my Project X track car update (long read)
- Thread starter GregS
- Start date
Ouch... I agree with you though. Get it home, remove the damaged parts and see what the real story is. A frame pull may be able to fix the door gap issues, and if that is the case, then cut off everything behind the firewall and tube frame it. You can then attach the body panels to that and it makes it easier to fix in the future when this happens again. That is how racing goes... It's always a chance things like this can happen. Let us know how it goes.
Dr.Jeff
True Classic
Also check the center tunnel "hump" inside the cabin. It is particularly weak where holes exist for things like the parking brake and shifter. And that is a generally weak portion of the whole unibody due to no fixed top and the door openings on either side. That's likely where the damage caused the door gaps to move. I guess the 'good' news is that is easier to straighten than the rear bulkhead/strut towers area.
GregS
ProjectX
Just to finish the saga from last Sunday, here's the video. Looks like I still had a bit of left turn on the steering wheel when all 4 wheels got on the grass, still had too much speed on and a bit bumpy and it all turned to ****. Looking at it frame by frame I can see the interior mirror fly off on impact, fly past my head and hit the Gopro, then reappears 0.5 sec later airborne on the left side. Would pay to keep your helmet visor down at all times on track.
Surprisingly the fibreglass boot lid was not destroyed, damaged but repairable. The spoiler would have been the first point of contact with the wall, the boot lid was pushed forward releasing the engine cover catch (flat spring) which then popped open, my aluminium boot lid hinges unfolded and let it fly off.
Surprisingly the fibreglass boot lid was not destroyed, damaged but repairable. The spoiler would have been the first point of contact with the wall, the boot lid was pushed forward releasing the engine cover catch (flat spring) which then popped open, my aluminium boot lid hinges unfolded and let it fly off.
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Wow, all four off then it looks like the entry back on the track got you. Been there and done that too... That just stinks. But hey, now you can build a custom rear coil over setup for it and really dial the handling in. Maybe swap out to custom a-arms for the rear but then again it would push you into a different class. Regardless, let us know what you decide to do and how we can help.
Dr.Jeff
True Classic
As a precaution be very careful not to experience any further head traumas for several days, just in case the headache was a mild concussion.
dcioccarelli
Dominic Cioccarelli
Hey Greg, that's a real pity. You would have been better off continuing to loose it on the inside of the circuit rather than crossing over, but you couldn't have known. Once you are sliding backwards, not much that you can do...
Let me know if you need any parts.
Cheers,
Dom.
GregS
ProjectX
It's taken 18 months but I finally got the rebuild finished, so here's a write up if anyone is interested.
After backing my car into a concrete wall at The Bend in September 2022 I had to assess the damage to decide my next steps. After stripping the ancillaries from the engine bay I discovered the chassis rails were creased slightly on both sides, as well as the obvious panel damage. I searched for a suitable complete car to transfer all the good bits over to, as well as looking for a rear end to replace the damaged section. After much deliberation, it was the latter that I decided. A 1700km round trip to Melbourne with my car trailer to pick up a rear cut from the seats back, a bit more than I needed, but I could cut it exactly where it best suited.
After stripping parts off in the engine bay I discovered quite a bit of rust in some of the inner panels, something else to fix. First job is to drill out all the spot welds and remove the rear quarter panels from the doors back, off both cars. Then to do some rust repairs on the replacement part, this was particularly annoying as my crumpled car was virtually rust free. I made up a trolley to support the back end that was cut off with 1 mm thick angle grinder discs between the strut towers and the firewall. I was very carefull to make the cuts on both parts in this quite complicted area a bit larger than I needed, so it could be trimmed carefully with the angle grinder to get an exact match. The trolley helped here as I could roll the new back end up, mark up where I needed to trim, roll it back, grind a bit off, offer it up again, trim a bit more. This was very laborious and time consuming, as there are multiple curved box type sections, but eventually after much measuring and checking dimensions, I got it to match up nicely, ready for welding.
