At least you got a decent deal on the chassis steel ;) :)

I was recently quoted £120 for the box section :(

Steel prices are usually quite volatile, luck of the draw where you live & local demand.

£8 40x3mm 6 mtr flat strip FM steelstock

They were the people i rang first who quoted me £25 :eek:. I guess the guy must have thought i meant bright. It did seem a little strange at the time that he said £25, as thats the same price they were charging for 1m x 0.5m of 3mm plate. At least i know for next time, if it doesn't seem right, it probably isn't,

If you only want little bits Metal Supermarket on TVTE is ok and they will cut it for you but not that cheap.
And the carpark is huge !!!!!!!!!

Just given metal supermarket a ring. They are quoting £25.30 for 1000x500mm of 3mm thick mild steel plate. So they seem to be the same price as FM Steelstock are charging.

All of my 3,5 &10mm plate was bought as off-cuts
60p per kilo :) ;)

I am very lucky that my local stockholder does a fair bit of fabrication.

Normally plenty of bits n bobs kicking about if you can find anybody who can be assed to have a look !!?? :rolleyes:

Well i started making the chassis plates an hour ago, i've got 5 done so far. It really doesn't take very long and is quite satisfying. Only another 20 chassis plates (not including multiples) + jigs and other plates to cut! :eek:

Armoto do a jig block,much easier to use.

I'm not sure if they still do.

IIRC Jason has left, so no-one else bothered to do the chassis packs, I would imagine that extended to the wishbone jigs as well.

Could be wrong though

Shame if thats the case Shaun, cos its an ace idea and works really well as I have one and its brilliant.

What were the jig blocks made out of? Maybe it could be another product for SSC.

They were CNC cut out of timber, might have been plywood, can't remember.

Everything was in there, at the right spacings, depths and angles.

They really did look useful, although I didn't use one, thought it was pointless to buy something to use just once when there was another method

don,t forget that "Chassis flat packs" are now available via me ;) :o :D

cheers
andy

And very nice they look too:D

I don't think armoto are doing anything with regards to the Roadster now, I was speaking about the wishbone jigs, but that obviously stands for the chassis packs as well.

IIRC his price was the same as yours, but, TBH, if anyone on here is thinking about buying one, I would think (hope) they would go to you.

If I were to ever do it again, I would buy a pre-cut pack.

Whilst the idea of making it all yourself is a nice one, the cutting/profiling gets a bit boring;)

As an aside, any idea when the flat packs for the single seater will be available?? Quite happy to be a guinea pig - lol

I've edited the original reply to clarify what I meant

sorry to jump on Tatey,s thread.

Sean,
i did realise you meant the wishbone jig block but couldn,t resist the chance of a "plug" :D
in fact my current price of a flat pack kit is lower than armoto,s was :eek:

i think i,m starting to be a sad git as i,m now able to tell each tube its part code & dimensions almost without needing the book, Tall Andy & even Chris Gibbs told me i need to get out more.....lol

hmmmm ..... the flat pack for the single seater will become available once the book is published, ;) ,

cheers
andy

I though as much :(

A bit closer to the 'official' release I may have to drop you a line ;)

Anyway - back to Tateys thread now, this has been enough of a hijack:D

Sean, if you look closely in the photos of the thread "grand day out" you might spot something lurking ;)

andy

Nope:( unless it's a set of plans someone is looking at??

PM it if needs be:D

'tis well camouflaged. It looks small.

CNC cut from hardwood,chippy friend said it was oak. It is a shame that they stopped doing them but if memory serves me right Jason left there so there is probably no interest anymore.

Just a quick update to my build:

I've just finished the diff area on the chassis and i've ran out of steel so im now needing to wait until after Christmas, when i'll have enough money to buy the 3mm steel plate, 30x3mm steel flat, 40x3mm steel flat and an extra length of 19x19 box, im needing to finish the chassis. I haven't got a camera at the moment so i cant take any pictures.

I'm trying to find some jobs to do on the car up until Christmas.

Another quick update here. My build has finally resumed now that i have all of the steel plate and flat bar needed to finish the chassis. I've also got some 1mm cutting discs and some new ceramic flap discs (supposed to last 3 times as long as zirconium flap discs).

I have to say i feel like i was living in the stone age using a hacksaw.

I've also decided I'm going to try and build myself an engine stand instead of buying one, I've got the majority of the things i need to make one, i just need to buy some casters and get some larger diameter pipe and i should be sorted, meaning it should hopefully only cost £10 to make.

It's been a long while since i've posted in this thread, but here are a couple of photos to show my progress so far and my new engine:





The new engine is a 1.8l Zetec Silvertop. Which cost me a grand total of £40 :D. It has come with a chopped down sump and oil pickup pipe, meaning it's one less job for me to do.

My plan is to run it on ZX9R carbs with megajolt. I'll be making my own inlet and exhaust manifold to go with it, as well as having the engine 25mm further forward to accommodate the thermostat housing.

