Duke Racing Celica GT-Four Time Attack Racecar

[Greycap]

Black wheels. First, the car doesn't seem to have any silver/chrome trim anywhere so the wheels would be the only silver thing on it. Second, on a track you'll be braking hard a lot and I've yet to see pads that don't go up in dust. And brake dust on silver wheels can be a pain, speaking from experience over nine years.

 

[Punknoodle]

The SSRs were chrome/silver and used to get coated in brake dust, but I never found it to be too much of an issue to clean them. I think they suited it really well, too.

So, it's pretty 50/50 in terms of opinions from people I've asked. Some say definitely black, others say definitely silver lol. So I guess half the people following my car are going to be disappointed!

 

[MidnightRun85]

To be fair, it's just a wheel. They're not super complicated, and to a certain extent there's only so many designs that can exist without pushing into crazy territory. As far as something like TE37s, there's only so much you can do with a six spoke with squared edges.

Rays are welcome to popularise the look, and they get more than enough mileage out of the brand name. I don't think there's anything to be gained by restricting other companies from making similar versions of what is ultimately a very basic design.



This is where Rays put their value in, and where the user needs to choose what they want out of their product. If you're just tooling around the streets, Rotas are fine. If you're going to be smashing your wheels into gutters as you yolo drift bro around the suburbs, no wheel on earth will stand up to that.

If you're on a track, Rays are probably a good investment if you can afford it.



But they never will, because it will never happen. They're two different products, and there are reasons to buy both. It's just that people that don't need super high performance aren't now forced to spend thousands of dollars just for the look. That's capitalism for you, the market has a need and someone met it.

I work in manufacturing, and one thing I've found is that there's a huge range in price for production, and it's not always the most expensive product which is the superior product. Now I'm not saying that Rays is inferior to Rota, that would be foolish. But I don't always believe because one product is much more expensive it must therefore be the more superior product. I've been using Strongflex poly bushes for months now, over Powerflex (yes I know, blatant rip-off, but half the price, if not less) and there's not a difference between them in terms of longevity and performance - yet. However, I still haven't had my first track day, so that statement might come back to haunt me...

 

[Punknoodle]

Yes, some companies charge a premium for fairly average engineering. I think a lot of guys who work on cars, especially those who race them have a good understanding of mechanical engineering which comes in handy for being able to spot the dodgy stuff.

Anyway, back on topic, I'm bidding on a new Flex Fuel sensor someone bought for a project and didn't end up using. Might be able to save myself some money compared to buying one from Haltech. I just need to buy some new fuel line for the engine bay, I need to replace the rubber braided with teflon braided. Yay, I get to make more braided lines (Seriously, I actually really enjoy doing it). The other thing I need to do is take off my fuel rail and get it sent in to get anodized. It's bare aluminium which isn't rated for E85, but hard anodizing improves the situation.

 

[GDII]

Haltech and LINK sell the same flex fuel sensor. Just with a different sticker. Pricing is probably similar too.

So cool you get to make up fuel lines and stuff. I have barely any engine modifications done which is why I like following what you do.

 

[Punknoodle]

Haltech and LINK sell the same flex fuel sensor. Just with a different sticker. Pricing is probably similar too.

So cool you get to make up fuel lines and stuff. I have barely any engine modifications done which is why I like following what you do.

Yeah I believe it's a standard GM sensor, nothing special about it.

 

[MidnightRun85]

Yes, some companies charge a premium for fairly average engineering. I think a lot of guys who work on cars, especially those who race them have a good understanding of mechanical engineering which comes in handy for being able to spot the dodgy stuff.

Anyway, back on topic, I'm bidding on a new Flex Fuel sensor someone bought for a project and didn't end up using. Might be able to save myself some money compared to buying one from Haltech. I just need to buy some new fuel line for the engine bay, I need to replace the rubber braided with teflon braided. Yay, I get to make more braided lines (Seriously, I actually really enjoy doing it). The other thing I need to do is take off my fuel rail and get it sent in to get anodized. It's bare aluminium which isn't rated for E85, but hard anodizing improves the situation.

Braided lines always look so good too! Winning.

 

[Punknoodle]

Right so as I've said, the fuel tank is out at the moment. I've taken the pump hanger out of it ready to swap the pump. Also removed the rubber hoses and will replace those with new plain EFI hose, which is rated for E85. The high pressure one at the tank is suitable for E85 though I believe, and it would be a pain to make a new one for that anyway, so I'll leave it.

Up the front I've removed the last fuel lines I made up. I am changing the plumping to include the flex fuel sensor and I know I can layout the lines a bit nicer than how they were as well. Plus the braided line I used isn't E85 compatible.

