97 Track Rat

[CK_SB]

Here are some pics of the 97 that I built to track in my local events. Car has a 3.0 N.A. engine, Close ratio 5 speed, Exedy clutch, massive cooling and capacity for rad., engine oil and (diff. is my next project)., manual steering, non-compliance suspension, Tein N-1s, Simmons wheels, StopTech brakes, CF Dash +++. 2700 lbs with fuel. The car is working beautifully and always leaves me grinning. Many Thanks to Chris at SOS for all the help along the way.

 

[VBNSX]

That.. is just...

awesome..

got a few more pics of the engine? I'm just curious where some of those lines go... :tongue:

x

 

[CK_SB]

Thanks for the kind words. It is sort of tough to get detailed engine pics for the various hose routes. A quick over view would include: Stainless fuel lines and a complete rerouting of the fuel lines, oil catch can lines route to the two valve covers to eliminate the introduction of oil to the intake tract that occurs in the rear 3.0 valve cover during long, high G right turns, fire suppression lines, and everything else runs relatively close to original routing. Hope this helps to some small degree.

Chris

 

[docjohn]

Nice,who did the cage?

 

[CK_SB]

The cage was done over in Tucson, AZ by a company named TUF Off Road. This is a local race fabrication shop that specializes in building desert race trucks. TUF agreed to build me a cage as an experiment to see if they might want to get into building road race cages for sports cars. The cage came out pretty well, is certainly very safe, and meets all major sanctioning body requirements, but like anything, if I could do it again I would change a couple of things.

 

[Meeyatch1]

Do you have more pics of the dash?? That looks very nice. :smile:

 

[CK_SB]

Some shots of the dash as requested.

 

[NSXLuvr]

Luv your car!!!

I'm a bit confused though. Is it a salvage car, what happened to the orig. engine, and 6 spd?

 

[Juice]

Now you have me interested. Minus the cost of the car, what would a setup like this cost? It looks like a VERY fun track toy.

 

[Nimbus]

Nice track pics from Cal Speedway. I was the one that drove the C55 who came over to check out your car in the garage. Your car is very well setup indeed.

 

[CK_SB]

Reply to NSXLuvr's question:
This car was originally sent to me in wrecked condition, to have the 3.2 and the 6 speed removed for the guy who owned the car. I realized that the car only had cosmetic damage from a spin on a wet freeway so I bought the rolling chassis to use as an inexpensive base to build a good track car. I didn't care about the drive train because I had other plans rolling around in the back of head that are far superior, not to mention, that a 3.2 with a 6 speed is just not worth the money for this kind of application IMO. I would have much rather started with a coupe, but this dropped in front of me, so I picked it up cheap, hung new sheet metal on it, and started building the car you see now.

 

[CK_SB]

Reply to Juice's question:
Here are some very rough numbers to build this car.

Racing Rad with a few other related items $1,000
Large capacitiy oil system with accusump and cooler $1500
Diff. cooler $600
Cage $3,000
Interior w/gauges $4,000
Brakes $3500
Wheels/Tires $3500
Suspension $4000
Fuel System $600
Exhaust $2000
Diffuser and Wing w/deck spoiler $3000
Internal Transmission Upgrades $900
Racing Clutch $2500

This is a really basic over view but it gets you started and we're right around $30,000 in base parts. Don't forget that I provided all the labor myself and have not included engine upgrades, lubricants, wiring etc. If you had to pay to have this built your tab would probably double (as a guess).

 

[CK_SB]

Hey Nimbus, Thanks for the kind words about my car. I really enjoyed meeting you and look forward to seeing you and driving with you at the next event. I'm working on a few things here and hopefully the car will be a little better with each trip to the track. Talk to you at the track. Chris.

 

[Ponyboy]

Awesome car. From the pics, very likely one of the best prepared track NSXs out there. Kudos to you.

And I'm with Doc, nice cage.

Is it possible to get pics of the diff cooler?

 

[CK_SB]

Thanks Shawn. I am working on the diff. cooling system currently and I can post some pics when I get it 100% to my satisfaction.

 

[proto]

I bet that S-Tai is music to your ears. Nice car.

 

[CK_SB]

Yeah you're right about the sweet sound of singing titanium..it sounds like I'm being chased by a couple of CBR 1000RRs at 8,000 rpms

 

[Ponyboy]

Man, next time I'm on the Central Coast, I'll have to come by and check the "track rat" out. Forwarded the link to a couple of my track buddies and now they're telling how "untrackable" my NSX is now.

More questions:
Ever think of going with a full non-comp bushings for your suspendo?
Is the cage company thinking about replicating that cage?
What kind of spoiler/deck spoiler package is that?

Can't think of anything I'd do different to my own car. Except maybe a Tilton triple carbon clutch.

Again, very impressive.

Best regards,
Shawn

 

[CK_SB]

Come on by and check out the car anytime you're in the neighborhood.

I did give thought to a full bearing suspension, but it wasn't in the budget for this car, for this use. If I move up to an actual race series it will be high on the list for needed upgrades. I've already got a source for the parts.

The shop that built the cage could replicate the cage easy enough, but the car would have to be in their shop for the installation because the cage requires the final welds to be done in the car. If you can find a local fabrication shop that builds cages I would be able to provide photos to you for a knocked off version. I am sure any good cage builder could reproduce what we have done here.

The rear deck is something that I hand fabricated from used parts that I got from Chris at SOS. I forget the brand name of the rear deck spoiler that I modified, but I am sure he knows if you ask him. I cut and reglassed the deck spoiler around the Taitec wing stands and then cut all the openings in the back as well as vented the engine bay and deck lid. This mod creates approximately 100 pounds of additional downforce and wicks air out of the engine area. The big Taitec wing has been modified so that I can adjust the leading edge for more or less angle.

When my clutch fails I'll have to look hard at that Titon triple disk :biggrin: