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Building A New Race NSX @ Driving Ambition
- Thread starter DrivingAmbition
- Start date
Was there today to see Kip's car under the knife - what a great opportunity to see the bare aluminum chassis in person. With all the cool projects in the shop, I may be the next to fall to the dark side.
Re: Larry, this is us you're talkin' to........
As my first racing mentor told me when I started: "My wife wishes I would've been a heroin addict; would've been much cheaper." Anyone think that's a joke?
ROFLMAO. Larry, who are you kidding......."may". You're already over the edge and down the slippery slope into the bottomless money pit. And you may hold the record for diving in the quickest.
As my first racing mentor told me when I started: "My wife wishes I would've been a heroin addict; would've been much cheaper." Anyone think that's a joke?
Re: Larry, this is us you're talkin' to........
Ted- you are so right! Just think of all the heroin and hookers I could've had just from one season of tracking:tongue: Now pass me the pipe before I turn my car into a Cup Car.
ROFLMAO. Larry, who are you kidding......."may". You're already over the edge and down the slippery slope into the bottomless money pit. And you may hold the record for diving in the quickest.
As my first racing mentor told me when I started: "My wife wishes I would've been a heroin addict; would've been much cheaper." Anyone think that's a joke?
Ted- you are so right! Just think of all the heroin and hookers I could've had just from one season of tracking:tongue: Now pass me the pipe before I turn my car into a Cup Car.
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I had the same idea about 2 years ago, to make a JGTC replica. Bought the car, stripped it down and was ready to start cutting it up. Then, after some sole searching I realized I was creating a time & money monster. My main issue was that to make a true race car I'd need to modify the suspension so radically that I might as well build a complete tube chassis. The only reason the JGTC cars are built as they are is to remain within the rulebook. The logistics of cutting/re-welding the major load paths of the alum unibody chassis to accommodate relocated pickup points and designing and fabricating all new A arms and uprights simply proved way more involved than I planned. I also planned to lower the engine significantly, which would mean dry sump and a new transaxle with a higher axle centerline and less underhang (and sequential box), big bucks. I was hoping to get some "real" JGTC fenders from Japan but could never make any connections. The "widebody" stuff on the market today isn't even close so I'd end up making new plugs and molds, lots of time. I didn't want to go halfway so I sold the car before it became another money pit project. I decided to start racing motocross again instead, 1000 times more dangerous but 10 times cheaper (don't know if that sounds quite equitable, but it's in my blood). Anyway, good luck on your project. For those interested, you can go to my website www.mscperformance.com and select “JGTC Project” to get additional insight into the JGTC conversion.
Interesting that you started to give it a go Mark...
Our NSX plans are up in the air at the moment. As the JGTC cars are Japanese built its very hard to get details of the cars. The engines are relatively easy, spec and cost of both GT300 and GT500 (Toda and Mugen respectively) are obtainable but Mugen are very reluctant to provide any race derived parts, and especially drawings!
The Le Mans car is a different matter. Being in the UK our advantage is that the car was designed here in England and although most drawings no longer exist (they were thrown away, a few are held by Honda Racing USA) associated companies still have the knowledge to build a GT1 car which at least has the same ethos as the JGTC albeit based on older tech. Both cars only share the centre of the chassis with the production NSX.
Our problem, being avid racers, is that if we built a spaceframe NSX then we would be racing against Corvette, Aston GT1 etc. teams that have vast budgets and superior technical ability. There is no point spending £200k on a car that will be outclassed or disqualified from many series'.
Hopefully we will progress with at least pushrod suspension, a JGTC 300 engine and a Hewland sequential... over the coming months i'll be able to share more details. It will be interesting to see how the project compares to Driving Ambitions'.
Our NSX plans are up in the air at the moment. As the JGTC cars are Japanese built its very hard to get details of the cars. The engines are relatively easy, spec and cost of both GT300 and GT500 (Toda and Mugen respectively) are obtainable but Mugen are very reluctant to provide any race derived parts, and especially drawings!
The Le Mans car is a different matter. Being in the UK our advantage is that the car was designed here in England and although most drawings no longer exist (they were thrown away, a few are held by Honda Racing USA) associated companies still have the knowledge to build a GT1 car which at least has the same ethos as the JGTC albeit based on older tech. Both cars only share the centre of the chassis with the production NSX.
Our problem, being avid racers, is that if we built a spaceframe NSX then we would be racing against Corvette, Aston GT1 etc. teams that have vast budgets and superior technical ability. There is no point spending £200k on a car that will be outclassed or disqualified from many series'.
Hopefully we will progress with at least pushrod suspension, a JGTC 300 engine and a Hewland sequential... over the coming months i'll be able to share more details. It will be interesting to see how the project compares to Driving Ambitions'.
Good idea to move on. If you want a Super GT car and/or vehicle prepped to the maximum pro level you are describing- it would have been a lot easier to just buy a seat in one, or I suppose you could buy a retired car, then field it like arrive-and-drive up until you kill yourself. Ultimately it is only a function of money.
Of course, similar to Parker's CT Spice car... I'm not sure what anyone would do with it besides charity events & car shows. Obviously, we don't have the series here; so it wouldn't be easily eligible for much. Without crew, nor competitive. Nor would it be all that fast for the money. Nor without a ride, could it be operated in any realistic budget capacity that most of us would be familiar with. The first time you had a few mechanicals; you would pretty much be half way toward going bankrupt. Watch as kids spill drinks all over it at car shows, perhaps. :smile:
It's important to be level headed. No need to pro prep a vehicle to the Nth degree for it to be a "true" or "respectable" race car. You need only to invest to a prudent, reasonable, prep level for your class/series/budget/goals and call it good. At some point you need to subdue ambition, prioritize seat time, and factor-in contingencies.