Well I had a nice trip down to SSC and to a Locost Builder in york to pick up all of my wishbones, uprights, polybushes + crush tubes, rear camber adjuster and my bargain £25 seats! All in all its been a good day especially since I had my last exam today.

I immediately got in the garage and decided to have a quick tidy up of the build table and check to see if the seats fit (they do :D). I took a couple of pictures to show you, I have to say it looks much better with a tidy table, I think I might keep it that way:

Looking nice Tatey :cool:

nah, leave the table messy.......it hides the coffee cup stains :p

well done on finishing your exams :cool:

cheers
andy

I have to say it's much more motivating bolting stuff onto the chassis (like the handbrake) and now have seats to sit in (yes I did make brum brum noises).

The only problem I have with the seats at the moment is that because of the 2 different types of runners, one seat sits much higher than the other. So I could either find another seat of runners so I have 1 complete set, or make custom seat mountings for each side of the car so that the seats sit at the same height. What are everyone's thoughts on doing either way?

Once I have the seats in place I'll be getting the seat column mounting, and over the next week I'll be putting the suspension mounts onto the chassis.

with regard your seat height issue,

Why not just raise the lower one by using some box steel, then on the other side just use flat plate for the seat mounting point? ;)
saves the hassle of making new runners or buying a matching pair.

when are you fully welding your chassis?

cheers
andy

I think I will go for that option Andy, as you say, saves effort in finding 1 set of runners.

I wasn't sure whether to fully weld the chassis now, before the suspension brackets are on, my thoughts were that if the chassis were to distort during welding and the brackets are in place then it could result in them being wrong. However I'm not sure if distortion could actually pull the chassis out by that much if I were to move to a different side of the car for each weld.

Which way did you do it Andy?

Also in regards to fully welding, did you just weld one side of the car and swap to another after each weld and doing the same for the back. So say left front, right front, left rear, right rear? Or did you just work your way from the front to the back swapping between left and right?

After all of this effort I don't really want to mess it up now :eek: :D.

when I fully welded my chassis I basically started at lets say the front right hand side TR1 to front frame area,
let it cool down a bit then went to the rear left ( SB part codes on passenger side)
let it cool down
Then after every 2 welding points I checked measurement of the height of the chassis from the build table and at each diagonal points.

Basically I tried to weld as far away as I could from the previous weld, & checked all measurements along the way,
It took a while, but like you say, at this point of the build I too didn,t want it to go wrong.
I welded on the suspension brackets once the chassis was fully welded & only when I was happy it hadn,t distorted.

cheers
andy

It's been a long time since I've updated this thread, mainly because I started a new job 5 weeks ago which is 200 miles south of where my build is located.

However due to the kindness of Handy Andy, my build is now officially moved into the new house! I now have a lot more space since it is only my stuff in the garage.

I started organising stuff last night after Hand Andy left and cleared some space to allow myself to work.

This morning I set to work reconstructing and improving my build table. Back at home I had the build table supported on an old dining room table and then just had 1 legs supporting the outer corners. This worked well at the time, but I no long have the dining room table and the way the legs were fixed to the top it wouldnt support its self. However each leg is now secured to the top by M12 studded bar and seems to be sturdy as a rock.

I now need to wait until one of my house mates gets back so we can lift the table upright as I dont want to risk damaging the wood by doing it myself. Then I'll be putting the chassis back on the table for hopefully the last time.

Since moving house it has also meant that I no longer have a work bench, so while waiting for someone else to come back, I set to work constructing my new work bench. It is being made from 2 layers of bed slats (1000mmx500mm), with a 3mm steel plate covering the top. It is then going to be supported on 4 30x30x3mm steel angle legs with a rim of steel angle along the edges of the top to spread the load. Im designing it so that the steel plate is only bolted to the top (so it can be replaced if needs be) and so that the legs can be broken down into individual pieces (since in 12 months time I will be moving back home). I am just needing to find a new steel supplier local to me so I can order the steel plate and angle.

Even though I have made no progress on my chassis today, I am one step closer to!

The chassis is nearly fully welded, I think I can finish welding it tomorrow evening, then I can start putting on the suspension brackets and finally getting the chassis rolling, hopefully I can have it rolling by the end of next weekend!

I am still aiming to have the car completed and on the road for my 21st birthday on Jan 10th 2010, which is a tall order, but I think if I try hard I will be able to do it.

Once I get the internet installed at my house at the end of this week I will post some pictures of my progress.

Well I just thought I'd let you's know how I am getting on.

I am all settled into my new house/garage now. The work bench will be completed tomorrow morning which I am really looking forward to. It feels really solid so far and I think it will get stronger once its complete. Pics will come on Tues when the internet is activated in my house.

I've found myself a cheap steel supplier as well. I got the following for a grand total of £42.60 delivered (inc vat)

1000x500x3mm Steel Plate - £12
2 * 6m of 30x30x3mm steel angle - £7 each
£10 delivery
+ VAT

So overall they seem quite cheap.

I have started work on the suspension brackets and I am hoping to have them done for Sunday night, meaning the car should be on its wheels by the end of the weekend!

