Couple of things...
Yes, there is still a ton of weight on that hood.
2nd, those types of strut bars don't really do anything because the joints act as pivots and just allow the bar to deflect loads instead of transfer them. Plus, it's points.
You can always tie your cage into the strut towers to really beef them up for 0 points.
In reply to wvumtnbkr :
I can tell you fro back to back to back testing the front strut bar on the Elantra did nothing but add weight. That was running 225/45/16 RS-2's, H&R's and tib struts.
We used it for a mount on the fire suppression nozzles. Ill have to make some brackets to relocate them but easy enough to remove.
The issue with the weight of the hood is it already buckles from its past owner going all dukes of hazzard while drunk. So after i cut the center out it basically tried to fold itself in half. Ill remove a bit more until it starts to fold under its own weight.
With strut tower brace removed we are at 337.5 points.
Why go to all the trouble of getting rid of the height adjustable springs then? They are only 40 pts total.
In reply to kevinatfms :
dunno how much vertical space you have... but you could replace some of the steel your removed with aluminum "L" channel to add some stiffness back in, maybe. Although, hoods tend to be curved in ways that make that difficult. hrrmmm
Just make it a thin piece of foil with hood pins. It's just a firewall / aide to air going over the top.
The aluminum channel would cost points fyi...
wvumtnbkr said:The aluminum channel would cost points fyi...
gotcha, I'm not all that "up" on ChampCar rules. Is that because it's'angle', because it's aluminum, or because it's additional?
wvumtnbkr said:Why go to all the trouble of getting rid of the height adjustable springs then? They are only 40 pts total.
The Ksport coilovers kept slipping the camber due to the slotted strut bottoms. No matter what we did it would slip. Completely messed up the bottom cup of the coilovers trying to keep them tight(new bolts, impact tightening, threadlock...everything). Realignment every time we pit would be ridiculous. Went through 2 sets of Azenis due to bad alignment after the bolts slipped both front and rear.
I already had the H&Rs on a shelf. Struts were under $200 for all 4. Making it reliable and not slip is better than destroying a set of tires every 6 hours.
If i can source some non-slotted lower cups for the Ksports ill switch back but for now the strut spring combo will have to work.
In reply to kevinatfms :
If you have a welder handy those slotted K-sport lowers can be non-slotted in whatever setting you prefer. I'd drill a hole in a small plate for each side, maybe use a longer bolt if needed, set your camber and tighten the bolts and then tack the plates to the housing so they won't move.
If you want an adjustable solution that won't move you could do something like the following at 7:00 minutes in the video
kevinatfms said:wvumtnbkr said:Why go to all the trouble of getting rid of the height adjustable springs then? They are only 40 pts total.
The Ksport coilovers kept slipping the camber due to the slotted strut bottoms. No matter what we did it would slip. Completely messed up the bottom cup of the coilovers trying to keep them tight(new bolts, impact tightening, threadlock...everything). Realignment every time we pit would be ridiculous. Went through 2 sets of Azenis due to bad alignment after the bolts slipped both front and rear.
I already had the H&Rs on a shelf. Struts were under $200 for all 4. Making it reliable and not slip is better than destroying a set of tires every 6 hours.
If i can source some non-slotted lower cups for the Ksports ill switch back but for now the strut spring combo will have to work.
I was just talking about the height adjustment. I assumed these had a collar and an adjustment ring. If not, you can get a height adjustable setup for very cheap on ebay or Coleman.
In reply to adam525i :
This was where I was going to go with the Tiburon. Had the same issue.
adam525i said:In reply to kevinatfms :
If you have a welder handy those slotted K-sport lowers can be non-slotted in whatever setting you prefer. I'd drill a hole in a small plate for each side, maybe use a longer bolt if needed, set your camber and tighten the bolts and then tack the plates to the housing so they won't move.
If you want an adjustable solution that won't move you could do something like the following at 7:00 minutes in the video.
Exactly what we were thinking. Installing a large fender washer on both sides, setting camber on an alignment rack then welding them into place once we get our camber setting.
Ill get working to find some washers that will work when i get back from out of town. Mcmaster Carr should have some that will fit the bill.
