Dedicated Track Car Progress Thread

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Hi Neil.
The LMS unit is definitely not suitable for boost that`s for sure.
Fortunately it`s N/A all the way with me..


Fiberglass and resin appear to be a major part of it`s construction.
Probably grafted onto a Ford flange from a donor manifold.
All very clever stuff.....

But, as ever I`ve worked out how to improve things..
I`ll be needing to port the inlet to match my Silvertop throttle body.
Also, if you look in the above pic, you can see that the trumpets are all the same length.
As the OE upper manifold has different length pipes, the LMS unit is out of balance :eek:

I`ve already looked into using the upper manifold as part of a home made plenum and have measured the difference in trumpet length I`d need to use to balance this out.
27.5mm for anyone interested.
So Im looking at 15mm and 43mm trumpets (closest off the shelf option). Those fitted are @20mm
These should work properly and fit inside the Ridley Scott set if an inlet...

I absolutely love this stuff
 
I`m pretty much where I want to be power wise.
I`ll probably look at wild cams and a bit of head work at some point. But...

Roll cage, before I go any faster...
 
Cheers,
I wanted something a little different. I hadn`t seen one previously, so went for this.
Glad I did. I can find my car in photos and videos easily enough.

I just hope it`s as fast as it looks this season..
Four cars in my class so far.
Myself, an mx5, a Smart Fortwo Cup (?) and a FRP Pumesta...
 
As we`ve had a mini drama with the forum servers, I have a couple of days car play to catch up on.
So now the shopping is all done, it`s definitely time to get this bolted together.

As the weather was questionable to start with I took on a the simple task of fitting the new upper front strut brace.
I decided to discard the `fitting kit` which comprises of 8 fat self tapping bolts. I`ve used them before and I dont think they are very good.
Although it would make fitting it easier as I wouldn`t have had to even jack the car up!
I bought a small pack of M6 bolts and nylock nuts which are much more purposeful.


Now it`s in place, it adds to my mish mash of `styles` under the bonnet.
But hey, this car is not about styling!


I have been back to compbrake and picked up a pair of rear solid topmounts to match the front.
They are a different design to the fronts but as the turret is a much simpler shape.
These thing look exactly right for the job and will be going on this weekend.


While the front end was in the air I took the opportunity to adjust the front coilovers to 45mm drop (was 55mm)
I think too much drop is detrimental to the cars handling. (I`ll be lifting the rear a touch too, currently dropped 48mm)

That`s just about me spent up on suspension upgrades for this year!
Although I will be handing my car over to my local motorsports garage. Automech in Manchester, who run the XR challenge race series and have done for twenty odd yeaars!
Anyway, they will be doing a 4 wheel `track` alignment (shimming the rears to toe in slightly and setting the fronts to toe out a touch.
This is the first performance work, which I`ve paid someone else to do to the car, in 3 1/2 years!

So onto that inlet...

First job was to remove my inlet.
I will be needing the throttle body, ICV and temp sender.
It revealed a rather mucky engine.
This engine was thrown in a year ago, in a big rush and I hadn`t gone to town on it as I usually would.
Wont be like this when it goes back together this time.


As the LMS inlet has come to me already used I am finding stuff I wouldn`t have put up with.
I have a 2.0 ltr Silvertop throttle body which required the inle to be ported.
I think this had already been done. Badly.
Fortunately it was still a tad small, so I stripped my TB and fitted it to see.
It was the shape of a 50p piece! A bit of filing and sanding tidied up the hole nicely.


I have discovered a almost magical rust removal chemical from Bilt and Hamber called Deox-C.
It`s amazing!
I`ve soaked siezed pliers in it, which are now as good as new! I now actually look for rusty old stuff to `refresh`...
With the TB stripped, I took the tarnished linkage and mixed a litre of the solution.


The linkage doesn`t look `as new` but it`s a damn sight more presentable than before.
You can see just how well this stuff works on the top mount nut to the right of the fitted tb.

The ICV and throttle body require gaskets, which I will make as usual.
But the ICV setup on the LMS inlet is a bit rough and I`m goin to have to get creative sealing it up. (it`s not even nearly flat!)
All will be fitted over the weekend ready for it wheel alignment Wednesday, dyno day next Sunday and my first trackday in 6 months on Monday 6th at Cadwell Park...
 
Used Deox-C a few months ago on some very rusty ST170 calipers (details in my thread) and thoroughly agree Stu. :eek:k: I was talking to Pete Hamber who said you could even just drop them in the solution 'whole' and it wouldn't affect the seals but I was doing a full recon anyway. It's great stuff, cheap too :grin:
 
Hi G-Whizz
It might have been your thread where I picked up on Deox C stuff.
Apologies for not giving you the credit for putting me onto this...

