The Red Drift ///Machine - 2026 NASA TT4 adventures

[heinzboehmer]

Half way done! The 2nd half of the mold will be a PIA. All of the little details will provide opportunities for a bad release.

Maybe consider making the underside flat? The details are just there to save weight for the cast part.

(which means you'll end up with a heavier carbon part if you fill that in, of course)

[bigjae46]

Working on CF strut tower plates. Making a compression Adding a tab to make a triangular brace. The layup will be long strand forged carbon with nut inserts molded in. I have no idea if the insert will hold up. Worst case, I drill them out and bond a stud plate underneath.

Half way done! The 2nd half of the mold will be a PIA. All of the little details will provide opportunities for a bad release.

[bigjae46]

The car 100% needs a suspension refresh. The car is no longer comfortable to drive and there is a noticeable difference between front and rear tire wear. You can feel the suspension bottom out over curbs and bumps. It now hurts my back, the ride used to be more comfortable than my Dinan stage 2 E90 M3. Now just waiting on Jalal (aka Shaikh) to do his FCM stage 3 magic.

AJ Hartman rear wing is on order, might be here in 2 weeks. Also time for a front splitter upgrade. I have to get into compliance with the 6" limit for NASA TT4 and will also add some tunnels. My splitter is 6.25" along 14" on the edge of the splitter...a 1/4"!!! But I don't want to hear any shit so better to be safe than sorry.

FYI...A 6" splitter is a bad in-between for NASA. Needs to be a little less than 6" for TT4 or 10"-11" for TT3.

And finally, I will implement the cheat code - Hoosiers!

And It's been a little bit since the last driving video. So if you can't sleep just watch this for a minute.

[bigjae46]

It is a mad dash to NASA on Jan 30th and to finish a bunch of molds before Apr 30th when it starts to get hot in TX. Working with polyester resin in the heat sucks. Make molds Jan to Apr, Carbon parts May to Oct, more molds Nov to Dec.


Air dam is trimmed and finished.




1.2 lbs...should save me 1-2lbs over my cheap amazon.com aero version.



Separate foglight block offs.



Front bumper molds...3rd try...done. 1st attempt - the flanges need more support so they sagged when I was laminated the FG. 2nd attempt - I used some borderline release agent. Apparently, it was on the wrong side of the borderline so the part stuck to the mold and destroyed it.

The plan is to pull a part and mold the air dam and some tire spats into one piece. Finally, make a mold of the entire assembly.



Single air duct and brake deflector molds done. Still working on the wheel well plates. Had a gel coat issue so I'm starting over.

[bigjae46]

Air dam is almost done. Needs a little more trimming.





I'm happy with the brake deflectors. So mold making has started! I think I have an idea for mounting. More to follow!



Taking Bryson's reinforcement plate and making a CF part!

[bigjae46]

I deleted the hood shocks and always had issues with opening the hood after a track session to let it cool off.

well...no more! Cost about $30. It locks into the aerocatch latch and the pin. Wind proof!

[bigjae46]

Hell yeah! Awesome to see the design being put to use.

Your design is extremely well thought out...it definitely deserves to be used...A LOT!

I'm thinking that making the stud plate from aluminum and the base plate from carbon would be an excellent balance especially considering the cost of machining the base plate from aluminum.

[heinzboehmer]

Hell yeah! Awesome to see the design being put to use.

[bigjae46]

I molded in threaded inserts instead of studs - studs were $21 a piece! Then I’m going to bond the 2 parts together since I don’t have to worry about servicing my wipers are blower motor.

I’m going a different route for the strut bar plates. I am planning to bolt the extra bars onto the existing studs. I will need longer studs and I think I may need to make the strut bar end plates from something stronger - carbon fiber!

For the bars, I might use some tubes and rod ends from here: DragonPlate | Engineered Carbon Fiber Composite Sheets, Tubes and Structural Components | Made in USA. Then modify the rod ends to be a negative of the OE strut bar so it fits on top.

Here is the wild part. I've been trying to figure out a good way to vent the radiator out of the hood while keeping the M3 hood bulge. The leading edge of the bulge is right where I'd duct the radiator out. Maybe I can make the strut bars into an H and then use the strut bars to mount the radiator duct and vent the radiator out of the bulge. What I don't know is how much it would screw up the aero going up over the windshield to the rear wing. Not a big concern but something to consider.

I might be able to solve two issues at once, minimize added weight, improve front end aero, cooling, and chassis stiffness and maintain serviceability and a key M3 cosmetic feature.

[bigjae46]

So I’m using heinzboehmer’s strut bar design to learn how to cast molds and also add some front end stuffness.

Huge thanks to Mr Heinzboemer for sending some 3D prints of the center mounting!

It is mildly mindbending to think in reverse of the reverse of the actual part.

First, need to prep the plug to cast. Can’t have any negative or 90 degree angles! Create a draft angle at the base, seal and release and then make a fence.


pour the casting resin



flip it over, pry out the base, release and pour



Done!







Chop up some carbon, mix epoxy and you have a carbon copy!

[bigjae46]

The plastic end gets worn out and allows the butterfly to chatter - at least that is what I'm told.

[maupineda]

How would those rods would affect AFR?

[bigjae46]

Carbon hood V2 is done! It is 3.5lbs heavier than V1 but far stiffer. Twice as thick and a larger underside. Don’t think it will lift along the windshield which adds a lot of drag…I think. Not perfect. Supplier sent different epoxy. I thought it would be ok but it made infusions really challenging. Learned that there is a big difference in epoxy quality.

It worked out in the end. Sexy spread tow fabric with a rattle can 2k clear finish.



Upgraded from the bathroom scale 🤣



Replaced the dogbones on the throttle bodies. Randy from Epic saw a flutter in AFRs (I think) in the mid-RPM range and said I should replace these. Getting the ITBs off are a minor pain but it is an easy DIY otherwise.

[bigjae46]

The dash is done! 3.3lbs full size, 3lbs trimmed to fit around the roll cage. I think this will be 10lbs of weight loss.




The dash has the OE texture so it comes out dull. Just can’t sand it or really do anything to keep it not shiny. I used a dash with some sort of cosmetic issue above the center vents. Got it cheap and its for a track car.



working on a project for someone so I had to take off my fenders. The OE fenders are 6.6lbs. Should be able to make a 2.5 to 3lb carbon version.


Made a carbon center jack pad. Failure…it is 6 grams heavier than the OE part. It was something easy and small to learn how to cast molds with.

[bigjae46]

Trying out the M color stripes. Its a total pain in the ass but it looks cool!