Update on Fat Bully and a few dumb questions... (long)
12-03-2002, 11:06 AM
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Join Date: Jun 2001
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Update on Fat Bully and a few dumb questions... (long)
I've been converting the Bully to full race setup over the past year. Problem is I'm not mechanically minded, neither do I have the time to do the work myself, so I have to rely on my wrench to do all the work for me. I'm only good for detailing and driving. (at least I think I am) Others tell me I'm best at throwing $$ at my toys...
My long term objective is to build a superquick Shark that is highly competitive and looks the part. A sorta 'concourse race car' if you know what I mean...
This is where I'm at - Weight savings. Started off with 1550kg. I've since gutted and stripped everything that is not there for performance or handling. Aircon and interior trim are out. Entire wiring harness is coming out too and plexiglass windows are on the agenda, along with lighweight fibreglass door panels, dashboard and rear hatch. I own a big stake in a fibreglass / Perspex business that manufactures high quality aftermarket stuff for bikes, so this is done "in-house". <a href="http://hammerit.net" target="_blank">Hammerit.net - My fairing business...</a>
On A side note I must say I'm amazed by how strong Porsche made the 928. When you start stripping stuff you realise how well designed the car is. Some components are way overdesigned (IMHO) compared to other cars, even other Porsches. Like the popup headlight contraption for instance. And the hatch! Boy you'd have to be Arnold Schwartzenegger (spelling) to hold that thing up for 5 minutes. No wonder it's such a heavy car in stock trim.
We'll be putting the Bully on corner weight scales in the morning to determine the weight now. I want to do this as a point of reference because right now everything is gutted and bare. No front fenders, bumper covers etc. From here on we'll be adding weight again. Bodywork, rollbar etc...
Due to my business commitments the project is behind schedule at this stage. We spent most of this year on weight saving and sophisticated suspension upgrades. I'll have some pics soon. Man, you gotta see some of the trick **** I got suspension wise...
Custom LS diff is done and will be installed in January along with new gearbox. Gearbox is still a pain in a$$ though... Still looking for a 5 speed GT / GTS box at an affordable price. Help?
Wheels will be custom widened stock 16 rims with wheel spacers on slicks. 350 in the rear and 275 in front. These are GoodYear slicks off the shelf, still used for historic F1 racing. For time trials I'll be using 275x45x17 rear (SO3) and 275x55x17 (SO3) on widened Cup 1's with wheel spacers. Radical rubber, I know, but my reasoning is to take full advantage of the local rules for scratch racing. Add this up: Trick suspension + 996 brakes all round + Wide body kit + Ultra wide rubber + LS diff + lightweight 928... Should be interesting. I come from bike racing and drive a little different to most other drivers... Like to slide a bit and use slightly different lines to most other drivers I've seen. I think my driving style suits the set-up I described above. Really like the LS diff and can't wait to try it out. Makes steering with the throttle a breeze. Learned this from the little Alfa GTA race car I've been driving this year in Historic racing.
During my off time this December I'll spending time detailing a few things and starting work on the widebody. We got some nice ideas from a contact at the CSIR, a local facility that does wind tunnel testing for a few F1 teams. The bodywork will be radical but tastefull (I hope). We'll be using a lot of design cues from the street version of the GT1 and the prototype will be wind tunnel tested before final design. Yeah, I know it sounds over the top, but I have the contact and the facilities are literally down the road me, so why not?
My wrench started building a 700hp quad turbo 4.7, but that's another story... It's a project he always wanted to do, but it'll be long term. At least another 12 to 18 months. For the meantime I'll stick with my current tweaked '83 Euro motor, but all this talk about supercharging on the cheap really got me interested.
Andy K, Quick Carl, Jim Nowak, you guys listening? I've qot US$ 2000 to blow right now. Lemme know what you can do for me...
Sorry for the long post. I tend to get carried away sometimes... <img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />
My long term objective is to build a superquick Shark that is highly competitive and looks the part. A sorta 'concourse race car' if you know what I mean...
