ancullen Posted February 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 (edited) Well, yesterday I pulled my old radiator out, and the new radiator isn't as much bigger as I thought. But it should do the job, especially when combined with the new thermo fan. However, I didn't get it installed as my father in law wasn't home and I don't know where he keeps his grinder, as I need to take out some metal from the front to provide airflow to all of the radiator and to make it fit (so much for just some custom brackets). I also tried again to pull the axles out to remove the diff so I can take it to someone to be welded, but I had even less luck there, and the slide hammer was not much assistance. Here's the new radiator and the old compared (old on top obviously): And here's the results of about three hours work on the front end: BTW, I removed the left-hand headlight because even though it looks weird, I'm thinking about going with a drifter-style cold air intake as they make a lot of sense - less piping and direct flow from the front of the car. Edited February 7, 2006 by ancullen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ancullen Posted February 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 The only problem is that it's only a single-row radiator versus the twin-row that I've removed. However I can always upgrade to a Statesman radiator later - five row's will do the job for sure!!! And I've got some piping I plan on modifying to create my own big-mouth induction kit. Could just buy a funnel and cut about three-quarters of it off (use just the big end), but I'll try and make this free stuff work first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ancullen Posted February 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 (edited) Here's a bit of an update of yesterday (Sunday) and todays work on Lola: Lola with the Commodore radiator fitted. Hoses and the thermo fan still need to be put in. I'm yet to find a top hose for the radiator, but I have a bottom hose (actually a top hose from a Commodore/Lexcen) that should fit. You can see we've cut a bit of metal out on the driver's side to ensure full air flow to the radiator. I have also decided to remove the other headlight as there is no point in retaining it. These are the simple yet effective mounts we made for the radiator using the rubber bits that came with the radiator and some metal strapping that was laying around. The bottom is mounted simply by drilling two holes in some of the frame of the car and the radiator has a little plastic tube on either side that slips down into the holes. Lola at the end of Sunday with her new radiator in place and grille and lower skirt put back where they belong. The green spraypaint made it easy to spot where we needed to drill holes for the radiator to be mounted. Other things done on Sunday were we modified the battery plate as the new radiator left little space for my rather large battery. We will be rear-mounting the battery sometime in the future, but decided against trying to get it done this weekend. I still have to find a pressurized overflow tank for the radiator, but this should be a simple matter of getting one from a Falcon or Commodore from a wreckers. My diff did not get welded on Sunday as the bloke that was going to do it had to work. HOWEVER, at the same time as that guy offered to weld my diff, I got an offer from another guy, Brenton (who races a VERY quick KE30 Fastback with 4A-GE 20v) to sell me a diff. He actually had two to offer me. The first was a 4.11 (same as I already have) that he had had welded and had used in his car. The other was a 4.3 CIG-welded diff which he had used as an improvement on the 4.11 and has been bent to give 0.5-0.75 degrees of negative camber. So when the first guy said he couldn't make it, I bit the bullet and only today was able to get in touch with Brenton and bought the 4.3 for $150. So I picked that up at 6pm this evening (and checked out his race car) and it will be going in Lola tomorrow! It knocked 1sec off his lap time compared with his 4.11 locker, so it should be even better compared with my 4.11 open diff! We also put the bonnet scoop on today. Here is the underside of the bonnet. I cut out the bonnet reinforcement on the scoop side with an angle grinder as it wasn't needed and would be in the way. GRRR!!! Supercharged KE55 coming your way!!! This angle will look even meaner when the whole front end is sprayed black and the car is lowered with some mean negative camber. My new diff. When I told Brenton how much trouble I'd been having removing the axles on my 4.11, he threw in a set of axles as well (those on the left). You may notice that the axles still sitting in the diff have some extra metal on the hubs. This is to cater for the disc brake setup that Brenton was using (I think it was Volvo discs). He now uses a Hilux diff with 4.875:1 ratio and a Torsen LSD centre with Volvo 2-pot calipers on either side. The front end also has some kind of Volvo disc setup with 4-pot calipers. This setup has me intrigued so I'll be looking into it for sure. It would most probably be a lot lighter than a Hilux 4-pot setup. Among the many things I learned about Brenton's car while chatting to him today were that he currently does Hidden Valley in about 1min28. So this will be my target time as I slowly improve the car and my driving. Obviously I won't be anywhere near this sort of time with my current setup or skill level (1min38 would probably be a fairly accurate guesstimate), but at least I now have something to aim for in the long run. In the short term, I hope to match my mate Anthony in his XU1 Torana. His best is a 1min36, remembering that his car is not a pure racecar, but in fact his day-to-day car, and must therefore be more usable as a road car than a race car. Whilst my cornering isn't up to Anthony's level quite yet, on the straight when we did a bit of a drag during a practise session, Lola would accelerate at almost exactly the same rate as Anthony's from the start up until about 2/3rds of the straight. At this point the Torana was starting to go slightly faster than the Corolla, but not nearly enough to catch me by the end of the straight (I started in front). However, the Torana will easily outbrake me due to it's Commodore 4-piston brake setup. Of course, with my recent lightening efforts, combined with the shorter diff ratio, I should out-accelerate him with a noticeable difference. And with my mega-expensive Bendix Ultimate brake pads (yet to be installed) I should be able to brake a fair bit later than previously, all of which will help my lap time a fair bit. Can't wait to try it all out! Edited February 13, 2006 by ancullen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolla__Boy Posted February 13, 2006 Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 I have had trouble getting axles out in the past. I remember one time, I had the diff in the car still, with the wheel bolted to the axle, and was swinging an old tailshaft at the wheel, to crack the axle out, and it eventually worked....it was a pain in the ass though. that front end does look mean, I was going to use the same scoop on mine, only with it in the middle, but everyone seems to be doing it, so I wont. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ancullen Posted February 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 Quite a few people said I should put the scoop in the middle, but I kept telling them that I wasn't doing it for looks, I wanted it directly over the intercooler for cooling purposes. Plus I think it looks better there anyway. If you do go to do it, you may have difficulty (as we did) with the mounting points at the front of the scoop. The Nissan Patrol (that this scoop comes from) must have a groove or something in the bonnet where the scoop goes, because the front mounts are built up. We just cut them off and drilled some holes straight through the thing and used screws and nuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyrota Posted February 13, 2006 Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 why don't you just get rid of the stock top mount? they are shit anyway, they have realy gay thin tubes and don't flow very well at all. i have one that fits perfect in the front of my rolla you can buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ancullen Posted February 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 Thanks, but no thanks. I'm not interested in a front mount as it will mean more piping and therefore lag between when I hit the throttle and when I get a response. I'll be upgrading to a water-to-air intercooler at some point in the future, but this solution will do fine for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolla__Boy Posted February 14, 2006 Report Share Posted February 14, 2006 My friends KE30 has a font mount with his 4AGZE and he has zero lag. The benefits gained from a front mount will out-weigh any lag you do get anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyrota Posted February 14, 2006 Report Share Posted February 14, 2006 true. i bypassed mine while fitting the front mount and there was no noticeable affect on throttle response. maybe if you was running a big f@$koff truck cooler then yeah, might be a bit of lag. but not a series 4/5 rx7 cooler or something a bit bigger. your never gonna make enough power out of a supercharged 4AGZE to need anything bigger than that anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ancullen Posted February 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2006 I think I might just go with a small water-to-air intercooler anyway. Although, with my new radiator fitment there is TONNES of room for a front mount. We'll see when the time comes. And Rolla__Boy, I don't think there'd be any benefits from a front mount over a water-to-air intercooler. So if the water-to-air doesn't have lag, and the front mount does, I'd definitely go with the water-to-air. If I didn't care about lag I'd convert to turbo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolla__Boy Posted February 15, 2006 Report Share Posted February 15, 2006 I agree, why do you think I have a SC on my car haha I meant the benefits over the current air-air top mount you had though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ancullen Posted February 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 Fair enough. And there would definitely be some gains by installing a new front-mount over my current top mount. If you've seen any pictures of my engine bay you'll know how many fins are bent. That can't be efficient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ancullen Posted February 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2006 Took Lola racing on Sunday (had her ready at the very last second). No lap times were being done as it was just a Test & Tune, but I had a ball anyway. Spun out four times (damn crap rear tyres & welded diff). I dragged four different cars up the straight with varying results. Car No. 1 - SA63 (I think) Celica (stock): I spun out entering the straight, so I was accelerating from zero while he was already doing about 50km/h, but had we started at the same speed (or even if I was doing 10km/h less) I would have flogged him up the straight - no surprises there. Car No. 2 - R32 Skyline GTR (mean sounding blowoff valve, don't know what other mods): He entered the straight fairly close behind me and I crossed the start/finish line before him (and was passed about 20 metres later). The straight leading up to the start/finish is about 800m long, so I was extremely happy with that result. Car No. 3 - KE55 Corolla Coupe with $8,000 4A-GE 20v (MODIFIED race car): He slowly crept past me about a quarter of the way up the straight. His engine has got some fairly serious bits in it and he has a 4.875:1 Hilux Torsen LSD in the back, plus wicked brakes & suspension. I was again very happy with the result. Car No. 4 - Alfa Romeo 33 racecar: This car easily caught me through the corners, but sat behind me for half the track to try and overtake me on the straight. He entered the straight VERY close behind me, but I pulled away from him. Of course, his car only had a 1500cc boxer bored out to 1600cc with dual carbs, so a 4A-GZE should easily flog it. What have I learned from Sunday: If I spent as much money on my engine as has been spent on the 20-valve, I'd flog it. In fact, I think by simply deactivating the ABV (someone please tell me how to do this!!!) I would go extremely well against him, even if I still couldn't out drag him I might be able to keep up. Lola desperately needs better brakes and DEFINITELY needs to be lowered. I went racing on Sunday with my regular brake pads as we ran out of time to put the Bendix Ultimates in, but they'll be in for the next race meet (March 19). However, I get some serious shuddering from the front wheels when braking, but that may just be my busted engine mount (we're going to solid mount the engine before next meet). I'm basically stoked. I had a great day and the car is still running. I need to do some minor stuff (fix up radiator mounts, fix engine mount, put a bolt in a hole in the cam cover, make a mount for my cold-air intake [had to buy it as we no longer had room for the airbox], change brake pads) and Lola will be ready to race again. Can't wait! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ancullen Posted February 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2006 Definitely not a twincharge as they're meant to be a shit to get running. For $8,000 I could probably buy an MR2 4A-GZE, get it ported & polished, put in some fairly wild cams, use AE101 pistons (8.9:1 compression), get a custom intake manifold & throttle body setup, and get it tuned setting the redline at 8,800-9,000rpm and make about 250+hp. That'd be plenty. Plus I could get a wicked PWR water-to-air intercooler included in the $8,000, so I'd have bugger all lag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggo Posted February 20, 2006 Report Share Posted February 20, 2006 Hey ancullen, ive got some diagrams of deactivating the ABV send me a shout or email if you want em. Also, you are giving me itchy feet talking bout racing with a 4AGZE which reminds me ive got one around somewhere lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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