Belly Tank Build Diary

[Mike Brown]

The inner wheel covers were fabricated from 14 gauge galvaneal steel.  I did get those fabricated on a turret punch.  The hole that the caliper protrudes through I cut with a sabre saw. 

[Mike Brown]

A view of the inner wheel disc, caliper mount and hub with rotor. 

[Mike Brown]

A view of the inner wheel disc with the wheel in place from the front. 

[Mike Brown]

A view of the caliper sticking through the inner wheel disc.  Now onto adding a master cylinder with lever and plumbing. 

[Jack Gifford]

Nice job of getting the calipers almost completely out of the airstream. How much clearance wheel-rim-to-inner-disc?

[Mike Brown]

Nice job of getting the calipers almost completely out of the airstream. How much clearance wheel-rim-to-inner-disc?

I have about 3/16" from the inside of the inner disc to the inside of the wheel rim.  The rolled edge on the perimeter of the rim is slightly further inboard than the disc.  After I machined the spacer I debated if it would be better to have the inner disc flush with this edge.  With the aero on this car I was over thinking it.  I hope the aero is better with the inner discs and brakes than it was before I added the brakes. 

[Mike Brown]

I decided to drill the caliper slider bolts and safety wire them.  I need to figure out a location for the front brake master cylinder and then plumb the new brakes. 

[Mike Brown]

I used a Wilwood kart master cylinder for the front brakes.  I added a lever for operation.  The plumbing was short so I used Areoquip braided stainless #3 lines and fittings.  An advantage of braided lines is being able to temporarily relocate the master cylinder so I could bleed the brakes without a second person.  The brakes bleed well and at about 1/4 stroke the lever is very firm.  I will put the master cylinder back in the car, secure the lines with some Adele clamps and we should be good to go. 

[Mike Brown]

A photo of the hand brake installed in the cockpit.  Not much room left for anything else!

[Mike Brown]

When going through my initial tech inspection the inspectors did not like the shield that I had fabricated to protect the fuel line as it crossed the bell housing.  They suggested that it could be improved by using pipe to protect the lines in the area that they crossed the bell housing.  I re-plumbed the fuel lines for better protection.  The #10 AN fuel line received a 180 degree fitting at the tank and 90 degree fitting at the fuel pressure regulator which redirected the line so it does not enter the bell housing area.  The #8 AN pressure line to the fuel rail was relocated so that it was straight in the section over the bell housing.  I was then able to use a section of pipe to protect the fuel line as it crosses the bell housing.  I added a tab so that the fuel filter could be secured to the section of pipe with a hose clamp.  1/4" thick steel bar secures the pipe the frame work that holds the fuel tank, intercooler tank, battery and fuel system. 

[tauruck]

Awesome work Mike. That's a neat job.
Great build. Thank you.

[Mike Brown]

Loring will be a 22 hour drive for us.  I wanted to make a dyno run to make sure that the stumble I had on first run at Ohio was battery voltage related and that the alternator fixed the problem.  After getting setup on the dyno some bad behavior showed up.  John at Weapon X in Cincinnati determined that I had the MAP and BARO sensor connections reversed.  We swapped the connections and did some additional checks and all was good.  The engine cooling water was getting warm so I decided on a pull in second gear for more my full throttle run.  This is not as accurate as fourth gear pull.  The pull resulted in 480 rear wheel horsepower.  John let me know that my blower belt was slipping a little but the air fuel ratios were good indicating that my fuel system was performing well.  I plan to make some passes at Kilkare Dragstrip in Xenia Ohio to check the chute and then back to the dyno for a few more pulls.  I will be better prepared with additional water for the cooling system.  The staff at Weapon X are the real deal.  It was great to have John there to further educate me on the LSA engine. 

[bearingburner]

Will look you up at Loring.

[Mike Brown]

My wife and I made it to Kilkare dragstrip for a test & tune session yesterday.  The weather was oppressive however the staff at Kilkare were both helpful and professional.  We made three 100 mph 1/4 mile passes.  There was no "shimmy" in the front end like that I had experienced at the Ohio Mile.  My assumption was affirmed that the steering arms from Speedway Motors were the culprit in the "shimmy" problem.  On the third pass I deployed the chute for the first time.  The chute worked well even at 100 mph.  The Kilkare staff was nice enough to gather my chute up after I turned off the track so that it could be put on top of car and not get caught on the concrete barrier, easy up tent, cooler etcetera.  I believe that a trip to Loring may be in our future. 

[Mike Brown]

I decided that a windshield would eliminate some of the buffeting that I experienced on the test runs at the dragstrip.  I used cardboard to create a pattern that was transferred to 3/16" acrylic.  I smoothed the edges cut on a band saw then beveled the corners to reduce the chance of cracks.