Finally i got started on my folkrace car. Its a Mondeo 2,0l 1994 estate.

Current status is that i got it running after almost 2 years of just standning there. Not much to do. Just some jump cables and it fired right up
Some cleaning in the engine bay. The was a mouse nest and the had fed on the ingition cables
From the front seats and back its all cleaned out at the moment.

Will get some pictures up.
The list of things that should be done:
Remove all lights
Remove all of interior and fit the cage
Remove airbag
Decat and new exhaust
6 point harness and FIA approved seat
All windows exept the front window changed to plastic.

Anybody know a good way to disable the alarm system. Should i remove all of its compoments?

Loads of more stuff to be done.
Here you can read about Folkrace
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folkrace

 

Some progress


A pallet of stuff not needed

 

Airbag out and triggerd from safe distance

 

Is this the same kind of thing they did on top gear before, think it was May who did it iirc?

Keep us updated though!

 

Yes that is correct! I forgot about that

 

Passenger seat is out


Backdoors are stripped from panels




Next up is front passenger door. The drivers side must be covered with panels or a sheet of metal. (Safety issue)
Sorting out what wires i don't need and the fuel tank must be removed and replaced by a small one (max 12 liters)
The window mechanism will also be removed for weight. Not much but every piece matters in this project I don't feel to put all the money in the engine
The soundisolation is also going to be stripped out

 

Forgot to take some pictures but this has happend since the last update:

Started to remove the wiring loom from the back
The passenger door card, speaker and isolation is removed
Most of the dash is removed
When the dash is out the car is going away and get the cage welded in
Rear view mirrors on the doors is removed
Glassbreak sensors and loom is removed from the B-pillars
Open airfilter mounted

Some other bits i don't remember
Today i will pick up my lovely doughters so this project comes to a halt for a week now.

 

i found that when i removed loads of stuff from my car, the suspension went a bit funny, especially when i was braking, as the weight that it was designed to have in it wasn't there and so it was either stopping sooner at one end or it was laying down the rubber better at the other

just some advice in case you end up swapping ends more often than you expected to when you are out and about

 

Thanks I will test it when the cage is in
I think its gonna be heavy as iam going for the full spec cage. There is a minimum spec that must be mounted but im going for higer spec one

 

Will a higher spec cage not just be extra weight up high where you dont want it?

Give that its a fairly safe car anyway, I personally would be happy to run it with the minimum cage the series allowed TBH

 

PS

Sounds like an epic race series, I love the rule about fixed price selling cars as a way of stopping people putting too much time or money into prepping them.

 

Yes that is the greatest part of all. Anyone can enter regardles of budget.
Its not cheap to build a car from the ground up but iam taking this as a slow project and learn something along the way, its mabye will be ready in 2014 . its the first time i bulid my own. In the past i just helped friends with finished cars.

Minimum spec cage looks like this:


I am thinking of adding these on both doors instead of just one pipe


And have an "X" in the roof aswell. It happens sometimes that the cars roll over. I think there was 6 cars last race that rolled over.

 

Crossbrace on the drivers door definately is a good idea, I dont think the others will be required though, but it depends on how many times you intend to roll it I guess.
Can certainly see the logic in adding more if its likely to go on its roof a few times during its career.

 

Well i will try not to roll it

My friend in the green Volvo going up to 4th place (Chasing him in the blue and white car is a girl. And damn she is quick around the track! )


The white Mazda rolls back on its wheels and finish the race

 

And a quick outside pic.


No more updates until next week.

 

Dash on its way out. As soon as this is out of the car it will be collected and off to get the cage welded in. Just some small bits left before its off.

 

Dash is out Now its time to take a look at the loom and remove all thats not needed

 

Somework i did after work

Door is empty (Started on the left door aswell but the screw that holds the window is stuck so i will try that later)

Starting to get empty from cables

Second pallet of stuff not needed

 

Had a fight with the heater last night, it didn't come out the way i wanted


Now its just a matter of sorting the cables up front then of to bulid the cage


Removed the fuel cut off switch, no good for racing

 

Cool project.

Cant believe that mazda won the race.

