My chassis build

[geeman]

Well i thought i may as well post the progress of my build. So id call today day 1 of my build as yesterday i waited until 4ish for the steel to arrive so didnt do much. Ive So far cut all thebottom base lengths and tacked them together. some difficulty i did have was getting it all to fit to the specified dimensions, as wehn i screwed the wood blocks in to the build board, i had to really force the metal in place to get it to fit, but got there in the end. Also today is the sencond day ive had a working tig at home and am loving it, but in trying to save money im being really stingy about how much gass i can use and set the gas flow rate as low as possible every time. :rolleyes:

Pics of today:
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/9065/dsc4942.jpg
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/9682/dsc4943b.jpg

[AshG]

looks like a nice big work area :D

your not hanging arround on the chassis either.

[geeman]

looks like a nice big work area :D

your not hanging arround on the chassis either.

Lol, yeah, i knew it would be a tight fit, but i guess ill have to live with it. :D

The rage 3 compound mitre saw is literally saving me hours though as i had to cut br8 and br9 with a hacksaw as they have 70 somthing angle on it which the rage3 wont do and it took me ages and was painful so id rather stick to using the rage 3. It should make the building of the front bits ff1-ff4 a breeze and i hope to finsih that today as well. However one downside o the saw is the ammount of metal swarf and in my size build area i keep on having to vaccuum to stop stepping of leaning on it. I even have a pair of tweezers for removing metal splinters as my hands re full of em'.

[jasongray5]

Looking good mate! Realy good feeling isnt it?
Keep up the good work!

[HandyAndy]

well done Geeman, looking good :cool:
the space will get tighter by the day ;) :D

enjoy your build.

andy

[AshG]

dont worry about the space im building in a smaller area. in fact i think i have the smallest build area on the whole froum lol

as for the swarf! wait until you have to grind the welds back! thats the horrible messy bit.

[mark]

Im tight on space too! building in my garage which is in a modern house ie not big enough for a modern car! but im managing. As AshG said grinding for long periods in a confined space is messy:eek:

i rigged up an extraction system with a small centrifugal fan and some 4" flexible hose with a clamp to hold it near work piece which helped alot, especially when welding up chassis.

[geeman]

Ok well i tacked together the nose )ff1-ff4) yesterday afternoon, but it was arel pain to get the angles on ff2,3 right as i kept cutting them wrong as i got abit confused and ended up wasting some(about 80cm) metal. Well ill probably continue with the build later today and lets see where i get then.:D As far as i can see im progressing well.:D :)

Edit:
forgot to add pics

Here we go
http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/568/dsc4949c.jpg

[HandyAndy]

well done Geeman, don,t worry..... i think the front frame has caused lots of builders a few head scratching moments, it certainly did for me :o :eek: .
its a great feeling as the chassis starts to gain in height.
well done mate:cool:

andy
( you,ll be dreaming/nightmare of FF1 to FF2 To aaarrrggghhh ) :D

[geeman]

yup, it really is a great feeling, i just heald the nose in place for a few minutes and just stared at it...:o :rolleyes: , but really the kind of 2d to 3d transition really makes you feel good.

(we really should abbreviate the phrase 'really makes you feel good' as the ammount of times we all say it is going to get out of hand:p :p )

[HandyAndy]

have you sat in the drivers area with an imaginery steering wheel in your hands yet???? thats a really good feeling too :D :D ;)

we,re all going mad really :eek:

andy

[geeman]

Well i wanted to sit in the 'drivers seat' but was afraid the plywood might break as its aqueaking alot already:p :p

Ive now tacked on the front nose and 2 of the uprights

[geeman]

Ok, well i have a small sproblem on my hands. I welded on tr2 and tr1 onto the uprights u3,6,7,8. This wass all a bit difficult and i had to force everything into position. Once i welded tr1,tr2 in i test fitted u1 and u2 and heres my problem. They both are too short to reach tr1 and tr2 at the 24 degree angle. I think this is because when i welded tr1 and tr2 on i had to force the front frame forward abit,so it may have twisted forward stightlyso ff4 is no longer 74mm behind ff1, more like 65ish. So i measured the height of my chasssis and its meant to be 355mm but at the very front its 364 but is on a constant gradient down to the required 355mm as go go down tr1 and tr2. Im thinking i should just extend and ajust angles on u1 and u2 as it isnt going to really be a problem i think as at most its 10mm out in places but mosly my dimensions mach the books+-3mm which is pretty good i think.


Oh sh... i just made handy andys mistake ive welded u7 wrongly........uhhhhh :mad: :mad: uhh. Time to get the cutting discs out as my tig welds dont come off easily.:(

[mark]

Good to see your build progressing nicely but its prob best to try and sort out your dimension probs now whilst at any early stage. 10mm doesent seem alot but could cause more problems later.

Not teaching granny how to suck eggs (shout at me if i am!) but only a couple of small tacks are required on the corners of the tubes until the chassis is complete and needs fully welding. So any tubes can be easily be removed/repositioned without any fuss if you find an error.

There was times when i tacked things in and then had to change later and its very frustrating but you will only make the chassis once so try and get it perfect 1st time;) a bit extra time farting about now will make sure you have a nice sqaure straight chassis to enjoy for years to come :cool:

[geeman]

The thing is to fix the 10mm thing i will have to grind off loads and weld tr1 and tr2 back and thy gave mee soo much hassle.

I know what you mean about tacking welds, its just when i start, i get thinking.. oooo ,tiig welder, cool and stufflike that and often get carried away and it ends up abit(alot) more than a tacked weld.:p :p

Well i took u7 out but have given up for today and will carry on tomorrow. Im too tired now:(

[mark]

I think it will be worth it tho, that 10mm might stop fabbys bodywork fitting as good as its meant to!

I know what you mean about getting carried away with welding when i was serving my time as a plater i loved tig welding :) such a nice clean weld :cool:

When i welded up my chassis i started tig but reverted to mig coz it was taking forever :mad:

[AshG]

you must tack it first then fully weld it in stages otherwise it will never be straight

+-3mm is way to much you need to be working to +-0.5mm

if your forcing things into place your doing it wrong. simple as that. every part should fit perfectly like a puzzle

[geeman]

awww. im not sure about fixing this, oh well, will sleep on it.

Also i would have bought a mig, as for a start its cheaper(considerably as the welders cheaper and you can buy argoshield instead of pure argon which is loads), but ive never mig welded before, only ever done tig, so i thought id just get a tig.

Also i think fabbys nosecone should still fit as its not like 10mm higher, the actual from bit is kind of twisted forward(hard to explain, meaning tho only mods needed will be the diagonal supports and u1, u2.

[mark]

If you have mastered tig welding you will pick up a mig welder and be producing good welds within half an hour ;) it really is that easy.

If you get the chance to aquire one i would because they are very versatile and faster than other methods of welding.

[mark]

you must tack it first then fully weld it in stages otherwise it will never be straight

+-3mm is way to much you need to be working to +-0.5mm

if your forcing things into place your doing it wrong. simple as that. every part should fit perfectly like a puzzle

This quote above is probably good advice for someone starting a chassis, depending on your backround tolerances are different to people, when i was plating +-2.5mm was acceptable on most jobs, but when i done a spell in a machine shop +-0.5mm was huge on some jobs :eek:

On a chassis everyone should be aiming for zero tolerance i know in the real world this is almost impossible especially when its welded but we should strive to be as exact as we can.

[geeman]

Well every single piece of mine was cut to the exact size im mm+->0.5mm, and every angle was exact, as i measured every peice several times before putting them inplace. The errors have happened while welding casuing distortion and metal to twist. For example my chassis isnt completely flat on the board anymore, its risen about 2mm after welding in places, but the +-3mm i was talking about is what things like diagonal sizes between welding a square.

[geeman]

Also i bet some people out there who will read this thread and are making there chassis will go 'oh s###' as they realise theve been working to much larger tolerances than 0.5mm:p :p :p

on a more serious note, i also realise for many having things like magnetic clamps could have made your lives easier, but ive only got 5 g clamps and a set of welding clamps atm, and im struggeling with just those to hold things in place for welding:o

[HandyAndy]

Oh sh... i just made handy andys mistake ive welded u7 wrongly........uhhhhh uhh. Time to get the cutting discs out as my tig welds dont come off easily.:(


:D i didn,t actually make this mistake, it almost got me so thats why i said to be careful about U7 as it is easy to get wrong :p

may i make a suggestion said with all due respect....... slow down a bit.......
yes it is very tempting to get on with it & get it done, i for one have got mine rolling in a fairly short time, BUT if you have the 10mm out at the front now plus the odd 3mm +- here & there by the time you come to fitting your suspension brackets it,ll be a nightmare to get the whole thing to come together, please accept my apologies if this sounds like "sucking eggs" but deep down we all want you to achieve a good build.
i hope you are ok with my suggestion.
stop, take stock of where you are with the dimensions & correct them.:cool:
i,m sure each & everyone of us that has built the chassis have made mistakes but they must be put right at an early stage.
best regards
andy

[geeman]

Ok, after reading all your advice, and to be honest all of you are really telling me the wright thing to do, its just im kind of in the 'denile' stage of thing(:p ), i went out to recheck everything, check measurements, angles... Here are my problems(ps having a book to hand may be handy, unless you know the diagrams off by heart). atm, the main thing is that u1, u2 dont fit in properly. I tried to figure out why, starting by measuring all the lengths. The only length that i cut that was out were ff2, and ff3, and the longer part for ff2 and ff3)the 290mm bit is about 292mm, but i think this is because the bend in the tube isnt perfect. Ok well what i said originally about ti being 9mm off if wrong, as i realised when i was measuring it i had taken all the clamps of the board as i needed them to hold tr1 and tr2 in place for welding. The meant that the whole thing has been raised by about 5mm and was supported by friction on the wood blocks that were used as guides along the drawings. This means that the front is actually 359mm not 355mm. the gap between u1 and tr1 is around the 4mm. So im nopt sure as to how to lower the frond without redoing the nose. I could also try cutting the bottom of ff2 and ff3 with a cutting disc and then weld that back to ff1 to fix it.

Also i was saying earlier that fitting tr1 and tr2 was very ight and required force as u3,u6,u7 and u8 may not have been welded completely square to the base. So i had to just bend it abit, but i was aware this would happen while welding, so i had only lightly tack welded u3 and u6-8 to the base.

Also the 3mm tolerance i was talking about only really applied to the diaganal between rectangle br7-10 which was just over 805mm rather than 808mm. Apart from this everything else is perfect:p

[HandyAndy]

without actually seeing your chassis i think the main cause of the problem is more likely to be as you have said, caused by movement in the chassis from fully welding some of the pieces........ can i ask if you have fully welded BR1 BR2 to BR3 & BR4 ? as if you have then maybe this is why the chassis has been raised at the front ?

if so you might be able to cut the above out & re do them which hopefully will bring things in line for the front frame.

andy

[geeman]

ok.. umm imm trying what your saying, but first, can someone try and explain to me what figure 4.10 is saying on page 39. It doesnt make any sense to me:confused: it may not actually be the dimension problem, it might just be that i cant fit u1 and u as im not sure how they attath to tr1 and tr2 respectively.

[HandyAndy]

if you place U1 as said in the text in the book square to BR7 then slide the piece U1 along & under TR1 then the top front corner of U1 should be aligned with the outside edge of TR1, suggest you clamp it in place then do the same in opposite hand with U2 & TR2, clamp that as well then look at the diagram at bottom of page 38 you will see that you need to achieve 361mm between the bases of U1 & U2, that is what is most critical for these uprights ( as long as they have been cut to the correct length & angled correctly) as they give the mounting angles for the upper rear front suspension brackets.

one question..... do you have the "first edition" book or the revised edtion thats states it was re printed in 2008?
as this may be relevant.

andy

[geeman]

I have the reprinted one from 2008 that has the corrections. Umm let me try what you said, ill be back in 5 min;)

[geeman]

ok, well i still dont get the diagram on page 39, but i think i shouldnt get so worried as it actually fits, there is only about a 1.5mm gap which can be fixed by lowering the nose very slightly, but im wondering if thats even nessacasy. look at attached pics.
ALso is there a way to attatch pics without uploading them to imageshack or equivilant??

