team illuminata

Almost a month since the last update. Boy does time fly when your'e having fun. In this case the fun was a visit to the BRAID factory in Barcelona including a few laps around the F1 track there in BRAID's Ligier LMP3 car.

Album here if you're interested. https://flic.kr/s/aHskQ93ZSB

<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/team_illuminata/albums/72157677496999435" title="BRAID 40th Anniversary"><img src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/6/5562/30653064483_ce05a41abf_z.jpg" width="480" height="640" alt="BRAID 40th Anniversary"></a>


We also went to Germany and visited the Porsche museum in Stuttgart. https://flic.kr/s/aHskQ2wchj

<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/team_illuminata/albums/72157677423090366" title="Porsche Museum 2016"><img src="https://c6.staticflickr.com/6/5819/31473929645_c820939193_z.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="Porsche Museum 2016"></a>


So you see, we have a couple of good excuses. We have been busy on the quattro though. In fact we managed to get it onto the trailer and drag it up to Thompson Racing Fabrication to get caged, restored and painted! It took a bit of engineering to get it off the lift but we managed alright. One more pair of hands and we could have just lifted it but this method worked quite well too.


<iframe width="784" height="441" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wk1IgaIdSeA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>



image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Looks good on the trailer

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

It's going to be in good company up here.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


New temporary home

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


So maybe it will be caged early January then Cherry Classic Cars can work their magic fixing the rust and preping it for paint. There are many other fabrication tasks to take care of, some of which require body panels etc. but we are not ready for those yet so the shell may be up north for some time. Still, there's plenty to do back at the shop, like sorting out all the parts we took off and deciding what to keep and what to sell. Stay tuned.



transformation by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

team illuminata

Thompson Racing Frabrication have begun work on or quattro shell. They began by removing and patching the old cage then removing all the sound deadening and various bits and bobs that we (hope) we don't need.

image1trf by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


US telescoping bumper mounts; GONE

image3trf by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Seat mounts; GONE

image4trf by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Rear parcel shelf and firewall; GONE

image5trf by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Main cage hoop is now in and it's nice and tight to the roof!

15590470_10157855547640858_4907235395387032308_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

15665619_10157855550575858_7266763248904887653_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr



They also received the dash kit frm Bufkin Engineering.

IMG_6121 by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Which they couldn't resist playing with.

IMG_6119 by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

Happy Holidays!!!



transformation

team illuminata

More cage photos from Thompson Racing Fabrication.

15697526_10157879979145858_3299758409184512101_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

15726813_10157879979115858_3972699987043245004_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

15697308_10157879978990858_7616371704754221065_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

15665389_10157879978975858_3705828719246349184_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

15622290_10157879978710858_6228798589995069905_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

15622081_10157879978770858_5657510185316430138_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

15672831_10157879978535858_7191633439301101392_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

15621658_10157879978500858_5864114060040511527_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

team illuminata

While Ryan at Thompson Racing Fabrication was busy putting the finishing touches to our cage we were engaged in the less glamorous, but never the less critical task of sorting through all the parts we took off the car. i.e. everything. It doesn't make riveting viewing but here is what we faced:

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


and here's what's left to deal with:

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


and here's where it all went:

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


By the way there is an identical shelf behind the camera and a complete interior in the parts trailer. (more on that later)

Our filing philosophy was to retrieve everything we need or might need for the build and then decide what to do with the rest. This all went into one of two piles: if it might serve as a spare part for our 85 quattro it went in the KEEP pile. If not it went in the SELL pile. There is a lot in the KEEP pile; probably way too much but how do you know what you won't need one day? More importantly, how do you know what you have? Well, being super-nerds we created a spreadsheet with all the KEEP and SELL parts listed along with their part numbers and a photograph. I think we are still going to have too much stuff!

Meanwhile, at TRF, Automotive Journalist Tara Turbo-Hurlin was busy documenting Ryan's handy work for a soon to be published article. Check out her photos:

15724600_1619043068404863_4909803094314230541_o by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

15697475_1619042915071545_2285291684832066773_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

15726974_1619043941738109_6874472111315882210_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr



Stay tuned for more spreadsheet action!

transformation by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

team illuminata

Progress both up and down the state of Michigan this week.

We and the Quattro Squad "filed" the last of the pile of parts "we" took off the car.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Then proceeded to fill the floor with all the parts the previous owner took off the car that have been resting in the parts trailer for 13 years. Some good stuff in here: two sets of wheel, full interior, all the glass. Some of this we need, some will make good spares for our 85 and some we can get rid of.

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


Meanwhile, up north at Thompson Racing Fabrication they wer keeping warm by welding on our cage and installing the new aluminium (it's German) rear bulkhead.

16114245_1627110210931482_1826577289610259263_nTar a Turbo-Hurlin by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

16114330_1627110577598112_8144196697396533355_nTar a Turbo-Hurlin by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

16142755_1627110580931445_3339272179656459664_nTar a Turbo-Hurlin by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

15977071_1627110367598133_5874796021293810145_nTar a Turbo-Hurlin by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

image by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


You can see all their handy work here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/team_i...h/32357568746/

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/team_illuminata/albums/72157661951402543" title="83URQ"><img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8016/29640685286_3d8cfeb74c.jpg" width="500" height="279" alt="83URQ"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Now the shell rests while we order body panels but work will soon commence on refurbishing all the other parts necessary to reassamble the car as a Grop B monster. Subscribed and stay tuned.

transformation by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

team illuminata

With the cage complete the shell is now in storage up north awaiting the wide body kit so we thought "what should we do next?" We'll, we ordered a carbon/kevlar wide body kit of course: Should arrive from Europe in 6-8 weeks.

