Great job. The first time we cranked the Goblin we did not have a radiator hooked up so we pumped out atf on Adam. Lol
Great job. The first time we cranked the Goblin we did not have a radiator hooked up so we pumped out atf on Adam. Lol
Lonny,
Haha yeah, had anyone been standing on that side of the car they would've gotten hit also.
Now for This weekend's update PART TWO:
Got the radiator mounted and plumbed up. I had some technical difficulty when it came to conceptualizing routing the tranny cooler lines... there are a few extra bends then there should have been(there is an S curve in it).
I filled it with coolant, fired it up, and it ran like a champ. Both cooling fans turned on at 212 and turned off at 190.
Then I worked on cleaning up the wiring a bit more. Still looks ugly, but at least they're protected and semi secured now.
I mounted one of the fuse boxes under the seat, but it turns out that its a half an inch too tall, so Ill have to re-mount it somewhere else next time im up there.
I also got the cutting brake mounted and the rear brake lines run. I need to buy a tee to plumb the front line into the cutting brake.
It was at this point that I noticed that the brake pedal was too far to the right... So I had to cut one of the steering column mounts and move the pedal over, now I have enough room for a gas pedal.
Ill try to get the brakes done and mount the shifter next weekend so I can test drive it(move it front and back a little).
What is a "cutting brake?
A cutting brake allows you to slow one rear wheel without affecting the other, enabling very tight turning.
its got two master cylinders in it which overrides the main master cylinder. pushing forward will pressurize the line going to the right rear wheel and vice versa for the left.
Next question..."Why?" Cause "drift" thing?
so... mainly, because my uncle(Whose shop im using and who gave me all of the tubing, brakes, front suspension...) wanted me to put one on.
If I ever do any SCCA racing/autocross with it, it will enable tighter turning that just front steering alone.
But yeah... it will just be for fun...
Austin296 wrote: pushing forward will pressurize the line going to the right rear wheel and vice versa for the left.
I'd mount it sideways so pulling left would make you go left...
Alright guys, since I dont have the ability to work on the car for the next few weeks, I am trying to plan the dash.
Id appreciate any feedback on my dash plans/what I am missing:
NOHOME, "cutting brake" is an offroad term for differential braking. It's useful when you're climbing up something and your front wheels aren't quite enough to steer. In the automotive racing world, you know it as brake vectoring, torque vectoring, or McLaren's cheaty third pedal. Manual setups like this can help a skilled driver rotate the car, but they're usually banned by sanctioning bodies because they're very dangerous.
I like this build. I need to remember to check the build threads more often! Keep it up!
Whoa. A cutting brake on pavement sounds terrifying. You should label it,"LEVER OF DEATH"
fritzsch,
Thanks!
2002maniac,
I've never used one before and dont really intend to use it. My uncle used to have a dune buggy he would do lime runs in the 80s and he said he loved the cutting brake and he wanted me to put one on it.
It seems like an interesting concept, being able to turn in a much smaller radius by locking up one wheel. Also, on the bright side, if I end up doing wheelies during launch since the front end is so light, I can still steer...
Since I wont be working on the car for another week or so, I decided to play around with solidworks some more. I am not all that good with it, but here is what I intend the front of the car to look like when I'm finished:
I am looking at my headlight options and Texas law only defines the height off the ground from 15-60 inches. It doesnt say anything about the width requirement.
I am looking into the option to put the headlights in the front of the body rather than mounting them to the side like most locosts.
I am wanting to mount projection type headlights like in new cars. Either by getting some projectors and turn signal bulbs and making a mount for them out of plastic or fiberglass, OR find some headlights from a production vehicle and mount them in the front.
For option 1, I am looking at using something like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-2-5-Mini-HID-Bi-xenon-Projector-lens-Kit-HID-Headlight-Shroud-USA-Fast-Ship-/251975264942?hash=item3aaae56aae&vxp=mtr and make a vacuum mold for plastic to make the casing.
For Option 2, I am still looking at various vehicle headlights, but I like the look and squared off shape of the 03-06 Silverado headlights: http://www.ebay.com/itm/rare-2-ROWS-LED-03-06-SILVERADO-03-06-AVALANCHE-HALO-PROJECTOR-HEADLIGHTS-PAIR-/361348649913?hash=item54220ed3b9&vxp=mtr
Appreciate any feedback.
Thanks, Austin
So I was messing around with headlight designs and I plan to have something like this put into the front panel:
Ill also put the turn signals in there somewhere. The front will be sealed with Plexiglass or something and the bracket will be bolted or riveted to the front panel.
Using these headlights: http://www.theretrofitsource.com/complete-retrofit-kits/universal-kits/bi-xenon-mini-stage-3-kit-d2s.html#.Vbgz0vmxXKA
This is very sweet. We are both doing L67 mid engine builds. I'm using a Fiero chassis for mine with a VW Rabbit convertible body. I have a build thread on the forum here.
Your car is super sweet!
Haven't been able to work on the car for over a month, but this weekend I finally got a chance to work on it.
I was able to get the car almost to drivable...
I started by relocating my fuse box from under the seat as it was too tall and I couldn't mount the seat. Then, during mounting the seat i found a design flaw... I couldn't reach the holes to add the nuts to mount the seats... a strip of steel and a welder fixed that right up.
My uncle re-drilled the hubs to the Riviera wheel bolt pattern a few weeks ago. I put loctite on the studs, packed the bearings, and mounted everything on the front hubs.
Got the shifter mounted and hooked up. The cable wouldn't reach without a very hard bend, so I mounted it backwards for now. Ill see how it works and change it if I dont like it.
