Goodbye Kansas

[ERA2076]

We spent all spring and half the summer working on squaring the suspension. A very tedious process.



We are only able to get 89 7/8" inch wheel base.



The rear cradle assembly is square within 1/32". With the radius rods normal to the cradle our trailing arms are short 1/2" from the manual. I would guess we had the rear cradle in and out at least 10 times.



The diagonals are within 1/8". The wheel base is out a little side to side which we will fix by shimming one of the FCA. This should help the diagonal.Would like to get diagonal <= 1/16"



We have the power and drive installed and level. This necessitated building a new top plate for the tunnel to get the shifter location correct (3550 to T5). The tunnel had already been powder coated and the aluminum panels really take a beating with all the heat so we just built a new top plate.



I opted to have Jim build a set for an FIA. It greatly simplifies my life. I took a look at the pedal box and realized the whole thing comes apart quite easily. We have a new vertical link modeled in CAD to replace the gas pedal. From there a horizontal link to the Tilton pedal will have it all connected. The Tilton gas pedal has a threaded stop built in so it should be quite simple to get the linkage and throttle plates calibrated.

I have a set from Red Line for sale - PM if interested.



Weighed it => 2047 Close to where I need to be, but a little heavier than I hoped for at this stage. The magnesium wheels are still good for 40 lbs and maybe 15 out of the exhaust - I was hoping to be at 2000 as it sits. Stuff missing - hood, rack, front stabar, water, cooling system panels, wiring.



Ride height, camber, caster, toe set. FCA are flat.



I can't believe it is back on its tires. Still a round of suspension left.



Lastly - installed the inertia switch

[ERA2076]

Here is a part we have been working on for a while. After many iterations in Circle Track Analyzer I noticed shortening the UCA limited roll center migration to .100 vertical and 0 horizontally at 2 degrees of roll. As it sits now the front roll center moves 13 inches laterally at 2 degrees of roll. I took some sanity checks on the rear and the rear did not appear to move at all. This part was modeled to push the upper pivot outboard 4".

We have not put it on the car yet and we will have to hack up the inner panel as it intersects that plane. We plotted camber curves for front and rear so next we will install and plot camber curve with this. If that looks good I will have FEA run on it.

I upgraded to Suspension Analyzer some time ago which is a 3 space modeler set up for IRS. It requires a lot of input data which is why we laid the suspension out on plywood.

[ERA2076]

Hello ERA Brethren,

My wheels finally showed up. I ordered them in September. They are very lite and very beautiful. Some risk because I could not get drawings. Front brake package will need some work, but it it looks like they will work. Have not fitted the rear yet. I want to say its a no-brainer, but you just never know. Pretty sure I have 80lb front un-sprung in the bag.



I turned 59 in October. 2 days later I owned this.



It's been on the rack since December. Just coming off so the Cobra can go back on. Fully ducted the brakes with sealed rotor ducts. Quite an exercise but now we know how to replicate on the FIA. Gutted the OEM intake tract and air boxes. Will run cold air into the fender liners.



Sitting on DA coil overs. Gets full exhaust from heads back. Should be just North of 400. It is heavy, but the balance is - wow. Want to run it in September.



Can hardly wait to get working on the FIA again.

chr

[xb-60]

Originally Posted by ERA2076

...I turned 59 in October. 2 days later I owned this.

...

Belated 'happy birthday'!! The AM V8 Vantage has to be one of the best looking cars on the planet.
FIA Cobra's not too shabby either

Cheers,
Glen

[ERA2076]

Thanks - very fortunate to live in a time where beautiful things are not valued with money.

chr

[ERA2076]

You can get an idea of how low it sits to the ground. The side pipes are configured for a 351. They are being reconfigured and will be raised abd tucked up into the chassis - we'll get some out of it. The tire gaps are horrific, but there is a sense of purpose when sitting on the ground.



I need to cycle everything and check for clearance especially in bump and turning. If it all can be made to work we should get ground effect by sheeting the bottom. The difference in tire diameter will give us the rake.



Unfortunate the front is on an 8" rim (steering response), but the tread width is inspiring. I'd like to push the front tire inboard a little, but I am against constraints. I can see trying to drive it hard with this setup much more than I ever could with the 225. If we can get it to work, it should be able to run down all kinds of stuff. The pipes could prove challenging.

[ERA2076]

I weighed the car tonight with most piled into it. We are at 2015 lb and I feel like we are within 100 of final assembled weight with coolant.



We found .400 so with a deeper brake hat and I was able to move the front wheels in board with no spacer (caliper bracket and steering arm will need re-design ). I weighed the front un-sprung and we are at 81.88 lb. 80 is still within reach, but I am very pleased with this. We started at 102. I am still working on changing the camber timing on the front. That part is at FEA so if we can get it to work we will build new lite weight UCAs. I weighed the control arms with them attached to the car and the upper is as heavy as the lower i.e 3lbs swing weight with joints.



The frame is around 3.5 in the rear and 3.1 in the front. We have lowered the CG around 1.5 and front geometry is maintained. I plan to measure the cg height when we are a little further. We are going to change the pan to a Daytona. It is an inch shorter,will not drop below the rails, and will allow smooth sheeting front to rear.



The aesthetics are not as pleasing to me, but for the first time I can see driving it briskly.With it sitting on the ground, it really feels like it could be capable.



I have been hanging around some FFR guys that ran Can Am cars in the 70's.They are quite knowledgeable and its interesting see the different ways guys build them. A lot of discussion on learning how to drive it.

Really getting excited - a ton of detail left.

chr