Flyin' Miata : Track Dog updates

We had a lot of work to do once the OTC was over. Bi-weekly conference calls brought the team together for planning, parts started arriving from all over, and the Dog made several long trips to get tested. This page shows the progress, starting with the newest updates.

The next series of updates is the pre-race preparation.

See what happened at the second testing session.

Wearing the proper equipment (ahem), Bill welds.
Now that the car runs on the lightweight wiring (whew!), we can weld in the new cage. Here are the parts. We bent this ourselves with the help of Al Johnson, a local Porsche guru.
The Accusump has been modified for greater reliability and now is mounted vertically.
It's Wednesday. We're leaving for the track on Saturday morning. Yup, this is normal.
From left to right: rocket launcher, smokescreen, ejection seat and Ben Hur hubs. The Track Dog gets ready for competition.
Hmm. Yet another diff for the race car. A preloaded Torsen.
This is 12.8 lbs of wire.
Back into the wiring, on a search of stray weight. The cage has also been cut out and a new one bent.
More vents! MORE VENTS!

The first test is done. Check the writeup!

Tall wing mount.
Short wing mount. We'll be testing two positions.
You know, we just might make it to this testing session. 5 days to go, and the Dog is starting to look like a race car. A bit brutal perhaps, but a race car.
The prototype hood, sporting vents made of rivetted aluminum. That's actually the Red Rat's original hood. Thanks to the flat black paint job, we're going tell people it's solid carbon. No, not carbon fibre. Carbon. Milled from a solid ingot...
The vented rear window.
The finished door, hung on the car.
Our flamethrower - an externally vented wastegate.
You can take 35 lbs out of a pair of Miata doors if you're motivated - not including the glass or the interior trim.
Here comes the engine!
Aero testing to check flow over the hardtop. It's uglier than we expected.
Making a pattern for the Lexan rear window.
Keith installed the oil cooler. Let's see what this does.
The new motor is almost ready to install...
Installing the rods on the new race car test motor.
I can fly! Actually, this wing is to accomplish just the opposite. It's the real thing, intended to keep the Dog stable at high speed. Note how the uprights go through the trunklid (which is now just bolted in place). Also, there's no rear glass. Keith is on a mission!
The full view of the upright. It's attached directly to the frame. We'll probably do a bit of lightening to the support.
Bill welds away.
More destruction on the Track Dog. Bye bye windshield. We considered chopping off the frame...
The bracing from under the trunk lid.
Our new 3" straight pipe has arrived. 10lbs lighter than the muffled version and 0 backpressure!
Keith likes things simple. Like this. No wires. No headlights. No fan relays. Nothin'!
Meanwhile, the engine comes apart.
Lighter and lighter...
The wing is here! 8.5x48" long from HPM. This is the same wing used on the Speedvision Touring Cup cars.
We need to build the feet for the wing. But how high should it go? Time for some aero experimentation.
These NACA ducts do a fantastic job of dumping cold air into the interior and on the driver. Very welcome!
Function over form. The headlight covers and mechanism are gone, replaced by an oil cooler on one side and the intake on the other. It's not pretty, but it should be very effective. Keith is also on a hunt for extra pounds, including wiring.
The engine comes out of the Track Dog for a teardown. It doesn't look it should have fit in the engine bay!
The big IC for the Track Dog.
This is why we don't recommend using a gasket on the turbo manifold.
Because people have been asking, here's a shot of the ducting underneath the Track Dog. That's a brake duct being fitted on the near side.
Out comes - well, most of the stuff underneath. The LSD was no longer limiting slip, so it's being replaced. The prototype exhaust is going to be tested in comparison to a production version, and the springs are being used to test the new spring perches.
Post-race leakdown testing.
The 95 "parts car" gets its drivetrain back as the racer gets a post-race inspection.
Just for fun, the racer visits a local auto show in the "custom" section.
A local import show. Quote of the day: "Why do you guys have slicks on the FRONT?"
Some glamour photography yielded this "big nose" shot.
The photographer gets artsy.
Back home in the shop.

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