Out with the old...in with the new...Britain's Racecar Development, Subaru Engine, Lotus Suspension! Time to go racing! Options

[Chris Pincetich]

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[DanT]

Brit,
Since the motor is a Porsche licensed design, you should be able to class it and run for points if you want to come to some GGR events! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

Some fantastic fab work, hope the sorting goes quickly and smoothly for you!

[Krieger]

Absolutely amazing work! Have fun driving it.

[Chris Pincetich]

Brit,
Since the motor is a Porsche licensed design, you should be able to class it and run for points if you want to come to some GGR events! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

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[Chris Hamilton]

Looks like fun!

What are you planning on for your final ride height?

[Britain Smith]

Similar to what it was last year...which is quite a bit lower than the picture.

-Britain

[Randal]

Similar to what it was last year...which is quite a bit lower than the picture.

-Britain

You mean SLAMMED?

You could run a bunch lower than the Porsche suspension would allow, right?

Congratulations on getting the car out.

[Britain Smith]

It has been a few weeks since I last posted, but in that time we have ran the car at the San Diego National Tour and the El Toro Pro Solo. Both weekend were not without issues, but we are getting much closer to completion.

I will start out with the San Diego National Tour weekend. I arrive a day early to get everything sorted out on the car and ensure that it was ready. We spent quite a bit of time on the small stuff, including several hours to get the car corner weighed and aligned. There are just so many adjustments that it takes a while to get them all working together.

Once we had everything completed, it was time to test drive it up and down the street in front of the shop and get it loaded up. Just as we were about to load it in the trailer, the transmission decided to grenade and no longer function. We pushed it into the shop and were able to pull out the transmission, rebuild it, and reinstalled in 1hr and 9mins....it ended up just snapping the arms off the slider hub and we upgraded to a later model 915 slider which is much thicker.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net-364-1337368129.1.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net-364-1337368129.2.jpg)

With that fixed, we headed to San Diego.

Since the shake down runs, we added a front blade adjustable sway bar, lower the spring rates, upgraded to racing brake pads, and put on the new tires. It was basically a new car at this point. We basically spent the entire event making set-up adjustments and reteaching our brain how to drive this think. It is odd to get into a car that you have been driving for so long and to break all those habits that it took to make the previous set-up work.

Here are some pictures of the car in San Diego. The ride height is about 2.5inchs higher than optimal because the front wheels would hit the fender thru the turning arch. The set-up that I went with is QRS Fiberglass front fenders widened about 1.5" and GT-Racing Rear Fenders.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net-364-1337366304.1.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net-364-1337366304.2.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net-364-1337366304.3.jpg)

The next weekend I returned to So-Cal to run the El Toro Pro Solo. This time around we had time to cut the front fenders for more tire clearance and lower the car to the desired height.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net-364-1337368129.3.jpg)

Unforeseen issues with this new ride height was that the front lower control arm was hitting the sway bar bracket under bump and therefore resulted in the car having basically "infinite" front spring rate. This explained the bad corner entry push and corner exit snap-oversteer that occurred the first day of the event. We returned to the shop to relocate the front sway bar to a higher location to gain the necessary clearance.

The car showed much improvement while running the next day. However, now under hard breaking on corner entry we had the splitter hitting the ground and the wheels rubbing the inside upper fender well due to the car sitting too low. This really cause the car to get upset on low-speed corner entry and greatly effected my run times.

I have since raised the front end, reset the bump steer, set the toe and I am ready to go racing again this weekend for further development time.

I will get some more pictures posted soon, I have spent most of my time underneath the car with dirty hands. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

-Britain

[JRust]

Making great progress Brittain! Congrats & keep up the fight. You'll have it all dialed in soon enough. Can't wait to see you run that beast once it is (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

[Brett W]

How tall are you? What was the reasoning behind the super tall cage?

Car is looking good. Can't wait to see it in action.

[sean_v8_914]

this project is an epic achievement, congratulations

[Britain Smith]

Small updates to the car as we continue to get it sorted out.

First up, transmission refresh. When we were in there replacing the busted slider hub a while back, I had noticed a small crack forming in the cage of the large roller bearing in the intermediate plate. We didn't have a spare on hand at the time so I had to go back and replace this part. I am glad I did as the crack had grown and who knows how much longer it would have stayed together.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net-364-1340058366.1.jpg)

Next on the list of "upgrades" was to get rid of the 40+ year old Porsche steering column. Combination of flex in the column mounts as well as a worn out inner bearing was causing noticeable movement of the steering wheel under load. My plan was to install a steering quickener to serve as the new steering column.

