Been a while

[JakeH]

HI

Saying hi again had an account on here a year or so ago however my computer got viruses and hacked, whoever hacked it was using my e-mail and trying to use ebay! took the old computer to get "sorted" but was beyond repair so i got myself a macbook which is awesome :) also had to get new e-mails, passwords, ebay, and loads of other (what a pain) (old account car.mad)

the names jake im 21, from yorkshire (emley to be precise) training mechanic and starting university in september on a motor sport engineering course.

also had some problems with the build, a heavy rack fell on my tacked chassis and bent twisted and knackered just about every rail on it :( so i cleared out and started again!

been eventful to say the least, had a major throw out, and change around so i have more space built a new build table and got some new gear.

started on the build at the beginning of January, already have most of the front part of the chassis built up again.

started looking for a donor today but had no luck, went to a few scrap yards trying to find parts and rung every number i could find about buying a full car. everyone i spoke to says they are like hens teeth now, so struggling on that part. if anyone has a spare one knocking around?

will put some photos up soon

Cheers

Jake

[carlknight1982]

Hi Jake join the sierra forum and piston heads that should speed your donor search

[spud69]

Hi Jake and welcome,

I changed to an iMac last year for home and it is so much better than pc with windows, much better operating system and no problems at all so far....:)

All the Best...Andrew

[JakeH]

Got a bit of time today so i prepared a little info on what iv done so far, with some pics and wot-not, comments and constructive criticism welcome.

first a bit of info:
using a 2.0 zetec engine with either gearbox, depending on what i can get hold of. will be turbo charging the engine when its in but for now just leaving it standard, using the original ECU and injection system on the engine.

my car will be for track use only so will be using a full roll cage and strengthening the chassis slightly.

Day One

Sorted the disaster of a garage out today, had a huge clear out, and built a new build table with a nice piece of 38mm MDF for a base.
put up some racking and sorted the pile of steel i had into some sort of order, this time round i'm going to cut ALL the chassis rails by hand, last time i used one of those daft rage saw things which caused more pain than gain, should be fun

Day Two

marked out the build table and chocked it up with some bits of MDF i had lying around, then cut the base rails for the chassis and slotted them into place on the table, didn't get chance to tack them yet as i don't have any MIG gas, will get some tomorrow

Day Three

Tacked all the bottom rails together today then started on the dreaded front frame, had a full day (6 hours or so) and managed to get it as close to perfect as i could! then tacked it to the base of the chassis.

Day Four

Got loads done today, uprights top rails, seat backs and a diagonal or two, starting to look more like car now, making me feel like i'm achieving something again.

Day Five

A good five hours in the garage today saw some more uprights, top rails and a couple of diagonals finished off, its flying together now, because iv already built the chassis once and had a disaster i kind of know what im doing so getting things level and square is proving a bit easier :)

http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k565/jake_hornsby1989/DSCN0166.jpg

Day Six

The last of the top rails and diagonals done today, will be adding some more supports to try and keep the chassis as stable as possible under cornering. starting on the seat back next

http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k565/jake_hornsby1989/DSCN0167.jpg

Day Seven

got the seat back rails done today, and moved the chassis forward ready to start on the rear framework.

http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k565/jake_hornsby1989/DSCN0173.jpg

Today

ordered the suspension and shocker brackets today from talonmotorsport.

[HandyAndy]

Hi Jake, welcome "Back" to the forum :)

Looks like you,re making great progress there :cool:

Might be an idea to remove TR5 if you are installing the Zetec ...gets in the way .

cheers
andy

[shh120m]

looks good mate, you arent half going at it, it will be finished by day 10!

[Bonzo]

Welcome back into the fold :)

Certainly looks like you have made some real steady progress, plenty of pictures too :) :cool:

[JakeH]

Day 8

Started on the rear frame today, got the main part of it done, ran out of welding gas near the end so a couple of the welds are a bit well really bad...

http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k565/jake_hornsby1989/15.jpg

http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k565/jake_hornsby1989/16.jpg

Day 9

done some more on the rear frame today, got the plates surrounding the shocker mount and roll bar mount done along with most of the rest of the tubes on the back, another day and i should be ready for suspension mounts.

http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k565/jake_hornsby1989/17.jpg


Also been on the sierra hunt with no joy what so ever, spotted and OLD Y reg one in a garden, tis a bit knackered and has a wall around it so would need lifting out, knocked on the door but no reply (apparently hes a bit of a collector) so might be reluctant to give it up, going to go back and offer to remove it for free.

