Larger side vent opening

[ERA2076]

Hi - I am MikeInAtlanta

I'm just looking for some pictures of some side vents. I really am just looking for some old pictures, but since one of you asked please let me share some of my work with you..

I realize I am on one, if not the largest, Cobra building sites in the world. I also realize there are builders who have manged to stay in business building Cobras, who come here and share tech with amateur builders (like Me) and there are some unbelievably well built racing cars on this site and those builders also come here and share tech, but I am really building a tricked out Cobra and being the only one in the world who has ever taken on such an endeavor, I'll make an exception this time and post up my beautiful work.

Since I have made this one time exception to share my brilliance with the Cobra building world, it will be important for anyone who has taken the time to try to understand what I am doing, not ask any questions or apply any critical thinking to my work because after all there is nothing else like it in the world and I am mentally unstable

Thanks

MikeInAtlanta.

Are you F3g Serious?



Do you have a side view of the rear diffuser. It appears it is in the same plane as the bottom - surely not?

and stop crying and flip the rad -

x-chr

[john chesnut]

I built my own Cobra tribute. The radiator is small and mounted vertically. The air flows through the radiator and is diverted out the side of the car behind the front wheels. I am not running front inner fenders. The body is sealed in front and along the sides of the engine compartment. I added a second set of side vents. I'm not an engineer and I haven't tested air flow.

I wasn't building a race car. I have been on a road course and have driven it a lot on the street with out overheating issues. The Engine is an LS6 hooked to a Tremec 6 speed. I use C5 Corvette suspension. It only has a Cobra body shell I know. But, I like it.

[mikeinatlanta]

Originally Posted by ERA2076

Are you F3g Serious?



Do you have a side view of the rear diffuser. It appears it is in the same plane as the bottom - surely not?

and stop crying and flip the rad -

x-chr

I like the diffuser how it is, but thanks for the advice.

[ERA2076]

Originally Posted by mikeinatlanta

I like the diffuser how it is, but thanks for the advice.

chr

[ERA2076]

Cool - thanks for posting. Not sure what I am seeing. The exhaust side of rad vents to this duct and the on to diffuser behind front wheels?



Is the front of the rad ducted?



Comfortable top speed?

Serious side vents

x-chr

[john chesnut]

I haven't tried any high end speed runs. The only time I was on a track was Run n Gun 2008 at Gateway. I had just painted the car a few days before the event. I loaded the car on the trailer and took it to the race track. There wasn't any dash in the car and I hadn't wired it, plumbed the brakes or fuel lines, or aligned it.

The first 2 days of the event were spent taking care of those things. I did a string alignment, hooked up a water temp gauge and started it up for the first time at the track. I went out on the road course and set fast time for Cobra's running street tires. Then I put it on the trailer and took it home. Since then I've only driven on the street.

I can tell you the car is very well planted and the C5 suspension is terrific. I don't have PS but with zero scrub I can turn the wheel with 1 finger even at a stop.

My frame comes to a V behind the radiator. The frame/footboxes are 16 inches tall. They are skinned with .40 T6061 aluminum. In the picture you can see the aluminum V diverter that I made to ease the transition of air to the sides of the footboxes and out the side vents. The front of the radiator is ducted as well. I was going to install the Cobra style louvers but I like seeing my headers which flow over the top of the footboxes and down to the side pipes.

[ERA2076]

Originally Posted by john chesnut

I haven't tried any high end speed runs. The only time I was on a track was Run n Gun 2008 at Gateway. I had just painted the car a few days before the event. I loaded the car on the trailer and took it to the race track. There wasn't any dash in the car and I hadn't wired it, plumbed the brakes or fuel lines, or aligned it.

The first 2 days of the event were spent taking care of those things. I did a string alignment, hooked up a water temp gauge and started it up for the first time at the track. I went out on the road course and set fast time for Cobra's running street tires. Then I put it on the trailer and took it home. Since then I've only driven on the street.

