Thanks to my friends at Ansa Motorsports and ESR Graphics I was able to finish the steering wheel. After two hours of different sizes/fonts/colors, here is the final product. I'm very happy with the results!

 

looks really good man but you really need to start on the floor though lol.

 

Hey Al. . .Ernie is my brother, glad he could hook you up !

 

WOW, what a small world, Ernie is a great guy and a Master at his craft! next time you're in Miami you'll have to come by my shop and check out the car, I'm not far from your brothers shop.

BigAl...

 

brotha i just sat here and read this whole thing . i must say your craftsmanship is on par .

 

Thank you, but ya gotta tell me what it's on par with?

just kidding, nothing special here just a lot of dedication!

BigAl...

 

Well, I finally did it I started dressing the interior. I started with the tranny tunnel and exhaust cover.



Here you can see I've already primed and painted the tranny cover. You can also see the heat shield cover I had made (Tony at Cool Ride Products did an amazing job, he assures me I'll be able to sit on this thing bare bottom after running the car without burning myself! either way it fits perfect and looks great!)








The cover wasn't cheap but I'm very happy with the end result.
Under the cover will be skinned with SS and Aluminum.

BigAl...

 

such a great race car build...

 

whats the going rate to get an advertisement/logo on this car?

get in now while prices are still affordable!

these guys will make things happen!

 

Just finished reading this thread after starting it last night when I was done studying and now it's mid day.

Saw somebody ask earlier, but I never saw an answer. What's your rev limit going to be set at? Any plans to run aftermarket rotors (new billet mazda trix ones possibly)?

 

I'm planning on setting the rev limiter firmly at 9000, obviously it can rev higher but I don't have the budget to hurt the motor unnecessarily. I've been told (by several well respected engine builders) revving it over 9k really shortens the life of the motor. The motor is already built with S5 rotors, those new billet rotors are way to expensive for my budget, and again on my budget I need to go with whats gonna last. The billet rotors have only been tested on single digit 1/4 mile passes and on dynos (which is great! but road racing is a whole other animal). I really need this motor to last!

BigAl...

 

i noticed something, your transmission cover doesnt have a hole for the shift lever, you going with solenoid shifting with paddle shift?

if so id love to know where you got the stuff to do it

 

No, unfortunately I can't afford the paddle shift setup. What you're looking at will have the necessary holes for the shifting mechanism shortly. If you're interested in the paddle shift stuff check out http://www.geartronics.co.uk/, they have a nice setup for around $6k not including the transmission.

BTW I will have a flatshift setup.

BigAl...

 

I was able to get some more paneling done


here you can see the tranny and drive shaft tunnel finnished




other side done, drivers compartment starting to take shape




with most of the paneling done I'm starting on the wiring. (clearly I have a mind block with the floor, I'm not sure I'll ever do it [think flinstones])

After alot of research I've decided to use the ISIS Power Intelligent Multiplex system (try to say that 10 times fast) check it out here www.isispower.com, these guys are really awesome to deal with, Jay the owner of the company has no problem explaining his product, tell em Al sent ya. this thing is pretty awesome, it's basically a digital programmable power distribution center. I've bought the 3 cell system.


here it is laid out (actually AEM is going on the left)





plate trimmed and the beginning of the wiring (don't worry this all makes sense [to somebody?])





the plate is being mounted centered just behind the seat (think flux capacitor) with rubber isolators. next update should show it already mounted

BigAl...

 

You know Al,

Whenever I wonder what's the newest fangled goody I stop by to see how your build is going! I saw your latest gizmo there and immediately thought of Shpnout's antiquated ECU. His Haltech E6A is so old you need a Commodore 64 to communicate with it! I look forward to seeing video of your car on the track.

Keep up the great work,

Guy

 

Cool. I have been looking at the MoTeC and OBR systems for when I build my FD race car, the MoTeC starts at about $2200AUD for 15 inputs/outputs and the OBR over $4kAUD, how does the ISIS compare on price? (AUD v's USD is basically on parity right now...)

 

Let us know how you like the Isis setup once it's done.

I saw this on Two Guys Garage a while back, and it looked pretty cool.

 

I bought the 3cell system, which is good for 20 outputs and 50 inputs, you can use multiple inputs for each output. The cost of the 3cell is $999 and the 2cell is $799 (2 = 10 outputs and 50 inputs) and that includes all the programing you need.





the system really is pretty awesome, although I haven't finished installing it, after speaking at length with Jay from ISIS I really believe it's gonna be awesome. If you guys saw my steering wheel, those functions are made possible by the ISIS.

BigAl...

 

Wow. This ISIS system is incredible!

In some ways it's not quite as advanced as something like the MoTeC PDM, but in some ways it's more advanced. I notice it still uses some fuses as well, but I don't think that's a major problem and the fact that it's localised to near the output isn't a bad thing at all.

They mention you may still need to use Relays in some situations too, not a deal breaker at all if you only need one or two for high-amp draw devices.

Some of the features this system allows like the ability to run fans and pumps for a certain period of time (Im thinking EWP and Thermo's) when the engine has shut-down is fantastic, not to mention the reduction in wire required etc etc. So many positives to this system

Thanks for telling us about it Al, I'm quite certain I will buy it for my racecar project

 

The outputs are good upto 25 amps, I haven't found anything on my racecar that needs more than that. The programing ability is what I like best, they told me "if you can think of something, I can probably program it". these guys are really sharp and willing to help the customer. you should give them a call, make sure to mention my name.

BigAl...

 

got a chance to do some work lastnight.

mounted the panel





also mounted the blower for the helmet





mounted the bracket for the drinking water cooler





here you can see how I mounted it





more wiring next time and mounting of the drinking water pump.

BigAl...

 

Those ISIS boxes are a bit larger than I expected actually Will be an impressive sight when they're all wired up though

 

Even your cup holder is bada$s looking! Still loving the build!

 

I haven't posted in several days but rest assured I have been busy with this wiring! it seems like every time I have a nice bundle of wires tie rapped or taped, I always seem to find another wire that belongs in that bundle . well as you can see below I have been busy wiring.


I decided to go with a milspec connector (some might know this as a cannon plug), it wasn't cheap but it should make engine removal much simpler. I'm also making a short extra harness for the engine dyno.




I've started to use self amalgamating tape, this stuff is really cool, here's the backside with the tape. Also in this picture, on the top tube you can see I welded a tab (also one on the other side of the engine, one by the passenger door and one in the trunk) for the "E Stop" buttons, if anything bad happens you can just tap any of these buttons and everything shuts off (thanks ISIS), pretty cool stuff!





Here you can see most of the wiring starting to really take shape. BTW the ISIS system is absolutely amazing, I don't know how I ever built a racecar without this! It makes life so much easier!!! check it out at http://www.isispower.com





Here you can see the drink water bottle installed and wired as well as the helmet blower, in the background you can see the cooler for the coolsuit (also wired)






next on the agenda is to wire past the cannon plug (engine, lights, rad fan...).

BigAl...

 

Wow Al, Awesome. Super tidy install

Since learning about the ISIS I have gone back and looked at the MoTeC PDM again, and the ISIS still appears to have it beaten hands down