584 replies to this topic

[JDWhiteWRX]

A bit of an update on some of the smaller jobs I've been doing.

 

I have replaced all the rod end spacers in the suspension with a much better design that now fits perfectly between the mounting tabs and has a shoulder to take up any space between the rod end and the bolt. Old spacers are the gold ones (top left photo).

 

I have also started work on the intercooler charge pipes. This involved cutting up my expensive turbo to weld a 90 degree elbow onto the compressor cover. I then ran into some clearance issues with the pipe fouling on the lower control arm mount.

 

 

The main subframe was removed from the car today so I can trim down this control arm mount. I could have squeezed it in there but I don't want the pipe resting on the top surface of the undertray as an off track excursion could result in damage to the turbo, its better to leave a gap.

 

 

With the subframe out I can also shave off the old lower shock mounts that I am no longer going to use and also make a mount for the electric water pump on the subframe.

 

Speaking of the cooling system, lots of progress has been made. Here is the electric water pump with a small adaptor I fabricated that will allow me to attach a -8AN line and pull water through the header tank.

 

 

Fabrication of the header tank and swirl pot is now complete. The swirl pot was very challenging to make, especially welding the notched bends to the pot as the metal was super thin from the bending process.

 

 

The header tank wasn't too difficult but it always takes me a while to get back into welding when I haven't done it for a while.

 

 

I will explain in more detail how this race style cooling system works once I have it all in the car and have run all the lines to everything.

 

This week I will be working on the subframe, mounting it back in the car and then finishing off the charge pipe from the turbo to the intercooler. I have actually sold my Kpower intake manifold and ordered something new which will probably take a few weeks to arrive so the charge pipes on the throttle body side will have to wait until then.

[allpaw4]

That's some nice work there Joel. I'm curious about the new intake. The other one looked really good already, so the new one must be an improvement somewhere.

Really looking forward to how this goes together.

Cheers,
Ben

[JDWhiteWRX]

I have certainly splashed out a bit with the new intake manifold, it's made from carbon fiber and CNC'd aluminium, but with the sale of the old manifold the jump up in price was easier to swallow.
 
The new manifold is a center feed design which should have a more equal airflow to each cylinder. Moving the throttle body to the center gives me complete freedom with the exit ducting of the radiator/intercooler to come up and exit over the engine whereas before the throttle body was fighting for this space (see photo). Obviously there will be some considerable weight savings, the old cast manifold was 5.4kg and this weight is sitting up very high in the engine bay, something I have been trying to avoid with this project. I don't know the weight of the new manifold at this stage but it should be pretty light compared to cast aluminium.

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[El_Freddo]

Yep, I’m curious about the swirl pot, I’m guessing it’s to get rid of cavitation?

All great stuff again, I can’t wait to get stuck into the same sort of fabrication stuff someday!

Cheers

Bennie

[JDWhiteWRX]

I’m curious about the swirl pot, I’m guessing it’s to get rid of cavitation?
 

 

The wrapped entry/ exit design of the swirl pot introduces a swirl or vortex that centralizes any micro-bubbles or air pockets created from things like water pump cavitation, steam pockets, and/ or boiling as water moves through the block and cylinder head. 

 

Source: https://tractuff.com/p/faqs

[JDWhiteWRX]

Some small updates for you guys. I've been working on the oil and fuel tanks and getting them mounted in the car. 

 

The dry sump oil tank is just an off the shelf item I imported from the UK. I did have some plans to make my own but I got this one cheap enough that it wasn't really worth the effort.

 

The fuel cell on the other hand is something I haven't really seen anyone do before but I thought it was a good idea and I think its going to work well.

 

 

The starting point for the fuel tank is a 5 gallon portable air tank which should give me a rough capacity of 17 liters. These tanks are incredibly strong as they are rated to hold up to 125psi.

 

My basic idea is to construct an oversized surge tank, tall and round to prevent fuel starvation. Since the car is being used for time attack it only really needs to do an out lap, hot lap and cool down lap in each session, anything more is extra weight. I have estimated I will need up to 5.6litres of E85 per lap at Sydney Motorsport park if the engine is making 800hp for example.

 

I have purchased a billet triple fuel pump hanger from Proflow which will require a little bit of modification to make it work with the air cylinder because the cylinder is taller than most fuel cells.

 

You can see below I have welded the mounting ring to the end of the air cylinder and capped off the original air hose connection. I have also shaved off the stand but I might leave the handle as it is super handy for carrying the tank.

 

 

The reason I have gone for the triple hanger version is it leaves me with the required amount of ports in the billet plate to make this system work. I will be running 2 staged Walbro 450LPH pumps (F90000274) and I will be using the port for the third pump to house my rollover vent.

 

I will post more photos once the mounts are made for both tanks in the car, I'm still waiting on some parts to arrive to finish all this but below is a photo of where the tanks will be sitting in the chassis, basically as close to dead center as possible with the oil tank closer to the engine.

