Taylor Rotorsports . Projects

06/06 Update: The car performed well at it's first outing with the redone interior, and though I have no hard evidence I suspect the interior is significantly cooler on track. There is a definite perceived difference, and also apparently a performance advantage as it propelled the car to its second podium in a row (2nd of 6). We are hoping to attend a track day in the near future to finish "sorting" this car and nail down a "perfect" setup. Stay tuned!

This project has been ongoing for quite some time, as Almond Krylon just looks like hell no matter how you slice it. Especially since the outside isn't Beige/Almond/Turdmuckle-dee-dun. Antonio found out about this ceramic stuff that works wonders at cooling temperatures when put on house exteriors and supposedly does the same on racecars, so I stole some of it to do my car, too. The color I decided on was Rustoleum Gloss Smoke Gray, while Antonio bought a quart each of Flat White and Flat Black to some up with the same color minus the gloss. The ceramic turns pretty much any color flat/chalky, so it doesn't really matter which you go with, but the gloss tends to show streaks if the ceramic isn't mixed well. I only used a quart plus a smidge that Antonio had left over, along with a can of the same color in spray version. The ceramic stuff is better suited for the floor, and the can for crevices, touch-up, and the sides/roof of the interior.

At any rate, I decided to tear apart the entire interior of my car, cage and dash included, to shed a few pounds and really make the thing look nice. I also cut out the 1x1 box the seat sat on, to lower it and shed a little weight. The thing already has some steel welded in under the bolts for the seat, so that made things easier, as well. Taking the cage out was a little difficult (considering it's a spec bolt-in) for reasons that will not be stated here, but once it was done interior paint got fully underway. Before the MSR-Houston race (which I handily won) I shed some weight in wiring and miscellaneous items from the back half of the car, so I did the same on the front and under the dash. All told, post-win, I took out around 10 pounds. Which is pretty impressive, since the car already had a fair amount of wiring stripped out of it judging by the cut off ends littered around under there. I also shortened some wires for the fuel pump and switch, along with some other miscellaneous wires, in addition to making some aluminum covers for some massive holes in the dash (complete with grommets for the wires that passed through these gargantuan holes).

Finally, the pictures:


A "before" picture. Some stuff has already been taken out, and you can spot one of my Cheating Bastard Tactics from MSR-H taped to the steering wheel. ;)	Front part of firewall done with some of Antonio's leftover.	Dash back in, test fitting the seat/spacer.

The finished interior.	The Spacer (before trimming). Those lightening holes may not do much, but they sure do look cool.	Main tube structure in. That puppy is RED.

Almost done!	Only missing door bars!	Probably not the most effective right-side net, but better than nothing.