MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! 7.25 @ 200 on my GR1000F transmission setup. This is also on an IRS rear end! Using the Grannas Racing Ultimate IRS suspension system!

The trans is a stock Tremec T56 Magnum gearset, with faceplated 1-4 gears. YES. A STOCK GEARSET modified for drag racing use! 

This is on the Precision Promod 88mm. We actually just swapped it out last night to the promod 98mm to see what the car will do with more top end.

Thank you to all who have helped along the way, we have high hopes for amazing Elimination round passes today! Biggest thanks to my team of heavy hitters! Chris Delgado from Prospeed Autosports, Cale and Tinzy Aronson @ Black Magic Clutches, Doug and his team at Precision Chassis, Brad and Craig @ Liberty Gears, Tremec Transmissions, Brian Roche Racing Engines, Headgames Motorwerks, Bullet Race Engineering, GSC Cams, and Driveshaft Shop!!!

Here is a really cool video That Racing Channel put together about the Grannas Racing "Orange Man Bad" AKA "Project H-Pattern" MKIV Supra.

It includes the wild pass with the save first round of eliminations at World Cup Finals - Import vs Domestic.

Big thanks to TRC for the amazing editing skills on this video! Can't wait to get back out to test some more!

It's been a long ride so far, but Project HPattern is almost ready for pickup. There are just a few minor details to iron out then I will be heading to pick this beast up from Precision Chassis.

So, there is still much to do, and it is going to be very very tight to make "World Cup Finals - Import vs Domestic" in November, but that is still my goal. The next step is getting the header fabricated, and then I'll be doing all the other fab work.

Then there is paint and body, and then wiring. PHEWWW still a ton to do and only 4 months left!!! I am nervous, but hopeful.

So, without further talk, let's let Precision chassis work speak for itself below!

------

Here is the dash, big thanks to Cody Philips Racing for this beautiful piece! Also custom steering column setup, much lighter than the stock setup. Race car stuff!!!

Ready for me to sit in it and air shift it while making turbo and antilag noises.

Some inner fender work for better tire clearance

Rear bumper on the car

Extra bracing added under the inner fender where no one else ever touches these cars. You'd never even know its there. My Ultimate IRS tubular chromoly subframe sneaking in these shots as well.

So hopefully the next updates will be details on the new turbo setup fabrication. Stay tuned! And yes, that is a V160 in the car. I had them make crossmembers for both transmissions, as I do plan on making a few passes chasing the V160/synchro record... might not be this year, as primary goal is WCF but it will be happening.

The goals for this car are as follows:

1. SAFETY
2. LIGHTWEIGHT
3. RETAIN SOME STREETABILITY (want to take it to a few car shows a year)
4. HPATTERN TRANS

-Joel Grannas

My Drag MKIV Supra's tube front end conversion is pretty much wrapped up so I wanted to share some pictures.

Once again, I have to give props to my amazing chassis guy Doug Kline and his team over at Precision Chassis Inc in Pottstown, PA.

This is a oem supra other than from the shock towers forward. This is done to reduce weight, as well as give more room for components such as intercooler, radiator, dry sump tank, etc etc. The body mounts to the tabs as seen.

Doug also completed the driveshaft loop, and transmission crossmember, as well as the rear strut support tie-ins to the main chassis cage.

Stay tuned for more updates!! We are very close, next and last steps are the steering shaft, rear subframe and lexan windows!

UPDATE: Thanks to Jason Miller and the WCF Tech crew I am approved to run. I think they realized that we are just trying to make spindle mounts work with the oddball location strut towers on the MKIV supra.

-------

So, I have been really happy with how everything was going with project H-Pattern. Doug at Precision chassis has been doing some amazing work for me on this machine. The one part of this car that I was more excited about than really any other part was the front end and front suspension setup.

I have never done a spindle mount setup on a car previously, so this was something I was extremely excited about. For this car, I was going to spindle mounts, along with a really trick front suspension setup. This would allow easier engine serviceability, take out weight, and allow the use of a common domestic style front suspension rather than the awkard angle OEM style struts.

But, after some pictures were posted, questions were raised about the legality of my front suspension. After review by some tech officials and sanctioning people it has been deemed not legal to fit into the class I normally run at World Cup Finals.

A lot of time and money has been put into this front end setup, and it looks like now we have to go back to the drawing board in order to make the top of the strut bolt "pass through" the stock strut tower location. Basically you can not change the angle of the strut, even if using the stock mounting location. This is extremely limiting when it comes to the Supra, as the front suspension angle leans in, and will not allow you to ever run a spindle or aftermarket front strut because the shock tower location is just too far inward. See pictures below of the angle of the stock front suspension, versus what is required for a spindle type setup.

Here is the stock front suspension angle:

Factory MKIV Supra shock tower location. Notice how far inward they sit:

Here is a mustang shock tower location... Notice how outward they sit, and the suspension angle that comes with that. No issues.

Here is how a spindle mount setup looks when mounted to the supra. Notice how there is not much available inward angle in these, and there is no way to get the strut top over to fit the strut tower mounting points. In the mustang picture above you can see how this would put some cars at a disadvantage.

So here is what was designed in order to run a spindle mount setup. The front mounting location is used, with a bracket moving outward to meet the top of the strut.

Because of the stress caused on those three bolts by the strut outward, bracing was added into the front bars to keep it from bending the stock shock tower sheetmetal.

