Firehawk's N2 racecar project

Wataru Joined: 10 Jun 2007 Posts: 67 Location: Wiltshire

lol they are with fuel injection, well i haven't heard it run yet is just being finished, can't wait to hear it! Shocked

Will you be willing to sell me a front lip when you get the parts made?

Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 3:30 pm Post subject:

Iketani Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 49

Can you tell me the price of that fuel cell.
I need one for my starlet

Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 3:34 pm Post subject:

I bought the fuel cell from a local shop called Racer's Place for 138eur but Summit Racing in the US also sells the same fuel cell for $145.95;

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?au...&autoview=sku

Iketani Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 49

it's fia aproved?

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 4:02 pm Post subject:

Nope, not FIA-approved - hence the quite affordable price. If your class requires a FIA-approved fuel cell, go for ATL but be prepared to shell out at least four times as much cash.

Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 12:27 pm Post subject:

Ok, finally the engine is starting to run a bit like it's supposed to. Without ignition advance, it started and idled nicely but didn't really pick up revs at all. Now that the advance works, it both starts and runs properly.

I hacked together a quick'n'dirty method for gathering enough vacuum to provide the standard ECU a MAP-signal. As mentioned earlier, the ECU itself is modified slightly to overcome the lack of a TPS, air temp sensor and the idle mixture pot. These have no function on the ignition side of things so just faking them with two-resistor voltage dividers works quite well. The ECU does throw error code 11 when the diagnostic plug is connected but this is completely harmless as it only indicates that the idle switch was open on power up (the switch is normally inside the TPS).

Since the TRD intake manifold only provides vacuum ports from cylinders 1 and 4, I took those two, connected them with a Y-junction and ran a small hose via a filter to the MAP sensor. This seems to work reasonably well and the ECU runs the car with the stock ignition advance map. Since the fueling is performed by the carbs, the slight "jumpiness" of the vacuum doesn't matter as much as it would with ITBs+injectors.

Now that the ignition advance works properly and the engine starts to burn the fuel earlier, I found out that the carbs are way too lean. The engine idled very nicely, at a stable 850rpm but when carefully pressing the throttle, the carbs spat puffs of smoke and the exhaust popped and crackled loudly. On the other hand, the acceleration pumps seem to work exceptionally well with the 40 nozzles as a fast dab of the throttle picks up revs very sharply without a hint of hesitation.

A friend of mine shot this video while I tested the throttle response and tried to peek at the smoke-spitting carbs through the gap under the raised bonnet.

http://hanza.1g.fi/kuvat/sekalaista/corolla.AVI

Even with the muffler I added, the exhaust is ear-piercingly loud and on the video it's hard to tell when it backfires because the camera's mic gets completely swamped. Also, the recently applied heat-resistant paint on the muffler started to emit an acrid smell and white smoke towards the end of the video.

Anyway, since the engine ran so obviously lean, I pulled the 52.5 pilot jets and 135 main jets and skipped two sizes on both and replaced them with 60.0 and 150. No more backfire and the engine still revs quite eagerly. It may have gone a bit too far into the rich side but I won't know that for sure until I get to do some actual full-throttle driving. Gotta bleed those brakes first. Smile

Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 5:45 pm Post subject:

That sound! Very nice..I like!

Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 7:13 pm Post subject:

jumalauta! now that is some engine noise Drool

Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2008 2:19 am Post subject:

Ok, I'm back. Very Happy

The CRX needed more of of my time than I had anticipated so there wasn't really much time left to work on the AE86 during the summer. However, now that the racing season is over for now, I can return back to working on my dear hachiroku. Smile

I'm pretty much continuing from where I left the car in May so the first thing that needs to be done is mounting the fuel tank and finishing the fuel system by adding a swirl pot and pumps. Also, the wiring to the pumps needs to be redone since I just made a quick hack to get the engine running and there are no fuses whatsoever between the battery and the pumps.

AE86 : Projects > Firehawks N2 racecar project

AE86 : Projects > Firehawks N2 racecar project

Yes, the fuse panel is made from plywood. Smile

Although I'll probably replace it with carbon fiber once I know the final number of fuses I'm going to need.

