John in KC - Roadster Build Thread

[JMD]

9/1

3.5 hrs - cubby carpet, 12v & usb, rear fusebox, painted passenger seat brackets

Decided to use contact cement and speaker box carpet for the cubby wall. Cut the carpet to fit prior to install and brushed on the contact cement. Then installed the FFR supplied trunk floor carpet.

Before:
IMG_3929.jpg
After:
IMG_3931.jpg

Installed a USB charging port, as well as a 12v socket and the little fuse panel to feed them, as well as any other items that may need power in the future. (No plans to install a stereo, but who knows?)
IMG_3932.jpg
IMG_3933.jpg

[JMD]

9/2

3 hrs - modify handbrake bracket, cover hole, mount passenger seat, give rides!!

I'm not using the standard e-brake lever or assembly (can't with the Gordon Levy Wilwoods that fit in 15" wheels), so am going to patch over the hole. The bracket intrudes into the space a bit, so I made a cut and moved it just enough to be able to put a panel of aluminum flush over the hole. I'm wary of removing it completely, so this way I can reverse the mod and bend it back to it's original position if needed. I can always cut it off from underneath later.

Before:
IMG_3940.jpg
Move bracket:
IMG_3941.jpg
After:
IMG_3942.jpg

No, it's not a work of art, but once covered with insulation and carpet I don't think it will ever be noticed unless looked for. (Quick reminder that it's a driver's car, not a show car... )

I also mounted the passenger seat and gave rides. It's so fun to share the experience with others! Had lots of fun riding around the neighborhood. There's a large area yet to be developed with nice long streets that dead end with zero traffic. Great place for some shakedown runs. And fun runs. Which are kind of the same thing...
IMG_3946.jpg

[JMD]

9/4

Alignment!

A friend of mine owns a local shop that does all sorts of cool stuff, so I took it to him to get a full alignment. Took about 2 hours, but well worth it. The tech was super thorough, triple checked every adjustment, road tested it (me driving of course), went back and did some fine tuning...turned out great and definitely an improvement over my eyeball method.

IMG_3948.jpg
IMG_3950.jpg

I was worried that I hadn't cut the UCA sleeve enough to get the caster I wanted, but turns out I was running about 11 degrees so he actually had to dial it back a bit. Got it set to 8 degrees for my power steering. Happy there's plenty of adjustment available there.

[JMD]

9/7

4 hrs - swap/adjust pedals, lengthen upper radiator hose, loom battery wiring in engine bay and secure, measure driveline angle

On my first couple of go cart drives I noticed that I didn't care for the pedal setup. The gas pedal is too close to the inner footwell and the holes in the metal pedals catch the tread on my tennis shoes so I couldn't slide my feet on or off the pedals at all and had to intentionally 'lift' them up to switch pedals. Very clunky and you'd be surprised how a split second to do that when trying to transition to braking can be pretty nerve-wracking...even at moderate speeds. So I ordered a set of pedals from Forte and replaced my Breeze pedal with one of those, also moving it slightly away from the inner wall. I also put a rubber cover on the Wilwood brake pedal as I didn't really want to move it closer to the clutch. MUCH better. The gas and brake are still closer together than I would prefer, but I no longer feel panic at not being able to get on the pedal I want when I want.

I also modified the mounting bracket to raise the pedal by about 1/2".

Breeze pedal:
IMG_3961.jpg

AC pedal installed as accelerator, and rubber cover on brake:
IMG_3965.jpg

I have another AC pedal I can try on the brake or as the clutch if I want to experiment. I actually like the clutch pedal the way it is, I don't mind it being 'grabby' on my shoe as my shoe never needs to move from it unless cruising. I can see why some people modify the inner wall to give more space. Another 1" of clearance would be nice, especially once carpeted. Worth a thought to do now instead of later. I think it's livable...but certainly not ideal.

