Firehawk's N2 racecar project

[firehawk]

Ok, I'm back. The CRX needed more of of my time than I had anticipated so there wasn't really much time left to work on the AE86 during the summer. However, now that the racing season is over for now, I can return back to working on my dear hachiroku.

I'm pretty much continuing from where I left the car in May so the first thing that needs to be done is mounting the fuel tank and finishing the fuel system by adding a swirl pot and pumps. Also, the wiring to the pumps needs to be redone since I just made a quick hack to get the engine running and there are no fuses whatsoever between the battery and the pumps.



Yes, the fuse panel is made from plywood. Although I'll probably replace it with carbon fiber once I know the final number of fuses I'm going to need.

To keep the fuel inside the fuel system and not leaking all over the car, I first needed proper fittings and hose. The TRD bible specifies that the N2 cars used AN/JIC -6 fittings so I figured out what I'd need and ordered them from Summit Racing. Their own brand of hose fittings is pretty good quality and a fair bit cheaper than similar Earl's or Aeroquip items. I also needed a fuel pump and a pressure regulator so I ordered a basic Carter pump and a Holley regulator at the same time.





I still needed a swirl pot and decided to build it myself so I bought some 75mm aluminium tube and 3mm aluminium sheet from a scrap yard and weldable AN -6 bungs from Summit. I cut the tube so that the volume of the pot would be around 0.7 liters and then proceeded to cut suitable pieces of the 3mm sheet to cap the tube. I used a flat piece for the bottom but forged the top cap using a few round discs cut from some MDF board left over from my garagemate's subwoofer project. I trust all my aluminum TIG welding to a local guy with a small workshop and he did some pretty fine work putting the pieces together.







The plumbing is now partially done but at least the feed pump still needs to be mounted. I'm trying to follow the Colin Chapman principle of making each part perform at least two different functions so the rear frame bracing doubles as the mount for the pumps. Also, the pump mounting brackets themselves act as guides for the fuel hoses and wiring.