128 replies to this topic

[mshue]

I've been wanting to build a track car for ages and thought I'd better put thought into action or it will never happen...

In WA we have a class called Street Cars and it sits somewhere between IPRA and Sports Sedans. The rules are a little more flexible than IPRA but not quite as open as Sports, so it fits well with the type of mods I plan for this build.

The build has actually been in process for able 18 months, but she's slow going...

[purrlx]

Pics please, sounds like a nice project

[mshue]

Here's how the old girl started. I've had this particular Hatch for a number of years and she's seen better days. The whole back end was rusted out and was unstitched some time back...

[mshue]

Then off to Stripped Bare for diamond blasting and 2k primer...

It's amazing how much better it looked after being cleaned up and painted... But that's when the resto work starts...

Edited by mshue, 19 August 2016 - 08:18 PM.

[mshue]

Here's a few shots of the rust repair and restoration

Fair bit of work involved. The rear panel was front a sedan and many panel section were shaped from sheet metal.

A bit more panel beating and it's getting closer to being a Torana again...

.

[neglectedtorana]

Nice metal skills Marcus, car looks like it has some friends in the background.
Good luck with your build and racing

[mshue]

Cheers mate... Yeah, I have/had a number of Hatchback... Down to just 3 now.

The resto took some time in between the hatch and beaver panel area, but also the door, plenum panel area, engine bay and a bit in the rear quarters. Most of its done now...

[Ice]

Hey Marcus were you happy with Gregs work Stripped Bare ??

[mshue]

Then, with the bulk of the resto done and the chassis squared from corner to corner, I was happy to send it off to a good friend of mine and first class fabricator, Brad Stacy for the cage. I opted to go full house on the cage with the idea that I may do the occasional Targa event. I guess some may say that it's overkill, but I figure I'd rather have more cage than less.


At the same time, I had him do the seat mounts and the reverse swing pedal box mounts.

Edited by mshue, 19 August 2016 - 10:27 PM.

[mshue]

Hey Marcus were you happy with Gregs work Stripped Bare ??

Yeah, he and Ray are top blokes. They don't over book themselves and turn out a great job. I had a little bit of warp in the roof skin, but it's been an easy fix. I've had another Hatchback done by them and it came up great all over.

I have an RX3 coupe in the build also and when the time is right, I'll shoot it over to them for blasting for sure.

[mshue]

I ordered a Race Products 9" and decked it out with a 31 spline WaveTrac centre and 4.11 gears. We'll see if the ratios are right come track time. At the same time I had them fit up full floater rotors and Brembo style Nissan callipers. They look a bit light weight, but they should be up to the job.

I drew some inspiration from the Mitchell Racing Extreme Torana that no doubt most have seen. In my instance, not having built a race car before, I opted for some adjustment in the coil over mounts.

The final configuration being a 3 link with peg adjustable Watts link. It took a bit of head scratching, 3D CAD work, some cnc plasma cutting of prototypes before I was happy with the geometry etc, but I think/hope it will all work ok.

I aimed for 3 degrees pinion up with the thought that I should be able to get the engine gearbox combo at 3 degrees down with some Trans tunnel tweaking.

[Ice]

Brad Stacey that name rings a bell for some reason

[Heath]

I really, really like this thread.

Please just get a shitload of photos of everything

[mshue]

I really, really like this thread.

Please just get a shitload of photos of everything

Cheers Heath!

I've done a bit more work than I've shown and as time permits, I'll upload more. I've been playing with cars for years and this is the first build I've actually taken photos of, so yeah, expect a few more pics.

[eyepeeler]

Looks great Marcus, like your diff

[mshue]

Looks great Marcus, like your diff

Cheers man. I see your close to track time with your car. Nice work!!! I'll get there some day... Soon I hope.

[mshue]

This is how the third link came together...

[mshue]

I took some time to build a rotisserie (yeah... I know you can buy em, but I like makin stuff).

Little bit of seam welding etc...



Rotisserie worked well. It's current over with a mate who's building an IPRA Fox body Mustang. Hope to get it back soon so I can do a bit more on the car flipped. I have a hoist, but the the rotisserie works great for some things...

