Not quite a build thread....

[Johno]

Hi all,
Not been on this forum too long I know but as far as I can see it's very helpfull for all builders I'm sure. With this in mind I'm going to upload my photos on Photobucket and hope what I am doing may be of some interest or help to other people. :)
The build is based on "Spud69's" Saturn based car for a MX5 with a lot of advice from Andy on certain areas.
Gonna keep this short but if you want me to do a full build thread for reference for others it can be arranged....:eek:

Keep up the good work guys....

Johno
http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/

[Bonzo]

Some great stuff there Johno :cool: :)

Photos are a great help to everyone.

That is certainly one aspect of my own build that is sadly, very lacking :o :o

[TSM Locost]

Johno. you could have asked me to wipe the mud and water off the car. Good pic's from your phone.

Looks like a lot been done since my visit 2 weeks ago.

[TheArf]

Some cracking ideas there realy like the steering rack bracket

Arfon

[poshguy]

Looking good and another not to far from me in peterborough lol :)

[spud69]

Hi Johno,

Some nice build pics there, some good progress to. Our chassis and bits are off to powder coaters at the moment and we are making extra effort to crack on with the mx5 build as well as the single seater. Race on i guess......:)

All the Best.....AndyH

[Johno]

Hi all,
Managed to weld all my wishbones up Sunday apart from shock absorber brackets, shouldn't take too long I guess. Decided to TIG them up and then regreted it 6 hours later...with making sure I removed all the scale and contamenents it seemed to take ages...:eek:
Oh well I need to move on to the next project which will probably be the pedal box I guess. Got the pedals laser cut a few weeks ago as per book so going to mock that up this week (Andy if you have any photos that would be great:) )
Also got my steering extensions machined as per book and found out Sunday that they are are a tad too long... should have read forum before jumping in and getting them all done...LOL
Well guys thanks for the support and keep up the good work..:D

ps.....Andy race on...(what have I just said):eek:

Added some more photos today with domed caps welded to all my threaded inserts on my wishbones and a picture of my donor car.

http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/

[spud69]

Just waiting for some more bush tube for the pedal boxes John and i'll get them made up.

AndyH

[ozzy1]

Steering rack support looks good BUT have you mounted the rack to see how it fits as the left hand side has some lugs that side either side of the mounting face of the original rack support design.

[Johno]

Hi Ozzy1,
You are correct about the lugs on the left hand side, I trial fitted the rack Saturday and realised there was something not quite right but was going to wait until I got my ally clamps before doing anything to it.
Had a quick look today after reading your post so it looks like I'm going to have to cut in another slotted hole with the edge of the hole ligning up with the inside of the bracket....:o
Cheers for that matey..

[shaun]

I have just fitted my rack with the ally clamps, I had to cut a groove on the one side and space up the other side to get it square. Hope this helps.

Shaun

[Johno]

Hi all,
I have uploaded new photos of my roll bar and parts taken off Tony's car and mocked up on a chassis.:cool:
The roll bar I mocked up today but if anybody can see a problem with it please let me know (will probably make a standard one for SVA and change later), also do you have to have supports from roll bar to chassis as not all 7 styles do?
BUT! I have a question for all you MX5 builders?
Do you use the donors brake servo or just a master cylinder?

Thanks Johno
http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/

[ozzy1]

I think you only need rear roll bar supports if you are mounting your harnesses from the crossbar on it.

[spud69]

Just the Brake master cylinder John, the cars are not heavy enough to need a servo and feel much more responsive without one. Also the original clutch master and slave cylinder.

Should be able to get the pedal box finished today and put up some pics.

AndyH

[Davidbolam]

Any ideas when you will have mx5 pedal boxes on the market??

Cheers

David

[Johno]

Hi,
Thanks for your replies everybody. I got to work on my pedal box today too Andy. Not drilled holes for master cylinders yet as I need to find out which one I need to use for brakes, but its all coming along slowly.:D

ps.. Also modified steering bracket..Thanks for heads up ozzy.;)

Thanks Johno........

http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/

[Johno]

Hi all,
Well its been a while since I updated my photos and haven't done too much on the car recently do to work load, but I did managed to tack the rest of my fuel tank up today. Used the original MX5 unit and all I need to do is fit the fuel vent system and weld it up then test it. Hopefully this weekend I will be able to add some photos of the tank in place with brackets to the chassis.
The bushes arrived from Saturn yesterday (originally wifey ordered Sierra set...Sorry Andy for the mix up:rolleyes: so hopefully we will have a rolling chassis soon).

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/18112011207.jpg

[Johno]

Managed to get my fuel tank welded today. Simons calculated it to hold about 37 litres but should be more now swirl pot added.
Just got to add Mazda fuel vent to return to the carbon canister if it fits in the engine bay somewhere.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/19112011216.jpg

Tank needs a bit of a polish to remove all the scratches...

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/19112011215.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/19112011211.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/19112011214.jpg

[skov]

Just got to add Mazda fuel vent to return to the carbon canister if it fits in the engine bay somewhere.


It'll run fine without the carbon canister ;)

[Johno]

Had a good day today,
Nearly over the dreaded "Man Flu" and got the engine mounted in my chassis.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/20112011226.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/20112011222.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/20112011220.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/20112011225.jpg

Going to make gearbox mount tommorrow night and with any luck mount the diff the following night...

http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/

Cya Johno

[Bonzo]

Been following this build with great interest :)

Looks as if you have some tip top work going on with the build :cool:

Very impressed with the fuel tank, just goes to show what a difference a steady hand makes when using the TIG weder .... Been a while since my hand was that steady :o

Great progress all :)

[Johno]

Hi Ronnie if I may call you that,
Thanks for your kind words about our builds. We realize "without sounding clever or big headed in any way" that we are fortunate because of the trade we are in and of where we are building them, but I would like to thank so many other people on this forum for their unknown help because without you guys our builds would have probably not got off the ground...:)

Most nights I (cough)..... we:rolleyes: are looking on this forum for help along the way for the next stage in our build. We don't want to directly copy anybody's hard work so we are trying to put our own personality into our cars doing things a little different in some way.
I have been putting pictures on this thread to show what we are doing hoping that it may help somebody along the line somwhere or for someone to point out to us that we have done something wrong. All of what we have done so far has been drawn up on Autocad by myself "not brilliantly" but enough for us to work to so if anybody needs info on what what we have done please let us know.
We only hope we can put as much back into this forum as we have taken out..

Johno, Tony, Luke, Martin, ohhhh and errrr nearly forgot someone errrrr...Simon.

[Bonzo]

Hi Johno

I think you guys have bought a great deal to the forum & will continue as your build progress :) :cool:

Great to have the environment that you have, I really miss the access to all of the CNC equipment that I had become used to.
Particularly miss the Lazer, turret press punch & press breaks :(

Watching all of the different build styles take shape are a godsend & I guess that is what drives people to leave their own mark on the Roadster.

Ronnie is fine by me, folk have called me a lot worse :D

[Johno]

Hi all,
We made some progress this week, Luke has been working on the fuel tanks for the other 3 cars (slight mod to swirl pot). We have decided to weld the fuel filler pipe to the tank once we have fitted the bodywork to see where we prefer it. Simon and Tony have been welding their chassis's up today and have virtually finished them.
Myself, Tony and Luke looked at the position of the hand brake last night and decided to modify the transmission tunnel to suit our requirements and move the hand brake closer to the gear lever. I played around with the footwell area tonight to try and give more room for the pedals mainly for clutch and brake pedals which seems to have worked.
So not too bad a week...
We will post pictures soon....

[Johno]

Just a quick update for this week,
1, Footwel mods.
2, Gearbox mount.
3, Transmission tunnel mod.
4, Hand brake fitted.
5, Pedals fitted.
6, Steering fitted.
7, Lower harness mounts fitted.

I think thats it for now.
http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Pedal%20Box%20and%20Components/26112011235.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Engine-Gearbox%20Mounts/26112011241.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Hand%20Brake%20Assembly/26112011247.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Pedal%20Box%20and%20Components/26112011233.jpg

http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/


Johno

[Johno]

Hi Ronnie,
We have no CNC equipment all is manual.:eek: The only thing that is CNC is the brake press but its faulty at the moment so everything is done by tape measure and marker pen so we don't have it too easy.
Thanks Johno

[Johno]

Hi again,
Managed to mount the diff this afternoon after a struggle with the beast. I tacked up a diff mount with a Land Rover mount supported off the rear of the seat rails.
Oh and I fitted panels in the passengers footwell area. Soon going to have a lot of welding to do.
Must go now and order some parts for the clutch and brake cylinders.
I have updated photobucket today so you can see the progress for the week.

Johno and co...
http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Diff%20Mounts%20and%20Brkts/27112011265.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Diff%20Mounts%20and%20Brkts/27112011264.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Diff%20Mounts%20and%20Brkts/27112011267.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Chassis/27112011260.jpg

Oh nearly forgot...Andy did you get the old girl running under her own steam and have a play with the cones again?

[Bonzo]

Some more terrific work on the build Johno :)

Must say, you are all cracking on at a fair ole pace .... Methinks you''l have all of your builds completed before I have even started my engine for the first time :o

On the subject of CNC machinery.

After many years of dockyard slogging & nearly as many working with structural steel fabrication, I settled for a regular pay packet & went to work for a quite large industrial engineering company.

The CNC marlarkey was a whole new world to me.
Needless to say, with many projects on the go at home I soon went out of my way to take the time to learn how to programme some of that stuff ;)

Still can't get used to being back to using the tape measure, scriber & straight edge to mark things out .... Makes my brain hurt :D

[Johno]

Chuffed to bits :D
Got a wheel mocked on the car tonight and I got that funny "GRIN" on my face for some reason. Boy is it a nice feeling to know "I did that" . Makes the hard work worthwhile.
Made some front light brackets tonight as well just got to weld some captive nuts in the top and weld all up.
Nearly forgot,"HI Bonzo" and I'm glad you like what we are doing. We all appreciate what you think of our build. There's a lot still to do but where getting there one step at a time... Speak to you soon....

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Chassis/30112011275.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Chassis/30112011276.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Chassis/30112011273.jpg

http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/

Thanks Johno

[spud69]

Boy is it a nice feeling to know "I did that" . Makes the hard work worthwhile.


Love the quote John, that's what it's all about - just wait till you get your first drive and on the road to. Looking real good, may need to put them polybushes in now though.

Excellent......AndyH

[Johno]

Hi Andy and Bonzo,
Thanks for the comments, good to know you both like the car. It seems to be coming on real quick now but I'm putting less time into it at the moment strange that. I see you noticed I have a bit of play in the suspension area Andy :p , didn't want to put the bushes in until I got all the welded bits done on the chassis (saving the best untill last).
I was a bit concerned about the front light brackets drilling through the top chassis rail as I did but both sides of the tube will be welded and will be no different to a crush tube I guess. I looked at old posts and it said 120mm from centre of light to edge of chassis rail is that correct? I guess also it will clear the GRP bodywork Andy without any modifications as I cant find a good photo of this. Will not weld front light brackets untill I hear from you guys.

Thanks for your support Johno....
ps.. gonna order some more bushses tommorrow so hope you got some in stock Andy.....;) nearly forgot you fired the old girl up yet Andy??????

[Bonzo]

Hi Johno

Great to see your latest build progress :)

Wouldn't worry too much about drilling the tubes for the headlight stalks, as you say, they will act as a crush tube.

Here is a picture of my build with the lights fitted.

This was taken a fair while ago, sadly not much progress since then ( Engine change & remount the Rad ) :(

My headlamp stalks are 125mm from chassis rail to light mounting centre, as you can see, there is plenty of room for the bodywork & good clearance for the front wheels.
Those headlights of mine are like dustbin lids & are about as big as they go :D

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj266/Bonzoronnie/Preview2.jpg

Hope that helps.

[spud69]

Ronnie has beaten me to it John, the crush tubes (due to the amount of colours available) are ordered in on demand but only take next day. Just waiting for an order of crush tubes coming - people seem to be buying a lot of them at the moment.

Anyway must sober up, got foster team coming to see me and the misses at 10:30 and too much to drink last night - you've got to have some stress relief at least once a week.......;)

Got the mx5 all wired and cooled up and ready to fire yesterday but it would hardly crank, got a lack of earths so will try and get it sorted later on today. Hopefully have it out and about tomorrow.

Cheers John / Ronnie.........AndyH

[Johno]

Hi all,
Hi Bonzo car looking really good:cool: . Missus wanted red car but still not sure on colour I want (still thinking yellow and black) will see. Thanks for the dims you guys, tacked up the lights today at 120mm from centre of light to chassis rail with a jig for the others to follow, centre of light to centre of light is 894mm I think, is this within SVA requirements with Spuds kit?
Hi Andy had to read your post a couple of times before I realised it was children fostering and not "Fosters"...LOL;) me had to many STELLAS when I read post.
Managed to get a few things done this week but not spent too much time on her.
I've updated photobucket so you can have a look, see what you think.
One question, what is the deal with the "VEE" cut shape bracket in front of the throttle pedal pivot (guess it's something to do with spring return or stop?)
I've done something different with the throttle pedal using the original MX5 cable, just need to add spring for return.
Also I have moved the throttle cable mount below the inlet chamber and fixed it to its support bracket.
Yes I know the diagnol brace is wrong to book (for the eagle eyed of you) but have yet to add aditional parts.
Also Simon perfected his anodising technique today so gonna have some cool ally coloured parts for car soon...Well done Matey.

http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/

Home made clevis for throttle using original MX5 cable....
http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Pedal%20Box%20and%20Components/03122011277.jpg

Return and full throttle stops....
http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Pedal%20Box%20and%20Components/03122011289.jpg

More to come tommorrow...Johno

[Hodgson's]

thanks Johno,
The anodising went well, after one complete failure, heres a pic of the ali angle i tested! looks quite good although not perfect yet. its quite simple to do if anyone wants to try, or if anyone has tried it would be good for a few tips as im doing Johnos steering rack clamps next, and then if all goes well might build a bigger tank and try and anodise his fuel tank!!! and if his works well ill do mine:)

http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l587/hodgson10/photo-8.jpg
http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l587/hodgson10/photo-1-4.jpg
regards simon

[spud69]

The "V" cut bracket is a pedal stop John, clamp it to your pivot bolt then rotate it to stop the pedal coming too far forward.

