Elky goes under torch for backhalf, the Beginning.

[Elkyman]

Thanks Steve, and there is so much more work to be done to it once it's home, and I can't wait to start checking off my to do list on it Yeah, it's the world's fastest camino on jack stands that's for sure, but now once it comes home, it all comes apart to clean up and paint, and add fluids and so on. I may crank up the back 1 more inch, but for now, it has 1.5 inch rear to front rake to it from the bottom of the rocker panels.

I will cut the chute support about 3 more inches and then have my chassis guy add another bend to raise the chute to a more desired angle per Stroud's instructions and that part wil be ready to paint and measure for the cable to be cut, yada, yada, yada.

All in all, I am finally happy the driver top 4 link bar was so frickin tight that it cause the tweak in the chassis, or so I thought.
Funny you mentioned Milan, we come back from our Alaskian cruise the weekend before Milan, but I need to put a few laps on it before that event, I just hate to test and adj. on major components when racing at an event, kind of a waste of money if it get's out of control in the first round!!! but think positive I say, I just need up to say 5 test passes, a few 60ft. shots, and an 1/8th mile pass and then let er rip and see what happens. Looks like the F/C cage will have to wait along with the new fire suit, no more money for that stuff now, or nitrous, so we will see what it does on tuning of the engine and suspension and get it as quick as possible.

I'm sure glad it is finally getting to the end to come home, I need something to do!!!

John

[WR169]

Sounds good to me. Becarefull on the chute mount. We had a new outlaw car last month that had his too low and when he hit the chute it lifted off the ground and took it across the track. lucky it went right instead of left. Check out RD1 primered Camaro with the blower. It hapened twice. Sue turned off the camera too soon on the first run. http://www.streetfire.net/video/ovos-pr ... 012156.htm

[DCarr]

John, What I have is 4 Blocks I made from 2" x 10"'s that I set the car on when it is done so the Driver can be in the seat and someone else can be doing the adjusting very easily and the car is sitting just as it would if it was on the ground. They come in quite handy for this ... and actually have a couple of friends who borrow them so I dont have to store them anymore. ... just have to keep track as to who has them. But we have used them on dozens of cars, brought them to the track to make changes there ... very handy pieces.

BTW ... The Elky really came out looking good !!!!

[Elkyman]

Duane,

Thanks for the comment on the Elky, and I have just the boxes your talking about in the back of my truck, except they are 12 x 12 x 12 and two of them could be a little wider now that I have the 14 x 32's, but I can add some plywood to the top of all of them and give the rear boxes a little more room to sit on, and keep the same heigth on all 4 as well, then I just subtract the inches from my measured points and VOOAAALAAA, INSTANT POINTS

I just need a few 45 lb. metal Weider weightlifting plates for weight, then I would have the ticket, or better than what I have nowanyway

I will add some more pics as soon as I download them and resize them and transfer them yada, yada, yada
I can't wait to set it up and get the ride heigth done once and for all.

John

[Elkyman]

It's under it's own power again

Finally, some new pics of the Elky out of the garage and I got to finally drive it out under it's own power Although I had one leak, I forgot to tighten one brake line area but I got it all fixed up again and one more bleed job on the brakes and I should be good to go on THAT system.

I need to finish the bed top cover tin still, fill in the gaps around the bars and such and then paint all 3 panels the flat black like before, that gun metal paint is too expensive to keep buying and I need to finish this project up, and rivet them down in the front section of the bed, the last back panel is dzus fastened for access if needed. I need to screw down the back window and add the trim piece's around it, re-adj. my rear bumper which looks a little low on the driver side in the pic, and keep knocking out all the little things. Enjoy the pics, it's almost ready
John

[Beretta]

John you need something else to hole your chute cable...Looks like it's just held on by the bumper???
Thinking it need a bracket/tube to go threw by the tube that holds the chute..
I will see if I can get a pic of mine later..

