new build a Porsche LMP

[John]

Jac, mate your a ledgend, ive been searching for hrs for a source for some decent joints and had come up blank. i owe you one.
yeh shes starting to look like something,finaly cheeky sh#t and i know what you mean, but hey isnt that what us Kiwis are famous for."makeing strawbery jam out of pig sh#t".
just as well i still got a litre or so of chassis paint left over too, as a few touch ups are in order
cheers Mate
John

Ps. hows the Daytona overhaul going?.

 

[John]

progress has been a bit slow due to an extreemly cold and wet winter, and i'm an old sook so not much time been spent in the shed for a while.
but the sun finaly decided to pay a breif visit last weekend so i wheeld her out side for a couple of pics,

exuse the ole bloke in the last pic , i'm not sure who he is.
cheers Kaspa

 

[Chris Kouba]

Looking very nice John. Seems like we're both waiting for the weather to break.

 

[Gus Gutopherson]

Looking really sharp John! Hope to have something to post myself in the very near future.

Regards,

Jon

 

[Chip Smith]

John, so what was the decision on the body?. Are you going to continue on your own with that scaled version. Cant wait to see more.

 

[John]

hi Guys , yes Chip I'm going to stick with the orig design, we have a gent at work who has done a few alloy bodies and has volunteered to help me out there.
had to pass up the offer from Fran as freight killed it rather quickly pity.
had some good news tonight though i just weighd the car as it sits in those last pics , engine, box, Steel wheels, and what a supprise, 492 kg so my aim of under 600kg completed is a very real posibility, ye hah
a very happy chappy
Cheers John

 

[John]

whoops just noticed typo error weight should read 456kg, with a ratio of 266kg over the rear and 190 over the front
with approx 100 kg to finnish with plumbing , radiators, battery, and body etc i will still come in well under my 600kg expectations, especialy if i ditch those NASCAR Car steel rims and get some nice lite 3 piece alloys, thats worth around 25 kg alone.
cheers john

 

[John]

Had a we bit of a win , i had a small dilema that i had put on the back burner for the time being, and that was the inlet manifold , there was no way the body would fit over it like it was, i had started to get some material together to make my own one day when a smart rs mate of mine was around the other day and sugested , why not just turn it around? at first i thought it wouldnt work, but 10 mins later, whoopy do, all we had to do was remove most of the emmision plumbing from underneath it and remove the alternator, and now after overlaying a pic over the body line it will fit like the preverbial Glove. i have since got hold of a smaller dia alternator which will fit in the orig position with a custom mount.

getting there slowly
cheers John

 

[Russ Noble]

i will still come in well under my 600kg expectations, especialy if i ditch those NASCAR Car steel rims and get some nice lite 3 piece alloys, thats worth around 25 kg alone.
cheers john

Great progress John and looking good! That 25 Kg is unsprung weight. Double bonus!!

 

[Jac Mac]

Im sorry John, saw that pic when you posted it last week & meant to tell you that was possible. Just as well you have some ' smart asse's ' up your way to help you out.

You also asked about the coupe- have worked out what I have to do in a manner that shouldnt destroy its 'historical' integrity, now just have to get brave & start cutting.

 

[John]

Hi jac and Russ, guys you no the story, sometmes you just cant see the forrest for the trees, i must have sat looking at it a hundred times but it never occured to me. i naturualy assumed it wouldnt work:furious:
poped over to Mr Thornycroft at TSV in palmy this morn and picked up a grands worth of rose joints and carried them out in one hand, then got home and swapped all the old ones out in a couple of hrs, 3 weeks saving for 2hrs work and you cant see any difference, bugger.

Russ, Gavin Bateman quoted me $550 each for some nice 3 piece rims at around 6kg which is a helluva lot less than those great steel lumps of Nasca rims thats on it now so i will definitly be getting some made later, and as you pointed out a huge unsprung reduction.

Jac whats this about CUTTING into the coupe, god is it that bad? rather you than me.

thanks for the positives guys, appreciate it
cheers John

 

[kiwi ka]

John
If its any help, I used a small 3 cylinder Daihatsu alternator, even found multi groove belt pulleys that went straight on. Bound to save a thousand HP and the energy of a ham sandwich.
Cheers

 

[Dave Deerson]

Watch out or those tiny alts. used on the small diesel tractors,as the bearings and windings on the stators most likely handle high RPMs.The generator rebuild shop I use warned me of this and recommended that I use the slightly larger-cased alt. out of a Honda Civic.The unit will take the RPMs,has much more output,and the kits to convert to single wire are cheap and plentiful.
Just my .02
The project looks great!

Dave D.

 

[John]

Thanks Dave and Russ of course , problem solved used one off a Suzuki Swift, fits nicely and will take what we intend to give it ok.
cheers John

 

[kiwi ka]

Dave
When I said small, I did not mean tiny but hey it looks like John has even ended up with the same sort of Alt. which is also a single wire etc.
Now a challenge for the experts on wheel alignment.
Can any one give me a few pointers on the typical characteristic`s of what toe, castor and camber do to the front and rear of my mid engined car. For instance using my trusty laser, I can see that when I compress the rear susp. ie squat on take off, it toes in slightly.
I am all eyes.
Cheers

 

[Russ Noble]

Russell, I'm not an expert but toe in under bump condition, which is what you have here IMHO leads to nice handling on a bumpy track/road and also tends to combat side wind effects. It's all a matter of personal preference really, some people prefer to sacrifice stability for better turn in.... Personally I prefer stability, you can go harder in under braking and get the power on earlier.

John, I'm going to be in Palmy 13th to 16th Nov. Must catch up in person and perve at your car and have a chinwag. Maybe Fri nite 14th? What's your choice of beverage?

Cheers,

Russ

 

keep up the great writing chaps, on the subject of reversing inlet manifolds --- can be done on ls1 s for the lola as well, takes the inlet away from the left ear ( hearing slightly compromised by years of driveing in an sp250 with the top down. or may have been to many years of boilermakeing. ) regards steve. hey jac, wots your sugestion for a live axle with discs 4x 4 1/2 pcd and about 1370 to 1400 wide 3.9 to 4.11 for the next project sp250. -- hill climber for me. will be down this next year for the lookin at the sfspeed

 

[Jac Mac]

John, Whats up-seen any good deals on T/me lately?

Steve. Ford 8" out of small mustangs etc around 1985, might be a bit wide though at 58'' IIRC, and would need to be fitted with discs. these have 4x4.5" pcd. 28 spl axles same as 9" should handle anything a Daimler can throw at it. Plenty of them down here if you need one. Some ratios a bit hard to find, 3.89/1 should be available, 4.11/1 on spec order. Other options , some mazda/courier/toyota utes might be close- stocky boys use them.

 

[John]

Russ mate will be great to catch up with you , i'll be here, give me a ring anytime

Jac oh eagle eyed one , yeh they got a bargain, will reveal all shortly.
cheers john

 

[kiwi ka]

Russ
Do you know the dates for the next SFO which I thought was Feb last year, might have to use a few air points.
Cheers