4k racecar project update...

[AUDIDUDI@delphi.com]

I didn't realize so many people were following my progress on my 4k racecar
project ... judging from the number of people wanting to know why I'm after
an 80mm stroke crank, though, it appears the number is substantial.

So, here's an update: The rollcage is finished and seam-welding the chassis
is nearly so.  I took some photos of it yesterday and once I finish off the
roll of film, I'll send them to Ti Khan so he can update the photo he's got
on his web page.  (Thanks, Ti!)

For a while, I was waffling back-and-forth about whether to build it as FWD
or AWD since the latter would bump me up into a much tougher class.  I have
since decided that AWD is the way to go (and finding a complete S4 rear end
assembly for $950 brand spankin' new didn't hurt, either!) so I'll start on
cutting out the trunk floor to accomodate the rear suspension shortly.  The
front will stay with McPherson struts for now and the track will be widened
by 2" to balance the wider rear end ... the ride height will be 4-3/4" from
where the engine mounting supports terminate under the floor and I'm aiming
for 3-4" of suspension travel front-and-rear since parking lots are quite a
bit bumpier than most tracks.

With a 8.5x23x15 Hoosier slick on a 7x15 wheel, there's plenty of clearance
all around (at least 2") with the struts bottomed out so that's where we're
going to set the front suspension at.  In order to get some travel, we will
have to shorten the strut housings and run shorter inserts but that's not a
big deal.  The front subframe will be replaced by another of similar design
that moves the inner control arm mounting points up and inward ... the ball
joint mounting nub on the strut will also be dropped down some to restore a
decent camber curve.  I'm not giving specific dimensions here because it is
not yet clear whether I'll be staying with 15" wheels, which offer me cheap
tires, or going to 17" wheels, which look sharp as hell but will be quite a
more costly to clothe.

The rear suspension will consist of an S4 setup adapted to fit the 4k ... I
don't know if this is a good idea or not but the geometry is pretty good so
I'm going to give it a chance.  Besides, the price was right!  I'm going to
run TQC-style flares front-and-rear and since I can weld-up the rear doors,
they shouldn't be too difficult to mount and the body will remain otherwise
stock appearing although all of the bolt-on panels will be made from carbon
fiber to save weight.

Motor-wise, I have decided that an I5 turbo's the way to go but since using
one larger than 2L bumps me up to the next class, I've decided to build one
that's just under that: 80mm stroke by 79.5mm bore equals 1985cc!  For some
time, I thought about using a turbo 4-cyl. motor instead because it's quite
a bit lighter but since I plan to put a bigger motor in the car eventually,
it didn't make sense to buy/develop a bunch of stuff that would be replaced
when I make the switch at a later date.  Looks like I should be able to get
260+hp without too much difficulty or expense and I'm aiming at 1650 pounds
ready-to-run against a class minimum of 1400 pounds for AWD.  

There's a lot more that I haven't covered here (such as using brakes off of
a wrecked Suzuki motorcycle ... the caliper weighs just over 3 pounds and I
plan to use a pair on each front wheel) but as things are finalized, I will
post back with updates.  Work on it is progressing slowly but steadily (I'm
having to fund 100% of the project out of my own pocket, which isn't deep!)
and I'm hopeful that it will be running in some form by the middle of 1997.

(I apologize for rambling on at such length but I'm home sick today -- $$%!
allergies -- and it's either play around on my computer or watch Oprah!)

     _             _             
    / l       l o l  \       l o   Jeffrey Goggin
   /__l l l / l l l  l l l / l l   * * * * * * *
  /   l l_l \_l l l__/ l_l \_l l   AudiDudi@delphi.com