The fact it`s inert on pretty much everything except rust (and grazed knuckles!) is really handy.
I`m eyeing up my upper engine mount. Just need to find a big enough bucket...
 
trublustu said:
[post]360719[/post] Hi G-Whizz
It might have been your thread where I picked up on Deox C stuff.
Apologies for not giving you the credit for putting me onto this...

The fact it`s inert on pretty much everything except rust (and grazed knuckles!) is really handy.
I`m eyeing up my upper engine mount. Just need to find a big enough bucket...

Absolutely no worries about that at all Stu :eek:k: I only mentioned it in case you, or anyone else, were interested in the results. I'm half tempted to find someone with a small pool so I can drop my shell in :grin:
Cheers, Greg.
 
Well it`s been a soggy day,
but I`ve had to suck it up and get cracking on the car..

I overcame the icv gasket using an original metal gasket, smeared both sides with out of a tube instant gasket.
Normally, I`d avoid such a bodge. But I couldn`t get my hands on any rubberised cork gasket material in time.
Some will show up, if the bodge works, fine. If it leaks, I can make a gasket in 5 minutes.

Another thing I have bought is a `thermal` inlet/head gasket to suit the Zetec SE/Sigma engine.
I`m not sure how necessary it`d be on our engines as there is a fibre gasket in there to start with.
The one I stumbled across cost no more than a generic gasket (which is fitted now and in good nick)
But as the LMS inlet loses the three lower mounting bolts (yet it weighs the same as a standard inlet)
I wanted to get the mounting bolts/nuts a lot tighter than Ford specify.
The thermal gasket is a solid nylon type thing which will squash a lot better than the OE item.
I used 6 and 8mm silicone hose and stiff rubber hose for the vacuum pipes and am hugely satisfied to announce it started first turn of the key.


Apologies for the awful pic, but I was losing light fast...
Apart from some shiny new inlet hose circlips and a de-rusted battery clamp, I am finished under the bonnet.
Tomorrow will see the fitting of the rear top mounts and tidying up of some bodywork..
 
With my first trackay in six months coming up fast, I`ve been getting busy getting my annual rebuild done on time.

Most stuff that was outstanding was simple `snagging` jobs.
The silicone hose i`d bought were all a good seal, but some were `collapsing` under vacuum. So these were replaced with rubber or beefed up with a stiff liner.
The top mounts vitrually slotted into place, A whole lot easier than the fronts!

So with the car being as ready as I can get it..
I loaded up my shiny new trailer and for the first time in almost four years..

Handed the car over to someone else to do some tuning work for me!!!


The `someone else` in question is Automech, In Manchester. They run The XR Challenge race series and are experienced race builders.
The reason I handed my pride and joy to them was for a 4 wheel track oriented geo set up.
I`ve had the front suspension off and made big changes so I figured it would be more than a good idea.
As there`s no adjustment in the rear and limited adjustment in the front It was more a 4 wheel alignment than proper geo setup.
The rear has been set up with a degree of camber uning shims, and the front toeing out a touch.
The advice from the chaps was to try to sort out adjustable fronts so they could give the front end some camber (and castor)
This is one for the drawing board (adjustable wishbones are crazy expensive)
Another thing I`d found is that when another outfit set the tracking last year, to straighten the wheel they`d turned it the `long way round` and I had more lock one way than the other! Now sorted.

So. The car is officially ready to go.

First stop, A dyno day in Warrington, run by a local car group name Static UK.


Definitely something of a no more guessing moment..

The car made significantly less than I`d hoped..
Though this is known to be a `heartbreaker` dyno (Actually calibrated correctly!)
My peak power was 135.8 bhp at about 6800 rpm. Developing about 124 ft/lb of torque
A completely standard Puma made 113 bhp on the same day.


So it`s gained some horses,
even if I`ve lost some along the way.
I`ll have to see whether I can find them somewhere..

Next test, is the imminent Cadwell Park,
where I can see how Automechs` magic has worked and sample my 136 brake..
Gotta catch some of those smug 2.0 litre boys..
.
 
