skc

Looking good, what type of racing are you proposing to compete in once you are done. This car should be a rocket.

skc

ORX-800

Initially just sprint events....Timeattack, MX-5 Club days (if they let me) with a view to Mt Cotton Hill climb and street sprints such as Leyburn, Gatton etc...

Cheers,
Danny

Revolver

Love to be a fly on the wall at THAT scrutineering session...

REXtreme

Awesome dude.

I am an Aussie in a Japan

If you need anything for it, let me know. Cheaper OEM pats etc.

I am a big FD/rotary fan and I have a 2008 RHT MX5 in Japan replacing a full tune FD.

I'll follow your build.

Russ.

You can check my stuff here.
http://gt-roadster.blogspot.com/
http://rextreme.blogspot.com/

rotarenvy

I loved your FD! I don't know how you could part with it

ORX-800

Cheers Russ. To date I have been using a business in Nagoya for handling all the cars and parts I purchase in Japan, however in recent times I have struggled to get the items safely packed and despatched in a timely manner. Will be in touch if I need anything....whereabouts are you based?

Regards,
Danny

ORX-800

The Xmas / New Year has given me some time to look at a couple of the key areas of the car that required some design work. I recently acquired a pair of radially mounted 8-piston Brembo monoblock calipers that needed to be drawn up so that a suitable bracket and brake rotor hat (need to determine required offset) could be designed. Here it is in the metal.....








Here it is in Solidworks.....couldn't be bothered drawings the spring retainer at this point.










The next step is to draw up the front upright and hub so that the adaptor bracket and brake rotor hat details can be finalised.


I continued on with the design work by working through a concept for the rollcage. The rollcage has been designed to fit inside the factory removable hardtop. All the primary cage members are the traditional continuous drawn seamless tube, whereas the secondary members are not! :P These particular members have been selected because of their superior sectional properties (when compared to traditional sections) for the load cases that they might be subjected to. The cage is a fully welded in item and will attached to the chassis at additional points (to what is shown) as determined to be suitable. Here are some images of the concept.
















The mainhoop and rear leg members can be manufactured from the drawings, so hopefully I should strike an arc before the end of the month.

Cheers,
Danny

DrewMan

Danny...those brakes would stop time itself!

rotarenvy

nice brakes! is the cage based on the last rollover bar you designed?

ORX-800

Not really Jarl, as the chassis attachment design is completely different (actually more traditional) in this instance, however there is a bit of common DNA . The "Torque Box" roll bar that I designed with MX-5 Plus was just a roll bar and not a cage (refer below images). The box between the main hoop uprights in this cage can't/won't see the forces (torque) that the MX-5 Plus roll bar does/will experience.






Cheers,
Danny

Revolver

You're gonna need the roll cage to stop you falling out of the car the first time you hit those brakes hard - think house dropped on bonnet...

Ahh, nothing like engineering excess...

Now get back to work Danny - we want to see this beast rolling at the Nats in August...THIS August!

RXVIII

Danny,

Do you need to change or mod the Brake Master Cylinder for those calipers?

ORX-800

haha Dave! The tyres will be the weakest link me thinks! At this point in time I don't think I'll be able to attend this years Nats as bub number 2 will only be a few weeks old...I'll be very surprised if I got a leave pass from the Mrs for that one Although I certainly hope to have the car finished by then.


Not sure, one of the many questions that will be answered in due course. I haven't compared the total piston area(s) of the standard calipers with the Brembos. Would be surprised if I didn't have to do something there.

Cheers,
Danny

Revolver

Always easier to obtain forgiveness than permission Danny.

Tell her when you get back that you thought it would be a good idea for her to have some one-on-one(two) time with the new baby......and ensure she's encumbered by said child at the time and your escape route is clear.

matt13b

Those brakes are awesome! Have to admit though that my first thought was whether the master cylinder could cope..

ORX-800

Yay!!! The rollcage is finally underway!!! :D

The main hoop has been bent up so I can begin confirming the dimensions of the remaining members. The profile and position of the main hoop is the basis of the cage. I did a quick test fit in another shell this afternoon. All looks good so far. Need to see how I went with my dimensions relating to clearance with the stripped out hardtop. Will do it this week. Here's a few piccies.