Should be good to go after this with E85. One thing I will do though, is replace the fuel filter after I've ran about 2 tanks of E85 through. The E85 has a tendancy to break up any crap that has been in the system over the years, even if it looks clean, and send it to the fuel filter, so I'll replace that after it has had a chance to do so.

By the way, I saw these wheels the other day:

And I thought the colour would suit go well with my car and be different from the usual silver or black. I did a quick photoshop and to be honest I actually really, really like it.

What do you think?

 

[Fastcarguy]

I feel like you can go crazy with colors on a track car. Makes it stand out more.

 

[MidnightRun85]

What do you think?

I think if you car was silver, white, or black, then that would be a nice colour combination. I think the red on blue looks odd. Much better off with bronze or silver, or even white. That's just my opinion anyway!

 

[BrandonW77]

Matte black, matte black, matte black, matte black, matte black!!

 

[GDII]

That maroon is hard to match anything to however I do have one comment that might make blue work. Needs more stickers!

 

[SVX]

Clashes completely IMO.

 

[-Fred-]

No, seriously, blue could work, but black works best IMO.

 

[Paulie]

Not a fan of the blue wheels, but your car isn't for the street so who cares?

 

[Punknoodle]

No real progress lately, I've just started a new job and have been really busy so not a lot of time to do anything. I picked up some more steel plate, however and I'll be remaking the seat mounting plate over the next few days hopefully. I've also picked up a new rivnut tool and a heap of rivnuts for when I make my ducting up the front for the new intercooler.

One thing I did get around to doing though was wrapping the dump pipe. It's already ceramic coated but it runs fairly close to the radiator so hopefully this helps.

 

[Hayden]

It's cool to see the GT4 shaping up as a proper track car. E85 is a powerful weapon and I'm keen to see how the car goes once you're finished setting it up 👍

As for wheels, I actually really like the blue . I agree that to pull it off properly you'd need a few racecar-y stickers and maybe a big GT wing .

Failing that I like both, but I think I prefer the black. It makes the car look a bit more purposeful and ties in with everything else you've done so far. Tough choice though, I honestly don't think you can go wrong either way

 

[Punknoodle]

I started cutting up some 3mm plate today to remake my seat mounting bracket. While I was at it, I had enough material left over to remake my battery mount as well.

I did have it in the boot, but it was a pain as it covered the port for the fuel pump, and I didn't like the way I mounted it, I'd just used thin plate with some spacers and just had it bolted through the floor. It wasn't very strong and it didn't allow for quick removal of the battery.

So I came up with a new design. I'm moving it inwards, and will install it where the rear seats used to be. I made up a template and I'll get the steel folded in a press. I'll then weld this to the floor. Should be nice and strong and hold the battery securely in the event of a crash.

Side note, how good is this sign material for making templates?!

 

[MidnightRun85]

While out looking at houses on the weekend (the new build fell through ) I spotted someone doing a GT4 rebuild. It's in pieces at the moment, on axle stands, missing numerous panels, etc. If we get the house around the corner from it I'll keep an eye on it and see if I can get some updates for you. It's white and blue...

 

[Punknoodle]

Getting my fabrication on. Here is the plate after I finished drilling all the holes in it.

I still need to use a grinder between the holes to cut out the triangles and make it lighter.

Here is how it looks sat in position.

As you can see the sides are curved to match the curve of the floor panel it sits on, so all it will need is a stich down each side to weld it to the floor. I'll get the guy doing the roll cage to do that.

Here is what the battery box looks like sitting on the bracket.

Using a block of wood the same height as the battery to hold the bracket nice and secure for welding the rods and nuts at the bottom of the plate.

I'm welding them because that way, with the plate installed it's just a matter of sliding the box over the two rods, placing the battery in to the box and bolting the bracket on. No need to hold the nuts at the bottom of the bracket to stop the rods from spinning as they won't go anywhere. Much easier to work on.

Should be nice and strong I think. And if I choose to switch to a smaller battery in the future I should be able to use the same plate.

 

[Punknoodle]

Picked up a new BOV, it's the new model of my old one (Turbosmart Vee Port)

Also picked up my new intercooler. Its a PWR 600x200 unit.

Having a bit of a lazy weekend this weekend, watching the 24H of Le Mans. This morning though I dummied up the cooler where it's going to sit and quickly bent up a couple of aluminium brakets that will hold the top in place. The bottom brakets will be made of mild steel and will be a fair bit beefier to take the weight but the top ones are basically to just hold the angle of the cooler.

Once it's mounted I'll fabricate up some ducting, I'm going to go a fair bit more thorough with the ducting than my last effort. Then it'll be off to the fabricator for the cage and intake piping.

