I decided to airbag the 914

[byndbad914]

NOT

But I couldn't resist the need to take one clown-car photo of the build while the car is still sitting on the ground. The tire was rubbing on the underside of the top of the fender, so a perfectly stupid shot. Or a typical SEMA photo - you be the judge Stupid and SEMA seem to go hand-in-hand anymore...



you can see the streamline tubing from Aircraft Spruce sitting on top of the car - that will be the wing uprights. Still waiting on the wing from GT Racing. AJ, the owner of Baja Motorsports and fabricator on this car ended up making a cameo in the upper right corner.

[byndbad914]

rear with some more bars in place



front end is getting laid out - fuel cell mounting, radiator placement just tacked for now, may move once the car is up on stands and the front glass is in place. Wanted cell lower, but 10lbs of ***** in a 5lb bag issue is coming into play. The pedals, rack and swaybar pretty much push it up a bit. The fact the car will be so much lower moves all those components up relative to the car as well





stock dash with some serious cutting to fit. Will be hard to see the cutting with the pads in place, except for the top pad itself - had to cut it in half to get it in However, I just picked one crack and cut there - so really it wouldn't matter anyway. It only has about 50 cracks in it anyway.

[Acox914]

wicked....

[turboteener]

Damn you are going to be able to race NASCAR when that thing is done. That chassis will be able to take a hit and maybe even run slap into a wall head on at 100+ and survive with a couple of scratches.

[byndbad914]

heheh - I hope so! I made the center section of the car really strong (as if you can't tell by the amount of bars on the floor of the interior) but the front and rear is going to be basically attached with "just enough". That way hopefully, say in a side impact where everyone seems to get killed lately, the center of the car won't collapse and allow me to be hit, but the front and rear may be able to bend a little to "absorb" some of the hit. Think of that jacka$$ with the Enzo and how the rear ripped off the car but the center of it is intact.

I suppose some would argue (and have) that not having any give means all the load goes into me and I can get hurt that way, but with a hans or R3, helmet, etc etc I would rather take the inertial load than another car or pit wall to the rib cage. I read on one of these forums a guy went off track not too long ago in a 911 IIRC and hit a tree sideways and it killed him. Then the rally guys all dying from side impacts... on and on.

That is the scary part of these cars - they are so small there is no room in the interior for "give" without encroaching on my personal space... and I like my personal space.

[turboteener]

Center set it and it won't be a problem. Then you have several feet of crush zone. I am doing that, but I don't care about passengers either. Don't want to be responsible for anyone elses life.

[Acox914]

center seat would be badass!

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Oh, it is--it is! The Mistak GT-1 clone is a center-seat 914. Well, almost sort of a 914.

--DD

[Andyrew]

Center seat is an idea that I like for my car.. Considering that, with two small seats to the side, like the mclaren...

Way down in the future though.... lol

[byndbad914]

I like having the two seats - my fiancee took a ride in the car and loved it - even commented that she could see how the acceleration could be addicting! So, I want to be able to take her along in the car to cruises, etc. The track - that made her a little car sick when I took her out in January, so she may not do many ride-alongs and if so, I will only go about 75% to be safer anyways. Of course, I was going 100% that day and spun it on the 5th lap, so that may have been what made her a bit queazy

And one seat would be "too" race car - remember I am going for a somewhat streetable all-out racecar - oxymoronic statement mixing somewhat and all-out of course but you get the jist.

I have moved the seats inboard almost 2" each though as well, so the shoulder areas almost touch each other now, and there is just enough room for the shifter, but I line up much better with the stock steering wheel location, can put the pedals right on the seat centerline with the tube car, etc. so I am about 5-6" from the door as is - the more room the merrier for sure!

Andrew - I have no idea how you would fit 3 seats in that car Two seats damn near takes butter and a crowbar, unless you mean a center seat and two child-size safety seats. If "way down the future" means when you have a couple kids then you'd be the coolest dad for about 5-6 years there

[turboteener]

You can mount your cable shifter up high and close to the steering wheel. Think Carrera GT. Worst case put the drivers seat as close to the center as possible and leave the stock seat in the stock location. Then when you are in the car the weight distribution would work out great when you are solo, which is 95% of the time.

Center seat is the way to go. Solves a large weight distribution problem. Makes the car feel more like a formula car.

[J P Stein]

Riddle me this.
Why, with the opportunity to put on double A arms, have you chosen to go with MacPherson struts?

[byndbad914]

Originally posted by J P Stein
Riddle me this.
Why, with the opportunity to put on double A arms, have you chosen to go with MacPherson struts?

I know, I know - kinda one of those hemorrhage of cash issues - the car is chewy up money and *****t!ng it out at a rate I haven't seen before... I already had all the upgraded strut stuff that is basically brand new as I was working with the tub constraints originally. Unloading it I would only get about 1/2 of what I have in it, then have to buy all the stuff to make the front SLA, which adds up to an additional couple grand really quick.

So I am hoping that the old addage "any suspension is good enough as long as it doesn't move" is more or less true... the car will be so stiff and such that the small range of motion it sees shouldn't have a huge effect on performance.

That and frankly I am not out ot be the fastest, bestest car out there believe it or not. I mostly went full tube as the cost difference between caging with the tub and going all tube wasn't that much in the end, and I could do so much more with engine placement and suspension points that money is money better spent.

And down the road when I have a new infusion of cash and need to go sub 1:20s at Big Willow (now the bench racing BS begins ) and the parts I have are getting worn, I can easily convert the car to SLA with the tube frame setup I have. AJ has been keeping an eye on his tube placements and such so that SLA will be a somewhat easy upgrade when the time comes.

I will probably scare the living crap outta myself with this car anyway and never really get to its full potential with or without SLA

[turboteener]

You right about the range of motion. With a very limited suspension travel a strut will offer very few advantages over a SLA. The massive scrub radius is the only complaint with the struts.