I noticed that I wasn't able to completely top off my cooling system as the radiator cap wasn't the highest point. The easy way to fix that was to use a longer upper radiator hose to elevate the filler cap area. (I used the metal Breeze unit and 90 degree bend instead of the FFR supplied parts because I didn't care for having a plastic filler housing.) In retrospect it would have been best to cut down the 90 degree elbow about an inch or so, but I think this solution works. I've since fit the body and it seems to clear the hood, so I'll leave it for now.

Before:
IMG_3966.jpg
After:
IMG_3967.jpg

I also took some measurements of the driveline and determined that I needed to lift the trans tail up a bit more than the 3/4" the spacers provided. I won't go into it in detail here, but will in a later post. I was able to determine that the transmission angle measured on the top shifter plate was the same as measured at the engine crank pulley (at least on my engine).

No Washers1.jpg
NoWashers2.jpg
NoWashers3.jpg

[JMD]

9/9

3 hrs - misc aluminum, caulk footboxes, prep for first body fitment

Nothing very interesting today. Went through the box of misc aluminum and put on various pieces. Epoxied L-bracket to driver aluminum and riveted to frame (probably not necessary but wanted a solid connection to keep that panel from wobbling). Used rope caulk in footbox seams. I put painters tape on the frame to protect from body contact for first fitment. Don't want to put seals on yet as I know there will be numerous adjustments needed...just want to get an idea where they are needed before putting on the seals.

IMG_3970.jpg
IMG_3971.jpg
IMG_3972.jpg
IMG_3973.jpg

[JMD]

9/19

Dyno day! Curious about how much power this engine puts to the wheels. It came from Forte with 368hp on the engine dyno. I was thinking about 300 at the wheel, which was my target for this build...and I'm sure it would be except for the restrictive exhaust. I put on the Gas N Touring pipes (which I love), but they really kill top end power.

Ran it on the dyno and got up to 250rwhp at ~4500 rpm then it flat lined. At first we thought maybe the air cleaner was too small or timing was off. Removed the air cleaner and checked everything. The engine was running great, AFRs good, the engine sounded good...but definitely down on power. During the course of conversation I told Justin (of Justune here in KC) that my sidepipe exhaust had a 2" perforated tube as the only outlet and he was certain that was the issue. I basically have a dual 2" exhaust, which is fine up to about 300 flywheel hp, but it just wasn't going to flow enough to get more than that. You can also tell from the graph that it was on track to hit 300hp up until 4500 rpm where it choked out. The wheel hp is consistently about 10-15% below the engine dyno power curve I got from Forte until 4500 rpm. My conclusion is the touring pipes chop off the top 35-50 hp at the very top of the rev range where the restriction really limits airflow.

I would like to put the standard Gas N pipes with 2.5" tubes on at some point and see how much that bumps the power, but it's still a super quick car that sounds great so I probably won't mess with it right now. I know what I need to do if I decide I must have the extra power. I just need to decide if the increased noise is worth it. I've heard of guys losing 100hp using a 'quiet' exhaust on these cars, so I'm not shocked...just a bit disappointed. With a sidepipe setup you really can't have significant power without a lot of noise...

IMG_4047.jpg
IMG_4049.jpg

[JMD]

I had someone PM me about the fuel regulator requesting additional pics. Here is the best one I have. It came mounted this way from Mike Forte and I asked him if it was ok to leave it like this or if it needed to be moved. He said this would be fine so I cut the fuel hoses to fit this configuration. I like the simplicity of it and the fact that there are fewer hoses and connections to leak. My only concern is if the engine vibrations will loosen the connections over time. I may go back and use some Permatex seal and lock compound on the threads (not the mating flange) to help with that.
IMG_3180.jpg

[Mike.Bray]

Just don't leave that gauge on there permanently, they tend to fail in time and can squirt gas in places you don't want to be squirting gas like on the headers.

[JMD]

Just don't leave that gauge on there permanently, they tend to fail in time and can squirt gas in places you don't want to be squirting gas like on the headers.

That's what I've heard. I plan to remove it once I start putting miles on it. Already have the plug to replace it in the workbench drawer.