6 Hour Car Prep

[NZGTRA17]

Car is pretty much ready to go for 6 hour. Some pics of mods for this race;

Hefty blower for demisting and cooling


Dry break set up


Dry break access with boot lid on


Head light installation from rear


Headlight installation from front and cold air system below

[jmimac351]

Rock on Kel!

I was thinking of making a splitter attachment out of aluminum just like you did. Did you feel a difference?

Have fun!

[NZGTRA17]

Originally Posted by jmimac351

Rock on Kel!

I was thinking of making a splitter attachment out of aluminum just like you did. Did you feel a difference?

Have fun!

Jim, it was a little hard to measure the exact gain as due to time constraints around development & testing, we had to break the cardinal rule and make more than 1 change on the car at a time.

We picked up around 1 second but this may have been a combination of the benefit of additional track time as well as alignment and aerodynamic improvements.

The other aero aid that I am going to add for the 6 hour, if it is a very wet track, is a Gurney Flap to the top rear edge of the wing. Very easy and inexpensive to do and will boost rear downforce with little additional drag.

Kel.

[panozracing]

Originally Posted by NZGTRA17

The other aero aid that I am going to add for the 6 hour, if it is a very wet track, is a Gurney Flap to the top rear edge of the wing. Very easy and inexpensive to do and will boost rear downforce with little additional drag.

Kel.

I also have that on my list. I have not decided how I am making it. It needs to be adjustable and removable. My race show says they tape them on their ALMS cars???? How are you thinking about making it?

[NZGTRA17]

Originally Posted by panozracing

I also have that on my list. I have not decided how I am making it. It needs to be adjustable and removable. My race show says they tape them on their ALMS cars???? How are you thinking about making it?

Brian, I have made mine using guidance from Carrol Smiths book "Tune to Win". He recommends not using a flap with a height of more than 1/4" unless the wing is quite inefficient.

I have assumed that our wings are moderately efficient and so have used a simple right angle aluminium extrusion with 3/8" legs ($7 from my local hardware store). I have filed a radius on leading edge of the leg that sits against the top surface of the wing. I have drilled approx 8 x 1/8" holes to attach the angle section to the wing. The trailing edge of the wing is solid (explains why it is so damn heavy) so no worries about crushing the trailing edge when you fasten the angle.

At this stage I will use aluminium rivets to attach the angle and will put the flush heads on the underside to maintain smooth'ish airflow on this surface.

On another subject, what changes in set up (suspension) do you normally make Brian for wet track running?

Kel.

[panozracing]

Wet setup:
michelin rain slicks are truely amazing
no sway bars front or rear
install defogger fans on the windshield a MUST (I see you did that....it might not clear in front of the driver from the other side..mine didnt.)

[NZGTRA17]

Originally Posted by panozracing

Wet setup:
michelin rain slicks are truely amazing
no sway bars front or rear
install defogger fans on the windshield a MUST (I see you did that....it might not clear in front of the driver from the other side..mine didnt.)

Unfortunately Brian we have to run DOT tyres for the 6 hour. We have Kumho Victor Racers for drys (255/40/17) and Dunlop Direzza O3G's (same size) for Intermediates/Wets. We may yet mount up some good road tyres as a 'super wet' option.

We are running the front sway bar on the soft setting as a compromise. Do you back your shocks off at all?

Have you had any issues with any significant water ingress into the car? Any areas of the car that water ingress has been a problem (electrics etc)?

Thanks, Kel.

[eric1h]

Kel, did you make the carb intake setup or was it purchased? I am converting my ls1 over a carb setup and wanted to fab some sort of setup like that.

[NZGTRA17]

Originally Posted by eric1h

Kel, did you make the carb intake setup or was it purchased? I am converting my ls1 over a carb setup and wanted to fab some sort of setup like that.

Eric, we fabricated this one. Due to varying engine deck heights & inlet manifold/carb combos used (on non GTS cars) most of us will need one with a different height for the sides.

