame and a few parts (front control arms, tunnel covers, rear tie rod bar). Everything else will be painted flat black.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

Added tabs for bolt in back supports for the aluminum seats.

Decided I didn't like the stock brake/clutch reservoir so added a bracket for the aftermarket one.

I chose to mount my triple reservoir 90 degrees to what you're showing, mounted off the upper bar and guage panel legs. Rigid enough and braking force helps push the fluid forward through the reservoir outlets and into the hoses.

 

[Cheqmate5000]

I chose to mount my triple reservoir 90 degrees to what you're showing, mounted off the upper bar and guage panel legs. Rigid enough and braking force helps push the fluid forward through the reservoir outlets and into the hoses.

I watched your build closely. I was just trying to run slightly shorter lines and wanted them tied together in case I put a speaker under the hood someday

 

[Cheqmate5000]

While I waited for the chassis to be complete I painted all of the large parts with Kirker hot rod satin black.

New tool alert: decided it would be best to figure out how to powder coat smaller parts so picked up a nasty oven, Columbia Coatings flat black powder, and an Eastwood gun. Pretty easy and very nice results.

I got rid of the burners because they were gross and use my BBQ temp probe and IR temp fun to read temperature of the oven and parts.

I drove a ground rod outside the shop and ran a solid core thick wire in to ground the parts while I am coating. Just make sure to disconnect the powder coat ground that connects to AC so that there are no ground loops and you have a very solid and very close earth ground connection.

 

[Cheqmate5000]

While on vacation I missed a call from the powder coating place saying I needed to come take a look as they had issues. Smaller parts looked great but they messed up the main hoop around the top and a few other places were black and not ok. Very disappointing as it was already several weeks beyond the quoted date but the owner said he would take care of it.

Turns out they have to burn off the powder, then re-blast, and then re-powder. The illusion is a base coat, dormant mid coat, and then clear top coat. Pretty neat as the mid coat isn't orange and metallic until the clear is applied.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

Great that they stood behind their work.

 

[Cheqmate5000]

Yes, it is clear the owner likes to support local racers and side projects but he does a lot of product work which I think makes scheduling and date commitments difficult

 

[Cheqmate5000]

While I waited again for the chassis I rebuilt the control arms, refinished any hardware I was reusing, finished looming engine wires. I wanted to limit the number of clamps that were visible so I covered them all with heat shrink of various sizes

 

[Cheqmate5000]

Second try was the ticket! Very happy with the results and the cost very reasonable. If I ever needed this large of a part powdered again I would go back to the same place just making sure I set my expectations for double or triple the quoted timeframe.

 

[Cheqmate5000]

Pulling the coolant lines was rocky. The tube snapped 3/4 of the way through. Luckily I was able to brute force pull it back out and second try was smooth.

Flooring involved extra measuring for the supports since I reworked the tubes.

I really like the way the steering looks in flat black.

 

[Cheqmate5000]

Heat shrink on everything to make for a clean-ish install.

The build really accelerated at this point as I was excited to see the car on all 4 wheels.

 

[David]

Heat shrink on everything to make for a clean-ish install.

The build really accelerated at this point as I was excited to see the car on all 4 wheels.

Im guessing the newer fuel cells are plastic

 

[Cheqmate5000]

Yeah, when it showed up I was expecting aluminum based on all the builds I had watched. It fits nice and stops any thoughts of modifying it so I am ok with the plastic.

 

[Cheqmate5000]

One look at the silver/black engine by the orange chassis and it was clear I needed to repaint the engine. Installing the engine by myself was exciting ... No injuries.

 

[Cheqmate5000]

Front control arms were very exciting to install.

I made a custom mount and bent and flared a short brake line to add a proportioning valve.

Trying to determine the zip ties that will blend in the best.

 

[Cheqmate5000]

Took a couple orders from Amazon but I found the right combination of brake fluid resistant lines and fittings for the brakes and clutch reservoir.