WELD/SUTTON DIRT MISSILE build

[glassman]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

Thank you my friend Wes Rydell....

Super classy people. Glad your doing well, keep strong brother!! Hope to see you at the track soon, but def the GG road tour.....mike

[Ron Sutton]

Car Year & Model: 70 Ford Mustang Fastback
Competing in: Track Car & Occasional NASA TTU races
Front Clip/Suspension: GT Track-Warrior
Rear Clip/Suspension: GT Track-Warrior
Engine: Track-Warrior 3 LS7 700 HP
Trans: PPG Sequential Shift T56 6-Speed
Brakes: StopTech 14” ST60/ST40
Owner: Greg Weld
Builder: Randy Chastain – One Off Customs

I've been so busy with client projects I haven't posted photos for quite awhile. In that time a LOT of progress has taken place on Greg Weld's 70 Fastback Mustang Track-Warrior. Here are a LOT of photos.

Feel free to ask questions about any part of the build.

RR Air Jax shown. The 4 bosses welde to the main hoop are for the battery box. You can see the slotted lower 3-Link mounts. This lets us get the lower links perfectly level for zero rear steer. And we can adjust them up for positive rear steer (turn better on tight corners), or down for counter rear steer (more rear grip on fast sweeping corners).


Here you see the whole powertrain inside the tunnel, as well as the exhaust. All of the exhaust will be coated inside & out with Jet-Hot's 2000° thermal barrier coatings to contain the heat inside the exhaust, where it needs to be, while protecting the transmission & driver in the cockpit.


Our Slotted steering column mount lets us place the steering column in the best location. We use 3 u-joints in our columns. One at the rack, the second you see to the right of the mount & a third, just inside the firewall. This allows us to make the steering column "tilt" inside the cockpit to driver preference, without affecting the mounting location in the engine bay.







The RSRT tabs on the front of the monster 2.5" OD sway bar tube hold either 2" or 3" poly bushings for the radiator to sit in. The bracket with the 10 little holes will mount the front end "receiver" ... and can be adjusted up or down after install.


There are something like 72 lightweight Dzus fastener tabs on the bottom side of the chassis to mount the smooth belly pan & diffuser.


Just mocking up steel floor panels after the pedals are all in place.


Every shop needs a "Shop Dog". Layla is the most "chill" dog ever.


The aluminum panel INSIDE the cockpit is rubber mounted to insulate the ECU & other electronics from NVH. The two light tabs in the upper right mount the ARE dry sump breather. The 4 below ... two on the cross tube & two on the frame that are hard to see ... mount the ARE 2.7 gallon dry sump tank.


Passenger side cockpit


Pedals (Brake & Clutch are Wilwood) Throttle is a GM Corvette DBW


Battery Box installed. We use a zinc "removable" battery box because ...
1. Zinc will "resist" battery corrosion longer than paint or powder coat
2. Eventually, it will corrode & look like crap ... and a new one can be bolted in.


More to come.

[Ron Sutton]

Car Year & Model: 70 Ford Mustang Fastback
Competing in: Track Car & Occasional NASA TTU races
Front Clip/Suspension: GT Track-Warrior
Rear Clip/Suspension: GT Track-Warrior
Engine: Track-Warrior 3 LS7 700 HP
Trans: PPG Sequential Shift T56 6-Speed
Brakes: StopTech 14” ST60/ST40
Owner: Greg Weld
Builder: Randy Chastain – One Off Customs

Greg Weld came & sit in the car for a seat, belt, pedal, switches, fire handle, steering & shifter fitting.


The man, the myth, the legend that is Greg Weld. LOL
In all seriousness, it was great to see Greg. For those that don't know, he is battling cancer ... again ... in a different area.


Fitting went well. We work out seat position first ... relative to the pedals. Then we dialed in the steering wheel location ... switches, fire pull handle, shifter, etc.

The orange thingy in the upper left is the Air Jax "Wand". You push it into the fitting to lift the car. Then tap it & pull it out to lower the car. This particular system is my favorite, because it uses Big Bore jacks. That let's us utilize lower nitrogen pressures. 150 psi lifts a 2900# car. 200 psi lifts a 3850# car. 250 psi lifts a 4800# car.

In this photo, you can also see the fire suppression bottle & the FAST driver cooling system to provide cool water to the driver's cool suit & cool air to the driver's helmet. Anyone that has done this knows the cockpit can be 40° hotter than the air temperature on track days. Keeping the driver cool ... to be safe, drive better & have more fun ... costs about $1500.


Two things have saved more lives than ANY other safety device in the last 20 years ... HANS devices & full containment seats like you see here.

This one is a heavy duty ButlerBuilt road race seat spec'd by me, with head & shoulder supports (to prevent injury/death in side impacts) and set back headrest (to provide room for HANS). Best protection available for $899. See them HERE.


You can't see the 4 slotted brackets we use on the chassis to allow the seat to be moved fore or aft by loosening & re-tightening the bolts. This does require a new rear seat support to be made, as we don't slot those typically.

[Ron Sutton]

More build update photos ...

Feel free to ask questions about any part of the build.

NiCopp brake lines go through frame with special 2" long bulkheads.


