Project Bad Penny - more changes because done is boring

[Larry Callahan]

Mock up of new new center section.. Still need to add some switches and turn signals.

Love it!!!!

[Damn True]

That's pretty cool.

I gotta figure out what I'm doing with my dash and center stack. I really like analogue gauges, but the packaging and accuracy of electronic systems like the Stack unit and RacePak are really attractive as well.

[RSX302]

It's worse than that.. it a big rug that says "FORD RACING" with the logo.. lol

Finally got the car fired back up and outside (to go to the interior shop for a little "work" - Eric Thornson in Agora Hills, CA)

My car would have felt right at home with the blue carpet...LOL

How long is it going to be there? Will you be around that area Saturday afternoon? (Little carguy hangout at Kohl's parking lot around 5'ish) Agoura Hills is very close to Larry and I don't ya know.

[Steve1968LS2]

My car would have felt right at home with the blue carpet...LOL

How long is it going to be there? Will you be around that area Saturday afternoon? (Little carguy hangout at Kohl's parking lot around 5'ish) Agoura Hills is very close to Larry and I don't ya know.

She will be at Eric's until next Tuesday.. then we have three days to finish her before the truck picks her up for Gingerman.

Call Eric, I'm sure he would mind if you stopped by. I might be there on Saturday for a bit.

www.thorsencustom.com

[RSX302]

She will be at Eric's until next Tuesday.. then we have three days to finish her before the truck picks her up for Gingerman.

Call Eric, I'm sure he would mind if you stopped by. I might be there on Saturday for a bit.

www.thorsencustom.com

I could get you those beers I owe you!!

[FirstGenZq8]

i saw your assembled center stack picture, it looks awesome!



i have some questions on your set up.

in the below pic, i see a polk mm691, a polk mm461p, an alpine pdx-4.100, and a torque high performance something or other. what does the torque dealy do? not pictured is a PAC-LC1 knob to control the amp. are there any other components i'm missing? where did you mount the PAC-LC1?



i get that the iPod touch sends audio to the amp, but what kind of docking station are you using for the iPod touch? in the below pic, i see a black "ring" that goes around the bottom 1/3 of the iPod touch, what is that? got any pics from the back of the center section? thank you for any help you can provide.

[LateNight72]

FirstGen,

The "Torque High Performance" is just audio power/ground wiring.

[Motown 454]

Very nice anything you need to know at a glance.

[Bjkadron]

For once I'll admit I was wrong... Beautiful job Steve! If your going to put in a stereo that's the way to do it! Beautiful! Just beautiful.

[evsmotors]

Now that is a race car!

[cmraman]

Thanks for the installer advice

Today Chris at BOS worked on wiring. The STACK stuff is really nice, all the wires are labeled and the instructions seem to be very clear.

Chris built the loom and then hooked up some 12v power to it to check functions.

The center section is off at powder and we're waiting for the Covans dash to arrive. Once we have that everything can be mounted and secured (including the audio stuff).

The red warning light in the picture is telling me I have low oil pressure. The other light is to warn of low fuel. The dash can also display data logger stuff but I already have a Racepack so I didn't get that STACK option.

Also noticed the the new senders are VERY nice as well.

Hey Steve, you know that Autometer bought Stack? I

[Steve1968LS2]

Quick Update as we get the car ready to defend her title at the optima Challenge..

Lots of work done in the last tow weeks up at Pozzi Racing. New longer shocks were added which meant we had to punch through the floor to add new mounts. We also checked our alignment and then tested the car at a crazy tight autocross set up more for imports.. but it was a good test and the handling was perfect.

Here's Penny at Marina Autox:
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[Steve1968LS2]

Hmm.. don't know why the link isn't working...

[Gandalf]

Try: http://www.facebook.com/v/166933222369

G.

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

you forgot the ---[ yt] ---[ /yt]--- on the ends..

[Steve1968LS2]

Some images from the last couple of weeks..

Larger Baer brakes installed. Ditched the parking brake which meant the 14-inch rotors actually weigh less than the 13-inch with the integrated drum.


Front brakes fit like they were machined for these wheels. We are running a new pad from Hawk that they developed for circle track cars. They come on at 100 and last to well over 1000-degrees.


Since this is the optima Invitational we decided to move to an optima battery.. In this case thier 26-lb Group 51 unit. The battery tray came from www.eddiemotorsports.com and they even etched in the BP logo.


Bigger on the list was that David thought we needed more shock travel. Seems that were were on the stops durring hard turns and even on acceleration. We worked with Steve Duck over at RaceCar Dynamics and came up with a shock that's over two inches longer. The new Bilsteins are also revalved for the car. The extra length meant that we had to punch holes in the trunk floor so that this mount extender could be welded to the top of the existing brace. The top hole is for future changes if necessary. Dave sure lays down some nice welds!


Here Dave slides the new rear Bilstein shock into place. Later we scaled the car. The weight was 3290 with half a tank of gas. With a driver our cross weights are at 50/50 and the front rear are 52/48.


Here's proof that cars are never really ever "done"...

[Damn True]

Longer shocks? Por que?

Is this something that was a factor because of the previous configuration of the car?

[Gandalf]

Nice!

[Steve1968LS2]

Last Sunday we bolted on the race tires and took Penny to the autocross at Marina. The course was tight for the imports but it was a good handling test. Myself, Dave and Mary all took turns. All I can say is that the changes really helped the car, we actually be fast now. lol

Racepak data shows were doing sustained 1.3+g turns and my iPod deal recorded peaks of:

Acceleration 1.10g
Braking: 1.41g
Left: 1.42
Right: 1.41

Car felt great but we found that due to the increased size of the front calipers we need a 1-inch bore master rather than the 7/8" one we have now. That part is going on tomorrow.

[Steve1968LS2]

Longer shocks? Por que?

Is this something that was a factor because of the previous configuration of the car?

What we found was that the car was bottoming out the shock on really fast auto-x tracks or on road tracks. Remember that my static ride heigth is pretty low.