Jake

[JakeH]

I FOUND ONE :)

after a week of looking with no joy for a sierra thats both close to home and within my budget i found one! tis a 1991 sapphire, 1.8 only done 88,000 miles, which i thought was'nt too bad! a few pics

http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k565/jake_hornsby1989/19.jpg

http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k565/jake_hornsby1989/18.jpg

found it on gumtree.com, was in bradford, paid a bit more than planned but it was worth it!

including a bit of fuel to get it home paid £300 should be able to make that back selling the parts i dont use!

Jake

[JakeH]

been busy as usual.

got the rest of the rear suspension area done this week, and done the base of the transmission tunnel.

getting there now, should hopefully have the suspension brackets tacked on and make a start fully welding the chassis by the end of next week.

a few (more) pics for your enjoyment:

http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k565/jake_hornsby1989/22.jpg

http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k565/jake_hornsby1989/21.jpg

http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k565/jake_hornsby1989/20.jpg

will be stripping the donor at the beginning of march as we now have 5 cars on the drive but have just ordered a van and are trading 2 of them in, should have a little more space by then!

will also be adding some more support to the chassis as it will not have an easy life! but that will be done after the chassis is fully welded and the engine, gearbox, e.c.t "trial fitted"

[spud69]

Looking nice there Jake,

It's good to see the chassis coming on, somebody should a time lapse of the chassis progressing, maybe even upto rolling stage and even a finished car.....:)

Keep it up......Andrew

[JakeH]

It's good to see the chassis coming on, somebody should a time lapse of the chassis progressing, maybe even upto rolling stage and even a finished car.....:)

was actually thinking of videoing it and doing a time lapse however i don't have a video camera and we are forever moving the garage about so wouldn't really have anywhere to put it. will keep taking pics though and updating whenever there is something to update :)

[JakeH]

time for an update,

only managed a few hours here and there but managed to get quite a bit done.

finished off the transmission tunnel, the rear end and the steering wheel support frame, also received the suspension brackets from talon :) so will be tacking those on next. then time for fully welding what iv done so far and getting some primer on it!

will also be taking TR7 (i think, dont have the book to hand) out when the chassis is welded as am fitting a zetec engine (thanks to handyandy for this advice!)

some pics for your enjoyment (hopefully)

http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k565/jake_hornsby1989/25.jpg

http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k565/jake_hornsby1989/26.jpg

http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k565/jake_hornsby1989/27.jpg

constructive criticism always welcome

Cheers

[Bonzo]

Looking great Jake :cool: :)

Soon be ready for fully welding & then on to the exciting job of fitting out :)

[RAYLEE29]

Hi,just a thought you may want to redo the steering column outer mount so it fits to the inside of the top rail as it will make fitting the scuttle easier.
others have done it, I didnt and now wish I had other than that looking good
Ray:)

[TheArf]

Hey Jake you are flying through the build mate looking good, don't forget to sell the sierra leftovers to re-coupe some cash

[HandyAndy]

Looking great Jake :cool:

I too wish I had done as Ray has suggested, very worthwhile alteration that you,ll only appreciate when you come to fit the scuttle .


The part that you need to remove if fitting the Zetec is TR5 ;) ....maybe add 2 corner braces between TR1 / TR2 to TR8 to create engine bay rigidity:)

Nice work Jake.

cheers
andy

[JakeH]

Hi,just a thought you may want to redo the steering column outer mount so it fits to the inside of the top rail as it will make fitting the scuttle easier.
others have done it, I didnt and now wish I had other than that looking good
Ray:)

i see will have a look at that one next time i get some garage time, cheers for the advice :)

cant wait for the fitout part bonzo, tinkering with things is always good fun :)

thems the ones andy, will be adding some more braces anyway, going to wait till the engine has been 'trial fitted' to see how much space there is and the best place to put them.

Cheers

[JakeH]

not had that much time in the garage recently, being a (poor) student and not having a job of any kind means i have to take all the work i can get and there has been some, had quite a bit of fun taking a spray booth to pieces and not so much fun taking a dust extractor to bits (bloody motor fell on my head OWCH!)

managed to get some time in on thursday night and today, which saw all the suspension brackets tacked on :)... what a job that was, talk about lots of measuring!

glad they are done now so i can start welding next week and make the chassis strong!

where on the chassis did people start the welding? i was going to start in the middle and work in a sort of spiral, what have others done?

some pictures for your enjoyment

http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k565/jake_hornsby1989/31.jpg

http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k565/jake_hornsby1989/34.jpg

http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k565/jake_hornsby1989/32.jpg

again constructive criticism is always welcome

Cheers