We're Building a W204 C300 Race Car!
#51
Former Vendor of MBWorld
Thread Starter
This week we took a break from the build to have the car wrapped in our livery along with our partner logos. This year we are working with two great partners including ROWE and Rein Automotive. Part of our partnership with them involves the incorporation of their logos with our livery. These photos were just released to the company and I wanted to make sure that I had them posted here as soon as I could. Check it out:
Coming up this week we have a lot of work left to do. Primarily we need to retorque all suspension components to the proper specification, reinstall all underpanels and fender liners, fab the rest of the exhaust, install rear window and windshield, clean up inside of the car and wiring, install adjustable front sway bar links, install adjustable rear camber arms. Our schedule and plan is to have this car ready to roll out to Atlanta as early as 2/6 if weather is a concern.
Coming up this week we have a lot of work left to do. Primarily we need to retorque all suspension components to the proper specification, reinstall all underpanels and fender liners, fab the rest of the exhaust, install rear window and windshield, clean up inside of the car and wiring, install adjustable front sway bar links, install adjustable rear camber arms. Our schedule and plan is to have this car ready to roll out to Atlanta as early as 2/6 if weather is a concern.
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intrdrgn (01-27-2017)
#53
Super Member
Looks great! Though, after you guys button this bad boy up make sure your driver gets good seat time so he gets used to it and you can work out the hadleing quirks. The driver mod is the most important. Did you guys put in a shift light? I'd put in lexan for the front/back windshields to reduce weight more 😉.
#54
Former Vendor of MBWorld
Thread Starter
Well, this particular shop does wrap police cars which I'm sure you probably noticed in photo 1 and 2.
Excellent suggestion. We're not going to have much opportunity to do testing local so the first shake down is going to happen at Road Atlanta on 2/9. The great news is all three drivers are going to get an opportunity to drive it on 2/9 all day and 2/10 in the morning before qualifying.
For the moment, we're putting the OE glass back in because of time. But we will most likely use lexan for the second race of the year at Watkins Glen. Just running out of time to finalize it for Road Atlanta. As it is, we basically built this car in 2-2.5 months.
No shift light yet, but that is on the list. We're looking to use a different instrument display and ditch the stock Merc unit. TO do so we'll have to figure out the electronic side of it.
Looks great! Though, after you guys button this bad boy up make sure your driver gets good seat time so he gets used to it and you can work out the hadleing quirks. The driver mod is the most important. Did you guys put in a shift light? I'd put in lexan for the front/back windshields to reduce weight more 😉.
For the moment, we're putting the OE glass back in because of time. But we will most likely use lexan for the second race of the year at Watkins Glen. Just running out of time to finalize it for Road Atlanta. As it is, we basically built this car in 2-2.5 months.
No shift light yet, but that is on the list. We're looking to use a different instrument display and ditch the stock Merc unit. TO do so we'll have to figure out the electronic side of it.
#55
Former Vendor of MBWorld
Thread Starter
We were going to do an official unveil on Monday morning but I'm going to give you guys a sneak peak on the final result. Both the trailer and C300 have been wrapped up (no pun intended).
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#56
Super Member
Well, this particular shop does wrap police cars which I'm sure you probably noticed in photo 1 and 2.
Excellent suggestion. We're not going to have much opportunity to do testing local so the first shake down is going to happen at Road Atlanta on 2/9. The great news is all three drivers are going to get an opportunity to drive it on 2/9 all day and 2/10 in the morning before qualifying.
For the moment, we're putting the OE glass back in because of time. But we will most likely use lexan for the second race of the year at Watkins Glen. Just running out of time to finalize it for Road Atlanta. As it is, we basically built this car in 2-2.5 months.
No shift light yet, but that is on the list. We're looking to use a different instrument display and ditch the stock Merc unit. TO do so we'll have to figure out the electronic side of it.
Excellent suggestion. We're not going to have much opportunity to do testing local so the first shake down is going to happen at Road Atlanta on 2/9. The great news is all three drivers are going to get an opportunity to drive it on 2/9 all day and 2/10 in the morning before qualifying.
For the moment, we're putting the OE glass back in because of time. But we will most likely use lexan for the second race of the year at Watkins Glen. Just running out of time to finalize it for Road Atlanta. As it is, we basically built this car in 2-2.5 months.
No shift light yet, but that is on the list. We're looking to use a different instrument display and ditch the stock Merc unit. TO do so we'll have to figure out the electronic side of it.
