Tornado Build - www.gt40builder.com

[George]

Trev you must be real happy with a part push button like that. Must feel good having a little uniqueness to your vehicle. Very nice.

 

[Bill Cooke]

Just to much for me, it's not real it's a replica of a race car, build your own not a a copy of what that car was, show me yours, not theirs!!!!

 

[TrevS]

Few more jobs done this weekend. I started making a template for the removable front cover to get access to the steering rack. I'll hold off making the aluminium version as I expect the pipes might move a little when the radiator is fitted.

I also got round to painting the insides of the rear uprights which developed a little surface rust where the powder coating had failed to reach but all good now and finished cleaning the last of the suspension parts

The final piece of news is that I got engaged last week while on holiday. The plan is to drive my car to my wedding so that's pretty good motivation to keep the build moving. Just hoping my parts order from Tornado will be ready soon as I've pretty much ran out of work to do on the car now until they arrive

Trev

 

[Bill Musarra]

Trev,
Congratulations on the engagement. You are about to enter a new and exciting (if not challenging) part of your life. You are making good progress now and you should have the motivation to finish things up. I have to make an assumption here and that is she is behind you on this project!! Don't let the tediousness of the build or her occasional nagging get you down. They are all things to work through.

Bill

 

[TrevS]

Trev,
Congratulations on the engagement. You are about to enter a new and exciting (if not challenging) part of your life. You are making good progress now and you should have the motivation to finish things up. I have to make an assumption here and that is she is behind you on this project!! Don't let the tediousness of the build or her occasional nagging get you down. They are all things to work through.

Bill

Thanks Bill, Cathy has been very good with the build, she just lets me get on with it. Let's hope it stays that way as if all goes well I might build another car when this ones done

 

[Bill Cooke]

Congrats Trevor it's nice to have a partner along for the ride. Keep building but don't forget living.

 

[Paul Pham]

Congrats Trevor, any woman who is supportive of our addiction is definitely a keeper.

Cheers
Paul

 

[Dalton Veitch]

What addiction? I'm perfectly normal, thank you.

 

[Mark]

Let's hope it stays that way as if all goes well I might build another car when this ones done

Danger Will Robinson!

Four years into mine and I can't help thinking about building a MK II or even a J-Car to go with the P4 when she's finished!

What is wrong with us???

 

[TrevS]

Still not much to report this week as parts and tools have still not arrived

I did spend a little time today loosely fitting the rear suspension parts I have to see how everything is connected to familiarise myself with everything.

 

[Mark]

Nice work Trevor. I love the black chassis and panels.

 

Very neat and tidy mate.
I said you would need sunglasses to look at the car

 

[TrevS]

Started looking at the rear of the car today and seeing whether to fit some extra panels around the rear wheels and suspension like Andy Green's car. This will hopefully give the car a more original look.

Here's how the card templates currently look. Will fitting panels around the engine bay cause any issues?

Trev

 

[David]

I like the look and plan to do something like it myself, I believe Tornado don't suggest panelling the engine inner panels as it just adds extra weight and is a water trap but if the underside is open or has drain holes I don't see the issue with those. Just remember that you'll probably need drain holes front and back as the car should have a nose down attitude normally but may be parked on a slope!

 

[TrevS]

I like the look and plan to do something like it myself, I believe Tornado don't suggest panelling the engine inner panels as it just adds extra weight and is a water trap but if the underside is open or has drain holes I don't see the issue with those. Just remember that you'll probably need drain holes front and back as the car should have a nose down attitude normally but may be parked on a slope!

Thanks David. Yeah plan to put drain holes in at the front and rear as per Andy Green's car. The only problem I can see is paneling the extra areas on the floor like this as I told myself I didn't want to flip the chassis over again:

But I think if I am paneling the rear then the floor will need doing also to enclose everything. Also I was thinking, without the extra floor section would air flow into that rear pocket and cause any sort of drag?

Trev

 

[David]

Yes, anything non-smooth will add drag (and reduce downforce) but then you have a big fat hole for the engine anyway....

That's ignoring what happens once you are past the chassis, the front end and your lowered seats too.

Unless you are going to think about *all* the underbody aerodynamics I wouldn't worry overly much although personally assuming I have enough clearance below the sump I intend to panel the entirety of the underside.

 

[Mark]

If you are going to panel fully under the engine, I would consider some louvers facing rearward. Then the airflow under the car should create enough negative pressure and suck out some of the heat from around the engine.

 

[David]

While it might help with cooling do you really want to increase the pressure under there? Surely that's only going to add rear lift, although it might be an inconsequential amount.

 

[Mark]

That's my thinking behind it David. It's all about compromise. Gain from a flat (itsh) floor, loose by exiting hot air under the rear of the car, gain by exiting heat from the engine bay.
On my build, I am making the main centre floor section below the engine, quickly and easily removable, to make on-track experimentation easier.

 

[David]

I'm not sure how much of a difference it would make, either to cooling or downforce but having that section easily removable isn't a bad idea. Quite apart from gaining access to the sump, if nothing else you'd need some way to drain the oil (unless dry sumping it). Bit of a pain to have to take the engine out to do it!

I'd originally thought to just have a hole for the sump bolt but the more I think about it the better an idea it is to have the entire panel removable (although I may still have the hole just for the sump bolt.)

I'm also not sure having it entirely sealed without an oil cooler is a good idea, most engines are designed to have the sump hanging in the breeze for additional cooling.

As for overall cooling, as I remember it (its been a long time since I looked in detail and may be wrong) the original MK1's had the lower half (ish) of the lower vents cooling the brakes (the MK2 then changing that to the snorkels), the upper section vented the clip. I suppose the question is does *your* clip get pressurised or not, if its ending up pressurised then reducing the inside clip pressure is a good thing, otherwise it might be worth reversing the louvres to add air. It would also make a difference if the wheel wells are separate and if you have the vents at the rear.