Re done rear arms complements of HBI eng in Christchurch....very impressive turn around time
And some new bobbin bushes for the rear arms
Still waiting on my rear shocks to come home and then have some maching to do..
bomb factory
Take a motor racing introvert add a Fiat 128 and age for a few years - the net result is the bomb factory - backyard fabrication and general mechanical chaos - its a form of therapy...
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Monday, June 04, 2012
Winter Rebuild 2012
A few things have happened since my last update - the car has been run again at Paratutu with the Taranaki Car club I have made an abortive attempt to sell the thing and now it appears to be in a lot of bits in the garage - must be winter!So how did that happen?
After our outing to Hampton Downs in September 2011 where the car delivered a creditable (but also frustrating) 1:24x lap (not the 1:25 previously noted...
Trying to find the issue - me on the ground at the wrong end - typical! |
Hitting 11500 RPM in 5th and waiting for the great leap leftwards.... |
All the day I was battling a overlength drive shaft on the left and some very unstable straight line behaviour - it was pulled down and the immediately visable issues sorted out - (drive shaft and worn rodends on the front arms) which I thought was all that was required.
Summer came along and being New Zealand and Taranaki in Particular there were no events that were suitable to test the cars handling - the last place I want to find the car jumping to the left is on a hillclimb! So I visted my home town of Oamaru - got introduced to Steam Punk and came home with some new ideas....
SteamPunk Oamaru |
Bomba 127 and the Bomb Factory 128 |
Old School Italian Cool |
Bomba - and its legal.... ish |
Since the 127 had been sitting for 7 years it took a little time to get back on the road (five months of part time fiddling!) - Its legal and on the road so job jobbed...
now it was s back to the main game - Except I needed headlights for the 127 and this came up for the price of two sealed beam units ($200 NZD) - cheap and interesting I thought...
turns out its the straightest and most rust free Fiat I have ever owned... now things are complicated
New project - for the price of a pair of headlights! Fiat 126 |
I have fallen in love with the P2 Class Hillclimb Prototipos (Proto P2) and so thats what we are going to have. Which also accounts for the Holeshot racing Turbocharged Yamaha R1 engine sitting in my garage....
And yes I am deadly serious - new build log coming up....So thats the distractions that have lead to the following sequence of events - Back to teh 128
First up I changed the front pick-up points to clear a few things and change the anti squat/dive characteristics - and so I could pull in some more caster.... more on that later
New on left |
New Pickups installed - note sloppy seam weld - cringe... |
First job make a list and stick it somewhere obviois |
Finished reverse setup - I avoid actually using it - but it does work |
Looks fast as a trailer queen |
There is a rather long video on youtube that demonstrates all this and the fact that the brake bias was off as well if you listen to the audio on the first run you can hear the tripode hitting about 20 seconds into the first lap... we didnt notice the tripode carrier was trying to mill the bearing carrier until later otherwise I would have gone home...
So - I left it sitting for a while when I got home and took it apart this weekend - result is diff is leaking (its been doing that for ages) and the right hand side output oil seal has survived the pounding that did the work below...
Gouged out diff carrier and tripod carrier that shows autograph marks from the tripods... |
Diff comes out without removingthe engine... |
Short shaft not short enough |
So now its back to fettling the car and getting some serious miles on it - I have been slack and that must stop!
Thursday, September 08, 2011
We are Back - and racing - Hampton Downs 04 September 2011
Massive Thanks to the Fiat Club Waikato - for a VERY well organised and relaxed days racing - and to Mike Lowe for helping out - Malcom Simmonds for letting me sleep on his spare floor and to Mr G Sutton for building a very sweet drive line for the fiat....
A few changes for this outing - new wheels (Compomotive CXR's - 8 x 13 in satin Black) new tyres (Kumho V70a 215 -50-13)
Reverse!!!
and a few other tweeks here and there.
