Goodbye Kansas

[Bobcat]

Don`t know . He just said during our conversation that he supplies the Avons and the Goodyear Blue Streaks to a lot of the West Coast guys . And here I`m dating myself as I used to run the Blue Streaks way back in the day .
Yes , one is a radial and one is a bias ply . I think he told me that the Goodyears were slightly faster when warmed up on the track and gave more warning before breaking away , but you can drive the Avons on the street also and be as fast or almost as fast . However , as you know , how fast the car goes on one set of tires over another is determined a lot by the suspension setup and the driver .


P.S. I run 15" wheels .

[ERA2076]

The motor mounts are not working out as well as we would like. With the engine sitting level in both directions the output shaft on the transmission sits 3/4" too high. We re-worked the trans mount and bracket and it is sitting 1/4" too high with respect to ERA's 3.5" dimension to the top of the "X". We would go ahead and lower it to spec, but we checked the engine for level and we now have slope and lowering it anymore will just amplify the problem which is not the best for the Webers.

Also, the mount does not have full surface contact to the frame horn. We have decided to go to solid mounts.

Question 1 - How critical is the 3.5" tail shaft dimension?

Question 2 - Anyone ever play around with lowering the engine and trans?

We are considering going to electro fuel pump. I spent some time searching and it seems several have run 7lb pumps with no return?

Question 3 - Can you guy's shine some light on this?

Got my valve covers in from Nick - perfect.

x-chr

[ERA2076]

ok - so lowering is out- headers are pretty tight.

chr

[ERA2076]

So sorry to hear of Rick Parker. I spent considerable time reading his posts. A great contributor.







We will gusset top and bottom



Will add a second parallel tube


The cowl will be boxed. We have material to try some door bars.

[ERA2076]

I finally got the front wheels for my FIA. Took some time (months). I had the side pipes and headers ceramic coated. I actually purchased some titanium exhaust bits - tube and resonator - unbelievably lite. Pipe and res weigh around 4lb. I would not expect more than 6 for a full pipe. Mine weigh 16 each. Have not exactly figured out how to weld it together yet, but we are working on it.

I am taking a bunch of stuff for powder coat so we do not have a steering wheel right now. The steering is quite lite. We are able to roll it around and turn the steering column with one hand. I really thought the steering was ready to go, but while cycling the suspension and steering with out the steering shaft installed, I noticed that the spline on the pinion does not run out true as it is welded a little off center to the center line of the pinion. This may have contributed to the stress cracks seen in the foot box. Quite dis heartening.

I spoke to Woodward and am seriously considering abandoning the original rack and having them build one. I would raise the rack some which would decrease the steering knuckle angle at the pinion. It would also decrease the distance from the tie rod end to the steering arm which is increased from stock because we are running extended ball joints. I would also be able to get 2 turns lock to lock.

As we were rolling it around tonight I thought about just running it this way as it is so lite, but it is just not correct.



Nick welded up some valve covers. We are working on the puke tank.

[ERA2076]

Finally got the Penskes installed at the rear. The shocks are very short so we had to use remote reservoirs. ERA left us some nice cavities to mount them in.



I made a bit of a mistake when ordering them. It would have been convenient to have the swivals rotated outboard 90 degrees. We were able to clearance the mounting tabs.





Cycled everything on the bench.

[ERA2076]

I have been wanting to show you guys this stuff for awhile.



Since I am replacing the steering rack I took some time to seriusly research a spindle alternative. I do not know if you are aware of these. They are Gen 2 Camaro replacements. They run C6 ZR1 hubs.

They are some lighter than the Gen 1 spindles.





They run a 7 degree Steering Axis angle as opposed to 11. This reduces positive camber on turn in of the outside tire.

They are forged with a 1" drop built in. This will eliminate the extended ball joints. They are quite compact with respect to the SA to the mounting surface. So much so that I am considering building longer LCA's. They do not come with steering arms - I purchased some for a Gen 1 setup which we will copy from.




Any C6 Wilwood brake kit will adapt right onto them with the caveat of a minimum wheel size of 17" It has been some work adapting for 15" rims but we are very close. We tried several Wilwood adapters finally ending up with a C6 adapter and the machining it until we got it where it needs to be. We modified a hat to get the spacing right. I have an .5 offset hat coming which looks like will need no modification.



Interestingly while upgrading the Mustang front suspension I happened to notice that this caliper was lighter than the calipers on the ERA. I had forgotten I purchased a street setup for the Mustang instead of road race. I have since upgraded the Mustang and am going to run these calipers on the ERA.

It seems like I weighed all this stuff, but I cannot find it. I think I have 10lb of un-sprung weight out of the system (per side). With magnesium wheels I will have 20. That would put me close to 80 per side which is reasonable.



I have not purchased the new rack yet. I want to have the new spindles complete and installed and then we will measure for the new rack. Tony Woodward was quite helpful in teaching me how to spec the rack.

I purchased some turntables and measured the stock Subaru stuff which gives a ratio of 17:1. That is very slow for such a short wheel base. I most likely will build at 15:1. but am seriously considering 14:1. Unfortunately you cannot re-gear the racks.