 

Thanks first time iam building a car from scratch. I have only been mechanic for my friends before this

The mazda didnt won it just got back in the race its quite common that cars that roll or crasch always try to finish the race

 

Not much of an update today. Almost finished the cutting of the loom (forgot to take pictures)

Decided to take a rest from cutting wires and start to remove the soundisolation

 

Small update:
Not been working on the car, but managed to get my Krav Maga P3 grade yesterday Bit tired and my body hurts today but fun


Bought some parts to the car:
Main circuitbreaker and a hood latch kit. Also orderd a starter button but this has not arrived yet

 

Headlights and repeters are out and dry fitted the hood latch kit. Drilling hole in the hood tomorrow. Removed some of the AC pipes. Will get a belt for non AC engine so i can remove the compressor

 

ive built a few rollcages for dirt track racing (in holland called autocross), and i can get you a few tips. the tube from the a pillar to the b pillar, get one in the middle, but dont get it on the floor , just stop where the b pillar goes from left to right and weld it on that tube. if you are taller, weld a plate on top of the cage instead of a cross. get a cross welded behind your seat (dunno if you need to get your seat fixed to the rollcage, but whe had to, so, starting from the x between the b pillars is a very solid start. also, make sure you've got a pipe laying on the doorsill, just below where the x is drawn here, makes your cage a lot stronger. cross between the last legs wont help much, use a single tube on the last piece, and maybe to cheat the rules a bit, make the c pillar tubing end almost on top of your shocks, and you can fix your shocks to the rollcage. wheve don the same at the front, and the car went on and on and on and on, for 6 seasons iirc, while much of the other cars did one or maximum two seasons.

i like the idea of the races you have, overhere there are getting way to many rules (even sound regulations), so time for another class!

 

Thanks for the input!

I will have a look at this. Iam not building the cage by my self its a friend that has welded a lot of cages both for folkrace, rallycross and rally cars. I will also add reinforcment to the passenger side. Not required but idon't want that side to be unprotected. We have sound regulations as well. Max 100 dB

Pic from yesterday dry fitting the hood latch kit


And mounted :

 

yeah, being good protected was our number one concearn, nice to get racing on sundays, but monday is a working day!

our cage was inspired by this little one
but, whe didnt have the plates welded on, and whe used two pipes in the door instead of 3, but the outer pipes went all the way to the door skin, so you had a few extra inches for your arm. this picture is a nascar rollcage, a bit stronger than ours was, but you'll get the idea, see if you can hang your engine on the cage to, dont know if your allowed to, and if it's a contact class (not the shy oh boy i'm scared so i'll hit you softly contact, but full contact), but you might want to use solid steel motor and gearbox mounts also, you dont want to loose your engine after a rollover, if in full steel mounts, it's just start her up, and go again, see if you can get to the finish and score those few points you might need to hit the finals...

 

Thats a solid cage!
Engine should be in the original mounts. But soild mounts is a good idea. The cage must not go past the front wheels. There are restrictions on how its being built. The car should be as factory stock as possible. Its a budget class racing so the cost of each car should be keept at minimum

 

Engine start switch kit arrived today. It was a bargin 5,5 quid! Total spent on car at the moment: 24,38 quid. And that is hood latch kit, main circuitbreaker and engine start switch


Hood latch in place


Sound isolation on the right handside gone

 

11 kilos of soundisolation is now scraped of the car

 

Just be aware your 2 pin cut off switch doesnt have a alternator drain down or ignition cut off.

If you connect it to battery, your engine will run on when isolated, if you put the alternator lead on battery side of switch, you will likely blow up your alternator when you isolate it.

A lot dont realise that. I shocked my mate by cutting his isolator with the engine on and the look on his face when it stayed running was priceless.

 

This is the way iam thinking of connecting the cut off

 

Not much left of the harness now



All of the soundisolation gone


Some mixed parts taken out and off the car

 

Yesterday was a bad day

Cutted some pipes to the AC and the result of that was that all the oil from the compressor ended up on and around the engine but after a good wipe the engine is kind of clean. And i will remove the compressor anyway.

Next problem was that I cutted the wrong thottle cable. I was going to cut the one to the cruise control but not thinking enough and a bit stressed becourse i was running late for Krav Maga class i cutted the main throttle cable.
So i just closed the hood, got a machine and pulled it out of the workshop, now I will rest from this project a few days

 

Small update:

FIA approved seats


Its only allowed to have one seat in the car but i got a bargin at 150 quid for both. Was used in a rallycar that only ran 4 races.
I will probably make a stand so i can fit the extra seat in the passenger side in case iam using the car on track outside competition
The belt is just for testdrivning (not FIA approved) i will race with a 6 point belt

 

Got some time over on this

Test fitting one of the seats on the original seatrunners


Work started


And mounted in car and its rock solid (Harness still to be mounted)


Also got the thottle cable sorted with a temporary solution so its up and running again