The bad news is the incar video failed and I didnt take any photos! so the following photos and links are as credited
http://www.shutterspeed.co.nz/Public-Events/FIAT-CLUB-Hampton-1/i-QVJwQfb/1/M/FIAT-Waikato-HD0116-M.jpg
All in all a good day - chain life was perfect - 54 links and now on its second event (12 standing starts and counting) and looking fine - finished the day with a 1:25 flat. The handling is interesting - snap wander on partial throttle being the highlight - closely followed by wheel vibration so bad that the diff bolts all backed out - eventually got the car settled down by taking the rear toe back to factory specs (ish) so I was able to get the gas down - gearing for 126mph and I saw 11400 in 6th at the end of the straight.... so if I can get to go straight it will be flying :-) it hooks up the power nicely and goes where you point it flat and hard - brakes were good once hot... oh and the torque steer is gone - just weaves all over the straight bits of teh track!
will be getting all the caster I can in the front and treating the whole thing to a full wheel computerised wheel alignement... Next event Fiat Nationals - Taupo Novemebr.....
sweet.
A few changes for this outing - new wheels (Compomotive CXR's - 8 x 13 in satin Black) new tyres (Kumho V70a 215 -50-13)
Reverse!!!
and a few other tweeks here and there.
The bad news is the incar video failed and I didnt take any photos! so the following photos and links are as credited
http://www.shutterspeed.co.nz/Public-Events/FIAT-CLUB-Hampton-1/i-QVJwQfb/1/M/FIAT-Waikato-HD0116-M.jpg
All in all a good day - chain life was perfect - 54 links and now on its second event (12 standing starts and counting) and looking fine - finished the day with a 1:25 flat. The handling is interesting - snap wander on partial throttle being the highlight - closely followed by wheel vibration so bad that the diff bolts all backed out - eventually got the car settled down by taking the rear toe back to factory specs (ish) so I was able to get the gas down - gearing for 126mph and I saw 11400 in 6th at the end of the straight.... so if I can get to go straight it will be flying :-) it hooks up the power nicely and goes where you point it flat and hard - brakes were good once hot... oh and the torque steer is gone - just weaves all over the straight bits of teh track!
will be getting all the caster I can in the front and treating the whole thing to a full wheel computerised wheel alignement... Next event Fiat Nationals - Taupo Novemebr.....
sweet.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Rear Hangers
The one item that came close to failing on the 13th of March were the rear arm hangers.... I made them in a hurry out of some 5/8" free machining hex stock ages ago - predictably they were a little on the frail side... they were never meant to be a long term item and the replacements were designed already - it took about three hours to have a new stronger (over designed) solution ready to be welded and bolted on...
the new and old are seen below clearly showing the "almost disaster" bend in the weedy looking bars and the "we wont be bending this - we hope" replacement units
the new and old are seen below clearly showing the "almost disaster" bend in the weedy looking bars and the "we wont be bending this - we hope" replacement units
Sunday, March 20, 2011
First Outing - Paritutu 13 March 2011
Well we decided to go racing.
bit of a mad rush but I got the car ready to run and gave it a wheel alignment and it passed its Cage Audit.
There is a rough edit video on you tube
In short we drove it on to the trailer at the end of the day - and drove it into the shed after that.... It ran and stopped okay - nothing really broke and the water temps were 85 degrees centegtrade all day only getting over 100 when coming in after a run.
The handling was teriffic (terriable and horific!) the tyres were only there to hold the rims off teh ground which they did okay.... they just did nothing else! - that plus bliblical levels of torque steer -
In the 7 days since then I have bought new tyres (215/50/13 kuhmo V70a) and am fixing a few of the obvious faults...
Track arms are now 10mm shorter - wheel spacers are now 5mm on the front... and the rear arm securing "hangers" are now 25.4 mm 3mm wall seamless tube rather than 5/8" hex stock (dumb - dumb - dumb idea that looked okay at the time)
When checking the rims I have found I have the widest 13x7JJ -7 ET superlights on the planet - they measure at 210mm - 8" which explains why the tyres have always been a hassle to fit...
My plan is to do two events in May and then park it for the winter and probably buy a set of 13x8's either Compomotive CXR's in satin black with some decent ET numbers - I think I have pleanty of room inboard of the current wheel package for an ET of anything up to 40mm but looks can be deceiving and wil depend on how the new tyres go on I may end up with some more performance Superlights with 6mm ET in Black to complement the rears better
Will really need to concentrate on the handling now - Chain life after the weekend looks like it might be okay... have also changed the shocks to full hard on rebound to see what that does...