AndyH

[Johno]

Hi all.
Got a few things done this week.

Strengthened all the pedals with some round bar welded to the front after reading some horror stories of bent pedals whilst driving.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Pedal%20Box%20and%20Components/10122011303.jpg

Was going to mount the fuel tank with straps but ended changing it after it took up valuble space of whats left of my dwindling luggage space :eek: (if thats what you call it).

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Fuel%20tank/10122011297.jpg
Only tacked up at the moment and needs tinkering but seems quite solid.
http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Fuel%20tank/10122011300.jpg

Hopefully going to take engine out tomorrow and weld up the rest of the chassis...

http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/

Johno

[HandyAndy]

some nice work going on there :cool:

I like the tank mounting & a nice touch on strengthening the pedals:cool:

cheers
andy

[Johno]

Hi Andy,
Appreciate the comments....;)
Removed the handbrake system off Tony's car today and trial fitted it to my chassis and realised it needed to be modified. Good job I haven't got round to welding up all of the car yet. Tony came up with a good idea to fit the handbrake system this morning, as you can see by the photo we altered the bracket on the seat rail to angle the gaiters up slightly and back.
The aim of our build is to use as many parts from the donor car unaltered as possible which we believe is true to the build from the book. Also it enables us to exchange parts for new or if damaged.
The rest of the guys at work are catching up real quick now and it looks like this week most of the chassis will be complete, so going to order ally sheet this week for panels and floor.
Managed to DA fuel tank and weld up tank mount today as well as modify handbrake system and tack brake pipe brackets on (I seem to remember a post Andy about these should be fitted before painting...LOL) easy to forget made brackets weeks ago but only tacked them on today.
Well heres a few piccy's of this weeks progress...

Tank D/A with 60 grit first to remove scratches, and mount bracket welded and cleaned up.
http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Fuel%20tank/11122011310.jpg

New hand brake mount to Tony's spec....
http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Hand%20Brake%20Assembly/11122011304.jpg

Pedal box finished...
http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Pedal%20Box%20and%20Components/11122011313.jpg

Well I updated photobucket tonight for you all to see.

http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/


Johno

[Johno]

Hi all,
Not done too much on car lately due to work load but I have updated Photobucket with the latest photos of my build. :o
Have changed a few things that I was not happy with such as brake pipe plate positions, radiator mount position etc..
Going to organize photobucket into catergories so old links will no longer work soon.:rolleyes:
Hopefully tomorrow I will undercoat the chassis with etch primer...
Thanks Johno

http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/

[Johno]

Hi all,
At last I got some paint on my chassis and all my brackets. Everything started to get a orange haze and I had put it off long enough (didn't like the thought of cleaning all the chassis up LOL)...
Gave it a few coats of 2PK Acid Etch Primer after keying all the steel up, took nearly 3 days to clean.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Chassis/08012012392.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Chassis/08012012394.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Chassis/08012012395.jpg

Next job is the ally panels and brake and fuel pipes.
Oh bye the way TSM Locost popped in Sat morning for a recce, I believe you know him well Bonzo....LOL;)

There a few new photos on Photobucket to look at if interested..

http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/
All photos now in catergories in sub albums...

Bye for now Johno

[skov]

Looking good Johno! :cool:

[stew]

looks amazing! :D - although white? dont fancy keeping it clean!!!!! nice and different, looks really fresh. :)

my renault clio race car was white inside, and was a nightmare to keep clean!!!!!!!!:eek:

[Johno]

Lo all,
Nice to see new MX5 builders on the forum guys. Loads of info here just about everything if you use the search feature.
The chassis certainly looks different with a coat of primer....
On the previous photos I posted it does look white but thats because of the flash Stew...:)
Here's the proper colour.....

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Chassis/11012012402.jpg

Also got my floor cut and drilled,

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Chassis/11012012400.jpg

I've still got a couple of coats of grey primer then my top coat to apply yet Stew.
Going to use polyurathene for the top coat but its not going to be black.;)

Well CYA all later...Johno

[stew]

My bad! all makes sense now! looks very good, and very well finished, very professional. :) keep the pics coming!

[Johno]

Hi guys,
Thanks for your comments Skov and Stew.
Well I got round to fitting the ally panels, It's a bit tedious with all the drilling but it's got to be done at some point I guess. I plan to drill all the holes for the panels before I give the chassis a coat of grey primer and then top coat, probably get a coat of grey on it next weekend.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Chassis/15012012407.jpg



http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Chassis/15012012410.jpg


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Chassis/15012012409.jpg

Well I guess the time is soon coming to strip my donor. The wife doesn't want me to do it as she would like to keep it......."WELL TOUGH":p



http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/

Bye all...Johno....ps Stew I found how to turn the flash off at last...

[Davidbolam]

the build looks great. I hope my alloy panels inside look as good!

Keep posting the pictures!

[Johno]

Hi David,:)
Yeah will certainly keep the photos coming, if it helps anybody thats what it's all about. Theres a few of us now building MX5 based Roadsters to Spuds69 design and only hope we can do him justice for his hard work. Just read his post tonight and what can you say...
I keep looking at all you guys building MX5 based cars it certainly helps out...

Keep up the good work....Johno
ps... I'm sure you will do a good job of your panels as I have been looking at your build photos.:D

[Johno]

Hi all,
Well it's been some time since I've updated my build so had a chance today to take some photos.
Came up against a little problem as I made my bottom wishbones a little too long for the MX5 build from Saturn. As I had already finished and painted my wishbones I was a little reluctant to cut them up, so I decided to design my own top adjustable wishbones and make them easier to adjust on the car in situ.
Hopefully this will cure the problem but if anybody can see a problem please let me know.:)
Here's a photo....

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/14032012051.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/03032012044.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/14032012049.jpg

Well got more to come but will update when I get time....

Johno

[Davidbolam]

Hello johno,

looking really good.

Have you inserted tube into the bottom of the rear wishbones to reduce the hole size to 12mm or used a larger 14mm crush tube on the polybush.

David

[shh120m]

Just a quicky,

You can turn out polybushes if you can keep them cool enough, i had a play this morning, i got a can of pipe freeze given, works well but its bloody expensive stuff

[Johno]

Hi David,
I ordered some 14mm OD by 12mm ID tube as you guys have done... easiest option I think. A 12mm bolt is plenty good enough for the job I reckon.:)
What roughly should the ride height be for the front and back from the bottom of the chassis rails to the floor plz. anybody know for the SSC build car.
Heres the link to Photobucket... sorry not many photos.

http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/

[Wynand]

Just a quicky,

You can turn out polybushes if you can keep them cool enough, i had a play this morning, i got a can of pipe freeze given, works well but its bloody expensive stuff

Just freeze them over night in the refrigerator freezer and turn at highish speed...works perfectly

[CTWV50]

Hi all,
Well it's been some time since I've updated my build so had a chance today to take some photos.
Came up against a little problem as I made my bottom wishbones a little too long for the MX5 build from Saturn. As I had already finished and painted my wishbones I was a little reluctant to cut them up, so I decided to design my own top adjustable wishbones and make them easier to adjust on the car in situ.
Hopefully this will cure the problem but if anybody can see a problem please let me know.:)
Here's a photo....

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/14032012051.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/03032012044.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/14032012049.jpg

Well got more to come but will update when I get time....

Johno

How much would you charge to make me a set of them? I've kind of hit a similar issue.

Basically I could only fit the rear pass side hub to the wishbones by putting about 10˚ of camber into it. Seems the driveshaft (halfshaft) is pushing the the hub too far out. also noticed that when lifting the hub it was stopped from travelling up by the driveshaft which then bounced the other hub up so something is not right. Seems I may need to think about moving the diff slightly. Took loads of measurements to see where I went wrong but can't real account for this issue using measurements alone!


http://www.haynes.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=71417#post71417

EDIT: It's ok I found out what the issue was this morning.

[Johno]

Well been spending a bit of time on the build but not as much as I wished (Simon)....LOL
I was considering changing my diff mount with thinking how can I incoporate a second rubber mount with what I have already fabricated. I wasn't happy about a 10mm rubber mount holding the diff in place on a top mounted bracket. Then I read Nathans report on his test drive so that motivated me to sort it out.
Had a play around with what I already have and came up with this...

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Diff%20Mounts%20and%20Brkts/2012-03-31-058.jpg

Seems more robust just a bugger to get in with it being a welded bracket to bolt to the top and bottom of the diff the same as the original frame.
Also Nathan came down Sunday and delivered Lukes body kit....How about that for customer service....... Luke now a happy bunny...:)
Damm nice fellow just doesn't speak proper Lincolnshre English....LOL:D
Luke let me borrow his shocks and here's part of the result.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/2012-04-01-061.jpg

Johno

[CTWV50]

Looks like a good solution. I like the way you have used the land mounts top and bottom,:) so one will always be in compression.

[Johno]

Well I hope so Chris, I guess only time and millage will tell...:D
Looking forward to working on the car this weekend with my friends who'll be working on their cars as well so hopefully we should have some piccy's to post next week.
Luke's keen to get his bodykit on now so any advice about how to fit it would be most appreciated.;)
He's opted for an unfinished kit from NTS which he plans to paint in a metallic colour after mock fitting all the panels.

Well this will be my last post for berfore Easter so I would like to wish everybody a happy "EASTER" break.,,,,,:)


Bye for now ......Johno

[Johno]

OK I spent some time on the car the last couple of days and got a few things done.:D
Most of my wishbones were removed from the bubble wrap today and found a new home..... None of the bolts are the right size or tightened so need to order them this week but you get the picture...
I know at the minute it's a sore point but I managed to mount my diff with it's bracketry and I'm pretty pleased with it. I managed to make a brace between the diff mount arms yesterday out of 3mm pressed steel without lowering the diff. I basically made a bracing strut of some description. It has the added benefit of contacting the rubber bush on top of the diff arm as the insert protrudes about 3mm anyway.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Diff%20Mounts%20and%20Brkts/2012-04-07-066.jpg


I countersunk the bolts in the plate so they did not interefere with the rubber on top of the diff.
Simon got a lot done on his car this week with the rear end being all mocked up and just waiting for the front bits and pieces before he can have a rolling chassis.
Out of couriosty we tried Lukes bonnet on Simons car to see if the air inlet would clear which it did with some room...pheewwwww.(thanks SKOV)
http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Bodywork/2012-04-07-071.jpg


Ok pictures speek louder than words so I have updated my Photobucket tonight with the piccy's I've taken today.

http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/

Well have a good weekend Johno

[Eternal]

Great work!

Love the Speedglas 9100 welding helmet. I have one too fantastic bits of kit!

[Johno]

Hi Alex,
Yeah there great helmets. I only use it for TIG welding though as I don't want to bugger it up with spatter....:eek:

Johno

[skov]

Your build's looking great Johno :cool:
If that doesn't hold the diff in place, I'm not sure what will! (triangles perhaps? :p )

Don't know how you got so much clearance under the bonnet :confused: My manifold was still touching the bonnet last time I had the engine in!

[robo]

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/03032012044.jpg

Not so sure about that top wishbone. That piece of studding has got shear in every plane and might fail. It would be better to adjust it on the inner bushes and keep the itegrity and strength of the original design on the outer joints. At the end of the day that studding will be getting hammered over every bump and hammered under acceleration + braking. Just thoughts. Think Toblerone

Bob

[Eternal]

Haha those helmets are there to be used!

See!
http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/7950/20120408103643.jpg

[Johno]

Thanks Robo,
Gonna re-think top wishbone but would still like to keep it adjustable.
Do you think it's to weak solely because of the threaded rod? I was planning to change it with a machined part with threads both ends and a majority of the body inside the bush just machined to suit the insert with a close fit.
I've used this setup for now just to determine my rear geometry so still playing with it. Missus won't let me have shocks yet....:confused:
I know Westfield and others fit top adjusters with Aluminium inserts and have had failures and I believe Ash G had the same problem so hoping this would be stronger.

Thanks for your advice Johno

[Johno]

Alex what have you done... That's taboo...:eek:
My eye's are bad enough as it is without having blobs attached to my front screen whilst welding. Joking apart the screens are fantastic though. Well worth the money.

Johno

[Eternal]

Need to get the old metal polish out and then plastic polish. Can make them back to new again no point throwing the screen guard things out as you can reuse them a good few times!

[Johno]

Hmmmmm..
Toblerone what do you mean by that? Are you saying my wishbones should be made out of chocolate......:D or triangles?
Will have a look all the same and think how I can improve it..

Johno

[Johno]

Hi Skov,
We put our engines in according to your measurements and Andy from Saturn. Our sumps are 40mm lower than the chassis rail which doesn't seem too bad, so if you want me to measure what we have now just let me know. Luke has placed his engine in today so we can check his as well. We are all using 1.6 litre engines so all should be the same.

Johno

[Johno]

Hi Skov,
Luke put his engine in yesterday and his engine clears as well...:)
It even clears the throttle bkt on the inlet without having to grind it down.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Bodywork/2012-04-09-125.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Bodywork/2012-04-09-124.jpg

Johno

[Johno]

Hiya all,
Well progress has been a little bit slow lately due to working on an engine which I have been googling up on to know how to restore it to a degree.
Basically I know nothing about cars and how they work so this has been a big learning curve for me.
Spent time at home working on the wiring loom in the living room trying to figure out which wires to remove (trust me don't do it with a malamute who's blowing their coat or you'll end up with fur lined wiring loom).:eek:
Well engine and gearbox was sand blasted and painted with acid etch then given a coat of VHT paint.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Engine/2012-04-28-174.jpg


New water pump fitted along with cam belt,

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Engine/2012-04-28-173.jpg

Also made ally side panels,

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Bodywork/2012-04-09-118.jpg

I made the sides out of 2mm Ally hence the reason I had to put a bend in the sheet to get it to go where I wanted it to.

