danpass
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- Dan
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- Focus ST Triple Yellow
I guess the numbers are just cut vinyl (re: the hood and door)
Honey Badger's Completely Off-the-Rails Race Car Build and Track Adventure Thread
- Thread starter honeybadger
- Start date
- Watchers 193
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honeybadger
Just don't care
- Thread starter
- #167
My thoughts exactly! I bought his photos just for that picture alone!
He did such a great job I actually thought it was photoshopped at first. Rainer is a bit further away than that in person. Amazing what great equipment can do!
Dude! Definitely. The Ridge is beautiful has a great flow. IF you do come up, have to go to Pacific Raceways. It's a real oddity of a regional track, but an absolute blast.
Do it. No questions. My only hesitation would be if you're track rat, consider looking at the APR stuff. It'll damn near be the same cost, you'll be unique, and it's more functional.
The R stuff added quite a bit of stability to the car (when done at the same time). Both are most effective at higher speeds. Just keep in mind that adding only the wing will induce a bit of high speed understeer. Completely recommend the upgrades - and doing them at the same time!
Can't for Thunderhill - and Cup2s! We gotta get those SV502s on track!
Absolutely. I was shocked at how nice it turned out. Perfect day for it - although we were all sliding around because it was cold
We gotta' get at least one track day in before I move! Have any days planned out yet?
It's vinyl. I actually custom made the font and number in PPT (spend a lot of time in PowerPoint for my day job, converted it to a vector image and then sent it to a printer. I think it would be fairly easy to make magnetic if you wanted since it's only 1 color. Happy to help you create something if you're interested.
Instructor Chris strikes again! I was really happy with my progression on Saturday - felt a lot of things start to make sense, so I have good feeling I can make good progress on them. #1 will always be vision. The next 2 I really want to work on is the transition from brake to throttle (smoother and more timely) and braking entry. I tend to over brake some corners that I could just tap to settle the car or scrub a little speed.
Arpa
Well-Known Member
Thanks again for the info! I was also looking at the APR GT-250. Will for sure think about it since my car is becoming more and more my track car.
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honeybadger
Just don't care
- Thread starter
- #169
I want that APR wing bad. It's taking most of my self-control to not order one and start sourcing a spare trunk lid.Thanks again for the info! I was also looking at the APR GT-250. Will for sure think about it since my car is becoming more and more my track car.
It's hard not to want to make it a dedicated track car! Since I have the Raptor for cruising around town, I really only drive the Shelby on track or when I want the attention. The temptation to go crazy with it is high! But I think I am leaning towards building a dedicated car with a cage instead. Hmmm.....
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honeybadger
Just don't care
- Thread starter
- #170
Waiting for track season to begin
Jokes aside - got some safety upgrades incoming for my upcoming weekend at Thunderhill on March 10/11. In addition to the upgraded helmet, new suit and shoes, I've secured a fire extinguisher and upgraded to a Halo seat for the driver seat - OMP Champ R seat will move over to the passenger side for the time being. At least my passengers won't get flung all over the place now.
I'll provide a more detailed seat install this time. Seat gets here Friday I believe
Jokes aside - got some safety upgrades incoming for my upcoming weekend at Thunderhill on March 10/11. In addition to the upgraded helmet, new suit and shoes, I've secured a fire extinguisher and upgraded to a Halo seat for the driver seat - OMP Champ R seat will move over to the passenger side for the time being. At least my passengers won't get flung all over the place now.
I'll provide a more detailed seat install this time. Seat gets here Friday I believe
Arpa
Well-Known Member
The Stig from Top Gear is back! 
And thanks for the peer pressure ;) I just placed an order for the APR wing and splitter.
It is slowly getting there... I like driving the car, but I really enjoy it at the track.
And thanks for the peer pressure ;) I just placed an order for the APR wing and splitter.
It is slowly getting there... I like driving the car, but I really enjoy it at the track.
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honeybadger
Just don't care
- Thread starter
- #172
SO jealous. You won't be disappointed! Make sure you post up your install! Maybe I'll be able to sneak the parts past my wife at some point in the futureThe Stig from Top Gear is back!
And thanks for the peer pressure ;) I just placed an order for the APR wing and splitter.
It is slowly getting there... I like driving the car, but I really enjoy it at the track.
Arpa
Well-Known Member
For sure I will. I'm also coming up with a story to explain to my wife how the lip spoiler has grown ;)SO jealous. You won't be disappointed! Make sure you post up your install! Maybe I'll be able to sneak the parts past my wife at some point in the future
HawaiiKid
Member
Ugh this car :hail:LEGIT never thought I'd have photos like this of my OWN car. Absolutely incredible. My buddy, Eric, at Schofhauser Media is an absolute master :hail::hail::hail::hail:
Luckily the PNW treated us with a nice moody day for some really great dramatic shots. Such a great juxtaposition of moody, grey industrial and a modern, brutish, loud, red car.