Cheers,
Danny

ORX-800

February 2009 is just about gone :shock: ....here's what I achieved this month.

I test fitted the main hoop to see how my tape measurements faired....not bad, but a couple of changes were necessary. In the solid model I had the main hoop leaning slightly rearward, however I found that this detail caused interference with the internal structure of the hard top. So I have reverted to my first design that had the main hoop vertical. A revised manufacturing drawing for the main hoop has now been completed and hope to have the new hoop this coming week. I also confirmed the foot plate detail for the main hoop. Here are a few piccies of the trial fitment.












I was looking for some quick wins today, so I fitted the rear section of exhaust and the rear wing. :mrgreen: 8) Here's the result...the lighting wasn't the best. :frown: I couldn't be bothered cleaning anything other than the boot as it's only going to be covered in crap again. :roll:

The stickers on the rear wing have to go!!!










The flange at the front of the rear section of the exhaust system will be removed back at the point where the tube splits into the twin 2.5" bore mufflers and then pumped up to 3" with a new 3 bolt flange welded in place.






...and this is where the car resides once again waiting for me to find a spare hour or two! :|



Cheers,
Danny

rotarenvy

it's looking much more complete now. so what wheels are your running on your 8 now the 5 has the AVS?

ORX-800

Hi Jarl, I've got a set of RPF1's in 18 x 8.5 on there at the moment....the AVS will hopefully be back on soon....just need to get a set of new rubber for them.





Cheers,
Danny

timbo

Looking good, mate...but that wing..er..hmmm....how do I say this? (and of course, it's just my personal opinion)...looks effing naff and ruins the rest of the fine design and workmanship you've done...IMO

Far be it for me to suggest a busy man do more work, but have you considered designing something yourself?

Revolver

Whoa! That wing is HUGE!

I can see how you might need some, ahem, downforce, once this thing gets going but isn't there a better way to do it??

Otherwise, thanks for the update...exhaust looks awesome...

ORX-800

It was time to look at what scope of work is required to get the tyre/wheel combo to work on an NC. Even without bolting them on I know that major panel work will be necessary.....especially on the rear. The front guards should just need their lips rolled.

I'm running Enkei RPF01's in 18 x 8.5 - 40P on the front and in 18 x 10.5 - 15P on the rear. These are shod with Toyo R888 in 225/40 R18 and 285/30 R18 respectively.












Don't be shocked by the below photos .....bring on the "wide body" mods!!!! I'm really keen to increase the body width by massaging and adding sheet metal to make it look factory as opposed to using bolt-on flares. I have been down this path once before with a friends Nissan 180SX so that MT drag radials in 275 x 15 could be used. So I know how much effort is involved :shock: ....but its not insurmountable :twisted: .

As expected the front will be fine with just having the lip rolled....the rear is a different story hehehe.....












I also removed the standard brake caliper and rotor so that I can finish designing the 8-piston Brembo conversion.





The revised main hoop design for the roll cage will be bent up this week :D .

Cheers,
Danny

Spin9k

Amazing overall project...you have no fear and the optimism of Zeus...

My caution in this last bit would be that your wheel width choices will bring massive understeer on track as well as the rears providing lots more road friction and wind drag than a matched f/r set. I'm a firm believer in balance & moderation in all things... but I can see that this whole project flies in the face of that one...so soldier on mate

ORX-800

Yes a large difference between front and rear tyres without considering the whole suspension set-up can lead to poor handling. As such this is something that I'm very keen to address. Bear in mind this "mis-match" is still well short of the front and rear tyre sizing on Porsches...the GT2 has 235/35R19 on the front and 325/30R19 on the rear and it works rather well for them .

If during testing the tyre size difference is found to be an issue, I'll just increase the front tyre size .

Cheers,
Danny

Cheers,
Danny

Spin9k

True of Porsche tire sizes, but they are either rear engine (911), or mid-rear engine (Cayman) layout, putting much more mass behind the front seats than your (likely) perfectly balanced Renesis Miata. Just SC the thing and you'll have a reason for the smokin big tires