I've got a few other things on the go but gonna post them later this week.
Robo advised me about changing my rear top wishbones setup which I have taken his advice and will post what I have come up with.
Well thats it for now but should have some better piccy's by the end of the week.

http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/

Cheers Johno

[adrianreeve]

Nice progress there Jonho!

Cheers

Adrian

[twinturbo]

Ahhhhh, Space....

Ebgine looks nice :)

TT

[HandyAndy]

Nice work ,

I like the fold/bend line on the ali side , :cool:

look forward to more build up progress pics .

Its not as if you don,t have the space is it :p :D

cheers
andy

[Johno]

Thanks all for your kind comments and input,

Yeah I know I'm fortunate regarding space and facilities but it's a pain getting the car out-putting it away each time. The best time to work on it is at the weekends (when missus lets me):D
The photos are a couple of weeks old (except cam belt and water pump) as I'm saving progress photos for this weekend..... Actually got a bit more done than I've posted.
I'm at the point where you just need to keep buying stuff just to keep going if that makes sense (not expensive parts just paint, hoses, gaskets, clips etc.....)
Well hopefully should have some decent photos to show you by the weekend if all goes well...:)

Bye for now

Johno

[Johno]

Hi all,
Well at last I can start bolting parts in... Spent some time on the engine recently adding new parts and cleaning it up and it's come out OK I think.
I also got both side panels cut and bent apart from the rear end where it needs trimming.
Got some of the hard fuel and brake lines in yesterday and I'm hoping my flexible fuel lines turn up tomorrow with clips. If your'e out there Voucht going to place an order with you soon for flexi brake pipes.
Bottom floors are painted up ready to fit, pedal box all done and ready to go in and steering column ready to bolt in, so I'm hoping to have some good progress this week.
Still got to modify rear top wishbones yet but it's on my list.
Iv'e dropped the engine in just to sort out fuel connections and check clearance for all the parts and will be taking it out later this week. Ok lets be honest I just wanted to put it in so it looked more like a car...LOL

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Assembly/2012-05-07-181.jpg


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Assembly/2012-05-07-195.jpg


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Assembly/2012-05-07-194.jpg


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Assembly/2012-05-07-184.jpg

http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Assembly/

Johno

[Johno]

Here's some photo's of my fuel and brake lines,


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Assembly/2012-05-07-192.jpg


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Assembly/2012-05-07-190.jpg



http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Assembly/2012-05-07-191.jpg

Johno


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Assembly/2012-05-07-186.jpg

[Johno]

More photo's,

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Assembly/2012-05-07-200.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Assembly/2012-05-07-199.jpg



http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Assembly/2012-05-07-182.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Assembly/2012-05-07-204.jpg

Any issues with what I have done please let me know...

Johno

[SeriesLandy]

One issue, it looks too good. Your putting the rest of us to shame.

Looking great btw.

Have you welded in your vin number yet??

[Johno]

Hi Series Landy,
I got to own up to that one, it's not welded in yet..... So where do most of you guys place it?
To be honest I forgot to send the form away but will do it this week promise...:)
I have been looking at Aero catches to secure my bonnet when I get it and I believe you have fitted these, are they any good?

Johno

[tkpm]

One issue, it looks too good. Your putting the rest of us to shame.

+1 with SeriesLandy

I don't know what to say, but please come and finish mine :D

Terry

[SeriesLandy]

They are very secure, not too hard to fit, just took my time cutting the bonnet and then bonded into place.
I'm not too sure what to do at the front, I don't really want to buy another set but I think I will end up doing that.
Only idea I had was like in the Westfield Bonnet kit, using pins to locate the front of the bonnet/nose, however there is no lip like in the Westfield bonnet (http://www.mellowyellow.westfield-world.com/pix/body28.jpg)

Photos in my sig, if you need anymore I will try and take one but I'm a little busy at the sec (getting married Friday, away from Monday)
A few more pics here NTDWM (http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=161450)

Vin plate is on the offside of the chassis not to sure exactly where but he manual says not easy to remove the number. I was thinking on the engine side of the outer top rail (upside down). May be wrong though.

[SeriesLandy]

+1 I've been building mine since nov 2008 (nearly 4 years) and I'm only a little ahead of you johno

[CTWV50]

OMG THAT'S MINT!!! :eek:

[skov]

That is one immaculate looking build Johno :eek:
You're making mine look like a right pile of poo!
Keep up the good work!

[CTWV50]

Where did you get your brake and fuel lines from? Are they delivered straight or do you have a special machine of something?

[michael92]

speechless , very nice indeed :cool:

[shh120m]

having seen johnos build in person ( although a lots been done since) I can only say that it looks even better in the flesh, has to be nicest built haynes, no the nicest built kitcar iv seen. Puts us all to shame:mad:

[Johno]

Hi all,
Iv'e kept low for a while after posting that thread regarding photos of NTS Engineerings MX5 build and sparked a heated debate regarding mounting the diff (sorry Nathan)....:o

I really appreciate all your comments good or bad (it's nice to be praised by you guys though as we are all in the same boat to speak)...:)
I've spent a lot of time on this forum searching through many posts to create my car so without knowing it a lot of you have helped in many ways...;)

Chris the brake and fuel lines are copper nickel and come in rolls of approx 7.5 mtrs. I basically straightened them by hand on a table before placing them in the car. I used a blupoint pipe bender to create the 90 degree bends in the 8mm fuel pipe and used one of the hand held pipe plier things for the brake lines.

Thanks Series Landy for your'e advice on the Aero Catches. I checked out your'e build quite some time ago and see you were using them and decided that's what I was going to use so thanks for the heads up...

Nathan if it wasn't for you and Andy we wouldn't be building a car at all. I persuaded the other guys here (Tony, Luke and Simon) to build a MX5 based car on the original SSC plans ( but to be honest I didn't realise at the time the car hadn't been built...LOL) Your'e carbon products look the muts nuts m8 but you need to have some time to youself and not worry about others... Glad to see you are back on the forum though.

Well it's nice to be back on here (thanks Handy Andy) and share what I have done.

Keep up the good work Johno.

http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Assembly/

[CTWV50]

Well said!:)

[HandyAndy]

:eek: That sir, is simply STUNNING :cool:

I can,t wait to see it in the flesh one day :)

with regard the placement of the Vin number.... I stamped my vin number onto a 3mm plate (to avoid crushing the chassis tube ) & welded it onto BR11 just below the drivers knee area & also will be putting a chassis plate with axle weights/vin number etc onto the engine bay scuttle on the offside close to where the steering column comes thru from cockpit to engine bay area ( which reminds me ...must rivet that in pronto :o ).

I look forward to seeing more photos of this great build.

cheers
andy

[Johno]

Hi Andy,
Thanks for that, the only problem I have with placement for the VIN number is I have made internal panels to cover all the box section...DOHH

I know this is the passengers side photo but it's the same on the drivers side...:)

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Chassis/15012012410.jpg

Can I put it in the engine bay or should I leave the panel off for SVA?

Well when me and the guys here get our cars done where coming up North for some of what do you call them .."Monkey Burgers" Must be a Northern thing...:D

Thanks for your help Johno

[HandyAndy]

:D Yep its a northern thing the monkey burgers....well its more associated with Hartlepool, it,ll be good to have a get together.....just stay away from the moors ( ref Ashg,s saga,s LOL)

The VIN plate position I used is the Bottom Rail that crosses the width of the chassis BELOW the drivers knee,s , .....the rail in front of that plate you have welded in to support your seats/runners, or do you intend to cover that chassis tube too?

I "think" you can have the Vin in the engine bay but my train of thought was like most modern cars the Vin is usually visible on top of the dash panel looking thru the screen etc so went along that route .....just my own way of doing it, not saying its the only way/position ;)

keep the build pics coming :cool:

ps....with the internal panels, they look really good but ( said politely ) they "might" create more sharp edges which the IVA tester will be checking.

cheers
andy

[Johno]

Hi Andy,
Sounds like a good place to put the VIN. Sorry for being a bit dum but I leave the book at work and have no idea what chassis part is what.:o
With regard to the internal panels I have DA'd the edges and plan to pad out the transmission tunnel and make pads for some of the side panels so my knees will have some skin left on them...:D
With the Alu panels being 2mm it's easier to put a blunted edge on them as per IVA requirements.
Thank's for the heads up though.

Johno

[Johno]

Well it's been a few weeks and I've hardly touched the car, but I did manage to get a day on it yesterday.

Mounted the fuel tank with its bracket for the first time after painting, just got to fit an earth strap and vent valve which I'm going to incoporate onto the original MX5 fuel sender flange.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/2012-06-24-231.jpg

I'm going to fit another Terry clip and probably a Jubilee clip to a bracket behind the fuel filter to make it more secure, will see what it's like when I've fitted the Terry clip first but not sure if this will be good enough for IVA (will it need a Jubilee to make it impossible to come loose)?

Got my front brake pipes installed at last. I've left them long at the front untill I decide where I'm going to fit the bulkhead connectors.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/2012-06-24-242.jpg

Also fitted some brackets to my fuel pipes in the engine bay which will be painted later with other stuff. All I need to do is cut them to length and either flare them somehow or solder a olive to create step for my hose clip.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/2012-06-24-239.jpg

Fitted my steering column to make sure all parts in the engine bay area are clear of the shaft.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/2012-06-24-241.jpg

Oh bugger 4 picture rule kicked in...LOL

Johno

[Johno]

Few more photo's,
Fitted my pedal box but not quite right yet. Need to fit a washer behind the circlip on the MX5 brake cylinder to stop the bolt coming out and also fit a rubber gator which Tony acquired from Newark.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/2012-06-24-238.jpg

Cut up some Ally plate for the pedal box floor area which needs fixing in place. Not quite so harsh as "Chequer Plate" but still with a raised surface for some heel grip.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/2012-06-24-237.jpg

Here's another shot of my fuel tank setup.....

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/2012-06-24-234.jpg

And another of my front brake pipe setup....

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/2012-06-24-243.jpg

Well that's it but not had too much time available to work on it. Now I've had a day on it I now feel like getting on with it.

I see the comment about the right angle drive for the speedo cable on CTW50's build thread has helped a few people which is great.

I have been in contact with the Admins on here about the possibilty of including a MX5 dedicated page to focus all the MX5 topics in one area.
With the Sierra becoming a bit of a "rare beast" to say the least I thought this would help ongoing builds as well as new people choosing this option.

So I would like anybody who thinks this would be a good idea to back me and push the idea forward.....

Well that's it for now...

Johno

http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/

[Dualist]

Beautiful build Johno, lovin the pics :)

[alga]

Your build pics look like show photos from an instructional book about how it's supposed to be done. A pleasure to look at!

[deezee]

The quality of your build is wonderful. Looks very professional, as in factory build professional!

[Johno]

Thanks guys,
Appreciate the nice comments. I had a play tonight with fitting a sort of cable fixing rail and got a bit carried away...
After I finished and thought about it I'm now not sure if this is acceptable.
I've "P Clipped" a solid piece of aluminium at intervals of 300mm or less (mostly 150 to 200mm) where I think I need my wiring to go.
I plan to run all my wiring in varying sizes of conduit and then cable tie it to the ally bar. I've seen pictures and videos of wiring cable tied to the box section on Westfields in conduit and loom tape so though this would be OK.

Should have asked the question on here first I guess....ggggrrrrr

Here are some photos to show you what I've done.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/2012-06-25-258.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/2012-06-25-257.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/2012-06-25-253.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/2012-06-25-252.jpg

Oh I also managed to flare my fuel line ends tonight with a Sealey brake flaring tool. Seems to have done the job...

Any thoughts would be most appreciated.

Johno

[ayjay]

I feel like crying every time I look at your build photos you make mine look like an explosion in a scrapyard by comparison:o

[K4KEV]

Very smart work indeed Johno..... keep it up bud

[robo]

The guys are engineers and they dont know how to build something horrid.:) If there was a clip 2mm in the wrong place it would make them ill:eek: I Like it.

Bob

[HandyAndy]

The quality of your build is wonderful. Looks very professional, as in factory build professional!

Couldn,t agree more , the build & pics look fantastic :cool:

The pics look like they belong in the "Book" :cool:

Keep the build progress & pics coming, they are an inspiration to us all .

cheers
andy

[twinturbo]

How did you straighten your pipe? I think that's one aspect that makes it look so good.

TT

[Johno]

Hi all,
Really appreciate all your comments (Deezee, AyJay, Dualist, Kev4Kev, TwinTurbo, Robo and HandyAndy) means a lot to me as you guys have a lot of knowledge amongst you all.....:)
There's an old saying "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" I'm enjoying working on the car at the moment as it gives me a bit of a distraction from a few family issues at the moment. I believe everybody is proud of what they have achieved (I have) so each build is unique so thumbs up to all you guys.:D

TT with regards to the brake and fuel lines I just spent a bit of time straightening them out on a table from a roll before fitting them. Because I have my P-Clips so close to each other it helps to keep the pipe straight.;)
My wiring harness support pipe is from straight 1/4" aluminium solid round bar in 4.5mtr lengths which I then bent with a cheap "Blue Point" pipe bender, (made quite a few mistakes there)....:eek:

Both the fuel and brake pipe are copper/nickel which I believe is a little bit more stiffer than normal copper which I believe may help.

Well I hope that helps...Johno

[Johno]

Just a bit of a progress report,
Spent some time Sunday Putting my brake callipers back together, I purchased a seal kit for the front from Bigg Red knowing some seals where perished only to find I should have ordered some for the rear as well..
I stripped the car down a bit so I was able to flip it over to fit my floor, bloody thing is getting damn heavy now.
I left one of my rear callipers on to sort my handbrake cable positioning. Just needs some clips to hold it in position but seems to be OK with the routing, also needs a bkt near the diff washer to connect to the cable bkt.
I have ordered some new cables as mine are shot to bits and hopefully should be here sometime this week.
It's a nice feeling to know that you can bolt parts on and leave them on for good.

