Green Monster Racing

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Apologies - some progress pics - dash and tanks

Sorry for no updates - progress has been ongoing but I didn't have any pics to post. Meanwhile I had been in talks to swap the project for a classic '74 racer and that's still ongoing. Merlin kindly took some with his phone showing off the dash.. hopefully more to come. Initial impressions is that the new layout will be very easy to read and pretty cool looking indeed - very GTP, especially once all the control buttons are added to the centre dash. Hopefully the situation with the other race car will resolve one way or the other - have already said to M&M that it's unlikely to come of anything, which is royal pain as have gone to the trouble of going through eligibility etc.

So anyway.. here we can see the dash starting to take shape and completed twin tanks (lovely). It's great Merlin has managed to incorporate the Chip Gnassi dash whcih came straight out of a cup car and really keeps the connection strong through the car.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

'The Curse of the Phoenix?' (by Merlin)

i have been thinking for a while now that your car is cursed,i had to rush over to spncers in the week to rescue your fuel tanks as he is going through a really bad patch,he gave me 2 days warning that he was off on holiday for 2 weeks then when he gets back he is moving abroad, this is a massive shock we dont know what is going or why he has had enough, it looks like he has lost interest is his buisnees over night.so i am now looking for someone locally who will be willing to finish these tanks off for us, short of this i may have to purchase a tig welder and learn how to weld alloy again !!!this is really annoying for mvs racing as all our alloy, alloy parts and wing brackets come from spencer dont know what will happen with the cost of the tanks as yet. will hhave to wait and see wot happens.the other reason your car is cuursed the pipe that we have spent ages looking for turned up , fits a treat but its a 45deg not a 90degree pipe!any way on a lighter note it hasnt rained here for the past 2 days. oh on a bad note my wisdom teeth are really peeing me off.cheers merlin

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Updated pics of dry brake and fuel cap (Jan08)

Merlin switched around the fuel cap to the other tank so he could fit the dry brake to the side that normally comes into the pits.. the fit is a bit fiddly cos it's really for a nascar application..

couple of pics.. nice..

Blimming fuel hose... a week of ramblings..

No big updates - I officially hate fuel hoses.. lol

Apologies if none of this makes any sense... the dry brake need s a 90 degree bend at the hend to then connect to the fuel tank.. it's a bit fiddly with lenght - then try to find a 90 degree pipe with a 63mm dim.. = hens teeth!!

Quoting Merlin - merlinwhiteland@hotmail.co.uk
will try a 57mm pipe to see if it will squeeze on, love the audi , i think that we will see a lot of these diesel cars soon,wonder how long before f1?cheers merlin>

Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2008 22:12:17 +0000>
From: info@lbmracing.com> To: merlinwhiteland@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: dry brake - fuel hose??> > > Does the box feel quite heavy Merl, got a note from OBP and sneaky > buggers bring out an upgraded light-weight version... 2-3kgs. Typical!> > 90 deg bend - would 57mm do it??>

http://www.thinkauto.com/acatalog/On_line_shop_Fuel_filler_hose_320.html

Quoting merlin whiteland merlinwhiteland@hotmail.com
well originally i thought aluminium but the pipe has to go on the > > out side, the dry brake isn't flexible enough to crimp on to the > > ally pipe, try samco cant think of any where else other than ATL!> >> > just as i thought the pipes for the pedal box are about 2" too > > short!!! nothing ever works out.> > never mind il do a straight swap for some longer 1s.> > the guy who owns the single seater with the r1 engine ,has asked me > > to take on a new project, a caterham, trying to persuade him into > > fitting an rx7 engine. you got any ideas?> > cheers merlin

Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 12:59:24 +0000>
From: info@lbmracing.com To: merlinwhiteland@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: > > dry brake - fuel hose??> > >
Quoting Jon - ok - it's just finding a 90 deg bend in > > the dim you want..??> > Would samco hosing resist fuel okay?? I can > > try their website>?> > any other ideas what to use?> >

