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1985 Celica Chump/WRL build

61K views 528 replies 17 participants last post by  revvhappy 
#1 · (Edited)
#391 · (Edited)
Yep. That's the next excursion. Bill Strong will be with me, and 1 or 2 more friends. Can't wait as I have never been there. It will be cool to finally meet you and compare set-ups. The breaks that occured are easy fixes for the most part. The 2JZGE VVTI is so amazing. Such a torque'y engine. Just ECU and headers and only some V8's were leaving me. It was awesome.
 
#393 ·
Thanks Fiend.

For a cliff notes summary of last weekend:

I was really rushed by being out of town the whole week. Before I left I loaded the car up so Friday morning I just had to hook up and go. AFter getting to the track, We installed the fire system and worked on a few other things. I was really nervous due to the car not taking the pavement in a gear higher than second.

Went through tech and safety and failed tech due to the exhaust exiting in front of the driver seat. Thankfully, one friend went and drove to get pipe while we took the exhaust off and got the welder ready. it was really ugly but it worked and Phil was happy.

I didn't sleep hardly at all Friday night. The car was in the trailer with my buddy and I due to low 20's in temperature. Didn't want the radiator to freeze. After drivers meeting I got dressed and hopped in the car. We were about mid pack. I had to bed the brakes in on the pace laps and was freaking out about every single noise. The green flag waived and I didn't have time to think about anything anymore.

I took the first several laps really slow to make sure nothing disastrous was going to happen. And I was still passing a lot of cars. After a bunch of yellows, I keep picking up the speed. I love South Course of VIR. It's fun and allows technical passing due to the lower average speed of the track. When I got out, we were in the 20's with the 5th fastest time of day. And I hardly pushed it. I noted a few things I need to change but was ecstatic about some of the decisions I made. (my shock combo worked great!) So the main problem which surfaced were the axles bolts. On both stub axles side are 4 pressed in studs that are used to bolt to the axles. I pressed these out a long time ago because I wanted new bolts. Then found there are discontinued. My solution was not good enough used m8 bolts and serrated nuts. The bolts were stretching and then loosening the nuts. We even doubled nutted them the second time they broke. The first time the right axle broke, it wrapped around the diff cooler hose from the pump. Had to replace that, and the axle. That was the 1.5 hour stop. Thankfully, I didn't bring a lot of spares, but I had those.

My buddies all got a turn in the car in-between the axle issues. They said they had an amazing time driving it. Said it was so much fun. The coolest part I think it the welded diff. Adds so much predictability on entry and apexes. An LSD might be faster in times, but it was a lot of fun to drive.

I was back in the car before it got too dark. About half way through I told myself to take 10 laps and have as much fun as I wanted. I never drove a car that I was solely responsible for and wanted to let looses for once. I had a ball driving my heart out. I put 3-4 laps together that was within the top 10 laps of the race. And 1 that resulted in the 4th fastest. And there was still time out there. I never had a clean traffic lap. I was so elated to have so much fun in the first race driving my own car.

We ended early because the right axle went again. Everyone drove, and there were only 2 hours left, so we called it a night. The goals were mostly met, and encountered times and speeds I never thought was possible for that race. I have a huge list of things to do for NCM (National Corvette Museum in Kentucky) and have some awesome drivers lined up, with Bill Strong, Mike Helm, and John Hurley. I cannot wait for that one as I will do everything to set us up to try and go for the win. It will be a busy 3 months prepping.










Good video from the ChumpCast that shows the rear end of the Celica and me at the start of the race. Paulie, the announcer, couldn't figure out what kind of car it was. lol

https://www.facebook.com/ChumpCarWorldSeries/videos/10155049624652346/
 
#395 ·
Your car is nothing less than AWESOME!!:thumbsup:
I really like those brightly-colored gloves(With the bird).
Really handy for signaling the other drivers. I should have had a pair like that when I was riding a street motorcycle. Pay attention,Gamble and others.
You are smart to do that front fender 'bend-0' treatment to the sheet metal. My R/C truck is the same way. NASCAR thing?Bonneville idea?
We all hope that you all are having a blast driving. Your time and dedication to the sport should be applauded. Besides,you are running a TOYOTA!!!!
May I suggest an aerodynamic change?
Feel free to blow me off, when I suggest it.
 
