Honda Civic EP3 Race Car Strip & Rebuild
Discussion
In addition to the thread that is running on the preparation of the BMW120d for the Barcelona 24hr race, I am helping in the full strip and rebuild of the Honda Civic EP3 that I help run in the UAE Touring Car Championship.
The car originally was built for endurance racing in the UK (the black, silver and orange Honda that passes the Top Gear BMW about 19 minutes into their BritCar Special programme), so there are a few switches, connections, brackets and wires relating to additional lights and fans etc that were not needed.
Picture of the car on the track:
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Last season we finished 2nd in the championship, winning 3 races during the season. After two seasons competing in the UAE Touring Car Championship, we decided the race car was due for a complete strip down, sand blast of the chassis (to remove 3 layers of paint) and re-build. The plan is to remove anything that isn’t needed to reduce the weight further. The gearbox and differential were sent back to the UK last year for a rebuild so these will just be inspected.
The owner and driver of the car is a bit of a tall chap, as a result the roll cage diagonal roof bar runs very close to the drivers head. So after discussion with the chief scrutineer at the Autodrome, it was agreed that we could / would alter the aforementioned part of the roll cage. This will mean that driver can sit more comfortably in the car but equally important that the integrity of the cage is not affected.
Offending roll cage bar can be seen above the drivers head:
Our touring car series runs from October to April so we have 4½ for stripping, cleaning, replacing any damaged parts and rebuilding the car right? Well the plan is to have the car out for at least one track day before the season…..
In order that we know where the nuts, bolts, spacer and washers came off (and not be left with a few “bits” left over at the end), one component at a time would be removed, cleaned and placed in a labeled zip-lock bag. Brackets etc would all be labeled with tags so that we now where they came from. A whiteboard has been hung on the garage wall so that notes could be easily scribbled. These notes could something that needs to be ordered, the dimensions of a part, the order something goes in or the shopping list! Photographs would also be taken as an “aide memoire”.
So what have we done so far? Well the engine and gear box was removed at a2b Motorsport (the team help run the car and are preparing the BMW 120d which is running in another thread). The rolling chassis was then transported back to drivers residence for the rest of the strip.
So far we have removed the fuel cell, wiring loom, sub-frames, windows, windscreen, bonnet and boot have been removed.
Front and rear picture of the car mid strip:
Inside of the car:
The next step is to remove the lights, steering rack, dashboard and the air jacks and then get the car off to be sand blasted.
We might look at aerodynamic options, wheel spacing and other bits and pieces which make the car faster. Of course we will keep an eye out for the new sporting and technical regulations, the main ones being minimum weight and wheel horsepower (proposed to be 200 whp).
The car originally was built for endurance racing in the UK (the black, silver and orange Honda that passes the Top Gear BMW about 19 minutes into their BritCar Special programme), so there are a few switches, connections, brackets and wires relating to additional lights and fans etc that were not needed.
Picture of the car on the track:
[url][img]Last season we finished 2nd in the championship, winning 3 races during the season. After two seasons competing in the UAE Touring Car Championship, we decided the race car was due for a complete strip down, sand blast of the chassis (to remove 3 layers of paint) and re-build. The plan is to remove anything that isn’t needed to reduce the weight further. The gearbox and differential were sent back to the UK last year for a rebuild so these will just be inspected.
The owner and driver of the car is a bit of a tall chap, as a result the roll cage diagonal roof bar runs very close to the drivers head. So after discussion with the chief scrutineer at the Autodrome, it was agreed that we could / would alter the aforementioned part of the roll cage. This will mean that driver can sit more comfortably in the car but equally important that the integrity of the cage is not affected.
Offending roll cage bar can be seen above the drivers head:
Our touring car series runs from October to April so we have 4½ for stripping, cleaning, replacing any damaged parts and rebuilding the car right? Well the plan is to have the car out for at least one track day before the season…..
In order that we know where the nuts, bolts, spacer and washers came off (and not be left with a few “bits” left over at the end), one component at a time would be removed, cleaned and placed in a labeled zip-lock bag. Brackets etc would all be labeled with tags so that we now where they came from. A whiteboard has been hung on the garage wall so that notes could be easily scribbled. These notes could something that needs to be ordered, the dimensions of a part, the order something goes in or the shopping list! Photographs would also be taken as an “aide memoire”.
So what have we done so far? Well the engine and gear box was removed at a2b Motorsport (the team help run the car and are preparing the BMW 120d which is running in another thread). The rolling chassis was then transported back to drivers residence for the rest of the strip.
So far we have removed the fuel cell, wiring loom, sub-frames, windows, windscreen, bonnet and boot have been removed.
Front and rear picture of the car mid strip:
Inside of the car:
The next step is to remove the lights, steering rack, dashboard and the air jacks and then get the car off to be sand blasted.
We might look at aerodynamic options, wheel spacing and other bits and pieces which make the car faster. Of course we will keep an eye out for the new sporting and technical regulations, the main ones being minimum weight and wheel horsepower (proposed to be 200 whp).
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