We put long studs in the back inlet manifold bolt holes and ran these up through the back of the tray as supports. Also added the 'wings' to the sides of the inlet mouth of the tray. This is an attempt to deflect the hot air coming out from the engine bay out the back of the hood away from the cold air inlet area.

I can say that it has added som speed though as our RPM was up around 200 down our long straight and the jetting needs to be fattened up slightly.

Kel.

[Squerly]

The dry break access and headlight installation is awesome! Great job Kel!

[NZGTRA17]

Originally Posted by Squerly

The dry break access and headlight installation is awesome! Great job Kel!

Thanks. I wanted to keep the dry break as simple and cost effective as possible. Dont know about in the States but each pair of dry break fittings is the best part of $1,000 over here in NZ. Most systems use a pair, one for fuel in and one for air out.

We have used a far smaller vent line with a smaller lighter and way less expensive dry break arrangement (the black fitting sticking out on the back right of the car). In testing in the weekend we were getting 115 liters in in 45 seconds. This is faster than the driver change / car check so will easily suffice for our needs.

The headlights are out of a 3 series BMW with bracketry made up out of inexspensive aluminium extrusions. I wanted to try to keep the headlights faired in as we need every bit of hp we have!

Kel.

[panozracing]

YES...we have had tons of water coming thru around the perimater of the plastic windshield. Also, all over on the firewall and the doors....its seems water is every where. We used a bunch of high temp metal tape and covered everything we could find. I also removed the windshield and replaced the gasket with something better (truck cap gasket material) and then siliconed the windshield to the body. That all made it better.

We dont have too many electronics so we didnt have any failures. Just visibilty and a wet fire suit. I have replaced the wiper motors in both cars and the new ones SUCK too.... They are not very strong. Hard to install. Get stuck on bodywork (we fixed this with ugly wiper stop brackets)....

[Cobra4B]

You've really done an awesome job with that car.

[boothkc]

Ditto on the rain problem. The cars leak everywhere and you will get soaked. First puddle and the windshield will fog over. My GTRA ("school car") had an internal and external wiper...maybe a solution. We ended up using Rain-x and a rag to get through a test day in the rain. These are tough cars to drive well in the rain (IMHO). As soon as rain hits the headers wave of steam fills the cab and windshield. Not sure if the blower will be enough, but would like to know.

My experiance with rain tires is unless it is raining or standing water stay on slicks they will be faster. If its misting, rained recently and not still raining, track wet or occasional shower etc. stay on slicks. Full rain tires are very slow and only needed only with continuous wet conditions.... My $.02. If not sure stay on slicks.

Kevin

[NZGTRA17]

Originally Posted by boothkc

Ditto on the rain problem. The cars leak everywhere and you will get soaked. First puddle and the windshield will fog over. My GTRA ("school car") had an internal and external wiper...maybe a solution. We ended up using Rain-x and a rag to get through a test day in the rain. These are tough cars to drive well in the rain (IMHO). As soon as rain hits the headers wave of steam fills the cab and windshield. Not sure if the blower will be enough, but would like to know.

My experiance with rain tires is unless it is raining or standing water stay on slicks they will be faster. If its misting, rained recently and not still raining, track wet or occasional shower etc. stay on slicks. Full rain tires are very slow and only needed only with continuous wet conditions.... My $.02. If not sure stay on slicks.

Kevin

Thanks Kevin, will let you know how the blower works. It is a grunty sucker, actually a 4" dia bilge blower for a boat. Very light but moves a ton of air.

I am also planning on using rain X on the windshield and anti fog on the inside. We have started to coat the windscreen up with this already as it can be layered I am told.

Good point about the header steam. Hadnt thought of that but yes can see that making life interesting.

When you say they are tough cars to drive well in the rain Kevin, what characteristics have you found they exhibit?

Kel.