While she was on her back I took some photos (sounds rude) of the rear end and diff mounting area.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-03-269.jpg

Here you can see where I have routed my ally bar under the diff hangar area

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-03-270.jpg

Oh and my floor fitted at last bonded in place with "Tiger Seal" and blind rivets.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-03-271.jpg

Hand brake cable position...

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-03-272.jpg

I've updated my Photobucket with loads of photos bu haven't put them in any order yet.....

http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/

Bye for now... Johno

[Johno]

Sorry nearly forgot,
I said to Tony and Simon I would post some photos of their build as well on here.
Here's Tony tonight fitting his floor panels..

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-03-280.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-03-281.jpg

Here's Simons pedal box (he's very proud of this...)

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-03-284.jpg

The pedals have been covered in what we call 3mm thk aluminium "Rice Grain". Very grippy and looks cool too.
Well they've done loads more than that but will post more photos at a later date...
They're a bit shy:D

Johno

[shh120m]

looking mint as ever, i keep looking for faults but cant find any, well apart from the rusty old handbrake cable;)

Keep up the good work

[Johno]

Hi all,
Had a frustrating week........
Ever had days where you just stand and look at it and get nothing done, well this week was my turn.
Recieved new rear handbrake cables this week so I thought a couple of hours one night should sort it.......WRONG!!!!

No matter where I routed them I couldn't get them to clear most things moving...LOL
I tried over, under and in front of the diff but I couldn't get the cable away from SB rails on full movent of the shock (without springs) in full compression.
I tried brackets of all sorts vice gripped to various parts of the chassis to no aveil. I then removed one of the clips on the cables to see if I could bend this to help. I placed it in the vice and tried to bend it into a different position thinking this might help.
Wrong again! clip wasn't having any of it as it started turning into odd shapes...
So I reluctantly put the clip back on before I ruined it.....Sigh!!!!! back to square one.
Two evenings and I acheived nothing.

Three evenings later I put the cable back in the calliper and routed the cable back over the diff again but this time it looked differnt.
When I put the clip back on I had put it on back to front (MX5's have a clip with a hole for fixing at 45 degrees to the cable) and all of a sudden it came together...
A simple bracket bolted to the bottom of the diff cage and it was sorted..LOL
Tony smiled as he said "Know where to weld the bracket on know"

Here's a photo of the offending item in place.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-08-293.jpg

Here the you can see the clearance I've now got at ride height.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-08-295.jpg

The cable now also clears the wishbone on full travel.

Both cables in place.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-08-292.jpg

Just need to clip the cable to the diff brace and add some sleeving to avoid chaffing problems.

Hand brake fully installed (not finished yet though)

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-08-290.jpg

Johno

[Johno]

Sorry 4 photo rule kicked in (nearly finished).
I also had some time on the pedal box. It's bolted in place but not quite finished yet hence no nylocs fitted etc...
I'm using the MX5 master cylinder which fits nicely to which I have fitted a washer behind the circlip to hold the clevis bolt in place, and fitted a rubber boot to cover the bolt.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-07-286.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-08-297.jpg

I'm going to use the original throttle cable but just need to move the throttle bracket on the engine to make it all fit.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-08-302.jpg

Engines's going in soon to sort out cooling and air.

Bye for now....Johno:)

http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/

[Johno]

Sorry nearly forgot,
Hi Nathan how's things with you? you Northener....:D
Had to get new cables anyway for the handbrake as they were shot to bits with rust....:eek: Plus they didn't look good....
I just used the old ones for mocking up.
Engines going back in this week for cooling and sorting the air side of things.
Looking forward to that part of the build:D
Well I hope you got your'e life back on track now and are moving on...


Hope to hear from you soon..Johno

[Bonzo]

Hi Johno

I have just got up to date with this build thread :o

Can only say one thing.

WOW

You chaps are doing a fantastic job with the build. :cool:

Love every aspect of the build & can't wait to see the end result.

No need to rush mind, good things take time so if I have to wait a couple of weeks, so be it. :D :D

Seriously, well done Johno

[Johno]

Hi Bonzo,
Thanks for that.;)

Lol a couple of weeks for the next part of the build you mean...:)
Really enjoying working on the car now as I get to bolt bits on and leave them there... well almost...:D
Things are slowing down now though as I am getting to the fiddly bits I guess, so I have spent some time researching what to do next.

Johno

[Johno]

Just a heads up really,
I purchased a Toyota angled drive for my gearbox as I plan to use the MX5 instrument cluster in some form or another. I'm pleased to tell you the drive fits but the gearbox housing needs some attention.

In order for the drive to work properly you will need to cut away some of the PPF mounting framework on the gearbox.
Here's a picture of the drive before trimming...

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-13-317.jpg

As you can see it will either point the speedo cable too low below the chassis or foul on the PPF framework.
I removed some of the framework (bonus saving weight...) to allow the drive to point the cable forward to where it should go.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-14-324.jpg

The framework is all excess baggage now anyway so no harm has been done to the gearbox.
I haven't refitted my engine in the chassis to show you the final result but will as soon as I have done it.

If anybody is interested there are more photos on my Photobucket site.

http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/

Johno

[CTWV50]

Good info that, mine hasn't arrived yet but it's rather different than yours, should be interesting to see how they compare.:)

[Johno]

Hi Chris,
What have you got coming then?;)
I bet you've got some cunning plan sorted before hand?
It's not coming from Australia is it......mmmmmmm

Can't wait to see what you are gonna do this time....:D

Johno

[Johno]

Hi,
Well had some good news this week, I got my VIN number.
Just need to get a plate stamped/engraved and weld it to my chassis somewhere.
Also spent some time on the car doing odd jobs, firstly I repainted the engine bay and then put my engine back in for good. Fitted the throttle cable and started work on the air intake and coolant side of things.

Heres the bracket for my air filter I made yesterday..

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-22-348.jpg

Air filter in place...

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-22-362.jpg

Radiator fitted with top cooling hose mocked up...

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-22-355.jpg

Throttle cable installation with original MX5 cable....

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-22-360.jpg

Photobucket updated today as well......

http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/

Johno

[Johno]

Well I said I would post a photo of my speedo drive once my engine was in so here it is.......

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-22-350.jpg

Plenty of room now so just a few clips and all is good I hope.

Might as well use up my photo allowance...

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-22-353.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-22-352.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-22-354.jpg

Well thats it for now but I got some more bits coming this week to finish of my front cooling side of things.

Well until next time cya...Johno


http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/

[skov]

Painted the engine bay again :confused:
It already looked immaculate! Starting to think you might have a touch of OCD :D

Out of curiosity, where are you planning to take the feed off for the idle valve?
I'm struggling to figure out a sensible routing for mine.

[Wgroove]

Hi Johno,
Nice build you've got ! i like it very much !
What kind of cooling hose do you use ? It looks like it is flexibel ?

regards,

Wim

[Johno]

Hi,
Hello John.... Not OCD I'm afraid just too much time on my hands....:D
Yellow looks nice from a photo but in reality I wasn't happy with the finish as I didn't origionally put enough down so I thought once everything was mocked up I'd put down a heavier coat once I rubbed it down.
Lot happier with the finish now almost like powder coat....


Well with regard to the ISCV take off I was thinking of using a "Revotec Self-sealing Hose Fittings - For Water / Air Hoses" in 19mm and place it between the throttle body and air flow meter hose using silicone hose elbow somehow. Do you see a problem with that?

In the worrkshop manual it states it controls "Bypass air amount". I guess it checks the amount of air flow before and after the throttle body sensor.
I'm not upto speed on the MX5 (or any other car for that fact) so I was hoping this was going to be OK...

Hi Wgroove,
Thanks for that. I'm using three ply polyester reinforced silicone hose used for cooling or air systems. It's a bit decieving in the photo as the top coolant hose is two pieces but as yet I haven't fitted my hose clips so it looks as though it is one piece. Hopefully the rest of my order will turn up soon so I can finish it and post a piccy.

Well I hope I've been of some help ...Johno:)

[skov]

Hey Johno, those Revotec jobbies look perfect!
Wish I'd known about them earlier - my current solution involves various hoses, joiners, and a horribly convolted path :rolleyes:

[Johno]

Hi John,
Glad to be of help....:)
God knows how many times you've helped me out probably without knowing so I'm only too happy to be of some use....:D
The're a bit expensive but it gets over the problem I hope....

Johno

[Johno]

Sorry forgot to say,
Found them on "Europa kit car parts website" for about £19.95 so was going to order one today to see if it worked out.
Revotec was a bit dearer I think....

Johno:D

[skov]

I think I saw them for £25 when I googled for them earlier :eek:
To be fair I've probably spent that on the various bits I got to do it, and I'm a bit reluctant to spend it again!
I think I can just about make what I've got work, but it's nice to know they're available as a back-up plan!

[Bonzo]

Hi Johno

Great to see some more cracking progress pictures. :) :cool:

I love the engine in its new livery :cool:

May I ask what paints have you used as it looks to give a cracking finish ?

[Johno]

Hi Johno

Great to see some more cracking progress pictures. :) :cool:

I love the engine in its new livery :cool:

May I ask what paints have you used as it looks to give a cracking finish ?

Hi Bonzo,
I've used "Alpha coatings" VHT paint on engine and gearbox and Polyurethane on the cam cover and inlet manifold. I asked my local bodyworkshop/refinishers what to use throughout the build so if it's wrong I'm buggered.....:eek:
These guys have been supplying paint to most of the bodywork shops around here for years so I guess they know what they are doing....
If it doesn't work out I guess the olde orange sandblaster will see the light of day again......

Johno

[PorkChop]

It all looks really neat. If mine turns out anywhere near as good as that I'd be well chuffed :)

[Johno]

Hi,
Thanks Dave I'm sure you will do a great job of your car (where you upto, need some photos).
Well John I got my Idle valve connected to my air inlet and seems to be OK, just hope doing away with the various plastic bits will not do too much damage....:eek:

It's a bit of an expensive way to do it IMO but here it is.....

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-28-374.jpg

Not done too much on the car this week as it's been too bloody hot..... plus now the rains stopped I've got to tackle the "Triffids" in the garden...:mad:

Johno

[Johno]

Decided today to go with my original roll bar. I was in two minds about it but it's what I planned from the start and she's been sitting there for some time so I welded her up today and gave her a clean up and some paint.:)


I think I might make a standard one for the IVA later on just in case it hampers the rear vision.
Also sand blasted my various track rod ends and ball joints etc.... and gave them an undercoat at the same time.

Here she is cleaned up before painting...

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-29-375.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-07-29-376.jpg

She's had a couple of coats of acid etch primer and a few coats of grey primer now so tomorrow I will be able to rub her down and give her a top coat if all goes well......:D

http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/

Bye for now.....Johno

[Johno]

Well I got a few things done on the car in the last week.
I managed to paint my roll bar in the end after making a mess of the first top coat... then when it did go OK a bug decided to do a "Kamikazee" dive straight into the nice wet paint... well I guess thats the first of many to end their life on it..LOL
Installed my clutch cylinder piping, all I need to do now is purchase a flexi hose to go between the "T" piece and slave cylinder.
I've tried to keep the pressure switch low on the "T" for my brakes and clutch to help prevent air being trapped between the oil and the switch.
Finished my throttle cable routing and connected it to my accelerator pedal. The pedal just needs the stops adjusting now it's all in place.
Finished my top and bottom rad hoses which now need clipping up.

Is it better to use the constant tension clips for this job or will Jubilee's be fine?
Fitted some silicone hose to intake manifold and various components.
Sand blasted ball joints and gave them a few coats of paint.
Started painting my internal panels.
Also the steering rack got a coat of paint.

Clutch "T" in place with hard lines...


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-08-05-384.jpg

Bottom coolant pipe with bracket welded to it and fixed to chassis...


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-08-05-380.jpg

Roll bar and some of the internals panels in position...
In the background is Simons build with a hint of Orange here and there.


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-08-05-387.jpg

New silicone hose on some of the air intake manifold fittings...


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-08-05-383.jpg


http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/

Johno

[K4KEV]

totally awesome work Johno I really need to get some darker shades....nobody is gonna miss you in that dude....keep it up mate, keep it up (the work I mean:p )

[skov]

You have been a busy boy Johno!

What's the travel like on your throttle pedal?

[Johno]

totally awesome work Johno I really need to get some darker shades....nobody is gonna miss you in that dude....keep it up mate, keep it up (the work I mean:p )

Yeah sorry K4KEV..:D
I'm trying to darken it a bit with all the black panels and other stuff I have planned...
Hi John I took a couple of photos of my pedal travel, why do you think there is a problem?

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-08-07-402.jpg


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-08-07-401.jpg

There is a fair bit of adjustment with the standard cable setup just before the throttle boddy on the original MX5 cable.... You got me worried now...

On the down side of things you were right about the amount of steering lock.
I have the same problem as you regarding as the extension hitting the wishbone.....bugger...

Like yourself I am going to fit some sort of steering limiter which will help with the self centreing for the IVA.
I've had a look around and there is nothing for the Ford Escort steering rack but there is kits for the Ford Focus with 18 inch wheels and Fiesta I believe.
MNR fit a 5mm wheel spacer to the hub to stop the steering ball joint hitting the rim.
I was thinking of getting a ally spacer bush made up in two halves with a jubilee clip to pull the two halves together. Each spacer would have a lip to just clear the jubilee width if you understand what I mean.
I was also thinking about altering the extension itself in regards to thinning it down a bit with the MX5 ball joint only being 12mm thread.
I will see how that goes.
Out of curiousity how wide were your plastic steering rack stops?

Johno

[skov]

Does that give you the full range of movement on the throttle body?
My pedal travel seems to be a lot more than that, in fact it's slightly rediculous :rolleyes:
I'm thinking I might have to extend the bottom of the pedal down to give the cable more movement for less pedal travel if that makes any sense.