Nice one Tatey :cool:

Sounds like you are cracking on in your new home, & you seem to have found a bargain supplier too :cool:

Take your time getting the wishbone brackets in the correct place, looking forward to seeing your chassis rolling :cool:

post up a pic or 2 when its rolling :)

cheers
andy

Errrrrr.... I think you failed already :D


TT

Well after a week I have been productive in some areas, and not productive at all in others.

When welding up my workbench last weekend, I managed to knock the gas cylinder over and put a large hole in the rubber hose, which quickly ended my ambition of getting the suspension brackets welded in place. I've been quoted £10 delivered for a new hose/brass fixing so its not too bad.

So until I find some more money I've been trying to find jobs to do on the car until I have more money to buy some more welding wire, flap discs, new hose, new tips and shrouds.

So far I have:

• Ground down all of the welds on the bottom, left/right sides of the chassis and I've half finished the seat back welds.
• Stripped down my drum brakes, as they are very rusty so thought the back plates could do with some time in the electrolysis bath. I then found out that the transformer I was using is broken and blowing fuses, so that has been chucked out and I need to find a new power source to get me up and running again.
• Since moving to the new house I had noticed a lot more rust on the chassis, and due to having no money to finish welding the bits to it and going away for 2 weeks with the army at the start of sept. I decided to give the chassis a quick coat of primer as I felt that the time required to remove the primer to weld was going to be much less than the time to completely de rust the chassis. To put 1 coat of primer on all tubes accessible with the chassis sitting upright took about an hour with a roller :D, so I would highly recommed doing it this way and getting the inaccessible areas with a brush instead of painting it all with a brush.
• I finished making all of the chassis plates I hadn't made yet, or misplaced during the move.
• My work bench is pretty much finished now, I just need to weld some cross bracing to the bottom of the legs to prevent them from moving and then weld on some nuts to allow each leg to be adjusted to make sure it is level. The top feels unbelievably solid, it has been made from 3mm thick plate with 80mm of wooden slats below that and then top off with a rim of 3mmx30mm steel angle. It is all held together with the M12 bolts which were supposed to be used for my car suspension, so it looks like I will be buying a new set :p.
  
  So it is all slowly getting there, once my finances allow it I will be buying the bits I need for my welder and getting cracking with these suspension mounts!

Thats one hell of work table, are you going to be building more than one car with it?

Terry

That's the plan :D. I always wanted a decent bench which I could actually use and I now do! It has only cost me £50 as well, which for a custom made bench 1m x 0.5m and at the right height for me to work at (I'm 6'6") so standard benches tend to be a right arse to work at for me.

I'll try and upload pictures of the bench and chassis later on tonight.

As it's been nearly a year and a half since I updated this thread I thought I would post a very long over due update!

Since the last post on this forum I've added the suspension mounts, engine/gear box mounts, steering column mount, driver footplate, front brake hose mounts, as well as a load of other brackets. My car has now been moved back to my house in Newcastle, and it fit perfectly in a long wheel base sprinter, I honestly never knew how big those things were!

Today I managed to get the radiator mounts finished. I still need to tidy up one of the lower mounts but they are functional at the minute. I need to buy some self tappers for the top mounts.

Over Christmas I contemplated buying myself a BMW E30 325i, even to the extend of going to view one in Manchester from Newcastle with the cash ready to buy, however I ended up walking away from it. This then got me thinking about why I was considering buying a new faster car when I have my kit car unfinished in the garage 2 and a half years after starting it! So outcame the savings and money has been spent! I have also extended the steering column so I now have functioning steering as well.

At the minute I am waiting for the following to be delivered/picked up by myself this week:

• GRP Seats
• Roll Bar
• Fuel Tank
• Harnesses
• Fuel filler cap
• Alloys
• ZX6R Carbs
• ZX6R Fuel Pump
• Seat Runners

I dropped by alloys off at the powder coaters on Thursday to get a nice coat of anthractite (gun metal grey), I was originally going to sand these down and paint them myself, but at £40 a wheel and with the new drive to get the car finished I decided to bite the bullet and get them done! I will be picking them up on Tuesday and will post some pictures when I get them back.

Once I have my seats and seat runners I can make my seat mounts, then move onto the rear brake line brackets and the roll bar rear stay bracket and finally the driver footwell plate. Then chassis will be finished and I will finally be able to paint it satin black and then get the floor in place. My plan is to order the ali for the floor the first week of feb.

By the looks of things I still have quite a bit to spend on the car with all of the bits I want, but my aim is to get it done for the summer, as I don't want it to go over 3 years of building, as then I would have been able to complete a degree in the time its taken to finish it :eek:.

I have also decided that I will be getting a full set of braded stainless steel fuel and brake lines made for the car by Voucht, these will be expensive but I think well worth while and are a nice bit of 'bling' that should hopefully set my car apart.

Here are the latest pictures of my build.

Good to see your photo's. Where in ncl are you. I am building in Brunton Park

I'm actually in Northumberland, 10 miles East of Hexham. It's good to see there are a few more builders in the North East!