Lola-Porsche Update - 9 March

The Jabrock underfloor has been put in place. Jabrock is a type of rare hardwood that is exceptionally hard and resistant to wear, and is often used on the bottoms of cars (sometimes known as "skid blocks") where they may come in contact with the road surface. The wood wears away (though slowly), sacrificing wood rather than the carbon or metal structures of the underside of the car. Front splitters often have blocks of Jabrock inset where they are most likely to contact the road under cornering, etc. Our little Lola's entire underfloor is made of Jabrock, both for wear resistance and to save cost. They come this way from the factory.

In the photo at the top you may have noticed that the oil tank isn't in place. That's because we've decided to enlarge its capacity substantially. Here you see the fabrication process nearly complete. The bottom of the existing tank was cut away, making one large bay at the bottom. Baffles were added in the square part to prevent sloshing, as we discussed when we first showed you the oil tank being made in an earlier report.

This is the custom seat we've made for the Lola to fit our drivers, and it's just had a coat of paint. The basic shape is made by putting a large trash bag filled with liquid expanding foam into the seat area, and having the driver sit down in the foam-filled bag. The foam conforms exactly to the dimensions of the person sitting in it, and hardens quickly to hold that shape (and gets pretty warm in the process!). The bag is then removed from around the foam, and the seat shaped to final form. When you're driving a race car, you really want to be both very comfortable and be held in the seat very securely. A custom seat accomplishes both goals.

The four-valve/four-cam motor that we'll be using at Sebring is back in the car now. You've seen many previous photos of this motor, but now a great deal of the auxiliary components have been added around it (and on top of it). The intercooler plumbing is one of the last remaining big pieces to be worked out. Note the shifter cables in place, one running up the back of the motor, and the other one 90-degrees to the right, running around the right-hand induction.

All of the many components we've been installing in recent days are making for a pretty busy engine bay now. Some components (like the shock reservoirs) are merely being held out of the way while other work is done, and will be mounted in their final locations as we finish working in those areas. All the exhaust and turbo plumbing is in place and connected. Note the differential oil cooler (photo above and below), mounted on the left wing support.

Remember when we showed you the "oil tree"? (its the spider-like fitting just below the shift rod) Now you can see some branches have sprouted from that tree, going places like the turbo. The orange hose coverings you see to and from the waste gate are called "fire sleeve", and protect the vacuum lines they cover from the extremes of heat around the turbo and waste gate area. The black hoses near the oil tree are supplying hydraulic fluid to the brakes and clutch.

Martin working on the intercooler installation. It's almost a racecar now...

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