Tucker's "L7 Warthog". M30 + 260/5 + book frame + s10 =

[1055]

No thoughts eh? Alright well.. back to the good stuff then I guess and i'll figure that out later. . . . .

I had to go back in your log to see why a tank would be a problem. I don't see where you've put on the rear section yet, Are you going to "bob" the rear? Is that what creates the issue? Sorry, it's been a while. Are you building just for the track?

Cheers,

It will be street and track mixed use. This is a poor picture, but it is the best one I have currently. With the space for the rear shocks, radius rods and overall size of the pumpkin, combined with the rear rollbar down bars, there just isn't much space at all.

[1055]

Got out last night and got some stuff did. Made the seats fit.. kind of. though the 'driver side' only fits if i put the bottom in seperately from the top. I think i'm going to remedy this by making seperate fixture for mounting and just using the natural inclination of the frame as the layback angle of the seat. its comfortable. I need to take some foam out of the bottoms though, theyre a bit narrow for me.. and I'm not a big guy by any means.



I also mocked up the steering column and installed the wheel spacers on the rear axle to make sure I had enough space. I'll need a quick release hub to get in and out - which is fine. No different than my miatas were. length works really well for comfort though, and the shifter is in the perfect location. I also took a slightly better picture of the area behind the rear firewall over the axle where I don't have space for the fuel cell.





cheesey shot from vroom vroom noises.





This bar is inconveniently in the way... I may consider moving it... but I feel like i'll loose some integrity to the cage as its currently tied in along a major structural point right now.. but then again, the intake is still in the way as well. so..



a down the nose shot.





even with 1" of mount under the seat and my helmet on, I still have 4.5" of space between the nearest point of the cage and anywhere on my head.



Now that I've got that sorted and set in stone about which side i'll be driving on and whether or not my seats will fit..

I measured everything to order control arms and radius rods for the rear end. suspension design is up next, and once I have that mocked up and semi finalized, I'll finish triangulating the chassis, strip it down and finish weld the whole shebang.

I do have a question though.. can anyone think of a reason to not run the s10 knuckles reversed? The rack that i have is from a WRX, which is front steer, same as the s10.. so when I flip it for RHD, its obviously going the wrong direction. I'm also going to need to run some spacers in the front, as the 15" bmw wheels in alloy form are a little bit more intrusive than the standard s10 wheels and there is a bit of contact between the outer tie rod pick up point and the inner barrel of the wheel. i should end up with a 56" track front and rear, measured center point to center point on the wheels i'm using. I'll be using 8" long upper control arms and 12" lower control arms for the front suspension.

[Warren Nethercote]

You could end up with odd Ackerman, but it has been suggested that it doesn't matter a lot in light cars ....

Thought of getting a JDM WRX rack? It would be RHD out-of-the-box.

[Bobber]

Angle the outer steering links forward or backward (I forgot which) to pick up some Ackerman.

[1055]

Thanks for the advice guys. I guess the good news is that I do have a bit of room infront of the motor before the final nose support, so there is some room to adjust ackerman. for now, I'd rather use what I have on hand. Worst case scenario I can always swap it out later.

[Warren Nethercote]

Following on from Bobber's memories, Staniforth (Competition car Suspension, Fourth Edition, p.72) says an included angle of 75 degrees between the steering arm and track rod for front steer (105 degrees included angle for rear steer) will produce acceptable Ackermann.

[1055]

Following on from Bobber's memories, Staniforth (Competition car Suspension, Fourth Edition, p.72) says an included angle of 75 degrees between the steering arm and track rod for front steer (105 degrees included angle for rear steer) will produce acceptable Ackermann.

105 degrees included angle is my target then!

[1055]

So, I did a little last week - I'm headed out to do a little more tonight. Little one just fell asleep, and giving her a couple minutes to hit that REM cycle.

I trimmed and tacked the front roll bar cross bar, and started the dash hoop. In the spirit of locosting.. I used some 1" 16ga stock, combined with 3/4" 90* conduit bends to ensure the smooth curves.



