1982 Pontiac Firebird
Since I last played with my pc, I have been busy down at the garage working on the new race car. With the 2000 season creeping up on us quicker than I need, work has been taking place of all my spare time to try to have the car ready to race in April.
As I said, a good amount of the parts have come from last years car, but all the parts had to be dismantled and checked to see if all was well and no horrors were going to cause us problems later on. Most parts were fine with just new brackets needed to make them fit the new car. As this was my first time building a full chassis, a lot of time was needed to set things up how I wanted, so that the car sat correctly when completed. I underestimated just how much time this would take. As I have built cars before and work with cars for a living, I had a good idea of the parts I needed to do the job in hand, which I find saves a lot of time in itself. As per last year the engine is one of Chevrolets best v8's in the shape of a 350ci smallblock. In mild tune we estimate to have approximately 300bhp.
The engine was stripped to inspect for any nasty, as I had a slight oil pressure loss towards the end of last season, but only on tickover, so I didn't think I was going to find anything too severe. On strip down I found a nasty looking crankshaft that was going to need replaced. The rest of the motor seemed to be in good order.
So after finding this, it was then obvious that I was not going to be able to afford the new pistons that I wanted to fit, so I had to refit the old ones. As the pistons are stock the compression ratio is 8.5-1 which is a bit low for what we want, but such is life. Thankfully the gearbox is fine as I had put in a high stall convertor. The box being used is a two speed Powerglide and 3000 stall tci unit. The rear axle is the same unit previously used in the Pinto, which is a Hauser Race Cars prepared Ford nine inch unit with 4.11 gears and purpose built half shafts by Moser Engineering in the USA. The chassis consists of 40mm x80mm box section with 3mm wall . All the chassis is home made with purpose built cross members, engine mount, steering, gearbox and axle mounts all made from 6mm flat plate and 40mm x 80mm box. The steering rack is from a Ford Pinto, widened to line up with the modified Capri struts. The front struts have adjustable lower spring perches and VW Golf inserts, as they are shorter for more suspension travel. The lower track control arms are Capri rally items which have rose joint inner joints for adjustment. The steering column is a Chris Cockburn item made on his lathe at work. Brakes are courtesy of Ford, front and rear, with a Nissan Micra master cylinder. The fuel tank is a very much shortened Mini Van unit, feeding a Holley 90 gallon per hour fuel pump to a Morosso pressure regulator, then to a Holley 600 double pumper carb. Cooling is by courtesy of a GM radiator with twin fans of unknown origin. Inside we find a monster tach by Auto Meter, a Jaz seat and a B&M shifter, and not a lot else.
That about raps it up, but to say that since writing this the car has been out to three meetings with reasonable success. The new car is heavier than the old one, but runs dead straight and is quicker, so we must have done something right.
All we need to do now is win some trophies and I will be happy. Finally I want to thank all involved, you know who you are.