[mshue]

Mocking up the front brakes using some Willwood hats.

I've opted for Performance Friction ZR22 big bore 4 spot billet one piece callipers. These are used in nascar and have proven themselves in their category... They should do the trick. Rotors are pre-"car of the future " V8 Supercar rear rotors measuring 343mm dia.

Once dimensioned correctly, I ordered custom full floater hats from Race Products along with the bobbins and Fastners.

Pads are Winmax W7's up front and W5's in the rear.

[Heath]

For now I'm enjoying building my hatch, but I really would like to do something like this when I have a bit more experience.

Awesome content.

[ozyozyozy]

Nice work mate.
Brad does great job on his cages.
Just a heads up from some stuff i have learnt on mine.
With 3.9 gears, 17inch tyres im hitting the 7200 limiter in top about 50metres before the braking point coming down the hill at wanneroo.
Your 3 link, do you have a spring or damper joint in the upper arm? Without it the shock loading creates axle tramp on gearshifts.
Also at min i would recommend using a spacer between the bearings in the frt hubs due to knock off, if budget allows use the big bearing hubs.

What engine are you using?
If a holden v8, i HIGHLY recommend dry sump, its saved my engine more than i can recall.

[Racehatch]

Very nice engineering, looking forward to seeing more!

 

Will be interesting to see how Ash goes with his Fox - I hear it will be a weapon!

 

I'm in the process of changing my front brakes, similar to yours but I went with a brembo monoblock 4 spot with the Circo M207 pad - although I have to run at Mallala..

 

keep up the good work!

 

cheers,

 

Sam

[355LX]

Looking great, a real credit to you Marcus. Are you going to move forward with the Mcdonald Bros front end or have you done/are you doing something different?

[mshue]

Hey ozy,

Nice work mate.
Brad does great job on his cages.
Just a heads up from some stuff i have learnt on mine.
With 3.9 gears, 17inch tyres im hitting the 7200 limiter in top about 50metres before the braking point coming down the hill at wanneroo.
Cool. Appreciate this piece of info. What tire size are you running and what's ya top speed? I have a spare set of 3.9's on the shelf if need be.

Your 3 link, do you have a spring or damper joint in the upper arm? Without it the shock loading creates axle tramp on gearshifts.
I don't have any cushioning in that third arm. I'll come up with something. What are you using in yours? Bushed joints?

Also at min i would recommend using a spacer between the bearings in the frt hubs due to knock off, if budget allows use the big bearing hubs.

I currently have A9X stub axles and Harrop steering arms, but I'm reconsidering my options here.

In amongst the options are:
1. Modified big bearing stubs and hubs;
2. Completely revised hub stub arrangement using an off-the-shelf aftermarket solution out of the US;
3. A custom upright/hub arrangement.

I'm working on a cunning plan here and I'll reveal all once I have got the ruler and pencil out...

What engine are you using?
If a holden v8, i HIGHLY recommend dry sump, its saved my engine more than i can recall.
I weighed up the option of going Holden V8 and I have a spare engine put aside for it, but the numbers compared to an LS are just too hard to beat!!! So it's an L98 6.0... Funny story, I bought my engine from the same place as eyepealer... I remember seeing his engine there when I collected mine... Same spec's, but I didn't order Ming with not dry sump. I've been weighing up the whole dry sump thing... I almost ordered a Dailey Engineering billet style (man, what a work of art those things are), but I met a guy the other day that has been running an LS in his Commodore for years as a wet sump. He's done Targa events, Phillip Island, Bathurst etc and says he's never had an oil pressure issue ever... Factory cast oil pan and he says he just overfills it slightly... So... I have a Dailey Eng wet vacc pump sitting around, so I might consider that... Part of the cunning plan I have will allow for a pretty big sump, so maybe the wet vacc... Nice simple plumbing!

Appreciate your info ozy... Are you IPRA of Street Cars?

Cheers,

Marcus

Edited by mshue, 21 August 2016 - 10:27 AM.