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/3898/dsc4955.jpg

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/2973/dsc4956.jpg

http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/7126/dsc4958.jpg

[HandyAndy]

looking good, did you get 361mm between the bases of U1 & U2 ? ( a little tip..... draw a center line down the length of your build table & scribe the center line on BR7, 10, 11 & 12 ) this will come in handy also later in the build.

how high is the very top of TR1 & TR2 & what is the distance between them( at outer edges) where they meet the front frame? sorry if this means going into your garage again, just trying to work out your dimensions to be able to help if i can.

andy

[geeman]

Well can you see the blue line second pic in the abouve post on br7, ive done 2 of those 361mm apart so yes. The distances from tr1 and tr2 is exactly as per the book(627mm) and there seems to be nothing wrong with that.
The problem is however that on the side of tr1 it is about 357mm and the side of tr2 it is about 359mm high which means the top bars are 2 amd 4mm to high. Now this is simply(or not so simply) because of ff2 and ff3 being too long, which can be solved by cutting along the blue line drwan on them(see pic) with a cutting dic, and then welding back onto ff1. That should hopefully solve the problem.
I thought id include pics of the build so far aswell, and im surprised that ive done soo much and its only day 2. Alsotheres a pic of where u7 use to be:o

http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/9858/dsc4963.jpg

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/4279/dsc4961.jpg

http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/4888/dsc4959.jpg

Handyandy, i really dont mind going in the garage, if anything, it better than being in the house, and cooler than the house at this time of the year, but more importantly, theres a welder there.

[mark]

Might be worth checking tr1 for straightness by looking down the length as a slight bow may account for the slight discrepancy. Seeing your pics jogged my memory that a couple of pieces of mine seemed to be a little out even tho everything was cut pretty much bang on and this was down to some of my steel being slightly bowed :mad:

Is it the same situation on both sides?

Those tacks are a touch too big so will have twisted things a bit but im sure you will sort it :) just a tiny tack on opposite corners is enough at this stage, its supprising how strong it becomes once triangulated even with tiny tacks :cool:

[HandyAndy]

Geeman,
yes you are doing well, but lets get this front end sorted.
it may not be as easy as you say to just cut the bottom of FF2 & FF3 as where the bend in these two pieces is positioned it is critical to where you place the front upper suspension brackets, do me a favour please & go & get the measurement from the build table to the point of the bend in the FF2 FF3 at the outer most position, as this will determine the position of the suspension brackets mounting( i know you haven,t even thought that far ahead but it needs to be correct from where you are up to at the moment) hope i,m not being a pain in the butt? :o ;)

andy

[geeman]

Might be worth checking tr1 for straightness by looking down the length as a slight bow may account for the slight discrepancy. Seeing your pics jogged my memory that a couple of pieces of mine seemed to be a little out even tho everything was cut pretty much bang on and this was down to some of my steel being slightly bowed :mad:

Is it the same situation on both sides?

Those tacks are a touch too big so will have twisted things a bit but im sure you will sort it :) just a tiny tack on opposite corners is enough at this stage, its supprising how strong it becomes once triangulated even with tiny tacks :cool:

Yep, its the same situation on both sides of being too high, but you are correct, there is a bow in it, but thats becasue i did that to make it fit as the nose was too high to tr1 and tr2 are being strssed alot as the are being bent upwards atu3 and u6 so they reach the extra height of ff4, but they are bent ever so slightly, whcih will be fixed by lowering ff4

[geeman]

Geeman,
yes you are doing well, but lets get this front end sorted.
it may not be as easy as you say to just cut the bottom of FF2 & FF3 as where the bend in these two pieces is positioned it is critical to where you place the front upper suspension brackets, do me a favour please & go & get the measurement from the build table to the point of the bend in the FF2 FF3 at the outer most position, as this will determine the position of the suspension brackets mounting( i know you haven,t even thought that far ahead but it needs to be correct from where you are up to at the moment) hope i,m not being a pain in the butt? :o ;)

andy

im not completely sure as to what you mean, but i think this is it. If you look on the top diagram on page 162(or the drawing for ff2 and ff3 in appendix 1 if you have the old book which may be different) the bit thats meant to be 69.5 is about 69.5mm, but the bit thats meant to be 290mm is about 294mm and 293mm which is what is making it higher i think. Hope that helps.

Also id much rather get this fixed now than have bigger problems later, so any help is much appreciated.;)

[HandyAndy]

yes i think you are correct, the bit that should be 290mm , as long as you have the 69.5 to the bend & the chassis is 355mm from the build table to the top of the chassis then if so it should all be ok, :)

lets say you cut the two FF,s to the reqired 290mm will this then bring the top of your chassis down at the front to 355mm? if so then i think you,ve cracked it.:cool:

sorry if i was being long winded but i was trying to make sure the suspension bracket placings will still be correct for later in the build.

also in an earlier post you made you mention that the top of front frame was now not 75mm behind FF1, have you cut TR1 & TR2 to correct lengths? as thats the only reason i can see that you had to push the front frame forward a bit, ( this needs to be correct for suspension brackets, yes those pesky suspension brackets :D )

cheers
andy

[mark]

That sounds like could be the problem with front frame.

As Andy said The position of the suspension brackets is critical but as long as you use the jigs and dimensions as described in the book they will end up in the correct place. Its still best to have everything as close as you can though, some people have said they needed 3mm packing behind the upper front brackets to make them fit so dont worry too much ;)

[geeman]

Well it is just under 75mm as forcing tr1 and tr2 to join ff4 caused it to push ff4 back abit, but this should be fixed by shortening ff2 and 3( i desperately hope) anyway, its about 3-4mm or less pushed behindso around 72mm.

(wow, ive never worked to these tolerences before as normally if i weld somthing slightly off, i just change my design and say it was intentional and that i welded everything right :p :p :p )

[HandyAndy]

That sounds like could be the problem with front frame.

Its still best to have everything as close as you can though, some people have said they needed 3mm packing behind the upper front brackets to make them fit so dont worry too much ;)

as Mark has said, yes some(if not most) people have needed to add 3mm spacers behind the front upper suspension brackets ( i did too ), i was just making sure that the actual bend in FF2 & 3 wasn,t where the suspension bracket back face would be welded to, hope that makes sense:confused: :confused: , basically to be able to have a flat surface for the suspension bracket.

Nice one Geeman, i think you,ve sorted the front frame out & also this may help the placement of U1 & U2. :cool:

all the best
andy

[mark]

At least you know whats gone wrong and you know how to fix it! its when you dont that it goes pearshaped! ;)

[fabbyglass]

I would errr on the "keep it lower than 355mm" for the chassis height by a milly or so rather than being high as higher will play hell with body work, more to the point the fitting of the nosecone.

[AshG]

double check the measurement on br7. if that is correct the problem will be caused by the front frame being wrong. if it is the ff that is wrong and it was my chassis i would cut it out and do it again.

ff2 and ff3 are gits to cut. have you considered buying just ff2 and ff3 from armoto as they are cnc cut and spot on it will prob cost you £10 to save a lot of cocking around.

[Bonzo]

I'll second that Ash. :)

That front frame gave me a hard time :eek:

I ended up making a second one :o :o

[geeman]

Ok, problem solved, it was that the part of ff2 and ff3 that was meant to be 290mm was about 4-5mm too long on either side. I just cut into it with the angle grinder and cut about 4mm off on eithe side. The thing is once i took the grinder out, ff2 and ff3 sprund downward showing that tr1 and tr2 had been forcably bent becasue ff2 and 3 were too long. Ok now to get u7 u1 and u2 fitted:D :D

Edit: also it was a very quick fix, less than 15 min

[geeman]

Ok, well i just tacked in u1 and u2, but ive lowered tr1 and tr2 just abit lower than 355 to about 354, this means that the distance between u1 and u2 is about 359 not 361mm, but i dont think this will be a problem:rolleyes:

[HandyAndy]

Ok, well i just tacked in u1 and u2, but ive lowered tr1 and tr2 just abit lower than 355 to about 354, this means that the distance between u1 and u2 is about 359 not 361mm, but i dont think this will be a problem:rolleyes:

the measurement of 359mm instead 361mm is critical but can be resolved.............

the position of U1 & U2 creates the angle & measurement of the upper rear suspension brackets ( front suspension ) , so when time comes when you fit these brackets be aware that the measurement change will need to taken into account ;)
myself i would try to maintain the distance of 361mm between the uprights as it makes it easier to correctly place the suspension brackets.

hope this makes sense? the geometry of the suspension set up is a critical one as it affects various things.

happy building:cool:

andy

[turboporscheandy]

Hi guys I`m wanting to buy a pre cut pack from armoto but need his number or email so as to find out the lastest prices and availability-can anyone help?cheers guys!
Andrew

[Tatey]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HAYNES-ROADSTER-SPACE-FRAME-CHASSIS-PACKS_W0QQitemZ170344506872QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_C arsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item27a952e5f8&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1683%7C 240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

[HandyAndy]

Andy,
log onto ebay, get the chassis pack up on the screen (found in Haynes Roadster search) look at the chassis auction, at very bottom of the advert/auction it gives there email address / telephone number & postal address. ;)

andy

[turboporscheandy]

ah cheers mate!! Im still waiting for the email back off him so Ill give him a ring instead-thanks again andy.are ya down here 2moro?if so Ill collect table off ya and give ya a hand should ya need it-laters!
Andrew

[geeman]

Hi, ok well i only spent about an hour this afternoon,but got sb1 and sb2 welded on. I only tacked them on lightly in case i welded them at a slightly incorrect angle which was a good idea as it was only slightly off as predicted, but this was easily fixed as i left enough play in sb1's. Well atm all parts are dimensionally acurate with about +-0.5mm in most places but in one or 2 places im about 2-3mm off(not bad i guess). Well i wont be building this weekend as im busy and until next thursday as im off for the shell economy marathon at rockingham raceway:D . Here my progress so far:

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/9264/dsc4964.jpg (http://img197.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc4964.jpg)
http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/4103/dsc4965.jpg (http://img36.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc4965.jpg)

[geeman]

Also i thought i should introduce myself, well, my name is Murtaza im 16, yes 16 and currently go to trinity school in croydon. I have been involved with trinity school racing (http://www.trinityschoolracing.co.uk/)(link) for about 4 years and have a thorough interest and experiance(i hope)in all things mechanical. Trinty school racing is really what got me interested in this sort of thing in the first place and i absoloutely love it. My first car repairs were earlier this year where my dads car engine needed replacing and i volenteered to do it and all went well. I thought about building a car soon after and at first was very keen to build a replica of one of these (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_W125) and after much research i found that it would be too difficult to design this and there were too many complications of going into the unknown. I then came across ron champions book and read that, only then to find the book by chris gibbs. After further reasearch i started to build this as i have just over 2 months as my gcse's finished 2 weeks ago. I am lucky to be funded by my parents as they wholey encourage me to do things like this. I hope i havnt picked somthing to do thats to much for myself, but so far so good. Well i guess many of you will think im quite lucky to be building this at 16, but so do i:D . Well i think that i will enjoy the process of the build throughly(apart from the fact i wont be able to drive it when im finished:p ) and so far would like to thank everybody on the forum who has helped me and given me advice to get to the stage im at now. Thanks;)

[HandyAndy]

wow thats alot of involvement in a mechanical background for one so young, :cool:
the project of building a Roadster must be quite a challenge that will be something to be very proud of when you have completed the build,
may i ask how long are you thinking it will take to complete your Roadster ? i,m thinking of when you become old enough to drive etc

said with a smile :D my son is older than you & you now make me feel very old , laughs :eek: :D
seriously tho... best of luck with your build, the forum is here to help all Roadster builders regardless of age.

cheers
andy

[ACE HIGH]

Well done Geeman,I am impressed,very impressed,you can be well proud of yourself and I bet your parents are also,good on them for encouraging you.Keep up the good work,I am sure that you will see it through and you will have good reason to be proud of yourself.Something tells me that you will go a long way in this life,stay focused,see the project through to completion.Regards David

[mark]

Cant believe your tackling this at 16 years old :eek: shouldnt you be down the park drinking cider and throwing up on other 16 year olds!

On a serious note it will be a fantastic achievment for someone so young to finish a build like this. There will be times im sure when things cause you problems (im sure everyone will agree) its just part and parcel of building something like this, but keep at it and dont lose your motivation and you will get there :cool:

[flyerncle]

Well done young Man ! Be an Engineer not a Mechanic.:)

Mark,not all of them are car stealing,beer drinking drug taking Chav u hate,1 % is not that bad!

[Bonzo]

Good on you geeman :)

It is refreshing to see a youngster inerested in this type of project :cool:

I hope your build goes well & the end product exceedes your expectations :) :)

[AshG]

Well done young Man ! Be an Engineer not a Mechanic.:)



i second that.