#57
Super Member
Actually, if you want I'd be happy to share things I know on alignment aspects and can dig up some good resources to help if your interested. You can pm me a contact number if you'd be interested, no offense taken if your not interested .
#60
Former Vendor of MBWorld
Thread Starter
To help with figuring alignment aspects. Get an infrared temp gun, literally as soon as a "real" practice run at race speeds is done take the temps of the tires on the tires across the tread. That can help in figuring camber for cornering and inflation psi, try to get it even by adjusting the psi in small amounts and then work on the alignment when that's dialed in. And yes, this was done really fast !!
Yes, we put a lightweight battery in the trunk. About to post some new photos.
#61
Former Vendor of MBWorld
Thread Starter
This may be the last post I'll be able to put out there on this car before the race. We've been in full crunch mode here figuring out the last pieces of the car before we head out to Atlanta. Currently we're working on the kill switch and some other electronics in the car but the good news is the car as a whole is almost ready to roll out.
The car came back to our facility on Monday (1/30) and first thing in the morning and we had the OE glass reinstalled. While we plan on replacing this eventually with Lexan this had to do for now:
Monday afternoon we also did a reveal to the rest of the company so everyone could see it in person:
On Monday night we applied Laminx to the headlights, fabbed up the rest of the exhaust, installed rear camber arms, and front adjustable sway bar links (couldn't get photo's of everything but it's there). We also figured out how to route the brake ducts and the hole where the AC compressor used to be worked perfectly for routing the driver side duct. We will be modifying the factory C63AMG backing plates to accept these cooling ducts.
We had issues with belt squeaking and it seems we have been able to resolve the issue by running a slightly longer belt. We originally a factory belt length for W204 C300's without AC (yes, they exist apparently). However there was a ton of tension on the smooth idler with the belt installed and noise could be heard. We put a slightly larger belt on and it seems the problem has resolved itself.
We also machined the rear adjusters down and notched the spring perches as well to get additional adjustability in the rear. We were able to get the desired ride height through this modification. I will get photos of this when I can.
The car came back to our facility on Monday (1/30) and first thing in the morning and we had the OE glass reinstalled. While we plan on replacing this eventually with Lexan this had to do for now:
Monday afternoon we also did a reveal to the rest of the company so everyone could see it in person:
On Monday night we applied Laminx to the headlights, fabbed up the rest of the exhaust, installed rear camber arms, and front adjustable sway bar links (couldn't get photo's of everything but it's there). We also figured out how to route the brake ducts and the hole where the AC compressor used to be worked perfectly for routing the driver side duct. We will be modifying the factory C63AMG backing plates to accept these cooling ducts.
We had issues with belt squeaking and it seems we have been able to resolve the issue by running a slightly longer belt. We originally a factory belt length for W204 C300's without AC (yes, they exist apparently). However there was a ton of tension on the smooth idler with the belt installed and noise could be heard. We put a slightly larger belt on and it seems the problem has resolved itself.
We also machined the rear adjusters down and notched the spring perches as well to get additional adjustability in the rear. We were able to get the desired ride height through this modification. I will get photos of this when I can.
#66
MBWorld Fanatic!
I'll take that car than any C63 anytime or even any exotic. Like the idea that it is built to race but still sips gas like a regular c300. I wish all c-class cars are like that.
#70
Junior Member
Originally Posted by fcpeuro
we could have gone C63 but we were keeping in mind operating costs and the how the car would be classed. AER has 5 separate classes and some of the most competitive classes are cars in the low to mid 200 horsepower range.
The following users liked this post:
pozi240 (02-10-2017)
The following 2 users liked this post by romeo291:
BlackRaizo (02-10-2017),
pozi240 (02-10-2017)
#72
Junior Member
I've been on forums since 2006, mostly sport bikes, and people really have a hard time understanding how forums and the interwebz works.
Sometimes it's easier to just post the answer than saying, "Did you read the thread"?
We need more race car pics!
Sometimes it's easier to just post the answer than saying, "Did you read the thread"?
We need more race car pics!
#74
Senior Member
#75
Former Vendor of MBWorld
Thread Starter
We also ended the day first in class!! We've got a live feed on our YouTube channel located here, it was pretty exciting and you guys can view it here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/fcpgroton/videos
--Kyle
The following 2 users liked this post by FCPEuro:
BlackRaizo (02-12-2017),
romeo291 (02-12-2017)