Hi all my name is Steve Fralin My first build was a soapbox racer for speedway motors when I was 12 year old (now58) I all ways been into cars and machines, built cars for years, did the R/C air plane&car thing with my son. I build automation now, I'm a fab guy "don't have the part make it" been doing that all my life don't know if I will fit in here ? also new to the forum thing on posting pic
thanks for all the kind words I'm a builder not a driver here's the first racecar I worked on with don Kehr at that time I was 18 -20 had my own shop I did a lot of work in Sportscars here are some pic if some cars that I have been involed with in the 70s
some before and after of my hot rod In 1972 I aquired a 1969 MG. I drove it throughout high school doing many modifications to the motor. In 1974 I began having brakage problems leading to more modifications which eventually killed the car. I parked the car in the parents garage (in pieces of course) until 1990. I was too busy on the racing circuit to do anything with the car at the time. By 1990 my parents were tired of carsitting so I was instructed to move it or lose it. I decided that this would be a good project for me and my then 12 year old son. I could pass some of my knowledge on and teach him about mechanics for when he had his own car. He wasn’t always happy with it as much of the work is tedious and time consuming. But he now appreciates the things he learned and is now working in racing also. We moved the pieces to a friends’ shop where the real adventure began. We stripped the frame down to NOTHING and installed a tube frame with a roll-cage. We then used a motor from an RX4 Mazda to see how the engine would fit. Everything was looking pretty good. So I ventured into the arena of suspension. I prototyped all the links with tube steel so I could see all the geometry and make adjustments as needed. After this was done I took the dimensions and made all the arms and links out of billet aluminum. As for swivel axels I removed them from the RX4 McPherson strut then pressed and welded a bush steel tube into the swivel axel for my kingpin to go through (kingpins stainless steel custom machine made piece). The upper links to the suspension are attached to the tube frame and the lower link is attached to lower pick-up points of the MG unibody. The rear four link, shocks and panrod attach to the tube frame in the rear. Now the cars rolling so time for the body (yeah baby!). Its about 1992 now (these things take time). We started with the front end by covering everything with plastic and cardboard to protect the car. Then I took 22 gallons of open cell polyurethane foam (this is an expanding agent such as is used with insulation) and made a solid block to carve the molds out of. The open cell foam is very pliable and manageable for forming (sands very easily also) but does have an offensive odor and tends to get everywhere. Imagine my mess!! But it did serve the purpose well. Now that I have the front end encased in a block of foam, I begin sculpting my vision of the front end. More mess! This took us roughly 3 months to complete. My son hated this as you can imagine. Now we start with the fiberglass (More mess!!!More Smell!!!). For 9 months sand, fill, sand, fill, sand, fill; you get the picture. I thought it would go on forever. You probably have a good idea of my sons reaction to this tedious task, now multiply by 10. Finally, ready for gel coat. Worse smell,Worse mess! I cut out the headlight openings and used them to make the molds so I could vacuum form the headlight lenses. This was quite the feat in and of itself. I first tried plexiglass; no optical clarity and looked like crap and blew up one of the molds in the vacuum press. I went home and fixed the molds and started researching for the perfect plastic to make them out of. I ended up with a cast acrylic sheet; this was the ticket. But, I could only get it in a 4x8 sheet of material for $300 (OUCH). So, cash upfront, special order and $300 later I have the material for the headlights. I now took my $150 a piece headlight lenses home and molded them into the front end. My son and I had to build the frame work for the tilt forward front end. We also made the side pods at this time. We then moved to the rear end. Starting with the rear flares we made the molds from posterboard and masking tape. We laid a large amount of wax before starting with the fiberglass. Laid up two layers of fiberglass and then removed the flares from the car and removed posterboard and tape. Now we reattach the flares with a bonding agent and back to sand, fill, sand, fill, my son is overjoyed at this point with the whole project. During all of the time the body and chassis took us, we were ordering and researching the parts and pieces we would need to finish the project.
what's inside of my car Transmisson: Mazda RX7 5-speed ENGINE: 13-B 6port Mazda Rotary (built by Cam at Pettit racing) Modifications: Ported, lighter rotars, balanced, electronic ignition, custom made headers and stainless steel mufflers. INDUCTION: a Weber 48 IDF FRONT SUSPENSION: Double wishbone with coilovers (Carrera shocks): all pieces were hand-made out of aluminum and stainless steel, down to the kingpins. All the link attachments are with Himes . There are no rubber components in the suspension. The car has been bumped-steered and suspension geometery has 0% acumen. The suspension is fully adjustable caster, camber, and bumped-steer for whatever ride height I want. REAR SUSPENSION: The car has a Mazda Truck rear end with a four-link and a panrod. BODY: Hand-formed fiberglass front end with molded acrylic headlight lenses. Side pods are removable for storage The rear has fiberglass flares. The doors have been shaved of handles, locks and windows. and the reverse lights and bumpers have been shaved. CHASSIS: Existing MG unibody with a tube frame with roll-cage. Wiring: All hand made wiring looms with Sermo connectors and a Painless wiring fuse-box. DRIVE SHAFT: Custom made. BRAKES: all Mazda RX7. All stainless steel brakelines. Tilton pedal assembly with dual master cylinder for brakes and fully adjustable biase. WEIGHT: 1980 Wet. BALANCE per scales: 48% in the front and 52% in the rear. MISC. EXTRAS: Blaupunk CD player with Alpine power amp and Sherwin-vega speakers (400 watts, it rocks). Undercarraige neon lighting. Hand-made aluminum dash with full instrumentation (oil temp & pressure, water temp., etc.). Dual cooling fans for Nascar radiator. Red Mahagony door caps and steering wheel. Oscillating air trumpet horns. Halogen H-4 headlights and photo beam driving lights. The seats are completely custom hand-made could not find seats to fit car after installing roll-cage.
The Jalopy Journal