[geeman]

HI all, thanks for all the encouragement given. I really appreciate all the help i can get and really am enjoying this so far. Handyandy, i hope to finish the bulk of this project in the coming 2 months, and then slowly get it to iva standard within a year(or if im lucky much sooner). Im 17 this september so can get my liscence then but i am nearly 100% sure i wont be able to get any insurance until im at least 19. again thanks for the encouragement, it means alot.:)

Well today i havnt been very busy, i got the chance to do some more so finished tacking on some of the rear bits, but i stopped todays work after getting througholy stuck when trying to cut sb5 and sb6 so gave up for today I thought id cut it right, then when i tried to put it in place it was completely wrong so ill try next week.

http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/1069/dsc5005.jpg (http://img507.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc5005.jpg)
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/5639/dsc5004.jpg (http://img177.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc5004.jpg)
http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/264/dsc5003.jpg (http://img507.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc5003.jpg)

Well i wont be building for more than an hour tomorrow and then will be taking a break until friday as i wont be home, ill be enjoying the shell economy marathon .
Thanks

[turboporscheandy]

Hats off to ya Murtaza! its coming along nicely-well done fella!gonna be frustrating when its built and legally ya cant drive it!(I did say legally lol!)
Andrew

[HandyAndy]

your chassis is looking really nice, thats alot you,ve achieved in a week :cool:
well done Murtaza :)

andy

[Blade]

Well done Murtaza, Chassis is looking spot on, Keep up the good work

[Tilly819]

Looks great, very inpressed, keep up the good work

[flyerncle]

AshG .
I should have been politically correct and put "technician" (owner of NVQ)but I served an apprenticeship and you know where I am comming from !

(it was more like a sentence)

[HandyAndy]

AshG .
I should have been politically correct and put "technician" (owner of NVQ)but I served an apprenticeship and you know where I am comming from !

or is it "you be the technician & i,ll be the oily rag" :D :D

andy

[flyerncle]

It's your fantasy,be the oily rag. I am a mechanic not a "technician " !!!!!:p

Not a number either !!!!!!!!

[geeman]

well ive been busy for the past 8 days and only just got back to working on it today. id call today about day 5 of the build, but i havnt spent more than a few hours today. I managed to tack in a few of the sb's at the back apart from sb5 and 6 as they are a pain to cut. I put in 2 diagonals d6 and d5, and the remaining tr's at the top front that support the suspension brackets. I also made a start on the rear suspension area doing the top and bottom frames.

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/4218/dsc6283n.jpg


http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/2287/dsc6282.jpg


http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/7177/dsc6286.jpg

[james83mills]

Lol, yeah, i knew it would be a tight fit, but i guess ill have to live with it. :D

The rage 3 compound mitre saw is literally saving me hours though as i had to cut br8 and br9 with a hacksaw as they have 70 somthing angle on it which the rage3 wont do and it took me ages and was painful so id rather stick to using the rage 3. It should make the building of the front bits ff1-ff4 a breeze and i hope to finsih that today as well. However one downside o the saw is the ammount of metal swarf and in my size build area i keep on having to vaccuum to stop stepping of leaning on it. I even have a pair of tweezers for removing metal splinters as my hands re full of em'.

you can cut the 76 degree angle using the rage you just have to make a jig for it

[mr henderson]

you can cut the 76 degree angle using the rage you just have to make a jig for it

The easy way to cut these angles (with any power saw) is to cut a piece of wood to a known angle of say 40 degrees, then clamp that, and the piece of steel you want to cut, into the saw and set it at (in this case) 36 degrees.

[geeman]

I havnt posted on here for a few days, but have been busy building for some of them. I have now completed the transmission tunnel and almost done the steering wheel supports. I couldnt finish the rear section as i havent yet bended the 19mm tube at the back. I have also made all my suspension/shock brackets and many of the chassis plates, although if i were to do this again i almost certainly woould buy the chassis plates from 3ge as it would save alot of time and hassle. I hope to start to get the suspension brackets on either tomorrow or on thursday, but id say im making good progress. My evo rage 3 blade is wearing out quickly and im now using the angle grinder much much more to cut metal, which is a shame.

http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/1091/dsc6337p.jpg (http://img194.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc6337p.jpg)

http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/9049/dsc6338t.jpg (http://img188.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc6338t.jpg)


The biggest development for em however is getting a ford sierra!! After much hunting i found one about a 40 min drive away which was taxed and mot'd till august. Its a 1.8 cvh unfourtunately with a type 9, although i thought it would have an mt75 before i bought it!!
Its a 1992 h reg and done only 80k, whcih matches the past mot certificates(was worried it may have done 180 or 280k!!) HOwever im getting wuite alot of smoke when i rev it up fully, otherwise it seems fine. Its a good car, shame im taking it apart really. Oh yeah, paid £220 for it, but the person drove it here for me so saved me a 1 hour 20 min drive and petrol and insurance costs!!
http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/8286/dsc6339.jpg (http://img188.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc6339.jpg)

[flyerncle]

It is a shame that other youngsters of your age do not follow your example and do something usefull as you are and the end product will be a very well built car.

Well done.:)

[HandyAndy]

Thats some progress Geeman, a big well done :) :cool:
& now a donor car too :eek:

you,re a credit to the youth of today, much respect :)

keep it going .

andy

[geeman]

ok, well i havnt touched it for the past two days, and have just been checking how the suspension brackets will fit and i think i may have a slight problem, just to confirm, the botom of ff2 and ff3 should be parrallel to u1 and u2, as that semms logically correct? The bottom of ff2 for me seems to be a few degrees off but i think i may have solved this by grinding off the welds at the bottom between ff2 and ff1 and most of the weld between ff2 and ff4, then using some leverage, i twisted ff2 around so it is parrallel and then tacked it back in place, it was a quick job and only took a few minutes, and i cant see any thing wrong with it now, I just wondered if there is anything i should look out for when fitting suspension brackets? Thanks

[HandyAndy]

you may need to put a spacer behind the suspension brackets to make them all line up, lots of builders have used 3mm plate behind the bracket.
make sure your jigs for mounting the brackets are to book spec as it is important to get the brackets in the correct place.
cheer
andy

[geeman]

Hi,
When you say they need a 3mm spacer, Which set of brackets are these on, just so i know when i weld them on? :)

[HandyAndy]

Hi,
When you say they need a 3mm spacer, Which set of brackets are these on, just so i know when i weld them on? :)

i found that spacers were needed on the lower & upper brackets that get welded onto FF2 & FF3.
hope this helps, there are other threads in the chassis section discussing this also.
cheers
andy

[geeman]

i found that spacers were needed on the lower & upper brackets that get welded onto FF2 & FF3.
hope this helps, there are other threads in the chassis section discussing this also.
cheers
andy

Thanks, but today i finally planned on getting those suspension brakets on, when i had completely overlooked the fact that i should have 13mm holes in the jigs where the m12 studding goes through. I dont have a drill at home that has a chuck bigger than 10mm, and dont have any drill bits bigger than that:( . I think i may endup going to screfix or equivlant tomorrow to buy a new drill and bits as i completely forgot that my drill chuck only goes to 10mm:rolleyes: , but i guess a new drill will do me good in the long run:D

[geeman]

Well i havnt really done a whole lot of wor since the 14th. I am yet to fit suspension brakets as i cant make the jigs as i keep forgetting to order stuff i need from screwfix. I always leave it till the last minute, then miss the 8pm deadline for next day delivery and then just do the same the next day:o . Also for the bolts attaching the wishbones to the suspension brakets, are they just m12 as that would make sense. also can i just use m12 studding and put a nut on either end instead odf using nuts and bolts. Thanks

[Bonzo]

Hi

Possibly 12mm studding is not the best option to use within a bush.

A set bolt would do at a push ( Threadded its entire length )

I would reccommed however that a propper shanked bolt would be the best option for the suspension bush bolts.

I have used some temporary set bolts to move my build about. When I am ready I will try to source some M12 bolts with about 40mm of plain shank & then trim the excess thread back. ;)

Before I get slated, that is just my own personal view :D :D

[geeman]

well, progress has been reasonable, ive now finalllllllyyy fitted the suspension brackets which were just really annoying to fit, but the chassis was dimensionally accurate so no real adjusments were needed, it just took ages to fit them.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2584/3775356442_4f61d7652f_o.jpg

I have also bought every thing i need to get my chassis rolling(apart fom ball joints). most of it should be delivered by tuesday. Il bee taking apart the sierra on tuesday next week, and hopefully have wheels and steering on my chassis by next friday(:D ) as there isnt a whole lot needed to be done to get to that stage. i dont need to fabricate anything else, apart from complete the lower front wishbones on delivery of the plate for it. Also in the end i went for all orange bodywork similar to spud69's and handyandy's which i cant wait for. also i wondered any one know vaguely what the lead time on booking an iva is as if its like months id better book it soon as i hope to complete the car by the end of this year at the latest, but hopefully by the start of september(doubtful) before i go back to school. also ive added all my pics to flickr, which can be found here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/8134767@N03/sets/72157621904258254/)


:D
.

[deezee]

Looking good. I would however consider rounding the edges of the mounts, as per the book. You might get away with it on wishbones, but the Shock mounts would jam for sure.

[geeman]

I rounded the edges on one of them, but it tok me ages to do one of them, so me being typical, i just left it and put the brackets on:o :D .

[deezee]

I used a bench sander to round the edges off my mounts. Took, maybe, 10 seconds each side.

[mr henderson]

I used a bench sander to round the edges off my mounts. Took, maybe, 10 seconds each side.

Easier off the chassis, though, I expect? :)

[mark]

I rounded the edges on one of them, but it tok me ages to do one of them, so me being typical, i just left it and put the brackets on:o :D .

Im sure we have all been there when you just wanna get on with it and the the thought of grinding/filing all those radius"s seems like it would take forever!

But best to do it properly first time because you will only cause yourself more work later :D

[geeman]

UHHH!! today has been really frustrating. I waited till about 1 for the ups package with all the wishbone bosses and plates. I managed to finish all the rear wishbones and the lower front ones, then as i was cutting the cds tubing to make the last 2 wishbones, my evo rage 3 saw seemed to swing up taking the cds tubing with it and shooting it into the garage wall making a gaping dent in the wall. Im glad it didnt hit me. It also put teeth marks all the way along the cds tubing digging in to thetubing about 1mm at most so now i need to buy about 300mm more tubing, but am not sure if i should still use this piece as i didnt buy any excess tubing to make my wishbones.

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/8711/dsc6529g.jpg


I called tesco direct(where i bought my saw) and they said theyll send me a new saw on wednesday and collect the old one as it no longer goes down properly to cut. I think the large spring holding the saw in place from coming down has moved itself slightly not allowing me to cut. Tomorrow is sierra butchering day and im expecting everything from 3ge components to come and the ball joints and other bits to get the car rolling. ill hopefully weld on the last few bits on wednesday and finish off the wishbones then, and hopefully spend thursday putting it all together to get it on wheels. :D

[mr henderson]

my evo rage 3 saw seemed to swing up taking the cds tubing with it and shooting it into the garage wall making a gaping dent in the wall. Im glad it didnt hit me. It also put teeth marks all the way along the cds tubing digging in to thetubing about 1mm at most so now i need to buy about 300mm more tubing, but am not sure if i should still use this piece as i didnt buy any excess tubing to make my wishbones.


I gave up with my Rage saw, have now replaced it with a metal cutting bandsaw, wish I got one in the first place.

[geeman]

tbh, i purchased a metal cutting blade for mine and it was SIGNIFICANTLY better than the blade supplied with the saw. i mean it is amazing , it cuts so much faster and neater than any other saw ive seen/used, and the metal cutting blade really makes it really good. i mean eveery cut has been perfect with this blade. However this one episode today was abit of a downer, but im getting a replacement saw so hopefully all is good, but i could have finished the wishbone today if it hadnt broken:( .

[geeman]

Well yesterday the sierra was taken apart, however i dont have enough room in the garage to store bits, so its all lying on the driveway under some blue tarp. Ive been busy today taking apart the front and rear subframes. Yesterday i also got my deliver froim 3ge components with the rear uprights and other bits. I also got a new rage 3 saw delivered after my old one broke. I also have a set of ball joints for the front end, and have put in the suspension bushes in my complete wishbones. I also pu together the rear end and put the rear uprights on. I hope to have the steering and front hubs fitted tomorrow.

I also wondered, i have rear drum brakes, and i cant figure out how to seperate the 2 drums as there is the handbrake cable(i think) joining them together which i cant get apart.

