Lightyear's Black endurance racer

lightyear · Postby **lightyear** » Thu Oct 19, 2017 7:35 am

There was no water in the radiator. There is now.

greenMachine · Postby **greenMachine** » Thu Oct 19, 2017 7:46 am

Can you register a caged car in Victoria? Or is this 'rally' registration?

:mrgreen:

lightyear · Postby **lightyear** » Fri Oct 20, 2017 6:51 am

It's already registered. I am not sure what the go is with legality of the rollcage, but it would be interesting to find out.

Another rev of my raspy new exhaust

lightyear · Postby **lightyear** » Thu Feb 22, 2018 7:16 am

Things have been progressing on this car. I have not updated in a while.
Not long after getting the cage welded in and bringing the car to Lightyear HQ, I decided I better paint the interior and cage so things don't go rusty.
Long story short, I stripped the car, cleaned up the inside, painted the floor/interior 2k White, cage 2k red/orange. And it was at this stage Brendan said he was going to Phillip Island, fist time out with his car in almost 3 years. So decided to join him with this car. Only plroblen is, I had 5 days and it looked like this.

lightyear · Postby **lightyear** » Thu Feb 22, 2018 7:22 am

I spent at least 4 hours every evening to get it ready. It looked like this, and from here I bled the brakes and put some track pads in. Wheel aligned and set up ready to knock out some lap times.

lightyear · Postby **lightyear** » Thu Feb 22, 2018 7:40 am

I took the car down to Phillip Island, and besides having a problem with the fuel pick up the car was amazing. I kept the fuel tank full for the whole day to fix the problem. Will look into it. I did 44 laps, great day, but would like to have some ventilation next time.
The tyres are old and worn out, even the guy that did the wheel alignment questioned if I was going to use them. So wasn't sure how good they would be. They are the same set of tyres that did a 1:43 2 years ago. I didn't put a wing or any big aero on as I just wanted to see if the car would work. And, I seized my good 4.44 diff taking it out for a test drive. I didn't check the oil, I should have. It was installed over a year ago, and I didn't put oil in then. Next time I will always put the oil straight in. In went a diff with 4.1 gears, not ideal at all. I knew that would hurt my lap times.
The car amazingly did a 1:52.6. It was about as good as I could hope for. I wanted to do a 1:53 or better, so very happy.
That's quicker than all the guys in the MX5 club that went a couple of weeks before. Not bad for a completely new car untested. No engine or ECU mods, old tyres, etc.
Stole a pic to prove it.

lightyear · Postby **lightyear** » Thu Feb 22, 2018 7:51 am

Then I pulled the car back apart to paint it. Put the vented bonnet on, carbon fibre doors on, lightweight fastback on, wing, splitter, etc.
Next time out, still with no motor or ECU mods I want to go sub 1:50. The car with driver should be around 1000kg's once finished.

ManiacLachy · Postby **ManiacLachy** » Thu Feb 22, 2018 8:31 am

You do some fast work, both on and off the track!

I think you'll need a thread title change now :mrgreen:

lightyear · Postby **lightyear** » Thu Feb 22, 2018 8:56 am

Last night I started assembling the carbon fibre doors. They weigh 1.2kg's so far. Should weigh under 5kg's when finished. I need to make the window frame and window on each door, fabricate a push rod to open the doors, then a foam crush block inside and stick the door skin on. Then paint the outside.

lightyear · Postby **lightyear** » Thu Feb 22, 2018 9:06 am

And a funny side story. The track day was the first round of the Vic Super Sprint Championship. I put the car in under 2l non logbooked. When I received the final result va email, he put me in over 2l. The email also stated that if he has made a mistake to let him know. So I did. He said he figured it must have a turbo to do a 1:52. And that is quicker than most track prepped WRX's. Once the results are updated, it will show I came first, beating a highly modified Datsun that runs on drums of high octane race fuel.

lightyear · Postby **lightyear** » Wed Feb 28, 2018 5:33 pm

I have been working very late every night so I can get this car finished. It's getting close. It drives and is ready to hit the track if I choose to. I have to wait my turn so I can get a new fastback roof and boot then paint it to match, that will complete the basic paint work. Still need to do all the highlights and stickers. Some aero that will come off for road use. And some new tyres. Should be good for sub 1:50 at the island. And the monster spoiler won't be staying. Doesn't work with the wing. And yes, a thread title change is that in order. Maybe - Lightyear's Black endurance racer.

lightyear · Postby **lightyear** » Thu Mar 08, 2018 8:15 pm

I pulled down the old aero bits after dinner as I am doing a track day at Winton on Monday. The car needs to do a sub 1:36 time for me to be happy, and to achieve that I will need all the help I can get given I will be on non Rspec rubber. I will bring the R specs up, but they are really worn, so might only be good for one session. One doesn't grip as well as the other 3, so will bolt them on for the second session once I know where the car is lacking in grip. I don't have the funds for new R specs at the moment, so will use what I have. It's not the best aero set up, but it will work. And it will only take about an hour to set it all up.

lightyear · Postby **lightyear** » Sun Mar 11, 2018 4:47 pm

The car is all ready to do another track day. It should do a 1:36, but it's not going to be easy with RS4's and the tall diff ratio. And I was told the track is slow today. I hope the cooler weather tomorrow helps. Still going to be high 20's.

mx5002 · Postby **mx5002** » Mon Mar 12, 2018 7:27 pm

Car is looking unreal with the fresh paint in and out Love your rear wing setup. How is it fixed to the rear quarters?

lightyear · Postby **lightyear** » Mon Mar 12, 2018 7:28 pm

My short day at Winton-
The weather was pretty good, sun was hot, wind was cool.
First session I went out on the RS4's. I wouldn't say they are sh*t, but when you normally run an R spec, they feel terrible in comparison. They just howl and slide around the track. Best of 1:38.6
Second session I put the old A050's on the front as I only bought a pair up, the other 2 are down to canvas and I had no room for all 4 on the way up anyway. I wasn't sure what to expect, and thought the front was more important for grip. I knew I could at least brake well. And knowing the front was going to be a lot grippier, I set the car up to understeer to maybe make the back grip. It dropped 2 seconds to a 1:36.6.
Next session was just sliding around with a best of 1:37. There where a few reasons I decided to pack up and head back to Shepparton.
1- I had to do a bit more work at the i laws.
2- our puppy was killed last night by the brother in laws dog, and everyone was sad and wanted to get back home.
3- it is so hot in the car being black with no ventilation, and the car wasn't going to go any faster as the day got hotter.
The two biggest issues with the car that would make at least 2 seconds difference. Tyres, and diff ratio. I guarantee it will do a 1:34, and maybe even a 1:33 next time if I get a new diff and tyres. It only just gets into 5th on the front straight for a bit. Need 4.77's or something for Winton.
Here is a lap, and I forgot my camera. So had to use my old camera with a badly scratched lens.