Mason, Johan did this mod as well. You can see a few photos on post #72.Beautiful work Scott, I was planning on cutting off the front roll hoop and fabricating a new one using a large tube roller. Amen, on needing the roll cage to match the A pillars more closely, are you aware of any other SLC builds that have this same modification? I think you are the first!
Mesa, we stretched the hoop almost a year ago. I didn't take any pictures because I was thinking that it might not work and I'd wind up cutting the hoop off;-) Next time I have the cage off I'll mock things up and take some pictures.I want to see pics of the in process jacking action! Way too late for me but a good piece of info for persons not there yet.
I will have better left-hand-corner vision with a modified hoop and covered pillar so long as: (1) you don't consider the space between the spider and hoop as useable and (2) time is taken to get the cover tight to the hoop.More importantly (to me) is the amount of left hand corner vision that is blocked by the covered A pillar..
I have been considering 3D printing a recessed finger grip that would be open to the windshield and bolted to the hoop for exactly this purpose. I don't think it would be visible from the outside. That said, I've watched Allan and pnut ingress/egress the car and they do it pretty easily without using the hoop. To my recollection they both use a similar technique. Pnut uses the top of the seat rather than the hoop. I can't try it because I haven't bolted mine to the floor yet. I actually took a video of pnut which I promised I wouldn't post... if anyone wants to see it, send me $$$ via PayPal LOLTo help mitigate I left mine uncovered, which also provides a bit of a grab point for egress.
If you're peering through that gap, you might lose ~ 3/8" sliver of "total" visibility because there's a small gap between the hoop and the body (not enough to look through from the driving position) and the cover has thickness. However, you're not contending with big view - bar - very narrow view. The upper corner of the radius moves up which increases the vertical view because you can't see through space between the top and upper corner of the hoop and the body from the driving position.Actually the small gap between the A post and the hoop is vision useful.
I still consider the water system de-aerating swirl pot (as described in PREPARE TO WIN) to an absolute necessity on any racing car... I strongly prefer to make the header tank non-circulating as shown in FIGURE [184']. In this case I run a good sized hose (say, dash 10 or dash 12) to the inlet of the pump simply to facilitate the filling of the system. If, for whatever reason, the header tank is part of the coolant circulating system then the size of this line must be severely restricted (say 1/4" ID) in order to prevent any sizable portion of the coolant from following the path of least resistance from the header tank to the water pump, bypassing the radiator(s) entirely.
—Carroll Smith
I’ve been through a bunch of iterations on the cooling system. At this point, I not using any of the heating or cooling parts supplied by Superlite nor the LS7 mechanical pump. During the process the following diagram has been through multiple iterations and hopefully this is the final, final, final version — LOL.
View attachment 105404
As I’ve previously mentioned, the single best resource that I’ve found on automotive cooling systems is this article on 4x4 Pirates. While it doesn’t mention remote electric pumps or mid-engine cars, its content is directly applicable.
My current plan is to not run a thermostat, but I have ensured that there is space to add one if needed. The LS7’s mechanical pump places the thermostat on the inlet side of the engine for reasons covered in the aforementioned article. While placing it on either side would work, fitment works better for me on the inlet side.
The one feature that I’m going add that isn’t covered in the article is a coolant swirl pot. Apparently these are very common in race cars to separate air bubbles. The Raver SL-C has one and the following excerpt is from Engineer to Win:
View attachment 105405
Diagram from Engineer to Win
Do I need one? No, but I needed to merge the two -12 lines from the engine into the the 1-1/2” tube that runs sown the left side pod and the swirl pot serves that purpose. In addition, continual de-aeration can only help things considering that 2% air in the system results in 8% less heat transfer, but 4% air results in 38% less!
The swirl pot is made from 2-3/4” aluminum tube and I decided to dome the top to promote air bubbles escaping… plus it looks cool;-) I purchased a 4” half sphere and while I was pondering how in hell I was going to clamp it so that I could cut the tip off, Abe tack welded it to a scrap 4” tube which made it easy to cut on a horizontal band saw. Once the cut was cleaned up, I needed to mark the exact center. To accomplish this, I put some layout dye on the middle, stood it on end against a vertical surface, measured the OD on a digital height gauge, divided that number by two, reset the gauge to that number, and rotated the cap while marking it with the foot. Given that all of the lines intersected, I knew that I had the center — or as close as possible given that the OD wasn’t perfect.
View attachment 105406
View attachment 105407
I used a hole saw to cut the bottom and the arbor created a hole in the middle. Rather than fill the hole, I decided to enlarge it and add a bung for a drain. I ground the back side of the weld bungs until they were flush with the inside surface. I’m still waiting for a couple of parts, but it’s almost ready for Abe to weld together.
View attachment 105408
Scott, the cooling system diagram lookes fine, I have the exact same setup. They differ only that I integrated the overflow tank into the expansion tank with a welded wall in between.I’ve been through a bunch of iterations on the cooling system. At this point, I not using any of the heating or cooling parts supplied by Superlite nor the LS7 mechanical pump. During the process the following diagram has been through multiple iterations and hopefully this is the final, final, final version — LOL.
View attachment 105404
As I’ve previously mentioned, the single best resource that I’ve found on automotive cooling systems is this article on 4x4 Pirates. While it doesn’t mention remote electric pumps or mid-engine cars, its content is directly applicable.
My current plan is to not run a thermostat, but I have ensured that there is space to add one if needed. The LS7’s mechanical pump places the thermostat on the inlet side of the engine for reasons covered in the aforementioned article. While placing it on either side would work, fitment works better for me on the inlet side.
The one feature that I’m going add that isn’t covered in the article is a coolant swirl pot. Apparently these are very common in race cars to separate air bubbles. The Raver SL-C has one and the following excerpt is from Engineer to Win:
View attachment 105405
Diagram from Engineer to Win
Do I need one? No, but I needed to merge the two -12 lines from the engine into the the 1-1/2” tube that runs sown the left side pod and the swirl pot serves that purpose. In addition, continual de-aeration can only help things considering that 2% air in the system results in 8% less heat transfer, but 4% air results in 38% less!
The swirl pot is made from 2-3/4” aluminum tube and I decided to dome the top to promote air bubbles escaping… plus it looks cool;-) I purchased a 4” half sphere and while I was pondering how in hell I was going to clamp it so that I could cut the tip off, Abe tack welded it to a scrap 4” tube which made it easy to cut on a horizontal band saw. Once the cut was cleaned up, I needed to mark the exact center. To accomplish this, I put some layout dye on the middle, stood it on end against a vertical surface, measured the OD on a digital height gauge, divided that number by two, reset the gauge to that number, and rotated the cap while marking it with the foot. Given that all of the lines intersected, I knew that I had the center — or as close as possible given that the OD wasn’t perfect.
View attachment 105406
View attachment 105407
I used a hole saw to cut the bottom and the arbor created a hole in the middle. Rather than fill the hole, I decided to enlarge it and add a bung for a drain. I ground the back side of the weld bungs until they were flush with the inside surface. I’m still waiting for a couple of parts, but it’s almost ready for Abe to weld together.
View attachment 105408