You can see all the triangulation & braces in the engine bay. Most folks don't realize this is where the most force & flex happens. When this area is rigid ... the tires see the FULL load of the force & create optimum grip. Any deflection is this area REDUCES tire loading & grip.


Body bolted to the chassis just for mock up.


If you pay close attention to the body mods, you can see how aero smooth this body is & how clean the airflow is over the roof & too the massive rear wing we'll run.


Firewall mock up, before stepping the sheetmetal. Firewall, floor & rear bilkhead are are STEEL, for increased fire protection. We seal every seam with a special fire retardant 3M product.


Dash mock up. (It will be capped on the ends & mount to the final X door bars once they are installed).


Firewall sheet metal in place.


More firewall sheet metal.


Interior sheet metal showing the trans tunnel.
Notice the U-shaped tube that the steering column mount clamps to.
This clamp is easy to adjust to move the steering column/wheel up or down.


Rear bulkhead sheet metal & rear deck sheet metal being mocked up.


Different angle


Basic dash before Autometer digital dash & style added.


Better angle of rear deck sheet metal.
The three tabs on the right are for the seat & harness mounts

[Ron Sutton]

Car Year & Model: 70 Ford Mustang Fastback
Competing in: Track Car & Occasional NASA TTU races
Front Clip/Suspension: GT Track-Warrior
Rear Clip/Suspension: GT Track-Warrior
Engine: Track-Warrior 3 LS7 700 HP
Trans: PPG Sequential Shift T56 6-Speed
Brakes: StopTech 14” ST60/ST40
Owner: Greg Weld
Builder: Randy Chastain – One Off Customs

Even MORE photos of the build.

Custom Headers & Exhaust here ...
* The headers & compete exhaust will be coated by Jet-Hot with their 2000° thermal barrier INSIDE & out. This provides a double layer of thermal barrier to keep the exhaust heat in the exhaust, and much less heat radiating to the transmission & cockpit.
















The headers & exhaust are a truly "Tuned" System. I utilized an exhaust flow program that allows us to input every variable about the engine, cam, etc ... and know where the "pulses" are. This system allows me to design headers with the optimum primary tube length & diameter. In this case, these are 3-step headers. With the initial tube size 1-3/4", then steps up to 1-7/8" & finally steps up to 2" before merging into 3-1/2" collectors. The program provides me with the optimum length for each step.

In the exhaust after the collectors ... which is also 3-1/2" ... the software program allows me to put the X pipes, H-pipes, mufflers, venturi collectors and/or diffuser cones in the optimum locations. Frankly ifthese are put in the wrong location, based on where the exhaust pulses are, any of these can hurt power, instead of help it.
* I saw a car one time with the X-over pipe in the exact wrong location. When they removed it & just ran straight tube, they picked up 45HP. That's how much power can be lost if the pulses run into each other at the wrong location.

We use diffuser cones in the exhaust to help reduce the sound dramatically. Many tracks have db limits these days. If it placed at the right location, there is no power loss. Sometimes, even a slight power increase.

[jarhead]

Very cool

[ur-n-8]

Wow.. speechless.

[FETorino]

Originally Posted by Ron Sutton

Car Year & Model: 70 Ford Mustang Fastback
Competing in: Track Car & Occasional NASA TTU races
Front Clip/Suspension: GT Track-Warrior
Rear Clip/Suspension: GT Track-Warrior
Engine: Track-Warrior 3 LS7 700 HP
Trans: PPG Sequential Shift T56 6-Speed
Brakes: StopTech 14” ST60/ST40
Owner: Greg Weld
Builder: Randy Chastain – One Off Customs

Greg Weld came & sit in the car for a seat, belt, pedal, switches, fire handle, steering & shifter fitting.


The man, the myth, the legend that is Greg Weld. LOL
In all seriousness, it was great to see Greg. For those that don't know, he is battling cancer ... again ... in a different area.


Fitting went well. We work out seat position first ... relative to the pedals. Then we dialed in the steering wheel location ... switches, fire pull handle, shifter

This one is a heavy duty ButlerBuilt road race seat spec'd by me, with head & shoulder supports (to prevent injury/death in side impacts) and set back headrest (to provide room for HANS). Best protection available for $899. See them HERE.


You can't see the 4 slotted brackets we use on the chassis to allow the seat to be moved fore or aft by loosening & re-tightening the bolts. This does require a new rear seat support to be made, as we don't slot those typically.

I love the Butler seat I bought from Ron. It is the best piece of equipment in my car, hands down!

I am a little concerned about the fitment of the seat in this car. It looks like the seat should be narrower in the hips, wider in the shoulders and much farther back from the pedals.

[Ron Sutton]

Originally Posted by FETorino

I love the Butler seat I bought from Ron. It is the best piece of equipment in my car, hands down!

I am a little concerned about the fitment of the seat in this car. It looks like the seat should be narrower in the hips, wider in the shoulders and much farther back from the pedals.

You are so funny.

[Build-It-Break-it]

Hey Ron, It looks like the rear lower control arm mounts are slotted? How does that set up work and what purpose does the adjustability serve? Excuse my ignorance......