Nocones $2020 challenge build thread

24 days left, You need a stunt double....

nocones said:

 Since I had all the woodworking stuff out I decided to tackle the steering wheel next.  I'm about 3 hrs in and it's clamped up with wood.  I'm not sure this one is going to turn out as nice.  We will see but it's had some frustrating parts during the wood layup.

It's a bit hard to tell from the picture... what's the frustration?

barefootskater (Shaun) said:

That shifter is beautiful. Nicely done. Wondering if this is the first use of "sticks from the yard: $0" budget line. 

I used a twig to shim the Q45 battery one year and included it in budget at $0.

Stampie said:

barefootskater (Shaun) said:

That shifter is beautiful. Nicely done. Wondering if this is the first use of "sticks from the yard: $0" budget line. 

I used a twig to shim the Q45 battery one year and included it in budget at $0.

One upper

In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :

One of the pieces of wood split a corner out and I had issues aligning the dowels such that one of them has a pretty solid gap around it.  

But it turns out my frustrations where unfounded.  

In reply to bentwrench :

Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:

Stampie said:

barefootskater (Shaun) said:

That shifter is beautiful. Nicely done. Wondering if this is the first use of "sticks from the yard: $0" budget line. 

I used a twig to shim the Q45 battery one year and included it in budget at $0.

One upper

Story-topper for sure

Despite my previous negative thoughts the steering wheel turned out pretty great.  

Contouring was accomplished using a 3/4" and 1" sanding drum as well as a Dremel rasp bit for detailed work.  

Following rough contouring a Dremel oscilating tool with sanding pad smoothed it out.  Then hand sanding in 2 passes with 150/220 grit happened.  I am sure I could of sanded for years and made it better but I stopped and threw a couple of coats of poly on.  

Also while waiting for things to dry I finished the 2WD spud.  There are pretty good DIY documentation of this on the internet so I just followed along.  

+3.5 more Hours.  I will get a total for the wheel and shifter tonight.  The 2WD conversion was free.

This is one of the awesomorerest pics posted ever. 

Maybe turn the three bolts into a face?

nocones said:

In reply to bentwrench :

In two weeks:

Dang...

In reply to NOHOME :

I should.  

But there is going to be a cover that holds the original Subaru emblem.    For now it will likely be a chunk of MDF.  Eventually I will get someone to 3D print something.  

In reply to nocones :

Tell me the bolt pattern of the bolts, and their size and I might be able to whip something up before the Challenge. 

Subaru logo? Glue in some earth magnets to hold it in place?

Steering wheel and shifter look amazing!

Finally some composites in this racecar!

nocones said:

 

This HAS to be used as a GRM promotional photo...

Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:

This has to be one of the most GRM pics I've ever seen. 
 

I feel really icky these days, and this picture makes me really happy.

This whole build is amazing and the shifter and wheel has just blown my mind. You are a skilled creative visionary! This forum and the people in here are just awesome. 

You could win the concours just from the steering wheel and shifter.

slowbird said:

You could win the concours just from the steering wheel and shifter.

Agreed. Good work!

Thanks again for all the compliments and support.  I have a huge plan for this one and So far things are working the way I Imagined just more slowly.  It's frustrating knowing the vision I have for the car and how undone it will be this year but the experience will be worth it even unfinished.   When things like the seats/steering/shifter work out the way I planed it gives me hope that eventually the rest of the car will start to look exactly like the rendering.  

Yesterday was a full day off to work on the car.  After a delayed start due to some family commitments I was able to put in 7 hours over the course of the day.  Visually not a lot got done.  I added 2nd tabs onto the transmission side of the shifter and actually painted 1 part.  This will possibly be the only painted part on the car at the challenge...

I then took the chassis back apart so I could finish weld the rear subframe.  I added a lower front cross bar.  This bar was interesting because it can't fit into the hole because it's longer then the gab between the two round tubes due to the copes on the ends.  So I cut a small piece out at an angle from the center.  This allows the bar to fit in the gap and then I could just weld it back in.  

I then tackled the radiator mounts.  The radiator uses a rubber puck nub on the bottom and a pin in the top.  The spacing on the mounts lined up with the chassis so I just made some simple stanchions for the bottom.  The od of the puck fit perfectly in 1/2" conduit so I made some hats out of a washer and stubs of conduit.  I then welded on a short section of 1" Dom tube.  This just got welded to the chassis.  

On the top a pin of ~3/8 diameter fits into the rubber.  Because I don't want my radiator to become trapped in the chassis the top mounts have to be removable.  I added a tab to the harness bar that I centered on the headrest.  This way I won't get in the way of the harnesses.  The rest is just some steel plate.  Overall I'm pleased with the mounts.  They were easy and definitely hold the radiator robustly.  Also using OEM mounting is always the best approach as it maintains flexibility.  

There will be a firewall that goes up between the harness bar and the radiator that I will start on next.  I will make a shroud to pull air in from the triangle behind the seats on the sides.  I will probably install the stock fans 1 per side blowing into the area behind the seats.  Remember this is a temporary radiator arrangement as eventually I will do 2 smaller side pod radiators so a larger Track day appropriate gas tank can go behind the seats. 

 Firewall and floorpans are what stand between me and putting the build back on the table for final assembly.  

Structural fabrication is almost done.  I need to add a removable set of bars above the transmission for the A-arm and shock loads.  After that it's just tab city as I mount things.  

Fantastic. I'd love to see this go to the challenge then get done/redone without a budget limit.

preach (fs) said:

Fantastic. I'd love to see this go to the challenge then get done/redone without a budget limit.

I agree.  Though if money was no object I would pull molds for a carbon fiber body and just build a 2nd one.  

It would be neat to see how much better/faster/lighter it would be.   

I want to take it to UTCC when it's done and see how badly it gets destroyed by an actual LMP3 car.    For that though I may go crazy and put the WRX engine in it which will bust the challenge budget by ~$500.   

I've always wondered what it would be like to build a car where you don't try to save money on things.  Someone on a group I was on was talking about starting a project and the budget would be ~100K so paying $4-5k for the starting point wasnt a big deal.  My brain can't even imagine what I could build for that..  

I have no words. This whole build is just incredible honestly.