"i understand you are running your car at the minimum ride height. how is that working on the street?"
I have tried various ride heights on street and track. Current settings are front: 4.25” rear: 5.5” This may sound low for the street but it’s actually quite high for the JBL. On the track you can run F: 3.75” R: 4.5” The important thing is that you maintain .75” to 1” of rake. The car really likes that setting. If you drop the rear too much, the car will not steer or track nearly as well. If you are running the Hoosiers on the track you can set chassis a bit lower due to the lower profile.
A few things to keep in mind: Tire clearance will ultimately determine ride height especially the rear. The front is really a non issue. When the body is bonded to the chassis, you can look at the relationship between ride height and rear tire clearance and set the altitude of the rear clip, by lifting it up or down, and set accordingly. If that relationship, (between top of tire / clearance to wheel opening / desired lowest ride height), is incorrect, you will be limited by tire rub. Under hard acceleration these car really weight-transfer to the rear, almost too good. You will want to experiment with spring rates and damper settings as I have. I can give more data on that subject. I have found that the car can take a lot of rear spring, and the front, quite the opposite. Good double adjustable dampers are a must. Street tires should be the Michelins. Don’t buy the Dunlaps as they are less $ and ok but the tread pattern will make the car hunt. On a side note, I am converting to a quick ratio power rack, much like the one on my spec racer. This comes down to driver's style and how the car is used but in my opinion, the manual 4t-lock to lock is way too slow for any kind of driving under 100mph. But I'm used to shifter karts and now my FFR spec car, which is 2.5 turns, and like the faster steering. You won't be able to catch the car IMHO. See what you think of the steering ratio. I'd be curious.
"what are you using for track rims and tires. compmotives are nice but with tires they weigh 47# each. i'm going to need another set if the $$$ holds out."
I’m running the Hoosiers on compomitive wheels. I don’t know how much track experience you have in these types of cars, but I would say wheel / tire weight is a non issue unless you are going to be competing in a race series / time trials, and can drive the car at 90% or more. Otherwise, you’ll be giving 1k+ per wheel to BBS for a custom piece. The compomotives are very reasonable for a true modular wheel that you can simply bolt on, and besides, how much weight savings are we talking about? The tire weighs whatever it weighs so the wheel is the variable. A lightweight wheel of this type can be very pricey. The compomotives are also extremely strong.
"ref. your clutch/tranny. i'm looking at the 53 series tilton setup which requires tranny w/chevy bolt pattern and input shaft. did you use the chevy tranny or ford? also, i believe you had to shorten your input shaft?"
Yes. I already recommended a few folks to help you with that chore. It is a Ford / Chevy combo but not hard to do. I could tell how it’s done but I would rather you work with a tech at Tilton as we may have setup differences. You should work with a professional(s) if you want the tranny to shift smoothly. Make sure you sweep the bellhousing and check alignment. Run a needle bearing input also. I’m running a TKO-2 RR. I included some pics so you can see the transition plate.
"i've mocked up the dry sump pump and it fit nicely with some milling on the bracket. i'd post pics if i could figure out how."
Posting pics here is pretty easy, just search the topic and you should get examples of how-to. I would love to see what you’re doing!