I decided on TIG welding over MIG as it gives a much neater weld, with less heat distortion and less or no grinding after welding. The down side is that it takes a lot longer to make the welds, and it is trickier to get into confined spaces as it is a two handed operation, and I needed to get my face up very close to be able to seen the weld clearly with good lighting from two LED spot lights. After the two parts were securely welded together the rear quarter panels had to be welded back on at the spot weld holes. This would have been much easier and faster with MIG, but as I only had TIG that was what I had to stick with. After a loong time it was finally all back in one piece. I also cut out the upper cross member between the strut towers and welded in a tubular cross member for better carby access. And cut out various bits in the boot area for lightness and more air flow.
After backing my car into a concrete wall at The Bend in September 2022 I had to assess the damage to decide my next steps. After stripping the ancillaries from the engine bay I discovered the chassis rails were creased slightly on both sides, as well as the obvious panel damage. I searched for a suitable complete car to transfer all the good bits over to, as well as looking for a rear end to replace the damaged section. After much deliberation, it was the latter that I decided. A 1700km round trip to Melbourne with my car trailer to pick up a rear cut from the seats back, a bit more than I needed, but I could cut it exactly where it best suited.
After stripping parts off in the engine bay I discovered quite a bit of rust in some of the inner panels, something else to fix. First job is to drill out all the spot welds and remove the rear quarter panels from the doors back, off both cars. Then to do some rust repairs on the replacement part, this was particularly annoying as my crumpled car was virtually rust free. I made up a trolley to support the back end that was cut off with 1 mm thick angle grinder discs between the strut towers and the firewall. I was very carefull to make the cuts on both parts in this quite complicted area a bit larger than I needed, so it could be trimmed carefully with the angle grinder to get an exact match. The trolley helped here as I could roll the new back end up, mark up where I needed to trim, roll it back, grind a bit off, offer it up again, trim a bit more. This was very laborious and time consuming, as there are multiple curved box type sections, but eventually after much measuring and checking dimensions, I got it to match up nicely, ready for welding.
I decided on TIG welding over MIG as it gives a much neater weld, with less heat distortion and less or no grinding after welding. The down side is that it takes a lot longer to make the welds, and it is trickier to get into confined spaces as it is a two handed operation, and I needed to get my face up very close to be able to seen the weld clearly with good lighting from two LED spot lights. After the two parts were securely welded together the rear quarter panels had to be welded back on at the spot weld holes. This would have been much easier and faster with MIG, but as I only had TIG that was what I had to stick with. After a loong time it was finally all back in one piece. I also cut out the upper cross member between the strut towers and welded in a tubular cross member for better carby access. And cut out various bits in the boot area for lightness and more air flow.
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GregS
ProjectX
As this was a bit of a wakeup call to the potential dangers of racing, I had decided to fit a half roll cage with side intrusion bars. Problem is, being 182 cm tall it is very difficult to get the regulation 50 mm helmet clearance to the top of the roll bar. My solution was to cut out the front part of the factory targa bar back to the channel that holds the back window for the roll bar to sit in, and raised 33 mm above the targa bar. I also made a drop floor, and lowered the floor about 25 mm under the drivers seat. This would give me just over 50 mm helmet clearance.
Next was to trailer the car to the cage specialist to have the custom roll cage built and welded in. A week later and it was back home ready to paint the roll cage. Then I discovered that the welding in of the cage had caused the door gaps to close up quite a bit, to the extent that one door would not fit properly. Shrinkage or distortion due to welding can often cause problems, but the welder was confident it wouldn’t be an issue. The joys of an open topped sports car. I decided if I cut the doors bars out it hopefully would spring back to the door openings that I had before. So out with the angle grinder and attacked my brand new cage. It worked, the doors will now fit much better. I still have door bars, I coverted them to removable bars that are bolted in.
Now to add some colour the the rear end. Luckily I still had some paint left over from when I built the car up 10 years earlier, so no trouble matching colours. The rear quarter panels required a bit of filler here and there, but before long it was starting to look much like it did before the bingle.
Time to start putting all the suspension, brakes, engine, gearbox, cooling hoses, electrical, tail lights etc back in.
The crash had demolished my cold air box, filter and custom air intake scoop in the RH quarter panel, So a new system was made to fit the twin 40 DCOE carbs and connected this time to the modified factory air scoop in front of the LH rear wheel, including a new K & N Apollo filter kit.