Also what is the size of the rear hub nut on the drum as ill go to halfords tomorrow and buy the correct socket.

All seems to be going well, apart from when i wash my hands it stings like crazy as i have soooo many cuuts on them now, about 2 or 3 on each finger.

[andyp]

41 mm socket for the rear hub nuts

[RAYLEE29]

sorry but you wont get the socket from halfords have to try elsewhere im afraid bud
Ray:)

[geeman]

ahhh, just realised they dont have it... where could i get one thats not online?

[Matthew]

You could try a local motor factor - the one nearest me keeps a pretty good selection of large sockets.

Matt

[geeman]

good idea, ill try a few tomorrow. Thanks.

[mark]

I got mine from local motor factors for for the princely sum of £8 :D

[flyerncle]

Sockets that size are usually 3/4 drive, so bear that in mind you may need to buy a bar aswell.

[geeman]

Sockets that size are usually 3/4 drive, so bear that in mind you may need to buy a bar aswell.

i got a good socket set and a huge 3/4in breaker bar so 3/4 in aint a prob. however as the rear hub isnt on the car, im wondering if ill be able to get the leverage to undo the nut as i guess it would be done up tightly. im also having a real problem getting the handbrake cable off the rear drums :mad: :mad: .

Unfortunatly i dont think ill have a rolling chassis tomorrow as i dont have the plate for the lower front wishbones so havnt made them:( . But apart from that the project is going well

ALso anyone know how to get track rod ends off the sierra steering rack, as they seem stuck on too well:o ?

[flyerncle]

I used a large pair of Stilson's around the drive shaft and a 4ft long 3/4 drive bar and they were still "kin" tight,dont forget one is left hand thread.
Use a little heat on the TRE's, also tapping around the treaded housing against something solid like a vice shifts the crud around them.

Keep shaft,hub,flange etc together and mark them left and right for future reference and replace bearings while they are out.

Good luck.

[jasongray5]

If you have an agricultural engineers near you, they will have a 1" Impact wrench, take the rear sub-frame down to them, your nuts will be off within seconds...:eek:
A garage that deals with lorrys and HGV's may also have what your after
Jas Gray

[Matthew]

If the hub is still on the subframe then you could put the wheel back on and jam it solid with a spare piece of steel. The weight of the subframe should then give you enough leverage.

It worked for me, but the subframe was still attached to the Sierra which made life a bit easier.

Matt

[Bonzo]

I forgot to undo the hub nuts on my first donor :eek:

Should know better but forgot anyway :o

My rattle gun at full tilt wouldn't shift em.

Ended up using a 1" drive socket & T bar + a 6 foot long scaffold pole . One person standing on the subframe & another person standing on a long flat pice of 12mm thick bar that was trapping the wheel studs.

If you don't want to damage the studs, put a tiny piece of rubber hose on them ( The donor will have plenty spare )
If you do damage the stud thread, don't worry, simple to replace & easy to get hold of ;)

Good luck, those nuts are about as tight as it gets. :(

[geeman]

ok, i phoned 11 places just now looking for a 41mm socket, only one place said they had it in stock, but they wanted £30 for a socket, there no way id do that. I phoned camberly auto factors and they said they can order one in for this afternoon for £14 so i will get it from them now.

[mark]

I had to heat mine up then get my impact gun on them.

Heating stuff up always helps............

Thats what i keep telling the other half when shes making my dinner :D

[geeman]

Well today was a pretty fulfiling day as for the last foew days the work on the car has been wuite painful and not so enjoyable(several cuts and brusies and burns).

Today i went to get the 41mm socket around 3pm and then got straight on the car from then. i managed to get the rear hub nuts off preety easily, i just put the wheels on the hub, and then put bricks on either side of it and got someone else to hold it in place as easily as possible while i undid them, AND i remembered that the left side hass an opposite thread.:D .


After that i spent almost 2 HOURS trying to just get the handbrake cable disconected from the hubs, it was a real pain as ive never touched drum brakes before and just didnt get hoe to disconnect it, i didnt understand the haynes manual for the sierra at all either. I eventually got it out, and then sdecided to put the rear right side of the car on a wheel (as i didnt have enough m12 studding left for the left hand side) Unfourtunately i would have had all 4 wheels on if i had any more m12 studding and the lower wishbone plates as i recieved them unbent from the seller so i am awaiting a bent set of lower wishbone plate which i should get next tuesday:( , but seeing the quater rolling chassis is nice as it gives a real sense of achievement to get to this stage.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3418/3798305457_4f461f01f4.jpg
One thing that i am worried about id the steering column attached to the wheel as i dont see how that will fit to plates cp15 and the steering wheel support as there are noe boltholes in the steering wheel assembly for bolts to attach to cp15:confused: .

I also tried some electrolytic derusting (http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/rust/electrolytic_derusting.htm) using some baking soda water and stainless steel. It worked magic on one of the front habs. the pics in my set dont really do it justice as neaarly all the surface rust has gone and for some reason the hub that i derusted turns much more freely.

[HandyAndy]

a big well done on your build, putting the rear wheel on does make it feel more like a car, it gives the chassis a sense of width, as you can now picture the rolling width so much more,
don,t get upset about a delay for parts, the fact that you have only been building approx 6 to 7 weeks & to get this far so quickly , you are doing a damm fine job, well done.

the steering wheel bits should have a bright steel bracket attached about 4inches further down the column from the switch wires ??? :confused:

all the best & keep up the great work.

andy:)

[Bonzo]

A very big well done on your progress to date :cool:

You can feel very proud of what you have achieved in such a short space of time. ;) :)

The Sierra steering wheel should haev been held on the donor car with a yoke plate, silver in colour.
This is the plate that bolts onto the steering wheel support frame on the Roadster.
It is quite easy to discard this when you strip the donor or even worse leave it on the donor.

I'll try and take a photo for you in a moment.

Well done

[geeman]

ahh crap, that would have been binned so i dont have it:( :rolleyes: . here is all i ahve from the steering wheel
http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/4953/dsc6545.jpg

[Bonzo]

Here's a couple of photos that may help to make things clearer :)

Yoke

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj266/Bonzoronnie/yoke1.jpg


Yoke fitted

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj266/Bonzoronnie/yoke2.jpg

I hope that helps you :)

[HandyAndy]

;) not to worry, a fellow forum member has made a very nice replacement part that does that job, i believe its billet made & a very reasonable price too.

it fits on to that slotted area on the column then attaches to CP15.

i,m sure he,ll be along soon too,

andy:)

[mr henderson]

I've come across two different types of Sierra column, I remember having to make up one good one from two that had different required features. I'm afraid i can't remember the details, though, but I do remember that the mounting bracket was one of the issues.

[Bonzo]

ahh crap, that would have been binned so i dont have it:( :rolleyes: . here is all i ahve from the steering wheel


The one in the top picture is a spare one if it will help you out. I don't have the pinch bolt assembly though.

If you are not wanting an adjustable steering set up then a plain bolt & crush tube will do the trick nicely. ;)

[geeman]

ok, i guess il fabricate my own bracet, looks like somthing that would be easy to replicate in some way. Also the only reason i am yet to fit cp 15 and the steering supports to the chassis yet is that i am not sure how far apart the 2 cp15 plates are meant to be as i cant find any reference to the distance between them in the book.:confused:

[geeman]

The one in the top picture is a spare one if it will help you out. I don't have the pinch bolt assembly though.

If you are not wanting an adjustable steering set up then a plain bolt & crush tube will do the trick nicely. ;)

oh, never saw this reply, thanks for the offer Bonzo, but ill see what i can do in terms of making my own bracket as i dont think it will be of any problem by the looks of it. hmm.. is it just me(probably is) or can i not actually find the distance between the 2 cp15 plates in the book as i just had another good look through it :confused:

[HandyAndy]

there is a thread with measurements, tho it might be one of the threads that went missing,
tho once you have the plate that attaches the column to CP15 it does become clearer, if you wish i can measure my position tomorrow for you & either phone you with them or post on the forum ?
it also helps if you have CP16 in place as the column seems to "fall naturally" into place.

would the measurements from my chassis help?
cheers
andy:)

[geeman]

i fitted cp16 quite a while ago, however as i dont have the bracket:rolleyes: , i cant tell what sort of distance to place it. If you could get the measurements and put 'em up here that would be great:) . Thanks!!!

on another completely different note, anyone know where i can get a roll bar made cheaply. I remember reading on here a while ago that someone was doing group buys of roll bars fairly cheaply, i wonder if that is still possible, as it seems that the roadster building community is quickly growing and there should be many more people in need of a roll bar:D

[AshG]

geeman when doing the electrolysis use mild steel. using stainless steel creates a substance called chromium. chromium causes cancer if you have too much exposure. the water you have used already will be contaminated. i suggest that you dispose of it by not tipping it down the drain.

[geeman]

geeman when doing the electrolysis use mild steel. using stainless steel creates a substance called chromium. chromium causes cancer if you have too much exposure. the water you have used already will be contaminated. i suggest that you dispose of it by not tipping it down the drain.

whoops.. its a bit late for not tipping it down the dain... however i wish i had been told to use mild steel in the first place as i used my mums pots frrom the kitchen for tthe stainless steel. i have plenty of mild steel, i just followed the instructions in tthe link i had put in a prievious post

[HandyAndy]

sorry for being late with the info, had busy day with my family celebrating my mum,s 80th birthday :)

measurements for you......

the CP15 plate that is on the outside(offside) is 120mm from the inner edge of TR2 along the TR9 rail, then you have the 40mm width of CP15 then a 60mm gap to the next CP15 plate.

i hope this makes sense & hope it helps:)

cheers
andy:)

[geeman]

sorry for being late with the info, had busy day with my family celebrating my mum,s 80th birthday

measurements for you......

the CP15 plate that is on the outside(offside) is 120mm from the inner edge of TR2 along the TR9 rail, then you have the 40mm width of CP15 then a 60mm gap to the next CP15 plate.

i hope this makes sense & hope it helps:)

cheers
andy:)


Thanks!!! that will help me get the steering bits fitted. Ill probably do it on monday as i wont be doing any work tomorrow. Today i made the diff mounting plates, made plates cp10 and fitted them, fitted the diff, and then fitted the other wheel so the whole rear section is rolling:D . I then wheel barrowed the chassis outside on the driveway and my neighbours finally realised what i was doing with al the metal and nosie in my garage.

also, the drive shafts were a tight fit, but nevertheless did fit. I also bought some swarfega from halfords as i was tired of dirty hands and it sucessfully gets rid of oil off my hand(mum was killing me for getting all the walls black:rolleyes: )

[geeman]

ok, well i tried fitting the steering supports, which seem ok, however im bemused as to how this is all going to work. for a start my steering column doesnt look like it is right, what goes in the cp16 hole to support the coloumn and wheredo you extend it from, it just seems like it wont reach the universal joints at the end of the column the is on the rack as the suspension upright at the front is in the way. I know i have probably not been very clear but hope the pics help. Also where abouts does the yoke go on the coloumn as shown by bonzo a few posts before. It seems that i never had one of those in the first place:confused:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2606/3804123492_5c97e0c1aa_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3042/3803307635_c46f586261_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2655/3804123036_5a2959ff0a_b.jpg

Also, i should say the steering coloumn does sit futher down than what is in the pics, but not my much. THanks

[deezee]

My steering column sits further back. As its meant too. You'll need to make an extension to reach the UJ. I'm going to look through my build photos to show how I got around it.

[geeman]

My steering column sits further back. As its meant too. You'll need to make an extension to reach the UJ. I'm going to look through my build photos to show how I got around it.

really, it sits further back than what i took a pic of. Where did you all extend it from, and by how much. Thanks

(hope im not questioning too much:o )

[Bonzo]

Right, here goes, I'll try to cover it all for you.

The yoke that was posted in one of my pictures bolts to the large holes in the support frame. You'll need to use some largish & thickish penny washers to ensure a good fixing.

At the bottom of the yoke there is a hole to take a Pinch bolt. This bolt passes through the two slotted holes on the underside of the steering column.

Originally this would have been fitted with an adjustmet lever & plastic fittings to help lock things in place.

You will need to fabricate some form of crush tube in order to bolt up tightly.

Your steering wheel is a tad too far forward, needs to come back a little.
The yoke & pinch bolt assembly should give you more or less the correct position.

You need a new steering column bush kit for the large hole in the bulkhead, they are available on ebay for about £5
Once this is fitted the shaft will become quite rigid.