Quoting merlin whiteland merlinwhiteland@hotmail.com
my > > only worry about this stuff is that the bend will be too big, an > > > > off the shelf 90 bend is quite compact ish, if this doesnt make any > > > > sense i dont blame you.> > pedal box fitted you had a good deal > > with this only problem is that > > they skimpt with some locking > > nuts, but no problem there. i had to > > cut a hole in the bulk head > > to get it as far forward as i could, the > > braided pipes will fit > > but could do with 3 90degree fittings.im > > sure we have these.> > > > cheers merlin

Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2008 16:59:43 +0000>
From: info@lbmracing.com
To: merlinwhiteland@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: > > > > dry brake - fuel hose??> > >
Quoting Jon - 2" inside dim - any good?? I'm trying > > > > to get someone in the uk to > supply that clear 2.5" stuff.> > > > > >

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Fuel tanks..

Custom, all-ally.. beautiful.. not sure how many litres there.. must be 80-100 litres I'd have thought :)

Engine plates and dry brake arrived

Fuel hosing too from summit racing.. engraved plates look good. Dry brake needs modifying but Merlin think it will work fine - needs a 90 degree pipe made up.

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Zausts and things..

Zausts trimmed and lights and rear bumper positioned back just to get an idea - those exit bores are 3" to give you idea of scale.. modest compared to a lot of jap cars but then that bore goes all the way back to the 4-branch collectors and there are 2 banks. That keeps the velocity up and the sound down hopefully.. the rear cans are very big but there is no internal baffles and no re-routing inside the cans - straight-throughs.. rear bumper still to be modified and cut out and we'll be venting the arches to pull out pressure build up and enhance the ground effects of the rear undertray and diffuser.. rear meshed then lower diffuser mounted and rear arches etc etc etc etc etc

Jst ordered OBP full floor mounted 3-pedal kit inc. all resvs, cylinders, aeroquip etc.. but VERY reasonable compared to Tilton/Wilwood if not as bling to look at.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

More pics from the shop..

Zausts look crazy - tight clearance.. new tanks looks cracking and big - just as well given the engine's likely thirst. Probably paint the zorsts with ceramicool.

Mad Zorsts from Merl

"you asked for mad exhausts you got em, im still smilling and i have> >> > been looking at them all morning. just need painting.tanks fit too> >> > 'phew'.cheers merl"

Notes from Merlin..

its all been worked out, harvey has done a few of these b4 so he has got an idea he was just wondering if your engine guy had an exact length in mind, dnt worry thou. stepped headers,have you ever looked at a rule and seen the difference between 1 5/8 + 1 3/4 ? it aint much and im sure that this would make no difference. I told harvey exactly what your plans were for the lotus, so he is going to build you a system that will give you nice top end but also make it easy to drive day to day by hopefully increasing lower end power.big wing no problem!

Re rear wing - the only rules about end plates is that they cant stick out side the body work! not sure about the pointy bits may have to have a 7mm radius. didnt get a chance to go and see harvey to day i will have to pop down to morrow. only prob with putting stickers on the end plates is that they usualy hide the lovley carbon, so have to be clever with graphics. i like the idea of paint design and love the red idea around intakes.oh on a good note spencer "petrol tank man" phoned up to day tanks are tacked up and ready for final fit, so i just got to go and get them +see if they fit,make allterations ie fixing brackets,inlet, outlet,and breathers.his web site is www.sm-engineering.co.uk im sure there will be some other bits and pieces from him like a headertank.

picking car up on tuesday morning i have got a mould for a dash which i will try to sketch for you . I think it will look well cool especially at an angle. i love the led toggle switches there is also an other type which is what i am fitting to the rage buggy but if they dont tickle your fancy then the led toggle switches are ace.

sva? i cant see why you will need an sva? you do have the log book and its already road registered.

could do with a pipe from demon tweeks " fuel filler neck hose 45degree 51mm" and a 51mm straight.il send you some pics on tuesday of the exhaust and the tanks which i may pick up tomorrow.