I can't quite remember how wide my rack stops are. They weren't much wider than a jubilee clip though, maybe 20mm or so.
Going to stick with that solution, but possibly remake them out of something less likely to shatter.

[mgglep]

Wow johno looks really good if mine come out half as neat I will be happy keep it up mate

[Johno]

Thanks all,:D
That's full travel on the throttle body John. Simon was with me when we adjusted it today to see what we could achieve.
The accelerator pedal is book spec with the only addition of a home made clevis arrangement to accomadate the original cable.
What sort of travel do you have then?
I can't see why you should have a problem...... do you have the ability to alter the the lenght of travel near the throttle body?

Johno

[Johno]

Well I altered my rear top wishbone yesterday.
Forum member Robo made a valid comment on them some time back and I've only just got round to altering them.

At the time I made the adjuster out of 18mm coarse pitch studding which was OK for mocking up but no good for road use. After I made them I was not happy as I knew that thread in a shaft was not a good idea and Robo's comment only reinforced this.
Basically he said "think Tobelerone" which is a good perspective as the coarse thread pitch along with thread all the way along the adjuster was a bad idea (failure everywhere).

Well I wanted to keep the top adjustable wishbone idea and tackle the adjuster......
Here's my latest version.....:)

I started off with a 18mm fine pitched bolt rated at 8.8. This had the head cut off and a thread machined the same end...

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-08-10-413.jpg

The part of the bolt which was to be welded to the yolk was prepped for weld. The yolk was also uprated to a 10mm back plate with 6mm side plates.
Before the bolt was tacked to the yolk a Stainless half nut was fitted along with a machined half nut.
The bolt was then welded to the yolk.
The machined half nut was then welded to the back plate once it was tightened as far as it would go....


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-08-10-415.jpg

Here is the finished result...

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-08-10-418.jpg


The idea of the machined nut is to reinforce the bolt along its length without putting another weld further along. This will also help to strengthen the weld under the machined half nut without creating a further failure point.

Well that's the idea behind my thinking.
The amount of thread between yolk and wishbone is quite small so hopefully this will help as well. The shank of the bolt is now inside the wishbone which gives a lot better fitment and strength.

I'm more happier with it now but if anybody has an issue with it please let me know....

Thanks Johno

Will post a picture tomorrow of the finished item...

[SeriesLandy]

Stop posting the welding porn, puts mine to shame :mad:

Your build is coming on brilliantly, I can't wait to see the final result.

[mopple]

Nice fabrication, but actually it would be more convenient to use rose joints. AshG has done it on his build years ago beautifully with quick adjusters. Samples are on his photostream.

[Johno]

Stop posting the welding porn, puts mine to shame :mad:

Your build is coming on brilliantly, I can't wait to see the final result.

Hi Steve,
Sorry Steve will show all the welding posts from now on with an 18 certificate ......:D Trust me there's a lot of better of welders on this forum than what I can do....:o
Yeah I can't wait to see what it turns out like too as I'm making it up as I go along now....LOL
Well here's a photo of the finished adjuster painted and in place...


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-08-12-426.jpg

Just got to add a couple of washers and a nylock to finish it off and it's done.

Well I guess it's the wiring loom next and it's routing which I'm not looking forward to.

Bye for now....Johno

[Johno]

Nice fabrication, but actually it would be more convenient to use rose joints. AshG has done it on his build years ago beautifully with quick adjusters. Samples are on his photostream.

Hi Mopple,
Well I like doing things the hard way.....
At least i can say I made that (unless it fails and it's somebody else's fault):D
will see how it works out :)

Johno

[skov]

That's full travel on the throttle body John. Simon was with me when we adjusted it today to see what we could achieve.
The accelerator pedal is book spec with the only addition of a home made clevis arrangement to accomadate the original cable.
What sort of travel do you have then?
I can't see why you should have a problem...... do you have the ability to alter the the lenght of travel near the throttle body?


Ah ha! Finally got around to removing my throttle pedal and having a look.
It would appear Nathan at NTS had supplied me with a Sierra clutch pedal instead of an MX5 throttle pedal!
I suspect it might be a bit late to get him to swap it now he's dissapeared off the face of the earth... :rolleyes:

[Johno]

Hi John,
Glad to hear you found the problem...:)
I don't have the book with me but I guess the clutch pedal is shorter below the pivot bush?
Should be an easy fix them as long as the guide tube through the pedal box still lines up with new position of the throttle connection.

I've not done too much on the car lately. I've tried to spend some time with the kids whilst they're on holiday.
I have drawn up an alteration to my current rear top wishbone. The lower mount for the shock is now above the yoke. I'm hoping this will put less stress on the adjuster. It's now similar to the Sierra setup in configuration.
The position of the lower shock mount is 25mm longer than Saturns plans.


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/Rearsetup.jpg

Also when the car is at ride height the shock and top upright pivots are all in line as you can see in this drawing.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/Untitled.jpg

This means I've just got to modify my yoke and i guess the shock will need to be 25mm longer..??

What I am trying to acheive by doing this is to use the lower adjusters on the bottom wishbone for "Toe in and out" and also track width. The top will be purely for "Camber" adjustment as I can do this in situ without removing parts. I should be able to get fine adjustment because of the fine pitch thread of the bolt.

Does anybody see a problem with this?? as it's only on paper yet.

Thanks Johno

[robo]

I would say thats a sensible mod, You are taking a lot of strain off that top adjuster.:cool: I dont suppose moving the spring outboard like that will foul the inset of the wheel rim on the mazda set up would it?

Bob

[Johno]

I would say thats a sensible mod, You are taking a lot of strain off that top adjuster.:cool: I dont suppose moving the spring outboard like that will foul the inset of the wheel rim on the mazda set up would it?

Bob

Hi Bob,
I'm glad you think it's a step forward. As you said in a previous post it had flaws. :eek:
I'm hoping the bolt now will be OK. I don't know if you have seen my previous post but I modified my design of the yoke and adjuster. It's now an 8.8 grade bolt with the head cut off and fine pitch threads both ends with the shank of the bolt in the body of the bush. The bolt was chamfered for welding and and a threaded collar screwed onto the threads before welding.
The bolt was welded to the yoke and then the collar was screwed upto the yoke and only welded to the yolk and not the bolt.
My thinking was that this would not put stress directly on the weld between the bolt and yoke as the collar would help transfer some of the stress further along the bolt. Also there is minimum bolt length between the yoke and the bush.
Sorry to bore you all...:o

I believe the clearance between the wheel rim and shock mount should be fine but as of yet I haven't checked this on the car.
Looking at this photo it should be fine..

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/MX5%20Build/Wishbones/14032012048.jpg

I'm not sure but doesn't the Sierra rear top wishbone have a similar setup in reference to welding a bolt to the bush..? (books at work).
Also I'm sure I've seen a picture of a yoke welded to a bolt in the book for use on different donors.

Well thanks for the input Robo I always appreciate advice from you guys.

Johno

[robo]

Westfield bring their shock straight off the top of the rear hub

http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k577/mypickys/rear_height.jpg

The thread thing makes me nervous because a friend of mine built a v8 rover westie and the top rose joint sheered of. Westfields answer was to send him a better quality unit. Kin great when it could have killed him.I was in that car at break neck speeds the day before.It was not the one with the arrow that failed it was the top one:eek: So thats what makes me anti anything with a thread on it being in sheer. Thats why I will be doing the same as your lower wishbones but top and bottom on all four corners. All those are just under compression or stretch which would make me a happy bunny.:)

http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k577/mypickys/rear_toe.jpg

Bob

[Johno]

Ooooooo scary...
Wouldn't like to be in that when that gave way (brown trouser time comes to mind).
So if I'm reading this right Westfield do not always use "Top of the range parts" in areas of their build.
Worrying that especially in such a critical area.:eek:
I read in Keith Tanners build the company that supplied his chassis also supplied lesser quality parts and suffered suspension problems later on.

Now you told me about that failure on your friends car I'm considering rethinking my rear top wishbone (currently MK5 I believe...LOL).
If I do it will consist of inboard "Heim" adjusters and the shock still above the top upright (this time gonna ask for your opinions before fab).:D :D

Unfortuneatly it's too late for my front lower wishbones (redisgned them and fabbed them...ohhh).


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-09-15-449.jpg

I chose to make new lower wishbones to give me clearance for my steering rack extensions when on full droop. Kept the pivot and shock mount points the same just lowered the tubes or "A Arms" (tryin to make "Old Jag Guy" feel at home)....

Front tops are redisgned on paper but not fabbed yet. After reading "Alga's" post on "Self centrering" I'm not sure if I should move the threaded adjuster to the rear of the car more?
I've designed them so they can be adjustable without removing the top ball joint from the upright. Will post a picture when happy with the design.

Johno

[shh120m]

Bloody hell johno, its just taken me an hour to catch up on your build diary. You certainly have made progress and its looking better than ever! Love all the modifications, it wont be reconisable as a "haynes" soon!!;)

Stunning mate keep it up.

Skov, Just stuck a pedal plate/tube/crush tube in a jiffy bag, cant beleive i did that aswell. I dont have access to a welder at the moment as someones got mine so i havent welded it.

[Eternal]

amazing work! Wish someone made fully adjustable wishbones for the standard Roadster's that would save me a heap of trouble with getting my setup done.

[robo]

Hi John,
Glad to hear you found the problem...:)
I don't have the book with me but I guess the clutch pedal is shorter below the pivot bush?
Should be an easy fix them as long as the guide tube through the pedal box still lines up with new position of the throttle connection.

I've not done too much on the car lately. I've tried to spend some time with the kids whilst they're on holiday.
I have drawn up an alteration to my current rear top wishbone. The lower mount for the shock is now above the yoke. I'm hoping this will put less stress on the adjuster. It's now similar to the Sierra setup in configuration.
The position of the lower shock mount is 25mm longer than Saturns plans.


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/Rearsetup.jpg

Also when the car is at ride height the shock and top upright pivots are all in line as you can see in this drawing.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/Untitled.jpg

This means I've just got to modify my yoke and i guess the shock will need to be 25mm longer..??

What I am trying to acheive by doing this is to use the lower adjusters on the bottom wishbone for "Toe in and out" and also track width. The top will be purely for "Camber" adjustment as I can do this in situ without removing parts. I should be able to get fine adjustment because of the fine pitch thread of the bolt.

Does anybody see a problem with this?? as it's only on paper yet.

Thanks Johno

I was thinking about this in board adjustment thing. On the front its ok because its only needed on the top wishbone for the sake of dialing in a bit more caster and the transit rod end at 20mm in diameter is never going to break in a million years. On the back to use the inner adjusters for toe + or - is going to take the wheel backwards or forwards in an arc quite a lot which will effectively alter the wheelbase. That would mean setting it up before the wheel arches go on. Thats probably why westfield keep the adjusters outboard. I could live with rosejoints outboard if I knew that they were massively oversized and could never fail. No one seems to be able to advise on sizing of the rose joints. All you can get from the suppliers is " 5/8 should do the job":eek: Kin great. Just thoughts

Bob

[Johno]

I was thinking about this in board adjustment thing. On the front its ok because its only needed on the top wishbone for the sake of dialing in a bit more caster and the transit rod end at 20mm in diameter is never going to break in a million years. On the back to use the inner adjusters for toe + or - is going to take the wheel backwards or forwards in an arc quite a lot which will effectively alter the wheelbase. That would mean setting it up before the wheel arches go on. Thats probably why westfield keep the adjusters outboard. I could live with rosejoints outboard if I knew that they were massively oversized and could never fail. No one seems to be able to advise on sizing of the rose joints. All you can get from the suppliers is " 5/8 should do the job":eek: Kin great. Just thoughts

Bob

Have you had a look at this site http://www.mcgillmotorsports.co.uk/.
Would it be possible to use a larger sized rose joint and fit a machined bush to bring down the size of the hole for the bolt?

Johno

[robo]

I think your right. If the reducing bush was spun up with a large flange/washer as an all in one unit on the outside it would contain the joint in the event of failure.

bob

[Johno]

Cheers Nathan and Eternal.
I'm just making things up as I go now and if don't lke it I change it..:eek:
I just got to stop painting stuff before I'm happy with it........:mad:

Robo did you have a look at Mcgill site, they seem to do a large range of rose joints and accessories. They also do M16-M12 Rod End Joint Reducers, High Misalignment spacers.

Well I welded up my new front lower wishbones Saturday and this evening I tacked in a cross tube similar to the rear lower wishbones.
I've decided to do this instead of a plate between the two tubes.
So what I'm asking is this a good or bad idea?
This time I'm asking before I go and weld it...

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-09-17-460.jpg


Whats you opinion?

Photos updated http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/

Bye for now Johno

[shh120m]

I think its a good idea, especially if you add another one crossing it going the other way. Whenever iv seen failed wishbones it has always been at the end of the plate. Must have something to do with the amount of heat the seam weld on both sides does to the steels integrity.

Ive read a while ago, something to do with wishbone tubes should not follow the exact path of any force going though them, cant remember where or what exactly, maybe a real engineer will come along and put me right or wrong.:D

[stew]

looks good johno. ive been following yours ( and skovs) build threads, even although ive been flat out with work for the past 5 months and done nothing to my car. i like the idea of your revised wishbone. im thinking of rose jointing all my wishbones and doing away with bushes etc. not sure if its a fantastic idea though?! haha

[robo]

Hey johnno did you clock the upper wishbones on the roll bar thread. Thats the sort of thing I had in mind.

http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k577/mypickys/hWBcp_zps2623727a.jpg

Bob

[Johno]

Ok you may want to put some shades on for this so be warned because here she is......:) :)



http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-09-22-467_zps331ab870.jpg

I warned you...LOL
Seriously need to tone it down somewhat with some black bits here and there I think.
Very pleased with the panels just needs some more polishing in places.
One bonus is the bonnet clears the engine even without a bonnet bulge and still needs to go up another 2mm for the side panels as well.:D
I've just got to figure out a starting point to fit them from which I guess is trial and error to start with.
One question, what's the best way to cut the hole in the front nosecone for the rad and oil cooler to achieve the best finish?

