Firehawk's N2 racecar project

[firehawk]

Ok, big change in plans.

I was at Alastaro Circuit last weekend, watching the historic roadsport races (photos here) and my life was fundamentally changed by the awesome old racing cars people were running there.

This, and having problems with the law currently restricting me from building the car the way I'd want to has pushed me towards dropping the idea of making my AE86 a road-legal trackday car and instead turning it into a full-blown historic racecar. My plan now is to turn the car into a complete replica of the TRD N2 race car, both externally and internally (as much as possible with the parts still available).

So, this means that first of all, I'm going to be adding a rollcage into the car as well as some major reinforcement to the bodyshell. Using the N2 flares also means that I'd need to cut the rear arches off altogether and just fill the gap between the inner and outer panels - easy fix. Also, Tuoppi at RMF has some "new old" Tokico shocks from the 80s which certainly fit the image. I'm a bit uncertain whether to go for equal-length four-link rear suspension right away or stick with the stock mounting points for now and add the "mounting boxes" later..

Engine-wise, I'm going to ditch the EFI system and go for carbs - I'm buying a TRD intake manifold w/ linkages and a pair of Mikuni PHH 44 carbs (yeah I know, TRD used Dellortos) from Jamal Brathwaite in Barbados. A big part of historic racing is reproducing the feeling of old racing and nothing does it better than roaring carbs. I'm still a bit unsure how to handle the ignition - whether to use a fixed 30deg advance or hack something that uses the stock dizzy, coil and ignitor and electronically sets the advance as a function of the engine rotation speed.

My progess with the car has been rather slow lately but I think now that I have a clear goal, things should start moving a bit faster again.