Gotta thank Custom Wheel Outlet for the replacement wheel. They matched the last price i paid, sent the wheel superfast and sent all the luck for our next race. Cant thank them enough. New wheel just showed up yesterday and ill start on getting our sets of tires mounted.
Custom Wheel Outlet - Official Site (shopcwo.com)
12 new tires came. All 205/50R16. All are the Accelera 651 Sport in 200tw flavor. They are cheap rubber for the race track and a bit taller than the last sets of tires we had at 23.9". Measured them side by side with the 215/45R16 Azenis on the old wheels and they seem to fit wide for a 205 which is nice.
For $430 a set shipped they are a bargain. Just hope they last the journey of an endurance race.
Will update when they all get mounted tomorrow.
List of things to do before March VIR South Champ Car race....
replace broken brake pedal switch
2.25" exhaust from flex joint to vibrant muffler
replace front control arms
replace inner/outer tie rods
get fire bottle recertified
alignment
replace front brake pads with new Porterfield R4-E
install LED light bar + wire to switch panel
clean out hay + dirt from last event
update sponsor panels to 2022 versions
We are steadily working toward the March VIR event. Will have an update early next week with all that has been completed and all that is still needing to be done.
New control arms installed. Original were totally shot and one bushing completely ripped apart. The other was ripped on one side.
Old bushing
New bushing.
Tires also mounted...
in pic below
215/45R16 Falken Azenis 615K+, 205/45R16 Federal RS-Pro and 205/50R16 Accelera Sport 651.
picture of the car on its revised suspension and wheel/tire setup. Not as low or stiff as before but i think it will work for now.
It will be getting the new 2.25" exhaust and Vibrant muffler tomorrow along with a final alignment. With camber bolts up front im hoping for -2.0 camber. In the rear we are stuck with the factory setting.
In the rear we might need to use an angle grinder and welder.
FtFY! Haha.
2.25" exhaust completed, car aligned and new fire bottle came in the mail(ours expired). Hope to get some exhaust sound clips today and will post them up. Vibrant muffler and 2.25" exhaust suits the car very well.
Final items to complete:
~Swap headlight bulbs to LED bulbs.
~Replace intermittent multifunction switch.
~Replace burnt out LH reverse bulb.
~Install number panel light housings.
~Replace broken/rigged up brake light switch with new OE part.
~Bumper cut for new exhaust system.
~Cut more weight off hood, trunk and doors.
~If we have time, fix original short shifter and reinstall it. Cheap china shifter ended up having a ton of play after only a few trackcross events and one endurance race. I have a stock Elantra shifter in the car currently and the throws are beyond long.
wvumtnbkr said:In the rear we might need to use an angle grinder and welder.FtFY! Haha.
For now its gonna be stuck at what it is. Later, i will buy two more adjustable toe links and swap them in the place of the non-adjustable trailing arms. We can then add some rear camber using both sets of trailing arms out back. So no grinder needed.
kevinatfms said:wvumtnbkr said:In the rear we might need to use an angle grinder and welder.FtFY! Haha.
For now its gonna be stuck at what it is. Later, i will buy two more adjustable toe links and swap them in the place of the non-adjustable trailing arms. We can then add some rear camber using both sets of trailing arms out back. So no grinder needed.
Just so you know, that will be points in champcar. The cutting and grinding is not, or it could be material points only if extra material is needed.
wvumtnbkr said:kevinatfms said:wvumtnbkr said:In the rear we might need to use an angle grinder and welder.FtFY! Haha.
For now its gonna be stuck at what it is. Later, i will buy two more adjustable toe links and swap them in the place of the non-adjustable trailing arms. We can then add some rear camber using both sets of trailing arms out back. So no grinder needed.
Just so you know, that will be points in champcar. The cutting and grinding is not, or it could be material points only if extra material is needed.
Way too much needed to cut the tower. It would be easier to chop the back half of the car and weld in a rear section from another vehicle at that point.
The lower trailing arms can be swapped in with an OE part for more camber adjustment.
I would just cut and sleeve the links where you want them. Unless you still have points to use.
wvumtnbkr said:I would just cut and sleeve the links where you want them. Unless you still have points to use.
Car is 275 points to start with. Current VPI is 355 points as the car currently sits. So we have quite a bit more to play with.
Champ Car in 2022 does not charge points for hood vents or upgrade radiators, so we got a few points back there.
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