So, let's talk about legality... and how ridiculous this rule really is. So in these rules you can not change where the top of the strut sits. It apparently it has to bolt directly into the shock area, with the top of the strut in the shock tower area. Keep in mind, THIS IS FRONT SUSPENSION!!! This is not greatly effecting the performance of the car like something with would by changing geometry of the rear suspension. This is not changing the wheelbase, not changing the track width, not changing the forward/back location of the strut, it is only extending the shock tower mount location outward to meet the strut. These same rules will allow a rear wheel drive IRS car to bolt in a solid axle rear suspension setup, which totally change the car, yet won't let something simple like this pass. It is really unbelievable.

So, now what? All of this work basically will be scrapped. Because, in order to run a stock style front strut setup I have to go back to a factory style front subframe with a control arm that holds the strut. This was all pretty much done, very little to do yet as far as the front goes, but now this is a major setback in timeline. I have so much other stuff to do, and money to spend elsewhere in order to have this car ready to race this year, and this just throws a giant wrench in all those plans.

It is just really frustrating... all of the great benefits like allowing the area under the engine pan to be open for easy serviceability of the engine, usings a common drag rack/pinion, and lightweight components goes out the window with this change. Notice in the above picture how nothing is under the motor, that sure would have been nice for checking bearings.

So, unless something changes... Here is the eventual plan. We will be building a stock replacement tubular front subframe, which will allow the use of all the stock suspension up front, and will have to go back to using stock front spindles, arms, and run a suspension with the stock suspension angle. I could go to some other aftermarket front spindle, and do a "one-off" setup for this car... but I might as well make this a bonus to the supra community, and try and make a "bolt-in" Supra product out of this. Which will also allow me to recoup some of the money lost on all this mess. So Grannas Racing will now have a tubular front subframe now to match the rear one we already built. This front subframe will allow use of all the stock arms, and have a really nice front suspension package to match the back.

-Joel

So I have been really looking forward to this part of the project. The tubular front end! Doug and the team over at Precision Chassis are just killing it on this build. I have never done a car with a full front end like this, so I am pretty amped up about seeing this all come together. On to the pics!

By using some custom made mounts, the front suspension still uses the factory strut tower mount location, with triangulated reinforcement bars off the front top bar. This is done to stay within rules where the front shock mounting location has to be retained.

The original frame rails will be chopped off right in front of where the top bars connect, and squared off. For now they are staying in place to help mount the body panels.

Yes, I am using spindle mount front wheel setup. This car is going to be light!

These wheels are just for mockup, a set of black Weld 17" wheels will be going on the car.

Here is the mid-plate setup, which you can see bolts onto the lower frame rails. Combined with the rotating front motor plate mounts, when the mid-plate is unbolted I'll be able to lean the motor back. This will allow serviceability of the transmission at the track. As far as I know, this has never been done before, something I specifically wanted on this car and something Doug brought to life. The best of both worlds, the strength and rigidity of motor plates, but also keeping things easily serviceable.

This has got to be one of the baddest JZA80 MKIV chassis out there, still IRS too!!! More pics will be coming soon as it progresses!

There is always complications when it comes to fitting into class rules... One of the issues I have had lately is cracking blocks right where the motor mounts were, I attribute this to the block flexing under extreme torque load. I was able to combat this partially by making custom upper motor mount brackets that used a wider footprint on the block. I felt like this was a workaround though, and new motor plates were the proper solution.

While motor plates are ideal, and give you a strong rigid mount, they also take away the ability to easily service your transmission. There is no real way to lean a motor back to do transmission service, as you loose that pivot point that the stock motor mounting location provides. Since I had to keep the factory floor in the car to fit into almost all class rules, doing motor plates would make it almost impossible to service the trans without pulling the motor. There would be no way to get to the top bellhousing bolts.

I talked to my chassis guy about the problem, and threw out a few suggestions, but what he came up with is just amazing. This is why I consider Doug Kline @ Precision Chassis the best damn chassis guy there is. I have never seen another setup like this done before... I am pretty sure it's the first of it's kind.

Doug fabricated a set of spindle mounts, which attach to the front frame rails and the front motor plate, which will allow the front motor plate to pivot. On the mid-plate between the engine and trans, he is going to make a bottom stop, which will allow the motor to be leaned to a pre-determined angle. This will allow me to service the transmission at the track if need be.

Pretty damn cool, right??!! More to come, stay tuned.

This car is going to be amazing when it is done!

Doug at Precision Chassis just never fails to amaze. Here are some updates on my hardtop 6-speed Supra. This car will be very similar to my white car's setup, still IRS... just safer with a proper cage for a car running sub 8.50's and over 175MPH. It will be a bit lighter too :)

A lot of people have been saying "I hope you keep it 6-speed" and to be honest that has always been my plan for this car. So, you ask what transmission will be going in it first? The GR1000 synchronized 6-speed. I think that should explain the first goal pretty clearly.

But lets get on with the cage updates. The rear section is complete, with removable chute mount that will be in the license plate area. The floor is about ready to be welded back in permanently. One of the cool things is all the floor bars will be hidden under the stock floor, making for a cleaner driver compartment.

This is the damaged drivers floor/kickpanel all fixed up. This car had some floor damage in this area and needed repair. 

As you might have seen in some earlier pics, the floor was completely cut out. In order to meet rule requirements, the stock floor is now back in and repaired.

Rear section with chute mount

Chute mount

The main hoop and rear section

New spare tire area panel