My ongoing Honda project by Mafdark

3 minute(s) of a 27 minute read

11-8-2011

The front will be similar to stock but with modified spindles and control arms to get my preferred camper curve. Tie rods will be modified to eliminate bump steer. I have two different spring rates that ill have.available for to help me dial it in for the type of driving I plan on doing, but changing out the shock will be the same process as it would be on a stock civic. 

The reason for changing the rear shock to a bellcrank design was in part for packaging and in part for adjustability. The pushrod in place of the stock shock was important to give me clearance for the rear axle and multiple bell crank ratios (not pictured in what I posted above) allow me to utilize multiple wheel rates very quickly and easily without changing the spring rate like I have to in the front. 

It was important for me in planning to set myself up with some strict ground rules that would ensure the project didn't get cost too much or take too long. Once you step into the world of chopping up a car and fabricating bits its very easy to fall into the trap of; "well if I just tube frame the front and rear ends and design a handful more of custom parts I could stuff a V8 in there and cut the weight in half"..... That seems like a fantastic idea until you end up with a tube frame lawn ornament because it was taking five more years and thousands more dollars to complete than you wanted.

Point of that is my #1 rule was use stock suspension pickups. No exception. And #2 cut the absolute minimum amount of the frame possible. I almost got away without cutting any of it but I had to notch and reinforce it on either side of the engine due to its width.

I'll answer your second question when I get to a computer. It sucks to type on phones.

It's definitely a track/weekend toy. It's more about putting my skills to work and learning a whole lot of new ones than it is about winning races. 

Things like the roll bar, harnesses, seats, fuel cell, fire wall, all are FIA approved and built to the required specs of organizations like the SCCA and NASA. However, race series are all about the driver not about the car and the rules always reflect that. I anticipate this car will be bound to some of the unlimited classes for autocross, hill climbs, and time attacks, but it probably will never meet the regulations for any wheel to wheel or similar competitions.

A couple shots of what I was talking about with the frame rails:

Before I started this project I tried a similar idea with my DD. It didn't work out well