So I talked to a few people today locally who had the tools/parts I need for this and it seems as though all is good. I got a great hook up on the pipe for the frame/roll cage and I have access to several mandrel benders. The custom fabrication won't be that difficult.
This is just a proposal at this point. I will keep you guys informed and post an assload of pics as the project starts.
Keep in mind that this car will never see another public street for the rest of its life and that I plan on working with a VERY MODEST budget (about $4-5k).
Also keep in mind that I'm not building it to any particular class specs for any particular racing. It's just a project to see what I can do and because I really want to do it.
Please forgive the crappy pictures. They were all done freehand and in the passenger seat of a moving car!
The Plans:
General frame overview:
Entire front of the car will be cut off at the firewall. Tubular bars will be bent and welded in to make the new front frame. It will mount to the reamaining lower frame rails and the re-enforced upper firewall. Front suspension will mount ina "OEM- style" setup to the frame bars. OEM style hubs will be used and large bolts will be used to fill the current axle holes. Front steering will function as usual. No ohter parts will be up front. An easily removable, one piece front end will cover the new tubular frame and will will be made of either fiberglass, carbon fiber, or urethane. It will have easily removable headlights but nothing else will be up front. It may get shortened by a few inches and will most likely incorperate a body drop into the suspension mounting locations.
General front frame setup:
The best way I can describe the rear half of the car is to picture an MR-2 as I'm describing it. There will be no rear side windows. The curved rear window will be removed and the back glass area will be modified to fit a flat piece of plexi-glass or lexan that slants vertically. It will start just after the front "door glass" area. The trunk will be eliminated. A new easily removable, one-piece rear with breather vents will be fabbed up that can slant open to make room for the engine bay or can be comletely removed and it will be made of either fiberglass, carbon fiber, or urethane. The rear will be slightly tubbed out and slight flared fenders to accomodate larger tires and to incoroprate side "scoops" to ingest air to help with radiator cooling and general bay temperatures. The intercooler will be mounted in the rear bumper with fans assisting air flow.
General rear frame setup:
The floorboard from the back seat area all the way back will be cut out and tubular pipe will be used to create a new frame and mounts for the engine/trans craddle and rear suspension. A new firewall will be inserted between the rear and the driving compartment. Interior roll cage will be incorperated into the design and will meet with both the front and rear tubular frame.
As for the engine and trans, Ideally they will be mounted to a "craddle" that is similar to the front crossmembers in the FWD setup now, except it will be lighter, stronger and also incorperate the side mounts into the craddle. The craddle will bolt into the rear tubular frame with 8 bolts. Custom shift cables will need to be made to reach the new location and will have to be mounted opposite (shifting would be opposite otherwise). Fuel cell will be mounted next to the rear firewall. Computer and all other electroincs will be mounted on the rear firewall as well. The idea is to make motor/trans installs or removal a 10-15 minute thing. Simply undo 8 bolts, the rear suspension mounting bolts, 2 electrical connectors, shift cables, a few hoses/lines and then the entire motor and trans can be lowered from the body with the drivetrain still attatched. I am still working out the details for the rear hub assemblies since they need to have openings for the axles to drive the rear wheels. I may rob the front suspension off of another Accord and modify it, or I may make something from scratch. Either way, I want to keep the rear independant suspension and will be using stiffer springs to accomodate the extra weight. The rear of the car may also be shortened by a few inches.
Motor craddle:
The heavy ass 90 lb coupe doors will be removed and replacement panel will be made out of carbon fiber or fiber glass that will be molded to the body (no more doors). The door glass will be replaced with removable plexiglass or lexan. The sunroof will be removed and converted into a simple emergency escape hatch using a latch, some removable hinges and plexiglass or lexan. Front windshield will be replaced with removable lexan.
An adjustable brake proportioning valve will be installed within drivers reach to adjust the amount of brake power the rear brakes have (for burnouts I want 0 rear brakes, but for tight turns I may want 40-60% rear brake power). The pedal assembly will also be modified to incorperate 2 gas pedals (extra one will be to the left of the clutch pedal). A sheet metal dash will be made from aluminum and will be decked out with nothing but gauges and switches (all serving a particular purpose).
General interior crap:
The engine itself is an F22B1 block with transversly mounted H22A head (intake up front, exhaust in the rear). Turbo is a Garrett T3 60 trim. The downpipe from the turbo will be straight down and curve slightly go directly out the center rear of the car and will most likely be 2.5" or 3" in diameter and only about 2 or 3 feet long total (no cat or muffler or anything). Trans will be a LSD trans, gearing has not been calculated yet and that really depends on what kind of wheels end up being used. Beefed up axles will be a must!
It's probably going to require wheelie bars and may need a parachute if it gets done right.
The rest of the car will be stripped even more and whatever does not serve a purpose for racing will be eliminated. All wiring will be re-done from scratch and will only be run for the devices left in the car that need it.
Total weight should be less than 1800 lbs when I'm done and weight distribution will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 35-40% front and 60-65% rear.
I'm pretty sure it'll drift alright, but with most of the weight in the rear, it's gonna make the rear tires stick and launch the car in whatever direction it's pointed. It should be a fun car in the twisties and still do good in straight line driving.
I know there's more ideas I had for this setup but that should be enough to give you a general idea.
Don't expect this to get done overnight. It's going to take probably a year or so, maybe longer considering the budget I'm trying to do this with.
