Stripped trackcar project thread?

[prawn]

yea man,

I used a bar across the sills as a height datum to make sure it's all good and level:

Then i cut out the plates, and got it all fitting nicely, which took AGES, to bend the plates to shape, and trim the ends of the bars to sit square. with it all trimmed I tacked them in:

Then welded them up solid off the car:

Then they were painted and welded in properly, along with a harness mount in the tunnel with captive nut welded on the back:

Then the side mounts bolt to the rails, and job's a goodun! Seriously strong seat mounts, incorperated into the tunnel and sills, not just the floorpan.

 

[Murdered LCR]

Awesome mate your a ledge , will have to do the same

 

[prawn]

Hardest bit was removing the bloody standard channels! I spent a whole day with shitty tools drilling out the spot welds and chiseling off the old runners. Nightmare!

 

[Purespeed]

Off for a long read Thanks Prawn.......are they the Rallye Design seats? A good friend has them in his track car but only rates them for short trips; any thoughts?
(Car looks the nuts by the way)

 

[prawn]

they are indeed the RMD seats sold by Rally design. Which ones does your mate have? they do two versions.

Mine are the 'Maximum protection' seats, and I love them.

I had monacos before, but after one sit in these in a mates car, I ordered some that week.

No trouble here for me on long trips though, I drive 400 miles a week and I used the track car daily for a month without issue,.

My dad and I recently drove to the Ring, a 6 hour trip, and we both felt fresh as a daisy when we arrived at the hotel, and Dad's 66 with a savage bad back and he didn't suffer at all!

Obviously it depends on your size and shape, but they've got adjustable pads to move around to get yourself comfy, they're only 6kg too, so crazy light. I love them.

Car is getting there, Rota Force wheels arrived today so that's more weight saved.

Just needs the turbo fitting over winter and it'll be perfect for me!

 

[Purespeed]

Same as yours Prawn; that's how I spotted them I have tried them myself at Cadwell and love the value and weight! Did you use side mounts from your old seats or buy them too from RMD?

Great project thread by the way...........still reading yours now. There may be a few PM's coming your way after reading all the way through. (The stripped weight is very encouraging; chuffed with that )

 

[prawn]

I had cobra monacos in there before, on the sparco steel side mounts, and I'm still using them as they're thicker.

When I got the RMD seats, I bought them before selling the cobras, and bolted the side mounts and sliders from the RMD's onto the monacos and sold them as a package for £300!

Amazingly, despite the minimal info on the rally design website, the RMD seats come with steel side mounts AND double locking sliders, all for £120 each! it's madness.

Stripped weight is indeed promising, 1100kg with full glass, air con, CD player, central locking, and electric window still. I reckon with perspex windows, and all the aircon crap removed, and a strip down of the wiring, I could get it down to 1050kg

 

[Purespeed]

That 1100kgs, can you remind me whether that included any fuel on board? (Can't read your entire thread again; that would be a real killer ) Epic thread by the way.

Short term game plan is to save a few more quid, buy a pair of RMD seats, an RMD dished wheel and get the rear windows tinted. I want something that looks standard-ish from the outside. The above should be sorted by the end of November and then it will be exhaust and induction mods, followed by a remap.

I can't bloody wait

Prawn, did you baffle your sump mate?

 

[prawn]

1100kg was with £40's worth of fuel, about 20kgs worth, so pre cage the car was 1080kgs. I saved 10kg changing from monacos to te RMD seats, then stuck about 40kg of roll cage in there taking it to about 1110kg. The wheels at the time were Leon Cupra starfishes, I've since added a bit with the TT rims, but when the ultralight Rotas go on next week I'll save 24kg again, so hopefully it'll be just under 1100kg, fully caged. If I lost the aircon, and stripped back the loom I reckon I could easily get it to 1070, with more to save from windows, stereo, and central locking.
1050 is possible

 

[prawn]

With regards to the baffled sump, I don't currently have one, but there is a reason for this!

Currently, my engine is on almost 210 000 miles (yup, 210k!). as such it's not worth anything really, and it's a few hundred quid and a days work if it does give up. I certainly can't afford the cost of a baffled sump at the moment, so I run my oil level 5-10mm above the max level on the dipstick, and I'm yet to suffer from any oil pressure / starvation issues at all, on several trackdays, and 4 trips to the Ring.

