my Project X track car update

There are a few out west that are pretty good. I know of one in Arizona, another in California and one in Washington.

I know I found a few amazing mountain roads in California that would make great hill climbs.

There was a new one last fall in South Eastern Kentucky. In a State Park. Only found out about it after it was over and a friend posted video.
 
Minor upgrade to the front brakes on my Track X1/9. Went with Uno Diesel/Selecta fronts which are 240 mm dia solid discs with sliding pin calipers with 48 mm pistons. Uno Turbo uses a similar set up but vented discs which are heavier, and very hard to get hold of the calipers. I had to import the caliper Brackets from an Italian wreckers which was tricky and costly, but the calipers are identical to Regata 100S, and I used early Alfa 33 1.5L discs which are nearly identical to Uno Diesel, all available locally in Aus, not going to help USA guys. Pads are Tarox Corsa for Regata, Uno Turbo & Diesel, Lancia Delta 1.6HF etc. The stronger cast iron calipers and more modern mounting give a much better pedal feel than standard X1/9. With my 250 mm Montecarlo S2 rear brakes it gives a nice balance.

Someone in Aus says the VAS Prima big brake kit uses identical discs and pads to the Uno Turbo setup, can anyone confirm the pad shape on that kit is the same as this image?
Uno pads.jpg

Ready to assemble.JPG
All done.JPG
Assembled.JPGPads in.JPG
I got to give it a try in a sprint at The Bend International circuit on Sunday, my first timed event on that layout.
VIDEO here -
 
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I have repacked motorcycle mufflers with removable end caps but never even thought of reskinning a car muffler. How well does the skin seal against the ends?
 
Skin seals well. I put hi temp silicone sealant on the joints and pop rivited them while it was still wet. Only leaks may be from some of the monel non-sealed rivets at every 2nd or 3rd rivet (20mm spacing) along the length of the muffler. I was concerned the aluminium sealed rivets I was using may not handle the stress on their own.
 
What a coooool! X1/9, great job. It must be a blast to drive. I don’t know if you listed the weight and BPH of it in race trim, but can you post it again?
 
carl said:
I have repacked motorcycle mufflers with removable end caps but never even thought of reskinning a car muffler. How well does the skin seal against the ends?
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You can make that style of muffler fairly easily. I've seen the end caps available on AliExpress for around $10 each and the perforated core on eBay for about $15. The most difficult part is the outside cover. Ideally you will find the right diameter of aluminum, stainless, or even steel (e.g. exhaust pipe) tube to fit the end caps. Otherwise making your own cover like Greg did is more difficult but I guess the only option.

Here's a idea for making one end cap removable for easier servicing if a solid tube is used:
Repackable muffler design 2 - Copy.jpeg
Repackable muffler design 3 - Copy.jpeg
Repackable muffler design 4 - Copy.jpeg
 
Jeff, that looks like a neat solution, I wish I had known about that years ago. The packing in mine had lasted pretty well, it's just that in my quest for light weight I used an aluminium skin, and with the different thermal expansion rates between the long steel tube and alloy skin the pop rivet holes got bigger and bigger untill they let go at one end and blew some packing out. That one lasted over 7 years so this one should go for a lot longer.
 
For a lightweight 124BC track car I built many years ago I used alloy muffler end caps a bit like the ones above, and used (pre made) carbon fibre tube for the muffler skin, and riveted the tube and caps together.

dragonplate.com

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SteveC
 
They make carbon fibre skinned mufflers for motor bikes...

the link is just a random manufacturer to show that the item is available, I didn't use that particular brand.

I even made my own perforated (actually spiral louvred) inner tube from aluminium too, the muffler was very light.

The class the particular car was built for was "street car" here in W.A. , which at the time was all steel body panels, all window glass fitted... no interior trims (for fire safety reasons) but a replica of the original dash was required, factory exterior lighting, and 90% of the cars factory curb weight as the minimum weight. One of the few things you could remove was the bumpers and exterior brightwork...

A 124 BC is 965KG curb weight, so it had to tip the scales at 868kg (with no fuel) at scrutineering and required a full 6 point steel cage.

SteveC
 
GregS said:
Interesting solution. Did it hold up to exhaust temp ok, says good for 140 F.
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Temp wise CF should work fine for this. The aftermarket makes CR mufflers for some cars, race vehicles, and also as Steve said lots of bikes. If you can find a CF tube of the right diameter then it would be the lightest solution. One potential shortcoming might be the holes for rivets or screws may wear out over time. CF is really strong in shear and tensile strength but not particularly durable for wear and tear. But neither is aluminum.
 
As an alternative to fibreglass, you can also pack the muffler with stainless steel wool.. It lasts much longer and silences similarly.....
 
After a track sprint at The Bend on Sunday I now have a compact X1/9. Had an off track excursion and backed it into a concrete wall. I'm ok, just mad at myself. I haven't had a good look yet but the strut towers and suspension pick-up points seem ok, but the door gaps have closed up on both sides from +2mm to -2mm at the top. I will have to have a long think about what to do from here. Could have been worse I guess, could have hit drivers side against the wall.

compact rear.jpg
compact LH.jpg
compact above.jpg


compact.jpg
 
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