 

[allpaw4]

Wow. That looks bloody awesome! How do you go with having fuel tanks and lines inside the cab? Is that allowed within the rules of the class you're in? I know when I was talking to some of the dirt circuit guys a while back, it wasn't permitted. They had to be surrounded in steel to effectively give the fuel system (tank and any lines) it's own little cabin. Or is this the plan with this? Put a sheet steel cover over it all?

Looks unreal, keep it up!

Cheers,
Ben

[Barbbachello]

I imagine its fine. Not like dirt racing where you can jump and hit stuff in the ground. Not like the smooth tarmac can have hidden roots in it

[JDWhiteWRX]

The plan is to build a 100% leak proof box around both tanks with AN bulk head fittings going in and out, probably made from aluminium or maybe even carbon.

[allpaw4]

TBH Nick, I'd do out of peace of mind. You don't have to worry about jumps and stuff, sure. But there's plenty of trees and other solid objects should you come off the track for whatever reason. Huge fire hazards like ruptured fuel lines inside an occupied cabin are not fun.

That'd be a sweet little fix having the leakproof box.

[El_Freddo]

Looking good Joel. I’d want a cover over those items too! How well does it need to seal up?

Have you weighed the new carbon fibre intake manifold yet?

Cheers

Bennie

[JDWhiteWRX]

Looking good Joel. I’d want a cover over those items too! How well does it need to seal up?

Have you weighed the new carbon fibre intake manifold yet?

Cheers

Bennie

 

Thanks Bennie, 

 

I guess in the event of a fuel leak you wouldn't want it escaping throughout the cabin. I know a lot of people don't bother going to this much effort and just build the box without the 100% leak proof part but some basic seam sealer is all that is required.

 

The carbon intake has not shown up yet, I have been in contact with them for an update as it wasn't meant to take this long to make but that's how it goes these days with Covid etc. Once it arrives I will have a lot of work to do including replacing all the firewall I cut out and finishing off the charge pipes to the throttle body.

 

Joel.

[JDWhiteWRX]

I got some more work done on the fuel cell today, the remaining issue was the height of the cell and my billet triple pump hanger being too short to reach the bottom.

 

To fix this I got some aluminium tube of a similar size to the original threaded rod that screws into the billet plate. I then worked out how much longer it needed to be, cut it in half and welded the new tube in the center to make it longer to reach the bottom.

 

 

I have only purchased one fuel pump for now as I don't require 800hp straight away, adding the second pump at a later date is easy enough.

 

I plan to get the tank anodised including the pump hanger carrier that I modified to prevent the corrosion you can get with E85.

 

I have also purchased some matching brackets to hold the tanks in place in the chassis.

 

 

These brackets are actually designed to hold welding gas cylinders against a wall. I looked at the brackets available for dry sumps but they attract the usual "dry sump tax" which basically means they are way overpriced for what they are. I also looked at just buying some large T-bolt clamps and fabricating some brackets but it was still less expensive to just buy the gas cylinder wall mounts.

I did modify them slightly so they use a nylock locking nut instead of a basic wingnut and I welded the slot the bolt goes through so it could not come out from the side.

 

 

All I need now is a couple of mounting points in the chassis which will not be very difficult and I will probably do those at the same time as I am replacing the firewall in the car. Speaking of firewalls, I will need to build one around both tanks.

[JDWhiteWRX]

My new intake manifold finally arrived today, this thing is a work of art!

 

check out the video below.

 

https://www.instagra...ton_share_sheet

 

I'm going to be doing lots of work on the car now that this has arrived like replacing the firewall and finishing off all the intercooler charge pipes on the cold side.

[allpaw4]

Looks tops man! Can't wait to see the rest start materialising.

Cheers,
Ben

[JDWhiteWRX]

Test fitting today, this intake manifold is so beautiful.

 

[El_Freddo]

Geez that’s mint, and shiny! Looks so good! Any other bits in the engine bay going to be carbon fibre now?

Cheers

Bennie

[JDWhiteWRX]

Geez that’s mint, and shiny! Looks so good! Any other bits in the engine bay going to be carbon fibre now?

Cheers

Bennie

 

Probably nothing as fancy as this, I will be making some parts myself like the ducting for the radiator and intercooler but it all depends on the cost of carbon vs fiberglass etc.

[JDWhiteWRX]

Yesterday I made this adaptor to mount my Bosch DBW throttle body to the new intake manifold.

 

 

 

It turned out pretty neat and now I can finish making the cold side tube to connect it to the intercooler.

 

[JDWhiteWRX]

I have finished all the intercooler and turbo plumbing now.

 

 

Part of the reason I changed to a center feed intake manifold is that it moves the throttle body away from the front of the engine and as you can see in the photo below I now have unrestricted space behind the radiator for a fully ducted hood exit.

 

 

Next thing I'm doing is to replace the firewall in the engine bay. I've bought some big sheets of cardboard for making templates, then I will have to remove the engine and weld in the sheet metal based off those cardboard templates.

 

This video is a pretty good overview of where the car is at now

https://www.instagra...g_web_copy_link

 

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