Akina's build

[AKINA FC]

Congrats Erik, you are tearing it up!!
Is TTU the only class you fit in? I'm going to get going with the NASA stuff in 2016.

At the last track day I was playing around with a TT2 Trans Am, and I seemed to be a little quicker. I'd have to cut about 35 HP to run TT2.

Thanks Ash. The only reason I am in TTU is because I have not ran it on the dyno yet for classification and started out just putting it in that class so I could run/test things, ended up doing well haha. I was TT2 with the old motor but it was de-tuned and a lot heavier then. The car has lost a lot of weight and will continue over the winter so I just figured I would wait. This new motor makes a lot more power than I thought it would so I have a feeling its going in TT1.

Dude! That j32 swap is awesome. I loved that engine in my TL I only wish it had a little more torque.....in a lighter body it would be a blast. Smooth powerband and reliable all day long! Any mods to the engine?

Thanks Murray, it is amazing how good that little thing feels, will have it on the dyno soon but i imagine its 260 rwhp. No mods yet, probably do some cams later. Im designing a new intake manifold for it so it fits a little better and can use a corvette style air cleaner over the radiator. Its a race class car - probably PTB or ST3 depending, so we wont go bonkers with mods, though I might build some headers for it. Just using stock manifolds and 2.5 exhaust right now, sounds like a NSX haha.

[AKINA FC]

We'll I Finished out the year strong, won the season championship in TTU for the central region. Ran into a really odd brake system issue at RPM last month, had a rock solid pedal for a moment at 140 mph, had two choices - to plow a Z06 or go through the weeds, i went for the weeds. Nothing damaged luckily, front splitter works like a swath at that velocity I found out haha - something popped when i hit the pedal, dont know if it was a backfire from the engine or something binding in the booster, pedal has worked fine every time since then, all linkage checks out fine.
 I finished out the weekend but my confidence was shot, off the pace by a couple seconds, got 2nd place overall. Brakes felt awesome overall as I did move up to carbotech's xp20 front and xp12 rear, great compound setup. I also finally made it to the dyno to see where the new motor is at. Timing is soft, I know some more is in it but I didnt want to buy time on the dyno to find the last bit, all of my tuning has been on the track so far. Nice thing is with current power level I can go up or down in power pretty easily but it looks like I will be TT1/ST1. Without adding power I will need to be 2600lbs with me in it, we will see how close I can get then adjust from there.





On a cool side note NASA is having me as a demo car for the Boyd Coddington All Speed Expo this month on the 21st and 22nd at the KC expo center so that's pretty cool, so if anyone is around swing on over, would love to meet some fellow forum members!
Once that's all over I'll be tearing the car down, removing any extras I can for weight reduction and building a proper cage, going to tie it together front to rear- rear towers together, complete main 8 point cage, firewall to front towers, front towers to frame. Still debating on painting the roll cage the same color as the car for some contrast or just leaving it all black. Will repaint the engine bay but just a fresh coat of black since i'll be filling in holes and will need to paint the new bars in there anyways. Brake system will change some as im getting rid of the booster and running dual masters inside the car, along with the clutch. New front aero/fascia, rocker extentions and a much larger wing, the rules allow me 70". Will also add a few things to the rear diffuser.
Wheels and tires are changing too. Hopefully my current wheel's sell soon as I have sized out wheels for 345/35/18 rear and 315/30/18 front. Hopefully I will see a increase in grip  Gonna be a fun winter haha but i have till april and if it doesnt all get done I'll just save it for next off season.

Another side note the J swap miata I mentioned before made 253 rwhp and 222 ftlbs, runs awesome! We plan on entering enduro's with it on top of running in st3 with NASA so if the engine pops there like 400 bucks haha  great power on the cheap.

[frijolee]

Good stuff Erik!  I had missed the track record post prior.  You really are a rock star.

Let me know how the new tires fit vs. your Ronin widebody.  I may have to update my tire recommendations if you can get it working well.  Are you running any kind of fender liner up front?  That's still on my long term to do list.

Do you have part of the radiator intentionally blocked in some of the above shots?

Again, really solid work out there.   
-Joel

[largeorangefont]

Wow Erik great work. I think you will be able to get 315s on the front without much trouble. Judging by the front clearance you have now, it should be no problem. Id imagine you are good to go in the rear as well. You are making a good amount of power even as is. You'll really move once you get it down to 2600# and turn the wick up with the new aero and tires.

Congrats again..

I have to get racing..

[AKINA FC]

Good stuff Erik!  I had missed the track record post prior.  You really are a rock star.