Very nice bhp curve. Do you have frp cams or just the lms inlet. And frp ecu iirc?
I've found some adjustable wishbones but to be honest they are cheap so this makes me suspicious about the quality (plus I use my puma as a road car so rose-jointed wishbones may be too much). But maybe they are an option for a track car.
Here's the link.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ford-Puma-adjustable-tubular-wishbones-track-day-car-race-car-rally-/132088928177?hash=item1ec11d17b1:g:5jEAAOSwi0RXx9qD
 
The power mods I have are FRP map, FRP cams, LMS inlet and 4-2-1. (plus tiny bits of my own ideas)

Those wishbones looks very exotic and the price is very reasonable.
I wouldn`t say too cheap, there`s not much to them!
 
And so onto said Cadwell Park trackday.

The journey to Lincolnshire was bloody awful, two and a half hours turned into five :'(
Upon arrival we found the camping area was utterly sodden and with a little searching we found a very nice little hotel near Louth which didn`t break the bank.
It was a very luxurious surprise. :zzz:

So, as you can imagine. The skies were the first thing I looked at in the morning.
Big relief to see acres of blue with reports of possible showers later.

I started the day on Michelin Pilot Sort 3 road tyres, as the track needed to dry and my semi slicks were brand new and would need scrubbing in.
It also gave me chance to get a feel for my car which has had one or two changes since it was last on track.
Those changes being, Fitting a FRP LSD gearbox, solid suspension mounts, Polybushed arb, upper front strut brace and the LMS180 inlet.
Oh yes, and the 4 wheel geo set up.

The car was a revelation :thumbs:


Once the track dried out and I had a feel for my `new` car the Dunlop Direzza dz03g`s went on and i got serious.

On previous trackdays, my mate would catch me, pass me and leave me in his dust in his souped up Clio.

Not today he didn`t.
After a bit of traffic, we ended up together and I not only mathched him but actually got away from him in what wasn`t a 5 lap race in any way...


Delighted doesn`t even start to describe my satisfaction with the car. :grin:
The extra acceleration from the gearbox and power boost was epic and the grip from the rest of the mods made the car feel unflappable.

The little tussle with my mate came to an abrupt end when my gearstick went all sloppy and I had no gear selection (stuck in 3rd)
It was gone half four so I wasn`t too upset and I just drove straight onto the trailer.
Iv`e had 2 gearboxes jam on me and broken a gear linkage. This felt like the linkage (hence the lack of a panic attack)

170 miles on track and faster than my main rival added up to a good day....

So onto the post trackday service.

Firstly that linkage, It probably took longer to jack the car up and get it set on stands than to rempve the linkage.


It was sloppy and a quick twist of the selector rod told me the box was fine and the fix quick and easy.
I currently have a clean but rust infected parts car, so a replacement linkage was on hand and cured the problem.
As I didn`t have my drill bits handy while under the car I grabbed a 7mm allen key, which aligned the gearstick easily.


While in the air it got an oil and filter change.
What was in was not much more than 500 miles old, but fresh oil is your friend..

I also adressed a minor problem with a major solution..

The new inlet plenum relocates the throttle body and it sits quite close to the bonnet slam panel.
The throttle cable had to kink quite worryingly and even though I had no problems at Cadwell I decided to fix it before it breaks.

So out came the slam panel!


and in went some bonnet pins (need to fit the `washers` yet)


I`ll be fabricating some radiator mounts (cowling?) and will remove more metal yet, but for now this does the job.

I`ll give the brakes a bleed while it`s up in the air and I`m ready for my first sprint in a few weeks..
 
Excellent write up bud! Love it when a plan comes together. Did you feel yourself being dragged round corners with the LSD? How much difference did it make or was the shorter ratio gearbox the thing that should out that gave you that vavavoom?

This gives me motivation to get out in mine, I cant believe I haven't been on track yet this year, shocking!
 
Hello chaps.

This trackday was one of the most gratifying I`ve ever done.
I almost skipped over how the car performed better than it ever has previously.
It`s quite hard to pin down just how much one modification made as most of the work was on the same part of the car (drivetrain/suspension)

The extra oomph from the inlet and lower ratio final drive was easy to spot.
Gear changes took a little getting used to and even driving as i have previously, would have seen me going faster,

The top mounts, arb bushes, strut brace and geo set up had me carrying speed through corners like never before'

But the LSD was the real treat.

I tend to `drive through` corners anyway. Brake early, settle the car, turn and feed the power in.
The extra traction was helping with those corner speeds.
And the best bit,
The car actually grips more when you accellerate,
So rather than `feeding the power in`, I could really get on the loud pedal hard and early.

I only had one sideways moment.
I of course kept my foot in and steered out of it,
Without the LSD I think I may well have lost it. With double the traction I corrected a 80mph woopsie, exiting Charlies,

I am certainly set up for the sprint series.
Aiming for a class win.
.
 

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