Now, this is how I extended my shaft ....OOerrr that sounds a bit rude :D :D

The section that you currently have connected to the steering rack is the piece I used.

It was cut in half, I found some thick wall tube, cut it to the right length. I then welded the part that I cut in half to each end of the tube.

As far as I can tell. That part is made of cast steel & welded OK.
That said, as a safety feature, I will drill each end through & place a double roll pin in there.

My shaft ended up just right & not too close to the chassis or any other components. ;)

[deezee]

Yeah, mine (which is an adjustable steering column) sits with maybe 100mm past the plate. Then the 1st section of the cut UJ bolts on, then the extension tube (around 400mm I think) then the other half of the UJ, that goes onto the steering rack.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3470/3804213088_f417e246ab_o.jpg

[HandyAndy]

the little plastic collar needs to go further up the column than how you have it at the mo, this then sits inside the rubber grommet thing that is held in place by the hole in the plate CP16, these are available for £4 off ebay if you haven,t got one.
i have a few pics of how i extended my column down to the coupling on the steering rack,
i,ll find them & post them up.

and no you are NOT asking too many questions, thats the purpose of the forum, i would be lost without the answers of the lots of questions i,ve asked.

cheers
andy:)

[geeman]

Right, here goes, I'll try to cover it all for you.

The yoke that was posted in one of my pictures bolts to the large holes in the support frame. You'll need to use some largish & thickish penny washers to ensure a good fixing.

At the bottom of the yoke there is a hole to take a Pinch bolt. This bolt passes through the two slotted holes on the underside of the steering column.

Originally this would have been fitted with an adjustmet lever & plastic fittings to help lock things in place.

You will need to fabricate some form of crush tube in order to bolt up tightly.

Your steering wheel is a tad too far forward, needs to come back a little.
The yoke & pinch bolt assembly should give you more or less the correct position.

You need a new steering column bush kit for the large hole in the bulkhead, they are available on ebay for about £5
Once this is fitted the shaft will become quite rigid.

Now, this is how I extended my shaft ....OOerrr that sounds a bit rude :D :D

The section that you currently have connected to the steering rack is the piece I used.

It was cut in half, I found some thick wall tube, cut it to the right length. I then welded the part that I cut in half to each end of the tube.

As far as I can tell. That part is made of cast steel & welded OK.
That said, as a safety feature, I will drill each end through & place a double roll pin in there.

My shaft ended up just right & not too close to the chassis or any other components.

AHHH.. BRILLIANT.. Thanks for the long but full reply. i get it now. ok, ill go right aheand and fit it. i must have had one of my moments:rolleyes: as alot of what you said seems what would be fairly obvious, but... nothings ever easy:o

[HandyAndy]

:eek: i,m too slow, precisely as the two above posts, thats how i did mine.

andy:)

[geeman]

Yeah, mine (which is an adjustable steering column) sits with maybe 100mm past the plate. Then the 1st section of the cut UJ bolts on, then the extension tube (around 400mm I think) then the other half of the UJ, that goes onto the steering rack.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3470/3804213088_f417e246ab_o.jpg

thanks, the picture is of great help!! ;)

[geeman]

the little plastic collar needs to go further up the column than how you have it at the mo, this then sits inside the rubber grommet thing that is held in place by the hole in the plate CP16, these are available for £4 off ebay if you haven,t got one.
i have a few pics of how i extended my column down to the coupling on the steering rack,
i,ll find them & post them up.

and no you are NOT asking too many questions, thats the purpose of the forum, i would be lost without the answers of the lots of questions i,ve asked.

cheers
andy:)

ok, so thats what the plastic collar was for, i was thiinking of hammering/cutting it off:o .

I really struggle to see where i would be without the almost instant help recieved from these forums;) . A BIG thanks to you all!!!!

[Bonzo]

Heres a picture to give you a better idea :)

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj266/Bonzoronnie/car.jpg

Best I could manage.

Feel free to admire all of the mess in the workshop :D

deezee

I noticed that you did exactly the same as me ;)

EDIT

Before someone picks up on it, I know the safety washer has to sit on the plastic bush.
I have a new one that I will fit during the final assembly.

[geeman]

YAY... i fabricated a bracket for the steering and fitted that, i then spent some time trying to accurately measure the extension require and it came to just under 400mm extension. one thing that you may all object to me doing though is the fact that i used 25mm square tubing wiht a 2.5mm wall as that was the only suitable metal i had for it. There is a problem though, the extension seems to be hitting u2 and as it is square tubingwhen i turn the wheen when it gets to the right andgle on the edge of the square tubing, it pushes the extention away from u2., but it still turns freely, but it is touching u2, i can see from bonzos pic the coloumn is extremely close to u2, but mine is just about touching.

[geeman]

damn. just ran into abit of a problem, i dont have the keys atm, so anyone know how to disable the steering wheel lock without them:confused: :p :o

[deezee]

I'm afraid the only way I know involves a screwdriver and wrecks the lock.... misspent youth I guess.

[Matthew]

Looks like you just had the same day I did.

It took me the whole day just to get the steering support brackets right, not helped by my total inability to calculate the correct angles to cut. I've descided that me and compound mitres just don't mix, but I have some excuse in that I've a MT75 gearbox so the transmission tunnel angles don't match what's in the book. I also saw some posts on another thread that suggested mounting the bracket on top of the top tube made fitting the side panels harder, so mounted it to the side of the tube instead.

Out of interest, what have you made the distance from the centreline of the steering column to the centreline of the chassis?

Matt

[geeman]

Looks like you just had the same day I did.

It took me the whole day just to get the steering support brackets right, not helped by my total inability to calculate the correct angles to cut. I've descided that me and compound mitres just don't mix, but I have some excuse in that I've a MT75 gearbox so the transmission tunnel angles don't match what's in the book. I also saw some posts on another thread that suggested mounting the bracket on top of the top tube made fitting the side panels harder, so mounted it to the side of the tube instead.

Out of interest, what have you made the distance from the centreline of the steering column to the centreline of the chassis?

Matt

Hi, i eventually got it all fitted and uploaded a few ppics if it helps anyone,(all in the link in my sig)


I measured the distance and along tr8 it is just over 250mm from the centre of steering column, to centre of chassis.


Also for those interested i made the braket i threw out with some 3mm stip bent and bent it around the steering column and then welded and drilled some scrap 3mm steel around it.(also if youre wondering i will eventually get around to drilling holes for the :p pinch bolt(oh yeah and i will add some bracing in the bracket as well eventually))

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3516/3805630992_a3e8761eb5.jpg


Completed steering bits:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2602/3805631798_0c86a2d00c.jpg

[deezee]

Maybe I'm being an idiot, or I've not read all your posts right, but isn't your steering wheel support frame not in the right place. My Haynes book isn't at home, so I don't know the tube name. But the one on the right side of the steering wheel support frame.... doesn't that line up to the outside of the rail?

[Matthew]

Maybe I'm being an idiot, or I've not read all your posts right, but isn't your steering wheel support frame not in the right place. My Haynes book isn't at home, so I don't know the tube name. But the one on the right side of the steering wheel support frame.... doesn't that line up to the outside of the rail?

You're right - it does line up to the outside of the rail in the book, but a couple of people have suggested that fitting the bodywork is easier if you mount it on the inside like geeman (and I) have. So long as the top of SW2 is at the correct height and distance from TR8 I can't see any reason why it would make a difference.

Matt

[geeman]

Maybe I'm being an idiot, or I've not read all your posts right, but isn't your steering wheel support frame not in the right place. My Haynes book isn't at home, so I don't know the tube name. But the one on the right side of the steering wheel support frame.... doesn't that line up to the outside of the rail?

oh yeah, the top part of the the steering support frame is shortend by 25mm so the frame doesnt sit on tr2 (the top rail on the side if tr2 isnt right) this is so the fibregrass stuff from fabby fits better as it sits on that side edge. hopw thats clear

Also i will be putting some box section under the bit that is sitting on the edge of tr2 to support it.

[frankie boy]

HI
Im now on my second roadster. I have put my supports as geeman. It saves cutting the scuttle close to the out side edge and stopping it from starring(cracking). Not a problem if you are making one form steel.

[les g]

hi guys
yes that is exactly what fabby recommends
and then brace it with a a bit of box in the area just below the the blue disc in geemans picture
cheers geeman that has really cleared up what i was trying to put across in my previous post
cheers les g..

[geeman]

hi guys
yes that is exactly what fabby recommends
and then brace it with a a bit of box in the area just below the the blue disc in geemans picture
cheers geeman that has really cleared up what i was trying to put across in my previous post
cheers les g..

after i read what you told me to do earlier it became much clearer when i actually did it. hmmm... i have no idea what that blue ring is... it might be a water bottle lid.

[HandyAndy]

Geeman....

can i ask.....why is there a gap between your pedal box plate & CP16 ?

as from the photo it looks like there is a gap ??:confused:

cheers
andy:)

[geeman]

youre right there is a gap in the photo, but it isnt fitted in place. i must have just left the pedal box plate in place there as i was checking if it fitted earlier today. it does go flush with cp16.

Thanks


on a completely different not, i applied for my provisional liscence today as i will be 17 in september and can drive in not too long !! :)

[HandyAndy]

sorry, wasn,t trying to be a pain

i just didn,t want you to tack/weld it in place like that, as obviously you know it fits from slotting it into place from the engine bay side :cool:

it looks like the pedal box is from 3GE, that,ll fit no prob, :cool:

nice one going for your license, you,ll be 17 in september makes me feel REALLY old :eek: i,m 29yrs ahead of you :o

once your Roadster is finished you,ll be able to drive it on private land or on the road when insurance is sorted, sounds like a good excuse for a track day eh???

all the best
andy

[fabbyglass]

That's it, makes your life easier when fitting the scuttle as no need to take a big chunk out of the base to allow it to fit. Also helps with the sides whether using grp or ali...I used to use two bits of 1" diameter tube welded onto the inside rail then made a hoop in 3/4 diameter tube, plop that into the 1" diameter tubes and angle it to suit then weld it up....neat and very simples:D

[jasongray5]

That's it, makes your life easier when fitting the scuttle as no need to take a big chunk out of the base to allow it to fit. Also helps with the sides whether using grp or ali...I used to use two bits of 1" diameter tube welded onto the inside rail then made a hoop in 3/4 diameter tube, plop that into the 1" diameter tubes and angle it to suit then weld it up....neat and very simples:D

Any chance of a picture of how you did it Mark?

[3GE Components]

Hey Jas, have you started your own website for electrical stuff, or has you address book been hijacked?

It looks like it was sent by Ali G (no relation to Ash! :D )

vHey，
how are you doing recently?
I would like to introduce you a very good company and its website is www.welt188.com .It can offer you all kinds of electronic products that you may be in need,such as laptops ,gps ,TV LCD,cell phones,ps3,MP3/4,motorcycles and etc........
You can take some time to have a check ,there must be something interesting you 'd like to purchase .
The contact email: welt188@188.com MSN: welt-188@hotmail.com
TEL: 0086+15110177918
Hope you can enjoy yourself in shopping from that company ! Regards


I

Regards

John

[geeman]

ok.. well as i couldnt ge tthe front wheels on today, i thought id try fitting some engine and gearbox mounts. i got the engine in the chassis relatively easily, but i had to cut out tr as i can imagine the engine fitting with it in place. my next problem is that the steering coloumn wont reack the rack as the mont that is on the engine gets in the way of it. I have a 1.8 cvh and wondered what the mounts are meant to be like for it, as the engine wonot go low enough for the steering column to be at the right angle to reach the steering rack. any suggestions for those who have a cvh??
Ill try and get some pics later to better descibe my problem.

Thanks

[jasongray5]

Unfortunately I havent had the time for anything like that John!
Indeed I have been hacked/hi-jacked:eek:
Teach me for using the same password everywhere...:o

Cheers For the concern matey!

[Bonzo]

ok.. well as i couldnt ge tthe front wheels on today, i thought id try fitting some engine and gearbox mounts. i got the engine in the chassis relatively easily, but i had to cut out tr as i can imagine the engine fitting with it in place. my next problem is that the steering coloumn wont reack the rack as the mont that is on the engine gets in the way of it. I have a 1.8 cvh and wondered what the mounts are meant to be like for it, as the engine wonot go low enough for the steering column to be at the right angle to reach the steering rack. any suggestions for those who have a cvh??
Ill try and get some pics later to better descibe my problem.