The single most common mistake drivers make: building a car that is magnitudes of order more than what their race budget can actually support.
The NSX is a sufficiently capable and expensive vehicle as-is. Even for spec/touring or ITE will set you back several thousand per weekend after fees/tires/fluids/gas/etc... Thus, I suspect most here won't be requiring the cup car version- let alone the JGTC version.
Frankly, if your eye is on the pro GT level- short of tubbing it out the NSX is not going to ever be your ticket anyway. Even on the club race level you will get absolutely spanked by 996 cup cars, viper competition coupes, and tube frame corvette with 800hp NASCAR engines in them that cost 1/2 of the price; with 4X the support, fielded by owners with 16X the budget, of whose full-time job in life as far as I can tell is driving and spending money.
Back to reality/topic now.
Nice start Shad/Kip! Best of luck out there. Hope to see you at a regional race up here someday.
Cheers,
John
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Yes...very good point John.
Re: Buying or building is one thing, maintaining is another
Which makes Shad a very smart guy. :wink:
+1. Like boats or airplanes, operating and maintaining them is much harder than acquiring them.
Which makes Shad a very smart guy. :wink:
Wow, looks nice. You guys are really lucky to have a such a great shop out there in Cali. to work with. I'm truly impressed and very jealous. I'd be interestred in opening something in Chicago specializing in NSX's to satisfy the midwest guys but would assume there is not enough volume of nsx work here. How about Lovefab Chicago, cody?, devin? what would it take to get you guys to move to Chicago? If this new nsx ever comes out that might just be the ticket to getting enough business as there is certainly enough money floating around this city that I'd like to start collecting. Keep it up guys and please show us more when you can.
Hi Everyone,
Here is some updated pictures of the progress. Most of the main cage is done, we still need to do final driver fitment (to finalize the steering wheel placement). Next up is mounting the radiator, after-cooler radiator and plumbing them. Then the dash and center console mounting. After that is all done the fabrication begins on the headers, turbo system and after-cooler. Cheers, Shad
Here is some updated pictures of the progress. Most of the main cage is done, we still need to do final driver fitment (to finalize the steering wheel placement). Next up is mounting the radiator, after-cooler radiator and plumbing them. Then the dash and center console mounting. After that is all done the fabrication begins on the headers, turbo system and after-cooler. Cheers, Shad
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DAM! no cars are gonna come flying threw those doors in a tbone thats for sure
Are the RED buttons for the Nosss
I see.......Shad and Kip cheating just looking for that little extra :tongue:
Air jacks?
built-in Bongs:biggrin:
No, aren't they those landing gears which automatically retract after sub-sonic speeds are attained in the hot-pits?? I'm pretty sure the red bottle holds the special juicy juice which actuates their hydraulics.
Man, everyone seems to be hunting for that elusive winning edge in the unlimited classes these days on the NSX track forums... even the ones that haven't got to drive yet...
Here's my suggested NSX pro go-fast on a budget strategy: Buy winning GT1 Corvette. Put NSX Body work on Corvette. Install Honda shift knob and decal set.
Those competitive 1:09's or whatever may finally be the glimmering light from the faint wishing star at the edge of the speed nebula.... reflecting off the hope cloud :wink: :biggrin:
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Re: NSX Files; NorCal edition
Now if Kip got a ghost writer and web lackey, he could upstage Hayashi.
I take that back; Speed ain't all that Doug and Wayne are about. Kip's too clean cut and too much in control to allow (or create) that much chaos and have that kind of fun.
Now Steve, on the other hand............that's a different story.:wink:
Now if Kip got a ghost writer and web lackey, he could upstage Hayashi.
I take that back; Speed ain't all that Doug and Wayne are about. Kip's too clean cut and too much in control to allow (or create) that much chaos and have that kind of fun.
Now Steve, on the other hand............that's a different story.:wink:
Hi Guys,
Here is more pictures of the progress. The driver fitting went great, we got the mirrors mounted, the steering wheel and AIM Dash mounted, dead pedal and heal stop installed. We had to move the shifter back about 2" to get everything to fit correctly for Kip. Most of the body work changes are done and just need a little more body work before paint. We had to trim the hood for venting, fill stock mirror and lock holes in doors and modify the top of the doors to fit the new inner door panels. We are building the front bumper support and mounting the radiators today. Cheers, Shad
Here is more pictures of the progress. The driver fitting went great, we got the mirrors mounted, the steering wheel and AIM Dash mounted, dead pedal and heal stop installed. We had to move the shifter back about 2" to get everything to fit correctly for Kip. Most of the body work changes are done and just need a little more body work before paint. We had to trim the hood for venting, fill stock mirror and lock holes in doors and modify the top of the doors to fit the new inner door panels. We are building the front bumper support and mounting the radiators today. Cheers, Shad
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Re: Nicely done.
That looks like a great setup for some dancing on the pedals. Is he going to use any left foot braking?
Can't wait to see some jaw-dropping racing next year.
That looks like a great setup for some dancing on the pedals. Is he going to use any left foot braking?
Can't wait to see some jaw-dropping racing next year.
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