Bye for now

Johno

[Johno]

Hey johnno did you clock the upper wishbones on the roll bar thread. Thats the sort of thing I had in mind.

http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k577/mypickys/hWBcp_zps2623727a.jpg

Bob

Hi Bob,
Haven't seen that thread but will look.
Is this what you plan to do on your front wishbones as the American Locost boys use this type of setup as well and seem to have no problems.
I guess this gives you some adjustment on your caster to help with centering right?
I like the idea of that especially with the ability to alter camber without removing the ball joint.
I've came up with a neat (hopefully) solution similar to the photo regarding camber adjustment for IVA and was also thinking about using Heim joints for caster (after Algas thread) but is it ok to mix and match poly bushes with Heim joints as my front lowers are poly now as below.....

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-09-17-459.jpg

Cya all soon



Johno

[Johno]

looks good johno. ive been following yours ( and skovs) build threads, even although ive been flat out with work for the past 5 months and done nothing to my car. i like the idea of your revised wishbone. im thinking of rose jointing all my wishbones and doing away with bushes etc. not sure if its a fantastic idea though?! haha

Hi Stew,
Yeah I keep playing around with the wishbones until I come up with something that I'm happy with....:D
Check out LocostUSA forum, these guys only seem to use rose joints (heim joints over there) and seem to swear by them.
So I would say if you want to go that route it would be fine.....:D :D

Johno

[Davidbolam]

hi johno Is that equinox body kit?

David

[Johno]

hi johno Is that equinox body kit?

David

Hi David,
No it's an AGM kit. :D

Johno

[robo]

Hi Bob,
Haven't seen that thread but will look.
Is this what you plan to do on your front wishbones as the American Locost boys use this type of setup as well and seem to have no problems.
I guess this gives you some adjustment on your caster to help with centering right?
I like the idea of that especially with the ability to alter camber without removing the ball joint.
I've came up with a neat (hopefully) solution similar to the photo regarding camber adjustment for IVA and was also thinking about using Heim joints for caster (after Algas thread) but is it ok to mix and match poly bushes with Heim joints as my front lowers are poly now as below.....

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-09-17-459.jpg

Cya all soon



Johno

On the cobra I built with xj12 suspension they press a needle roller bearing into the rear wishbones. They are as cheap as chips and if the right diameter could be found may be a cheap alternative. I will get the bearing book out and investigate.They might even do the bearings in yellow.

http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k577/mypickys/imagesqtbnANd9GcTkV8ufSAy7ZHu6ngnMC_zps376dc19a.jp g


Bob

[Johno]

Hi Robo,:)
I've been thinking about the design of my upper front wishbones and think I'm going down the "Rose Joint/Heim" route istead of polybushes.
I believe on Algas thread you said the MX5 caster is 5 degrees. I was thinking about moving the top ball joint adjuster rearward to achieve 6 degrees with the Rose Joints at 90 degrees to the pivot bolt.
I'm going to use misalignment washers and machine some spacers for the suspension brackets to take up any slack.
This will give me the option to dial in a caster angle to suit the geometry for the front of the car.
I plan to bend the top tubes and weld on threaded inserts onto the ends of the tube which will give a cleaner look......
The outer camber adjuster will be adjustable whilst on the car without removing the ball joint but it will not be a bought in item as I'm having some parts machined up.

Like I said not finalized yet so any input from anybody will be appreciated.:) :)

[stew]

i think ur going down a good route with rose-jointing the wishbones. it was something that i was looking at, and think will do for them all. will mean making more but hey ho. your builds coming on really well though johno, be a good step with the bodywork on. :)

[robo]

Hi Robo,:)
I've been thinking about the design of my upper front wishbones and think I'm going down the "Rose Joint/Heim" route istead of polybushes.
I believe on Algas thread you said the MX5 caster is 5 degrees. I was thinking about moving the top ball joint adjuster rearward to achieve 6 degrees with the Rose Joints at 90 degrees to the pivot bolt.
I'm going to use misalignment washers and machine some spacers for the suspension brackets to take up any slack.
This will give me the option to dial in a caster angle to suit the geometry for the front of the car.
I plan to bend the top tubes and weld on threaded inserts onto the ends of the tube which will give a cleaner look......
The outer camber adjuster will be adjustable whilst on the car without removing the ball joint but it will not be a bought in item as I'm having some parts machined up.

Like I said not finalized yet so any input from anybody will be appreciated.:) :)

This is the joint that westfield use http://www.mcgillmotorsports.co.uk/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=57. I suppose going up one size would give it more of a fighting chance.

Bob

[Johno]

Here's what I propose to fabricate as my front top wishbone.


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/RoseJoint.jpg


I will be using 25mm x 2.5mm wall which will allow me to weld the threaded bushes into the tube as these are 20mm OD. The tubes are going to be bent at 45 degrees to give some extra weld/joint area to the main threaded adjuster.
I have moved the main threaded adjuster back 5mm to the book dimensions. With the Rose Joints I should be able to increase/decrease the caster as required for my car.
I believe DRCorsa has stated in Algas post on "self centering" that this will increase the caster by 1.4 degrees.
Camber will be adjustable in situ with a homemade camber adjuster.

[Johno]

Well I started to fit my bodykit today.
Not worked with GRP before so not sure how to work with it..
I've made a start on the front nose cone cutting out the unwanted panel.
I used a Dremmel with a cutting wheel which seemed to work fine and then sanded some of it back with a drum sanding atatchment.
Also bolted my side panels and scuttle on with riv nuts.
It took some time linning up the ally panels with the GRP kit but it's taking shape slowly.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-10-13-480.jpg


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-10-13-478.jpg


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-10-13-482.jpg

I plan on fitting my bonnet catches tomorrow which will be be fun I'm sure:rolleyes:

[Davidbolam]

Looking really good there.

Where abouts did you get the silicone hoses for your engine? Is it designed to be flexible?

David

[twinturbo]

looking Nice :) .


Bodyworks a gr8 colour too, I am using yellow and black.

TT

[Johno]

Looking really good there.

Where abouts did you get the silicone hoses for your engine? Is it designed to be flexible?

David

Thanks David,:)
The hoses came from AP Motorstore on Ebay and yes it is designed to be flexible.

[Johno]

looking Nice :) .


Bodyworks a gr8 colour too, I am using yellow and black.

TT

Hi TT,
I decided I wanted a colour that was easily visible in a row of traffic especially in somebodys rear view mirror....:eek:
I also think yellow and black look good together.:D
I've now decided to concentrate on getting the car up and running instead of trying to make it look good........:rolleyes:

[robo]

Here's what I propose to fabricate as my front top wishbone.


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/RoseJoint.jpg


I will be using 25mm x 2.5mm wall which will allow me to weld the threaded bushes into the tube as these are 20mm OD. The tubes are going to be bent at 45 degrees to give some extra weld/joint area to the main threaded adjuster.
I have moved the main threaded adjuster back 5mm to the book dimensions. With the Rose Joints I should be able to increase/decrease the caster as required for my car.
I believe DRCorsa has stated in Algas post on "self centering" that this will increase the caster by 1.4 degrees.
Camber will be adjustable in situ with a homemade camber adjuster.

You could simplify it with adjusters on the inside and use the mx5 outer joint. The inners will do both caster and camber.

http://imagehosting.rodsnsods.co.uk/1211507b0f3674ceb.jpg

Bob

[Johno]

Hi all,
Managed to spend sometime on the car Sunday fitting my bonnet catches and steering column. Still waiting for two of the catches to turn up but all holes are in place ready.


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-10-21-495.jpg

Ther'e a bit fiddly getting the adjustment right and will need realigning on final assembly but I'm happy with how they fitted.

Also managed to get my steering column in place.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-10-21-492.jpg


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-10-21-494.jpg

I started on my dash using ally so looking forward to working on that soon...:)

[stew]

looks sweet mate. coming together really nicely. same seats as i went for too. :)

[Johno]

looks sweet mate. coming together really nicely. same seats as i went for too. :)

Cheers Stew...;)
Not spent too much time on my car lately, lost my "Mojo" a bit so to speak...
Got to that point in the build where I just couldn't find any enthusiasum to carry on.
Sadly my Dad past away few weeks ago followed by my wifes Uncle then my Uncle so things lately have been a bit crap to say the least.....
I was hoping to finish the car so my Dad could see what I was capable of doing but alas that was not to be.

Well I've decided to get back into the swing of things and get on with it...
My son is looking forward to being a passanger so at least that helps me out.

Well I'll keep posting my progress as it goes and you never know maybe I'll finish it...:) :)

ps..... the GRP seat is quite comfy which I was supprised about, only ordered one but will order another when I need it.

[stew]

sorry to hear that johno, talk about getting kicked when your down! but im glad ur trying to be positive. i think its easy to loose motivation in the build, ive not touched mine since march, just due to work commitments, and now im on two weeks holidays (planned to spend lots of time doing the car), but ive been doing lots of favours and other jobs that have come my way, and its real frustrating. im so keen to get back into it, but seems so long since ive touched it!!! its always good to read ur build thread, gives me lots of inspiration, and your doing a real great job. :)

[Numplumb]

Hi Johno sorry to hear of your sad losses glad you are getting back into your build been reading ur thread great work, I've bought a part built chassis which so far hasn't got any brackets for the suspension yet, I'm going to build mx5 version I've got all the main parts from mk1 1600 mx5 I need some advice please.

1) I have been told I can't use the power steering mx5 rack, so i have been looking at a mk1 escort 2.9 quick rack would this be okay?.
2) What would be best for wishbones? I see you are not going to use wishbones as per the Saturn plans, Robo has posted a link to some wishbones will these be what you are going to use?.

Thank you in advance for any information you can give me.

Regards Mick.

[Johno]

Hi Johno sorry to hear of your sad losses glad you are getting back into your build been reading ur thread great work, I've bought a part built chassis which so far hasn't got any brackets for the suspension yet, I'm going to build mx5 version I've got all the main parts from mk1 1600 mx5 I need some advice please.

1) I have been told I can't use the power steering mx5 rack, so i have been looking at a mk1 escort 2.9 quick rack would this be okay?.
2) What would be best for wishbones? I see you are not going to use wishbones as per the Saturn plans, Robo has posted a link to some wishbones will these be what you are going to use?.

Thank you in advance for any information you can give me.

Regards Mick.

Hi Mick,
Firstly thanks for your kind words.:) :)
I bought a 2.9 Escort steering rack from Rally Design for my build with the ally clamps. Be carefull not to get your steering rack extensions made as per book as the MX5 versions are shorter.

I originally made Saturn type wishbones and over time have changed all of them except the rear lowers.
The front lowers I've removed the front adjusters as "Toe in and out" can be altered by the steering rack extensions. I've kept the pivot points the same but made a different outboard end to hide the bottom ball joint and lower the tube to overcome the steering rack extension fouling the tube on full lock as some people have reported.
Skov overcame this problem by fitting plastic tube in the rack to reduce lock to lock.

The front uppers have changed to accomadate inboard rose joints to allow me to adjust caster in case self centreing is a problem (see Algas thread on this) and it can help if you use standard lowers to overcome the steering rack extension fouling the tube also. Where the top ball joint fits I've fitted a camber adjuster to change camber without removing any parts on the car when setting up.

The rear upper I have moved the shock mount to above the upright and made the camber adjustable on the car without removing any parts.

Everything is detailed in my photobucket so any questions just ask.

All my alterations are drawn up in Autocad along with the chassis in 3D which I should be able to pull up any measurements if required.

[Johno]

sorry to hear that johno, talk about getting kicked when your down! but im glad ur trying to be positive. i think its easy to loose motivation in the build, ive not touched mine since march, just due to work commitments, and now im on two weeks holidays (planned to spend lots of time doing the car), but ive been doing lots of favours and other jobs that have come my way, and its real frustrating. im so keen to get back into it, but seems so long since ive touched it!!! its always good to read ur build thread, gives me lots of inspiration, and your doing a real great job. :)

Hi Stew,
Thanks for the post and kind words.;)
Just keep plugging away at it and it focus on finishing it. I can understand why people start and then sell up later as it seems never ending......
I've basically bought bits over time which spreads the cost but only parts which I need to achieve the goal I set myself, for example one seat and harness to sort locations of mounting points.
This is my method throughtout the build.

Well I look forward to your progress in piccys and hope to show some more progress soon myself...

[Numplumb]

Hi Johno thanks for your reply you say you have moved upper rear shock bracket to above upright maybe I'm stupid but I don't understand what you mean maybe you could explain, also are the wishbone brackets as per book?.
Is there anywhere I could get the wishbones as your using made for me?

Regards Mick.

[Johno]

Hi Johno thanks for your reply you say you have moved upper rear shock bracket to above upright maybe I'm stupid but I don't understand what you mean maybe you could explain, also are the wishbone brackets as per book?.
Is there anywhere I could get the wishbones as your using made for me?

Regards Mick.

Hi Mick,
All the suspension brackets on my car are as the Saturn build guide Rev 3 (I believe I still have this somewhere in pdf format).
The rear shock mount I have moved to above the upright similar to the Sierra version. This way the shock is in line with the upright and the same length as the book. It also takes some strain off the threaded adjuster.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/Untitled.jpg

The rear top wishbone is adjustable via the bolt running through the bush with a lock nut one end and a half nut the other. This way I can alter track width on the lower wishbone and adjust camber on the top in situ.

The front lower is non adjustable as all the adjustment will be on the top wishbone and steering rack.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-09-17-459.jpg

The front upper wishbone will be as this drawing and hopefully will be able to post a photo of the finished product as I have recieved my machined parts today.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/RoseJoint.jpg

I've designed all the alterations myself and as far as I know I'm the only one with these type of wishbones.
I've made wishbones for other people on here for the MX5 version only and they seem happy with them but not to my new spec.
The front upper is designed to overcome the self centering problem, with adjustable inner "Rose Joints" to alter the caster as required and the only difference to the Sierra version would be the thread for the ball joint as the MX5 version uses 14x1.5mm.

