G5.R

[Moreno1]

Originally Posted by LC

Cant you take a laptop to the bathroom?

Originally Posted by Doc

Those bumpers are really interesting looking! What do they weigh compared to the stock bumper?

Doc, I'm not sure what the net weight is but l"ll let you know. The work HM Racing Design does is incredible. They specialize in $500,000 Trophy Trucks. I'm looking forward to going with them to the sand duns and shake down a new truck they just completed.

Here is a better pic of the front bar. I can't say for sure but the guys at the shop think this bar will offer more stiffness than the factory setup. It definitely increases air flow.




Not for nothing but these are the nicest bars I've seen fabricated. Note how the ends were welded closed. This eliminated any moisture from getting in a perhaps dealing with rust in the future.









If you like, I can ask them to make a gig off ours and make them available for the guys here.




.

[CHMSC]

I would be interested if they were not ridiculously expensive. They look great! Glad to see it on wheels compared to the other weekend when I stopped by.

[572HP]

Looking good Moreno Bros. Racing! I like the bumpers...but doesn't the front stock bumper provide the majority of the rigidity to the front facia?

[Synner]

Tow hook plan?

[Moreno1]

Originally Posted by 572HP

Looking good Moreno Bros. Racing! I like the bumpers...but doesn't the front stock bumper provide the majority of the rigidity to the front facia?

Yes, the stock bumper does add a lot of rigidity to the car, though this one should add much more. The stock one is made from sheet metal and is not the stiffest piece. It is designed to absorb impact in the event of a collision. Our bumper was made from 1.75 OD chromoly. The same tube we used to make the roll bar. It is MUCH more rigid than the stock bumper and should add to the rigidity of the front.

edit: just reread your question and realized that i misread it originally. Your right the crash bar does support the front bumper. Other guys have used similar bars to ours before and it seemed to work OK. If we find the bumpers doesn't have adequate support, we can always add "bumperets" for a lack of better words to ours.

We will be welding a radiator support to it so that the radiator looks like its just floating. The engine, trans and perhaps the PS cooler will probably get mounted to it also. So it will be mufti-functional.

Originally Posted by Synner

Tow hook plan?

Yes. havent given that too much thought yet, but will probably be mounted on the crash support

[Synner]

2 gussets with 1 side flat and the other drilled out to 1.75 so it fits the bar perfect would be just right to weld an L bracket onto and provide enough surface area the welds will never break.

Not planning it all out first will result in more of Nathans bright ideas and redoing everything a 247th time. Although I know he likes that as he's obviously a masochist.

[Moreno1]

Originally Posted by Synner

2 gussets with 1 side flat and the other drilled out to 1.75 so it fits the bar perfect would be just right to weld an L bracket onto and provide enough surface area the welds will never break.

Not planning it all out first will result in more of Nathans bright ideas and redoing everything a 247th time. Although I know he likes that as he's obviously a masochist.

LOL synner, you know me too well

UPDATE:

Guys, with the help of our friends at HM racing Design, we have been cruising these past few days! It's hard to believe, but the majority of the FAB work on this car is DONE! we are starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel to get this car put together.

Monday afternoon, we moved the car from HM to Explicit to have Aaron do some patchwork on the exterior and in the engine bay. Normally, this is something we would have done ourselves, but we have both been really busy with summer finals that we just decided to have it done for us.



Here are some pictures of the finished radiator mount. notice the gusset in between the arms with the dimple.





from the inside of the engine bay, the radiator mount will not be seen, giving the radiator a floating look.

We also added a dimpled gusset in the back of the roll bar. Note how the down bar fall above the sold bushing mounting point. We added the additional bar (crating the upside-down Y shape) to fall right above the strut. I have to give credit to Kevin "Owner" of HM as I was going to have the bar go to the back tail pan area but that wouldn't have tied anything in. I guess his advice comes from building Trophy truck were there's a reason they do things as they do. You can just see how the roll bar just stiffens that whole area up. We couldn't be happier with the results!



and welded in front plates for later on when we make convert the 4 pt to a 8 pt cage.


Not really "suspension related", but here is some progress closing up the gas filler.




and one more extra pic of what came in

[IOM Black Diamond]

Wow that looks great

[Drew10]

I love following Moreno Racing's work!

[dekan513]

so much info in his threads, info overload. reminder to come back and try to process. i have so much to do lol.

[Mgizzle]

Nathan, whats the target weight wise? Are you or somebody calculating, simulating on the side as far as what spring rates etc. you are going after or you just bolting up stuff and tunning afterwards?

[PfadtRacing]

Man this car never ceases to amaze! I love to see what people are able to do with our suspension and their cars with a little creativity. Great work! Can't wait to see the car in action,

[Moreno1]

Originally Posted by IOM Black Diamond

Wow that looks great

Originally Posted by dekan513

so much info in his threads, info overload. reminder to come back and try to process. i have so much to do lol.

Originally Posted by Drew10

I love following Moreno Racing's work!

Originally Posted by PfadtRacing

Man this car never ceases to amaze! I love to see what people are able to do with our suspension and their cars with a little creativity. Great work! Can't wait to see the car in action,

Thanks guys for the props! We are pushing..... not a lot of time to be posting.

Originally Posted by Mgizzle

Nathan, whats the target weight wise? Are you or somebody calculating, simulating on the side as far as what spring rates etc. you are going after or you just bolting up stuff and tunning afterwards?

Unfortunately we haven't been logging everything. We would like to hit 3400 lbs, but its hard to say with all the grinding, fabricating, etc that has been done. We gained some weight back with the cage.


Update:

Over the past several days i have been working on a close out panel for the trunk to separate it from the interior since we lost the rear seats. This stuff hasen taken time. lots of it. It is one of those things that though it may look pretty simple, not many people realize how much time and effort is put into it. Here are some pics.

The template was the first step. Hours of fitting, checking, trimming, trashing, cutting, checking, trimming, you get the idea... the driver and passenger sides were not identical as well so had to do a separate template for each side.



Hand cut the panels from the template



Made two bends to comply with the frame it will sit against in the trunk.



More hours of test fitting, trimming, testing again, etc.. (pic below is unfinished)



Cut into the panel to make it a "trim". This trim will frame a solid sheet of carbon fiber. still need to drill holes for small bolts.

[vroomapunk]

Originally Posted by Justin Moreno

Thanks guys for the props! We are pushing..... not a lot of time to be posting.



Unfortunately we haven't been logging everything. We would like to hit 3400 lbs, but its hard to say with all the grinding, fabricating, etc that has been done. We gained some weight back with the cage.


Update:

Over the past several days i have been working on a close out panel for the trunk to separate it from the interior since we lost the rear seats. This stuff hasen taken time. lots of it. It is one of those things that though it may look pretty simple, not many people realize how much time and effort is put into it. Here are some pics.

The template was the first step. Hours of fitting, checking, trimming, trashing, cutting, checking, trimming, you get the idea... the driver and passenger sides were not identical as well so had to do a separate template for each side.

Attachment 546141

Hand cut the panels from the template

Attachment 546142

Made two bends to comply with the frame it will sit against in the trunk.

Attachment 546143

More hours of test fitting, trimming, testing again, etc.. (pic below is unfinished)

Attachment 546144

Cut into the panel to make it a "trim". This trim will frame a solid sheet of carbon fiber. still need to drill holes for small bolts.

Attachment 546145

Attachment 546146

Nice! Def looks like a headache.