AJ's American Iron 99 Mustang road race build. Surge tank install

[Matt360R/T]

i can sum up how awesome this build/car is in 2 words--> RACE CAR

[8BYAV8]

Very awesome thread. I typed in "American Iron Mustang Build" in google and I'm sure glad this popped up. I love how you're doing a sort of budget build. Although, your racing it all the time and having fun and that's what it's all about.

I shall watch intently.

[AJ Hartman]

Heres part of the race from Sunday at Watkins Glen. Qualifying was in the dry and I was 5th of 5 in class. But the rain moved in before the race, which I was happy about. The rain kinda negates the HP advantage my competitors have. I pass about 8 cars before turn one and am actually in the lead for about 2 seconds haha. I loose 3 positions by turn two but get two of them back by the bus stop. I'll get around to cutting saturdays video but there wasn't much action. I was on the tail of 4th in class but wasn't able to make a pass.

http://youtu.be/CB249eVpyMQ

[AJ Hartman]

Didn't touch the car between The Glen and last weekend at NJMP. Finished 2 of 5 saturday after leading for a bit. Then caught traffic and dropped to 3rd. Had a battle in 3rd for a few laps untill I was able to make a move. Sunday, with the impending weather of Hurricane Sandy, a lot of people left and we were running on an abbreviated schedule. I was 2nd overall in morning warmup. (1st was a factory Porsche cup car) but qualifying was based on finishing position from satudays race based on who stayed. So I started 4th, 2nd in class. Was chasing first place for a few laps, made a move and was able to open up a little bit of a gap. The only car in class was the car that beat me Saturday so it was good to get him back.

I have some big plans for the off season but we'll see how much I actually get done. I'll be sure to post progress as it happens.

Saturdays race
http://youtu.be/7DmP1zCEmKk


Sundays race
http://youtu.be/RO7cdLodoOk

[AJ Hartman]

Business has been good so I made the move and got a much bigger shop. I now have the room to really start moving some work and getting some other projects going. I started building a Spec Miata to rent out (on the left) and set up part of the shop to finally start doing composite work. Having room to do roll cages and actually work is nice. I haven't done much to my car yet but have some pretty big plans.

Heres the new space. Still have to move some stuff in.


Tubular reinforcement on a customer car. About 12lbs lighter than stock. Gonna do something similar to mine cause I really want to change up the aero and will give me a good place to mount some new things.

[cmr076]

Very cool! If you need motor plates or mandrel bends give me a call,cue run our water jet and bender 16hrs/day and do sublet projects for a lot of shops

[AJ Hartman]

I have my own bender for doing cages but might be interested in getting some stuff cut with a water jet. I'll let you know.

[AJ Hartman]

Figured I would revive this a bit. I have been more than busy. I bought a composites company, started retailing parts, making my own parts, and of course all the in house builds going on. I'm not gonna do a full recap of everything but I ended up winning the North East American Iron championship last season in a grossly underpowered car. Taking a break from racing this season as the shop has me more than busy. Check out my facebook page (facebook.com/ajhartmanracing1) to see most of the updates. Heres some pictures of what the car kinda looks like now.

[AJ Hartman]

So some quick updates before my next race at Lime Rock Park. I'm still grossly underpowerd for my class. I can make another 50-60hp and still be legal, but that costs money. The other option is to loose weight so I finally ditched the stock dash and stock steering column. Total loss was close to 30lbs. The balance of the car is moving in the right direction but not having coil overs makes a corner balance very, very difficult but was able to get it fairly close to a perfect 50%. Its still very nose heavy, which I will address later on.

Picture of my new steering column setup. I installed an AEM water temp gauge and am very impressed with it. If you would like an AEM water temp gauge, or any AEM gauge for that matter let me know.


Heres where the car stands now. Some aero tweaks on the front end as the new AJ Hartman Racing Wing gives me plenty of rear grip, so more front grip is needed. Side plates on the canards, louvers above the wheels, and extended the side skirts more to fill in behind the wheels.


Close up of the universal louvers. These will be available on my website in a few days.

[OBEEWON]

This is very cool. Where did you find those ducts?

[Shipman]

Quality work sir

[AJ Hartman]

Originally Posted by OBEEWON

This is very cool. Where did you find those ducts?

I make them myself in my shop. I have the moulds to make more sets if you are interested.

[PaleDSM]

The aero work is impressive!

[The01Cav]

Very cool, this car has come a very long way!

[AJ Hartman]

Thanks. All the aero stuff and carbon parts, including the wings, are all made in house at my shop. Aero is a little bit of a black art so I try and confirm any theories I have and parts I make with data (I use an AiM solo) or a few other methods available to me.

[OBEEWON]

Yeah I very well may be. What type price are you talking?

[OBEEWON]

Yeah I very well may be. What type price are you talking?

[AJ Hartman]

Originally Posted by OBEEWON

Yeah I very well may be. What type price are you talking?

PM sent

[camopaint0707]

very bad ass looking mustang

[AJ Hartman]

It rained up at the last event at Lime Rock Park. Thats what I love about road racing. An event doesn't get canceled due to rain. You have to learn to drive the conditions you are in. I lapped my entire class and finished 3rd overall.