Just pm me if you need any further info.

[Johno]

Well I made my new wishbones today....
Got a bit of a panic on at one point... Started welding my tube to the bush and decided to slide my inner threaded adjuster in to see if it still fitted.
Well that was a bad Idea....Slid in easy and all of a sudden it stopped moving.
I even told myself before making them at no point leave inner adjuster in when welding.....dohhh.
I eventually got it out with a bit of heat going over the weld with the TIG and a tap from trusty old hammer...
Lesson learnt.


Here's a piccy of the finished product.........

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-10-27-509.jpg

The inner adjuster is made from mild steel with a 16mm dome head welded to the flange on the adjuster which is tapped 14x1.5mm to suit the 325 BMW ball joint which has the correct taper for the MX5 upright.
Adjustment for camber can be acheived in situ on the car with an Allen key and 22mm spanner without removing any parts.
Caster can be altered via the "Rose Joints" which turned out to be pretty easy. Just remove the bolt and spacers and turn the rose joint in or out as required within the suspension bracket.
Each end of the adjuster is a stainless machined washer to stop the locking nuts chewing up the paint/powdercoat.


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-10-27-511.jpg

All radiuses are 2.5mm where required for IVA.
The rose joints are 12x1.25 fine thread and are "Ultra High Strength" with misalignment washers both sides for optimum adjustment.
I've moved the adjuster back 5mm to increase caster by about 1.4 degrees.

Here's a piccy of the wishbone in place..


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-10-27-508.jpg

[Johno]

I've also been playing around with the dash.
I'm going to fix it behind the scuttle flange and cover it with leatherette (well the missus is :D ).
I'm planning on fitting the original MX5 instruments but at the moment got no Idea how to do it...LOL.....:eek:
With any luck will be able to post a photo tomorrow.

[Numplumb]

Hi Johno that wishbone looks great, I've pm you

[Davidbolam]

Johno,

If you look at Nathan's photos he seems to of made a good job of it and used some trim around the hole

David

[stew]

looks real sweet johno, would rose joints work for both top and bottom wishbones or would they want to move about fore/aft??

[Johno]

looks real sweet johno, would rose joints work for both top and bottom wishbones or would they want to move about fore/aft??

They will be fine for both top and bottom. Once you lock the nuts on the rose joints you get no fore/aft movement at all.:)
When I fitted the top wishbone this was the first thing I checked.:D

[stew]

They will be fine for both top and bottom. Once you lock the nuts on the rose joints you get no fore/aft movement at all.:)
When I fitted the top wishbone this was the first thing I checked.:D


Excellent, job for the next couple weeks for me then!!! :)

[Johno]

Made a start on my dashboard this weekend.
I've decided to make it out of ally and it will be padded and vinyled up when done.
I made a panel to hold the instrument cluster and cut a hole in the dash to to accomadate the bezel. I attached 4 thread inserts to the dash and fitted threaded rod into each. The bezel is then placed in to the dash and then the instrument cluster is tightened down onto it.


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-11-04-524.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-11-04-528.jpg

It took some sorting out but I also managed to panel underneath the dash as well, just need to fix the front edge to the dash edging angle.


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-11-04-526.jpg

I cut an access hole for my brake pedals in the top ally panel in front of my scuttle. I will make a cover for the steering column and access hole in one piece which will be removable.


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2012-11-04-525.jpg

[PorkChop]

Seems to be coming on very nicely Johno :)

I'm going to have a long read of it at some point - I'm at the stage where enthusiasm is in short supply :( so hopefully reading this build thread and a couple of others will help me sort it out :)

[Johno]

Well I finally got round to doing something this afternoon after a few months off.
I took a look at my Aerocatches and decided to remake the inner part out of ally. I fabricated the brackets with slotted holes so I can fine tune the bonnet fitment.
I also got round to making my cover over the steering column and foot pedals. I've made it removable to gain access to the pedals without the need for working upside down with my feet in the air.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/b1bdfd44-c296-436c-a115-f48096c221a3_zps57cc283b.jpg

I know its not much but it's a start I guess.:)
Hoping to get a few hours on it during the week at nights.

[robo]

[QUOTE=Johno;88330}.
I also got round to making my cover over the steering column and foot pedals. I've made it removable to gain access to the pedals without the need for working upside down with my feet in the air.

Thats a good idea. :cool: Another build on the move again:cool:

Bob

[ayjay]

Good to see you back Johnno
Yours is a class build and I missed watching it:)

[Johno]

Thanks guys appreciate the support...:) :)
I guess some of us go through a bad patch at some point...

[vetteman1355]

Great to see you back at it !! Missed my morning read
Cheers
Nigel

[Johno]

Hi all,
Well I've got going on the car again at last and decided to finish a few things off before starting new stuff.

1, Managed to finish installing my Aero catches at last, just needs fine tuning when I rebuild the car after mock up.

2, Nosecone bolted in place.

3, Steering column/brake pedal cover finished.

I redisgned my dashboard after some head scratching. I removed the the lower part of my dash where it meets the transmission tunnel and welded it to the underside cover panel instead. I've also moved it forward to give the dash a more broken up feel.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2013-02-10-552_zps3fadee12.jpg

I also made an ally cover to go over my steering column bezel as there is a gap between the dash and the top plastic cover.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2013-02-10-548_zpsc36526e5.jpg

The ally panel which goes into the engine bay and under the scuttle will be a platform for me to mount most of my electical relays and ecu etc...
Brackets off of this will support the various electrical items I require to be hidden up.
Hopefully I will be able to remove the lower dash cover panel and scuttle to sort out any electrical problems that may arise without too much hassle.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2013-02-10-538_zps0f701544.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2013-02-10-539_zpsa00f990e.jpg

The dash I'm going to pad with foam and cover in vinyl or leatherette. Other parts will be powder coated.

Next item on the list will be seat mounting and rear panel mounting.....

[Johno]

Great to see you back at it !! Missed my morning read
Cheers
Nigel

Hi Nigel,
Well I'm back up and running.....:)
Glad to see people ouside the UK are interested...:D
I've got the bug again now so more posts on the way soon.:) :)

[Johno]

Hi all,
Spent some time today working out how to make my wheel arch backing plates along side the seats. I've made them out of ally and they are also removable so I can get them powder coated.
I'm quite happy with how they turned out.....

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2013-02-17-557_zps06b74bc7.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2013-02-17-556_zps0d3cc4ca.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2013-02-17-561_zpsf4333524.jpg

I'm hoping to fit my rear tub tomorrow night so I can see where to join the ally arches upto the fibre glass rear panel. On the AGM kit the joint is on view so it needs to be a good fit..

I also drilled holes in my lower dash for the hazard and fog light switches.
Now I have moved the switches into the lower dash panel I had to make a cover to encase the back of the switches..

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/2013-02-17-563_zps5c48f5b8.jpg

Well my goals this week are to fit rear panel, fit the seat and fit the harness.

ps... I made a template of the dash cut out David and will send it this week...Ok

[skov]

Your build thread always depresses me Johno, it always looks far too perfect and professional!
How on earth did you fabricate those wheel arch panels :eek: :confused:

[Johno]

Your build thread always depresses me Johno, it always looks far too perfect and professional!
How on earth did you fabricate those wheel arch panels :eek: :confused:

Hi John,
Sorry I don't mean to depress anyone...:o
Trust me John it's far from perfect (I only post the good bits...).
Once I figured out what to do the wheel arch panels weren't too bad to do.
I jig sawed the two sides plates and fitted a spacer to keep the distance correct and then tack welded a 3mm strip to the radius on the car.
The awkward part was to stop them distorting when welding, for this I made some thick steel radius plates and clamped them inbetween the two ally sides and left them in place until they cooled down a bit.
I still may bugger them up yet when I try to match them to my rear panel....:eek:

[Davidbolam]

Johno,

Have you thought about where you will source you aero screen from ?

David

[Johno]

Johno,

Have you thought about where you will source you aero screen from ?

David

Hi David,
I looked into a supplier some time ago...


Lo all,
Had a quick look on the net last night and found this company, http://www.aerodynamix.co.uk/index.html
that make various aeroscreens in carbon fibre and GRP.
I emailed them last night to see if they fit the Haynes. The reply said they have supplied some to Haynes builds and haven't had any problems..

They certainly look good and also make other carbon parts...

Hope this helps....:)

[Johno]

Well I've eventually got round to start installing the wiring loom..
I removed the obvious stuff before placing it roughly in position in the car. I then set about removing some of the wires from the steering switches and fuse boxes etc.. which seemed easier to visualize what goes where when it's in the car rather than on the floor..

I've fabricated a shelf under the scuttle to install all the relays, wiring, immobiliser and ecu, to this shelf I can securely fix brackets to hold the various components in place.

Here is a picture of the wiring roughly laid out in place. In the background you can see the ecu already mounted in place.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130317_009_zps7c8a8a62.jpg

I've also fabricated a cover to go from the shelf to the underside of the dash which is removable. This will keep the electrics unaccessable to the interior of the car when the cover is bolted in place (you can just see it holding the dash in place without the scuttle).



I've got other things on the go but don't want to give too much away yet.

[Johno]

Well I think I've got the worst of the electrics out of the way....
It's been a bit of an uphill struggle to say the least. Colours different to diagrams, wiring modified and relays removed to say a few of my problems.
All the wirings roughly laid out in place except the wiring to the rear (which should be straight forward now), just needs tidying up.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130404_001_zps975ed352.jpg


The main fuse box will be mounted to the removable cover for my steering column/brake pedals and when this is removed you will be able to access the secondary fuse box without removing the scuttle.


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130404_002_zps0cda22cf.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130407_002_zpscd540c69.jpg

Hopefully within a week or two I should be able to try and start her....:eek:

[thailoz]

looking great you have some nice ideas that i may steal :D lol

[Johno]

Thanks thailoz, steal away buddy that's what this site is all about.

Well I fabricated an expansion tank today out of ally and raised it as high as I dare.
It's approximately 200mm high by 100mm diameter with a 0.9 bar radiator cap which should leave plenty of room for the coolant to expand.
I'm hoping I got it right but if anybody can see a problem with it please let me know as it was a spur of the moment thing..LOL

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130414_002_zpsc012a725.jpg


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130414_001_zps5cb377d9.jpg

I've run a 10mm ally pipe from the top of the rad to the top of the tank which I guess should eliminate trapped air..


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130414_005_zpsdbb35c88.jpg




Just need to order some coolant hose to plumb it all up now.
I've also been working on my electrics today and have the main fuse box in place and now routing the wires to the rear.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130414_006_zps4410dcfc.jpg

[Johno]

Quick update,
Fabricated my battery box tonight...

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130418_001_zpsfb6f3224.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130418_004_zpsb54043d3.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130418_003_zpsb9d259d1.jpg

[twinturbo]

Nice box, are you going to put some U-Trim on it to prevent possible chaffing of the cables . Mr IVA may pick up on that.

Cheers

TT

[K4KEV]

Thats a classy touch Johno..... gonna be one very tasty build when complete :cool: :cool:

[Johno]

Thats a classy touch Johno..... gonna be one very tasty build when complete :cool: :cool:

Thanks Kev, I'm enjoying working on the car again and have spent the last few weeks finishing off started jobs which seem to take forever....:eek:

Nice box, are you going to put some U-Trim on it to prevent possible chaffing of the cables . Mr IVA may pick up on that.

Cheers

TT
I've made the ally box so it is not past the front of the battery and any cables should be well clear.... but I guess it would be a good idea put some on just in case...:)

[robo]

That battery box is totally wrong for the car, can I buy it:p

The nuts:cool:

Bob
http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130418_003_zpsb9d259d1.jpg

[Johno]

Hi all,

Cheers Robo, it was just a spur of the moment thing really. To my surprise it only took about 1 1/2 hours to come up with the idea and fabricate it.

Well today I modified my fuel tank to take the MX5 tank vent. I decided to raise it a bit on the tank with a left over bit of pipe to try to keep it out of the fuel.


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130421_002_zps5878af74.jpg

Also started making my back boot lid out of ally. It's rice grain effect chequer plate which has a lot smaller raised foot print.


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130421_003_zpse40ffd23.jpg

Also been looking at doing something different with the back end. Not too sure yet but when everything is black I'm thinking it will be Ok.
It's nowhere near finished yet so time will tell......


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130421_010_zps7a68c9f7.jpg


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130421_009_zpsaf35efa3.jpg

[Johno]

That battery box is totally wrong for the car, can I buy it:p

The nuts:cool:

Bob
http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130418_003_zpsb9d259d1.jpg

Hi Robo,
Got my battery box cover back from powder coat last Friday and it's not looking too bad. I've had it powder coated in chrome effect...:)
I'll put a photo up tomorrow..

Got quite a bit done on the car but also waiting for parts which are holding me up...

[K4KEV]

Bat box is well cool ....certainly shows off your fabrication skills, and before you know it the yellow peril will be zooming around the flat lands of EA :D :D

[Johno]

Just a quick update,
I got a few parts back from powder coat last week and I'm quite happy with them.

Battery box and expansion tank finished in chrome effect....

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130508_001_zps4f66a5f5.jpg


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130508_004_zpse63a59e9.jpg


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130508_003_zpsd6b16586.jpg

I'm now starting to put the car back together again with finished parts which feels nice....:D

[Johno]

Bat box is well cool ....certainly shows off your fabrication skills, and before you know it the yellow peril will be zooming around the flat lands of EA :D :D

Thanks Kev,
Can't wait to get it on the road but got a long way to go yet...:(
Things are now starting to come together but haven't started the engine yet....:eek:

[Johno]

Spent a few hours on the car this week and still trying to sort my electrics out...:(
It seems to take an eternity to shorten and reroute all the bl**dy wires... and try to make them look half decent.

So I decided to bolt a few things on to make me feel like I'm making some progress...


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130519_007_zps7a040a51.jpg


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130519_011_zps374947bd.jpg

[Davidbolam]

Johno your build is looking great.

