No Sir we are not.  Also for the group can you post a picture of a brake fluid recirculater. 

Did you keep the dynamat in the final build?

Hi Scot!

The answer depends on a couple factors. Are you guys running a brake fluid recirculator in the lines?

We are building a well balanced car that will be used for Autocross and Road racing.   I am looking to see if anyone has any data or just knows how hot the brake reservoirs will get in a 30 minute road race event. Our reservoirs are located 24 inches above the master cylinders.  They are currently mounted with a 3d printed plastic that failed in the cold weather. This had us looking at the failure temps for the plastic, resulting in me questioning the plastic at the hot end as well.

 

At this point there was a shift. I sold my '04 Cobra in effort to fund the Cougar build. Picked up a really nice Foxbody that needed and engine rebuilt as a new daily. Somewhere along the way I decided to start cruising SVTPerformance forums hunting for a cheap set of aluminum heads for a little bit of a performance boost and stumbled across an engine that I had to have.





Refreshed 9:1 Yates engine from a Busch series NASCAR. Last tech dates on the C3 heads was May of '05. All of a sudden the T56 seemed unrealistic. I was concerned with shifting over 7500RPM. The new plan was a Jerico 4-speed and a torque arm/watts link SRA setup from Griggs Racing. I purchased some universal rear frame rails and got to work.





As you saw in my last post the rear floor was cut out. This created an issue. I already had a cage in the car that connected to the coilover mounts for the IRS and a similar story up front with the cage landings.






This was my solution at the front. I had made mounting boxes tying the floor and rocker panel together for the cage to land on so I could removed them for welding out the top of the cage. They turned into a nice point to bring the frame in and also integrate a 2x2 perimeter frame. I also took a triangulating tube to the front of the car from the cage landing.





Lets get back to the rear of the car for a little bit. My Griggs TA/Watts setup had arrived and I was keen on getting it worked into the car. The next photo shows a lot.



This is where a degree of precision gets put into the build that I previously didn't think about. I was no longer working off of factory frame rails like the front of the car. The first thing I did was make a centerline of the car - you can see the strings in the picture. I picked three points on the car. In front of the front k-member, behind where the rear axle was going to land, and halfway between on the frame I had built. Using plumb bobs I made 6 marks on the floor making it possible to get a centerline of the car. Its a lot of up and down. Check the alignment on the marks, move the string, retape. A chalk mark can also be used but I was regularly moving the car around my 2-car garage, so I got really good at making a centerline. Off of that centerline I made two right angle triangles behind the car. This wasn't an axle CL but it created a perpendicular line that I was able to get a perfect axle CL from, measuring forward. You can see the axle CL string on the floor in the picture. EVERYTHING gets measured from these lines. Upper shock mount cross member, watts mounts, front TA mount, the axle location itself, control arm mounts. You can also see the shims under the jack stands for the axle simulating ride height.







Here's Rev 1 rear suspensions ready to go. Figured out an ok way to tie the rear cage down tubes back into the frame and if you look at the front lower control arm mounts (I'm sorry I don't have more pictures of), I made a box and then used spacers to give me the ability to move the front of the lower control arm up and down for rear steer and AS adjustment. Slotted brackets would have been better, but that was a suggestion from GR. The rod ends are mounted horizontally which is fine but dirty and grime will rest on top of the race and loosen the rod end sooner. If you're going to use them in this direction so Seals-it dust covers are a good idea. BTW, the coilovers were free units I just used to mock the whole thing up.

Also around that time I noticed I had a problem where my driveshaft and rear crossmember were going to occupy the same space. I braced the rear cross member, cut, and tacked in a hoop. The hoop gets properly installed later.

The year was 2013 and the scope creep was about to come off the rails. Current build status - Griggs Racing front suspension installed with SN95 spindles, aiming for a ride height of 5-5.5" under the factory frame rail, front aprons cut out, firewall modified for a cleaner (HA!) install of a 4.6DOHC and T56, 1-3/4x.120 wall  DOM roll cage from Auto Weld Chassis, and 03/04 Cobra IRS out back. The motor wasn't built but I had 2000 Cobra R heads, a Teksid block, forged crank, and an email chain with Precision Turbo aiming for around 750whp.





The car had a nice pair of subframe connectors that fit inside the front frame rails already, but I always thought of them as a bandaid. Its time to build a frame! Out with the floor and in with a rear cross member and 2x3 frame rails using the factory front rails as a starting point. Here's that first "I woulda, coulda, and shoulda". Shortly down the road I integrated a perimeter frame as well that ties into the front cage landings, but I have learned that straight rail cars are hard on drivers in the event of a crash. Something to think about. Back to carnage!

I didnt have the space (or honestly the experience) to build a frame table so I kept the whole car level with wooden blocks and sheet metal shims. The car was checked every time I started working on it. Concrete moves with weather. Wooden blocks swell with weather. When it was time to set the car up for the first time the frame was out of level by less that 1/16" at one corner. I'm not upset with this.

At that time, I was cruising the internet looking at suspensions and what not I never stumbled upon large projects like I was undertaking so I designed things as the made sense to me. I was learning, developing skills, and the only word was, GO!









At this point there was a change in thought...first of many. I thought that I could get better weight distribution by doing a rear mounted transmission. Out with the cobra IRS! I bought some C5/6 rear suspension bits and started measuring.





You can see a little bit of evolution at the qtr panels. I welded 1x1 with jacking bolts to support the car and more easily level things.

[

Been building a 1967 Pontiac firebird for the last 15 years and finally have it  running and driving. Ron helped put the right parts together for a road /track car of my dreams. Speed tech, extreme front suspension rear torque arm with Watts link,  9 inch floater rear end, fuel cell, caged, holly dominator, race pack, smart wire Texas speed LS three Hughes performance 4l80e manual valve body.

Sweet ride. Hope to compete a little with my Firebird soon

Michael, when you get to the front suspension area, let's walk through how to mount the AXT-Star upper control arm & shock mounts.