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Here's the engine with the engine harness being routed. The custom lightweight Turbosmart FPR-1200 fuel pressure regulator is mounted directly to the engine and is plumbed using XRP HS-79 smooth bore PTFE hose. The blue anodized fuel rails are Cosworth VQ35DE rails. I figured if Cosworth used HS-79 hose on their NASCAR engines it would be plenty good for the ARK GT-R. Most of the plumbing on this car is XRP HS-79 and there's a sprinkle of Vibrant AN caps/plugs for storage, some Fragola brake adapters, and a few Earl's AN adapters. Another reason I chose the HS-79 hose is because it can be run in ultra tight radii due to being convoluted on the outside of the teflon. Crimping and pressure testing the hoses on site gives you extra peace of mind.
Borrowing the XRP crimper and pressure tester from Cosworth greatly sped up the plumbing process. Pressure testing each hose after assembly of course prevents any extensive repair and clean up jobs.
I sent an email to Marty at Turbosmart USA asking him if they had any lighter fuel pressure regulators expecting a response like, “Are you high? How light do you want it?!?” Instead, Marty gave Stewart a call at Turbosmart Australia and that phone call yeilded a custom FPR-1200 for Team America! Stewart whipped up this modified FPR-1200 and had it on the way to the me in about 48 hours!
The off the shelf FPR-1200 on the right weighs 298g and the custom scalloped FPR-1200 weighs in at only 221g for a reduction of almost 26%. The off the shelf FPR-1200s are extra beefy because a lot of guys run them at 150+ psi of fuel pressure. I bet to keep the part competitive, the reduction in machining time also helps to keeps costs under control. Weight reduction is weight reduction. I'll take it any way I can get it. Let Turbosmart know if you want one. Perhaps they will offer it as a separate part number with enough requests.
It was an hour before the car had to be rolled into the container and I just got back to the shop with donuts and coffee if I remember correctly. I though I saw Gary trying to pole vault, but really it was sleep deprivation and he was making solid front “shocks” so that the car could roll. I think Min was helping him to do the other side. After cramming down a maple bar donut and downing half my coffee, I continued packing up supplies and my Snap-On toolbox which was to become the Team America toolbox at WTAC.
