Tracking an 03

[ac427cobra]

The last time I ran the car I became increasingly irritated at how slow it was thru the corners.

If you have an OEM rubber or aftermarket poly bushed Cobra IRS, I feel your pain. I actually personally felt that pain when I took my brand new 2000 Cobra R to the racetrack more than a dozen years ago when I learned how to drive. The inefficiency of that stock IRS was frightening. The difference in the handling when all of the OEM rubber was removed was remarkable. For more on the story, check here:

http://fulltiltboogieracing.com/mystery_of_irs.htm

And a FAQ on how to fix the IRS check here:

http://fulltiltboogieracing.com/faqs.htm

:beer:

 

[iismet]

Hey Bruce -

I'll be stopping by soon. Don't know if I will run it this way the rest of the year or not. The car runs well, but I am very excited about swapping your bits into the rear. I am working on a an AC replica which keeps getting pushed to the back of the shop to upgrade the 03. Plan to drop the IRS and upgrade with your components and swap the K to MM. Just pushes my roadster further and further away.

x-cliff

 

[iismet]

I got the chance to run my car with the new suspension - MM3 525F/700R - what a joy. I got a couple of emails about the splitter. The ABS dam cracked fairly quickly so we rebuilt the splitter so that it can be removed and we substituted UHMW for the dam.

We replaced the rivets at the top with nut certs.

We moved the lower alum angles to the inside of the dam and riveted the dam and splitter together

DZUS fasteners for attachment to radiator and HE supports

Here you can see the brackets for attaching the splitter. They are welded to the car and contain DZUS.

We sealed the bottom joint with RTV - tape at the top

We welded in some plate for jacking

Have never driven with belts - first time into turn 1 - I will never drive without belts.

Gusseted at bends - aint no race car, but hell of fun to drive.

A vid of the car running - skip forward to get thru the BS.

[video=youtube;1NG_YWQEp0Q]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NG_YWQEp0Q[/video]


Next - clean up the pedals and oil filter reloc.


chr

 

[rjw1]

Nice job the car looks great............

Did your instructor say anything about your hands?

 

[iismet]

Nice job the car looks great............

Did your instructor say anything about your hands?

No he did not - he is old school and I think he probably passes the wheel. He is in his 70's and still runs spec Ford regularly. With 2.5 turns crossing over does not seem the way. After watching this vid I started playing with crossing over this morning in my Jeep. I may give this a try the next time out. I learned to pass the wheel when I was a kid and it has just stuck with me.

I assume this is your observation - ??

x-chr

 

[rjw1]

Just curious most of the instructors I know are pretty anti shuffle steer.

 

[iismet]

2015 Tracking

We got to run the car for the first time this year earlier in the month. It seems with the release of the R7, Hoosier no longer offers a 40 series tire. We ran the 35 and it was just great. We finally figured out how to get more camber out of the front. We could not achieve 3 deg, but did get 2.5 and I was amazed how well it handled. We got it on the trailer with less than 1/4" clearance for the splitter. With the 35 tires a finished 4x4 will not slip under. I believe we were 3 5/8 to the ground under the splitter. The R7 is a very nice tire. It looked much better than an R6 after a day but then again 1.8 deg camber is not enough for the tire as it tends to roll over which prematurely ruins the tire. I can't wait to run it with a full 3 deg.

We put it on the rack the next day and began the next round of upgrades. After all this time I finally got to swap out the K member. What a beauty. We originally set it up with the upper holes, but I am pretty sure I would have to start hacking to make that work. I used the lower holes and it is sitting (I think) where it was except the control arms are flat - FINALLY!!! The 35 series tire gives us some extra clearance so I am toying with putting another set of X2's in it. This would drop it another 1/2 inch while maintaining the geometry and I might just have enough clearance. The RPF1 sits a little outboard so fender clearance is of some concern. With the control arms flat the camber is a breeze.

Plumbed a 215 F thermostat

Ducted to the brake opening on the bumper cover

Finally upgraded the IC pump.

Used the stock bracket and added one so we could move it forward some to clear the filter.

I sent the IC-HE out to have the returns cut and re-welded such that the coolant hoses do not interfere with the fog light port. This will allow us to move the brake duct on the passenger side to the fog light port. I plan to build some kind of an internal duct to the filter.

 

[wheelhopper]

Looks good. You think you'll ever run it in a racing class, like AI.

 

[iismet]

I don't really have any ambition to. I am building a replica cobra and would like to race it, but I am some time from that and I really do not have the skill set to confidently run it (475 hp, 408 tq, 90 inch WB) which is why I started learning to drive the Mustang.

The SVT has afforded a safe reliable trainer and I learn a lot from modifying and then driving it. We are not running HPDE D yet, but we may be by the end of this season.

The SVT really is just a track car not a race car. It is great fun to study, build, drive, and marvel at what can be done with it. This is our 3rd year tracking it - it has come a long ways. Plan to finish it with a an FTB kit and then call it good enough and just drive and enjoy it.


chr

 

[iismet]

I followed several others lead and picked up a TrueFiber CF hood.





