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Daily Hillclimb Build (s30)


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It's been awhile since I posted an update, but I ended up winning the P4 class for the year! Philo was a great time, and the weather was incredibly good.

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The only problem I had was that CXRacing exhaust manifold. Several of the welds completely failed, and now I need to make a new exhaust for the Racing Beat manifold I bought to replace it. The $400 one lasted one race, and a friend has been racing for two seasons on the $150 RB model. Figures.

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Now that the season is finished, I'm working on minor prep jobs ... like heat/defrost, winter tires, etc. The real goal for the winter is to finish up the box truck and get the Datsun ready to race in Spring.

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  • 5 weeks later...

We've been hard at work getting ready for 2018. The Datsun needed the rear wheel centerline moved back 4" in order to clear the main hoop position. I finally made time to mock up where everything should sit, and finish the rear quarter panel profiles. I think it still looks like a 'natural' location for the rear wheel.

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This gives me around 6" of ground clearance with the suspension preloaded, which is perfectly acceptable in my mind. Using 300lb/in springs, that would give me 1500lb of load before things start to go a little wonky. With the pushrod setup that I'm planning on, I can tune it to dynamically increase spring rate toward the 'compressed' end of the cam travel too. 

The cardboard template is reversible, so I can accurately reproduce the profile on the opposite side ... but I may modify the overall shape a bit before pulling a mold.

This configuration puts the fender line quite a bit higher on the body, and I have the option to move it higher or lower if I don't like the way everything sits when finished.
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I'm putting off welding the rear suspension in until I have better calculations on what the static ride height needs to be with the stock control arm geometry. I'm probably going to have to move the subframe up a bit in order to keep the ground clearance I talked about earlier, and I can just chop off the OEM front mounts and weld it directly to the X brace if that's the case. It's good to be working on this again.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Sorry I haven't been posting on forums lately. Another episode is live for those who are following, and I've been working on the race support vehicle lately.

 

The new cabin dome light negates the need for headlights

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... but the headlights have been significantly upgraded anyway.

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We built new swinging doors for the rear to replace the overhead garage-style door, and that meant that we could throw the overhead door tracks and plywood sides away. It's starting to look less like a murdervan back there now.

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This weekend, we should have a bit more news on the Datsun, and probably another update on the race support vehicle status. What are you folks more interested in seeing progress on?

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The rear subframe is crudely jigged together, and should be ready to rock in the morning. Centering it, defining my ride height, and setting the pitch required a lot of braining.
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Based on the measurements from a friend, the LCA should be at a ~14 degree layback. I'm at 13.75 degrees on both sides, and have decided to call that good. At some point, I'm going to move the arm pickup points anyway, so this'll have to do to get me started.

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I spent some more time working on my box truck today, and removed the remaining murderwall plywood then reorganized, straightened, and bolted down everything else back there. The etrack on the floor will probably end up on my trailer, but it could make its way to the walls after I've insulated and recovered them. We'll see how it plays out, but either way I love that stuff.

 

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The driver's seat is finally getting replaced. I don't know if I already mentioned it, but the roofing tar in this thing got EVERYWHERE. The seat was disgusting. My favorite caption I've seen so far:

 

Driver's seat before and after blowing a brake line.

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Sorry I haven't been posting on forums lately. Another episode is live for those who are following, and I've been working on the race support vehicle lately.

 

The new cabin dome light negates the need for headlights

 

 

... but the headlights have been significantly upgraded anyway.

 

 

We built new swinging doors for the rear to replace the overhead garage-style door, and that meant that we could throw the overhead door tracks and plywood sides away. It's starting to look less like a murdervan back there now.

 

 

This weekend, we should have a bit more news on the Datsun, and probably another update on the race support vehicle status. What are you folks more interested in seeing progress on?

 

 

I'll take any update. The box truck is rad too!

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It's all part of the same hillclimb package. The basic plan for my season is:

  • NA8C Miata - Finish the exhaust and install the new seat, daily drive that while the Datsun is in progress. Most likely race it for the first half of the season
  • e350 Race Support Vehicle - Tow the trailer, move projects to/from the shop.
  • Open Trailer - Haul the Datsun around, primarily to/from events.
  • Datsun s30 (shaped vehicle) - Get it to rolling, then start adding running gear and seats. Hopefully tow it to a couple autocrosses for shakedown, then to some hillclimbs for real shakedown later in the season.
  • Pit Bike - Live in the box truck, haul me to/from the pits at events.
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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

I watched your hearing protection video today, keep them coming man. Good to see, that beard is looking legit.

Haha, thanks Aaron, the beard disappeared during our first pseudo-spring. It may have been a little early to get rid of it though, since we're about to get our third nor'easter since then.

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It sounds like the "shop short" videos are pretty well received? I was just hoping to come up with something quick and easy to release every week, and I have a handful of ideas that are equally interesting (neither more nor less interesting) than the couple we've put out so far. Tomorrow we're going to record one that covers when you should use drywall putty for automotive uses (and when you shouldn't).

 

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