Ecocat Update

For a moment, put yourself back in time to the early '60s. In the world of road racing, Bill Thomas, in his once-competitive Corvette, was being humiliated on the track by a little British-bodied, Blue Oval-powered roadster--the Cobra had arrived. Thomas joined with Don Edmunds to create the Chevrolet-powered Cheetah to do battle against those nasty Ford-powered Shelby Cobras. The Cobras spitting venom on the competitive edge Vettes once enjoyed was not taken lightly by the Bow Tie boys, Thomas and Edmunds. Unfortunately, the Cheetah would fall short in its attempt to unseat the dominant Cobra. According to the best sources, only 11 Cheetahs were built prior to the fire that destroyed Bill Thomas' shop in 1965. However, the mystique surrounding the Cheetah fueled the creation of numerous full-size replicas, as well as the thousands of miniature slot cars enjoyed in the homes of many small children. At the time, ignorant that the Cheetah was modeled after a "real car," most believed the slot cars to be some toymaker's poor interpretation of a Corvette coupe!

KIT CAR publisher Ed Zinke envisioned a modern-day Cheetah that would take full advantage of technological advances of the past 40 years, without losing its pedigree. His project, nicknamed ECOCAT, debuted in the Jan. '05 issue of KIT CAR, and updates on the roadster's progress have been published since. The ECOCAT is clearly a product of the race car/slot-car magic that refuses to die. A body and rolling chassis from Shell Valley (Platte Center, Nebraska) provides the platform for Ed's project--a streetable roadster with slot car-like handling. The modern technology of the GM Performance/Hahn Racecraft Turbo 2.2 Ecotec motor and Keisler/Tremec five-speed transmission in the lightweight ECOCAT promises staggering performance and acceleration.

And as any high-performance machine must go, it must be able to turn and stop, too. Four-wheel discs from Wilwood Brakes round out the stellar performance package of this Cheetah, and the stopping performance on the lightweight roadster should be comparable to a slot car wired for motor braking! While the ECOCAT was up on stands getting ready for plumbing of the turbo, Bill Hahn exclaimed, "That brake kit is beautiful!" Though there is no denying their visual appeal, the Wilwood brakes are all about function. The Superlite 6 Big Brake Front Hub Kit installed on the Cheetah includes billet Superlite six-piston calipers, PolyMatrix brake pads, forged aluminum hubs, machined aluminum hats, and 13-inch SRP directional-vane rotors.

The venting and cleaning action of the holes and slots reduce pad glaze, scatter surface heat, and lessen uneven pad buildup on the rotor faces. The rotors are manufactured from premium-grade, long-grain carbon, resulting in smoother engagement, improved consistency, and sharp pedal response. The billet Superlite SL6 calipers feature high clamping force and balanced pad-loading from a race-bred six-piston configuration. The result from this caliper is an immediate response and a very firm pedal, which instills driver confidence. Both the machined billet body and mounting brackets are CNC-machined for exact fit. Staggered-sized, stainless steel pistons distribute pressure to handle changes in temperature, load, and wear rate that occur over the life of the brake pad. (Wilwood uses PolyMatrix brake pads since they are available with various pad types and compounds for each application.)

The almost obscene size of the Cheetah's wheelwell arches helps create the stunning profile of this Cobra fighter. How bogus would this rear view be with lowly drum brakes? The Wilwood Dynalite Pro Series Rear Axle Brake Kit promises stopping power that will increase street and track performance, as the kit is specifically designed for rear applications. It includes forged billet Dynalite calipers, PolyMatrix brake pads, 12.19-inch-diameter vented steel rotors, machined aluminum rotor mounting hats, and aluminum caliper brackets with Grade 8 hardware. With this Wilwood system in place on all four corners, the ECOCAT will be ready for the road course.

As it turned out, using Wilwood's forward-swing, triple- master cylinder aluminum pedal assembly was a no-brainer for our application. Jeff Schwartz of Schwartz Extreme Performance (Crystal Lake, Illinois) used epoxy to secure a metal plate to the driver's firewall footwell to provide a strong mounting base for the pedal assembly. Leaving room for the go pedal, the black anodized assembly operates the brake and clutch together in one unit.

The all-aluminum frame and arm construction swings on steel pivots. Wilwood's clevis and pivot-pin balance bar provides smooth and accurate settings of the brake-pedal bias, and it can be set and locked down with the jam nut or attached to a remote cable for quick on-track adjustments. Mounted on the opposite side of the firewall from the Wilwood pedal assembly is a trio of die-cast aluminum master cylinders with .75-inch bore size. Two of the master cylinders are for braking (and designed specifically for the large four- and six-piston calipers), and the third is for the hydraulic clutch. The dual master cylinders have a total fluid capacity of 8.2 ounces, which is about 25 percent more fluid than most other brands, and an internal slosh baffle guarantees constant fluid supply and helps eliminate aeration in the reservoir.

So for now, ECOCAT sits at Hahn Racecraft awaiting final plumbing for its turbo. The final mock-up is close at hand, and the plunge into bodywork and paint at Nelson's Custom Paint (Grant Park, Illinois) is about to take place. Stay tuned for more on the ECOCAT in an upcoming issue!