Firehawk's N2 racecar project

[banpei]

Wow!
I wonder how it would have looked with those rear set.

[NoHachi]

Nice wheels...I kinda like them in red.

Obviously: 265-50-14 are little wussy tires. 285 tires is where its all at :wink:
But seriously, could you maybe elaborate on why the tires wouldn't fit under the rear? ET of the rims etc.. I seriously plan on running the 285-50-13 slicks under the turbo hachi (Need to put that power to the ground). 13x8 rims ET will probably end up being around -20

[firehawk]

NoHachi Wrote:But seriously, could you maybe elaborate on why the tires wouldn't fit under the rear? ET of the rims etc.. I seriously plan on running the 285-50-13 slicks under the turbo hachi (Need to put that power to the ground). 13x8 rims ET will probably end up being around -20

Actually, the N2 flares are the problem as they are designed for tyres up to 575mm rolling diameter. The 265/50R14 has a rolling diameter of 620mm so the opening on the flare just isn't wide enough lengthwise for the tyre to fit in.

I can try fitting the big tyres to the front and take some photos from different directions. I'll also measure the ET and the widths of the rim halves.

[NoHachi]

Thanks!

[firehawk]

Ok, the rear wheels measured with an ET of -14 and the outer width of the rim is 238mm (inner is 218mm, close to 8.5"). When mounted in the rear, there's about 60mm of space between the inside of the wheelwell and the wheel rim. On the outside, with the N2 flare, there's only maybe 15mm of space to the edge when the shocks are compressed. So in theory, one should be able to shoehorn about 300mm of actual tyre (sidewall-to-sidewall) into the rear if a generous 10mm of space is left on either side. So I think you can go ahead with those 285mm tyres with proper wheels.

[Widar]

Been along while since i was here and took a peek at this project. I'm starting to think that i should've given you the car for free. I love what you have done so far and i know i'll be amazed of the final result!

Keep up the good work, my friend. I really gotta come to Finland once it's finished!

[firehawk]

Thanks, man. It would seem that the car won't be ready for driving until sometime next year. We had a "little" accident with the CRX and have to build a completely new engine almost from scratch. This means no money to use on progressing the '86 until sometime in the autumn.

What accident, you say? See here;
http://www.r5r.net/index.php?option=com_...temId=6504

[S.K.]

A good crankcase ventilation... That just sucks.
So, that means that we don't see both finnish 3Doors on same track for a while...
BTW, I almoust got engine on the hood today, but then I noticed, that I need a new eyebearing...

[firehawk]

Phew, spent the whole sunday at the garage working on the AE86 now that the CRX is working again. And what a day it was.

I decided that it's about time to try to start up the engine to see if it works at all. There still isn't a fuel tank in the car - just a big gaping hole instead of the boot floor but I just left the fuel pump dangling at the end of the fuel line and placed a jerry can to the ground. At first try, all I managed to get was a few really loud bangs (and I do mean LOUD) and about half meter worth of flame from the exhaust. After investigating a bit, I noticed that although the zenki AE92 cap fits to the distributor, it has the plug leads marked 180 degrees late. I rearranged the leads, primed the engine by pumping the throttle twice and tried again, this time getting about a second worth of erratic popping. Ah yes - I grabbed a screwdriver and took each pilot screw a few turns out, then tried again and BOOM, the engine roared into life with a sweet, ear-piercing rumble.

YES, YES, YES! IT RUNS!

Since the ECU was running in "limp" mode, I added a bit more static ignition advance as the carbs were backfiring when the throttle plates were opened just slightly. I let the engine warm up while observing for any leaks or other problems. Everything seemed to work like a charm and I carefully tried to rev it up to about 4500rpm - what an awesome noise! With a big grin on my face, I switched off the main power.

"Aren't you going to drive it?", my friend asked after I'd shut off the engine. "What do you mean drive it - it doesn't have brakes, a windscreen or even a seat! Not to mention the 'fuel tank' which sits on the ground!" I mean sure, I wouldn't mind driving it but it didn't seem very plausible at the moment. "Well, just lift the jerry can to the rear seat area and move the fuel line there. You can use an inverted water bucket as a seat (bucket seat, haha) and just drive slowly and you won't need brakes." Even before I had managed to reply, he had already placed the bucket behind the steering wheel. "This is crazy", I thought but decided to give it a try anyway.

With the jerry can lifted up and me setting on the bucket behind the steering wheel, I fired up the engine again and listened to the magnificent rumble for a while again, then pushed down the clutch, selected first gear and carefully started to lift the clutch. At first, nothing seemed to happen, then suddenly the car bucked like crazy as the metallic TRD clutch bit into the flywheel. It felt unbelievable - after owning the car for almost two years without even sitting behind the wheel once (I started to dismantle the interior the same day I got it back to Finland), I was actually driving it!

I carefully drove the car about 50 meters to the end of the road, did three point turn and drove back. Everything worked exactly as it should - unbelievable. I let the car come to a stop, turned it off and stepped back out. Wow.

Anyway, I was too excited by all this so that I even forgot to take photos but here's a few I took on saturday, after I had fixed the distributor and some wiring glitches. The alternator isn't yet charging the battery so I'll need to look into it but other than that, it was a pretty successful day.

[cannabolic]

man, that is a moment

congratz!!!!