BRZ Rally Car

Don't know why I've never seen this thread but am following it now. Like the progress which has been made on the car... great work. 

One thing I wanted to relay was there is a great alternative to the no longer Beastronix module, and it lets you keep the OBDII port available for anything else like data loggers/scan tools...

https://www.geraldjustprojects.com/product/brz-frs-gt86-trac-box/

If I kept my FR-S I would have gone with this unit, even if the Beastronix module was still available.

In reply to Vracer111 :

Neat- I guess I have my backup plan if I find anything I can't easily work around on this car, thank you!

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:

Up front, a 3/16" aluminum skidplate (nice and simple, one bend, shown transparent here) will be supported by a core support brace and some bungs welded on to the little subframe things that hold the swaybar.  You can also see the front control arm reinforcement plate:

The front towers will get moved up and remade out of sheet metal- I'm planning a little fixture to make sure they wind up in the right place.  Once they're fully welded my plan is to cut the top of the original tower from underneath, fold it outwards, and weld it on to tie things in even more:

And the front tower and strut from the wheel well side:

As we all know, no plan survives first contact with the enemy, but I'm hopeful this will go well.  It's hard to see but the steel for the tower has all of the little wiggly edges it should need to mate up to the stock unibody nicely- the hope is that I won't have to do much fitup, just grind everything clean, fixture it, and start zapping.

None of this will happen until after it has been running for a while, but it doesn't hurt to get the ball rolling.

Just working my way through this thread now for some reason.

I have to say, I am incredibly jealous of the fact that you have a scanner set up and able to work on your personal car.

java230 said:

In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :

Yes its expensive. Yes it makes flaring much easier. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NCYKQSN/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_UXDlFbSHBKN6T

That thing comes up a lot. Since it likely applies for Chris as well, there were a few versions last time I looked. Could you start with a single set, and add dies as needed (vs the variety it comes with now)?

Thanks!

In reply to bluej (Forum Supporter) :

Idk. I was told by multiple ppl on multiple forums about it. I bought it. Worth it. 

Only thing it doesn't do well is when it's really close to a bend. 

More brake plumbing- there's a firewall plug that looks a lot like Subaru wanted to leave the option of a cable throttle open, it's just above the drive by wire pedal module inside and here outside:

A little drilling and a grommet gets you this:

Plus some bending and flaring and more bending gets this:

Next I'll have to figure out where to mount the hydraulic handbrake- I'm thinking middle of the tunnel behind the shifter, angled towards me, but need to play with it more.

In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :

Forgive my ignorance, but what purpose does a hydraulic hand brake serve in a rally car? 

In reply to Recon1342 :

It's arguably not necessary, but it's a much more consistent way of locking the rear wheels to help pivot the car than the mechanical handbrake is.  Helps a lot if there is a tight hairpin, or a hay bale or barrel you need to pivot around built into the stage.  It's also extremely helpful if you manage to miss a turn and have to do a really tight u-turn.

Since I'm rerouting lines anyway to get rid of the ABS, and adding an adjustable proportioning valve, it's sort of a case of "why not add a handbrake at the same time."

In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :

Ah. Thank you. 
 

I love "while I'm in there " projects...

Recon1342 said:

In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :

Ah. Thank you. 
 

I love "while I'm in there " projects...

I can only think of two or three times I have ever thought to myself "damn I wish I had a hydro brake" like Chris said those were on super tight hairpins (primarily at the STPR super special)B .... They are still cool and seemtseem be a compulsory  necessityfor rally cars so I will probably install one myself at some point lol.....

In reply to java230 :

Figure length first, flare, then make the last bend.  I just did my whole car in a couple hours from scratch with it and holy balls i wish i had one years ago.  All the agony of dealing with pre flared parts store lines is gone.  
 

I'm enjoying your progress, Chris

In reply to Patrick (Forum Supporter) :

Thanks!  It's good to have you and others following along, I'm right around that point where it would be easy to get bogged down because I've done so much but there's still so much more to go.

As far as the Mastercool brake line tool, and all tools for that matter, I'm really bad about spending money on tools- all my sockets are Harbor Freight junk, my welder is too small/low amperage, my brake line flaring kit is rusty and was $50 5 years ago... some day I'll decide that spending hundreds to save myself a bunch of effort is worth it, but as long as "good enough" is sitting right here I have trouble justifying it to myself.  The one time I've gone above and beyond in terms of tools was purchasing the lift, which has been life changing, so maybe I should learn from that experience.

Let's look at the handbrake options.

Driver side of shifter- good ergonomics when using it, but crowds the wheel as well as 1st/2nd/reverse:

Codriver side of shifter- crowds 5th/6th, awkward ergonomics pulling straight back from way over there:

Tunnel behind shifter, angled- looks funky, keeps the assembly away from the seats and shifter though and pulls straight towards driver:

Tunnel behind shifter, straight- pretty similar to the angled setup but needs to be pretty far to codriver side to keep shifter access for driver, not sure if pulling it will be weird:

option 3 imo

In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :

Pull the radio & mount it up there. You'll still have easy access to it from the wheel, but I'll be completely out of the way for the 99% of the time you'll never touch it. 

In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :

The problem with putting it up ahead of the shifter is that the master cylinder sticks off the back, so it would need to be like a foot into the dashboard, at which point it hits other things.

Unless you're actually saying to put it up high on the dash where the head unit is, which would be hilarious.

Option 3- option 1 you'll keep hitting it, options 2 and 4 you wont get a good pull on it in the heat of the moment (so to speak).  When I built up my Dolomite stage car I went through a similar process, I didnt have the choice of option 3 so ended up with #2, it worked but was awkward.

Oh, and I'd reinforce the floor where it mounts if you weren't planning on it already...

Other option would be to get a reverse-mount lever/MC assembly so you can flip it the other direction for clearance. I know that would add expense but could fit better. 

On a side note, now you have me looking at hydrobrake setups..........

In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :

That's exactly what I'm saying :)

I'm procrastinating on a handbrake decision but rerouted the rear brake lines.  Before:

After:

And they run to a tee here, which will tie into the line from the handbrake:

The middle picture there shows that I reinstalled the fuel lines- I had originally intended to run them through the car, but I'm having second thoughts and will leave them under the floor for now and look at how difficult it might be to armor them.  There's very little extra real estate on the firewall to run lines on this car so it may be worth keeping them outside.

Put handbrake where it works best, replace stock transmission with sequential transmission. Easy peezy lol.

I think option 3 for the handbrake mounting. 

Where did you get that handbrake? I'd like to add one to my Miata for drifting, but there's a big difference between prices of a $250-350 Wilwood or similar, and some $60 no name handbrake. Not sure if it's worth paying for a good name or not. 

In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :

It's a POS $50 Amazon one- I had a similar one in the Merkur and it was fine, worst case is you get a dud master cylinder and replace it with a Wilwood one for another $50.  When it comes down to it, it's just a lever, a cylinder, a base, and a heim joint.

In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :

Cool. That's about what I was figuring, but wanted some feedback from real world experience.