Thanks Gavin! I have a couple of options on the table for the engine and almost none of them involve the stock setup... but I did keep 99% of the engine bay harness, so the option is there should I feel the need. I really like the idea of a standalone ECU with matching display as a dash, but I have filed electrical as the last thing I do before interior and body finishing. Even the thoughts of a custom intake or ITB setup has crossed my mind to lower the height of the engine. Beyond cams and tuning, there isn't much out there that isn't invasive. Most of the stuff I've seen includes diesel cranks with shortened pistons, porting and polishing, etc.
My goals for the upcoming winter are:
- test and teardown of engine (oil leaks)
- model engine to some degree is CAD
- do some overall vehicle dynamics calculations
- validate suspension kinematics
- design and simulate chassis (FEA and other)
- spec components
So, basically I will be focusing on the theoretical stuff for the next couple of months as I will already be doing the same for my senior design project (FSAE chassis) and then using some of the contacts I already have in certain industries. I don't want to have anything large and cumbersome built (chassis) until I know that I won't be moving for a job for a few months after graduating next May.
As for vehicle design, I will be putting my own touches and taking cues from a.moore's chassis. I can see how we both have FSAE backgrounds!
My goals:
- integrated rollover structure with removable side-impact 'cage' members
- custom suspension from A-Z, incl knuckles, a-arms, etc. while using E30 BMW hubs but keeping it closer to a production car (i.e. Delrin or poly bushings instead of rod ends) to keep costs down.
- Undecided about brakes, but I have a full set of Tilton MCs in a closet somewhere and a full F/R caliper set from a mk2 Jetta that I will try to incorporate into my designs.
Beyond that everything is up in the air...