Thanks

The original engine mounting rubbers are quite tall & CVH alloy engine mounts are quite bulky :eek:

You may find that you will need to fabricate your own custom mounting arms to avoid the need of re-routing the steering shaft ;)

If you want a bit more freedom to be creative with the engine mountings. You can pick up some landrover rubber engine mounts on ebay for about a Fiver. A lot less bulkier than the Sierra ones & more than up to the job. :) :)

[Bonzo]

Here's a picture that may help give you some ideas :)

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj266/Bonzoronnie/mount.jpg

That's a Land Rover mounting rubber

I know I am using the Zetec engine but by chance, that side of the engine block is the same fitment as the CVH ;)

I have left it tacked up at the moment, i'll probably re-make it when i get some thicker wall box section :o

[geeman]

ok, thanks bonzo, i was hoping it wouldnt come to me having to make my own bracket, but i guess ill have to. Did you also make your own bracket on the other side or keep the one that was on your zetec? i would have made the brackets today, but i went into the garage, was about to wheel the chassis outside, it started raining so i couldnt be bothered really. :rolleyes:

One other thing is how far in do people with type 9's maake them sit. im wondering how far in it should go.

Today i welded up the front lower wishbones and so now nearly have a complete set of wishbones, just need to weld the shock bracket on the wishbone.

Ill put the wheels on tomorrow on the front and hopefully make the engine mounts soon.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2540/3807771483_78a2443d3b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2472/3807770937_f79fd11a2c_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2591/3807771739_2efe1021ec.jpg

[HandyAndy]

Hi geeman,

i,m using the 1.8cvh engine & i also had to make up an engine mount for the drivers side so as to allow the steerong column to fit,
i used the original ford alloy mount for the passenger side & used the original rubber mounts on both sides.
i can post some photos later tonight of engine position etc,

as for the gearbox position, basically you can use the reversing light switch on the drivers side of the gearbox as a guide to the forward post tranny tunnel upright next to your left leg (sorry haven,t got the book with me).
the gearbox position then dictates the engine position.

if you look in the thread "big day" in the chassis section there are some photos of my engine/gearbox fitting.

cheers
andy:)

[geeman]

Hi geeman,

i,m using the 1.8cvh engine & i also had to make up an engine mount for the drivers side so as to allow the steerong column to fit,
i used the original ford alloy mount for the passenger side & used the original rubber mounts on both sides.
i can post some photos later tonight of engine position etc,

as for the gearbox position, basically you can use the reversing light switch on the drivers side of the gearbox as a guide to the forward post tranny tunnel upright next to your left leg (sorry haven,t got the book with me).
the gearbox position then dictates the engine position.

if you look in the thread "big day" in the chassis section there are some photos of my engine/gearbox fitting.

cheers
andy:)
Thanks, i just wondered that i ended up cutting this(cant remember name of that tr) out as there is no was the engine would fit with the carbeuretter and other bits on it so i ended up cutting it out in frustration. i still dont think the engine will fit with that tr in place.

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/8113/capturerku.jpg


do you have a t9 or mt75? ALso could you get a pic of where the gear lever would go so i can see where abouts that is in the transmission tunnel it sits.

ive also for the past few days successfully resisted the urge ot sit in it and make silly car noises.:rolleyes:

Thanks!!

[HandyAndy]

Hi, yes sorry i should,ve mentioned that rail needs to be cut out for when you fit the carb & manifold etc,
i,ll get some photos of the gearbox/lever position for you later.

go on.....sit in it & make some funny noises, you won,t be the first or the last to do that :D :D :D

cheers
andy:)

[HandyAndy]

sorry, forgot to say........i,m using a type 9 gearbox.

andy

[HandyAndy]

here,s a couple of pics to help with your engine/box install,
sorry i haven,t got any showing the gear stick position but these might help.

http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt335/handyandy_photo/Haynes%20Roadster/kitcar267.jpg

http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt335/handyandy_photo/Haynes%20Roadster/kitcar286.jpg

http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt335/handyandy_photo/Haynes%20Roadster/kitcar287.jpg

sorry that the first pic is a bit fuzzy, but you can see the position of the engine.

cheers
andy

[geeman]

Thanks for those pics, it made me realise why i couldnt get the engine to fit just right. I completely forgot to cut out the bit between the u7 and u6 uprights in the chassis:rolleyes:. No wonder the gearbox wasnt going in all the way:o ! im just laughing at myself right now as i spent half a day standing about thinking why the engine wouldnt go in fully and only just realised that i forgot to cut that bit out:p . hahaha, i cant stop laughing at that:rolleyes:

[HandyAndy]

i imagine a few swear words were uttered eh??? :D

glad the photos have helped ;) :)

sometimes it helps to stop when you hit a "problem", take stock of whats happening & sit down with a cuppa & read the book again. ;)

andy

[geeman]

i imagine a few swear words were uttered eh??? :D

glad the photos have helped

sometimes it helps to stop when you hit a "problem", take stock of whats happening & sit down with a cuppa & read the book again.

andy

i think its more of a feeling of me thinking.. what the hell was i thinking trying to fit an engine in a space too small:o :p

i think my lack of sleep and constant smell of buring paint and oil and inhaling too much argon is finally getting to me..... :rolleyes:

[HandyAndy]

here,s another photo that might help....

http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt335/handyandy_photo/Haynes%20Roadster/kitcar274.jpg

[geeman]

here,s another photo that might help....

http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt335/handyandy_photo/Haynes%20Roadster/kitcar274.jpg

thanks for the photos, i should be able to fabricate my engine mounts soon now.

i still cant believe what i was trying to do earlier.. i even tried putting bricks behind the rear wheels to stop it moving, and i pushed on the engine as hard as possible to try to move it. :D

[HandyAndy]

no prob, ;)

in the above photo the only part of the engine/box that is lower than the bottom chassis rails is 25mm of the gearbox bell housing, the sump of the engine is flush with the lower chassis rails, but i have used a shortened sump from a zetec engine, so it all depends on how much your sump is shortened by, to how much clearance you have below the engine.

when fitting the engine/box..... try to keep the output shaft of the gearbox level with the center of the diff flange ;) .

cheers
andy

[Bonzo]

Thanks for those pics, it made me realise why i couldnt get the engine to fit just right. I completely forgot to cut out the bit between the u7 and u6 uprights in the chassis. No wonder the gearbox wasnt going in all the way ! im just laughing at myself right now as i spent half a day standing about thinking why the engine wouldnt go in fully and only just realised that i forgot to cut that bit out hahaha, i cant stop laughing at that

Don't you just hate it when things like that happen :D :D

I fitted my engine & box in as a single unit.
Just couldn't manage to roll the chassis forward as I was gently lowering it all down.
Spent ages looking for snags, then noticed I still had a wheel chock under the back wheel. :o :D

[geeman]

Don't you just hate it when things like that happen :D :D

I fitted my engine & box in as a single unit.
Just couldn't manage to roll the chassis forward as I was gently lowering it all down.
Spent ages looking for snags, then noticed I still had a wheel chock under the back wheel.

the worst one for me though was i was trying to weld and as i have a hf start tig, the little hf spark happens at the beggining, and if you dont connect an earth lead to the workpiece you act as the earth to the workpice and you get a nice little shock. what was funny though is i didnt realise i hadnt connected the earth lead for ages, i kept trying ajusting gas, doing stuff to the welder, but only after about 30 min oof thinking..ahhh, im going to have to get this welder repaired... i realised id forgotton to connect the earth lead.. :p

[geeman]

well today i half gave up for the day, firstly i cut out the bit i forgot to cut out for fitting the engine. I then started reaming the bottom of the front hubs to fit the ball joints, after about 35 min of continuous reaming and a VERY painful arm i stoppedd and left it for a few hours, i then weled on the shock bracket on the lower front wishbones but only just realised that it was meant to be 300mm from the centre of the bush tubes, not 300mm from the end of the wishbones, so will grind off the welds tomorrow and re weld them on. i also stared putiing on all the front running gear, but wasnt sure which way around the mushroom insert was meant to go, but i think the hole in it is meant to be as far in as possible. I then treid to fit the steering rack extensions, but they wont go on all the way as the rack starts spinning then. how do i stop the actual steering rack arm from spinning? today has been abit of a pain as most things that could go wrong went wrong!!!:(

[HandyAndy]

the reaming should tke approx 10 mins per upright, just keep checking that you don,t go too far with the reaming.

as for steering extensions, are they the ones that are too long?
mine are from Rally Design & fit like a glove,
check the internal depth of the thread in the extension in relation to the length of thread thats on the actual steering rack, they may not be matching.

the mushroom is to sit fully into the upright with the offset hole towards the front of the car.

hope this helps.

andy:)

[geeman]

the reaming should tke approx 10 mins per upright, just keep checking that you don,t go too far with the reaming.

as for steering extensions, are they the ones that are too long?
mine are from Rally Design & fit like a glove,
check the internal depth of the thread in the extension in relation to the length of thread thats on the actual steering rack, they may not be matching.

the mushroom is to sit fully into the upright with the offset hole towards the front of the car.

hope this helps.

andy:)

thanks, i got the rack extensions from rogue engineering(the company from ebay that selss the bosses for the top wishbones). the depth of the tread is long enough, and the extension moves on the rack freely, but as i bought a used mk2 excort rack, the part of the thread that previosly didnt have any track rod ends on is abit stiff so its hard to screw the extension on any more as the rack arm just spins as well then.

ok, ill rotate the mushrooms tomorrow and hopefull put the front wheels on and engine mounts in. Thanks!

[HandyAndy]

if the extensions you have are made to book spec then i think they are too long, if i remember correctly when you fit them & put the wheels on then the wheels will be pointing outwards instead of straight on , not 100% sure but somebody else had a similar problem,
what total length are your steering rack extensions?

andy:)

[geeman]

ok my rack total extension is 185mm, the thread depth of the extension is enough to go over the whole thread of the mk2 escort rack.

[mark]

if the extensions you have are made to book spec then i think they are too long, if i remember correctly when you fit them & put the wheels on then the wheels will be pointing outwards instead of straight on , not 100% sure but somebody else had a similar problem,
what total length are your steering rack extensions?

andy:)

It was me!

If they are book spec they will be too long as i found out :mad:

The rally design aluminium jobbies are perfect though, and very nicely made too :)

[RAYLEE29]

just a quicky the book extensions are too long i made mine 125mm long
ive only set the track wit a tape measure so far but beleive i have enough adjustment with them at 125mm
Ray:)
ps you can stop the track rods turning wit some mole grips but the threads should go full depth by hand on no account should you have to use force
hope this helps:)

[HandyAndy]

It was me!

If they are book spec they will be too long as i found out

The rally design aluminium jobbies are perfect though, and very nicely made too

Mark,
i didn,t want to say who ;) :)

i haven,t got the book with me Geeman, but i think the extensions you have are too long, i think they will make the wheels point outwards, turning left & right at the same time :eek:

but i think you can shorten them but will probably need re tapping, might be easier to buy some from Rally Design (£25 i believe)

andy:)

[geeman]

i guess simply shortening the threaded ends of the extentions arent going to work then:( .... (a bad day made worst:( )

[HandyAndy]

:o sorry Geeman,,

but tomorrow will be a better day for you, now you know of the prob;)

andy:)

[geeman]

well i was busy yesterday doing other things but today got the front wheels on now so its now a fully rolling chassis, however, i havnt got the steering rack problems sorted. i maganged to getb the old t5rack rod ends off the sierra rack by welding some box section onto it to act as a lever to stop the rack arm from spinning when undoing the track rod end. i mean it rellly was tight and siuezed on, it was nearly as tight a a hub nut!. I think this might be the reason that i cant screw my rack extentions on to the escort rack as the thead on the escort rack has bits stuck in the thread. Also i thought of a possible solution to the problem of my extentions being to long, why cant i just shortn the escort rack and then screw on the extension, and is nessacary shorten the extensions. Thanks

[RAYLEE29]

Shorten the extensions leave the rack standard.
If later on you need to change the rack for any reason then its a simple swap.
In all my mods on cars I always try to keep the consumables or parts that may wear standard.
Ray:)

[geeman]

ok, well today seing the engine in the correct place was good and i spent about 2 hours cleaning up the garage as well. i only spent an hour on the car and it really is surprising how easy it is to place the engine in the car as it take around 5-10 min at most, however pulling the engine crane with engine up a steep driveway with only myself is very difficult especially when the driveway is full of potholes:rolleyes: . I fabricated the left side engine mount and fitted it( i didnt do it like the book as i dont have much 3mm plate, so used box section.
I also wondered what material the engine mounts on the 1.8 cvh are made of as they look like either cast oron or some alloy?

