markrolston@mac.com Posted August 26, 2019 Author Share Posted August 26, 2019 On 8/25/2019 at 3:03 PM, EF Ian said: Nicely designed. I am understanding this right? They are straight pipes when the valve is open but with it closed the exhaust is forced to go through a double pass muffler? yes– It's a straight exhaust path without obstruction with the valves open. When closed the air is routed through the mufflers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuD 91gt Posted August 27, 2019 Share Posted August 27, 2019 Fantastic design! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleeperZ Posted August 27, 2019 Share Posted August 27, 2019 Really nice solution for the exhaust. Anodize black, it will look amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1969honda Posted August 27, 2019 Share Posted August 27, 2019 Go black anodize, IIRC if you have them tumble finished first it comes out more like a satin/matte than a high gloss. We did some brackets at an engineering shop I worked for in college and found out by accident on some robotics parts that needed to be glossy. A good platter/finisher should be able to show you samples before committing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markrolston@mac.com Posted September 29, 2019 Author Share Posted September 29, 2019 The car is essentially finished (lol, really when is it ever really finished?) and ready to race this fall and spring. I still haven't anodized the wing mounts. I'll find some time in the winter to do it. It's been 11 years building this (slowly) so it's time to drive it. I do plan on doing some photography and video asap to get ahead of eventual track wear and tear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markrolston@mac.com Posted September 29, 2019 Author Share Posted September 29, 2019 btw- useful info for some. we've been chasing down a soft pedal feel with the brakes. They work but given the disc size (14") they should work a lot better. It turns out these wilwood calipers actually flex under braking so they apparently give up some of the critical braking pressure. That is super lame for what should be solid equipment from them. I'm now looking for another caliper that fits and is built better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EF Ian Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 11 years, thats a long time, you definitely deserve to enjoy this epic Z you have built yourself. Some videos at some point would be great. Bad job on the wilwoods, my smaller setup works great but I did have an mind to upgrade to an AP Racing setup when I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
260DET Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 Willwoods do have a general reputation for flexing, are StopTech's any better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markrolston@mac.com Posted March 9, 2020 Author Share Posted March 9, 2020 front Wilwoods have been replaced with Stoptechs. It feels better already. I'll find out for real at COTA next weekend. Working on a set of canards to try and balance front-to-back. Otherwise I think this thing is finally ready to go beat up on the track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EF Ian Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 Looks awesome and the stoptechs are really nice. Can't wait to see some videos of this thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
260DET Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 In car race video is badly needed, once sorted and they all have to be sorted, this masterpiece should be a great nicely balanced circuit car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markrolston@mac.com Posted June 5, 2020 Author Share Posted June 5, 2020 hi again everyone. I took the car to COTA for a March 15 track day and had intended to get some much needed video of the car on the track. Unfortunately, while I had a good amount of track time at the smaller Harris Hill track, nothing is like COTA. The new brakes worked great. The car is fast. However, the tune ran lean and nearly cooked the back panel of the car. The heat meant the fuel started cutting out and so I took it home. COTA tests everything about a car. So for the last few months the car is back apart for a few fixes. But one thing leads to another. Tune problems means a new ECU. I had been using the factory ECU and it was always going to be a problem. Yet it was a surprise to see it fail so soon. So a new ECU means new wiring. Out goes the engine. and hey while we're at it let's do a few other things. Andris's shop got a new 3D scanner so we scanned the front-end and we designed a form-fit fit set of canards. I'll 3D print the design and then use that as a mold for a carbon part. I had been trying to mold them with foam but they never quite fit right and looked lumpy. Lastly, in the middle of last year I ordered a sequential gearbox. Some things take forever to build. It finally arrived 2 weeks ago. So here we go. We'll get it back on the track by July and hopefully be able to shoot video then...and just drive the thing for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpndave Posted June 6, 2020 Share Posted June 6, 2020 Nice Mark! Those canards are going to be really cool. I'm looking forward to the final version. I'm going to have to look at those StopTech brakes. What ECU are you going to run? Very nice as always, thanks for the updates. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markrolston@mac.com Posted June 6, 2020 Author Share Posted June 6, 2020 3 hours ago, jpndave said: Nice Mark! Those canards are going to be really cool. I'm looking forward to the final version. I'm going to have to look at those StopTech brakes. What ECU are you going to run? Very nice as always, thanks for the updates. Dave Thanks. a Motec M150 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben280 Posted June 7, 2020 Share Posted June 7, 2020 Just when I thought this build couldn't get any cooler, you throw Motec and a dang HGT box at it!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARiskyCvt Posted June 7, 2020 Share Posted June 7, 2020 Best VQ swap and gets better all the time!!! Great work, cant wait to see you driving hard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EF Ian Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 All the plans sound great. And we all know building a car isn't easy, problems were always likely to arise, giving you the chance to improve things like you are doing. Looking forward to seeing some videos when you finally get it running how you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jboogsthethug Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 Dang this is rad! Looking forward to seeing some videos! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markrolston@mac.com Posted July 2, 2020 Author Share Posted July 2, 2020 Still making progress... just slow. The Sequential Transmission is in place. waiting on a driveshaft. look how much space it frees up! I wish I had done this back when we made the tunnel. It could have been so much slimmer. I also did a scan of the back panel. I'm going to make a mesh screen that's custom designed around the lights so the back can vent. It's a particular oddity of the way I built the car. Since behind the driver's seat is a plexiglass panel, the back is open to the ground. The opening in the back panel will allow air to flow up from under the car and over the diff and ideally break up some of the cowl effect of air at the back. At least that's what I hope. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 Love whenever there is a build update! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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