Autocross handling mods...

homer · Post by **homer** » Sun Jun 02, 2002 4:01 pm

Suspension ideas obtained from this forum over the last couple of months are finally showing up on the car.

Here are some shots of my "widetrack" Ghia autocross car:

http://www.laughingriver.com/dial_in/june_1.html

Man, that slippin' and slidin' is fun.

Jeff

Tate · Post by **Tate** » Sun Jun 02, 2002 11:18 pm

Where did you order your shocks and swaybars from?

homer · Post by **homer** » Mon Jun 03, 2002 4:39 am

Tate,

The swaybars are oversized competition bars and blade adjustable and are from Whiteline in Australia. I heard about them in this forum:

www.whiteline.com.au

Front:
BWF8XZ for '71 KG (ball joint) @ 22mm

Rear:
BWR1XZ for '71 KG (IRS) @ 27mm

The shocks are Koni "reds" that are fully adjustable, but you need to take them off the car to twist them through the soft/hard range. Koni doesn't make the "yellows" with the external knob adjuster for the KG/Type I from what I've heard.

I got them from Louis Boustani at LTB Motorsports.com:

www.ltbmotorsports.com

Front:
Koni # 80-1787

Rear:
Koni # 80-2149

BTW, Louis will shortly be moving his business from Atlanta to the Melbourne area... no beach in Atlanta!

These shocks and bars are turning the Ghia into a damn go kart on rails.

Good luck,

Jeff

Tarnx · Post by **Tarnx** » Thu Jun 06, 2002 7:14 am

This is great news. You have the configuration I am going to use and it actually works. I read an article somewhere that 28 mph going around a 50 ft circle you generate one G force. I bet you could pull it off. Thanks for the info on a source for the rear sway bar. The only thing I could find was the sway bar off a turbo 944 M030 conversion. Mega expensive.

KGMAN · Post by **KGMAN** » Thu Jun 06, 2002 11:14 pm

Intersting !!! I just finnished the final touches on my auto cross ghia! The Power Plant is a 2016cc duel 44 weber breathing Stroker
Front and rear 7/8 " Sways From Sway-Away
Front Koni Shocks from Bugs and Buggies and Spring Over Adjustables for the Rear.
+ a set of 13 X 8" Superlite Wheels 4.0" backspacing from OPMD in Jersey and a set of 225 / 50 / 13" Hoosiers . I cant wait until the first run at the fieldcrest cannon stadium on the 16th . I'll be sure to get some pics into this forum when I can.

Theo · Post by **Theo** » Fri Jun 11, 2004 4:12 pm

I wonder how many Autocross Ghia's are running around? I would love to hear how the 13's work. I wonder if they will clear the rear disks?

BTW what SCCA classes are you guys running? I'm in EP.

I purchased Whiteline bars from aircooled.net

Theo

homer · Post by **homer** » Sun Jun 13, 2004 6:05 pm

The 13 x 7 wheels are fun. I had Diamond make them, and they're around 12lb each.

The max width in EP is 7" and max track in EP is something like 60", IIRC. So I specified the order with two things in mind... offset the center to achieve the max track and, because the 13" wheels don't clear either the disc brakes in front of the Ghia or the drums in the rear, offset the center to clear the brakes.

The result is a Civic-slammed look with the wheels 4" to 5" outside the fenders. Had to do surgery to widen the arch in the rear. One downside is the wider track means a wider/longer path around the cones, but the grin factor is worth it.

Another downside is potential problems with bearings due to the wide offset, and I'll probably adjust for this in the next set of wheels I have made as I'm likely going to 10" - 12" width in the rear and 8" - 10" width in the front for DM/EM where there are no width limits.

Tires are now Goodyear cantilever road race slicks 20" x 8" x 13"... yowza grip, for sure, but almost all the DM/EM cars go with Hoosier R25 or R35 compounds for their road race slicks.

Before I do that, I've got to find calipers and hubs that'll fit inside the 13" diameter... maybe Wildwood? I don't know who else makes aftermarket disc set ups that'll fit... gotta do research.

The advantages of 13" wheels are cool... lower weight = lower sprung weight and lower rotating mass = faster revs which you need to come out of corners. Also the smaller diameter means the whole car is lower to the ground.

I noticed Jake Raby opened a thread in the "Forum Suggestions" for a Road Race forum. It would be cool to start one and expand it to Solo/autcrossing, roundy round, and hillclimb.

Sign the petititon!

Jeff
Ghia autoxr

"You can't turn a pig into a racehorse, but you can make a really fast pig."

Theo · Post by **Theo** » Sun Jun 13, 2004 8:47 pm

Jeff, your Ghia sounds great! Any picts online? I'm running old 14 x 7 slotted mags. They just clear the rear disks. I'm using 195 Azinas right now . They were cheap and I figure I can waste them away learning to drive.

Did you read about the possible SCCA reorg for EP. Actualy all prepaired classes. I don't understand enough to know if I like the change or not. The board is taking comments but I embaresed to say I don't understand the consequences well enough to comment.

It did sound like they might allow or phase in fuel injection.

Is the next step for a Ghia DMod?

Thanks,

Theo

rsrnate · Post by **rsrnate** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 10:33 am

are there any people in so cal that autocross ? it seems that up north and back east people do it but no one does here in so cal . it would be nice if there were more bugs than just mine showing up to the local auto x.

Theo · Post by **Theo** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 12:00 pm

Nate, If you have not already check out the form suggestions area and chime in for a road race / Autocross form. There are a lot of guys who do or have done autocross around.

I'm on the west coast.

Theo

Bruce2 · Post by **Bruce2** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 2:22 pm

Jeff, couldn't get the link to work.

Tarnx wrote: I read an article somewhere that 28 mph going around a 50 ft circle you generate one G force.

A quick calculation shows that to be 2.09g. Going the same speed around a 100' dia circle would be 1g.

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