I'm SOOO stoked for ya that the shakedowns were so successful!
I'm SOOO stoked for ya that the shakedowns were so successful!
Whoop Whoop! This is awesome! It sounds so good.
Awesome! Can't wait to see this thing in person.
Awesome! I'm really looking forward to see it with the body on....
gumby (Forum Supporter) said:In for weight below AM minimum
What is AM minimum? I couldn't quite believe it at the time, but Ian and I weighed the car at 'race weight' for Sunday at just under 600 lbs. For comparison, the stock 2009 CBR600rr is listed at 410 lbs. As rolled into my shop, the f440(750?) was 770. Now, the CBR engine is able 100 lbs lighter than the VFR engine, and the fiberglass body was a little more than 50 lbs. So I think 600 is actually realistic.
I did double check the scales by checking my bodyweight, and they nailed it.
nocones said:Fantastic. I was out of town otherwise I was planning to be at the event Sunday. Glad it's going well. I am busy next weekend but if you need a thrash the weekend of the 17th I could probably adventure up to your place.
I will probably need a thrash. I will let you know!
To all who can't wait to see the body on, me neither!!
Last night I did some prep. Marked where on the ground the car goes under the body, and marked the centers of the front wheel wells on the body.
Then I cleared some space, pushed the car as far forward as possible, and covered it up.
Then I said to myself: tomorrow, we cut. And went to bed.
392 hours.
And cut we did.
Trunk floor.
Rear parcel shelf.
393 hours.
Cut faster
17PSI is too high! I run my car at 12psi with an 800lb race weight and arrived at that after comparing notes with other FM competitors. Remember that the sidewall deflection is actually a considerable amount of the "suspension compliance" of the car. Test around with 10-13psi and get a gauge that you can have a half psi resolution or better ( a half PSI DOES make a difference). I have one that only goes up to 15psi on the whole sweep for mine.
Brain speed catching up to car speed is indeed a thing. It sounds whatever, but it is SO true. Time in seat is the only cure, a side effect is that other cars will feel SLOW once you get used to it.
The snap spin thing sounds about right... the plateau of grip is narrower with a steeper dropoff, it could be some adjustment to the drive with less compliance. Lower tire pressures may help, but its likely somewhat characteristic. At least they dont slide very far when they do spin.
AM minimum is 900lbs with driver. 
Apexcarver said:17PSI is too high! I run my car at 12psi with an 800lb race weight and arrived at that after comparing notes with other FM competitors. Remember that the sidewall deflection is actually a considerable amount of the "suspension compliance" of the car. Test around with 10-13psi and get a gauge that you can have a half psi resolution or better ( a half PSI DOES make a difference). I have one that only goes up to 15psi on the whole sweep for mine.
Brain speed catching up to car speed is indeed a thing. It sounds whatever, but it is SO true. Time in seat is the only cure, a side effect is that other cars will feel SLOW once you get used to it.
The snap spin thing sounds about right... the plateau of grip is narrower with a steeper dropoff, it could be some adjustment to the drive with less compliance. Lower tire pressures may help, but its likely somewhat characteristic. At least they dont slide very far when they do spin.
Very true they don't slide far when they spin! Very good feedback, we thought 17 was too much, but we were planning to move down as the day went on. With two drivers and not a lot of cars and the few teething issues however, we didn't even have time to check pressure in between runs. I think Ian set them at 15 in the morning and right before the second heat I checked them all and they were at 17 after a bit of warmth. We will go lower for sure.
The other thing is the turn in is so razor sharp I found myself initiating slower slaloms too fast, resulting in the need to steer away from the cone AGAIN before initiating again. That absolutely wastes your line. So brain speed needs to speed up and hand speed needs to slow down.
We did find that right at the edge of traction in high speed turns, the car could 'skitter'. It felt very much like riding a tube behind a ski boat, like the whole car was bouncing. Ian and I were wondering if this is common on Fmods and if there is some sort of trick to reduce it. Like maybe stiffening/loosening the rear suspension to get more/less 'tripod' action. Lower tire pressures would probably help a lot though.
Speaking of tripod, I loosely eyeballed the scrub radius in front as probably 2-3 inches positive. It's a bit hard to get an exact number. What is the calculation to figure out the 'tripod effect' with caster and scrub radius? Unfortunately I'm not sure there's much I'll be able to do to change it anyway.
The calculation would be long and dependant on weight transfer in the turn needing CG height and all the things... so you are better off tuning and testing directly I think.
In my experience, the pogo is mostly tire sidewall, so changing pressure would alter the frequency. Do your bellcranks have some friction? (its actually good to have some: pseudo-dampners) Ive had this on stiffly spring cars of all types. Usually a car that does a good job of working its tires.
I would think that a tire perimeter would be needed to get this things tire pressures dialed in.
I used to race 1/12 scale on road rc. The chassis is surprisingly similar with the motor on the swimgarm and a double a arm up front on some of the newer cars.
Caster was the biggest tuning aide. Ride height was the next highest item. Finally, the damping of the rear made a difference, but it was more of fine tuning than making a large change.
Good luck!
Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:Cut faster
I decided to hold my breath and pull the sawzall trigger all the way back this morning.
look at all the room for activities!
I couldn't help myself so I lowered it down to start finding the interferences.
I'll spend some time doing some detailed marking before cutting more.
393 hours.
It's almost too easy...
I spent an hour marking and measuring and making a few more cuts, but nothing notable yet. The cowl area behind the hood is definitely where this will get most complicated. I also removed the trunk lid temporarily.
Also I learned that doing all the precise positioning and marking makes little to no difference because the tub is so light it moves around on the lift. So even if I get the frame back in the same position the car is not going to be.
Mental note - Check that the body is solidly on the lift, and check frequently. I might even try to find a way to tie it or otherwise attach it to the lift arms before I do much more cutting.
394 hours.
In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :
i think strapping body to lift arms is common in this situation.
In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
Just tack weld it in place?
In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :
That is likely what I would do
Cut more faster
Did your cordless sawzall do all that cutting with one battery?
Much progress, you still have a solid two weeks to wrap this up.
In reply to Andy Neuman :
uhhmmmm, I think maybe 2 batteries? I'm usually pretty good about keeping the ones I'm not using charged. Also, this metal is not very thick.
oh yeah. And milwaukee 'torch' blades. They really are almost as good as a torch. WAY better than the fancy lennox blades that are essentially the same price.
Are you welding the doors shut?
Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to Andy Neuman :
uhhmmmm, I think maybe 2 batteries? I'm usually pretty good about keeping the ones I'm not using charged. Also, this metal is not very thick.
oh yeah. And milwaukee 'torch' blades. They really are almost as good as a torch. WAY better than the fancy lennox blades that are essentially the same price.
Progress looks great and plus one on the Milwaukee "Torch" blades 
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