Also i have put all my photos on flickr and try to update it a few times a week if anyone wants to see em.

one other thing, is this around where the gearbox should sit:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3425/3820541945_659a80ac48.jpg

thanks

[geeman]

also, im now really looking for a roll bar, anyone got some suggestions? should i try taking drawings to some local fabricators and get quotes? do most people use cds or not?

[deezee]

Didn't someone on here have a rollbar group buy? That were I got mine from. The rear stays and cross brace I just made from thickwall tube I had lying around in the yard.

I got a quote from a fab shop in Liverpool, and to just mandrel bend one roll bar was extortion.

[geeman]

I remember there were a few group buysd in the past, but that was before i was here. Im hoping there are enough new people for another group buy, nonw just to find a supplier.
i havnt done anything on the car over the weekend, bu finally got around to fitting the steering(sort of). I i shortened the trackrod ends and the ends of the extentions abit, enough so the wheels are now in line, however, there isnt any space for locking nuts now:( .

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3438/3829998862_7827feb439.jpg
Ahh well, i also tried cleaning the cvh, and was going to paint it with hammerite, but then didnt bother, however i managed to remove most of the grease, but its not clean as such. The left engine and gearbox mounts are done, now i just have to make a mount for the right side so it fits under the steering coloumn.

Im just wondering what sort of order people do things in after they hve arolling chassis, What did you do next as theres much to do but im just not sure what order to do it all in. Also when did you all fit the floor?

[HandyAndy]

chassis looking good there.

as for order of doing things, here,s what i did/doing

finished all welding, engine mounts, headlamp stalks, brake line tabs etc,
i,m now almost finished painting the chassis, then once fully dried i,ll be fitting the floor then build it all back up, put the wishbones/suspension/steering back onto the chassis & back onto wheels, then fuel & brake lines before engine/box go back in.

well thats the order i,m doing things.

cheers
andy:)

[geeman]

Ok, simple question, is my engine sitting too low???


Ive fitted the engine, but it seems to be sitting in the chassis too low, is it? im using the original unmodded cvh sump atm.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3584/3830455176_877c7b96e3_b.jpg


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2560/3829658599_f80aa8d363.jpg

[geeman]

Also both engine mounts are 68mm off the chassis as per the book specs and the gearbox mount is also as per the book specs.

I wasnt expecting it to be as low as it is especiaaly when i just remembered this picture from handyandys car.

http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt335/handyandy_photo/Haynes%20Roadster/kitcar274.jpg

[HandyAndy]

from the angle of the photo it looks about correct, once you chop the sump it,ll feel like you have it in the right position,
most builders seem to have approx 25mm of sump below the lower chassis rail,
if you look on my build photos you can see that my sump is level with the lower rail but has the 25mm of the bellhousing below the rail.

cheers
andy:)
ps, may i ask if you have turned your chassis over to weld the joints on the bottom rails?

[geeman]

from the angle of the photo it looks about correct, once you chop the sump it,ll feel like you have it in the right position,
most builders seem to have approx 25mm of sump below the lower chassis rail,
if you look on my build photos you can see that my sump is level with the lower rail but has the 25mm of the bellhousing below the rail.

cheers
andy:)
ps, may i ask if you have turned your chassis over to weld the joints on the bottom rails?

ok, jsut went and measured the bellhousing and it goes about 33mm below the rails. I wonder if i should raise the gearbox end slightly so the mount is not level with the top of the br rails, but instead slightly higher.

I knew someone would pick up the joint not welded all the way on the chassis:p :o , but i have mostly fully welded the under side, including that joint, but i am yet to fully fully weld the chassis.

[HandyAndy]

the above photo of my car is a bit deceptive with the angle it was taken, if you look at the last photo on my thread "big day" you can see the bellhousing below the lower chassis rails by 25mm.
in that photo you can just make out the shortened sump, i,ll be honest & say that i bought my chopped sump, which was also extended to keep the original oil capacity.

andy

[AshG]

looking good geeman dont forget to weld in all the tight corners. one thing to check. make sure your clutch arm clears the transmission tunnel. i had my gb back like yours and had to nudge it forward a few mm to get the clutch arm to clear.

[mark]

If another group buy comes up for roll bars i will be interested as many others will be im sure ;)

[geeman]

looking good geeman dont forget to weld in all the tight corners. one thing to check. make sure your clutch arm clears the transmission tunnel. i had my gb back like yours and had to nudge it forward a few mm to get the clutch arm to clear.

i just went to chek it and it seems to touch cp17, but only just, ill have a better look tomorrow.

[AshG]

thought it would.

mark is that a hint about the roll bars?

i could do another group buy if we can get 10 people to pay up.

[geeman]

thought it would.

mark is that a hint about the roll bars?

i could do another group buy if we can get 10 people to pay up.

Moving the engine for me should be a breeze as the mount brakets i made are easy to move about.

Also im up for the group buy, so youve got 2 people. Im sure there will be another 10 few people willing to go for a group buy as the ammount of people building recently seems to have grown quite considerably.

[gundog]

im in for a roll bar.thats 3 so far.


andy

[mark]

thought it would.

mark is that a hint about the roll bars?

i could do another group buy if we can get 10 people to pay up.

It certainly was ash :D

I was hoping you would pick up on that one!

We are upto 3 people so far and im sure some more will soon follow, especially if people have looked into getting them made locally because it aint cheap, anywhere near me anyway!

[londonsean69]

We are upto 3 people so far

Make that 4 :D

Sean

[geeman]

Make that 4 :D

Sean

the lists quickly growing..:D

[Tatey]

Make that 5 :D

[geeman]

Make that 5 :D

yay, half way there. Ashg, could i ask you start a new thread about this as im sure there would be many more people willing to get one if they wre aware of the group buy. thanks;) :)

[geeman]

I cant remember what the nut on top of the track rod ends are called, the one that looks like a castle and should have a locking pin or somthing:confused: ? i need them but dont want to pay ford a fortune?

Also, will i ever need a tap and die set throughout the duration of hte build, ad aldi have a set for a bargin price and i want to buy it, but not sure ill need it. (see here) (http://aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/2827_10931.htm)

I also wondered about my brake master cylinder, as the end of it is too big for the pedal box?(ill take some pics later) Oh yeah, and what did people use for the bushes on the pedals(i remember reading a thread about it on hhear somwhere but can find it). I might turn my own bushes later on when i have access to a lathe, but if they are very cheap ill just buy em. Thanks!

i also have a bit of a problem witht he steering as the steering coloumn does hit the upright when it turns which im not sure how to fix?

Also where can i actually find an stainless silencer, as im having trouble sourcing one?


wow.. i have soooo many questions:rolleyes: :o

[flyerncle]

No 6 on the list for me please for a roll bar.

[londonsean69]

I cant remember what the nut on top of the track rod ends are called, the one that looks like a castle and should have a locking pin or somthing:confused: ? i need them but dont want to pay ford a fortune?

It's a castellated nut. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castellated_nut
I'm fitting new track rod ends and they have come with a nyloc nut instead.

Also, will i ever need a tap and die set throughout the duration of hte build, ad aldi have a set for a bargin price and i want to buy it, but not sure ill need it. (see here) (http://aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/2827_10931.htm)
Dunno about a generic tap and die set, but they are always useful to have.
Cheap ones are generally sh1t, but if you only use them once in a blue moon....
I have a complete 3 piece tap set, plus the die for M14x2 (track rod ends) because I turned my own adjusters. It was a cheapy from the fleabay but has done the job fine
I also have a half decent (£60) set of taps and dies for more normal sized stuff.

I also wondered about my brake master cylinder, as the end of it is too big for the pedal box?(ill take some pics later) Oh yeah, and what did people use for the bushes on the pedals(i remember reading a thread about it on hhear somwhere but can find it). I might turn my own bushes later on when i have access to a lathe, but if they are very cheap ill just buy em. Thanks!
No idea on MC, haven't got that far yet.

I used PTFE (teflon) bar for the bushes in my pedals (turned myself) Just search fleabay for PTFE rod

wow.. i have soooo many questions:rolleyes: :o

That's what this place is for:D

Sean

[geeman]

It's a castellated nut. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castellated_nut
I'm fitting new track rod ends and they have come with a nyloc nut instead.


Dunno about a generic tap and die set, but they are always useful to have.
Cheap ones are generally sh1t, but if you only use them once in a blue moon....
I have a complete 3 piece tap set, plus the die for M14x2 (track rod ends) because I turned my own adjusters. It was a cheapy from the fleabay but has done the job fine
I also have a half decent (£60) set of taps and dies for more normal sized stuff.


No idea on MC, haven't got that far yet.

I used PTFE (teflon) bar for the bushes in my pedals (turned myself) Just search fleabay for PTFE rod



That's what this place is for:D

Sean

Thanks Sean!!

oh, yeah, what is the thread size for the rack rod ends nut, or would a motor factor be able to provide me with them if i ask for ford sierra ones?

[londonsean69]

Thanks Sean!!

oh, yeah, what is the thread size for the rack rod ends nut, or would a motor factor be able to provide me with them if i ask for ford sierra ones?

The steering rack threads are M14x2, at least on the MK2 Escort rack. IIRC the rod ends on the MK1 Escort rack are an imperial thread.

As for the thread on the actual ball joint that goes on the end of the rack into the upright - no idea - and mine are down the garage. I can measure them later for you, but I cannot guarantee 100% they will be the same. If you buy the tap and die set, they usually come with a thread pitch indicator, so you can measure it.

Sean

[geeman]

The steering rack threads are M14x2, at least on the MK2 Escort rack. IIRC the rod ends on the MK1 Escort rack are an imperial thread.

As for the thread on the actual ball joint that goes on the end of the rack into the upright - no idea - and mine are down the garage. I can measure them later for you, but I cannot guarantee 100% they will be the same. If you buy the tap and die set, they usually come with a thread pitch indicator, so you can measure it.

Sean

thanks, reason i was asking is im pretty sure its not metric as i have an assortment of metric nuts and none of them fitted. Thanks

[londonsean69]

thanks, reason i was asking is im pretty sure its not metric as i have an assortment of metric nuts and none of them fitted. Thanks

OK, so, just to confirm - which thread is it you want measuring? Is it the one on the actual track rod end, that will fit into the Sierra upright, then it get's a castellated nut?

Sean

[geeman]

OK, so, just to confirm - which thread is it you want measuring? Is it the one on the actual track rod end, that will fit into the Sierra upright, then it get's a castellated nut?

Sean

oh whoops, i think ive gotten cunfused about which one the track rod end was, but i meant the one that is on the ball joint that goes into the upright. I know the otherone is an m14 thread. Thanks

[londonsean69]

oh whoops, i think ive gotten cunfused about which one the track rod end was, but i meant the one that is on the ball joint that goes into the upright. I know the otherone is an m14 thread. Thanks

OK, no probs - but if it's not metric I can't measure it.

I'll measure mine, but I only have metric tooling, and if you are re-using the existing ones then it is also possible that they have a different thread

Sean

[londonsean69]

OK I have just measured the thread that is below the taper on the steering rack end.

It's not metric:( so I can't give an exact dimension, sorry.

The thread diameter is 9.6mm, and the pitch is a little coarser than 1.25mm.

The only imperial tap I have is 7/16UNF, which is bigger all around than the rod-end. Sorry I couldn't be more help. I'm sure somebody who started in engineering/mechanics earlier than me must be able to measure in Imperial.

Could you not just replace the castellated nut with a nyloc?? (Once you know what thread it is). Where were you going to get the right bolt? Could you not take the part there and get the right one?

Sean

[flyerncle]

I think Geeman is on about the Transit drag link end for the top ball joint.
Just remember if using a castellated nut what ever you are fitting it to must have a hole in it to lock it with a split pin, so the Nylock is more usefull.

[geeman]

I think Geeman is on about the Transit drag link end for the top ball joint.
Just remember if using a castellated nut what ever you are fitting it to must have a hole in it to lock it with a split pin, so the Nylock is more usefull.

i should try to explain myself abit better next time:o . I did mean the nut on the lower ball joint that goes on the steering rack. i always thought those were called the track rod ends.:o :confused: ah well.


today i only spent about an hour on the car, but took everything off it so its jsut a bare chassis. Its amazing how much quicker it is to take things apart compared to putting it together. I hope to go over every weld soon and fit remaining chassis plates. ill paint the remaining wishbones and rear uprights, and try to clean up as many parts as i can.

also anyone had experience of powder coated alloys, as im looking to buy some wheels and found a set someone has had powder coated black, but im not too sure about it?

