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[BigMike]

Is a windshield even required??

[Sirdeuce]

Did a quick look, didn't say windshield was REQUIRED, but did say winshield must be of the following material, stock glass, true Lexan or circle track mesh. I would take the 'must be made of' as an implication that widshields are required.

[Sirdeuce]

Mike showed up tonight! We removed the fuel tank from the white MR2. He helped me get his old high-comp block onto a stand. I'll be getting that block dissambled this weekend to see if we can use the 10.3-1 compression pistons in our LeMons engine. Wiring is slow going, mostly untangling the old harnesses. Slow and steady gets the car done for the race.

[BigMike]

Last night I finally was able to get back up to work on the Deuce Poupẻ

First order of business was to remove the gas tank. This had Lemons written ALL OVER IT:

- In the dirt? Check!

- Jack on loose, wet ground? Check!

- Jack handle in two pieces? Check!

- No safety jack stands? Check!

- Car parked on a sloped narrow road? Check!

- Working in the dark without lights? Check!

- A/C part and hammer used as safety rear tire catch? Check!

- Gas tank still full of fuel? Check!

- Having fun building a LeMons Race Car? CCHHEECCCCKKKK!!!!

[BigMike]

After we got the tank out Bill and I were discussing what to do regarding the ride height of the Poupẻ.

Should we cut the stock springs? Should we run different stock springs?

We had 2 original ideas of what to do:

1) Bill was thinking to cut the lower spring perch plate and lower it on the strut housing... (YELLOW ARROWS)

2) I was thinking to cut the spindle mount from the strut housing (GREEN ARROWS) and then reposition the strut housing up-or-down as needed to get the new ride height (RED ARROWS), and then reweld the spindle mount back to the strut housing...

[Blane525]

  we need a dozer party! hope to get out there and help sometime!   

[BigMike]

...and so the problem with BOTH ideas is that no matter what we do, we will have lower spring perch - to - tire interference!!!!

First pic is the front suspension clearance issue. Maybe we can lower it half an inch or so but its gonna get close to the tire really quick...

Second pic is the rear suspension. Notice there is much more room, a good 2+ inches. This distance does not change with or without the engine/trans in the car (remember the strut is directly connected to the spindle which is connected to the wheel).

So we can play with the rear struts but not with the front struts...

[BigMike]

we need a dozer party! hope to get out there and help sometime!   

Monday Chee and I are going up to Bills to remove the suspension from the white car and also put a mock engine into the Poupẻ. Can you make it up Monday after work with us???



Ok,

So regarding the front ride height, the idea I have is to cut the front strut mount and raise it whatever height we need. We can also move the strut in-wards a bit and gain some more camber. What do you guys think? Who cares if it sticks out the top of the hood or whatever


So we'll keep the stock springs, which are rated for a heavier vehicle, and control this imbalance by using high quality KYB shocks and dual or triple sway bars. Comments, Suggestions?

[BigMike]

Back in Team Fecal's garage, we've got the Poupẻ. Bill has the interior fully stripped and has done a lot of wiring.

pic 1: What the car looks like currently. The rear end is so light I can easily lift the tires off the ground. The same can be done to the front end but it requires much more effort. The rear is super light without an engine/trans in it!

pic 2: The spoiler 3rd brake light is fully mounted atop the car

pic 3: Bill did a FANTASTIC job with the wiring, concealing it with red electrical tape and routing it through the body. It looks GREAT. Bill has been routing wires through the body whenever possible to prevent us from damaging or tripping on them. Great idea.

pic 4: Here Bill is explaining how he will route all the wires for the dash through the support tube. Everything will be hidden and concealed, out of harms way.

pic 5: Here is the windshield defroster detail Bill was talking about above. It turned out great and just need a blower fan.

pic 6: Detail of the frunk cut-out and radiator fans. We are only going to run the driver's side fan which should be more than enough even if we have to idle around for a long time or are drafting tight behind another car.

pic 7: Bill wired in the fan relay using all 100% stock Toyota parts that the car already had. When I see this work I wish I had the time to really help him out with the wiring. I like doing wiring.

pic 8: What the interior currently looks like

[BigMike]

Finally, here is the engine from the white donor car. The white piece on the front is called a Degree Wheel, and Bill has the engine set perfectly at top-dead-center at the moment.

