Derracudas zermatt 20vt,6spd, 351awhp - July 4th drive vid

a_CQ · Post by **a_CQ** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 12:01 pm

I thought you only knew how to get dirty and swap motors. Nice work!

RSCoupe · Post by **RSCoupe** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 12:22 pm

And he sews too...
You'll make a great wife some day.

Seriously though, very nice work. As usual. :-)

hilly · Post by **hilly** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 12:27 pm

WAUG0806 wrote:Hilly's mom might get jelous!

I won't tell her then

Hilly

derracuda · Post by **derracuda** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 12:43 pm

haha, you guys are funny

one little last update from last week while i was at the shop. the struts i have on the car now are built wrong. i relocate the steering arm too low and it causes bump steer, so.. i took a spare set i have, cut the steering arms off, dissassembled them for the the little metal plug with the tapered bit in it where the tie rod goes into it... and made up new, 1" shorter steering arms( for quicker turning ratio), rotated in just enough to be even with the tube itself, and the arm is located right where the stock one was, so all the stock geometries will be retained. i never had bump steer in my white car, and i never moved the steering arms on it.. so this was my solution.

removing the stock strut proved VERY labor intensive. it was quite corroded in place

good thing i was planning on keeping the steering arm!

the new steering arms...

tapered tie rod insert (not fun to remove btw)

here you can see the difference in steering arm length..

and this.. i am proud of... check out that weld bead!! i had to look at it for a minute when i was done and admire this stroke of luck!

i didn't have time to finish the second strut before we left CA, so this upgrade will have to wait a couple weeks yet. this one should be fun though since i won't have to do a double take on some of the tighter turns i'm used to driving on

all i need to do now is get the camber mount thing figured out with GC and then i'll be really having a ball!

Hybrid_Hatch · Post by **Hybrid_Hatch** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 1:07 pm

my struts are in the mail...

Lt. Sarge · Post by **Lt. Sarge** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 2:25 pm

Derek, I am really glad we're friends. If you ever decide to start an upholstery shop I would be totally willing to put in startup money.

owdlvr · Post by **owdlvr** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 2:38 pm

Nice work Buju

-Dave

Wizard-of-OD · Post by **Wizard-of-OD** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 3:33 pm

Audilard wrote:Derek, I have some pants that need hemming.... :wink:

That was running through my mind as well.

90_Koop · Post by **90_Koop** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 3:56 pm

All the makins of a good wife, but can he cook???

Jretal · Post by **Jretal** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 3:58 pm

inquiring minds would like to know.......

thickness of material used? did you keep the same angle of steering arm in relation to stock (when looking from top down w/ the assembly standing upright as if in the car)... and of course, wanna cut 2 more of those puppies for a fella?

looks good though, buddy. I'm guessing you just ground off the old steering arm w/ an angle grinder?

derracuda · Post by **derracuda** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 8:37 pm

i think the plate i used was .5" it's four times as thick as the metal used in the stock arms, just not boxed like the factory arms. it should be plenty strong though, even more so with the brace. i'm not worried about it

i did not keep the same angle... as i mentioned, they are rotated in just a bit, so that they don't stick out any further than the strut tube.... so in effect, i can fit a tire up to the strut tube, and the tierod/steering arm won't make contact. and with this set up i cleared 235's no prob. stock body work 8)

as for cutting them out... took me at least and hour to do the both. the hole saw i used isn't the exact size, so there there's a considerable amount of time using an air grinder and a carbide bit carefull enlarging the hole to fit it over the strut.

and yes, i just used a grinder to remove the stock steering arm.... do take your time and be careful not to cut into the tube... much. i get it kinda close, then take the hammer and start whacking the arm, tearing the welds. worked great on both struts.

Post by **HT Motorsport** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 10:01 pm

Nice work as usual man....I like it

Plus I had not thought about shortening the arms quickening the ratio, makes perfect sense as long as you dont mind 5 point turns instead of 3, and how often do we do those? Will you need to shorten the link rods to the rack a little?

H

200 Avant · Post by **200 Avant** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 10:34 pm

Derek,

Great sewing skills.. BTW.. you may want to see if you know of anyone with a walking foot machine for the heavier materials. when you tackle your seats see if you can find a double needle machine for high stress seams.

Good luck..

I'm glad to see ya back on it.. I miss the regular updates..

Cheers...

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 10:34 pm

The suede bits look good!! Were they in the car this weekend? I didn't notice... Guess maybe that syas something for the quality, looked factory.

Thanks for the long ride, the zermatt car drives nice and pulls decently for only driving at 7/10s. If something ever happens to my 200 it's 20v heart will definitely be living on in a lighter chassis..

