Hey everyone,
I'm gearing up to get my build going and thought I may as well start a build thread now, so I can explain my plans and get some feedback.
A little background about me: I have always loved cars and mechanical things in general, and as a Mechanical Engineering Technologist I design machines for a living. Last year I bought a
Mazda RX8 with a blown motor to play around with. I figured I could cross three things off the bucket list; owning a rotary engine, rebuilding an engine with my own two hands, and having a fun car on the side that I could toss around at autocross without too much concern. Then I got absolutely hooked on autocross.
My plan now is to build something that can still be registered for the road, but will spend 90-95% of its time on the track. In addition to autox, they are building a new raceway nearby and I definitely want in on that action!
To fund the project, I am selling my summer daily driver, a mint
2011 Camaro 2SS/RS. The money I get from this car has to pay for the locost, and my
winter vehicle has to be able to tow it. The car is tentatively sold and as soon as it gets picked up in May, I will start ordering parts and making a mess in the garage.
I was lucky enough to get a kickstart to the project by picking up a
chassis from Haler Concepts for $1000 CDN. It was old stock since they got out of the game a number of years ago. It's a book size, perfect for my needs. I also just bought a 2005 Yamaha R1 to use as a donor. I dithered about whether to buy a crashed bike or one in running condition, but finally decided on the latter because I wanted to be able to use as much as possible off it, down to the side mirrors and even headlights if possible. This one has all of 45,000 kms on it, but was just recently in for a tuneup including a valve adjustment and new stator.
So, my next step is the reason I wanted to start this thread now. I have been researching what do use for a rear end, brakes and front uprights for countless hours now, and I'm not sure if I'm over-complicating things for myself.
My wishlist is this:
-F/R brakes from the same car so they are easy to balance and easy to buy parts
-same F/R bolt pattern and hub center bore, for wheel fitment
-rear end WMS width suitable for book chassis
-LSD available
-gear ratio ~3.5:1
So, here's what I am thinking:
-Front uprights/brakes from SN95 V6 Mustang (with strut to upper balljoint adapter)
-7.5" Rear axle from 93-97 Ford Ranger, 56.5" WMS-WMS
-SN95 Mustang rear brakes are nearly a direct bolt-on
Does that all make sense so far? I drew out what the axle should look like on a book frame with 8" wide +40 offset wheels and got this:
Seems reasonable to me? Does anyone know if the pinion is reasonably centered on this axle? My one problem with having bought that chassis is that the transmission tunnel is already finished and I would prefer not to have to move it. Also, since it is a book frame and I would like a passenger seat, I would be very limited in my seat options if I did move the tunnel.
Okay, that's probably good for now. Any input appreciated!
Cheers!