Comments? Questions? Suggestions? (please read everything above before posting)
This is just a proposal at this point. I will keep you guys informed and post an assload of pics as the project starts.
Keep in mind that this car will never see another public street for the rest of its life and that I plan on working with a VERY MODEST budget (about $4-5k).
Also keep in mind that I'm not building it to any particular class specs for any particular racing. It's just a project to see what I can do and because I really want to do it.
Please forgive the crappy pictures. They were all done freehand and in the passenger seat of a moving car!
The Plans:
General frame overview:
Entire front of the car will be cut off at the firewall. Tubular bars will be bent and welded in to make the new front frame. It will mount to the reamaining lower frame rails and the re-enforced upper firewall. Front suspension will mount ina "OEM- style" setup to the frame bars. OEM style hubs will be used and large bolts will be used to fill the current axle holes. Front steering will function as usual. No ohter parts will be up front. An easily removable, one piece front end will cover the new tubular frame and will will be made of either fiberglass, carbon fiber, or urethane. It will have easily removable headlights but nothing else will be up front. It may get shortened by a few inches and will most likely incorperate a body drop into the suspension mounting locations.
General front frame setup:
The best way I can describe the rear half of the car is to picture an MR-2 as I'm describing it. There will be no rear side windows. The curved rear window will be removed and the back glass area will be modified to fit a flat piece of plexi-glass or lexan that slants vertically. It will start just after the front "door glass" area. The trunk will be eliminated. A new easily removable, one-piece rear with breather vents will be fabbed up that can slant open to make room for the engine bay or can be comletely removed and it will be made of either fiberglass, carbon fiber, or urethane. The rear will be slightly tubbed out and slight flared fenders to accomodate larger tires and to incoroprate side "scoops" to ingest air to help with radiator cooling and general bay temperatures. The intercooler will be mounted in the rear bumper with fans assisting air flow.
General rear frame setup:
The floorboard from the back seat area all the way back will be cut out and tubular pipe will be used to create a new frame and mounts for the engine/trans craddle and rear suspension. A new firewall will be inserted between the rear and the driving compartment. Interior roll cage will be incorperated into the design and will meet with both the front and rear tubular frame.
As for the engine and trans, Ideally they will be mounted to a "craddle" that is similar to the front crossmembers in the FWD setup now, except it will be lighter, stronger and also incorperate the side mounts into the craddle. The craddle will bolt into the rear tubular frame with 8 bolts. Custom shift cables will need to be made to reach the new location and will have to be mounted opposite (shifting would be opposite otherwise). Fuel cell will be mounted next to the rear firewall. Computer and all other electroincs will be mounted on the rear firewall as well. The idea is to make motor/trans installs or removal a 10-15 minute thing. Simply undo 8 bolts, the rear suspension mounting bolts, 2 electrical connectors, shift cables, a few hoses/lines and then the entire motor and trans can be lowered from the body with the drivetrain still attatched. I am still working out the details for the rear hub assemblies since they need to have openings for the axles to drive the rear wheels. I may rob the front suspension off of another Accord and modify it, or I may make something from scratch. Either way, I want to keep the rear independant suspension and will be using stiffer springs to accomodate the extra weight. The rear of the car may also be shortened by a few inches.
Motor craddle:
The heavy ass 90 lb coupe doors will be removed and replacement panel will be made out of carbon fiber or fiber glass that will be molded to the body (no more doors). The door glass will be replaced with removable plexiglass or lexan. The sunroof will be removed and converted into a simple emergency escape hatch using a latch, some removable hinges and plexiglass or lexan. Front windshield will be replaced with removable lexan.
An adjustable brake proportioning valve will be installed within drivers reach to adjust the amount of brake power the rear brakes have (for burnouts I want 0 rear brakes, but for tight turns I may want 40-60% rear brake power). The pedal assembly will also be modified to incorperate 2 gas pedals (extra one will be to the left of the clutch pedal). A sheet metal dash will be made from aluminum and will be decked out with nothing but gauges and switches (all serving a particular purpose).
General interior crap:
The engine itself is an F22B1 block with transversly mounted H22A head (intake up front, exhaust in the rear). Turbo is a Garrett T3 60 trim. The downpipe from the turbo will be straight down and curve slightly go directly out the center rear of the car and will most likely be 2.5" or 3" in diameter and only about 2 or 3 feet long total (no cat or muffler or anything). Trans will be a LSD trans, gearing has not been calculated yet and that really depends on what kind of wheels end up being used. Beefed up axles will be a must!
It's probably going to require wheelie bars and may need a parachute if it gets done right.
The rest of the car will be stripped even more and whatever does not serve a purpose for racing will be eliminated. All wiring will be re-done from scratch and will only be run for the devices left in the car that need it.
Total weight should be less than 1800 lbs when I'm done and weight distribution will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 35-40% front and 60-65% rear.
I'm pretty sure it'll drift alright, but with most of the weight in the rear, it's gonna make the rear tires stick and launch the car in whatever direction it's pointed. It should be a fun car in the twisties and still do good in straight line driving.
I know there's more ideas I had for this setup but that should be enough to give you a general idea.
Don't expect this to get done overnight. It's going to take probably a year or so, maybe longer considering the budget I'm trying to do this with.
Comments? Questions? Suggestions? (please read everything above before posting)
I think cp[mike] still has some pictures of it when it was stripped. Maybe I can get him to post them sometime! Anyways, I KNOW I'll be busy for a VERY LONG TIME! It's fun tho so I don't mind 
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