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/team_illuminata/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/team_illuminata/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/team_illuminata/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/team_illuminata/, on Flickr


Of course we do have lots of parts to refurbish so we started to look at those and figure out how to go about things. First we pulled out our collection of Hella 2000 lights.

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/team_illuminata/, on Flickr


we have about 10 lights in various conditions, beams finishes and levels of completeness and we need 6 pristine black ones, preferabley two spots, two driving and two fogs. Then we'll need some brackets to mount them. Like these ideally:

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/team_illuminata/, on Flickr

We also pulled out the brake parts we got with the project: Refurbished G60 twin piston calipers. ATE brake discs and refurbished stock rear calipers. We also got new rear rubber lines and front stainless lines. We still need to source front caliper brackets and probably some better pads. There's also a theory that our brake discs might be a little big for the G60 calipers. Once we figure it all out we'll send them off for plating or powder coating.

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/team_illuminata/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/team_illuminata/, on Flickr



Still trying to inventory all the left over parts for USE, SELL or SAPRES:

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/team_illuminata/, on Flickr



Stay tuned

team illuminata

The 83 quattro squad rally build keeps inching forward. A few days ago we received these beautiful G60 brake caliper brackets from a very generous chap on the Motorgeek forum. Thanks Dave, they will be put to good use.



We offered them up to our struts and calipers and they fit perfectly.






Only question now is how to finish these and the calipers for best effect. Options are:

1. Red powder coat
2. Black powder coat
3. Yellow dichromate like OE (gold)

Feel free to weigh in.



Here's an interesting aspect to the project. We found this 1:18 die-cast model on eBay. Quite cheap; probably because it is quite plain.



We thought it would be a good idea to refinish it in the same livery we are planning to finish the car in. That is, our version of Rothmans with BRAID and TIM logos.




So first we had to strip it:




We are not sure how to proceed from here however. Damn, another bloody Quattro project! Stay tuned.

team illuminata

The 83 quattro squad rally build keeps inching forward. A few days ago we received these beautiful G60 brake caliper brackets from a very generous chap on the Motorgeek forum. Thanks Dave, they will be put to good use.

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/team_illuminata/, on Flickr


We offered them up to our struts and calipers and they fit perfectly.

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/team_illuminata/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/team_illuminata/, on Flickr


Only question now is how to finish these and the calipers for best effect. Options are:

1. Red powder coat
2. Black powder coat
3. Yellow dichromate like OE (gold)

Feel free to weigh in.



Here's an interesting aspect to the project. We found this 1:18 die-cast model on eBay. Quite cheap; probably because it is quite plain.

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/team_illuminata/, on Flickr


We thought it would be a good idea to refinish it in the same livery we are planning to finish the car in. That is, our version of Rothmans with BRAID and TIM logos.




So first we had to strip it:

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/team_illuminata/, on Flickr


We are not sure how to proceed from here however. Damn, another bloody Quattro project! Stay tuned.

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/team_illuminata/, on Flickr

team illuminata

With the caliper brackets fitting well we took the opportunity to muck up a front strut before sending the calipers off to be refinished. We are still not sure what color to refinish them. Options include black or red powder coating or gold zinc dichromate like they were from the factory.





We started in on the model's livery. Tried some blue vinyl but we are not sure it is really suited to cars this small as it won't mold into the crevices well.




We did one side with the factory droop to the front bumper, which we have never liked, and the other with a full straight line to the back of the headlight. Which do you prefer?




We then added some BRAID decals




Our BRAID wheels came in from Europe. We love 'em.






They are three piece with hidden screws and reminiscent of the factory Speedlines. Specs are 16x9, et12. We could resist throwing one on our 85 but, of course, they are way too wide for this car.




As part of our quest to prep as many parts that are going to need refinishing as possible we pressed out the bushings from the lower control arms.




and disassembled some Hella 2000 lights as we have some chrome ones that need to be black.




This is the pile so far. The parts in front still need disassembling.






Quattro Squad

team illuminata

Scattered progress since our last update but progress non-the-less.

We started to attack the drive shaft last week. The CV joints seem a bit stiff so we are going to clean them out and see if we can save them. If not we think we can replace them. The universal joint in the center seems fine but we might have to destroy it removing the center support bearing which is also fine but whose rubber bushing is decidedly squishy.







We also started refurbishing the fuel tanks. Initial inspection revealed only surface rust so we cleaned it out with some dish washer detergent.







We had a visit from the guys who run DIYAUTO.com https://www.diyauto.com/ last week, Nick and Steve Balistreri. DIYAUTO.com’s goal is to collate all the cool information in the various forum build threads on the web so the information is easy to search and the knowledge is not lost to us auto enthusiasts. We are proud they have both our quattro builds and our 911 build on their site.





We continued to dismantle parts that are being sent out for refinishing. This week it was the turn of the suspension components. These did not want to come apart and the students learnt a great deal about persistence and the use of heat wrenches.






We’re not even sure we can get replacement ball joints and bushings for this stuff and may have to fabricate our own.



We optimistically mocked up the rear calipers again to see if we can make them work. Both the handbrake cable and the brake fluid line want to go through the rear axles but as we intend using a hydraulic handbrake we wanted to see if we could make a banjo fitting attach. Think not:





Next update we hope to share some news about the shell. Stay tuned.