Wow -

Scratch build?

You really have it sealed up. The T56 is a monster, how mush does the car weigh? How much HP does the LS make? Is the bottom sheeted?

You should take it and run it once. I would have to know.

x-chr

[cycleguy55]

I'm thinking 0.40 aluminum is a typo and should read 0.040" unless, of course, that's supposed to be 0.40mm.

[john chesnut]

It was a typo. Old and need glasses.

The LS6 is stock. It' rated at 405hp.

The bottom of the car is completely flat. The oil pan doesn't stick below the frame rails. A full belly pan is possible. But, I haven't done it as I built it to cruise the street. I do have a custom fuel tank and I molded in the bottom of the body at the rear so that its smooth and the tank is not exposed.

The C5 3:42 diff has been converted to take a driveshaft. It bolts into the back of the backbone trans tunnel.

The car has 52% rear weight and is heavy at 2550lbs. I have another car that I built using C5 parts and drivetrain that is under 2000lbs. I built that one with weight reduction in mind. Knowing the Cobra was for the street I didn't worry about the weight too much.

My Cobra tribute is plenty fast for me. And, its a great driver. I have the reliability and repairability of a C5 Vette. With the double overdrive it gets great fuel mileage as well. I know that's not a consideration for most Cobra owners. To me, its an added bonus.

[Thor maine]

Wow looks great! Those GM components truly make a better COBRA. As AC cars Heritage found , and use GM engines in genuine AC Cobra's . Long live the Bow Tie COBRA

[ERA2076]

Nice chassis - fully boxed with door bars and a backbone too. Did you happen to weigh it? FFR says their Type 65 chassis is 300 lb.

I would have guessed a little heavier than 2500. Did you dry sump to get the flat bottom? Are all of the components structural to bending moments in the chassis or are some of them to facilitate mounting aluminum panels?

I'll bet that thing is rigid as hell

Side note => I think Shelby listed the 427 @ 2500.

[ERA2076]

forgot to ask - is the track and wheel base stock Cobra?

x-chr

[mikeinatlanta]

John, I like how you are thinking outside the box.

Careful on sharing too much build info, it's just troll food. First you answer a couple of questions and before you know it, someone will be "concerned" about the how high your air intake is over the tarmac because they read something about it in a book once.

[ERA2076]

It has much to do with authors that have tested their stuff and taken the effort to document it. PM me your address and I will send you a couple of good ones. You could check out corner-carvers.com - a great place for you to start and it is free. You do read?

Wiki - Carroll moved to Europe where he befriended John Cooper. Driving a Formula Junior Cooper, he won his first race. After waning success in the Cooper cars, followed by a characteristically clear-eyed personal assessment that he lacked the ability to drive race cars at the highest levels, he returned to the United States and began working with Carroll Shelby and the Ford Motor Company on the GT40 Le Mans program. Smith oversaw the preparation on the cars that won the 1966 and 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Carroll Smith Books . The Official Carroll Smith Site

Next time you are at the track, take your infra-red and measure the tarmac temp.

"I'm going to build a ram air system for my Cobra, but since I can't figure out any other way, I'll just pull in the hottest external air I can find and call it a day."

I had an idea for you - what about putting an air to water heat exchanger in your lower air intake tract and cooling the charge much the way Ford cools their inter-coolers.

Please share what "out of the box" thinking you see in Johns car?

x-chr

[mikeinatlanta]

Originally Posted by ERA2076

It has much to do with authors that have tested their stuff and taken the effort to document it. PM me your address and I will send you a couple of good ones. You could check out corner-carvers.com - a great place for you to start and it is free. You do read?



Next time you are at the track, take your infra-red and measure the tarmac temp.

"I'm going to build a ram air system for my Cobra, but since I can't figure out any other way, I'll just pull in the hottest external air I can find and call it a day."

