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

[bigjae46]

Progress on the hood...slow progress...

The before shot



I think I can make this work. It's a racecar so the cosmetic issues aren't a problem and there are other things I can learn to make the next one better.

Rough trim and just sitting there...not bad!





Old "carbon fiber" hood on the left - you can see the fiberglass on the underside



I laminated some foam core on the underside which helped tremendously - probably a bit of overkill. Makes me wonder if I can use the same layup formula but include additional strategically placed core material and keep the hood around 6.5-7lbs.

[bigjae46]

The future...

The great news is NASA allows a 4-6 front splitter in ST4/TT4. So I can run 275 RRs without a de-tune...just need get over 3000 lbs. Let's see if I can make the Jan MSR Houston event.

For real...trying to get to 2525lbs. Sitting around 2640 - no fuel. I'm at 51.48% weight distribution so I need to pull about 40 lbs more off the front axle. I have to lose about 120 lbs so its 80lbs off the front and 40lbs off the rear

Here's the plan...

Carbon hood - 12lbs
Carbon doors - 48lbs
Carbon front bumper - 5lbs
Carbon roof - 15lbs
Single oil cooler - 5lbs
Carbon headlight blanks - 4lbs
Hotchkis front sway bar - 4lbs
Relocate ECU to inside car - better weight distribution
AiM Dash/Delete dashboard - 7lbs
Carbon fenders - 12lbs
Tilton flywheel/single plate clutch - 8lbs
Carbon trunk - 10lbs

Then I can install a .095 wall cage and reduce some of the extra tubing - figure another 50lbs of loss. So should be around the 2475lb range with near 50/50 distribution.

[bigjae46]

That spread tow...looks fantastic!!!

[bigjae46]

The carbon hood saga...the goal is to make the lightest hood possible. Which...I now think is 8lbs.

I will not be defeated. At this point...I could have just bought a nice CF hood but that's not the point.

Attempt 1 It fit! I lose vacuum and it came out WAY too heavy - 16lbs! An $800 f' up right here...



Attempt 2 Now I'm on the other end, way too light. 4.5 lbs but I don't think its stiff enough. Also had an issue with the mold...had to damage the CF part to get it out. Not as bad...$450 f' up this time.



So attempt 3 coming in 2024.

[bigjae46]

First track event of 2023...in May! The car did really well. It was hot and extra steamy even for Houston standard. Still poking around in the 1:42s and 1:43s.

I made some splitter end plates...not sure if they did anything.





Second event...in Sep . Hot and really old RRs...still quite happy.

Third and last event in Nov. First time here on this config in 3 years. New PR - 2:21.9 with a virtual best of 2:20.7 on the same really old tires from Sep.

First issue of 2023 - water pump blew up. Now I have two more used water pumps left in my spare parts pile. Also had some weird intermittent voltage drop so I pulled the regulator...not realizing once pull the regulator off it will never go back on. The water pump impeller blew up and the shaft would momentarily lock up. I think this was causing the intermittent voltage drop. I was noticing my water temps were creeping up. I typically run at 178...I was in the 180's in Sep and Nov.

[bigjae46]

It has been a slow year for track car progress. To get caught up to where we are at.

I made the carbon front radiator mount! Yay!



Its stiffer...not much weigh savings. Nothing broke, cracked or leaked - the car has seen up to 1.5g's in the corners.

Next...I got a string alignment kit which let's say there's a learning curve. I used to do alignments at a Hunter Rack at work. It was faster but not repeatable. If you pulled the car off the rack and set it up again, you'd get different numbers. If I set the toe at 0 in the front, I'd get .02 or .03 after racking it again (steering angle set to 0.0).

Seeing how I am no longer in the automotive business (thank god!!!...although it was fun for a little while) I just do them at home exclusively. First time...it took awhile. Like...1/2 day. I was definitely over-complicating things. Now its about 1 hr or less.



I do need to build wheel stands so I can be perfectly level (garage floor isn't 100% level). I'm exploring the idea of doing alignments on my open deck trailer. I could easily level that out and it should be relatively easy to get the fronts. The rears are right by the trailer fenders which would make rear toe adjustments difficult. But I could arrive at the track, unstrap the car, level it, align the car and pull off.

[bigjae46]

Infusion completed!



Came out pretty good! Used scrap pieces of carbon and core. It came out to the same weight before trimming. Should be closer to 1.8lbs. More importantly the structure adds stiffness for my splitter mounts.









The mold for the top half is done. Hopefully will have a carbon part by Sun.

[bigjae46]

Just waiting on the epoxy to show up…


Finished the carbon splitter mounts. Saved 1.8 lbs!


Prepping to make this carbon hood again. Supply Chain!!! Waiting for some stuff to arrive to start the mold.

[bigjae46]

Working on the upper half.

I really don’t need these since I use hood pins.


Just drilled out the rivets. The carbon parts should be much stiffer so I don’t see a downside. I can always rivet them to the carbon parts…worst case. But these weigh 1lb.

Starting to prep to make the mold for the upper half.


I am going to make this really stiff (that’s what she said). I’m not sure how much weight I am going to save here. I am willing to make it heavier.

Next step will be to look at ways to tie this to the strut brace…probably will be an end of year project.

[bigjae46]

I need to get as much weight off the front end as possible. I’ve been looking at ways to improve oil cooling while using a smaller cooler.

I think I’m going to mount my secondary cooler on the back of the radiator. It should warm up the oil quicker so I can delete the external thermostat and provide more efficient air flow than my current setup.

With everything apart and brainstorming…I came up with the idea to make the front crossmember out of….drumroll…carbon fiber. I can cut about 2-3lbs.

The lower mold is complete…

[bigjae46]

Haven’t made much progress. I fix one thing and find two more. So I FINALLY got an OFH gasket, chain tensioner, and vanos sealing plate in. Found the oil pan gasket is leaking. Got that replaced, found two circlips on my control arm ball joint boots missing. Ordered those and then found a tear in the right tie rod boot. And I still have an oil leak…not sure if it’s from the oil pan gasket or rear main. Ugh!

Pro tip. I stripped the threads for an oil pan bolt that goes into the bottom of the front timing cover. I was about to throw on another cover and found that the hole is NOT a blind hole. In goes a slightly longer bolt!

[mrgizmo04]

Do I only use 1 rotor bolt instead of 2 to save weight? Absolutely!

Why do you use even 1?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[bigjae46]

Do I only use 1 rotor bolt instead of 2 to save weight? Absolutely!



I also trim off some other unnecessary things. Seems minor but do 15-20 of these things that’s 2-4 lbs removed!

[bigjae46]

Removed the front end. Takes about 15 min to remove, not usually necessary to do this stuff



Chasing an oil leak. I noticed some oil around the lower half of the freeze plug. I’ve pulled the solenoid and cleaned that area up so I’m pretty sure that is a leak point. Also signs of an oil filter housing gasket leak. Hopefully that’s it for oil leaks.



I tapped the bottom of the plug to get it to rotate in the hole.



Then pliers to pull it out!



The VANOS solenoid plug came apart. There is a replacement socket - 61-13-8-383-300. That does not include the pins. As long as the wires, pins and insert are intact you’re good! Waiting on the part, I’ll post details.

[bigjae46]

Here is an update on the carbon front reinforcement panel - overall I rate it as a success with some possibilities for improvement!

https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/main-forum/e46-2001-2006/159877-carbon-fiber-front-reinforcement-panel?p=195875#post195875