Honey Badger's Completely Off-the-Rails Race Car Build and Track Adventure Thread

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honeybadger

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Damn you almost could have made the June trip! Total bummer man.

New truck is a beast!
That would've been hard since my engine is currently spread across my garage :)

Next year I'll be there for sure!
 

CANTWN4LSN

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I know they are just tweaking you, but as an owner of a 3500HD Silverado turbodiesel with Allison transmission, I really think for us normal folks and any towing we would do, the Dodge, Ford, and Chevy really are very comparable, unlike cars which are a much more invested personal choice.
 
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I know they are just tweaking you, but as an owner of a 3500HD Silverado turbodiesel with Allison transmission, I really think for us normal folks and any towing we would do, the Dodge, Ford, and Chevy really are very comparable, unlike cars which are a much more invested personal choice.
Agreed. The trucks today are so good.
 
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Okay - so back to car stuff.

I'm in the process of evaluating a couple things, ordering a couple more things, and openly exploring others.

First up, roll cage. I haven't completed my order yet, but we're only a couple weeks away. I've decided to go with the TrackSpec cage. It's modeled after the GT4 Mustang cage and fitment is better than the Watson 10pt. I've decided not to cut into the car too much as I am not going to chase every possible pound I can and I want the extra structure in case of a crash.

https://trackspecmotorsports.com/s550-mustang-gt-gt350-roll-cage-kit

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Next up is dry sump. I've ordered the Dailey Engineering drysump kit from Bill. Looking like about 7K all in with fittings, oil tank, etc. This one is going to hurt, but definitely a buy once, cry once purchase.

https://www.daileyengineering.com/ford/ford-5-0-liter-coyote/

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Evaluating

As for coil overs, I'm fairly dead set of on Cortex's Penske offering, but I am waiting to pull the trigger until I get closer to the car having the cage work and motor put back together. In the meantime, I am keeping my eye out for a good used set of MCS/JRi/Penskes as a way to save some $$. If you see anything, please holler :)

Fuel cell - as part of the dry sump install, I want to put the oil tank behind the passenger above the OEM gas tank, so that will require moving the fuel tank rearwards. Right now, I'm leaning towards an ATL SA122B - the 22 gallons would be a nice upgrade for E85 since I can hit fuel starve at the end of a 25-30 min session with the OEM tank.


Exploring:

I'm still exploring trans mission options. I can pickup a used 4spd Jericho type trans for 4-5k. I can buy a brand new one for $9K with all the latest goodies. The challenge with both options are the OEM electronics. Neither have a speed sensor, so we'd need to add a driveshaft speed sensor and convert to a signal the OEM ECU understands. This is the problem with all available transmissions outside of a T56 with sequential gears (costing an eye-watering 23k). I've reached out to Max at Xineering to see if he can help. You can follow this sega in more detail with this thread. At the moment, I am leaning towards the HGT 6spd Sequential for about $15K all in (minus the electronics). Another buy once, cry once. Not sure this will be included in this round due to costs. We'll see.

https://www.hgtprecision.com/gearboxes/6-speed/sequential-6-speed/

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As part of the transmission stuff, I am exploring electronics. If we can't get the OEM speed sensor issue figured out, we'll need to swap out the OEM ECU. Two options there - Ford control pack for the ECU and the driveline electronics (cooling fans, fuel pump, etc.) and then a PDM for things like headlights, diff/trans pump, etc. This has the benefit of Ford's advanced engine management, familiarity for tuners, etc., but it costs almost as much as an aftermarket ECU and isn't as clean as an aftermarket ECU and PDM combo. Alternatively, I could go with something like the Link G4X or Motec M150 with an appropriate paired PDM, but the tuners I've talked to are recommending I stick with the Ford ECU. We'll see what happens.
 

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Okay - so back to car stuff.

I'm in the process of evaluating a couple things, ordering a couple more things, and openly exploring others.
I'm enthralled by your build.

If you were starting over now, knowing how many things you were going to change on the car, do you think you'd still buy a GT350 (or even a street car?). It almost seems like you could have bought an actual retired GT4 car.