I haven't posted this in here before but this is what is parked up behind the GT-Four in my garage:

DIY triple screen sim rig that I use with mainly iRacing and Assetto Corsa. Gives me my racing fix while the GT-Four is in bits.

 

[GDII]

Looking good. That Sim rig is something else though. So much better than mine. Good effort.

 

[Punknoodle]

Today's efforts:

Perfect fit, really. I got to use my new rivnut tool to put rivnuts in the aluminum bar for the top brackets. Worked well.

 

[GDII]

That's very well positioned. So jealous you get to use rivnuts. Not something I see using on my car.

 

[Punknoodle]

Well I got an email from Photobucket telling me my account features are being disabled (third party sharing) so all of my photos in this thread are about to become broken. What an absolute PITA. Does anyone have a recommendation on which site I should use to host my photos for sharing on forums? If they offered third party hosting in the cheaper plans I'd consider it but the only plan with the feature is US$400 per year. That's daylight robbery.

Anyway for the time being I might have to just upload pics here, but they need to be opened.

Aaaaanyway. Back to car stuff. Started to paint the floor to see how I like the colour. Also bought the backing plates I need to fit the harness attachment points.

I have finally got my ass in to gear and taken the compressor housing in for an elbow to be welded on to it. Attached is a pic showing it dummied up before welding. There will be a straight section welded to it as well with a bead. It's a much nicer fit.

I've organised a guy to do my intercooler piping, but I've decided I want to be able to run the car first so I'm just finalising the final fuel system. I'm going to order a Walbro 460lph fuel pump, a set of ID1050x injectors as well as the flex fuel sensor from Haltech and the hose fittings/hose I need.

 

[SVX]

I use Imgur. Good quality and far better designed website than Photobucket. There is however a method to keep your photos to be seen, as @GDII can tell you about.

 

[TB]

I use Imgur.

I second this. 👍

 

[GDII]

I use Imgur. Good quality and far better designed website than Photobucket. There is however a method to keep your photos to be seen, as @GDII can tell you about.

That seems to have failed sadly. I need to rebuild 9 years of forum posts on 3 websites now. Punknoodle has been here longer though.

Anyway back on cars, awesome upgrades and plenty of fuel for the future. Keep the mods coming and the photos.

 

[CyborgGT]

I use Imgur. Good quality and far better designed website than Photobucket. There is however a method to keep your photos to be seen, as @GDII can tell you about.

I second this. 👍

From Imgur TOS:

Also, don't use Imgur to host image libraries you link to from elsewhere, content for your website, advertising, avatars, or anything else that turns us into your content delivery network. If you do – and we will be the judge – or if you do anything illegal, in addition to any other legal rights we may have, we will ban you along with the site you're hotlinking from, delete all your images, report you to the authorities if necessary, and prevent you from viewing any images hosted on Imgur.com. We mean it.

They sound like winners. Personally, I like Flickr.

 

[Punknoodle]

Right so I got the compressor housing back from getting the outlet welded up.

I'll pick up some nice silver paint and freshen it up before installing it. Clearances now look like this:

I'm really happy with that, and it will make pipework so much easier. I want the engine bay to be as easy to work on as possible.

I never reinstalled the suspension arms etc after reinstalling the rear subframe so I need to get around to doing that. I made a start the other day but I realized that last time I did the bushes in the car, I never did the inner lower control arm bushes (nobody used to make them when I did the job originally). Also, I'd replaced the outer lower control arm and toe control arms bushes within the hub assembly with poly bushes, as is fairly common practice. I've decided I'm not happy with this set up however. The poly bush doesn't allow the same range of motion provided by the factory spherical bearing.

So I stopped that job and ordered some new poly bushes for the lower control arm inners and I'm also sourcing some new spherical bearings to replace the poly ones in the hubs. I also really hate the factory adjustment for the toe control arms. Basically they have slotted connection points on the subframe and a cam lobe style adjustment. I've found they are quite awkward to get the right setting and there is a better way to do it. So I took one of the arms to my fabricator today and he has rod length adjustment fittings that we can retrofit in to the existing arm. I'll simply make square plates that sit snugly on either side of the connection points on the subframe with a round hole to cover up the slot. I'll get them welded too when I get the cage done but it shouldn't be necessary to do that. Then I'll just use an M14 high tensile bolt rather than the cam lobe adjustment that was installed, so the connection to the chassis will not have any adjustment, and to adjust the tow you simply wind in or out the rod length adjustment.

Excuse the very quick sketch!

So it's a little bit of a delay but I think worth it considering the car's new duties and the fact it's going to be pounding kerbing so solid alignment connections I think are important, and I think going back to a spherical will improve my geometry at the rear of the car.