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Post by 454bug on Jan 9, 2009 2:01:47 GMT -5
With roughly 900hp and a car weighing 2,500 pounds there will be definite traction issues with this car... I have done a lot of research and I think I have a gameplan figured out. First, I decided there was NOT a typical "street tire" that could really give me the traction I will need. Therefore, I searched out a company that "hand-grooves" tires. Today, I ordered another set of the Hoosier R6, DOT-legal, tires for the car. That's the same tires I will use on my "hot-lap" days at the road race courses I plan on going to. As you may remember from a previous post, they only have two smal grooves in them to make them DOT-approved but not much tread to be a street tire... Here is the "hand-grooved" pattern they are doing on my new street tires...
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Post by 454bug on Jan 9, 2009 2:08:05 GMT -5
I have to do some mocking up this next week to get an exact measurement of what backspacing I need on my street wheels... I am staying with my decision to buy Forgeline wheels but they came out with a new "pattern" this year. Here is the old wheel I was planning on buying... and here is the new wheel I am considering using... What do you guys think??? Do you like the old wheel style better or the new one?
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Post by 454bug on Jan 9, 2009 2:12:31 GMT -5
As if I don't have enough going on in my life right now, I have also decided to take on another project just for the shear fun of it with my buddies... I purchased a 1991 Mustang fastback with a 302/C4/3.73 setup for $400.00!! I got 2 sets of doors with the car, a brand new radiator, a MSD 6A ignition box, 3 carbs, and a LOT of other spare parts with the purchase... We will be racing in 3 of the "24 Hours of Lemons" races this year... I sure hope the car survives all three races! Outside of the "safety equipment" (roll cage, racing seat, window net, brakes, tires, wheels, etc.) the ENTIRE car can't be worth more than $500.00... TALL order to be sure!! They penalize you one lap for every $10.00 they feel you spent over the $500.00 limit... They call it their "BSF" (bull s**t factor)... I have talked to a few guys that have raced in them last year and they said there is NO other expenditure you can make to match the FUN, LAUGHTER, and EXCITEMENT of spending roughly 15-16 hours on a road course. For the shear "bang for your buck" there is NO comparison to anything else... Where else are you going to get that much seat time learning to road race... If you want a good laugh, go check out their website, www.24hoursoflemons.com. The "rules" will crack you up! If you want some more laughs go to youtube.com and type in "24 hours of Lemons" and the videos will make your sides hurt from laughing. This year they will start the races with about 120-130 cars on the track... Can you imagine 30-40 cars coming into a sharp corner at the same time??? There are a lot of foreign beaters in the races with 4-bangers in them... Most of the V-8 cars are heavy, former taxis and cop cars (Impalas, Crown Victories, etc.). I should have as much power as them but with 1,000-1,500 pounds less weight... and I was lucky enough to find a car with 3.73 gears in it from the factory... They have a limit of 190-rating, or higher, on the tire compounds. We will use these "mud-and-snow" tires (225/60/15 - 25.6" tall on 15"x7" rims) for the Saturday carnage and when the crowd thins out on Sunday we will hit them with our 200-rating tires and push harder... The name of the game on Saturday is to just SURVIVE until Sunday... My 225/50/15 tires that we have in the 200-rating are only 23 inches tall so the 3.73 gears will be more like 4.00 gears... It should be a LOT of fun!!! I am changing all the oils and filters in the engine and transmission. I cut one full coil out of the rear springs to lower the back... We'll see how the ride height looks before we cut the front springs any... With the expenditure limit you can't afford to buy aftermarket lowering springs or any new suspension parts... Since this car started it's life as a 4-cylinder car it had a wimpy 7/8" front sway bar in it. I purchased a 1.3" solid sway bar from a V8 Mustang convertible for $20.00 on ebay. We are putting all new brake rotors/drums/calipers/wheel cylinders/pads/shoes/hardware in the brake system. We are running an outboard trans cooler with it's own electric fan. We cut the bottom out of the C4 trans pan and we are adding 4" of sheetmetal to act as a deep sump pan. Brakes and automatic transmission are the two biggest culprits to not having a good finish... We are going to fashion some front brake cooling ducts out of "Dryer ducting" to keep the cost down so we don't get dinged for penalty laps... We have a race in Houston in February, one in Louisiana in June, and another race in Houston in October... WE CAN'T WAIT!!!
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Post by V8 Super Beetle on Jan 9, 2009 10:01:48 GMT -5
I personally like this one. Both designs are nice, but the polished lip sells me on these.
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Post by V8 Super Beetle on Jan 9, 2009 10:02:51 GMT -5
Haha! That's awesome Ray! Sounds like a fun project.
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Post by 454bug on Jan 9, 2009 11:00:52 GMT -5
I personally like this one. Both designs are nice, but the polished lip sells me on these. I was trying to keep the "tuff" look with the all black wheel. Both styles can have the polished lip. They normally come that way. It was going to be $500 more to have the lips powdercoated... Since I was "de-chroming" the entire car I didn't want anything shiny on the car... but the wheel lips might be okay. Maybe this would be a better side-by-side comparison...
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Post by V8 Super Beetle on Jan 9, 2009 16:03:45 GMT -5
Come to think of it, now I see the side by side, I like this one. I think they both have that race car look and even more so with it all "murdered out" (blacked out). I kind of like the polished lip. This is one idea I was thinking about for my bug, but you can see how the polished lip stands out.
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Post by V8 Super Beetle on Jan 9, 2009 16:04:42 GMT -5
That's awesome, BTW, that there's a company that hand makes / cut the tread.
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Post by 454bug on Jan 9, 2009 16:41:56 GMT -5
Yeah, they take a racing-type tire like these: and put what every tread pattern you want on them...
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Post by 454bug on Jan 9, 2009 16:42:45 GMT -5
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Post by 454bug on Jan 9, 2009 16:46:39 GMT -5
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Post by hellraiser on Jan 15, 2009 22:39:12 GMT -5
thats cool
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Post by Carmen Dottoli on Jan 31, 2009 12:25:42 GMT -5
This rim is badass!!
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Post by 454bug on Feb 16, 2009 21:52:50 GMT -5
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Post by 454bug on Feb 16, 2009 22:01:18 GMT -5
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