IndyCar in Oz

Hello all.

My project is a 1998 IndyCar that ran the Indy 500 in '99.

I imported it into Australia in 2009, as a rolling chassis along with a complete engine, which as a 3.5L NA quad-cam V8. They make around 700-ish HP at about 10,000 RPM.

I got some other bits and pieces along the way, and only in the last couple of months have been in a position to really start working on it. As far as I can tell it is a good engine, from turning it over and a few other tell tale signs... If it was a crap engine it wouldn't have all the gear still on it, such as the full Kinsler manifold with loom, oil pump, all the oil lines capped for storage etc. All of that gear would be way too valuable to leave on a crap engine. The main thing I wasn't sure about was which "configuration" the engine was, as they had 2 versions. The first generation engines where 4.0 litres with a 90 degree crank, and the later where a 3.5 litre with a flat plane crank. Not having any proper documentation / build history of the engine, I was left to determine that myself. I worked it out by turning it over by hand and measuring the stroke as well as recording the cam/valve phasing. To my delight it was the latter 3.5L flat plane crank version.

I recently had to make the final decision what to do with the EFI system. I was sold the ECU and Ignitor box, a couple of igition looms, a battery, but nothing in the way of a chassis harness to hook it all up, or indeed a dash. My plan was to obtain it all along the way - I even managed to get an orginal laptop used for tuning with the cables etc. Since I had no luck with a chassis loom, or indeed if the ECU and ignitor box worked, I made the decision to go with a Haltech Elite 2500, HP8 igniter box, WB02 kits and an iC7 dash. I also chose to make my own loom and get a base tune going myself.

So here I am working through the Wiring and Tuning courses.

One interesting thing to note was the ignition looms. Each bank has a small loom where each of the igntion coils/plug are hard wired into the loom and a single MIL-spec connector to the igniter box. With absolutely no documentation on those, I need to reverse engineer a spare one I had and worked out the pin outs.

I've got working OK now on the bench, with the correct dwell worked out (using an oscilloscope) and the plugs firing in the correct order. It looks like a christmas ligh show. Next job is to trace out the 37 pin MIL-spec connector for the Kinsler FI setup.

Anyway, I'm having fun learning lots and hopefully some of you might be interested in my progress. Of course I amd planning to learn from the experts around here, and I am always appreciative getting advice form others much more experienced than me.

Cheers,

Mark.

Hello wow what a cool project to get hold of, i look forward to seeing how you get on, i have good contacts in the indy field from team managers to crew

if you need any advise

yep , very interesting project , keep us in the loop .

how and where in Oz will you run it ?

Sweet project, would be so cool to have a retired indy car to tinker with.

Best of luck with the progress on the car.

Thanks for showing interest guys. Since I'm in Brisbane I guess my first outing will be at QLD Raceway. I don't expect any of the first few outings to be very fast! Mount Cotton hill-climb would be good, but I am going to be way too loud. I don't have any desire to put mufflers on it as it will spoil the whole experience. I figured I'd at least get two laps in. The first I'd get a warning for exceeding the dB limit. The second lap I'd get my marching orders for not making it any quieter! Same for Lakeside. Seriously though, I'd not do that without have a discussion with the track officals first.

My current progress is that I have figured out the Ignition Harness and got it running nicely on the bench with my Haltech Elite 2500 and HPI8. I had absolutley zero documentation or pin outs, even down to if the coils had inbuilt igniters. Logic dictated they did not, as the 2 ignition harnesses connect to a "Spark Box" as they call it. I managed to figure out the dwell time using an oscilloscope. Since this is the Introductions portion of this forum, I plan on making separate posts in the relevant places here, and what I think I'll do is make an update on this page as an historic index to the project. What do y'all reckon? EDIT: I just found the Builds section ;-)

I am currently tracing through the air-box loom which consists of a 39-Pin MIL-spec connector going to the injectors and engine sensors - building my documention like a good boy as I'm learning here. I am learning invaluable stuff!

Cheers,

Mark

I totally get the not wanting to add mufflers, but could you make some temporary ones that get held on with some springs like alot of dirt bike exhaust systems, And then just keep them in the trailer if you go somewhere that you need to quiet it down some??

I guess I might be able to do that. I have visions of old 60's Brabhams, Lotuses and Ferraris with big long pipes hanging out the back. LOL.

Not sure if I want to weld some anchor points onto the inconel tailpipes!

Cheers,

Mark.

As we know Mark , most circuits in Oz have noise limits , i run a landspeed bike at Lake Gaidner. there is NO noise restrictions, my friends have the loudest 2 strokes , ear bleeding 🩸 stuff , i haven’t run my Hayabusa with 4 straight pipes and 4 megaphones yet , but it will generate a sound @12000 ya will remember—— especially if i’m doing over 200 mph

Wow Steven. Thanks for sharing. I don't think a sound recording would do that justice!

Cheers,

Mark.