Where did you relocate the battery to? And did you go lithium inside the cabin?

 

No lithium, at least for now. The cost vs benefit is hard to justify. A quality lithium battery from a company like Earth-X or Super-B (really the only two I would trust as I spoke to a few engineers at a couple of different companies as part of research for a work project) are around $900, while my Deka (ETX20L if memory serves) is ~$150 and the weight difference is around 2kg or 4lbs between the two. So yea, just not worth it.

Relocated to the trunk where the tools used to be along with a windshield washer fluid reservoir from a Nissan Titan:





More than enough space, even the spare tire still fits:

 

Progress!
PS reservoir and coolant overflow relocation bracket is done and looks and fits great printed in ABS. Just need to finish up the hoses. Not sure why Nissan decided to use a 5/8 and 3/8 hose on the PS reservoir when the same flowrate goes through both, but ok...is what it is.





I now have all the space I need under the hood on the passenger side to make the vent work.

 

driver side progress in developing under hood space for these vents:

new intake path in development. This honestly would be a lot easier with a 3D scanner so I can scan the available space and work within it, but I can't find a 3d scanner I like that's not more than $2 or $3K. It's hard to justify the cost for now with the limited use I would get out of it. So iterative design->print->redesign->print->redesign process it is for now.
Current design:

Almost there with the fit:




Also came up with a great idea for building this:
I will print it with a very thin wall of ABS (prob only about 1mm) and then wrap it in carbon fiber braided sleeve, which is available all the way up to 6" diameter. This way I'll be able to make a very strong and lightweight new intake tube.



If anyone has some suggestions for not absurdly priced 3d scanners I'm all ears.

 

I now have a perfectly fitted prototype for a new intake tube, took a couple of tries, but fits great!









Now just need to come up with a bend and buy a well sized air filter, super easy:





Does anyone know what's about the maximum diameter air filter I can fit behind the grill? Has anyone done this before?

 

I think you are in uncharted territory, and it depends on your bumper cover there. As long as it’s stock size I wouldn’t worry too much. Are you going to do a 350Z ram air bumper cutout? It’s like a little fancy hole in the front on one side lol.

 

Not sure, might just leave it as is and try to stick the largest filter I can right behind the grill for now. June is coming up soon and so is my first track day, if I pick up more projects I'll start running out of time and I still have a new LSD sitting in a box I need to install.

 

Almost there. The 3d printed prototype intake tubes fit nearly perfectly. Unfortunately this version doesn't allow the bumper to go on all the way....a few millimeters too tight. Need to adjust the drawing and re-print...but i'm almost there and will order the carbon fiber sleeve tonight so I can print these in ABS and get them finished in carbon asap.

 

another step forward:

I printed the entire intake in ABS. I had no choice but to print the main tube in 2 pieces, so I used some structural epoxy to glue it together. :


then I wrapped it in carbon by hand and applied resin with a brush. This time I didn't use infusion, because I want to keep this simple and fast, so I used some plastic wrap to keep the carbon tight-ish. In the future if I re-do this I have some ideas about how to make this entire part using a carbon infusion process.


Then I did a bit of sanding and applied a layer of clear coat. Install hopefully tomorrow once everything dries.



It's not super pretty compared to a lot of the other carbon work i've done, but it should be enough to give me the space I need under the hood for the vents

 

One step closer and looks good enough. Didn't think that this project will force me to make and install my own DIY cold air intake, but here I am

 

Sorry to bump an old thread but I had to make an account just to say great work.

I had been thinking about doing some similar stuff for a long time and was always hesitant to want to try. After seeing your stuff I am motivated start trying to figure this stuff out.

 

Yeah this thread wins a lot. Lots of great work and custom parts. Not sure how I missed this thread last year. Would love to see updates on how the car is coming along.

 

I am building my car to compete in SCCA T3 and GRIDLIFE street class which have very restrictive rules and I am very interested in the effects of moving stuff to the rear.

I had been thinking about replacing the crash bar with a tubular "bash bar" to shave a few pounds, but the carbon one is way cooler.

I am wondering if its almost more beneficial to keep a heavy, stock sized battery and move it to the rear to further balance out the front-heavy nature of the stock car. I have been able to get over 100 pounds out of the rear, and can probably go much further by taking things like the rear seatbelt retractors out (Seats have to stay though as per the rules, unless I get a cage).

However its basically impossible to get any weight out of the front. So far done a wire tuck, removed all the harness brackets, lighter radiator and fans, plastic kintex upper plenum. I haven't gotten the car on scales yet but I would guess its probably now 57/43 weight distro.

Moving a ~30lb battery to the back would help a little, as well as the windshield washer fluid like you have done here. Coolant overflow in the battery compartment was an excellent idea. These cars have the luxury of being able to fit HUGE tires in comparison to the other cars in class so I am not super concerned with the overall weight. More so the distribution of weight.

I am moving to bucket seats soon, I am thinking about sitting myself literally on the floor, getting a really deep dish steering wheel and sitting super far back in the car.

I'd love to hear everyone else's ideas. If this isn't the right place for this discussion ill happily make a new thread.

 

It’s come a long way from the custom hood vents.

I would say this is primarily focused on custom parts and should stay that way.

 

Looks like he was on about a week ago, wish he would stop by and update the thread. Looks like some real talent and sincere effort being put into this thing.