I ask genuinely, not to judge or discredit the building you've done.
 
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I'm enthralled by your build.

If you were starting over now, knowing how many things you were going to change on the car, do you think you'd still by a GT350 (or even a street car?). It almost seems like you could have bought an actual retired GT4 car.

I ask genuinely, not to judge or discredit the building you've done.
No worries. I get the question a lot and it's a good one. If I were to start all over knowing that the end goal was race car, I'd buy a wrecked car and do a CPC conversion and then follow the same path I'm on now--focusing on engine reliability (CPC and drysump), safety (cage, fire suppression, etc.) and suspension (coilovers and brakes). I'd be a lot further along for less money.

I don't think I'd ever have bought the GT4 car. While amazing and tons of drool-worthy engineering all over the place, it's not really built for what I want to do - time attack with my own take on an aussie V8 super-inspired build. Too many parts of it are designed for GT4-specific racing series and that means big compromises in a few areas (weight, power, aero, etc.). I feel like I'll be able to build a faster car (read: lighter and more HP) for far less. I'll never match the suspension, but I think I'll match or beat power and weight eventually.

But probably the most important reason - is I love to mess with stuff and the GT4 would be a terrible car for me to tweak. It's already so good.

TL:DR, too much $$ for the performance for someone who is just going take it apart anyways.
 

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Setting the bar mighty high, for sure!
 

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im so mad at how awesome of a cage you found…..wish i went this route.
 

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Nice, I love that you're continuing the pursuit with this thing.

Having built a race car from a street car, I can say my lesson is "never again." I also like to tweak, but time is so tight that I'd rather buy another fully built race car and develop it further and personalize it, rather than start from scratch. I did very much like being able to spec out my own cage design (custom weld-in), and many, many pre-built race cars have awful cages which are very expensive to cut out and redo properly. But other than that, building costs 2x-3x as much as buying a complete car, and while the process can be fun, it is a huge time suck.

Glad you're having fun!
 
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Well! the full race car conversion of HB has commenced. I've fully stripped the drive train, fuel system, and interior.

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Once I got the interior stripped, I started on removing the remaining sound deadener with a heat gun and pain scraper.

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I then started on removing the seam sealer and prepping the seams for welding. At this point, the regret started to fully set in.

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5 bloody fingers, a burnt arm, and completely covered in various forms of particles, the regret is significant. But too late to turn back!

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Did some testing on my prep level with Dad's new welder (Miller 220). Game on!

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If anyone knows how to get this up, I'd love to know. Heat didn't help and apparently it's fireproof because it just sat there unaffected when I introduced it to the blow torch.

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For anyone interested - the body harness, various modules, fuse box, and magneride controller weigh about 30 lbs. I don't think I've ever been more angry at some wires - took 2 hours to get that sucker out.

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Waiting on some tools to hopefully expedite the removal of seam sealer. But next up is getting the sealer off the fire wall and back seat/trunk area. Then we'll start welding the interior. After that, I'll strip the engine bay, k-member, and rear IRS to get access to those areas.
 

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And what was your reasoning for doing this?. What type of rust preventative do you plan on applying to the bare metal?. Are you worried about De-Tempering the metal?. Just wondering, that a whole lot of stuff to put back together.
Good Luck
 

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ChrisFix did a video on exactly what you’re doin here with stripping down the car. He put dry ice on the sound deadening to make it extremely hard, then hit it with a hammer to break it up, and it comes off in chucks. Go to minute 13ish.

Love what you’re doin and also mesmerized by it!

 

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Well! the full race car conversion of HB has commenced. I've fully stripped the drive train, fuel system, and interior.....Once I got the interior stripped, I started on removing the remaining sound deadener with a heat gun and pain scraper......
A truer word has never been written:cwl:. I'm sure you lost some blood from your hands after all that!

Looks awesome. It's kinda fun to stitch weld panels, but after a few hours it starts to feel overwhelming with how much is left. Good luck!
 
 
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