Posts Tagged ‘roll cage’

MX5 Hillclimb car

Friday, April 27th, 2012

We’ve been building this hillclimb car for Practical Performance Car Magazine. The full details of the build will be available to read over the next few months. PPC mag have an event called the 999 challenge. The idea is to build the best MoT passable car you can for 999 quid and carry out  a timed quarter mile and handling course. The fastest car wins. We decided to take the concept a step further and see if we could build a hill climb car for full competition still sticking to the 999 pound budget. The list of modifications is massive. We reduced the weight by about 20% which is hard going on a car that’s so light to start with. With all the weight stripped out we built a cage that not only keeps the driver safe but adds to the shells rigidity. The engine received a turbo and anti lag system including launch control and flat shift. It also features a hydrogen gas system for better combustion and a cold water spray for the intercooler. We carried out a few suspension and brake modifications and thoroughly set the cars geometry to give it perfect handling. The aerodynamics were last to be addressed and are controlled tightly by the regulations. We designed an aero package that other than the allowed rear spoiler didn’t change the cars silhouette. We achieved this with a flat underfloor, undercut splitter and a rear diffuser than uses a cut out into the rear bumper. The rear aero is fed by the exhaust gases between the spoiler and the diffuser which aid flow attachment. There’s still some fine tuning to be done but it should be an awesome package on a very tight budget

’tis the season to build roll cages

Monday, December 6th, 2010

I think the snow must have made everyone a little cautious. This is the third roll cage we’ve built in as many weeks. This time it’s for a track car built by our friends at Rapid Remap. This car is foir promotional use and they guys wanted it to look the part and be safe too. Rapid Remap take care of our remapping services, they’re experts in their field, offering a superb tailored service. They take such good care of their customers we’re happy to refer people to them, knowing they’ll be in safe hands. This BMW has had uprated suspension and the Rapid Remap hydrogen drive system fitted. The car interior had been stripped ready for the roll cage. It’s just a simple rear cage but should provide the safety they need.

caged animal

Monday, November 29th, 2010

This nissan came in for a track day/show cage ahead of a respray and some other mods. The cage can be seen half done. The finished article really set the car off.

Capri Construction

Monday, November 29th, 2010

The AA Silencers Capri is finally going back together. The inside and engine bay have been painted and lots of weight taken out. There have been various changes to the oil and cooling systems plus fuel system. The Aerodynamic underfloor is ready for construction and the exhausts need finishing but it’s taking shape ready for the start of the next race season.

How to get rid of rust and make your car faster

Friday, June 11th, 2010

As AA Silencers is busy with Practical Performance Car Magazines racing efforts this year our Capri is not needed on track.  We decided this would be a good time to give it a bit of a freshen up and try to squeeze out a bit more speed. As always the main item on the agenda was weight saving but also to improve the aerodynamics and get rid of the rust that can creep in to any older car.

The solution was simple, identify any bits of the car you don’t need and cut them off, especially if there’s any rust in them. The shell has been multipointed and the cag extended and a complete new aero underfloor has been designed. There’s a huge amount of work to do but it shoudl be worth it when the car gets back on track. Here’s some pictures for the mean time

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Residential MK1 Escort

Monday, February 1st, 2010

Progress has been slow on our residential MK1 as we’ve been very busy of late. the snow in January stopped a few customers reaching us we had the time to get some done on it. We left it last time with very little floor and as welded began so more rust became apparent and more floor needed replacing. The metal that wasn’t rusty was like tissue paper so welding in structural modifications such as 4 link boxes or a roll cage without extra strength being added wouldn’t have been wise. After much welding, grinding, swearing and welding again the car finally has a large proportion of it’s major components and a floor pan strong enough to build in to. There’s a few finishing touches underneath then on to the roll cage.

 

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MK 1 escort

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

In early 2009 a MK1 escort shell was pushed in for a little TLC. The owner wanted to carry out as much as possible himself but when it came to taking an angle grinder to his precious shell he was happy to pass that responsibilty on. It was fitted with 4 link boxes and a panhard rod to locate the axle and a pair of rear turrets for some coil over dampers. He then took it away to carry on the long process of rebuilding the car.
Work started in full on another MK1 escort shell we’ve had for a little while now.  This is a proper type 49 RS Shell whcih isn’t in bad condition either. The owner plans to fit a YB Cosorth engine himself and use it for a weekend and track toy. It’s a well trodden path to easy power and he’s dow plenty of research on his final spec beforew’ve started cutting his shell up. We debated over slipper springs and 4 links or 5 link and turrets or my favourite keep it simple approach of axle location and leaf spring. Theres pros and cons for all but with it being a decent type 49 shell I felt bad for cutting it up! The floor is mostly cut out now for bulkhead mods, diff tunel, transmission tunnel, 4 link boxes and a few general repairs. Turrets and a custom cage will follow.

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Capri

Monday, January 19th, 2009

2008-Capri- work began in earnest on AA Silencers next race car.

DSCF1305What was originally a 1.6 Ford Capri came in for some major work. This started by completely stripping it to a bare shell. All major areas of rust were tended to, all none structural metal was removed and a roll cage fabricated. Fibre glass wings, bonnet and tailgate were fitted and a new lightweight wiring harness was made. A new cross member was fabricated for the front to relocate suspension and steering components plus engine mounts for the new engine. An inlet manifold was fabricated from scratch to take an as yet untried inlet system combination and an ECU was sourced for the ignition. The wiring loom was made for the ECU and all necessary sensors sourced and brackets and adaptors made to fit them as required. The engine was fitted and rigged with a temporary cooling system. A dash was made and wired in to monitor everything and countless other jobs were completed to make all of these parts resemble a car and stand a chance of working. In late 2008 the key was turned and it fired in to life. All of the prototype systems functioned and the car could be driven. Although there was a huge amount of development to be done the ground work was laid for what would be a tremendous racing car.

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2009- Capri- Endless development has continued with the Capri. Wheels tyres, brakes, suspension pick up points, axle and drive ratios, gearbox, differential, anew cooling system, a new lubrication system, more weight loss, aerodynamic aids, a new fuel delivery system, a new exhaust, more testing and more set up work and finally it is ready to race! Fingers crossed for the end result but hopes are high.

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September 2009- the big day has arrived, the first race for our capri. It was a 3 hour treck up to Cadwell Park near Skegness and we set up for the compulsary nights camping, BBQ and beer. 6am soon came around and the team were in full force preparing for Qualifying. The reward for their efforts was 3rd in class and no dramas with the car. It was a tremendous result from a new car at its first showing and all eyes were set on the race. Tension was high as everyone felt it was too good to be true, everyone knew there were always teething troubles and we were all waiting for them. A good start kept the car out of trouble and a super smooth pitstop jumped us up in to 2nd place. The car worked perfectly to the flag and the result was better than anyone could’ve imagined. Smiles all round on the long drive home and a thankfully short check list before the next race.

 Hammersley 1     Hammersley 2

The Capri was put to good use at the final race of the year at Snetterton.  There were many new cars entered in out class and Snetterton is an open fast circuit favouring big powered cars, so we were concerned we may be at a disadvantage. Despite being down on power to the big Jaguars, Porsches, Lotus’s and Ferrari’s we still qualified 4rd in class. A good start and hard fought opening laps brought us up to 3rd and closing on 2nd place when suspension failure led to an early end to the race. New suspenson was designed and built as the car had to run the following week at a magazine’s track day.  The car impressed and we may be running cars for the magazine ext year. Watch this space.  It was good to see several customers at the track day and is something we are hoping to build on in the new year.

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