This is where I'm at - Weight savings. Started off with 1550kg. I've since gutted and stripped everything that is not there for performance or handling. Aircon and interior trim are out. Entire wiring harness is coming out too and plexiglass windows are on the agenda, along with lighweight fibreglass door panels, dashboard and rear hatch. I own a big stake in a fibreglass / Perspex business that manufactures high quality aftermarket stuff for bikes, so this is done "in-house". <a href="http://hammerit.net" target="_blank">Hammerit.net - My fairing business...</a>
On A side note I must say I'm amazed by how strong Porsche made the 928. When you start stripping stuff you realise how well designed the car is. Some components are way overdesigned (IMHO) compared to other cars, even other Porsches. Like the popup headlight contraption for instance. And the hatch! Boy you'd have to be Arnold Schwartzenegger (spelling) to hold that thing up for 5 minutes. No wonder it's such a heavy car in stock trim.
We'll be putting the Bully on corner weight scales in the morning to determine the weight now. I want to do this as a point of reference because right now everything is gutted and bare. No front fenders, bumper covers etc. From here on we'll be adding weight again. Bodywork, rollbar etc...
Due to my business commitments the project is behind schedule at this stage. We spent most of this year on weight saving and sophisticated suspension upgrades. I'll have some pics soon. Man, you gotta see some of the trick **** I got suspension wise...
Custom LS diff is done and will be installed in January along with new gearbox. Gearbox is still a pain in a$$ though... Still looking for a 5 speed GT / GTS box at an affordable price. Help?
Wheels will be custom widened stock 16 rims with wheel spacers on slicks. 350 in the rear and 275 in front. These are GoodYear slicks off the shelf, still used for historic F1 racing. For time trials I'll be using 275x45x17 rear (SO3) and 275x55x17 (SO3) on widened Cup 1's with wheel spacers. Radical rubber, I know, but my reasoning is to take full advantage of the local rules for scratch racing. Add this up: Trick suspension + 996 brakes all round + Wide body kit + Ultra wide rubber + LS diff + lightweight 928... Should be interesting. I come from bike racing and drive a little different to most other drivers... Like to slide a bit and use slightly different lines to most other drivers I've seen. I think my driving style suits the set-up I described above. Really like the LS diff and can't wait to try it out. Makes steering with the throttle a breeze. Learned this from the little Alfa GTA race car I've been driving this year in Historic racing.
During my off time this December I'll spending time detailing a few things and starting work on the widebody. We got some nice ideas from a contact at the CSIR, a local facility that does wind tunnel testing for a few F1 teams. The bodywork will be radical but tastefull (I hope). We'll be using a lot of design cues from the street version of the GT1 and the prototype will be wind tunnel tested before final design. Yeah, I know it sounds over the top, but I have the contact and the facilities are literally down the road me, so why not?
My wrench started building a 700hp quad turbo 4.7, but that's another story... It's a project he always wanted to do, but it'll be long term. At least another 12 to 18 months. For the meantime I'll stick with my current tweaked '83 Euro motor, but all this talk about supercharging on the cheap really got me interested.
Andy K, Quick Carl, Jim Nowak, you guys listening? I've qot US$ 2000 to blow right now. Lemme know what you can do for me...
Sorry for the long post. I tend to get carried away sometimes... <img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />
12-03-2002, 12:56 PM
#2
Pierre,
You project sounds great. Mine should be through the first phases within a week or so. After that, I can get some brackets made for a supercharger. However, Quick Carl already has a bracket that mounts in the place of the A/C compressor. Since my car doesn't have the A/C and neither does yours his bracket would work fine and save me some time. I would rather use an ATI Procharger than a Vortech but once you get the pattern of the bracket the conversion is simple.
Is you car CIS? CIS is very inefficient and will cost some power as well as tunability issues.
You project sounds great. Mine should be through the first phases within a week or so. After that, I can get some brackets made for a supercharger. However, Quick Carl already has a bracket that mounts in the place of the A/C compressor. Since my car doesn't have the A/C and neither does yours his bracket would work fine and save me some time. I would rather use an ATI Procharger than a Vortech but once you get the pattern of the bracket the conversion is simple.
Is you car CIS? CIS is very inefficient and will cost some power as well as tunability issues.