[MENTION=32677]50Deep@DCTMS[/MENTION] has few coming to his wheel thread as well. Got some great close up shots of the new SV502s!
Track day on Saturday. Whoot whoot!
:hail::hail::hail:
Bossing
attacks tracks
Wow I love this shot..... Mt. Rainier always looks pretty darn cool from any angle. I used to do many business-related trips in Tacoma back in 2011-2014 when I had a clinic to oversee there and I enjoyed touring the PNW area. Even stayed at Hotel Murano almost one entire summer once. Go to see Lemay's (old grounds plus their new museum) as well as Pacific Raceways once on the track.... and also a huge Ford show in Kent back in 2014. A great area to sightsee... I even spent this past NYE at the Space Needle with my family so the kids can enjoy as well and a few days in Vancouver BC including Whistler. And yeah I like the roads.... nearly anything is better than the flatlands of south FL, except Sebring.
dksaline
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Guys I'm so envious of your amazing shots in the PNW! I lived in Issaquah for a magical year, and since I returned to the Midwest in '15 to care for family, I've been looking forward to getting back to your amazing region...this time with my own 17GB GT Base w/PP. Thanks for letting me enjoy your pics, guys
David Kirkpatrick
Saline, Mich.
David Kirkpatrick
Saline, Mich.
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honeybadger
Just don't care
- Thread starter
- #177
Thanks, brother! I'm having so much fun with this car. Been really happy with the blend design and function. Congrats on the new wheels! Car looks awesome. I'll bet you just created a surge of sales for Sig!Ugh this car :hail:
These types of stories are great to hear this time of year when we're all suicidal from the rain and darkness. Good reminder that it's beautiful place that we take for granted in the winter. The PNW has a surprising amount of racing/automotive history hidden away. Really fits with the overall nature of the area - hidden gems.Wow I love this shot..... Mt. Rainier always looks pretty darn cool from any angle. I used to do many business-related trips in Tacoma back in 2011-2014 when I had a clinic to oversee there and I enjoyed touring the PNW area. Even stayed at Hotel Murano almost one entire summer once. Go to see Lemay's (old grounds plus their new museum) as well as Pacific Raceways once on the track.... and also a huge Ford show in Kent back in 2014. A great area to sightsee... I even spent this past NYE at the Space Needle with my family so the kids can enjoy as well and a few days in Vancouver BC including Whistler. And yeah I like the roads.... nearly anything is better than the flatlands of south FL, except Sebring.
Thanks for sharing your story. If you ever make it back up, you need to drive at the Ridge. Really fun track - although I might like Pacific more.
Guys I'm so envious of your amazing shots in the PNW! I lived in Issaquah for a magical year, and since I returned to the Midwest in '15 to care for family, I've been looking forward to getting back to your amazing region...this time with my own 17GB GT Base w/PP. Thanks for letting me enjoy your pics, guys
David Kirkpatrick
Saline, Mich.
It sure is beautiful. As you know, the summers here are amazing. I don't think there is a more beautiful place in the US during the summer. The PNW is a great place to be track enthusiast now since we have Pacific Raceways, The Ridge, ORP and PIR.
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honeybadger
Just don't care
- Thread starter
- #178
Seat install time!
As I mentioned previously - it's time to step up the safety game again. My current OMP seat, 6pth harness, hans, and roll bar are a great start. But they offer very little side impact protection. Coupled with watching my passengers get flung around - I bit the bullet and upgraded to a proper halo seat for driver side. Next winter I'll add one to the passenger side as well. I chose the Sparco Circuit because it's one of the few seats in the market that is similar width to my OMP Champ R - which fits perfectly. As a 5 7ish, 155 lbs guy - I swim in most halo seats.
Because I had already installed the 6pt harness in the driver side, I only needed to prep the passenger side. I started by removing the OEM seat. To do this, you'll remove 4 plastic covers to expose the torx bolts. You'll need a T50 to remove them.
The 4 bolts look like so. 2 in front and 2 in the back.
Don't forget to disconnect your seat. For tech seats, you'll have 2 plugs. (Note: ignore the evidence of my cocaine habit. Kidding of course - it's baking soda).
With the seat removed, we can take a look at how we want to mount things. Here's a diagram detailing how to mount a 6pt harness.
I'm using a Planted Technology base for my seats, which use the OEM holes. So no drilling there. To secure the lap belts, I am using the Cooltech harness clips that go under the back seat bolts. That just leaves us with the crotch belts. I wanted to secure these separately for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted to make sure I was meeting the chest line recommendation in the diagram above. Second, I wanted to keep as many of my harness mounting points separate for added strength. That way if something fails, (hopefully) only that mounting point fails.
I measured and found that about 10in back from the front mounting holes would be chest line (I did this by putting the seat on the base, putting it in the car, and measuring). To mark my holes, I put tape down roughly where I needed. Then I got a carpenters square to mark the the 2 most outside points you see on the tape below (I used the front mounting holes as my reference points, running the square through the middle of them to ensure I was straight). I then took my tape measure to ensure I was square by measuring the distance between the front holes and between the two marks I made on the tape - both were the same, so I was good. Next I needed to measure and mark center. Most materials recommend a distance of 400mm between sub/crotch belt mounting points. We have to go a bit more than that because of the rail directly underneath the seat (pic below). If I recall correctly, I ended up at a 6in spread.
Chassis rail I mentioned above.
Once I was confident in my mounting points, I drilled through the floor pan and used these Planted Technology backing plates to secure the eye bolts.
Pics of the lap belts connected to the Cooltech clips.
Apologies for the potato pics, but not a lot of room in my garage to take pics. I'll grab some more when I'm at Thunderhill this weekend. But the end result is great. The Sparco Circuit seat feels great and the OMP seat will be much appreciated to my passengers.
On a side note, getting in and out of the car is comically difficult now since I don't have sliders and I sit so close to the wheel. Down side of having midget legs
As I mentioned previously - it's time to step up the safety game again. My current OMP seat, 6pth harness, hans, and roll bar are a great start. But they offer very little side impact protection. Coupled with watching my passengers get flung around - I bit the bullet and upgraded to a proper halo seat for driver side. Next winter I'll add one to the passenger side as well. I chose the Sparco Circuit because it's one of the few seats in the market that is similar width to my OMP Champ R - which fits perfectly. As a 5 7ish, 155 lbs guy - I swim in most halo seats.
Because I had already installed the 6pt harness in the driver side, I only needed to prep the passenger side. I started by removing the OEM seat. To do this, you'll remove 4 plastic covers to expose the torx bolts. You'll need a T50 to remove them.
The 4 bolts look like so. 2 in front and 2 in the back.
Don't forget to disconnect your seat. For tech seats, you'll have 2 plugs. (Note: ignore the evidence of my cocaine habit. Kidding of course - it's baking soda).
With the seat removed, we can take a look at how we want to mount things. Here's a diagram detailing how to mount a 6pt harness.
I'm using a Planted Technology base for my seats, which use the OEM holes. So no drilling there. To secure the lap belts, I am using the Cooltech harness clips that go under the back seat bolts. That just leaves us with the crotch belts. I wanted to secure these separately for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted to make sure I was meeting the chest line recommendation in the diagram above. Second, I wanted to keep as many of my harness mounting points separate for added strength. That way if something fails, (hopefully) only that mounting point fails.
I measured and found that about 10in back from the front mounting holes would be chest line (I did this by putting the seat on the base, putting it in the car, and measuring). To mark my holes, I put tape down roughly where I needed. Then I got a carpenters square to mark the the 2 most outside points you see on the tape below (I used the front mounting holes as my reference points, running the square through the middle of them to ensure I was straight). I then took my tape measure to ensure I was square by measuring the distance between the front holes and between the two marks I made on the tape - both were the same, so I was good. Next I needed to measure and mark center. Most materials recommend a distance of 400mm between sub/crotch belt mounting points. We have to go a bit more than that because of the rail directly underneath the seat (pic below). If I recall correctly, I ended up at a 6in spread.
Chassis rail I mentioned above.
Once I was confident in my mounting points, I drilled through the floor pan and used these Planted Technology backing plates to secure the eye bolts.
Pics of the lap belts connected to the Cooltech clips.
Apologies for the potato pics, but not a lot of room in my garage to take pics. I'll grab some more when I'm at Thunderhill this weekend. But the end result is great. The Sparco Circuit seat feels great and the OMP seat will be much appreciated to my passengers.
On a side note, getting in and out of the car is comically difficult now since I don't have sliders and I sit so close to the wheel. Down side of having midget legs
Socalrugger
Well-Known Member
Great looking photos! Looked like the heavens were going to dump a crapload of water but they saw your car and said, we'll hold off a few hours to get that photoshoot in....
Not sure I saw your feedback on the HCM wing. Any comments good or bad to share?
Great thread so thanks for sharing!
Arpa
Well-Known Member
Nice seats! Now I'm jealousOn a side note, getting in and out of the car is comically difficult now since I don't have sliders and I sit so close to the wheel. Down side of having midget legs
I'm same height and weight (ok maybe couple of more pounds). Might be doing that down the road purely for safety. Still waiting for the rest of the mods to be delivered and installed.