Purchased some junkyard doors and gutted them but left the collison bars. Found some aluminum interior panels to cover them with. The doors feel quite lite. We are working on some clip in side windows for rainy days.

View attachment 45937




With a quarter tank of gas.



We were down to bump steering, but I still have the tapered tie rod ends and we ran out of thread engagement so we are delayed waiting for the bolt kit to come from Maximum. We are going to pull the spindles with the struts and bore the holes on a mill. With any luck we can preserve the alignment - probably wishful thinking - LOL!

Really anxious to run it.

 

[iismet]

I forgot the tow ring. I purchased one from Ford Racing and adapted. Not wild about the long moment arm, but we triangulated it in the vertical plane back to the stock cross members. We notched the back side of the foam to accomadate

 

[racebronco2]

there's a reason we race n/a. I don't have a single friend with a term that doesn't have these heat issues. good luck

We have both been around here for a while. Most people know my car and several others that do not have cooling issues. Your friends just haven't figured out yet. My car runs cooler the most vettes.

 

[iismet]

We have both been around here for a while. Most people know my car and several others that do not have cooling issues. Your friends just haven't figured out yet. My car runs cooler the most vettes.

Our experience has been quite good. Once we boxed the radiator and HE, pulled the AC, and punched the plastic vents out of the stock hood we never had another heating issue. We do not typically run in as hot of an environment as you though. It has been abnormally hot here this summer. I am interested to see how the cooling does next time out. Temps have been mid 90's approaching 100. We ran 95 last summer at Oregon Raceway Park and it pulled strong all day. IIRC - 12 sessions for the day ( 2 drivers).

 

[iismet]

Double Post

 

[iismet]

We are finally getting the Cobra back on the track been screwing with the kit car but finally pulled it off the rack. I never got the top of the radiator completely boxed. In the last couple of years it has become quite apparent the hood latch is a major headache on the track so I decided to pull it and replace with pins. I closed off the top of the radiator with some .050 aluminum sheet. We formed an L shape and bolted it on using the existing latch hardware. The L shape is riveted to the block off plate. The block off plate seals above the radiator fins. No more leaking out the top.



I was reading some old posts about the cars getting light with fully boxed systems. I believe Carlos left one of the panels out for high speed runs to vent pressure. I was wondering if any one had used block off plates for the inlets. Using Bernoulli we could calculate the 2 areas (radiator vs inlet) and then restrict the inlet area (drill holes in the blocking panels) to control the pressure at the face of the radiator.

 

[iismet]

We are using Aerocatch pins and latches.



Trufiber CF Hood - cut holes with die grinder



Fabricated a receiver to hold the pins.



Rivet receiver to body

 

[03 DSG Snake]

We are using Aerocatch pins and latches.

View attachment 71885

Trufiber CF Hood - cut holes with die grinder

View attachment 71892

Fabricated a receiver to hold the pins.

View attachment 71889

Rivet receiver to body

View attachment 71884

View attachment 71894

Not sure how I missed your post about the tow hook setup earlier, that's exactly what I've been looking for. I really like those Aerocatch pins and plan on doing the same to mine. Did you have to modify the pins at all or is it a pretty straightforward install?

Edit: or it would seem your fabricated pin pieces are to avoid the issues I've heard of from racebronco as far as the angle of the pins to the receivers

 

[iismet]

Not sure how I missed your post about the tow hook setup earlier, that's exactly what I've been looking for. I really like those Aerocatch pins and plan on doing the same to mine. Did you have to modify the pins at all or is it a pretty straightforward install?

Edit: or it would seem your fabricated pin pieces are to avoid the issues I've heard of from racebronco as far as the angle of the pins to the receivers

We do have a little more fitment. The pins are 3 degrees installed, but when I measured at the hood they need to be 15. We are working on some kind of adapter that includes the needed angle and location. I will post once we get it. We do not have plans to modify the pins although it looks like it could be done that way.

chr

 

[iismet]

We are continuing with sheeting the bottom. We built a new engine cover which extends past the control arm pickup points (put the car in full droop and built to tangency) and extends aft far enough to pick up the sill panels.

Panel is retained with threaded fasteners at rear



Oil change panel. Engine is wire tied to back of K member.



Dezus to splitter


Some aspect of how wide.



I am going to take it to the exhaust shop and have the exhaust stuffed in the best I can. Will remove the cats and have the X pipe moved rearward. It looks like we could enclose the entire exhaust, but at minimum try to get the exhaust above the floor and the run the floor as inboard as we can without covering.

I have always wanted to try a rear diffuser, I might just get my chance.

We have new pin adapters modeled - hoping to machine tomorrow. Once we get it, if it is simple enough, I will post up the 2d design.

chr

 

[iismet]

Here is how much sheeting we ran last year. MM SFC - you can see the panel is not flat. We are going to bridge the curve in the SFC and make flat. Then bring panels all the way to exhaust.



Dump the cats, fabricate new down tubes, push the exhaust up and in board, move the x pipe rearward, weld it in.

Fabricate new panels that push right up to the exhaust. With any luck the exhaust will be above the panel ceiling.