My plan is to test my hybrid on this engine at low boost to see how reliable it can be, then start building up a decent spec new lump to drop in when this one eventually gives up, then I'll throw on a baffled sump for the new build.

 

[Purespeed]

Your info is so useful mate; thanks

Last daft question.............for now.............have you tried the slicks yet? Just wondered how the chassis coped with them or whether it showed up any 'issues' with the suspension. (Has done when I've tried them in the past with cars running a 'perfect' set up for R888's)

 

[prawn]

Not tried the slicks yet no, I've lent the 17's to a mate for now to get him rolling. Once they come back I'll throw the clio cup slicks on and give them a test at an open pitlane day.

To be honest though, with the car being primarily a 'Ring' setup, I think the suspension is a little too soft to make the most of slicks, and my geo is not aggressive enough.

Next up after the new turbo will be adjustable top mounts to get more camber and castor, I've got a good bit from the LCR lower arms, but it needs more really, castor in particular. I'll also start playing with shims on the rear to see what can be done.

 

[Purespeed]

Do you know if the adjustable top mounts for an A3 would also fit a Cupra? I have looked at the LCR arms but will worry about them once I have coilovers on (Still running LCR set up at the moment) My own experience of the Ring (only in my GTR admittedly) showed me that a good set up for UK race tracks was awful on the Ring. I had to alter the damper settings quite a bit to get a good balance out there, and then reset it all again when I came home. (Times like that it was nice to have Tein EDFC )

 

[prawn]

to my knowledge, there are no decent adjustable top mounts for our chassis. I've seen a few eccentric ones where you just rotate the top in an offset plate, but I don't like that idea, as settings are finite, and camber and caster can't be adjusted independantly.

My plan is a little more radical, I'm going to buy some generic adjustable sliding top mounts, then get brave and cut off the raised section on the top of my towers, and weld in a fresh plate, in which I can place the top mounts where I want, then use the adjustment for final alignment.

I've seen it done before with very good results. I figure I've already gone wider at the bottom, so considering driveshaft length can't be changed THAT much, the next step is to go in at the top

I'll then

 

[Murdered LCR]

Adjustable top mounts come with kwv3 clubsports , and why do you still have air con you big girl lol

 

[Ape]

they are indeed the RMD seats sold by Rally design. Which ones does your mate have? they do two versions.

Mine are the 'Maximum protection' seats, and I love them.

I had monacos before, but after one sit in these in a mates car, I ordered some that week.

No trouble here for me on long trips though, I drive 400 miles a week and I used the track car daily for a month without issue,.

My dad and I recently drove to the Ring, a 6 hour trip, and we both felt fresh as a daisy when we arrived at the hotel, and Dad's 66 with a savage bad back and he didn't suffer at all!

Obviously it depends on your size and shape, but they've got adjustable pads to move around to get yourself comfy, they're only 6kg too, so crazy light. I love them.

Car is getting there, Rota Force wheels arrived today so that's more weight saved.

Just needs the turbo fitting over winter and it'll be perfect for me!

Have you got the inside dimensions of the seat? I'm not a small build / frame and struggle finding decent seats. I've looked at the big names, but they want £400+ per seat, without subframes / rails etc. RMD seats would suit as long as I can fit in them! Especially at the price on their site!

 

[prawn]

I've not got dims to hand Adam, but I can get them for you this evening. What sort of size are you? I don't remember you being bigger than me. I'm 6'2" and 16 1/2 stone, and I fit very comfortably. Ive had people in there of 17st easily, yet at the same time I have a mate who's about 5'10" and 11st and he says they're really comfy for him too.

Being a grp shell there is some give in them too, unlike nasty steel framed stuff.

Unless you're looking to go racing, I really couldn't think of a better value seat

If you're anywhere near me you're welcome to have a try

 

[Ape]

That'd be appreciated if you could. I'm 6ft and about 17 1/2 to 18stone, as I'm sat now on a computer chair and at the top of my legs I need about 500mm!! (Bat Fastard!) Unfortunately I'm up in North Worcestershire, cheers for the offer though bud!

 

[Murdered LCR]

Your 100% fit in mine mate but there like 600 quid each lol

 

[prawn]

you'll fit in the RMD's just fine I'd think Ape, my weight goes up and down a bit, I was 17 1/2 st earlier this year and I fitted in them just fine.

Have you got any more track days planned for this year? I'm doing Hullavington on November 25th in the A3 through motorsport-events, that's probably not a million miles away from you! come along