Luckily my custom alloy replica of a standard series 1 engine cover escaped any real damage, but I had to do some repairs to the fibreglass boot lid and attached spoiler. Also the light weight fibreglass roof needed a small mod to clear the roll bar. Then more painting of course.
I decided it would be best to upgrade my other safety gear with a HANS device, which required a new helmet and 6 point safety harness, so bought a new Sparco race seat to go with it all.
All back together and a wheel alignment and corner weight balance with a couple of days to spare before heading off to a sprint event at The Bend, that I had entered about 6 weeks earlier. Nothing like having a deadline to hurry things along.
It was really good to get out on the track again, no chance for a test run so just took it easy for the first few laps to get my eye in and check everthing out. Nothing broke or fell off, so that is always a good sign. My fastest lap was 4 tenths slower than my previous best, but seeing as how it is now about 30 kg heavier than before, I am happy enough with that for now.
Next was to trailer the car to the cage specialist to have the custom roll cage built and welded in. A week later and it was back home ready to paint the roll cage. Then I discovered that the welding in of the cage had caused the door gaps to close up quite a bit, to the extent that one door would not fit properly. Shrinkage or distortion due to welding can often cause problems, but the welder was confident it wouldn’t be an issue. The joys of an open topped sports car. I decided if I cut the doors bars out it hopefully would spring back to the door openings that I had before. So out with the angle grinder and attacked my brand new cage. It worked, the doors will now fit much better. I still have door bars, I coverted them to removable bars that are bolted in.
Now to add some colour the the rear end. Luckily I still had some paint left over from when I built the car up 10 years earlier, so no trouble matching colours. The rear quarter panels required a bit of filler here and there, but before long it was starting to look much like it did before the bingle.
Time to start putting all the suspension, brakes, engine, gearbox, cooling hoses, electrical, tail lights etc back in.
The crash had demolished my cold air box, filter and custom air intake scoop in the RH quarter panel, So a new system was made to fit the twin 40 DCOE carbs and connected this time to the modified factory air scoop in front of the LH rear wheel, including a new K & N Apollo filter kit.
Luckily my custom alloy replica of a standard series 1 engine cover escaped any real damage, but I had to do some repairs to the fibreglass boot lid and attached spoiler. Also the light weight fibreglass roof needed a small mod to clear the roll bar. Then more painting of course.
I decided it would be best to upgrade my other safety gear with a HANS device, which required a new helmet and 6 point safety harness, so bought a new Sparco race seat to go with it all.
All back together and a wheel alignment and corner weight balance with a couple of days to spare before heading off to a sprint event at The Bend, that I had entered about 6 weeks earlier. Nothing like having a deadline to hurry things along.
It was really good to get out on the track again, no chance for a test run so just took it easy for the first few laps to get my eye in and check everthing out. Nothing broke or fell off, so that is always a good sign. My fastest lap was 4 tenths slower than my previous best, but seeing as how it is now about 30 kg heavier than before, I am happy enough with that for now.
Chromaphase
True Classic
Hi,
I read your post on t124. I have two questions :
- You said you cut part of the spring, however, I read that its something NOT to do, both for safety and else.
What is your view on this. As you are doing racing with yout X, is it a problem ?
- You mentioned air duct for your front brake, can you post a photo ? Can you feel an improvement ? Im thinking to do this as well as I have OE brakes for now and no real budget for brake upgrade.
Thanks for sharing all your stuff !
Matthieu
GregS
ProjectX
I have moved on to aftermarket coil over struts and springs now. But originally I had cut part of a coil from one end, and reset the end by heating and bending the end bit so it still sits nicely in the plastic seat. I have never had an issue with this.
My brake ducts draw in air from behind the radiator grille at the extreme end on each side, but I can do this because my alloy radiator is taller but narrower than standard. Flexible ducting pointing to the calipers/ discs. I assume it helps, but the brakes still overheat a bit on some circuits. Needs track oriented pads, currently Tarox Corsa.
Simon Oaten
Daily Driver
Greg
very glad to see both you, and xxie back in one piece, and enjoying life at 'the Bend.
congrats !
very glad to see both you, and xxie back in one piece, and enjoying life at 'the Bend.
congrats !