Friday, November 23, 2007

Zausts on their way, tanks nearly there.. progressing nicely

spoke to Merlin - had choice of the big single element or smaller twin element wing - went with the big bad boy which is probably better for catching the flow over a GT car than the bi-palne which does look better for a single seater.. all good.

Car having zausts made up - hope to post pics soon. Twin tanks made also and all moving along nicely.We've decided to make the car driveable on the road, which will give me a few options down the road (no pun intended).. that means losing some focus compared to the Gt1/GT2 cars but can always focus the package if I'm able to afford to go full racing and trailer the car everywhere.. as a serious bargain hyper track car I may find a buyer next year and then I'll start the next project, sth a little more sane... maybe a Nurburgring weapon made out of a stripped and lightened BMW X5 diesel..lol

How the 358SS drives on the road will determine a lot and also interest from would be sponsors and likelihood of going proper racing. No doubt it has proper 600 bhp p/tonne tool potential.. the engine could be taken up in power with no obvious limit... really it's common sense that dictates and keeping the car driveable. I think 650-700bhp is about optimum (top end) and 800bhp is excessive.. that can be done in 3 ways - stroker port 'hop' tune, s'charger or turbo install. .. personally I'd like to keep the engine n/a to keep it linear.. car will sit on the fence a little for a while but could then be santised or the full devil released in time.. Looking to put some sort of convincing interior - bit of carbon, some fire resistant lightweight cloth, bit of paint.. all helps make it easier to live with on those Sunday morn runs.. prb stil nned ear plugs tho ;)

No word from Trading Stds or Honda re Phoenix, disappointing tho these things don't happen that quickly :(

Friday, November 09, 2007

Back from the MPH show,, good news for tyres

Jst back from a 28hr round trip to NEC to see the MPH show (won pair of tickets in a raffle) - lots of decent racing porn there - the Gumpart race car looks awesome - 690bhp twin turbo audi v8 and lots of aero - got lots of pics for ideas from the various cars on show including the mighty Audi R10. Got speaking to Andrew who runs the UK distributor so may tap some of that knowledge in the future..also looked at various cars running roof scoops and most use a carbon plenum box with rubber seal that joins when the hatch is lowered - maybe an idea and one way to seperate the filter from hot air under the engine cover..?

Got some great news - Kumho have a brand new hyper tyre for sprints (V70), aimed at hyerperformance and full-on track cars and run up to 335/18 on a 12-13J wheel with a choice fo compunds including hards. Best part tyres are half the cost of Toyo etc so will order the Image wheels once I've paid MVS and worked out some sort of budget but it's a positive step and means we can fill those rears out after all., I'll then keep the 265s with R888s for short sprints where the softer compound will help and the wider rubber wont give back as much on the typical cold Scottish mornings..

Best bit is they've asked for a sponsorhsip pitch to use them as a tyre partner.. either way they look good for the money..!All in all a great cpl of days but absolutely knackered - no work today thankfully - jst watched an old recording of Quincy ME, cracking!!

Now 38 hrs since I set off and 48 hrs since I last went to bed..

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

more influences..

lots of influences going into the project.. just some of them..

Time Attack: Nearest target

Nadine's GTS Viper is the closest target to the Esprit in the UK Time Attack C'ships..

Awesome!

More pics from the workshop

Arches coming along and sneak peak of what rear wing might look like..

Sunday, November 04, 2007

A bit of history - The Codling Flexi Flyer #21

To give a sense of history for my project ..

This was the first race for my engine with Bary Codling in the #21. It took the 1/2 mile lap record with 18.27 seconds.

Car used classic Chevy racing colours of white-black and red..

expect the red chequer to be carried across to the Esprit.. white canopy also.. perhaps

Hopefully I can continue to do the engine proud..

Saturday, November 03, 2007

A very rough guide

Black-red-white-grey

= chevy racing colours...

Friday, November 02, 2007