Let me know how the new tires fit vs. your Ronin widebody.  I may have to update my tire recommendations if you can get it working well.  Are you running any kind of fender liner up front?  That's still on my long term to do list.

Do you have part of the radiator intentionally blocked in some of the above shots?

Again, really solid work out there.   
-Joel

Haha maybe one day Joel but thank you.
Well i have tested so far with actual rubber in those sizes and with spacers on my current wheels and everything looks to be great, if not i wasted a great deal of money! But I will make sure to keep you posted on how things turn out.
I do have liners i made for the front fenders out of .030 aluminum, the back of the fenders is one piece to block the door opening from top to bottom and the tops of the fenders are attached using 8015 3m panel bondm, I just trimmed out a section to the shape of the inside of the top of the fender and glued it, this gave me the most tire clearance and prevents the outies from rocks and such. Then coated everything with black bed liner.The Rears I made wheel well extensions like you that fit the quarter panels.
That brown panel in front of the radiator is actually a honey comb mesh from speedway motors that the guys use for circle track racing, protects the radiator, weighs nothing and is easily replaceable. Better than screen mesh IMO. I'm going to get some for the coolers this winter as well but going to paint it all black so it doesn't stand out so much.

[AKINA FC]

Wow Erik great work. I think you will be able to get 315s on the front without much trouble. Judging by the front clearance you have now, it should be no problem. Id imagine you are good to go in the rear as well. You are making a good amount of power even as is. You'll really move once you get it down to 2600# and turn the wick up with the new aero and tires.

Congrats again..

I have to get racing..

Thanks Ash, Yes get out there and use that nice winter weather you get. I need some sort of racing to enjoy for the next 5 months haha

[AKINA FC]

Finally getting around to working on the car! Got the interior stripped and started designing things like the door panels and dash/console area. Still need to get all the tar out of the interior as well. Decided I'm removing the factory pedals and going with the wilwood floor mount pedal set  - 340-12410. Going to move the seats back as far as I can and extend the steering wheel, all to move weight back as much as possible. Removed all the oe wiring and building a harness from scratch with a whopping 5 wires to the front and 7 in the back haha I am keeping turn signals and headlights as I will still keep it street legal. Using a mil-spec connector at the firewall for the engine harness which should be help full in engine removal. Should turn out nice.
Got a carbon sunroof plug from LOF which fits perfect, just need to paint it when I am painting the rest of the interior and such. Decided I am painting the interior and engine bay gloss black and going to do the bars and accents in the same exterior color as the car for a little pop. Going to fill the holes on the firewall as well.





Also, after months of waiting I got my trophy! Funny how a couple pieces of plastic mean so much haha

[digitalsolo]

Congrats on the fancy trophy.

Whatcha doing with the door panels?   I'm considering building something old-Porsche style in the Mustang, minimalist with pull straps, etc.

[FC3S Murray]

Really cool trophy man! Congrats and well deserved!

I am anxiously waiting to see what your cars weigh after his diet is all said and done.

[largeorangefont]

God damn I'm really falling behind here. Nice progress Eric, glad the sunroof panel fit!

[AKINA FC]

Congrats on the fancy trophy.

Whatcha doing with the door panels?   I'm considering building something old-Porsche style in the Mustang, minimalist with pull straps, etc.

Haha thanks!

Well I think were both kinda on the same page. I am either going to use a sheet of 3mm carbon or .030 aluminum for the panels with just red pull straps like the porsche's for both the open and shut. If I do the carbon I will have to form a seperate piece at the top to use the factory felt strip that goes against the glass as it goes up and down and keeps the glass from banging around, it curves over the top of the door. With the aluminum i can do it all one piece and it might look cleaner. All of the aluminum will be flocked, the center console will be attached to the dash and run down to the shifter at a angle kinda like a blancpain lamborghini  super trofeo, the cage will look pretty close to that design as well with the lower door bars and double a pillar bars. It was real easy to get in and out of when i sat in one.

[AKINA FC]

God damn I'm really falling behind here. Nice progress Eric, glad the sunroof panel fit!

Really cool trophy man! Congrats and well deserved!

I am anxiously waiting to see what your cars weigh after his diet is all said and done.

Thanks guys! I am excited to see where it lands weight wise also, we will see what happens!

Thank you for helping me Ash, I appreciate it! Yeah you need to get to work!

[Supe]

Any tail light harness pics?

[largeorangefont]

LRB speed and Bubbletech do make full aluminium door panels for the FC, but I have a feeling you will make something custom and better.

[SuperSlow]

I hate to be that guy but.... What you doing with all those old interior bits?