New price on Elise seats is insane-o. I dig the vintage style Recaros. I also dig Corbeau Classics:


Corbeau: Classic Bucket



A repop of the original 914 seat would be cool, too.

Well too classic, don't flow with the body of the catfish at all.

Got the molds!
 

The Elise seat is nice. Looks skinny. We'll be developing our own seat, but not right now, as there are too many damn things to do in 30 days.

The good part is that things are moving along. The SEMA frame will be all welded and ready to pick up Monday. It and the SEMA bodywork will go to get the interior fitted. I don't know how long that will take, but we'll be able to strip everything apart, paint, and then start final assembly after the interior is in. YES!

More good news from today. The last of the NEEDED molds are done. This includes the dash and the rear diffuser. All of these molds are temporary tools, so the car at SEMA will be built from temp-tooling. We'll pull one more really THICK part from each mold, add stiffeners, and then cherry out the finish. These bucks are what we will create our final tools from.

There's a LOT to do before the show, but we should be ready to ramp up for production once we get to November.

seats
 

How about these virtual seats? :)

I looked seriously at those seats, but triple88a has a point. I'm a big fan of the 914 seats, but same issue. I think we'll take the "virtual" seats I have shown above, and eventually morph them into something that matches the Catfish properly.

On a side note seeing that the catfish is open to the elements the seats will have to be something along the lines of leather.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1348860020

Nah.

Danny's car is soooo cool, it's wet. :)

yea, point being, those seats are fabirc, got very wet, and are just fine.

diffuser tech
 

Ask 10 people the correct angle for a diffuser and eight will look at you funny. The other two gear heads will get in an argument over the correct angle, if it should be complex or simple, how many vanes to add and at what spacing, etceteras.

The bottom line is that with the flat bottom that the Catfish employs, real gains in downforce and road holding should be realized. Plus it looks cool.

One feature we're incorporating into the diffuser is the ability to change the height via turnbuckles and thread rod, quick pins, etceteras. This will allow some fine-tuning as well as street/track configurations. The other unique feature is that there's a gap between the body and the diffuser--it seems to "float" at the back of the car. The gap has two functions: to allow the diffuser to be raised and lowered, and to allow air in the rear wheel wells to easily escape the body.

The best part--If anyone is interested I think this part can be adapted to the Miata.

Well i guess i'm more afraid of the stench.

Saw this in-person yesterday. Badass! Can't wait to see the body on this thing ;)

Great to see you are adding a gap! It is more important than a lot of people think! It is amazing how much the smallest gap helps! Excellent work as usual and looking forward to SEMA pictures!

SEMA scramble
 

Here's the deal--the car looks like it will take six months to build. Actually no. We've got mule #1, which is a running, moving car, being detailed and set up for the production chassis. It will come down next week and have a finished, powder coated chassis replace the original frame that was seen circulating El Toro. Note the top bar is now straight--no dip. Wiring will be a snap.

The interior is being done in aluminum for the show, and the basic panel templates were cut out today. The good news is that we have a plan, and nothing should mess up our progress.

The included pictures show...

--the top of the rear diffuser. Fins and mounting tabs not yet added. The side skirts can be relieved to flow more air as a secondary operation.
--The rear cross bar at the shock tower. This is for safety so the gas tank doesn't move in a crash, and for ultimate stiffness between the rear shock towers.
--dash. For the first car, this fits below the hood and will have a bubble for the gauge panel
--SEMA neighbor. Lucra is right next door, and their SEMA car with the new air exit fins in the hood looks stunning. And it sounds like NASCAR. :) This car is going to SEMA after a wrap job. Look for the Lucra in the next Fast & Furious movie.

420 posts! I've gotta go do something :)
 

I reached a milestone, at least in California. 420 posts!

I stayed at a hotel this summer in room 420...the number had been taken off the door so many times that they didn't bother to put a new one up.

BTW, I mean going out and doing 420 push ups.

what is that last car? does not look like cat fish

That's a Lucra LC470, with pricing from $85,000 to $125,000. This car (I think) has an LS6 or LS7 motor, has a carbon body bonded to a massive 4" tube backbone, and weighs in around 2,500lbs.

Lucra Cars

I gotta admit. Uck not my cup of tea. I prefer something along the lines of a low front end thats pulled back similar to the a clk-gtr.

It's based on the old Lister made in England in the mid-fifties. It was raced with various engines, starting with a two liter and ending (I think) with a Chevy power plant.

These cars are old school style, but this one is thoroughly modern in manufacture.

I really like the setup for the fuel tank. Looks like it would be a snap to add a fuel cell.