Thanks

[mark]

I used to have an integra type r a few years ago and the wheels were quite tatty so i had them powdercoated, they looked surperb and stood the test of time too. Two winters later and they looked as good as the day i picked them up :D

As with everything in life though there will be differing quality between one powder coater and the next, but if done well they should be fine :)

[geeman]

well, for the past week i havnt really been in the garage, ive just been on the lazy side. I hope to buy all fueal and brake fitments and im also looking for some reasonably cheap headlights, like i dont want to spend more than £100 on all of them if possible, any suggestions?. I also will phone around local scrap yards for a cheap radiator so i can make mounts for it. i cant think what else i need to do before i paint it.
oh yeah, how do you all secure p clips, can i just pop rivet then in place?

On a different note, i went and collected my GCSE results this morning. i got 6 a*'s and 4 a's. :D :D :D

[HandyAndy]

look on ebay for lights, they do come up quite often, either new or second hand, yes you can use rivets for the p clips tho some folk either use self tappers(with sealant as a locking aid, or on some panels a small bolt /locknut, depends if you think you may want to move the pipework in future etc.

a BIG WELL DONE on your results, thats a great achievement, good on ya:cool:

andy:)

[geeman]

oh yeah, umm for the rear red lights. do i need 4 lights , 2 for braking and 2 red lights, or just 2 red llights that get brighter when you brake, i cant remember what the for sierra was like. also what do you do for the rear fog lights. thanks. also are things like this (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-6-WIPAC-Lamps-Kit-Car-Westfield-Caterham-Locost_W0QQitemZ390069245414QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_ CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item5ad1f055e6&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14) any use?? Thanks

[geeman]

Well once again ive had a lazy week of doing nothing. I painted a few bits today, and sparyed the brake calipers gold:D. Ive also been busy buying online, and have got all the brake and duel lines ordered, a flaring kit, and p clips for them, oh and the sheet aluminuim for the floor and inside panels, and a pop riveter, and rivets. Ill be getting the rollbar from the group buy and should hopefully get the bodywork in not too long. I go back to school tomorrow, so work on the car will be slower, but it shouldnt be a problem. I still need to get the radiator and the shocks, but am hesitant about spending £380 on them.

Im still however confused about the lights and the exhaust:confused:
another thing ive been looking for is a fuel tank as i dont want to build one, i wondered about what commercially avaliable ones, if any may be of a suitable fit?

Thanks

[geeman]

Hi all,

I havnt been on here in quite a while, but i have been making progress, be it slowly. I have now got a fully painted chassis, done the brake lines and pedal box, fittted a merc 190e radiator and the original sierra fan(bargin for £18), got a roll bar fitted with harness fittings and ive refurbished most parts.

as im now on half term break, i plan on doing as much as i can now, so i need some advice on a fuel tank, as i am not going to make one, and wondered what solutions are availiable. what have others used?. I really dont want to be spending much at all.
Thanks

[ACE HIGH]

Well done on your school results Geeman,remember I said when you first started that something told me you would go a long way in this world,well done keep it up,your parents can be well proud of you,and you are building a roadster at the same time. David:D

[gingea1pom]

Geeman,

I am glad you are back on here; it was reading your post from start to finish one night six weeks ago that made my mind up to build my own roadster.

We are about level pegging, although I think funds will slow me down before time.

Cheers Ginge

[geeman]

cheers both of you, funds are going alot higher than i initially thought:o , and ive spent an awful load more than anticipated , but im yet to pay for the shocks, exhaust. lighting, fuel tank and iva. excluding tools and welding gas ive so far spent about £2100, but i had to buy all the necassary tools as i dondt have anything before hand and in which case have spent around £3000!!!!!

I just bought a 1.25*2.5m sheet of 5251 2mm aluminuim and 3 sheets of 1x2m 1mm aluminuim that will be delivered tomorrow. im still searching for a soluiton to this fuel tank, and am still clueless...

Im trying to think of somthing to do today as i will be working on my car everyday until oct 30th, but.... its getting very cold in the garage:(

[geeman]

pics:
My way of securing the fan to the radiator(merc 190 rad with sierra fan cut to size)
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2597/4036765495_bf766da93c_o.jpg


THe floor:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2679/4037516680_0558a72a01_o.jpg

I did the propshaft today by using the rubber doughnut, and the UJ from the diff end of the original sierra prop shaft
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2597/4036765811_182862e7dd_o.jpg

Pedal box:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3526/4036766003_9a13fa975a_o.jpg

[geeman]

roll bar
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3525/4037517192_94819bd5bc_o.jpg


I really didnt enjoy doing the floor yesterday, i used about 140 pop rivets, which meant 140 holes had to be drilled in the chassis, which lead to a very painful wrist, a trip to machine mart to get an extra 6 dirll bits, and endingup with 11 broken drill bits:( :rolleyes: ...... at least i can sit in my car now!!!:D

oh, and i almost nearly thought about making a small ammount of thermite, as i had alot of aluminuim powder from cutting the 2mm sheet, ans i have a bucket full of rust from several sessions of electrolytic derusting!!

[HandyAndy]

looking great Geeman :cool:

one point tho, in the last pic showing your roll bar, i noticed that parts RS11 & RS12 are missing??? they sit just above the diff, they give the rear suspension box diagonal strength, :confused: SB5 SB6 also seem not to be in the photo??

cheers
shorty

[Coozer]

Had the prop balanced? Beware!!

[geeman]

looking great Geeman :cool:

one point tho, in the last pic showing your roll bar, i noticed that parts RS11 & RS12 are missing??? they sit just above the diff, they give the rear suspension box diagonal strength, :confused: SB5 SB6 also seem not to be in the photo??

cheers
shorty

Ive been aware about that.... it started off by me using up the bit of 25mm box i had left in the garage, and i couldnt be bothered to go outside and get another 7m length of it.. so i just never bothered with them....:rolleyes:

I hope to do them soon.... but that depends if i can be bothered..., those 7m lengths are a real pain to cut :o. ill spend one day later on just cutting and welding in those bit s and some bracing for the transmission tunnel.

cheers handyandy..(shorty?)

[geeman]

Just thought id say im quite pleased with what i have done for the exhaust, as i managed it all for the grand cost of nothing, (plus a can of some vht paint later on), and used only parts from the original sierra exhaust. I made a manifold from the original sierra 2 to 1 pipe but shortened it and modified where the bends were to make it go off to the side. I then used the original sierra bits of exhaust piping and took the straight bits off it and used them and then the original silencer. Hopefully it will work. Ill take some picks tomorrow.

[geeman]

Ok, well, i havnt really touched the roadster too often since oct 09, only about 4 days spent on it since then!!!!

I have now got a fuel tank fitted, roll bar stays welded in place, front headlights fitted. However i have a few questions?

Should i just use rivnuts to fit the bodywork?


How do the rear wheel arches fit onto the titron rear tub, and how have others fitted the tail lights/indicators onto them? I have never worked with fibreglass before really, so when i comes to cutting it/drilling what should i be using?

I ended up buying the fuel tank that many others on here have now bought that handyandy first pointed out(i think), and im not sure how to fit the 8mm copper fuel line to the output of it?

Now the big thing i still dont get at all is the wiring, ive messed up the sierra loom TOO MUCH, so am trying to make my own, but im finding it a pain to do so. My garage is now too small for me to work in as the car front end is touching the table at the front of my garage, and the rear is pushing against the garage door, so it is quite a squeeze:D

[deezee]

Hey buddy. I've just started my bodywork as well. Did you get around to finishing the bracing around the diff etc? If there is one thing I've learnt, its that NO job on the chassis is worth putting off. the more stuff you do, it just makes welding harder. Spent time today putting on my headlamp supports, had to remove bodywork, clean off the paint (Por15, so not sanding... needed a grinder!)


Anyway.... what body work do you have? Fibreglass or aluminium? My aluminium panels are held on with rivets and tigerseal / sikaflex. For panels (such as sidepanels) that mate up to other panels (scuttle / bonnet) I used counter sunk rivets, so they offer a smooth face to line up. My nosecone is held on with rivnuts, as is the to pof my tranny tunnel. But thats it.

[geeman]

a few piccies:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4100/4879249668_eab8014404_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4118/4879248878_e3ec138b9c_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4096/4878637759_462674d19b_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4077/4879246038_b4010a4a15_b.jpg

I dont yet have seats to fit, so will do them one i get them.

I have bought wing mirrors and will fit em soon. Ive bought some front indicators as well and will fit em soon, but they have some imperial thread on which im not sure about.

As for whats left to do, put the p clips in for the engine bay wiring as i havnt done that yet, plumb all the radiator hoses back up as i took them all off.

Finish bolting on the rear tub and underside of the side panels.

Put a rear fog lamp and a numberplate lamp in.

Buy some shocks.

bleed all the brakes again and check all the electircs are working.

[bertie_bas205]

How is this build getting on??



Bertie.

[ayjay]

I always thought the wheels went on the outside corners.:D

[geeman]

Wow, been over a year since my last update.

I have been living away at Uni for the last year so haven't spent more than a couple of hours on it until about 2 weeks ago when I finished my first year doing Mechanical Engineering at Imperial.

I essentially am off Uni till October so will be road legal within a month or two if it goes too plan.

Whats left to do:

I need to put some front indicators on. I've been putting this off for some reason for some time as I didn't want to drill the nose cone so considered mounting them on the cycle wings but couldn't find any, and wasn't sure if it would pass the IVA.

Make a half-decent interior. I've acquired a full leather cow hide which will be more than enough to cover the exposed aluminium to make it look nicer. I also need to blunten the sharp edges for the radii tests.

Fit the fuel filler, I just don't have any hose to plumb it onto the tank.

Finally what I imagine will be the last major job will be to source a replacement 1.8 CVH engine. The current one is a dud as it simply smokes too much, I've replaced the valve stem oil seals, worn them in, tried all sorts, but I've had enough of it and am just looking for a decent running CVH quite urgently. I may even buy another sierra if its a decent runner.



Paint the exhaust, and check all bolts have nylocks, are washered and correctly torqued including putting some locknuts on the steering rack and doing the tracking.

It really shouldn't be more than a few days work I hope, so should be in track worthy conditions within two weeks if I can find an engine ASAP. Today was the first time It looked near enough to complete which really was a buzz to get it on the road as soon as I can. :D

Cheers!!

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/181163_4066254857405_760647711_n.jpg


http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/537506_4066263937632_1454022737_n.jpg


http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/196069_4066262857605_1735296035_n.jpg

[chrisponter]

Have to say it looks great :D

Gonna book the IVA soon?

Saw this recently, if its any use to you:

http://www.haynes.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=8146

[HandyAndy]

:cool: Looking great Geeman , can you imagine the faces on your mates at Uni if you pull up in your Roadster in October :eek:

Not wishing to be a kill joy, so hope you don,t mind me saying....I,m not sure the side repeaters in the wing mirrors will be ok for IVA, also your bonnet catches too, (tho can,t quite see them clearly ).

If I may say....this is an amazing build , Looking at the photos you would not think you were only 16 or 17 yrs old when you started this :eek: top work young man :cool:

good luck at IVA time.

cheers
andy

[geeman]

Looking great Geeman , can you imagine the faces on your mates at Uni if you pull up in your Roadster in October :eek:

Not wishing to be a kill joy, so hope you don,t mind me saying....I,m not sure the side repeaters in the wing mirrors will be ok for IVA, also your bonnet catches too, (tho can,t quite see them clearly ).

If I may say....this is an amazing build , Looking at the photos you would not think you were only 16 or 17 yrs old when you started this :eek: top work young man :cool:

good luck at IVA time.

cheers
andy


I wasn't sure about those repeaters either, so I have 2 that I could drill into the scuttle if needed, but thought I'd leave it until I really have to as I didn't want to drill unessacary holes in it. As for those bonnet catches, good ol' fashion electrical tape For the pics. :rolleyes: . The proper ones are now on. I'm sure there'll be a few IVA related niggles to come up though.

Thanks very much for the encouragement! The IVA still feels distant, but when I think there aren't many jobs left to do I get quite excited about the proposition of a track day soonish.

Cheers!

[poshguy]

Geeman you have a pm reply :)

[Oscar]

Great to see another roadster being made by a student, I know exactly what you mean about finding the time between studies!

I've just finished my Masters in mechanical Engineering so if feel free to pick my brains if you need any help in the future.
And I'll prob'ly be wanting to pick your's regarding Roadster building :D

Good luck with the IVA when you get it booked.