Monthly Archives: March 2006

Finishing up the Intercooler and Starting the Chute Mount

It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to add any substantial news, so here it goes:

– I made a huge Summit order, which included things like: fire suppression, parachute, parachute mounting, bump stops for the front shocks, some -12AN fittings (the hot IC pipe location required some slight remounting of the water pump, so we’re going to have to remake a few lines – not a big deal, but still work nonetheless) and a bunch of lug nuts. For anyone who doesn’t know, Weld Racing’s lugnuts just straight up suck. I have about 50 lug nuts laying around I’ll never be able to use because they’re either the wrong size, or they won’t fit how they’re supposed to. Aside from those lug nuts, I also have nuts from Weld that are off center, or somehow cocked up in some way shape or form. So, I dug around a but, and found almost identical nuts from Centerline, and they seem to be better quality. The complete set that I ordered was about the same price, and they come in pack of 5 instead of 4. So, Weld, I like the look of your wheels, but your lug nuts [b]suck[/b].

Oh, yeah, I also made an order from McMaster-Carr to get some stainless plate for some mounting brackets and the like. I also ordered one of every bolt in the catalog, I think./ Okay, I’m exaggerating, but I still made a few hundred dollar order for [b]bolts[/b] which sounds pretty ridiculous, but I think that’s just what you do when you’re building a car. Oh well.

Other than that, I welded up the IC top tank. I’ve had a few questions about how that thing was going to work, and I think now that it’s assembled, it’s easier for people to see how it’ll work. I had one guy who thought I was going to punch a hole in the hood, and that it was going to be an air:air Intercooler. That’s not the case – The top tank is essentially a huge icebox for about fifteen pounds of ice per pass. Fun stuff :-)

I’m also working on the parachute mount. Last night I mounted it partially to the body. With any luck, tonight I should be able to finish up the rest of the mount, and get it up on the car. Here’s to hoping :-)

Current News – and a Small Gripe

Okay, so I’ve got a lot of stuff on my mind lately about what needs to happen to the Talon in the coming months. I have a ton of stuff going on around me (in my life) but I’m trying to stay focused on the car right now. The big pieces are getting knocked out, and it’s only a matter of time before Mark and I start working on smaller and smaller things. Hopefully we’ll be able to get to a point where we’re like “okay, what’s next?” and the answer is “take it to the track” :-)

So, what are the bigest pieces left to do on the car? Well, the oil pan, wastegate mounting, transmission tunnel, mounting the front bumper, wiring and installing gauges. There are some small things left including: a couple cage bars here and there to finish that up, some tin work, many many small brackets, and small things like inside door handles. Between using the bathroom, and refilling the three gallon fuel cell, I will eventually have to get out of the Talon, even if I don’t want to :-p

And this is the part of the post where I digress heavily: I am so happy with this project, but if I had to do it all over again, it would be different. The car doesn’t really fit into any classes, and it’s being designed as an 8.50 car, really. It’s not 25.5 SFI spec, and it was never intended to be. The crappy part about that is that I’d get my ass handed to me in most of the pro classes, and all the rules of “mortal” classes really suck, requiring full interior, or not allowing RWD conversions, because “normal” people just don’t do that to imports (yet :-)) So, at the end of the day, this car that’s supposed to “only” run 8.50’s really doesn’t fit into any class. I know, we’ve got a long way to go before we lay down some 8.50’s, but I still don’t want to go further than that in this chassis. Hrmph. I’m sure I’ll ramble more about it later.

In any case, the Exhaust was finish welded last night, and now it’s time to weld up the Intercooler.

Four Inch Downpipe / Exhaust

A shot of the engine bay

A shot of the engine bay

The lower half of the exhaust, exiting under the car

The lower half of the exhaust, exiting under the car

Now THAT is an exhaust

Now THAT is an exhaust

Downpipe time! Over the weekend, we had a few visitors to the shop. More than any other weekend, anyway. Jim Craig and Kevin Kwiatkowski came out on Saturday to hang out, shoot the shit, return borrowed parts, and hang out for a bit. It was fun, but not the most productive weekend. Good times though :-)

Anyway, Mark and I got working on the complete 4″ exhaust system for the car. “complete” is kind of a relative term, because the entire exhaust system is roughly 48″ long. We purchased three 90 degree 1D stainless bends, 4 inch diameter and four feet of straight 4″ tubing to fabricate up the exhaust system. We got to work mocking up the downpipe, and then added two more bends to the system to get the exhaust to come out the side of the car. the result?

Now that is an exhaust :-)