Team America World Time Attack – ARK Design's BNR32 Skyline GT-R Part 3
Supposed to be by Eric Hsu, Really by Mike Kojima
In our last segment we had a look at the entirely new front suspension of the Team America/ARK Design's BNR32 Skyline GT-R. With a tight deadline, Eric can not get around to writing these updates so I am doing them for him. The car is scheduled to be loaded in a container to Australia by early June and the clock is ticking. I don't know how we are going to make it but everyone on the team is cranking in all of their free time.
The VQ35HR engine is nearing completion at Cosworth USA and the Holinger transmission has just arrived. Gary Castillo is hard at work at Designcraft fabrication and everyone is pitching in with something.
In this week's segment, the crew is working to complete the chassis fabrication in anticipation of the engine and drivetrain real soon.
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| This is the fabricated tubular crossmember that saves probably 50 lbs over the stock stamped steel part. It also supports the pick up points of the lower control arms. The finish is Eric coating which is really Rustoleum industrial grey baked in an oven for hardness. This actually approaches the toughness of powdercoat for a fraction of the cost. We use this stuff a lot on racecars at MotoIQ. |
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| The upper and lower control arms, the crossmemeber and forward cross brace that you saw coming together in part 2 are all finished in Eric coat and ready for the final installation. Good geometry, stronger and lighter than stock. |
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| We modified the upper control arm inner pivot points to have additional adjustment and to be in double shear by capping off the ends of the tunnel in the frame rails that you saw in part 2. |
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| Gary Castillo is now focusing his attention on prepping the rest of the chassis. Previously the car had a very simple cage that was designed to integrate with the car's stock interior and to keep the car streetable. Now that the car's street days are done, we had to redo the cage with emphasis on lightness, chassis stiffness and safety. The cage was extended through the firewall and the shock towers to meet the frame rails. Meanwhile other triangulation points go from the cage through the firewall to the shock towers. The whole structure is designed to be light, but still be crushable in a hard front end impact for driver safety. |
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| These braces triangulate from the dash bar and forward legs of the car to stiffen the shock tower area. |