I was also able to mount the steering column, and create a couple of brackets to ensure it stays where it needs to be. I need to add one more bit of bracing to it since I chose to go with c channel. My plan was to use the channel to keep miscellaneous wiring out of the way, and to eventually affix a plate over the top to mount the ECU.





heres a through shot of clearance between the column and the manifolds. I'll need a piece of heat shielding for sure, but there is just about the same spacing between it and the chevy factory exhaust so i'm good with that.



Lastly, I started modifying the pedal box to fit. The way the subaru box is set up, it uses a long linkage off of the clutch pedal to a remote mounted master cylinder. I cut the right half of the pedal box off and welded a washer to the inner portion to keep the pedal assembly from moving laterally. I wanted to ensure that it wouldnt move, yet didnt melt to the OD of the carrying tube at all.. so I did a series of tacks, made sure it rotated then burned it in. Not the prettiest work, but it gets the job done and it will never be seen so i'm a-ok with it.

[1055]

I'm contemplating stripping everything and finish welding what I have roughed out now, with the addition of the rear package area and the diagonals in the side of the chassis. I have the suspension rough designed, and know where I am going to mount the brackets. Nothing interferes and i'm not entirely sure how much further I should really go before zipping it all together..

[1055]

So, pedal box modification and mounting nearly concluded last night.



Shortened right up, welded and smashed with a hammer. I figure if they could take a blow from a 3lb sledge, they aren't going to break from my feet.







serviceable, workable pedals. I plan on finishing the mounting of the brake and clutch assembly to what will become the firewall, Which will be made of 3/16th sheet. The lower "mount" for the brake/clutch pedal is simply a reinforcement and shim to help me get the desired resting angle of the pedals. its tight in there, but it works.. and i'll have to be careful about what shoes I wear when I drive this thing.

I also installed the bars that the control arms mount to, and spent about 45 minutes too many repairing a cast iron bench. I've welded cast iron a dozen times before, and never ran into the issues that I had last night.

[carguy123]

How stiff is the pedal action with them being shortened that much?

[1055]

How stiff is the pedal action with them being shortened that much?

They're deceptively longer than you would think. The total pedal length pre modification was about 11" from pivot point to center of pedal. I took out roughly 3", making them still about as long as floor mounted pedals. I plan on mounting the master brake and clutch cylinders low, so I can drill the holes for the Clevus's to fit.

[1055]

More progress pictures.. Started fitting the triangulation and tacking into place. changed my rear package area around and decided that I wanted a square end instead of the traditional curved ends. I think with the slight inclination towards the front of the car, and the more aggressive fenders I plan on running, it will flow better with the other boxier lines on the car.

It also allows me to run a 27x9x13" fuel tank, which will get me around ~13.5 gallons. it will be mounted a little higher than I would like it to be, but it fits my desire for capacity.







I have some concerns about chassis rigidity up front. I can not run the same bracing that the book suggests and still be able to remove my engine easily. I think i'll make them bolt in bars instead of welding them in. I want to run some diagonal downbars from the front of the cage down and out to the middle of the front upper chassis rails.

Think I am going to finish up tacking in the triangulation, then strip it all and finish weld what I have. still unsure of what I am going to do with the front control arms.

[1055]

So, I have decided how to make my front control arms.. They are in great shape - probably recently replaced - though the ball joints need to be replaced. I am going to pick up some 1"OD round tube, and cut the existing stamped steel arms in a way that will allow me to use the existing balljoint mount and shock mount, but mount as i see fit to the chassis. The steel is 3/16th on these, and formed in a way that with proper bracing - it should be more than enough. Hoping to get a night in tomorrow out there to finish triangulation and finish weld the chassis. then its on to the fun stuff. I want this to be rolling by snowfall.

[1055]

So nearly two years later - I've gotten into a financial situation where i can afford to comfortably purchase a dream car.

Ol' girl and all of her relevant parts are up for sale!