Have you thought about the routing of the speedo cable yet?

David

[Johno]

Johno your build is looking great.

Have you thought about the routing of the speedo cable yet?

David

Hi David,
Well I'm hoping it shouldn't be too bad... I've got the 90 degree Toyota adapter on the gearbox to avoid the cable being bent too tight against the frame.
With any luck should be able to try it this week as I'm trial fitting my dash at the moment...


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130520_006_zps90ea34b5.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130520_004_zpsa49f19e8.jpg

It's looking a bit tatty at the moment with the wrong type bolts holding the dash in place and all the masking tape still covering the GRP..

[Davidbolam]

Hi David,
Well I'm hoping it shouldn't be too bad... I've got the 90 degree Toyota adapter on the gearbox to avoid the cable being bent too tight against the frame.
With any luck should be able to try it this week as I'm trial fitting my dash at the moment...


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130520_006_zps90ea34b5.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130520_004_zpsa49f19e8.jpg

It's looking a bit tatty at the moment with the wrong type bolts holding the dash in place and all the masking tape still covering the GRP..


Johno,

I have got one of those 90 degree bends as well. I may have to add a small bubble so st speak to the transmission tunnel panel as it will be very close. i can see it banging all the time and not sure if the iva man would like it touching.

*** Please could you also measure the distance from the centre of the rear wheel to the front of the rear wing. I am looking at putting my exhaust in place and dont want it to interfere once the bodywork is attached.***

Thanks

David

[Johno]

Hi David,
Would like to help in the exhaust dept but rear wings not fitted yet...:o
Do you know which kit you are going for yet?

[Johno]

Well it's time I posted a progress update I guess.
Just about finished the electrics up front with a couple of exceptions. So I thought I would have a break from all that electrickery and do some fabrication and bolt parts on.

Pressed up my front grilles and bonded them in place this weekend.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130528_001_zps5b1aef13.jpg


Used "TigerSeal" to bond the grilles to the GRP and don't think they will be going anywhere soon...

My Christmas present finally arrived....LOL
A Dax Rush bonnet scoop and I must say the finish is superb.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130528_007_zps0242814c.jpg

Was a bit concerned when I found out the scoop was the exact same length as my bonnet.......LOL

[Johno]

Well computer or something is playing up so no descriptions just a few photos...

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130528_009_zpsb9b4f1b0.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130528_010_zpsd1f79c3e.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130528_005_zpse950dd89.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130528_004_zpsb2839219.jpg

[Davidbolam]

Hi David,
Would like to help in the exhaust dept but rear wings not fitted yet...:o
Do you know which kit you are going for yet?

Most likely the agm one. I am going to try my hand at making a Grp wind deflector similar to the Saturn one. It seemed to be very effective up to about 80mph

Still a bit worried about the bonnet not fitting? May use a scoop to hide and necessary hole!

David

[Johno]

Most likely the agm one. I am going to try my hand at making a Grp wind deflector similar to the Saturn one. It seemed to be very effective up to about 80mph

Still a bit worried about the bonnet not fitting? May use a scoop to hide and necessary hole!

David

Hi David,
Have you had a look at Aerodynamix products. http://www.aerodynamix.co.uk/grp-and-carbon-fibre-aeroscreens.html

Looks like some good products on there....:cool:

On my car the bonnet only just touches the front leading edge of the cam cover. So now I have my scoop will be cutting a hole in the bonnet soon to clear the engine which should be pretty straight forward.... I hope...:eek:

[Johno]

I've been thinking about making new rear top wishbones as I'm still not happy with the ones I currently have...

I've came up with two options..

Option 1.

Inboard Rose Joints with the shock mount inline with the upright, which I think would put less load on the Rose joints.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/49995f31-2999-4fe0-8a52-d40d56902ee5_zps7573721e.jpg


Option 2.

Rose joints outboard mounted directly to the top of the upright with inboard poly bushes. The shock mount will not be inline with the upright as option 1.The Rose joints will be 12mm reduced down to 10mm to suit MX5 upright. I'm guessing this will put a lot more load on the joints but will it be too much or Ok?

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/e6e99af6-66d3-47b2-a964-eb34940bf32d_zps1778eae0.jpg

I'm using the Ultra strength 12mmx1.25 fine thread joints from McGill Motorsports.

Any input good or bad will be most helpful.

[Johno]

Well I've been researching a bit on the net and think I'll be going with option 1. :)
This should keep the loading on the Rose joints to a minimum.
I guess only time and miles will tell...:eek:

[Davidbolam]

Johno,

when you wired in the hazard switch did you find it only had 2 wires for the switch and 2 for ilumination.

I was planning on using the original mx5 switch and somehow removing the pop up headlight button that is on the same unit. When my mate came around last night he decided to look inside and now i have massive pile of various springs and connectors!!

i am now going to wire in a new switch but all the switches i've seen seem to have about 7 terminals

If you know the colours that would be fantastic (although judging by my loom they could easily be a different colour)

David

[Johno]

Johno,

when you wired in the hazard switch did you find it only had 2 wires for the switch and 2 for ilumination.

I was planning on using the original mx5 switch and somehow removing the pop up headlight button that is on the same unit. When my mate came around last night he decided to look inside and now i have massive pile of various springs and connectors!!

i am now going to wire in a new switch but all the switches i've seen seem to have about 7 terminals

If you know the colours that would be fantastic (although judging by my loom they could easily be a different colour)

David

Hi David,
If I remember correctly there should be an orange wire from the relay which is earthed through the switch... Hope that helps.:)

[Davidbolam]

Yes that makes sense.

Thanks

David

[PorkChop]

Well I've been researching a bit on the net and think I'll be going with option 1. :)
This should keep the loading on the Rose joints to a minimum.
I guess only time and miles will tell...:eek:

Option 1 would be more preferable to option 2. The rod ends would have more bending force acting on them (from acceleration/deceleration) if they were outboard.

One of the best ways though, would be to have an alignment bolt system, like Mazda fitted as OE to the MX-5.

[skov]

One of the best ways though, would be to have an alignment bolt system, like Mazda fitted as OE to the MX-5.

Don't give him any more ideas, he'll never get them finished :D

[jason 82]

Johno,
Why don't you design an in-board suspension system, where the shockers are hidden away in the bodywork ? I know space is limited, but by Christ, you would have some thing that looks really sweet. The only haynes with in board suspension. I would love to do it, but I have not got the expertise to see the plan through. Another idea I have, is to run the brake lines and wiring inside the wishbones. They are hollow, so why not ? Of course you have to think about strength, but you can't build a kick ass car without taking a few brave decisions. I am doing the wishbone idea myself.

[PorkChop]

Johno,
Why don't you design an in-board suspension system, where the shockers are hidden away in the bodywork ? I know space is limited, but by Christ, you would have some thing that looks really sweet. The only haynes with in board suspension. I would love to do it, but I have not got the expertise to see the plan through. Another idea I have, is to run the brake lines and wiring inside the wishbones. They are hollow, so why not ? Of course you have to think about strength, but you can't build a kick ass car without taking a few brave decisions. I am doing the wishbone idea myself.

It wouldn't be the first inboard Roadster. 3GE built one inboard chassis (and it's on the road - it belongs to someone on here and it goes really nicely :D).

And you would be silly to run fluid lines through hidden components. You have no way of seeing if there is an issue with the lines e.g. corrosion. You could have a real problem with the brake lines chafing with suspension travel, they wouldn't be adequately supported running though the wishbone. Plus, the most you'd be able to hide away is about 6" of line - hardly worth the effort IMO. It may also be against C&R/IVA.

[jason 82]

Oh bugger. Scrap the wishbone idea. Suppose there is only ever so much you can do with a 7. Gutted about the inboard suspension, that's what you get for trying to be clever !:rolleyes:

[Johno]

Hi all,
Skov's right, no more ideas please I'm now on Mk5 I think.....:eek:
Well I'm glad you agree with option 1 Dave because their nearly finished...lol.
The only thing I'm not sure about is do they need a support between the tubes where they weld to the upright bracket/shock absorber mount if you see what I mean.
On my CAD drawing I have a piece of box between them but I'm not sure if it's needed?

Hi Jason at some point I did think about inboard suspension but I don't know enough about it....:o
Yeah would be nice having the pipes down the tube would it be OK for the IVA?
So what setup you thinking of making?

[PorkChop]

Oh bugger. Scrap the wishbone idea. Suppose there is only ever so much you can do with a 7. Gutted about the inboard suspension, that's what you get for trying to be clever !:rolleyes:

It's a simple car. Keep it simple. By unnecessarily complicating things, you're introducing potential unnecessary failure modes.

The inboard suspension is a nice idea and it can work; it's been done plenty of times before. It is extra design and fab work, the question is would you gain enough to make it worthwhile? As far as I know, 3GE built that 1 chassis and no more. I don't know why, there has to be a reason (and I'm not saying because it didn't work, I genuinely do not know why they didn't pursue it further).

[PorkChop]

Hi all,
Skov's right, no more ideas please I'm now on Mk5 I think.....:eek:
Well I'm glad you agree with option 1 Dave because their nearly finished...lol.
The only thing I'm not sure about is do they need a support between the tubes where they weld to the upright bracket/shock absorber mount if you see what I mean.
On my CAD drawing I have a piece of box between them but I'm not sure if it's needed?

(IMO) short answer - I personally would if your CAD is accurate to the real thing.

(IMO) long answer - I suppose it would depend on the design of the upright and the length of the wishbone as well as the damper length you're running (and probably more besides) as you would need to determine the position of the lower damper mounting relative to the upright upper mounting. That area is going to have high load through it. If you are still near the SSC/NTS design in terms of geometry, or if it's similar to your CAD image, I would say it would be worth putting a support plate in, as per the original SSC/NTS design.

[Johno]

Well I've finished my latest design of rear wishbone, Mk5 I believe...:o
That's it, no more changes or tweaks its done...

Hi Dave,
I kept to the CAD drawing and fitted a piece of 25mm SHS between the tubes and fully welded it to the upright bracket support.
The design keeps the shock length the same as the Saturn spec which is convenient as I purchased some shocks this week to that specification.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130615_004_zpsc078dba6.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130615_008_zpsf4644385.jpg

I feel a lot happier now with this design as it's a lot stronger than the one I had on the car and is still adjustable. I've upgraded the tube size from 19mm to 25mm to accommodate the weld in Rose joint threaded adapters.
So these are now ready for powder coating.

I also got round to bonding my big head fasteners to my bonnet scoop today ready for drilling my bonnet tomorrow and test fitting... Sorry no photo yet.

Still haven't plucked up the courage yet to start the engine...:eek:
I was planning to have my exhaust by now ready for the first turn but not quite gone to plan.....LOL

[twinturbo]

very nice work.

Well done

[Stot]

Very cool. Love the TIG work.

I was considering my rear uppers recently too but from another angle.

My handbrake cables are really close to the seat-back framework. I thought that on the roadster with MX5 uprights it would be better to mount the uprights on opposite sides so that the brakes are to the back and the handbrake cables mount at the rear.

A flip of the upper wishbones with repositioned shock mounts would work but I already have my shock mounts welded in so it is in hindsight but I would look at it if I were doing them again.

Cheers
Stot

[Johno]

Thanks guys,

I thought the same about turning the uprights round at one point but like you Stot my upper shock mounts were already welded in place. The upper wishbone would have to be a strange design to accommodate the offset of the upright when turned around with the original upper shock mounting point.

I made my grill for my bonnet scoop this morning.....:)

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130616_001_zps41cd189d.jpg

The formers were made from 12mm ply with a 5mm gap between the two.
Placed the mesh in place and then clamped down with a bit of support from a bit of box.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130616_002_zps149169cf.jpg

This how it tuned out, just needs trimming and a coat of paint ready for bonding in place...

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130616_003_zps01ee1e13.jpg

[PorkChop]

I saw this build last night - it's all brilliantly made and looks better in real life than in the pics. It cheered me up no end after an arduous journey to get there in the first place!

[jason 82]

Hats off Johno, your build is amazing ! Lol. Most of us are more than chuffed to get to the stage of a functioning roadster, but yours is better than factory quality. By the way, I love the rose joints on your wishbones, they are really trick. How do you think they are going to compare to poly bushes ?

[Johno]

Hi all,
Well unfortunately I wasn't around when Porkchop turned up last night so didn't have the chance to have a good old chat...:(
I've been taking the car to bits so it looks like I'm going backwards with my build and it's covered in dust (surprising that in an engineering workshop)
I really would have liked to try the aeroscreen Dave:( as I plan on getting one from the same place.

Hi Jason,
Thanks for your kind words. I'm hoping it will look a bit more complete soon if people send me the parts and other stuff back.
With regards to the rose joints I believe they will be more precise to setting up the car for handling but less durable and a harsher ride.
I guess time will tell.....:D
I plan to rubber boot the joints so I guess this will help with the durability.

Well if anybody is out this way they are more than welcome to pop in and have a chat and a cuppa......:)

[Johno]

Well at last I've got some stuff done and parts delivered.
I've been spending the last few weeks collecting stuff ready to crack on with it.
Just couldn't resist seeing what it looks like with the side panels rear wings on.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130714_003_zps903fbe0b.jpg


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130714_004_zps9ebeb5b7.jpg


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130714_005_zpse3aea2c6.jpg

So now got loads to get on with..:D

[Davidbolam]

Looks really nice. Where did you get your side panels from or are they powder coated alloy?

[PorkChop]

Amazing what you can do when you're not distracted, eh? ;)

David, those side panels are powder coated alloy.

[Johno]

Hi Porkchop,
Good to meet you face to face at last....:D I thought I was going to be in trouble with the missus for being late back.... (she bought herself some flowers with my money of course).

Hi David, yes they are powder coated. I'm close to a local powder coating firm and the price I paid for the powder coating I couldn't even buy the paint for if I was going to spray them. :eek: :eek:
I did think about carbon wrapping at one point so that's still an option for the future if the powder coat doesn't hold up.