CSX3170 2019 updates

[Cobra #3170]

We will be racing CSX3170 for the first time this Saturday at the Pleasanton Goodguys event. The car has a major upgrade to the front suspension.engineered and manufactured by David Kirkham and his Son.
They produced all new front uprights and lower arms along with stainless hubs that duplicated my fabricated steel parts and geometry. The new system uses cartridge bearings to eliminate caliper knock back and suspension flex. The new design allows the use of less camber and therefore will improve braking with a larger tire patch. I already have David's rear differential, drive flanges and stub shafts in the rear and now the front suspension is just as well done. These pieces are as nice as anything you would see on any race car in the world. The drive pins are machined from a solid billet of stainless that makes up the entire hub instead of being bolted in like originals. We ran a quick test and Scott says the suspension resulted in a sharpness in response that he has never seen before. I also upgraded the data acquisition system to include throttle, steering angle, brake pressure and yaw angle to reduce our set up time. We are going to start looking at total steering degrees used per lap in an effort to reduce that through set up which should improve lap times. Scott has never had full confidence in the brakes because my old design used a stock original spindle that flexed enough to cause caliper knock back. The new Kirkham design is rock solid with perfect pedal on all stops no matter what the steering input is. I also reduced the rev limiter to 9100 rpm because I found two valve springs with broken tips during winter maintenance. I installed all new valve springs this winter with the engine in the car, not a fun task but I have it down pretty well now. I had to modify a tool that works with T&D rockers but did not work with Blue Thunder high rise heads. Hopefully all the new stuff is ready and works well.
Scott has not driven it in competition since November of 2018. I really think that the front suspension was the last weak link in this car, we will know soon
I tried to inbed pictures not sure if I did it correctly though

[https://photos.app.goo.gl/dwiQHrrxtWNF7oYH6

https://photos.app.goo.gl/wZViKNH1mg1dwcPv7

https://photos.app.goo.gl/JHdBmdRpghYiNG5v9