I built the car as I had been both Autocrossing my Rx8 and daily driving it at the same time for a couple of years. I was face with a choice of either making the Rx8 a dedicated race car and buying a beater, buying a Miata and turning it into a race car with Turbo and such or building my own car. I have built this car as an EMod Autocross car with the goal of having fun.
I would like to be competing for FTD (Fastest time of the day) locally and would also like to do the local National competitions and may make the trip to the National Championships in Nebraska. I don't think the car will be competitive Nationally but I think the trip will be a lot of fun. Maybe Scrap Metal 2 or 3 can be built as a National contender but for now I want to enjoy the car and get the most out of it. I have already raced it once and my times were good enough for FTD but I hit cones on every run.
Scrap Metal is far from complete but it is however performing the task it was made to do and that is race. As such I decided to add it to the completed build showcase. My goal is a car with 25% of the weight on each wheel with driver, a boatload of power and handles like it is on rails.
Donor Vehicles and PartsI purchased the Engine, transmission, header and Harness form and 05 Honda S2000 about 40K miles for $2000. I also bought a 1989 Toyota Supra roller with no engine for $800 as a donor for the rest of the car.
Power PlantMy goal was a Naturally Aspirated 4 cylinder engine that made around 200HP. That way I would not have to worry about adding power to a stock engine and decreasing reliability. The engine and Transmission I used is the F22C from and 05 Honda S2000 making approx 240HP (stock) The engine is basically stock with a few typical modifications. I removed the Aircon compressor and added a shorter serpentine belt to compensate. I also blocked the heater holes like most Locosts. The engine management is a stock ECU modified to run without the immobiliser etc.
Attachment:
IMAG1268.jpg
The intake is a large K&N cone filter which is bigger and shorter then stock. Hopefully finding an extra pony or two.
Attachment:
IMAG1269.jpg
The exhaust is a modified stock manifold. I extended the primaries to clear the frame this should help increase low end Torque. The header then goes into a "Y" pipe that I made myself out of Stainless steel. 2 Harley Davidson Chrome Exhaust mufflers silence the exhaust.
Attachment:
IMAG1270.jpg
The coolant radiator is at typical Civic half size radiator. I added an Oil cooler off the Supra; it is connected via a sandwich plate on the oil filter that has a thermostat just like the coolant. Both are mounted toward the right of the car to help with weight distribution.
The fuel call is and 8-gallon fuel cell mounted at the front. I put it there as is the strongest part of the chassis, the farthest point from me in the car and would also help with weight distribution. I mounted a filter and the fuel pump on the front right, which will be secured to the floor.
The battery is and Odyseey PC680 which weighs about 12lb. With a custom mount welded to the frame.
Attachment:
IMAG1277.jpg
Drive trainThe transmission is the stock 6 Speed manual S2000 transmission. I replace the 23lb Flywheel with an 8lb aftermarket one and retained the stock clutch. I made the drive shaft myself from and S200 drive shaft front welded to a Toyota Supra rear. Soon I will get another one professionally made and balanced from the spare parts. The pumpkin is at Toyota Supra LSD (The donor purchase was picked as it had an LSD) I also upgraded the spring on the clutch plates to give the LSD a little more performance. The Axles are the stock supra ones at stock length.
Attachment:
IMAG1274.jpg
SuspensionThe Coilovers are Bilstien PSS9's for an NB Mazda Miata. The have just under 400lb springs all round.
The rear suspension is the multilink suspension from the Supra. The stock camber and toe adjustments were recreated on the frame using the eccentric bolts. There are multiple upper control arm mounts to allow adjustable dynamic camber and change the ride height without messing with the geometry too much. The rear sway bar is the stock Supra sway bar that I modified to have two additional softer settings. The hubs are stock Supra units with 5x4.5" bolt pattern.
Attachment:
IMAG1275.jpg
The front suspension is mostly custom made. The upper control arms are the rear Supra aluminium upper control arms. I extended the frame out to house the coilover units. The lower control arms are built from scratch. They are adjustable from the mount to change camber and caster. The front sway bar is from the Supra with could not be modified to be adjustable unfortunately. The steering links were also home made and can be extended for toe adjustment.
Attachment:
IMAG1279.jpg
SteeringThe Steering shaft is a mix of S2000 and Supra. I added a 2:1 reducer to make the steering really quick and so I never have to let go of the wheel whilst driving. It now has a 1 1/4 turn lock to lock. The steering wheel is and OMP suede model. It is probably a little small with such fast steering but it was cheap form a friend.
Attachment:
IMAG1281.jpg
BrakesThe brakes are currently the Stock Supra brakes. The brake booster was retained to keep the sharp brake feel. Stainless steel braided flex lines, and copper hard line. There is also a Wilwood bias adjuster to calibrate the braking performance on the car. The Brake Master and booster is from the Supra and Clutch master is from and S2000 the pedal were home made and floor mounted with the stock supra gas pedal.
The brakes have 12" rotors, which very large and heavy, 16" is the smallest wheel I can use. Ideally I want 13" wheels or 15s if I cannot make 13s work. I am looking to replace the brakes with smaller 10" units.
Attachment:
IMAG1280.jpg
SeatsThe seats are the Kirkey Budget seats with covers. The driver’s seat has an adjustable rail to allow for a co-driver but the passenger seat (Not yet purchased) is fixed. I have a 5 point racing harness to keep me safe in the car .
Attachment:
IMAG1282.jpg
FrameThe frame is a space frame chassis, which started off as a modified book chassis and ended up being completely custom made. I wanted a roll cage from the start so decided to build the cockpit as a proper cage incorporated into the chassis rather than added to the chassis. The rear end was custom made (and remade twice) to house the multi-link suspension. The front is similar in shape to a book frame with custom suspension mounts in the front. I built the chassis around the engine so everything fits correctly and the engine is mounted 2-3" to the right to help with weight distribution. (I read to many threads where the engine didn't fit in a frame that was built from scratch so I wasn't going to make that mistake).
Attachment:
IMAG1286.jpg
The floor is 1/8" thick diamond plate aluminium and covered the bottom of the car from nose to the rear of the cockpit. Eventually the floor will extend to the rear but will just be thin sheet under the diff with a diffuser at the rear. I will also add a splitter on the front as well as some sort of body.
WheelsI currently have 4 sets of wheels all 3 from my rx8 and one from the Supra. The ones on the photo are Forged Aluminum 18x8 weighting about 18lb each wrapped in Hankook DOT race rubber.
A set Enkei RPF1 17x8 that are about 16lb each wrapped in Toyo R1Rs. Some Rota "Replicas" that are 17x9 weight about 21lb which currently have corded tires but I have a set of Continental road race tires for them. The other set a cheap 17x7 which are just good for rolling the car around one. Eventually I will be getting some smaller wheels hopefully 13x10 or 15x10 (possible wider in the rear either 13x12 or 15x14) with soft compound race tires.
Attachment:
IMAG1278.jpg
_________________
2015 & 2016 EMod Florida State Autocross Champion
2013 & 2014 DSP Florida State Autocross Champion
Scrap Metal Build Log
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=14558