S12 Track Car Bendigo

[shamus11]

Great work thus far!


Inspirational for sure... I just need time again... something I won't have for a while with our second kid due in Jan.

Yes, my three kids are getting a bit older and are now too old to pretend they don't understand when I tell them to do stuff.


The first few years is very hard to find time for projects. Best of luck with the new baby. Get what you can done now!!!

[shamus11]

Only a short update this time.


Took the engine and crossmember out of one of the S13s a little while ago. Removed the crossmember and cleaned it up for inspection. Deciding if I try and do some roll center mods to the crossmember now or get it fitted in the car and save that job for further down the track. Need the xmember fitted ASAP so I can take definitive measurements and buy wheels. Gagging to buy wheels!!!!


Good news is I sold the RX7 fairly quickly so the project funds are looking good. I also think I may have finally found wheels that will fit. I've given up on finding 15x9s and am fairly confident that Rota RB R (us version) 17x8.5 +20 matt black will clear R32 4 pots on S13 knuckles. I'd been using the Australian Rota website and was getting the US RBR's confused with the RB X which also has the big caliper clearance spokes but was only available in negative offset. With the S13 front end I'll need the ET +20. There is also a +4 available if my calculations turn out to be wrong..


Then I'll run the 17x9 RB X -13 or -19 on the rear with spacers until I fit the wider diff. Then I can chuck the spacers.


That is the only old school (albeit 17") style wheel combination I can find for my setup that is relatively affordable and easily replaced if damaged with the same style front and rear.


It also keeps the car 4 stud all round & avoids spacers.


Bad news is I've injured my shoulder and progress on heavy stuff will slow for a while. Am tinkering with the rust repairs on the scuttle and doing what I can. Might try & guilt a mate into helping bolt the xmember in so I can keep things moving in the wheels/suspension department.


 

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[inmans12]

Good build thread mate, look forward to reading more!

[shamus11]

Well it's been a long 5 months for me with my back injury being more serious than first expected & I'm only just back to my original fitness & able to start working on the car and spending some $$$.


I've decided to tackle the front of the car so I can get the intercooler, radiator etc mounted where I wanted them further back in the engine bay away from damage from a minor bump & also keeping the weight closer to the center of the car. I also wasn't happy with the bumper mounts so they will get reworked.


I'm using an intercooler I already had. It's bigger than I would have bought so I'll be keeping the pipework short & small diameter to keep lag at a minimum.


As you can see the original radiator support was in pretty bad shape so I took the plunge and cut it off.

rad support rusty.JPG (127.59 KiB) Viewed 5 times

I made the new top bar out of 25x50x1.6mm RHS. Possibly overkill but it's what I had lying around. I also decided to tie the new top bar in with the top side rails which don't actually go all the way to the radiator support. It's obviously a crumple zone design but I've decided torsional strength is better for me. I know it won't be everyone's choice. Then new radiator support when finished will give the front of the car much more rigidity, I'll offset some of the extra weight by not running a strut brace.

brad3.JPG (158 KiB) Viewed 5 times

50x50mm RHs sectioned tapped nicely over the original top rail.

brad1.JPG (129.17 KiB) Viewed 5 times

The battery tray area had a previous repair which was rusty and the tray itself was also rusty so it came out. Not sure how much room I'll have here so I'll leave it till all the pipework is done before making a new tray.

rusty battery tray.JPG (140.29 KiB) Viewed 5 times

battery repair.JPG (116.6 KiB) Viewed 5 times

Frame of radiator support is primed. Needs further welding in to car & infill panels on either side of the intercooler/radiator to force air thru radiator & to act as extra triangulation.

rad support primed.JPG (130.52 KiB) Viewed 5 times

As for radiators I've decided to use a standard S13 radiator for a number of reasons. Mainly I have a good one sitting here but they are also thinner so more clearance in front of engine, I have a factory plastic shroud that fits it, it will be considerably lighter than a 50mm aluminium one once full of coolant. I'm ditching the viscous fan & I'll spend the money I save on a radiator on some decent thermos. Below I have started cutting the S13 shroud & making a stencil. Hopefully it will be up to the job.

radiator shroud.JPG (99.73 KiB) Viewed 5 times

I've also put the Ca18DET on the engine stand & I am getting bits together to get it running. I came across a stainless manifold second hand/unused for $100 so I bought it and am getting a T3 flange welded on to fit the RB25 turbo. I've been undecided on what to do for a manifold for a while. I didn't think the cheap ebay ones were good enough & would probably crack. It sucks there isn't any decent cast iron high mount manifolds for the CA's that are easy to get. I would have bought a high mount if this one didn't come up but keeping the weight of the turbo lower will be a weight benefit as will a shorter exhaust. Every little bit counts plus I need to offset the added weight of all the upgraded parts I put on such as larger turbo.

rb25 turbo fitment.JPG (146.35 KiB) Viewed 5 times

The clearance with the turbo is insanely tight with the standard engine mount. It fits but I can't slide the turbo & manifold off the studs!!!

rb25 turbo clearance.JPG (118.24 KiB) Viewed 5 times

I don't want to make a smaller engine mount if I don't have to so I'm considering slotting the bottom holes on the exhaust manifold & running bolts in the top holes so I can remove the bolts and slide the manifold with turbo still attached upwards. I would helicoil the threads in the aluminium head to strengthen them if I decide to do it this way. One nice thing about these manifolds is all the nuts are much easier to get to than on a factory cast manifold.

manifold bolt clearance.JPG (112.77 KiB) Viewed 5 times

I have a few more days of holidays left & have got the new front headlight mounts made & fitted (nightmare) so hopefully I'll have some good progress made by the end of the week with more pics.