#397 ·
I was under the impression that the rear spoiler should not be more than 10-20* from horizontal. Thoughts?
I also don't know what the rules will allow.
You said it made a BIG difference. It must be working,then.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoiler_(car)
Wing or rear spoiler.
I'm thinking that the spoiler is causing more drag than down force.
The front of your car is a master piece!!!!!!
 
#398 ·
Until 2 months ago I probably would have agreed about the spoiler causing drag. Then a friend of mine let me borrow a book on racing aerodynamics. A spoiler is designed to "spoil" the airflow in a certain zone so the flow off the roof will flow OVER that "spoiled" pocket of air. They add little or no drag and actually increase downforce by reducing lift. I agree that the spoiler on the Celica is probably set too upright - the magic angle seemed to be 50-60 degrees from horizontal with a 5-6" height, but that was for higher speed NASCARs. My 5" tall spoiler set at 45 degrees on the Supra made a very noticeable difference in settling the rear of the car after I added the front air dam/splitter (based on Dave's photos).

A wing is designed to produce downforce at the expense of adding drag. At the speeds we run in endurance racing I believe that the spoiler is a better option. I rarely overpower my rear end traction limits unless I do something stupid, and the car was 3 seconds a lap faster at Road Atlanta this year with the splitter/spoiler combination and same drivetrain. There are some Chump cars with enormous wings that do well, but sometimes I wonder if they are just for looks.
 
#399 ·
Great update and conversation. I have been debating on whether to install a 5-6" tall spoiler or invest in a larger wing for some aerodynamic benefit. Another issue is how to attach a spoiler or wing onto a nice carbon fiber replacement hatch...sigh. I guess I could always keep the old hatch with the aero attached and swap out to the CF one when trolling around the neighborhood...but what a pain!
 
#404 ·
I ask. I don't know the pit situation there, but need to be close to Crank Yankers as drivers are close friends. If we double put it will def work out, but I'll throw an email to Mike to us together.
 
#405 ·
Went and got my spare parts today. I was supposed to pick this car up months ago, but never did. So I went to the yard today and pulled everything I needed off of it (at least for now).



All off.



7.5 Diff, all corners, steering, wiper blades, engine subframe. When taking it all apart, noticed the Supra next to the car had the W58 sitting in the passenger seat. Snagged it. Win.



Then I saw this car had a great hood. I might need one.




Best part about it? All for $200. And I had a $175 credit for the 22re I gave him. $25 out of pocket today. WIN!
 
#411 ·
The car is out of the trailer! I haven't taken a good look at her yet, but she started up great and will be on jack stands tomorrow for a full look over.



The hood needs some work to not buckle. I might put another hood pin in. There is tape on the spiltter from, some...uhh, team mate run off...

Oh well. It happens.



The GOD-AWEFUL exhaust that Bill Strong welded up. Lol. It will be redone and much better looking!



I hope to not find anything detrimental on inspection. But I am sure i will find something. Then fix and work on my list followed by work on all the spare parts and creating spare corners.
 
#412 ·
Took a good look at the car tonight. Overall, pretty pleased with everything. A few things I need to fix, but not too much.

One of the broke axles hit the crap out of the Diff mount. Hard too see but it killed it. I can still use it though.



The shock engineering held up. Sweet. I can change rear springs within 5 minutes. Too easy.



Subframe moved slightly. Need to work on that.



Front right coil over must not have been set when I dropped the car at some point.




Small tire rub. Too easy.



A few other things to work on (haven't decided if I am going to revert to sc300 manifolds to get the points back from headers). I think repainting the car will be the most difficult before NCM.
 
#414 ·
Yeah, he car looked horrible out there with all those colors. A new paint job is in order! Should be before NCM but we will see how everything goes. Thinking the Toyota Cement gray with blue accents.
 
#416 ·
Great shots! The image is not level, but you are getting close to positive camber on the outside tire in the one picture mid-turn. But again, it may be deceiving given the picture being skewed for artistic purposes and not necessarily tuning purposes. That does look like so much fun and other cool cars out there with you!
 
#417 ·
WOW!:thumbsup:
Rooster snaps has some talent and we want to see more.
The B&W photo of the cock pit looks like the SPACE SHUTTLE!
Great work and I'll see what he has on his site.
Very much, ME LIKEY!
 
#423 ·
trying to find a solution for axle studs. the stub axles have the four press in bolts of which I need more of. They are discontinued from Toyota. Primary plan is to find replacement press in's. Called ARP, they can make them but months out (NCM is 2.5 months). They are looking into other solutions also. Any of you have any ideas?

 
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