Lighter = Faster (N/A build thread #2)

[infernosg]

Originally Posted by RETed

Congrads!
Everything else should be put on the backburner for such reasons!

Thanks! Things are settling down into a routine again so I should be able to get back to work soon.

Originally Posted by RETed

Since you're going through all this trouble...
And I believe you're building a "race car"...?
Secure your wiring as much as possible.
If you don't like drilling more holes into the car - understandable - to add wiring clips, then you can always use glued or adhesive anchors.
This minimizes the shaking and vibration of the wiring, which WILL eventually fail at one point.
Concentrate especially at connectors and plugs which add more mass to increase the shaking and vibration and are natural fail points.

-Ted

Not a pure "race car" by any means. I really don't know what to call it. I'm building it the way I want to. But I get what you're saying. This is one of the reasons I didn't have any of the threaded holes plugged. There will be Adel clamps everywhere I can use one.

Progress is being made at the body shop once again. Teaser pics:

[infernosg]

Getting there. The shop estimates about 2 more weeks and that's mostly due to waiting for a new rear window.

[infernosg]

Posted a couple more pictures up on Facebook. Figured I should share them here as well. Not too much longer. Need to finish the rear window and waiting on some clips to install the sides.

[infernosg]

Few more with the rear window complete and the TII sides installed. Last item is the OEM option TII front lip and it's done.









My only gripe is the alignment of the side skirt and front fender on the passenger's side. I'm going to ask the shop get it as good as possible but I've come to realize perfection isn't attainable for what I'm willing to spend with aftermarket/used parts.

[WE3RX7]

Its looking good. I like the orange.. any shots of the engine bay painted up? Did you make the rear hatch?

[infernosg]

Originally Posted by WE3RX7

Its looking good. I like the orange.. any shots of the engine bay painted up? Did you make the rear hatch?

The best picture at the moment is in post 76. I bought/supplied the parts for the hatch and the shop put everything together. It's the stock frame with a poly-carbonate window from Optic Armor Windows.

Body work is done. I'm going to the shop today to wrap up everything and hopefully take the car home!

[infernosg]

TII lip installed and the car is back home. Now time for me to get to work!

[chibikougan]

Ooooh color is even better in natural light...

[infernosg]

Did some stuff. The doors are back together and the headliner is in. I might need to dye the faded sun visors.





I threw one of the wheels on to check fitment. It looks like it'll clear just fine but front camber is like -3.x degrees at this point. I spent a lot of time on Saturday hacking up the stock fender liners to work with the ~1 in. wider fenders.



That's is how the car looked when I stopped last night.

[infernosg]

Most of the body is back together but before I start putting the wiring back in I need to figure out a heat shielding solution. I removed all the sound and heat insulation material from the car. There's only bedliner, metal, and carpet between the underside of the car and the interior space. Fortunately the exhaust manifold is ceramic coated but I want to add something to the inside of transmission tunnel and passenger's side at minimum to shield heat away from the interior of the car. Does anyone have any experience or products they could recommend?

[Pete_89T2]

Did you already chuck the stock heat shielding sheet metal that runs under the trans tunnel/cat area? If not, I'd say just bolt those parts back in - it weighs very little and works well enough.

[GySgtFrank]

The most effective heat shield is to place a sheet of aluminum between the exhaust and the body. Leaving an air gap on both sides and attaching the heat shield to the body not the exhaust. If you still have the factory heat shielding, it works better than any stick on alternative.

:edit: Pete beat me to it. I really must learn to type faster.

[infernosg]

Originally Posted by Pete_89T2

Did you already chuck the stock heat shielding sheet metal that runs under the trans tunnel/cat area? If not, I'd say just bolt those parts back in - it weighs very little and works well enough.

Originally Posted by GySgtFrank

The most effective heat shield is to place a sheet of aluminum between the exhaust and the body. Leaving an air gap on both sides and attaching the heat shield to the body not the exhaust. If you still have the factory heat shielding, it works better than any stick on alternative.

:edit: Pete beat me to it. I really must learn to type faster.

Had to chuck the stock heat shielding because it didn't fit with the Defined Autoworks header. I'm looking into wrapping the header and adding that reflective insulation stuff to the firewall and underneath the car. The latter depends on how much space is left between the manifold and the body and if the insulation will adhere to the bedliner coating. If that works I won't need anything inside.

[Pete_89T2]

Originally Posted by infernosg

Had to chuck the stock heat shielding because it didn't fit with the Defined Autoworks header. I'm looking into wrapping the header and adding that reflective insulation stuff to the firewall and underneath the car. The latter depends on how much space is left between the manifold and the body and if the insulation will adhere to the bedliner coating. If that works I won't need anything inside.

Maybe you can fabricate your own heat shielding out of some sheet AL that uses some/all of the stock mounting points that will fit with the header?

[infernosg]

Originally Posted by Pete_89T2

Maybe you can fabricate your own heat shielding out of some sheet AL that uses some/all of the stock mounting points that will fit with the header?

That's another option because I did keep all the heat shield mounting points. One thing I did before taking the car to the body shop earlier this year was bang in parts of the firewall and transmission tunnel. Hopefully that gives me a little more room to work with. Unfortunately with no engine in the car it's hard to line everything up.