 


 


 


 


 

[shamus11]

Had a productive day today, got the sheet metal trimmed & welded in both sides. Finished welding in the radiator support to the body, cleaned up all the welds & surrounding steel.


I rust treated some of the surface rusty areas last night so I was ready to get the primer on this afternoon.

both sides welded.JPG (127.88 KiB) Viewed 5 times

Very happy to see it in primer although now the engine bay looks terrible compared to the front. It will get painted after the engine & xmember have been sorted.


Once I have the bumper, guards & headlights remounted I'll pull the engine out as I'm working in a small shed at the moment so space it tight.

rad sup primed front on.JPG (129.98 KiB) Viewed 5 times

The intercooler mounts will allow for easy adjustment of intercooler height to make sure the hoses clear the sheetmetal. I will find a press on rubber seal to go on the sheetmetal around the cooler hoses.

rad sup primed close.JPG (113.3 KiB) Viewed 5 times

Further holes will need to be cut in the infill panels for air intake & headlight wiring etc further down the track.

top rails primed.JPG (136.27 KiB) Viewed 5 times

Next step is to seam seal the welds and finish headlight mounts.


I have already modified the headlight mounts to suit the new radiator support & will clean up my welds and sand ready for paint in the morning.


Really looking forward seeing the headlights back on as they've been off the car for months.

rad support primed bonnet down.JPG (112.73 KiB) Viewed 5 times

 

[gadget1382]

I was sceptical with your front end cutting, but that looks VERY impressive!

[shamus11]

I was sceptical with your front end cutting, but that looks VERY impressive!

Thanks, hopefully once the rest of the front is back together it will make more sense. There's some aluminium ducting to be done in the front as well to compliment the sheet metal.

[eggs]

Ducting for brakes or intercooler/rad ? looking good..

[shamus11]

Ducting for brakes or intercooler/rad ? looking good..

Initially it will be from the front bumper to the radiator support for the radiator/intercooler. I haven't put much thought into brake ducting yet but I may down the track if brakes are getting too hot.

[shamus11]

Got a bit more done today however not a full day's work.


I had already 90% made the new headlight brackets to attach to my new radiator support panel. It's been the trickiest job so far because of the odd angles of the original mounting points and the need for all the panel gaps to be as good as possible. So I'm really glad to have this job out of the way.


After a few attempts I gave up trying to make an adapter that would mount from the radiator support to the original mounting holes in the headlight bracket and decided to cut and weld to the actual bracket.

headlight bracket 1.JPG (103.48 KiB) Viewed 5 times

I had to refit the bonnet & guards before I could work out where the headlight had to sit. Then the hardest part was holding everything in perfect place while I measured & tacked pieces in place. If I had four arms it would have been much easier.


The brackets once welding was finished, I didn't spend too much time cleaning welds that won't be seen.

headlight bracket 2.JPG (123.58 KiB) Viewed 5 times

After painting the headlight bracket it became evident that the rest of the housing would look terrible if I didn't give it the same treatment.

painted headlight housing.JPG (86.31 KiB) Viewed 5 times

I've been using a rust converter which appears to be just an acid (not sure which) so to help clean up the complex shapes that were difficult to sand I decided to coat the entire part in acid and let sit for 30-60 minutes. I still wire brushed and sanded where I could reach.


Then I dunk it in a bucket of water, blow off with air and sit in front of the heater to dry completely, wipe with solvent & paint. Was a bit tedious and took all morning but the results are good.

headlight housing acid.JPG (128.51 KiB) Viewed 5 times

The silver headlight backings unfortunately are not aluminium but I think they were zinc plated steel so they got a coat of engine enamel which should cope with the extra heat. I let the two springs and all the bolts sit in a jar of the same acid about 6 hours which was enough to take them back to clean steel, then a quick paint because I didn't have any plated bolts small enough on hand.

headlight housings painted.JPG (130.78 KiB) Viewed 5 times

Once reassembled I was able to fit them up. I have used 2 aluminium thread inserts per side into the top of the radiator support but I'm not sure if they will be strong enough. Another option is weld a steel nut in or weld a bolt in from underneath and use a nut on top which would be the strongest way.

headlight fitted 2.JPG (70.75 KiB) Viewed 5 times

I had the plastic side covers for the headlight put safely away in a box so they didn't get broken & I totally forgot to paint them so I'll do that tomorrow.

headlight fitted 1.JPG (110.58 KiB) Viewed 5 times

The headlights will be manually adjustable. I will use a fixed shaft attached to the ball joint on the side of the headlight and the other end fixed to the piece of vertical steel tube. There will be an up and a down mount on the steel tube. I planned to use the top half of the original electric motor shaft which has a thread on it but I've been looking for them and I may have accidentally thrown them out with the motors so I may have to source some more.

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While the bonnet was gapped up nicely I decided I'd fit my bonnet pins. It also helped keep the bonnet in position while mounting the headlights. It seems like a simple thing but the decision as to where to put them was suddenly a very difficult one to make. I moved them around for about half an hour then I went in a googled about 100 images before deciding. I've cut some heater hose to slip over them as bonnet stoppers but I'll eventually swap them out for something nicer like some small nolothane bushes.

bonnet pins.JPG (113.8 KiB) Viewed 5 times

I thought I'd get the bumper mounted today but I had a few interuptions so hopefully I'll have that done by the end of the Easter weekend.