Other stuff to fiddle with will be the CV boots (grease leaking under pressure) ducting some clod air to the chain... getting a heap more rear camber (which is how I found that the 5/8" hex rear hangers were not far away from making the debut a disaster of large and ugly proportions - will take a pic of those this week...
bit of a mad rush but I got the car ready to run and gave it a wheel alignment and it passed its Cage Audit.
There is a rough edit video on you tube
In short we drove it on to the trailer at the end of the day - and drove it into the shed after that.... It ran and stopped okay - nothing really broke and the water temps were 85 degrees centegtrade all day only getting over 100 when coming in after a run.
The handling was teriffic (terriable and horific!) the tyres were only there to hold the rims off teh ground which they did okay.... they just did nothing else! - that plus bliblical levels of torque steer -
In the 7 days since then I have bought new tyres (215/50/13 kuhmo V70a) and am fixing a few of the obvious faults...
Track arms are now 10mm shorter - wheel spacers are now 5mm on the front... and the rear arm securing "hangers" are now 25.4 mm 3mm wall seamless tube rather than 5/8" hex stock (dumb - dumb - dumb idea that looked okay at the time)
When checking the rims I have found I have the widest 13x7JJ -7 ET superlights on the planet - they measure at 210mm - 8" which explains why the tyres have always been a hassle to fit...
My plan is to do two events in May and then park it for the winter and probably buy a set of 13x8's either Compomotive CXR's in satin black with some decent ET numbers - I think I have pleanty of room inboard of the current wheel package for an ET of anything up to 40mm but looks can be deceiving and wil depend on how the new tyres go on I may end up with some more performance Superlights with 6mm ET in Black to complement the rears better
Will really need to concentrate on the handling now - Chain life after the weekend looks like it might be okay... have also changed the shocks to full hard on rebound to see what that does...
Other stuff to fiddle with will be the CV boots (grease leaking under pressure) ducting some clod air to the chain... getting a heap more rear camber (which is how I found that the 5/8" hex rear hangers were not far away from making the debut a disaster of large and ugly proportions - will take a pic of those this week...
Thursday, February 03, 2011
January 2011
As you will be able to see from the Video uploaded in late December - the thing runs - you wont be able to hear that on the video but trust me it does! I have since managed to get a new camera so next run will be with screaming sound!
This post updates on the work done to date.
Headers were finished and given the space and packaging issues they are about as good as they are going to get. Obviously the wiring went okay and the fuel system worked. The radiator plumbing involved a bit of nutting out but thanks to some scrap stainless tube and great deal on silicone hose its worked out. you will see the bottom radiator hose goes through the header pile.... I have since lagged the whole lot and added some ACL heat barrier.
And due to the carbs hanging open at 5000rpm on the first test run I ended up striping them and giving them a birthday and a new factory return spring - plus an additional return spring mounted in true shed fashion of a handy bit of bracket....
So on to the photos.
Now the Stills from the test run 27 December 2010 - merry Christmas! I will be removing the front wheel spacers as the scrub radius is truly scary - that and an bit more work on the brakes and a long list of "little" prep jobs and it will be close to testing time. that and the small matter of reverse.....
This post updates on the work done to date.
Headers were finished and given the space and packaging issues they are about as good as they are going to get. Obviously the wiring went okay and the fuel system worked. The radiator plumbing involved a bit of nutting out but thanks to some scrap stainless tube and great deal on silicone hose its worked out. you will see the bottom radiator hose goes through the header pile.... I have since lagged the whole lot and added some ACL heat barrier.
And due to the carbs hanging open at 5000rpm on the first test run I ended up striping them and giving them a birthday and a new factory return spring - plus an additional return spring mounted in true shed fashion of a handy bit of bracket....
So on to the photos.
This pipe will fit - eventually |
And yes I know one is longer than the other.... its not optimum but then sticking this whole thing together has been a bit of a compromise |
I call it "functional" |
Snug fit with snakes and heat... |
Strip and clean and reassemble the FCR's
Note the difference in return spring - new one on right....
Temperature Control V1 - Lagg yah pipes |
Add thermal barrier |
Pray... |
Now the Stills from the test run 27 December 2010 - merry Christmas! I will be removing the front wheel spacers as the scrub radius is truly scary - that and an bit more work on the brakes and a long list of "little" prep jobs and it will be close to testing time. that and the small matter of reverse.....
next project is waiting.... |
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