009 - Exhaust Design

This will be news to exactly no one.  But life has a way.  A way of twisting itself into a complicated sticky mess.  And that mess has a way of postponing, delaying, sidelining projects that don't fill a basic human need.  No one needs to build one of these cars.  So when life presents itself in difficult ways... the car will take a pause.  We've been pausing, but are ready to hit play again.

Here's Jack and Lena prepping the engine on a stand for some of the next steps.



We mentioned that purchasing the engine was out of order and doesn't typically happen this early in the process.  The reason?  Exhaust.  Or more specifically exhaust designed for a race car with no real considerations towards civility, decibel levels, comfort, and so on.  Does it sound amazing? Yes.  Does it still sound amazing after driving for an hour and your ears are bleeding?  I don't need to answer that.

The stock setup is headers straight out the side of the car into side-pipes that really aren't muffled in any meaningful way. 100% race car.  Many builders just deal with it and wear ear plugs or noise cancelling ear buds.  We could do that, but I think there's a more elegant solution.

As designed the car doesn't sound like a true V8 because you're only hearing 4 cylinders on each side of the car.  An X-Pipe or crossover balances and mellows that sound to achieve that tuned V8 rumble.  In addition adding catalytic converters will make the car more compliant and further mellow the sound.  Some would argue these modifications take away from the race car essence, but I would argue that if it's painful to drive it takes away from its purpose as a car.

All of this however is a packaging puzzle as the car was never designed for this sort of setup.  But for me that's part of the fun.  There's always a way to stuff 10 lbs. of hardware into a 5 lb. bag.  Is it worth the time and money?  Stay tuned as we figure that out.

Below is the basic layout of what we're trying to achieve.  This is purely schematic and in no way takes into account the physical limitations or 3D nature of the puzzle.

If all of this seems like ridiculous nonsense you're not wrong.  But!  And this is a big "but".  This nonsense is wonderfully amusing to me.



Popular posts from this blog

004 - Ride Along

Image
Now that we all had seen a Daytona Coupe in person it was time to go for a ride in one. During a family road trip we stopped to meet a lovely gentleman who offered to show off his Daytona Coupe and take us all for rides.  "Mild to Wild" as he put it.  Jack and I opted for wild, Lena mild, and Elizabeth opted to settle for sitting in the drivers seat for a moment. The most evident aspect of his car.  His pride.  Pride that he built this.  That he knew every nut, bolt, success, and misstep along the way.  Pride that he completed this journey.  But Scott's is not my story to tell.  It is his own, and it is special. Read about it here if you're so inclined. FFR - The Race Is On The funniest thing about his car was the color. Some builders will obsess over the exact color whether it's period correct, or some vision they're trying to achieve.  For Scott.  Red.  His painter asked what color, and he said "Red".  There are a billion sha...
Read more

002 - Drivetrain

Image
This part is out of order, and usually comes much later in the build.  But there's a reason which will become evident as we begin. We contemplated building an engine from the block up but that quickly became complicated due to registration and emissions.  It's not all that interesting but it involved buying a running pre-emissions vehicle and crushing it before registering our Daytona Coupe.  Seems like unnecessary nonsense.  The more achievable path became a crate motor from Ford Performance.  A Gen III Coyote 5.0 Liter V8.  Or what's found in modern Mustangs.  Comes with an OBD II Port for diagnostics that all modern vehicles have.  Along with that we picked up a Tremec T56 6 speed manual transmission and some other odds and ends to assemble the whole package. If you share a passion for all things mechanical and automotive a visit to Mike Forte in Framingham MA should be on your list.  He's wonderful.  If you had a week to spend at hi...
Read more

001 - Introduction

Image
Myself aged 5 won't be that far removed from myself at age 50. One adorable little brain enamored by all things wheeled since first holding a matchbox car.  Motorized or not, as long as the means of propulsion is a wheel.  Boats boring, Planes boring, but cars, bikes, motorcycles, tractors, scooters, and so on.  Amazing. Cars are freedom, my heart desires to wax eloquent, but there's nothing to say not already been said.  The best of what we can manufacture wrapped up in one package. Mechanical, electrical, upholstery, form, aerodynamics, and art in the best cases.  Some merely conveyances, but the best grab hold of hearts and dreams and become more than mere transportation. One such car has held my heart for years, but the real thing is unobtainable.  Only 6 were ever produced and they are the stuff of legend, so much more than just the sum of their parts.  Many have written about the history beyond what I could achieve, if you're interested seek out ...
Read more