Carbon-madness


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Whitebits
Whitebits
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Started costing up materials and hope to get going on this from January onwards, I will update a project thread and post the link here once I get going, thanks for all the kind feedback and welcomes

I''m building a race car!
I believe that if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade..and try to find somebody whose life''s given them vodka and have a party - Ron White
Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting - Steve McQueen
FLD
FLD
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It sounds like you have it well thought out.  I can't wait to see the results.
Whitebits
Whitebits
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The venturis will be attached to two hoses going to the brakes so in total the front brakes will have 3 cooling ducts each, the underfloor will have exit holes for air flow under the exhaust to help heat produced from the block flow out and down, some will go out of the top over the manifold and some will come in from the top to the cai, airflow will still be coming into the bay via the tmic, radiator upper and lower grills.

The idea is to give the hottest areas the best chance of remaining cool without affecting the bay flow too much, I've seen some designs in my aerodynamics book that explain why this can also help with downforce if everything is put in the right place. I have the added advantage of exit ducts acting as drainage which is a blue book requirement.

I can't wait to get started but it won't be for a little while as I'm in the process of car tear down, this should be done after the cage is sorted, I will be sure to post many pictures of my successes and failures! 😃

I''m building a race car!
I believe that if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade..and try to find somebody whose life''s given them vodka and have a party - Ron White
Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting - Steve McQueen
FLD
FLD
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Sounds like an ambitous plan, I like it!  If I understand right you are reversing the flow of air in the engine bay - usually in the front through the rad and out the bottom - you are making an undertray and venting out if the top.  Is this right?  If it is make sure you have enough airflow on the outside or you'll overheat massively!

WRT a one piece front its a good idea for access but you do run the risk of breakages. Most racers I know just use GRP and bash out a few fronts.  What you could do is have bond together sections so you'd only need to replace the damaged sections rather than the whole lot.  Look at an elise as an example, whilst its front is sectional through production requirements it does allow for replacement of just the bumper section.

Body rake and diffusers are quite well studied so that should give you a good starting point but you might need a trip to MIRA to get it properly set up
Whitebits
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hehe thanks for all the replies, yes the blue book is great, you read it then think" hang on have I missed something here it doesn't say I can't use solar power, a wind turbine, hydrigen, a kite and kers to increase BHP so why shouldn't I??"...or similar Wink

The body work is going to be very much function over form I was thinking of a one piece boonet / front bumper akin to some old school racing Mini's, then my wife said "what happens if you crash into the back of someone? Won't it all break rather than just the bumper?" to be fair I was quite taken back with how astute that observation was, it also pointed out that I need to research hard, design to type, mock up and measure twice well before committing!

I'm looking to get a similar result to this German Schirra Racing team (even though this is an R56 turbo car gen 2 and I'm running supercharged gen 1 R53) http://www.schirra-motoring.de/motorsport/schirra-mini/.

The car will be slightly raked to improve airflow over the front, I'll be making a custom front scoop and the bonnet will have louvres over the exhaust pointing out, over the intake pointing in and over each part of the wing section. The arches will be extended and on each rear facing part will be vented, there will be a skirt down the side that links to each fender to aid ground effect while the front bumper will have 4 sections for ducting to the front brakes, there will also be dual cold air intakes 1 as a feed to my CAI and the second as a cooler to the CAI pipework, I'm looking to make a jacket out of cf for the piping which has exhaust reflection sheeting (gold) at the engine side to cut down on heat soak.

There will be an oil cooler rather than an AC unit / heater /oil exchange, 2 ducts will be either side of this a la Mini GP, 2 ducts will be where the fogs are on the aero bumper as per Oranjje performance and 2 ducts (for cai) will be fabbed into the front top grill or possibly where the headlight is on the right side.

The car will be getting a complete underside from front to back with venturis under the engine bay and toward the rear brakes for brake cooling, the exhast system and battery box will be altered and raised to allow for a full width diffuser at the rear, I'm thinking of making this from a kevlar aramid sandwhich of veneer, balsa, and expanded lightweight steel, I learnt this from an americas cup yacht builder I'm informed it's one fo the best ways to exploit strength without losing out to weight.

Any thoughts? I know this seems ambitious but hey without ambition or dreams we'd still be in caves!

I''m building a race car!
I believe that if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade..and try to find somebody whose life''s given them vodka and have a party - Ron White
Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting - Steve McQueen
wozza
wozza
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Ahhhhh, the old "blue book". It's more about what's NOT in it than in it. If it's not in there then you can do itWink (within reason)
I've spent many a happy hour debating with scruiteneers deciding if something on my car was "legal" or not SmileSmile

Warren

Carbon Copies Ltd
FLD
FLD
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Sounds like the perfect candidate for loosing a few pounds then!  Keep us posted with how you get on, I always like seeing peoples work.
Whitebits
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FLD (21/10/2014)
Sounds like a lot of work!  Before you embark on some costly and labour intensive fabrications I'd be checking the rule book for your target race series to see if this sort of thing is allowed.  I'd also try nudging the organisers to see if its likely to be outlawed in the near future. 

Will your car be spaceframed?  The reason I ask is because if you want to start swapping out the 1/4's and the roof you may upset the structural integrity of the shell.

My regs are free on bodywork as per blue book so as long as it is no longer than 100cm out front to back and max width of the wing mirrors I can pretty much go to town on her! BigGrin

I'm not allowed a space frame but will have a 10 point frame attached to the shell at the turrets, 4 on the floor, the last four are split stich attachments 2 at the screen pillars via swaged plate and 2 at the b pillars again via swaged plate, essentially the cage and the car become one and all the sheet metal can be replaced.

The crush zone needs to be intact, not because of rules neccessarily, but to enable support of the seating and lower frame, this also ensures the strength of the car via length and width remains in tact.

A lot fo this has been learn as you go, I know so much more than I did 3 months ago before I took my National B and swatted up on the MSA regs. My race series ahve also confirmed that 2015 will remain the same, no minimum weight limit!

I''m building a race car!
I believe that if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade..and try to find somebody whose life''s given them vodka and have a party - Ron White
Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting - Steve McQueen
Whitebits
Whitebits
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wozza (21/10/2014)
A word of warning, composites are addictive. Very soon you will find yourself wanting to make everything out of carbon w00t Welcome to the "dark side"
Warren

tell me about it, I've already got the itch! BigGrin

I''m building a race car!
I believe that if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade..and try to find somebody whose life''s given them vodka and have a party - Ron White
Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting - Steve McQueen
Whitebits
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Hanaldo (21/10/2014)
Welcome to the forum Gary Smile 

Look forward to seeing what you come up with, I'm a big fan of the Mini Coopers. I've got a 1972 Clubman GT race car here that I need to make some brake ducts and a bonnet for. Got a 2L Honda motor in it, so it's a cool little car. 

Cheers Hanaldo I spent yesterday reading through your epic lotus roof project! very inspiring

I''m building a race car!
I believe that if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade..and try to find somebody whose life''s given them vodka and have a party - Ron White
Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting - Steve McQueen
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