[Beretta]

Here you go..Look where the cable comes out of the rear panel and goes to the chute. About 2thurds the way it goes threw a small piece of tubing to support it then goes the rest of the way to the chute..

[Elkyman]

Your right Barry, I drilled a hole in the bumper and ran the cable thru a rubber P-clip and it is secured to the frame underneath also at one of the frame rails. Funny, I was kinda looking at the cable and I don't have anything that I can use to make it more straight up to the chute and keep it supported let me do some thinking on this, and thanks for the pics.

[Elkyman]

I just checked the rule book online Barry, and your right again, I need to make some kind of a bracket that can come off the main chute holder tube out to the side to secure the cable withing 12" of the release cord on the chute darn, more work to do now I will make something that will work, and the rules also state that a ball lock pin is prohibited too and guess what came in MY chute mounting kit? yep, a ball lock pin still more work Tomorrow, racing is on TV tonight and I need a break.

[WR169]

John the ELKY is looking BADA$$ I can't believe you have stickers still on the tires And thanks for the phone call yesterday at the track. It helped pick Jake's spirits up. I can't wait until next month to see the car in person

[Elkyman]

Yeah, it's getting there slowly, and I got a bunch more done in the last two days so only about 8 more items to knock off the list and it will be ready for some test passes, just not sure if it will make it to Milan or not, too much money to attend an event with an untested car and pray that it is set up right, but we will see how the money tree is by then, my wife says maybe we can go to that event, and it is the weekend before we get back from Alaska on our cruise. I need 114 octane fuel and a chassis cert before it can legally go down the track, I am all set with the license and belts, firesuit and so on, and no juice until Sept. or Oct and then I will try to afford some juice and make some more passes at Norwalk before the season ends. I HAVE to get this out this year or I will be dying over the winter to get some info on it

Thanks for the kind words also, and it does look kind bad a$$ huh? Them stickers won't come off until the first burnout either since the chassis is not setup yet to romp on it yet.

I will stay in touch and add more pics in a few days from the things I have done, and it's almost there.

See ya.

John

ps, if nothing else, we will attend the Milan race and help everyone who needs help and hang out with people and just WISH we could race, no sense torturing myself and bring the car and not race it.

[traysvega]

Man oh Man John.Looks freakin killer!!!!!! It turned out sooooo nice.
Yes on the vega there is a small solid tube with a hollow tube the cable runs through that holds the chute cable.I'll try and get a pic tomorow for ya.Unless you already fix-ed dit...

[Elkyman]

Tray,

Thanks for the kind words, and I sorta made a little tin bracket coming off the back of the chute bag screws that goes out to the side with a nut & bolt clamp thingy, looks kind of gayish but it holds the cable, and the inner cable releases from the chute just fine. Although Tech may not approve of it being so flimsy, but it works, so they may just pass it anyway. I will make a more fancy one up later on like Barry has in his pic, and I have seen a few others and now I see how his is setup. I got more info on cable length also and I am all set up to pop the laundry when needed, or to try it for the first time.

It's almost there, I am just figuring out where my I/C would work best with my chassis weight and balance point and C/G, it's about 52.3/47.6 so it is real close to the 50/50 mark and I don't want to launch this thing to the moon first hit on it although I would definetly know where to go from there if it did this

I wil add some more pics as soon as I map out all my I/C locations and that will take a little bit. Thanks again as it is nice to get positive encouragement from guys.

John

[Ken0069]

Yup, it's looking like a real race car now! Lets just hope that the performance will match the look!

I know you guys can't run wheelie bars, but a pair of those would go a long way in helping to tune this chassis??? With them on you could video the car leaving to see how hard it comes on the wheelie bars and adjust accordingly without having to worry about the back bumper and front suspension. And wheelie bars ARE removable! I've seen MANY front suspensions, oil pans, tranny pans, transmission cases, fiberglass, etc horked up when a moon shot goes wrong.

[Beretta]

John, Not a bad Idea as I have seen alot of cars that are not aloud to have wheelie bars but use them for tuning at test and tunes for the reason Ken had said....