The engine sitting in the blue packer in the background to the lower left is my old "White 1.0" engine block. We moved this block onto another engine stand Bill had and Bill is currently tearing it apart so we can use it as a mock engine.

The 2nd pic is the JDM ECU we may use. We need to double check this, but we believe it has a tap more power, maybe 125 HP, it still uses an Air Flow Meter and TVIS, just like it's American cousin. So the judges will have no clue what's up with that. We also believe it will run better with the bigger cams, higher compression (we plan to run 10.3:1 pistons), and adjustable cam gears. We're hoping to get between 140 to 150 HP. That would ROCK!

So on Monday, Chee and I are going to go up to Bill's and we are going to bolt a transaxle up to this mock engine (bare engine block) and then mount it into the Poupẻ. This will help with the wiring and visualization while everything else is mounted in and around the engine compartment.

That's it for now! Bill is doing a LOT of work and it would be great if we could get more hands up to his place to help out!

BigMike

[BigMike]

...2360 lbs, hoping for a final of 2000 lbs...

So the model car with it's weight reduction is eqal to a non lightened car with 21.47 more ponies. 2360 lb car with 151 hp!

Testing this theory out in my CarTest v4.5 program:

2360 lb & 151 HP: 0-60: 6.4 secs, 1/4 mile: 15.2 @ 91.1 mph

2000 lb & 130 HP: 0-60: 6.4 secs, 1/4 mile: 15.2 @ 90.6 mph

WOW BILL! Pretty close!!

[Sirdeuce]

Tore down Mikke's old block today. The pistons are in pretty good shape! The #4 piston is the worst, but still very usable with some minor scratches on the skirting. The piston heads have a coating, so I did a gentle cleanup on them with an old toothbrush and dish soap. Might need to do a bit more cleaning in the ring grooves though. I'll get a little more done there later. So, we have our 10.3-1 pistons! .010" off the head and that would get to 10.5-10.6 to 1. Not sure if that will be necessary, but if the head used needs a little cleanup on the mating surface......... Now to tear down the other block to see if everything else is going to be good for the upgrade. Pics of the pistons. 1, is a side shot. 2, is top angled, you can see where the coating starts on the heads. As for the rods that came out of Mike's old engine. Need to rcondition them and replace the rod bearings. When I loosened the nuts on 2,3,and 4 rods not much effort was needed, rod bolts were stretched. Mike, if you ran that engine much longer the rods would have ventilated the block!

[Sirdeuce]

Wiring the dash is a bit of a trip through memory land. Not necessarily memories I want to surface! Damn glad we aren't doing this in ONE color of wire! (shivers running down my spine)  First pic, look what I stepped in, jumping jacks too. Pic 2 and 3, guage cluster wiring won't be visible at all! Cluster wire loom in yellow chinese finger trap. Wiring comes out end of steering support directly into a pillar sheet metal. Pic 4, harness hokked up to cluster harness. Only electrical that will be visible here is the fuse/junction block. Radiator fan will get it's juice at this point as well as cluster. Pic 5, Yeah it really does work, not showing on this pic though.

[BigMike]

WOW That is really, really awesome Bill. Super professional!!

Regarding the more critical components, like say the fuel pump, do you think it's necessary to run multiple circuits in case one gets damaged by that Dodge Newport who just rammed us? How do they do it in say Nascar I wonder?

[Sirdeuce]

I was planning on separate circuits for the EFI, fuel pump, charge, ignition and accessories. That way, if a circuit melts down it doesn't take another with it.