To keep the fuel inside the fuel system and not leaking all over the car, I first needed proper fittings and hose. The TRD bible specifies that the N2 cars used AN/JIC -6 fittings so I figured out what I'd need and ordered them from Summit Racing. Their own brand of hose fittings is pretty good quality and a fair bit cheaper than similar Earl's or Aeroquip items. I also needed a fuel pump and a pressure regulator so I ordered a basic Carter pump and a Holley regulator at the same time.

AE86 : Projects > Firehawks N2 racecar project

I still needed a swirl pot and decided to build it myself so I bought some 75mm aluminium tube and 3mm aluminium sheet from a scrap yard and weldable AN -6 bungs from Summit. I cut the tube so that the volume of the pot would be around 0.7 liters and then proceeded to cut suitable pieces of the 3mm sheet to cap the tube. I used a flat piece for the bottom but forged the top cap using a few round discs cut from some MDF board left over from my garagemate's subwoofer project. I trust all my aluminum TIG welding to a local guy with a small workshop and he did some pretty fine work putting the pieces together.

AE86 : Projects > Firehawks N2 racecar project

The plumbing is now partially done but at least the feed pump still needs to be mounted. I'm trying to follow the Colin Chapman principle of making each part perform at least two different functions so the rear frame bracing doubles as the mount for the pumps. Also, the pump mounting brackets themselves act as guides for the fuel hoses and wiring. Smile

Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2008 11:17 pm Post subject:

Ok, another day at the garage. Smile

Tried the video capturing capability of my new mobile phone and came to the conclusion that the image quality sucks. Wink

Link

Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2008 11:22 pm Post subject:

that is a thing of beauty,,,

speaking of Cams as Rossi mentioned, the biggest Ive seen/held were 14mm lift 16v 4age cams,, Im serious
There was also a titanium crank for the same engine, never was built (yet)

Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 11:21 am Post subject:

Ok, like nzae86 said in his N2 racer project thread, sometimes you have to go backwards in order to go forward. I've been doing that a lot lately. Smile

The reason for this is that I'm taking my car after easter to a workshop for building the rollcage and the guy recommended that I'd strip the body down to a bare rolling chassis to make more room for him to work. Also, he advised that if I want to use equal length links on the rear axle, now would be a good time to build the housings for them. Firstly - the cage is not yet in place to make things more difficult and secondly, he'd be able to brace the housings directly to the roll cage. For now, I only have one housing done and it's made of cardboard. Wink

Also, through an amazing stroke of luck, I managed to find a pair of 13" Compomotive CX centers in 4x114,3 despite of them having been out of production for years! Cheerleader

This means that I can forget hunting for 14" tyres and run 13" Formula 3 Dunlop slicks instead. A friend knows a guy from an F3 team and they regularily sell their slightly used tyres quite cheaply. Along with the centers, I got a pair of 4.5" outer and 3.5" inner rims, with bolts and O-rings for building two wheels. These will combine to a pair of 13x8.5" wheels with a ridiculously negative ET. Very Happy

Now I'll need to refurb the front wheels because the previous owner had sandblasted them and painted them red. Getting them same kind of finish on the old outer half as on the new ones is not going to be fun, though..

Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 9:14 am Post subject:

Ok, there's now two holes on the floor. Smile

I cut the top and the bottom of the original bracket but left the side for now so that I can put the axle back on until I've made the equal length arms.

The floor under the rear seat is made from very thin sheet, so I welded some strips of 0.8mm sheet on the edges of the holes for reinforcement.

My friend folded me the "blank" boxes for the housings from 2.0mm mild steel so they should be sturdy enough. These are straight U-profiles 510mm long, with 140mm tall sides and 51mm inner width (55mm outer). I copied the shape of my cardboard mockup to the sides of the boxes and will cut them into shape today.

Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:20 pm Post subject:

The housings for the upper links are now done and partially welded into place. The "humps" for the original brackets gave some of trouble but a bit of adjusting with an angle grinder fixed it. Although now I need to fill the gap I made with the MIG. Very Happy

Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 10:22 am Post subject:

Took the car last sunday to a local rally driver's workshop for building the rollcage so it'll be a few weeks until I can get back to working on it. In the meanwhile, santa claus paid me a late visit. Or maybe it was ZZ Top, I dunno - the presents would certainly suggest so. Very Happy

Art sent me these from the remaining AEU86 shop stock;
AE86 : Projects > Firehawks N2 racecar project

A huge box of stuff arrived from Summit Racing. Of course, I had to spread them all out on my bedroom carpet. Smile

Tilton floor-mounted pedal assembly with balance bar.
AE86 : Projects > Firehawks N2 racecar project

Wilwood .625" and .700" brake master cylinders.
AE86 : Projects > Firehawks N2 racecar project

Remote reservoirs for the brake fluid.
AE86 : Projects > Firehawks N2 racecar project

Wilwood .750" clutch master cylinder with integral reservoir.
AE86 : Projects > Firehawks N2 racecar project

Remote adjuster knob for the brake balance bar.
AE86 : Projects > Firehawks N2 racecar project

Tilton linkage for the throttle pedal.
AE86 : Projects > Firehawks N2 racecar project

Wilwood Forged Dynalite 4-pot brake calipers. Really lightweight!
AE86 : Projects > Firehawks N2 racecar project

As the brake MCs are lower than the calipers, residual pressure valves are needed to stop the fluid from flowing backwards when the pedal is released.
AE86 : Projects > Firehawks N2 racecar project

Shitload of JIC #3 steel fittings and teflon-lined Earl's stainless steel AN-3 hose for all brake lines. No hard copper lines will be used.
AE86 : Projects > Firehawks N2 racecar project

Earl's oil cooler (TRD used Earl's as well), sandwich plate, JIC #10 fittings and plumbing.
AE86 : Projects > Firehawks N2 racecar project

Some additional plumbing and a filter for the fuel system.
AE86 : Projects > Firehawks N2 racecar project

Threaded tubes and RH/LH rod ends for the rear axle 4-links. Two of the rod ends will arrive a bit later.
AE86 : Projects > Firehawks N2 racecar project

Ryousuke Joined: 18 Oct 2006 Posts: 127 Location: Portugal

Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 9:33 am Post subject:

Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 9:27 pm Post subject:

While the car was getting the rollcage built in, I had to invent something to do with the parts I had at the garage. Smile

To test the blasting cabinet we bought, I pulled all the cooling system bits from the engine and cleaned them up by blasting them with a really fine glass bead.

AE86 : Projects > Firehawks N2 racecar project

Even old dirty and oxidised aluminium parts came out shiny and smooth - what a brilliant tool! I took the old 13" wheels next and blasted the rim halves clean, and then switched to regular sand to clean the red paint off the centers. I gave the old centers a few layers of gold paint a clearcoat.

AE86 : Projects > Firehawks N2 racecar project

Once the old centers had dried, I assembled them together with the new 4.5" outer rims and old 4.0" inners to produce a pair of 9JJx13" wheels for the rear axle.

AE86 : Projects > Firehawks N2 racecar project

Then today, I went to pick up the car from the workshop and brought it back to my garage. Several rally drivers recommended this guy and I can see why - he's pretty good at welding. Smile

The diagonal support for the main bar is braced both against the driveshaft tunnel and the 4-link housings. The front strut turrents are also braced to the rollcage with two staggered tubes for additional stiffness.

AE86 : Projects > Firehawks N2 racecar project

Some extra details.

AE86 : Projects > Firehawks N2 racecar project

Next up is modifying the driver side floor for the pedalbox and the seat, as well as making the mounting points for the steering shaft once the seat position is finalized.

Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 9:32 pm Post subject:

Nice cage! You might consider gusseting the door bars, though. (same thing as in your roof corner, those are gussets... in case you dont know) Will you be gusseting the A pillar to the half lateral? That REALLY helps stiffen the chassis up, and it would be a really nice compliment to the front strut tower tubes.

I like that he tied it to the 4 link boxes- thats always a good move.

Looks great!

Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 11:44 am Post subject:

Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 9:42 pm Post subject:

Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 3:19 pm Post subject:

The rims came out sweet! what are they?

Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 9:13 pm Post subject: