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

[US HWY 666]

Answers in order:

1. Dead pedal was too wide, but I just screwed it into the carpet/base that's under the carpet with some black screws. Worked fine and no issues. Brake and clutch pedals never even budged. Mounting worked great.
2. I purchases grid in black
3. No spacer for track use. You'll push the brake too far down and the pedal will be in a weird spot. If only street driving, spacer works great.
4. That might work - but my experience is heel/toeing on the street is a wasted effort. You just never push the brake hard enough for it to feel anything like track use. IME, a driving sim is the fastest way to learn to heel toe. After that, just make it your sole focus at the race track for a weekend. So many people try to focus on lap time while trying to also work on something like heel toe/braking method/smoothness, etc. I have no doubt you could learn to heel/toe on track in a event or two if you really focused on it.

Heel/toe? Easy. Just watch this 50-60 times:

 

[honeybadger]

Got a little more progress done on the badger.

Rear air jack mounts are in. I originally had planned to just weld a plate to the floor and then weld the mounting tube to that and then add a gusseted mount up top. But after the bottom plate giving me a lot of trouble with mount to the floor, I decided to double-up the bracing in the cabin.

Bottom plate took about 150 tacks to get enough material to lay a proper bead on. At least for this n00b

Double-braced in the cabin

Not pretty, but it's also not going to fail.

Did a little test fit to make sure all is good. Of course had to test the jack itself.

I also got my seat rails mounted in. Will no longer need the Planted seat brackets I used before. And the seat will sit lower to the ground. Not that my 5 7" frame needs headroom, but the further away I can be from doors and roofs in a race car, the better.

Next up is either the fuel cell or dry sump tank mounting. Probably the fuel cell. Need to run to Houston to pickup my metal, tho.

 

[Tatonka]

Hey broski, I am not trying to throw darts at ya and am only trying to be supportive. 90% of welding is in the metal prep. You need to clean that paint and contaminants out of the area before you weld. Trust me it will yield a better looking and stronger weld. Use a wire wheel grinder or wire brush prior to laying a bead or tac.

 

[honeybadger]

Hey broski, I am not trying to throw darts at ya and am only trying to be supportive. 90% of welding is in the metal prep. You need to clean that paint and contaminants out of the area before you weld. Trust me it will yield a better looking and stronger weld. Use a wire wheel grinder or wire brush prior to laying a bead or tac.

Oh, it's definitely not from a lack of trying. If you look closely, you can see the prep work is there (in the pics above). It’s ground down to bare metal on all pieces, blown off, and then wiped with acetone. But not sure what else I can do when there are two pieces stamped together and paint/primer/sealant sandwiched in between. If you have any tips, I'm all ears. Below is an example of what you're up against (sealant between the two seams)

so much easier to lay a weld down in a place where there's no contamination underneath

They're far from perfect, but at least they don't look like the dog tried to weld them

 

[Tatonka]

Gotcha, it looked as you were cleaning them after the weld. Yeah the sealant will be an issue. Tig would probably be better than Mig wire fed. However, gotta use what you have. Keep up the good work and posts!

 

[honeybadger]

Gotcha, it looked as you were cleaning them after the weld.

Oh, there's some of that too. Ha

But my lessons learned (among many others):

1. Yes, acid dipping the car would have been worth it
2. there's a reason good fabricators charge so much
3. I'll probably never be one of those fabricators

That said, I wouldn't get to do 1/3rd of this project if I had to pay others to do it. So at least there's that

 

[Lorne34]

I feel like I'm watching open heart surgery on a GT350. What you are doing is amazing.. you should have your own reality show on Netflix... i'm serious... I would binge watch!....

 

[raidernixon]

Every time I come back to visit this thread I get more inspired to take on a project like this. I'll say it again....this is the most savage GT350 project out there in the best way lol.

Well done, I hope to see this beast in person one day when it makes it to COTA

 

[honeybadger]

Made a wee bit of progress this. Got the spare tire well cut out and the "bulkhead fitted. Simple stitch welds on 3 sides with tabs bent down on the back and then those welded to the chassis. As usually, tons of contamination between the layer I was welding to and the one behind that I didn't have access to. So took a bit of work to get a serviceable weld.

Next up will be building the "cage" that will secure the fuel cell and the box it goes in. Going to copy how Sal Malinore did his. Hopefully will get that done this week.

Reasons for the little progress: setting up a small band saw station and assembling a welding table

These should help with the parts of the project we're getting to now. This little garage sure is getting full!

 

[ARAMP1]

1. Installation- the guy from OG had all sorts of issues with the install, including the fact that the dead pedal was too wide. How are yours holding up with the single bolt on the brake and clutch? Did your dead pedal fit ok?

I ordered from them and the dead pedal was too wide too. I could either tuck it under the trim or have it hang over the ledge. Neither of which I wanted to do.

I contacted Brian and let him know. He said it was no problem, and sent me a new one that was 1/2" narrower at no charge.

 

[Lorne34]

sweet... I ordered the whole set and waiting for arrival myself. I did mention that to him as well about the dead pedal fitment issues that others have had. How did it go for you with the attachment of the brake and clutch pedal? Was it tough drilling the holes? Looks like you used 4 screws each?

 

[honeybadger]

Okay - made a good bit more progress on the fuel cell tonight than anticipated. First things first, build the mounting structure/cage for the fuel cell. I used 1x1 tube for top mounting "flange". Then 2in width by 1/8th in thick flat stock for the "straps."

Then built an outer shell around that using 16g steel. It's about 1/4in wider/longer/deeper than the fuel cell.

Trace onto the bulkhead I put in over the weekend

Cut out square and weld to bottom of outer shell. Then drop shell into floor (after enlarging the hole a bit more as needed for fit)

Test fit fuel cell

Next is to weld on mounts for the fuel cell "cage" to bolt into the frame rails and then drill holes for the fuel cell to mount to. Planning to use rivet nuts for easy remove of the fuel cell

 

[honeybadger]

Okay - made some more progress on the fuel cell on Friday night. I ended up re-doing the cage and outer shell to move it 2 inches up into the cabin. In the original position, I calculated about 6.75in of clearance to the ground. With AJHartmans's rear diffuser needing 3.5in of clearance to ground, I only had 3.25in of space to work with. We predicted we need about 5in of space at the back of the cell, so moved it up 2in to get 1/4in clearance. It'll be tight, but workable.

To do that, I made the top flange that the cell mounts to out of 1x3. Not excited about the extra weight, but it's solid and offers plenty of strength.

I then followed Sal Malinore's method of welding nuts into the 1x3 to mount the fuel cell itself to. Each one of the holes will screw into an m8 nut. I didn't take pics of them bare, but can when I remove again for painting. Upgraded the bolts to m8s.

Then welded tabs onto the four corners the mounting flange where the frame rails are underneath. Will weld in a backing plate underneath for these to screw into. M10s will be used for these

Look underneath with added clearance.

using my uber precise sheet metal + tape rolls to similar ground height, measuring the clearance.

 

[honeybadger]

Video of the airjacks and seat mount install is up for those that like the video format

 

[Epiphany]

Nice work Kevin. Your welds look good. I'm impressed that you took the time to stitch the car - it's time consuming work.

Regarding the thin sheetmetal with sealant in between. I'd clean well, and peen the two layers close together, use the minimum amount of voltage you can get by with and don't linger (keep your travel speed up) and stitch.

Be aware of introducing too much heat and weakening a given heat affected zone. Note the difference between vertical up, vertical down, and how much heat you introduce there as well.

Just a thought as I watched it but regarding the gusseted plates you added to the rear jack tubes...I may have considered the gussets being on top (of the plates you attached them to) so that they can work in compression instead of tension when on the bottom - if that makes sense to you.

Props as well for welding with a short sleeve shirt and shorts. I do this kind of work in the summer, typically in flip flops with no shirt on and am used to getting burned. I respect anybody else that does the same and isn't covered from head to toe in protective gear. It helps to even out the tan and if you're lucky you'll cauterize all the right spots.