I got the brake pedal installed and all the brake lines routed. I went to bleed the brakes and I could not get one of the lines to seal... It was getting late and I remade the 1 line and...it still leaked... I am pretty sure the tee I am using got damaged by a bad flare on the first piece of tubing. Ill get a new tee next weekend and finish off the brake system.
I also got a throttle cable to extend the throttle, all thats left to do for the gas pedal is to mount the pedal bracket I made and connect the linkage. Once those 2 things are done, Ill be ready to drive the car around the driveway...
More pictures...
If nothing else, this thing should sound absolutely epic!
Keep up the good work.
Another Update: IT DRIVES!!!
Ive still got some work to do, but the car is far enough along.
I got the front wheels mounted and the shocks partially tensioned (didn't have the right tool to do it so I didn't want to damage the lock nuts). Got the brake system finished and working. Got the gas pedal mounted and working(needs some tweaking but functional as is).
I was able to take the the car for a test drive and it went pretty well.
During my test drive, this car broke the tires loose very easily. Couldn't even get the RPMs above 2500-3000 based on the short distance I had. Also, I tried the cutting brake, its cool, but goes against your instincts... I kept letting off the gas as soon as I would touch it, which makes it not work... the times I got it right was pretty fun.
I took it down a fairly bumpy dirt road at around 20mph and the front suspension did pretty well. I was watching the mounting points that I welded in and I couldn't see anything flexing. Those bumps did however show me a vital flaw in my steering... I forgot to bolt the steering column to the linkage... It fell off while I was driving(those pesky little details...) got the bolt put in and everything is good.
I also noted that the car doesn't steer left very well... need to adjust the rack that the whole thing is off to one side more.
Also, I need to adjust the brakes, the front aren't doing very much right now...
Very cool!
This weekend's update:
I took the front of the car apart and:
-Did front end alignment (Camber of 3, Caster of 0) with a small amount of toe in
-Adjusted the steering rack so that it is centered on the wheels
-Secured battery
-Added rubber isolators to fuel pump mount
-Tightened steering shaft bolts(it fell off on my first test drive, turns out I didnt actually screw it in the first time)
-tightened all front suspension bolts, putting either a lock/star washer or nyloc nut on everything.
-Adjusted front shocks & springs
I need to do some more adjusting, but I need to test it more first.
When test driving it, I noticed that the drivers front tire was scrubbing a little on the inside edge while driving straight. Also, my turning radius is horrible...(to go 90 degrees took ~30ft, measured by google earth). I am not sure how it is affected by the rear tires being toe in right now(planning to have that fixed in 1-2 weekends).
It doesn't steer very well right now, not sure if that has to do with the steering rack being powered with no fluid running through it now also...(will correct that soon also)
Way cool. And you've built this in less than a year?
Man, some of you make my project progress seem pathetic.
Its been a while since i posted an update; hadn't been able to work on the car for the past few weeks.
I pulled the Riviera steering rack off and fixed the rear tires. Turns out the tie-rod ends were wasted so I replaced them, machined a new tie-rod(to use heim joints on the other end) and fixed them to a bracket.
Then I made a muffler(my uncle TIG welded it).
If you're interested, here is the muffler design(not to scale)
I used a decibel meter on my phone and even when revving it, it was a max of 92DB when measured in the drivers seat. Here is a video of it(not all that great audio quality, also the muffler flange is missing an exhaust gasket so there is a minor leak)
And then... I "tested" the car thoroughly... found a few things that needed to be fixed, mostly just had some fun...
Time for this weekends update:
So... I finally got around to installing those pesky seat belts.. It took far longer that I expected(from a lack of forethought during frame fabrication).
I also started working on a dash. Turns out I will have to remake it, moving the speedometer 1in down so that it will fit correctly, but here is what it looks like.
After I started on the dash, I completely changed the layout. Here is how I am planning to make it.
Time for this weekend's update.
I got the dash remade and mounted. Wired up the battery disconnect and started wiring the gauge.
I also got the tail lights mounted, ran the wires to the front, and got the parking lights wired up.
I tried to figure out the turn signal wiring but it looks like there is a problem with my turn signal switch. Would anyone happen to have a 1998 buick rivirea wiring diagram?
Also, I weighed the car and it is slightly heavier than I thought it would be... it is around 2400 right now(will use a more accurate set of scales once I finish it).
I took the car for a test drive this afternoon and my cruise isnt working either... Ill try to fix that after all the lights are working.
Another update.
So... it turns out my turn signal switch is broken... I've ordered a new one, but for now I bypassed it and wired in the brakes. Had to add a return spring on the brake pedal to make the brake lights consistent. I Got the head lights and front running lights mounted. Also added some support braces that the sheet metal will go on in a few weeks.
Here are some rough models of what I think I will have the car look like.
Also, I got a chance to use the racing scales! It is lighter than I thought from last weekend.
I got the speedometer wired up and working. Took the car for a test drive and it was very wobbly... checked on a few things. Found out that I had way too much toe in. After measuring it, the front wheels were toed in 2 inches. I adjusted it to just over 1/8th inch toe in. Also made some suspension adjustments to get 50/50 weight distribution side to side(as seen in the pic above).
After making those adjustments, I took it for a quick drive on a paved road(1/2 mile each way). The car drives pretty well at 50-60mph. It is kind of touchy, which I am assuming is from the shorter wheelbase(not sure the exact measurement but 90-100inches).
I only have a few things left to do on the car before I can start on the body:
-Wire in turn signals
-Run power steering hoses
-Wire in a horn
-finish wiring up the tach/sensors
Hopefully I can have that done next weekend so I can start making the body panels(goal is to have the car finished this year).
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