Brake Ducts

[rex]

Yesterday I got some more time to work on the brake ducts project...
I received and installed the dust shield (to fix the air inlet onto).

Here is how it will looks:



And a closer look with the "exposed" area:



Here is the back of the dust shield with some highlighted ares:
- red: this part has to be removed for the air to reach the disc/hub
- green: this is an elevated area that has to removed in order to have a flat spot to bolt the air inlet onto
- blue: this is the outline of the air inlet



I have not made the cuts yet because I do not have cutting tools so this will take a few days (till I find the proper tools).

I also took the wheel of the car to make sure the air inlet will not interfere with the speed/ABS sensor and it's a tight fit but no rubbing and no issues.
Since the wheel was off, I took some time to investigate where the air hose would go (inner wheel arch):
Red: this is, I think the best method (if it fits). I want to squeeze the air duct between the TT Arm (lower part) and the drive shaft...
Blue: this is an alternative solution, where I have to make a hole in the inner wheel arch.
I will try to go with the red solution but if there is any rubbing with the drive shaft I will go with the blue on.





It turns out to be a much more complicated project than I thought but I really enjoy it and I hope to have some improvement after all...
Any comments are, as always, welcomed! 

[rex]

Today I was helped by a friend (aka he did most of the work) and the hub assembly is done.

I made the inner piece for the air inlet out of Aluminium (old registration plate  ). This piece is now bolted to the air inlet by 2 bolts and is is glued with windshield sealant (I tested and there are no issues at temperatures above 400 degrees):



The final form for the dust guard (with 3 holes to attach the air inlet):



And the painted assembly:



A peek through the air inlet:



I have a planned Hungaroring trip on the 30th of March so all has to be in place by then.

[fuscobal]

Good job, curious on the outcome. You should be about the trustiest person to tell the difference :)

[the bruce]

Good job, mate, 10 points !!

      

is glued with windshield sealant (I tested and there are no issues at temperatures above 400 degrees)
.....
Hungaroring trip on the 30th of March so all has to be in place by then.

Hope you will enjoy Hungaroring without any issues at all.   

 

If you notice some smell or smoke hopefully it's just the sealant.

 

[rex]

Good job, curious on the outcome. You should be about the trustiest person to tell the difference :)

Thank you, my friend! I am really curious of the outcome...

Good job, mate, 10 points !!
Hope you will enjoy Hungaroring without any issues at all.   
If you notice some smell or smoke hopefully it's just the sealant.

Thank you Holger! I hope so too...
I tested the sealant and there was minimal smoke. The sealant seems to melt away but without any drops and very few smoke...

There are 2 more things to do with the brake ducts:
1. Attach the brake duct to the fog grille and create a lid for the winter.
2. Find the proper way to connect the 2 ends... As I said about 2 posts before, I hope not to make any more holes for this.

[rex]

Some more photos...

The finished and painted air inlets:





Final fitment of the air duct:





The air duct is quite close to the speed sensor ( I designed it this way):



This is an above image of the hub. You can see that the air duct is very close to the horizontal part of the hub (as I wanted):



I have a small issue because the bolt for the air inlet are app 3.5mm from the discs. Do you suspect any issues because of this?

[the bruce]

I have a small issue because the bolt for the air inlet are app 3.5mm from the discs. Do you suspect any issues because of this?

Guess not. 

On the other hand, if you'd use rivets you not just save space,
there also wouldn't be any chance left to lose a nut (and bolt).

[rex]

Top advice!
I might just do that.... Although, this way I can still take the part off... Not sure yet which way to go.
Anyway, top advice! 

[rex]

Work continues:





The air inlet will be painted black but this not the final form (I have to trim it a little bit).
The position of the air inlet is not in the middle because I plan to use another air inlet for the Cold Air Intake (left side of the car) and, maybe, for a oil cooler (right side of the car).

[MattR32T]

Nice work here Rex.
On my car I've removed dust shields and removed all arch liners and under tray and opened the side grills fully allowing a massive increase in air flow to the whole area. Ducting needs to flow to both sides of disc equally was my understanding as you wouldn't want one side cooler than the other.

Look forward to your end results

[rex]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts! 
Your solution is much more radical... But that is not for me. If my care was only for track days than would make sense, but that is not the case.
Yes, I am trying not to cool only one part of the disc. This is why I will redirect the air towards the disc vanes.

Today, I prepared the car for the summer and I washed the inner wheel arch. I can not tell you how much dirt was in that part... It seems that, in Romania, we import dust and mud from other regions. So, for the moment, the mud/dust shields will stay on.

I also checked, again, where the brake duct should go. Now, I did this for both sides of the car (only did this for the left side). And there are a few surprises..
1. I found out that the brake duct will fit, easily, above the TT arm and below the drive shaft, on the left side. On the right side, no. This is because the drive shaft is thicker on the right side (probably because it is further away from the gearbox). On the right side there is only about 1 cm of clearance between the brake duct and the drive shaft, so the brake duct should be very well anchored.
2. I also found out that the blue solution, from the below pictures, will not work because, beneath the inner arch I found metal (body work) and I do not want to go through that.
So, I have to make the red solution work for both sides:





3. And the speed sensor is not the same as on the left and hopefully, the gap for the speed sensor is enough or, maybe, I can put turn the speed sensor 180 degrees...

[the bruce]

 

This is because the drive shaft is thicker on the right side (probably because it is further away from the gearbox).

On a side note:

The right drive shaft is thicker because it's hollow to be the same weight as the short but solid left one.


ps:
Can't see the first picture.  

[rex]

Thanks for the info Holger!
Fixed the photo issue  .

[rex]

Wednesday I fitted the new dust shields and the brake ducts:



Left side:



Right side:





I found some clearance issues...
1. On the right side, when using the maximum steering angle (to the right) the brake duct just about touches the drive shaft. I will sort this problem a.s.a.p.
2. Had to do some mods to the air inlet piece to clear the speed sensor on the right side. Now the brake duct and the speed sensor touch but since none of the is a moving part it doesn't bother me that much.

I still have to finish the other part (front grille). The parts are 95% done I just have to put them all together.
If the weather is ok, I should be all done my Sunday.

[rex]

And the front grille part is done!

This is how the setup for winter looks like (the air duct is disabled). All I have to do is to undo a bolt in order to take the cover out:



This cover is easily taken out and the brake ducts become "enabled":





This is the part where the air duct will be fitted (all painted and ready to me installed):



And with the cover above it (to restrict the air flow in winter or when I do not need the air ducts):



All I have to do is to connect the air duct to these pieces and I am done. I will hopefully do this tomorrow. Fingers crossed!