Firehawk's N2 racecar project

[firehawk]

The fuel cell I was planning on using is pretty tall, so it wouldn't have vertically fit into the spare wheel well and would've needed an additional protective box around it to isolate it from the cockpit (as required by the roadsport class rules). Also, placing the cell as far down as possible helps to keep the car's center of gravity lower. I could've just cut the floor of the spare wheel well but removing the entire floor panel has the additional bonus of making it easier to work on the frame rails. I did manage to make the cut rather cleanly so it'll be easy to weld the panel back if needed.

Visited Ronin Motors today to see myself the stash of "old new" parts Tuoppi had got his hands on. I went originally looking for just a pair of rear shocks for my AE86 but came home with a bit more. I did find a suitable pair of shocks - they're Tokico Prodra-G-Heavy gas shocks for GC110/KGC110 Skyline but easily adaptable to AE86 by drilling the lower rubber bushings to 16mm. They're 485mm long when extended to full length and valved for fairly heavy springs so they should work perfectly on an AE86 with the TRD race springs.

Found a Setrab oil filter sandwich adapter which circulates all oil through the cooler instead of just the "overflow" like the standard 4A-GE adapter does. It also has a bung for a temp/pressure sender or oil feed to a turbocharger. Also grabbed an assortment of valve adjustment shims because I never seem to have the thicknesses I'd need.

The best spontaneous find, however, was a Takama Checkman Racing steering wheel. It's 350mm in diameter, soft black leather with nice red stiching, three-spoke aluminium center and fits on Momo hubs (or ones with the same bolt pattern). It's also incredibly lightweight. And at just 45eur, it's an absolute steal! He had like a few dozens of these so if you guys want one, drop him an email (tuoppi(at)rmf.fi). He's a bit busy so if you're not getting a reply, PM me and I'll call him on the phone.

I added some more detailed photos of the parts to my parts gallery. Now, as soon as I can lose this damn flu I can get back to working at the garage..