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More photos soon......

Love the frame color! I see were going with a straight axle this time.

Great idea for the axle vent. Do you have any pictures of the side intrusion plates?

JC

It's really coming along! What is the projected date for 1st start? Is this going to be track-only or street legal?

Thanks Tim! We went with a Wimbledon White for the frame, and we're already loving working on it ......After three years racing with an IRS, we're going with the "less moving parts, is more" philosophy....Too many issues racing with the stock IRS....Solid axles are pretty darn fast in the Challenge Series roadsters.

The Competition Coupe will be street legal and race prepped, in the same vane as the Challenge Series cars.....Race 'em on Sunday, drive 'em on Monday...;.) Already have my SB-100 number for the car and the process is underway.

The axle vent was Rick's idea, and it came from some parts he had on hand in the shop....I like it too! Will post additional photos of the side intrusion plates....They are beautiful (polished 1/8" aluminum), and we've added them to both sides, as we'll have two seats for track day use as well....Yes, it's a small amount of added weight, but the trade-off is well worth it.

Hoping for 1st start July 1 (if not sooner).....Waiting on trans from Mike F....

Robert Walter came up for the weekend, and helped with engine assembly and body fitment...It's good to have awesome friends...Thanks Robert!! Rear body section fitted, and we need to tackle the doors next....Once the motor is in, we'll do the fitment on the nose and get it off to paint.

Thanks for all of the encouragement everyone!! I'm totally stoked that we have a number of Competition Coupe builds taking place around the country! Big thanks to Rick Anderson for making the dream of Coupes for competition come true!! You rock!!

Karen

I sooooooo want to build something like this!!!!!!! Hmmmmm.......

Hey Karen, great to see the build coming along nicely, and how exciting to hear that your going with a bit more power. I guess the downside is that I'll never be able to hang with you on track now . I did clock some SVRA corvettes and GT-40s at WGI last week and they were right in the 2:12 - 2:16 range so I agree that we'd be right in the mix with them. I have always said no wheel to wheel racing for me but maybe one day I will do some stuff with the vintage gents and ladies since they generally seem to take great care in their super rare gems. I heard that SVRA was considering adding a replica class but I don't believe they have yet. The other thing I wanted to add is that now after about 25 trackdays in my pin drive IRS Coupe I am just starting to get some of those signs of fatigue...very slight play in heim joints in Rear UCA, half shaft axle nuts coming loose. etc. I predict that I will be following Craig's lead with a Moser 9" ful floater in a year or so! Will make it out east to run with us with Group 52 at Watkins Glen...$550 for 12 hours of wide open track over 2 days, passing anywhere, with no point bys required?!

Hey Dan!! Good to hear from you......You must have read Rick's post about it's a miracle...He was only kidding, as the motor is still as we planned, a 331-CID from DSS Racing....We're expecting 350-375(ish) on the ground if it all pans out.....No worries, as it will be me having all the fun trying to stay up with you, for sure!!!!

Would love to come out for the events in August and October. My only challenge on the August event is that we're scheduled to take both Coupes (the blue #28 and the Challenge/Competition Coupe we're building now) to Monterey on August 14-18 with Peter Brock to be in the Coupe Corral .....The logistiics may be a bit tight, but I'd be there for sure if I could swing it....Maybe the FFR truck will be out this way and I can hitch a ride..

I'm not surprised about the signs of fatigue in the IRS, especially considering you and Craig (and maybe Michael Marshall) are the ones currently running your Coupes more frequently at track events and in competition. I've also been following the latest CV joint/axle failure threads, as we've had the axles pop out of the diff a number of times.....Fortunately, I've been able to drive off the track safely, but certainly an un-nerving experience at 100+ mph. The latest thought from those threads is that the axles are too short. The jury is still out, but in our own research/experience, we believe that hub wear and the resulting looseness and play in the assembly allows for the entire assembly to move beyond the intended plane and/or the arc or range of travel, which would then be exacerbated by an axle that is too short to begin with....Those little clips can only do so much, and certainly wouldn't perform well if the assembly is mis-engineered.

As I'm sure you've noted, you just have to stay tremendously vigilant regarding all of the moving parts and wear items.....The downside is that when you're performance driving, the constant thought that something might break/fail hampers your ability to be confident and drive freely in the car, at least it does for me. An solid IRS system certainly has it's advantages, however we went with the 3-link Moser just for the purpose of upping relyabiity and keeping cost down while allowing ourselves to be more confident in the car.

We're also planning to run the car in more vintage-type events, as the overall appreciation for the cars as well as the car's purpose in serving as a tribute to the history of Coupes is a good match. I've met with a number of folks regarding our bringing the Challenge Coupes to vintage venues, and the idea has been well-received.

Hope to see you soon!!!

Karen
PS....Georgia Coupe.....We'd love to have you join us!!!!

Hey Karen, I might have missed this somewhere but will there be full information available for the changes made, their purpose, the extra weight and how they affect chassis stiffness?

Seemingly it looks like those door bars shouldn't effect entry and exit much (for a street car) and has the bonus of having that extra safety on the street and track.

Hi Benji...I was just checking the blog post, and sorry to have overlooked your comment. We are working on a supplemental build manual which will be available for Coupe builders in the future. We worked hard on the door bar design, and we believe they provide great access to the cockpit while providing the added protection of a complete set of NASCAR style door bars. We are very pleased with the added safety these bars bring for the track as well as the street.