Here is the Porsche steering column:
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net-364-1340058367.2.jpg)

My first attempt at this employed a 2-bolt steering quickener with an extension shaft machined and a plate with the Mom hub pattern waterjet cut. Here is a comparison of the Porsche steering column next to the Steering Quickener piece.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net-364-1340058367.3.jpg)

Here is the set-up installed.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net-364-1340058367.4.jpg)

While it did greatly increase the steering response, basically 1 turn either way to hit lock, it didn't improve the lateral movement of the steering wheel. After a bit of research, I found that Coleman actually makes a 3-bolt version that is actually intended to be a steering column type piece.

Here it is installed with additional bracing.
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net-364-1340058368.5.jpg)

Much better feel and a whole lot less lateral movement. We also extended the wheel out closer to the driver by about 1" to improve the drivers leverage on the wheel.

Here is the cockpit back together.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net-364-1340058368.6.jpg)

-Britain

[Britain Smith]

The other major update was a new clutch/flywheel package. I was previously running a Tilton single disc set-up and was right up against the load rating for the set-up and therefore wearing out clamping plates and friction discs very quickly. In addition, the Tilton parts were getting harded and harded to find as they stopped making a lot of components.

The new set-up consists of another custom machined flywheel and a Sachs dual plate set-up. This unit is rated at 600ft-lbs and should be plenty strong enough to handle my measly power (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Here is the old set-up next to the new one:
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net-364-1340058813.1.jpg)

Here is the new flywheel and clutch package, the flywheel is a piece of art...and cost about the same. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net-364-1340058813.2.jpg)

The flywheel is unique in that it has a center plate that is installed over the flywheel bolts to capture the nose of the transmission mainshaft.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net-364-1340058813.3.jpg)

Installed and all torqued down:
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net-364-1340058813.4.jpg)

Everything back together, clutch bled, ready to do burnouts.
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net-364-1340058814.5.jpg)

We ran the car this past weekend and the new clutch has a great feel and works great!

-Britain

[yeahmag]

Are you running a 1.5 or a 2:1? I've been threatening to do this for years...

[Britain Smith]

Are you running a 1.5 or a 2:1? I've been threatening to do this for years...

It is a 1.5:1. A 2:1 would be crazy. I love it!

-Britain

[grantsfo]

Now all thats left for you to replace is that old worn out 45 year old chassis. LOL!

So you going to take a chance and go to Nationals this year? Seems like youre running a little late if you are going to make a serious run. Of course non serious runs are fun too! Bet you could break into top 10 with it as it sits now.

This post has been edited by grantsfo: Jun 22 2012, 12:29 PM

[z31turbo]

Looks great, keep up the good work!

JF

[Britain Smith]

I know it has been a while since I have updated this thread...but it has been a long, great summer of racing. The car is running great and the new suspension is phenomenal.

Couple of updates. First off, bump steer! After everything was built and the car was up on the alignment rack I determined that I had made a small mistake in my calculations and induced a bit of bump steer that I was unable to account for in the adjustment range that I incorporated. This was partly due to the changes in the suspension geometry as compared to a stock Lotus.

Anyway, the remedy was to convert the stock Lotus tie-rod ends to heim-joints. I located a kit from a company in the UK and decided to use that as a starting point. After a little bit of modifications to the supplied kit, we got to the end result which is zero bump! Here is a picture of it installed.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net-364-1346392971.1.jpg)

Secondly, I installed a simple launch control set-up on the car to allow faster Pro-Solo type launches and to put less slip on the new clutch set-up. Here is a cool video of the system in action...plus 100ft burn-out are cool no matter who you are.

http://youtu.be/pB0fTcTHkg4?hd=1

Finally, here is a cool video that I put together at a recent event where they allowed me to run without the front and rear hoods to get a good shot of the suspension in action. Let me tell you, the car was nearly impossible to drive without the rear hood on and the lack of a rear spoiler.

http://youtu.be/A3C1Re--oTw?hd=1

Enjoy,
Britain

[DBCooper]

Wow, looks fast and stable. How are you doing vs. competition? Are you getting the results you'd hoped for? I'd assume you're still getting used to the car since everything in it is new or different.

What I'm most curious about is what you think of the turbo motor. No question they have all the horsepower, but are you able to control it? Sometimes all that power coming in surprises me, and I wonder if it upsets your balance in driving, if you've managed to adapt, if it's a factor at all.

[Britain Smith]

Hey DB,

The JDM Spec-C motor has very little turbo lag due to the twin-scroll and relatively small turbo. It is not as difficult to drive as some people seem to believe. You definitely have to drive it a little differently to stay in the boost, but it doesn't take long to get the feel of it.

Regarding the suspension...it is awesome. The car drives like a modern car and responds very well to adjustments.

The season has been interesting...as I get more familiar to the car, the tires are getting older. I had over 130+ runs on them and the car was still performing well. I just switched over to a new set of Goodyears so we will see how those work.

-Britain