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Another racing xj dream

Y

yellowxj

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Ocala, FL.
12 HOURS of OCALA

Rules – 2006

(Tentative)



1. Any car – No 4 wheel drive or convertibles



2. 4 point roll cage minimum



3. 5 point harness 2001 or newer



4. Complete fire suit, gloves, shoes, helmet etc.



5. DOT 70 series tires 8 inch wheel maximum



6. Fuel cell with four straps



Fuel injection OK with oil pressure cut-off switch


Must start under own power


Any manual or automatic transmission with at lease two forward and one reverse gear


Any radiator, electric fan OK. NO anti-freeze – water only


Allowed three (3) driver change ONLY per car, notify officials at changes


Timing by transponder units in each car


Car that pass start/finish line most times in 12 hours is the Winner


All Ocala Speedway Safety rules apply


NO Sebring (12 hour) or Daytona (24 hour) designed type cars allowed


Ocala Speedway racing fuel or pump gas ONLY


NO open fires or fire pits allowed. Camping OK
Click to expand...

I'm going to try and get permission to build an xj for this race at the local circle track. Its only a 3/8 mile track. Turn 4 is almost a 90 deg. Out of 4 you drag race down the front straight, tap the brakes/plant the nose for turn 1, gradually accelerate through turns one and two in a big arc until your rocketing down the back stretch heading for turn 3. As you enter 3 you have to stand on the brakes, slow way down, and gun it as soon as your into turn 4 enough to come out straight and head down the front straight again. Its kinda a PITA. But I've always wanted to race a xj there and with these rules I'm going to really try and talk my way into it. My title says "station wagon" after all.

So the bigger thing is that I was looking for input about what other people have done/ would do...with in the rules or really close to them (I HATE GETTING DQ'd ON SILLY TECH REASONS especially with a $5k purse, just in case there is some sort of miracle)...

Figuring on getting a HO 4.0 5 speed...225/70r15's or 235/70r15's the biggest sway bar (28mm IIRC) and the biggest rear sway...but what about shocks (on a budget)...welding the rear?
 
I'd go nitro shocks to firm up the ride.
Have you considered a 2WD MJ if you can find one? those were pretty sucessful back in the day as race trucks.
seeing as this is an endurance race I'd look at making it bulletproof as possible.
I assuem you'll be stripping everything out of it, does the track require fuel cells?
 
I've always wondered how much normally aspirated horsepower a 4.0 could make.

The 4.0 was and is a truck motor designed for torque, but since its an inline 6 that has perfect balance and lots of main bearings to distribute force evenly, you could probably get serious power out of it with a highly ported cylinder head and a high duration cam. I'm no expert, but if I were to guess, you could probably get 250-275 horsepower out of a 4.0 depending on your cam choice. But its friendly stock qualities like a smooth idle and a smooth torque band will no longer exist. You won't have very much torque until much higher rpms, so if you were to go this route, get some 4.10 or 4.56 gears to "regain" the lost low end torque so you won't be killed off the line by the other cars. And of course a 99+ intake, bored throttle body, and a full 3" exhaust system with a shorty header will make it scream.

As always it depends on how big your wallet is.

Some will say you should build a stroker, and that would definitely be an advantage, but the most successful racing engines use big bores and very short strokes. Look at formula 1, they have huge bores and tiny strokes. They spin like crazy and hold up fairly well.
 
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Shocks will be in the plan for sure. I cant go too wild building it. After all, the purse is only $5k...I'm pretty sure I can pick up a wrecked 2wd pretty cheap. Straighten the sheet metal a bit. I just thought that I should reinforce the bumpers and make sure it has a class III hitch...It is a local circle track..I have driven montecarlos and cutlass there and I know the driving styles of the locals...

I need to mount a fuel cell in the back...probably build a fire wall behind where the back seat was and make it level with the bottom of the side windows to the back hatch...

Would more weight in the rear make it handle better? If its old enough that fiberglass hatch wont survive a few hits? Will a metal hatch bolt on? I doesnt have to look pretty. Is the metal hatch heavier than the fiberglass one?

Any chance that 12 hours of left hand turns could shear the track bar body mount? or axle mount? I hadnt thought of that...
 
plexiglass windows, duct tape the crap out of the hatch( if it breaks it wont fal apart, it will just crack)
is this dirt or paved?
 
I'd say go with some good bilstein shocks 5100 or better, they will be getting a workout.

the fiberglass hatch is a heavy sob, can you get away without a hatch at all if your putting in a fire wall around the fuel cell?
 
I just got permission from the track owner and manager today to use a cherokee!!!! Not only for this race but for the enduro race at the end of november. The enduro is a 150 laps w/ no yellow or red flags...they only stop the race if a vehicle is wrecked hard enough to worry about the driver or if there is a disabled vehicle on the track that has the driverside door facing traffic. That one is $10k to win...The first time I ran in the enduro we started 4 cars wide and 32 (or so) rows deep...on the 3/8 mile track..by the time we took the green flag is was a solid ring of cars around the track.

Awesome Idea for the hatch!!! If I have to keep the hatch. I'll asked and they said fiberglass body parts should stay on so the vehicle looks stock but it wouldnt be hard to bend a reasonable looking hatch out of sheetmetal. The fuel cell will have its own plastic tank in a metal can then have the fire wall too...I have to strip all the stuff that can burn out but I can leave the stock dash in...
Its an asphalt track...

for the 12 hour race I can pretty much modifiy anything but for the enduro race it needs to be stock...anyone think the stock cooling system will have any problems racing for 12 hours??? We had the thought of taking the windshield wiper mechanism out from the xj and putting some sort of water aux. tank in there hooked up to the heater hoses...it would add capacity but I dont know if that would help keep cool. And be out of sight.


And...on my wifes 96 xj the PO had removed the cat and rear o2. It ran like garbage after it warmed up. I put a rear 02 in it but still no cat and it ran the same...then I just unplugged the front o2 and it seems to run fine...is it ok to run it like that? does it just run on some sort of default??
 
yellowxj said:
I just got permission from the track owner and manager today to use a cherokee!!!! Not only for this race but for the enduro race at the end of november. The enduro is a 150 laps w/ no yellow or red flags...they only stop the race if a vehicle is wrecked hard enough to worry about the driver or if there is a disabled vehicle on the track that has the driverside door facing traffic. That one is $10k to win...The first time I ran in the enduro we started 4 cars wide and 32 (or so) rows deep...on the 3/8 mile track..by the time we took the green flag is was a solid ring of cars around the track.

Awesome Idea for the hatch!!! If I have to keep the hatch. I'll asked and they said fiberglass body parts should stay on so the vehicle looks stock but it wouldnt be hard to bend a reasonable looking hatch out of sheetmetal. The fuel cell will have its own plastic tank in a metal can then have the fire wall too...I have to strip all the stuff that can burn out but I can leave the stock dash in...
Its an asphalt track...

for the 12 hour race I can pretty much modifiy anything but for the enduro race it needs to be stock...anyone think the stock cooling system will have any problems racing for 12 hours??? We had the thought of taking the windshield wiper mechanism out from the xj and putting some sort of water aux. tank in there hooked up to the heater hoses...it would add capacity but I dont know if that would help keep cool. And be out of sight.


And...on my wifes 96 xj the PO had removed the cat and rear o2. It ran like garbage after it warmed up. I put a rear 02 in it but still no cat and it ran the same...then I just unplugged the front o2 and it seems to run fine...is it ok to run it like that? does it just run on some sort of default??
Click to expand...

removing the rear o2 will not effect driveability at all, its not the cause of the issue, removing the front will, rear is there strictly to set a CEL for a bad cat
 
yep. two races a month apart...if it survives the first race...my record for long races like that isnt real hot :)
 
i was wondeing what kind of cars you would be up against. is there a possibiliy of you winning? good luck w/ everything
 
this is their first race of this kind there so I dont know exactly what kind of vehicles they expect to show up. Some people live for races like this and will spend what ever it takes to win...for the big enduro race every year there are some montecarlos that show up pretty much restored so there is nothing left to chance for a long race...except for wrecks...theres always a chance of that in the enduro...of the 120+ cars that started the enduro the first year I was in it only 18 or so finished...I'm sure the 12 hour race wont have that much carnage...I HOPE...
 
yellowxj said:
yep. I dont know if they will bolt on but if I have to weld or screw one on...just will it fit???
Click to expand...
Metal hatches came stock on 97 and up XJ's. They have an internal hinge and the shape is slightly different, so they unfortunately won't bolt up nicely. I'm sure you could rig up something if it doesn't have to be too pretty...

You could probably weld a reinforcement framework on the inside of the fiberglass hatch just to keep it from breaking or popping open during the race. I don't know whether the fiberglass or metal is lighter. I would guess the fiberglass one is lighter, but you never know.
 
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