Alright, as alluded to in my previous post: A LOT has happened in the last few months, at least in my mind. I honestly haven't posted anything as most the updates were small tedious things that I played with for weeks to finally get right. I'm still playing with a few in terms of final "design," but I'll get to that soon. TLDR, fun pictures at end with progress, and it's ready to race!
As for a lot of the little things from the last 5 months, I'll see if I can remember/list them. My last update at the end of 2021 was with body panel design. 5 months later... I'm still playing with it. I never quite settled on a hood, although I had sight lines for what I wanted for weeks (seen in a few attached pictures). However, the side panels I did decide would be made from a thicker plastic ceiling tile material that was easy to heat, bend, and retain a shape. It also was much better to cut/shape than the fiberglass panels I had originally made as templates. I wrapped the inside half in a 3M matte black wrap from amazon. This week, I'm finishing the outside facing part of the panel with a color pattern I have had for weeks from Caleb at Racinggraphics.com. He did a great job with the design, and I'm excited to see it on the side of the car! More pictures to come when it's complete.
Re-routed a bunch of wires/lines to look better (cable management). Doing this with the parking brake cables to clear the 15" wheels was mostly done with zip ties, but I have a Velcro option coming in the mail that should give me a better hold to the car. I cut some "floor mats" from the fake turf from tractor supply to fit in between the tubes on the floor. Kind of fun look to it, and covers the floor from too many scratches of tools being put in and out. Bought and attached a Momo steering wheel with the NRG, SFI rated quick release and short hub for easy entry in the car. The wheel sits a bit close and high for my liking, so might be adjustment in the future. Maybe a different, more flat steering wheel would be better. Also did a but of trimming and drilling to mount a turn buckle connection to my rear wing. It allows me to "make adjustments," whatever that may mean in the future. For now it's locked at 0 degree angle of attack just to have it somewhere. Also final fitted the seats and harnesses, which was a bit of a pain for the work done this last few weeks.
The most recent changes came together fast. Painted and riveted in the firewall behind the seats. Attempted to bleed the brakes, but ran into an issue with the rears not pushing fluid through the master cylinder. After a bench bleed, everything worked well and got every corner locking up on the jack stands. Flashed the car with a base tune from ZZP, although still have plans of dyno and tune with a local friend this summer. Set a base alignment with about 2 degrees of camber, 1 degree toe in in the front, and rears adjusted to neutral toe with no camber adjustment from the strut setup as stock. I do have camber bolts if necessary in the future, but would like to get that adjustable rear suspension once I get a feel for how it all drives.
And that's the last thing... driving! Last weekend we put it on it's feet for the first time and actually ripped it down the road! It's so hard to explain how wild this thing is... it's so low, so stable, so secure. The only "issue" I have right now is with the brakes as it kept jumping between having manual brakes and having power brakes. There's either a vacuum leak, or something else going on, but the manual brakes are still plenty easy to bring it to a halt in a hurry. I'm probably going to make them manual for now and just keep going. I also understand how much it's going to benefit from a brake proportioning valve, so that's on my list to install soon as well. It's also just on rollers in this test run, so the race setup wheels/tires are going to make a huge difference. Can't wait to show you all more in the near future.
In the meantime, the first autocross of the year is this weekend. It's in Oscoda MI, and I plan on trailering there since I'm not yet road ready. I've got a brand new towing setup too thanks to some thieves who stole my suburban earlier this year. I'm nearly all packed already, and excited to see what this thing will do! Wish me luck!
Some pictures to catch up on the big things:
Also, new tow pig and rig: 2022 Silverado 1500 Z71 Trailboss with a 20' Liberty Car Hauler strapped on the back!
Is that patent pending dash approved duct tape? 
