Season 2003 preparations

Most of the modifications to the car last year performed flawlessly. The engine conversion and gear shift were so good, I forgot that I had actually done a major engine/gearbox adaption. The coolant storage tank is OK, but it limits how often you can run. It is however, much better than the radiator was. We can do 3 runs, including driving to the start line and back to the pits, before the water temp gets above boiling.

What I think I will do is put some fittings on it to allow me to exchange 20 or 40 litres of water between runs. This should allow us to run as often as we can.

I want to make a new steering column. The existing one is made from thin wall tube, and I would like one a bit thicker.

I will install a digital Tacho, as the one on the hand controller of the Wolf is too hard to see. Same for a boost guage and an air/fuel meter.

I intend to set the OEM map sensor, which is spare as the Wolf3D has one inbuilt, so that I can run a line to different parts of the car and see what the intake pressure is, see what the pressure on each side of the intercooler is etc.

The ducts to pull air through the intercoolers and into the air intakes seem to do nothing at all. I think I will make a scoop that sits high above the body, and is in the smooth air. There is obviously a low pressure area where the ducts are now.

The engine will be my main area of attention. The car has gone to Paul's for the time being, but I hope to get the engine in about 3 weeks time. We need a bigger single turbo with steel turbines. This will need a new manifold and air plumbing. Maybe bigger injectors as well.

	I have pulled the head from the original motor, and it is obvious why it had problems. The turbo has shit itself, and filled the rear three cylenders with bits of ceramic. The bore is slightly marked, but I don't know if I need to use this engine anyway.
	The head is also marked from the bits an pieces being munched up by the piston. I was a bit surprised by this, as I thought the turbo motor may have had more clearance
	I think I have nailed the problem with the boost. The waste gate on the right hand turbo is not closing properly. There seems to be something else not quite right as well..
	One of the problems for the past 3 years has been the robustness of the canopy latch. It started as a latch from the rear of a small Mazda, cut and welded. The problem is that the canopy is heavy, and the hinges close, so it does not always come down centre, this bends the latch, and the canopy can't close.
	I have made a simple latch with a spring loaded pin. The pin is pulled by the cable for the internal release. For the external, which is not shown, the pin is pushed through the latch. A larger spring was used so that it popped open. The latch still had to be closed gently, but worked every time.
	Another problem was the chain I used to stop the canopy opening too far. It used to jam under the hinges and stop them closing properly. The gas struts took no time to fit, they have been laying around the shed for 2 years, and I can't understand why I took so long to look at them and think 'I reckon they would fit the belly tank'
	This is the new turbo. It is a Garret TO4, off who knows what. It has a large exhaust housing, so is slow on boost, but that is fine for the salt. The exhaust manifold is made from thin mandrel bends. I don't use the car enough to bother with steam pipe bends. They are too dear and too hard to cut and splice, compared to exhaust tube. The exhaust exits through the top of the body, through a hole that used to duct air to the radiator, when it had one.
	This is the turbo outlet piping. As the intercooler was set up for twin turbos, a splitter had to be built into the pipework.
	I have set up two spray systems. One uses the plastic container and a headlight washer pump from a Mazda to spray water into the front of the intercooler. The other uses the steel tank, and a 100 PSI diaphragm pump, and will use either water or methanol. This will give us two classes, a fuel and a gasoline class. Wether it goes any faster is anybodies guess. I have used a 1/8 inch nozzle, because I think the alcohol will need a fair shot.