I had an idea for you - what about putting an air to water heat exchanger in your lower air intake tract and cooling the charge much the way Ford cools their inter-coolers.

Please share what "out of the box" thinking you see in Johns car?

x-chr

Ok I get it. Your ego was bruised and your feelings were hurt when I rightly called you out in regards to your rude behavior. I’m sorry that I hurt your feelings, so do you feel better now? I also get that your behavior has gone from rude to asinine, to trolling, and now your just being childish. You have engaged in name calling, making up a quote to support your ego, thread hijacking, and more. When are you going to grow up and give it up? Maybe now you can use your contributor status in an attempt to have me banned?

Although I repeatedly stated that I do not wish to engage in a debate I have to wonder, would it make you feel better? I tell you what, I’ll go ahead and engage if you will just stop being a complete ass. Do we have a deal? I’ll assume so.

Let’s start with Mr. Smith. While I have a great deal of respect for the man, his books are filled with inaccuracies and unsubstantiated assumptions. His books are great for the masses with little to no subject matter knowledge (you), but they are not the end all from the omnipotent one. While I do not know the man, I expect that he would get quite the laugh out of people who feel they are experts simply by having read his books. Having authored a technical text book myself, I can’t imagine anyone thinking themselves an expert after reading it (that was a soft pitch, go ahead and take a shot).

Let’s play with your most recent attack. I lied. I only told you that you were correct in regards to air temps in an effort appease your sensitive ego and avoid the debate. Hell, contradicting the race car bible authored by the omnipotent Mr. Smith is heresy on a level that might get someone banned from the entire internet. So let’s explore this one. Have you done, read, or participated in any scientific research on the subject? Have you done any testing of any kind in an effort to either substantiate or refute common beliefs on the subject? Do you think that I would spend over 500 hours developing a ram air system having not at least done some basic testing?

Would you like to debate the subject on a new thread, or do you prefer the continued hijack of this one. Your call.

This is the system.

[ERA2076]

I am anything but an expert, at anything I try.

Love your duct.

x-chr

[mikeinatlanta]

Originally Posted by ERA2076

I am anything but an expert, at anything I try.

Love your duct.

x-chr

I love you too.

Kevlar and epoxy. Weighs next to nothing.

[ERA2076]

ok - now you are really getting weird

What are your plans for external front areo. Will you run a dam, spoiler, or?

x-chr

[mikeinatlanta]

Originally Posted by ERA2076

ok - now you are really getting weird

What are your plans for external front areo. Will you run a dam, spoiler, or?

x-chr

Is your question in reference to the low downforce or the high downforce configuration? By external, do you count under the car? Maybe we should stick to one controversy at a time.

So how much air temp differential to you suspect you get from seven up to twenty four inches off the asphalt?

[mikeinatlanta]

Originally Posted by ERA2076

It has much to do with authors that have tested their stuff and taken the effort to document it. PM me your address and I will send you a couple of good ones. You could check out corner-carvers.com - a great place for you to start and it is free. You do read?



Next time you are at the track, take your infra-red and measure the tarmac temp.

"I'm going to build a ram air system for my Cobra, but since I can't figure out any other way, I'll just pull in the hottest external air I can find and call it a day."

I had an idea for you - what about putting an air to water heat exchanger in your lower air intake tract and cooling the charge much the way Ford cools their inter-coolers.

Please share what "out of the box" thinking you see in Johns car?

x-chr

I gather that your (and Carroll's) contention is that tarmac temps have a direct correlation to the surrounding air temps. It looks to me that we would first want to actually measure the air and see if there is any validity in the assumption. Assuming that we validate the assumption with a significant measured temperature gradient above the tarmac, we would then want to measure whether the mitigating factors such as cross winds and traffic turbulence have an effect on the temperature gradient. Assuming we do, we would then want to measure static temperature gradient recovery times (i.e. how long it takes for the air to reheat once the traffic is passed or crosswind stopped). Does this sound reasonable to you?