I thought it was long overdue to post this up on here!

Essentially i set myself the rediculous target just under 2 years ago (i started this project in Jan 10) of trying to build a delsol that could crack the 200mph barrier, whilst also building something that would be competitive in the UK drag scene.

Obviously this was met with much scepticism and amusement by some people, generally people that do now know me though. Some of those people though now do know me and realise that i am not as stupid as i look I also intended on doing all of this work myself. This way i had nobody else other than myself to blame if it went wrong, with a couple of notable exceptions (machining the block, and some mapping). Another main goal was to not change any parts that didnt really need to be changed (that has since gone out of the window)

A brief background.

I specced out what i thought i would need to get hold of in order to deal with the main problems achieving this speed brings, making power, and gearing to give the car the legs. If i could sort those out then i would have a fighting chance to get to the goal. What i have ended up with is shown below in brief (* for newly fitted for next year):

Motor
B18C4 darton sleeved 84mm block
Stock B18C4 head
Manley turbo tuff rods
CP 9:1 pistons
Twin 38mm Tial gates
Supertech Valvesprings/Ti retainers
*Borg warner S372R 1.1A/R turbo (ran a GT4094R this year)
Twin Bosch fuel pump system with 11ltr fuel cell
*30 row oil cooler
MSD External ignition
Teflon fuel hoses throughout
Victor X intake manifold
Front mount intercooler
*3" boost pipework
Hondata S300

Drivetrain
*MFactory 4.05 final drive
LS 5th gear
MFactory stage 2 driveshafts
Stock LSD in GSR box
*MFactory drag 1st gear
*Hydro handbrake
Large rolling radius wheel/tyre combo

The car earlier this year, on admittedly, what i would call "generous" rollers kicked out ~500bhp and ~350lbft at 1.3bar, i am looking to max out the S372R which should yeild anywhere between 700 and 800bhp.

The power curve will be quite silly though but thats not too much of an issue on what will eventually be a drag focussed car.

This year the car was found to be lacking in a fair few areas which i have been busily trying to sort in order for its speed effort at RAF Marham in march 2012. I have also made the car road legal, so that i can use it on the road from time to time and test out a few bits and general reliability.

This weekend coming i will be collecting my "top speed" box from Billb (cheers bud) and an FRP bonnet so that i have everything i need to achieve my goal (mechanically anyway). The next task is to try and optimise any aerodynamics i can to ensure the car is stable. I have purchased a low level alloy rear wing which i will be testing for aeroflow effect on the dyno when the car gets mapped in january. I am also looking to shore up the back end of the car where the wheel well was removed. need some plates welded in there for extra strength.

This is after all the first engine that i have ever put together myself, and so far, so good, its holding up. So far taking 100 miles or so of abuse on the drag strip at up to 9500 rpm and 2 bar of boost. Plenty of smiles

Current best 1/4 is 11.4 @ 122mph with no boost in 4th, best ET is 128mph so far.

In the meantime i will try to keep this thread up to date as and when i get more news.

I have lived and breathed this project for the last couple of years so if you have any questions feel free to ask and ill try to answer.....

Some pics


























I appreciate not many people bother to do much with delsols so i decided to be a little different! I could have used an EE/EF/EG chassis for this but wanted to be left field from the rest. This is already the quickest delsol in the UK by a fair distance, i hope next year that distance is increased

I look forward to any comments

 

Cant tell from the pics but did you loose the back window because of the cage? I wanted to cage mine if I had to in order to pass inspection to race but didnt wanna loose the back window because its my street car.

Kev

 

i removed it anyway, but yes, the motor and mechanism i dont think would have fitted with the cage in place. I cant guarantee that though as i had already done it as part fo the cars "diet"

It was replaced with a perspex sheet, cut to size and then held in place by the cage itself so it worked out quite well

 

Meh.

Needs a drop and a lip, maybe some bolt-ons.

 

Seriously though, great looking project! I certainly will be following this thread.

Where in the UK will you be testing the 200mph goal? Circle track?

Props man, I hope you update often!

 

I don't see this hitting 200mph in the 1/4 whatsoever. Are you talking about KMH? If you wanna hit 200, you're gonna need some serious power/upgrades.

Kev

 

I think he does mean MPH but it wont do it in a 1/4 mile but im pretty sure he knows that

 

yeah man im talking about an overall top speed run, in the 1/4 i would expect this to be trapping at about 145mph when its be properly tuned.

Its going to be tried on a nice long runway, it isnt from a standing start so i can come on to the runway at anything between 60-80mph and then just bury it.....see what i can get to in 1.7miles.

 

That's a pretty awesome goal. I think you'll eventually do it. Just make sure you get some video when you do! Can't wait.

 

Thanks bud, ill see what i can do. I should be able to get a few dyno vids when we are tuning although we will be limited on what we can do with the dyno we're using as it cant handle much above 550hp or so. Will need to do the rest at the track or on a hub dyno. Once its all done then ill try and get a few from the track, when i give it a shakedown and then some of the top speed.

I cant wait either, 2012 should be a good year!

 

to be honest the main issue ill have will be high speeed stability. Nobody has really tested the old sol at properly quick speeds so data on it is very limited. I will be keeping it as simple as possible though

I will be doing some crude aero tests when the car is on the dyno

 

badass. I considered entering my civvi into the standing mile top speed comp after boost. Subbed :-D

GLWB

 

What tires are you running?

 

Four Donuts!!!! and a full sized spare!

j/k

im curious too!

 

in terms of tyres i will be running 235/45/17s with a speed rating of 186+. This gives me a very large rolling radius, but one that still fits under the arch! Gives me some extra legs in the gearing too.

Forgot to mention i have an LS 5th in the box too, so it is pretty much the longest B series box you could make with off the shelf parts (well probably not but it wont be far off!!)

 

Id re-adjust some of the body panels. Needs to be more flush. Remove the H emblem. I'd also try to lose some more weight. Take the dash out. All you need is a tach and a navi unit (for speed) You will have to buy the lightest wheels possible. Also, not sure if that car will be stable enough for 200mph. Great goal, and good work so far, but it's going to take some more time and prep work.

 

Hey,

Ironically i dont want to actually take any more weight out of the car for the top speed stuff. I will when it changes to drag focus, but (and especially in terms of wheels) id prefer them to be heavier and more planted.

The full dash will need to be retained for out drag regs here anyway but i do intend on gutting the back from it as it still has the airvert tubing which can come out

I figured if it was "too" light then it would be even more unstable so it made sense to probably pitch it at around 2450-2500lbs for it. It should still be light enough with all that power to pull it along.

 

the body panels will be taped up too by the way

 

Nice, will be checking back. Interesting thread

 

hey, just thought i would revisit this.

We finally got the car making good power, just before the top speed event. We managed to get 692.2 and 500lbft on Q16 on a very stingy dyno which was pretty good certainly amongst the highest power frotn drive cars in the UK at the moment.

We then headed to the runway on the sunday to have a stab at the top speed event. Sadly, it was raining for most of the day, i still did some runs but the lack of traction really hampered things in the wet conditions. We did not have BBG working so all gears up to 4th were fairly non existent!! spinning all the way up to 140 before putting it in 5th which was uber long.....really needed to rev out 4th some more but as i say it was just spinning. Ended up getting to 181 which wasnt bad at all given all that had been going on before.

Maybe ill try again next year, its definitely stupid fast though!!! will see what happens when i get it back on the drag strip with the slicks and BBG

 

181 is nothing to shake a stick at! Nice work!