keeping the same motor setup? or using this as an opportunity to start fresh on everything?

 

Thanks for all the comments guys

The motor will be mostly stock (apart from a few bolt ons) while the chassis setup is being sorted. There are so many custom things on this car, that it's not going to be an Evo to drive any more, and I will have my work cutout just fine tuning the chassis, let alone trying to get used to a new engine too!

I have already done the analysis on what parts to purchase for the new engine though. So when the chassis is sorted, and the budget has recovered, I'll build the engine at the end of the 2010 season.

 

Did you ever considered acid dipping over sandblasting..

 

Yep I considered acid dipping, but wasn't prepared to reduce the life of the shell due to the fact that acid dipping removes the primer and paint from all the places you can't see or get to (e.g. inside chassis rails). Over time, the combination of left over acid, water from washing the acid off, and general weathering would create rust in areas that would be extremely difficult to access for repair.

It certainly would have saved some time, but I always wanted to build the car with an OEM frame of mind to durability, and that has meant more work along the way, but hopefully a shell that will last a fair bit longer.

 

Don't they have primer tanks for that function?

 

Primer tanks? Yep, quite probably. It was definitely a bit more work for me in the beginning, having to remove sound deadening and seam sealer by hand, but once I started working on the car, it's turned out that acid dipping doesn't have any benefits over sand blasting - as to why? In a few weeks you'll see pics that show why

 

More pics...

I always planned on running a flat floor in the boot, so cut the spare wheel well out pretty early on. Also evident in this picture is the Sparco tower - floor - tower tubing. I understand the design and shape of this tubing when taken in the context of a rally or production car that has to keep the factory rear firewall, but in my circumstances, with a custom rear end, this tube is just useless, so it got replaced later on.


One of the first things I did once I realised that my plans for the car were going to be a bit bigger than just welding in the stock Sparco cage was to buy some extra 4130N tubing. Believe it or not, when I broke the gearbox and put the car up on stands, I only intended to weld the Sparco cage in, re-paint the interior, and then put it back together... somewhere between that simple idea and what I have now, 2.5 years have passed... but then, it has become pretty extreme, and doing it yourself makes things take a lot longer.

Oh and another thing - absolutely everything on the car is being TIG welded. Anyone who has done both TIG and MIG welding knows how much longer TIG takes! For those who are interested in the process, this is what it takes for every TIG weld: 1) ensure there are no gaps between the two surfaces to weld, 2) buff both surfaces to be welded back to clean metal, 3) wipe both surfaces down with acetone, 4) ensure the tungsten is sharp and clean - if not, sharpen on the fine belt on the grinder, ensuring the grinding marks run parallel with the length of the tungsten, 5) find some way to secure both pieces to be welded, because you have no free hands TIG welding, 6) tack weld all pieces into place to prevent warping and/or movement, then finally 7) complete the weld.

It's all in the name of overall attention to detail though. Every small bit counts.


Another of my original thoughts was to run more rubber on the car. At the time I started the build, Evos in Australia were still developing engines - nobody was running widebody kits, or anything bigger than 255 tyres. In the 2.5 years I've been building mine though, there have been a couple of widebody cars released. I was pretty disappointed that one of the unique parts of my car was no longer going to be unique, but hey... although I did decide to do things a bit differently in the end. Anyway, one day, after lots of emails between me and APR (very helpful group of guys), this monster box showed up in little ole Australia


So then I got to work mocking up the bodywork. I never really liked the idea of bonding fibreglass rear guards onto the factory metal work though. Anyway, this is how the rear guards looked, simply held on with race tape. Oh, and no peeking at what wheels I'm running just yet!


The front guards... The wheel/tyre sits up higher in the guard once the car is sitting under its own weight. It's up on stands in this image.


The APR widebody kit can be installed (mostly) by just bonding the pieces onto the factory body work. However, in a race car, why keep the redundant weight? So the doors got modified to have the redundant metal removed.

 

Wow. Very impressive.

I admire your dedication.

 

You've been very quiet for a long while Brendan. I can see why. Looking forward to seeing the final result.

What class you planning on running the car in? Super Sedan or something?

 

Yep, the car is being built for Time Attack, and for Sport Sedans - both classes where you can pretty much build what you want.

 

more wife pics please. a seperate thread is acceptable seriously though intriguing build, can't wait to see more.

 

Haha. I did post a few pics of the wife on EvoM once before... and got suspended because of it!!!

 

wow musta been some good pics haha

 

Brendan, looking good. I wondered what had become of this project after we had talked last year about the engine program

Keep up the hard work it definitely looks to be paying off.

Aaron

 

Thanks Aaron - yep a lot of your advice from waaaay back then will still be used in the new engine. I just simply don't have the budget for an engine build just yet.

Having said that, when I was last driving the car, it was quite competitive at that spec, which only had about 190kw atw. Considering the few external components that I've already purchased for the engine, we should be running between 260-280kw atw, so that will be a healthy improvement, but still a long way from a couple of the guys I race with, who are now at 400kw+ atw!

I would rather keep my figure on the safe side of the OEM rods ability and not destroy a perfectly good block and have to buy another one. A compromise I am considering is just to rebuild the bottom end for reliability. Most of the money (and performance) in an engine build is in the top end, so a bottom end rebuild could be affordable. But we'll get this chassis tuned first, and then see how we're going!