Matt

derracuda · Post by **derracuda** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 10:43 pm

timmmy wrote:Nice work as usual man....I like it

Plus I had not thought about shortening the arms quickening the ratio, makes perfect sense as long as you dont mind 5 point turns instead of 3, and how often do we do those? Will you need to shorten the link rods to the rack a little?

H

my plan is to make stops for the rack so i can't over turn the wheels. why wouldn't i be able to make a 3 point turn? the car will steer just as sharp...and sharper

hence the need for the stops.

Jretal · Post by **Jretal** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 10:26 am

derracuda wrote:i think the plate i used was .5" it's four times as thick as the metal used in the stock arms, just not boxed like the factory arms. it should be plenty strong though, even more so with the brace. i'm not worried about it

Very cool. Guess it's time to start digging around and find myself some scrap 1/2" plate around work maybe :-P I'm sure we have some laying around not getting used!

i did not keep the same angle... as i mentioned, they are rotated in just a bit, so that they don't stick out any further than the strut tube.... so in effect, i can fit a tire up to the strut tube, and the tierod/steering arm won't make contact. and with this set up i cleared 235's no prob. stock body work 8)

dah, I missed that part... thanks!

as for cutting them out... took me at least and hour to do the both. the hole saw i used isn't the exact size, so there there's a considerable amount of time using an air grinder and a carbide bit carefull enlarging the hole to fit it over the strut.

and yes, i just used a grinder to remove the stock steering arm.... do take your time and be careful not to cut into the tube... much. i get it kinda close, then take the hammer and start whacking the arm, tearing the welds. worked great on both struts.

sounds good, thanks for the tips! Time to start hunting around. I was planning on doing something similar as well, but just cutting the strut tube under the steering arm and clocking the arm back a little bit and rewelding. Was kind of worried about the structural integrity of the tube though, which made me hesitant about doing that, though.

Thanks for the tips, though! Much appreciated!

Post by **Hank** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 6:40 pm

Looks nice Derek.. Those arms would be a nifty item if 034Motorsports would have them lasercut, or plasma... or CNC! I would be down for a set.. especially if the said cutting down of the holesaw bore didnt have to happen..

Hank

a_CQ · Post by **a_CQ** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 9:26 pm

Derek, if I were you I'd cut some holes down the middle of those arms. Cut some of that steel away. They'll be strong enough.

derracuda · Post by **derracuda** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 9:46 pm

i thought about the holes... but honestly, they aren't that heavy.

here's some vids and pics i took today of a drive i went on. this is one of my many roads to enjoy. as you can tell, the car is pretty quiet inside. the main noises are the old tires which create a lot of the white noise in the background, and then there's the drivers seat.... :frustrated: sounds like a grandpa's rocking chair :roll:

sorry for the auto leveling of the camera, it seems when i go around corners, my hand seems to tilt

. also i pretty much drove it in 4th gear the whole time.

part 1
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseacti ... d=22092719
part 2
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseacti ... d=22082306
part 3
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseacti ... d=22095243
part4
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseacti ... d=22097501

the bridge is a giant grate!

Hybrid_Hatch · Post by **Hybrid_Hatch** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 9:47 pm

Looks beautiful... I miss Oregon... Utah is ugly.

a_CQ · Post by **a_CQ** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 9:58 pm

Nice roads and car looks great!

audibeans · Post by **audibeans** » Thu Nov 15, 2007 11:05 pm

Looks like she handles

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Thu Nov 15, 2007 11:15 pm

I was pretty impressed on my 40 mile ride along... It corners well and the ride is not harsh..

WAUG0806 · Post by **WAUG0806** » Fri Nov 16, 2007 5:29 am

D3R3K - car looks great, I love those rims on it... perfect for the project OE look.

Assuming you have 15 x 7.5's with 225/50... stance and offset look sweet!

Nice to see you on the road again.... 8) love to see pics of our old cars in the garage being rebuilt/modded/fixed but better to get happy reports from the road in the nice scenery, or better yet, the track!

Shame you did not whittle out a 3rd steering arm prototype, somebody coulda found a cnc waterjet to blast out 12 pairs so we could all be running D3R3K Struts! Guess we should wait for you to figure out the stops...

How does the ratio feel... did it make the car twitchy or just right? I was guessing 20-25% quicker just by shortening arms 20-25%.... :? :?

Highlander · Post by **Highlander** » Fri Nov 16, 2007 6:32 am

Looks great Derek

It only needs 7x15" Fuchs IMO

Cheers

Craig.