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When you say "two coats of primer" does it imply spraying with a spray gun and a compressor, then cleaning up the spray bottle afterwards, or do you use aerosol cans for things like this?
Also, did you make holes for drainage in the mounts, or do you think there's no need? |
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Cheers Ginge |
28 Feb
Things have moved on a little, although I need to build up motivation to start cleaning some parts, as this will hold me up soon, also I need seats and seat runners so I can weld the cross bars the seats mount to until I get this done I can’t fix the floor in etc...... All my wish bones and rear uprights turned up the other day so today I fitted all the bushes and crush (or anti-crush) tubes then fitted all the wish bones to one side of the car. Next I loosely fitted the front upright and wheel which made it look better, and then promptly gathered the family in the garage to have a look. Surprisingly Nicky and James were quite impressed (I had the rear wheel on aswell) Sophie my youngest just asked if we could go for a drive! The wheels are 14” and don’t clear the rear lower long through bolt. Not sure whether to make up some spacers to get the chassis ‘rolling’ or wait for 15” alloys. The following pictures show the front and rear suspension. You will notice I have gone for the cheap shock absorber option for now, that’s another big purchase to get the proper suspension! I have used full nuts for mocking up and will swap them all for nylocks later. [IMG]  [/IMG][IMG]  [/IMG]I need to get the 42mm socket as I started to strip the front hub carrier to remove the bearings before cleaning and found the big nut under the dust cover! I might start painting Wish bones and rear up rights also some electrolysis during the week. Could be tricky as I am on exercise for a couple of days. Ordered my reamer today as well Enough drivel for today thanks for reading. Cheers Ginge |
Excelent, I can't wait to get a rolling chassis. I will probably brake my rulles and get the chassis rolling before getting my other car finished for the show season....
The chassis is not in the way realy at the moment so best leave it where it is whilst collecting all the fina bits for the first build phase.. It's very tempting when you see others making progress though :p TT |
looking good ginge. im guessing you got some more money for your build fund.
little thing i noticed on that picture of your front suspension. you need to calm down with that grinder. there is no meat left in that top corner on your front frame. its so thin that you can see the cut line between the two pieces. i don't like to criticise but that's a really highly stressed area of the chassis and i wouldn't want to say nothing and it fall apart later, then regret it. Hope you dont think that im trying to knock your workmanship as the car is coming together really nicely. |
Ash,
Just back in from the garage after having a closer look at what you were saying. All is not as it seems in the picture the line that looks like the cut line of the two pieces of steel rubbed off with my finger and the join there runs horizontally. But point taken, someone else mentioned my over exuberance with a flap disc a while back and since then I have only ground down welds that have something mating to it. Cheers Ginge |
Looking great ginge :) :cool:
You must be really excited seeing the Roadster with the suspension fitted for the first time .... For me, it was a real milestone of the build :) :) |
nice progress there Ginge,
sort of a cute / proud moment when kids ask to go for a drive , aww bless :) its a big milestone when you start getting to the stage of putting wheels on, nice one mate. cheers andy |
Great work Ginge, also great motivation for me as I'm at a similar stage (a couple of steps behind).
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Way to go Ginge, I got my rear bones sorted a week or two ago and it really does give you a buzz. Dying to get the front end done but after six days at the NEC we've now got a chock-a-block diary for at least the next two weeks so its on the back burner again:( .
D. |
ah yes you are correct ginge. not having a good time of it at the moment. doing these last few bits for my iva retest is starting to get me down.
have wasted a whole day cutting a new bit of convex glass to fit in my r1 mirrors only to go and break it trying to get it to fit into the housing of the mirror. to say im feeling pissed off is an understatement. think i am going to give up and just buy a set of mirrors off caterham or westfield. i know they cost a bomb but they should at least get me a pass. |
Hi Ash, I have been looking for mirrors myself & there are some basic convex mirrors on the Caterham site for around £17, similar ones on CBS too.
Dennis |
Hi dury those caterham ones are designed to go onto cars with window screens mine hasnt got a screen. have bit the bullet and bought the proper Westfield that are designed to be mounted on the scuttle they cost a bit but are made for the job.
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wow just got to the end of the thread. Great read! any more updates?
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12 Apr
Well it’s been to long without an update, 43 days to be precise. All the usual excuses I’m afraid busy at work and being away during the week so the weekends become important family time etc etc. Any way a little progress report before I start back in the garage tomorrow. Finally the Sierra got picked up. [IMG]  [/IMG]I reamed out my uprights, by hand. It took a while but there was plenty of checking to make sure I hadn’t gone too far. They are both done now the picture is just for comparison. [IMG]  [/IMG]I gave some Deox-C rust remover a bash on one of the uprights. Little lesson, which seems glaringly obvious when you know the stuff is water soluble, remove all traces of grease and oil first! [IMG]  [/IMG]I was lazy on this one and after 4 days it has got 90% of the rust of. The next one will be getting a thorough de-greasing/oiling before being de-rusted for a few days. I couldn’t wait to get something painted so, my newly fabricated engine mounts got the good news. 1, Two coats of etch primer 2. Two coats of gray primer 3. Two to three coats of orange 4. Two coats of lacquer. [IMG]  [/IMG]All from rattle cans just to see how they look. I have ordered a Mk II polo radiator today, hopefully it rocks up before the end of the week so I can get some bracketry fabricated and I want to get the nose and rear tube fitted then removed back to the safety of the loft. Cheers Ginge |
Why Laquer?
TT |
TT,
To be honest, I don’t know.:( I have watched that many programs in my time and they are always using lacquer I thought I should give it a bash. Should I not bother? It was the hardest layer to do well as well! Cheers Ginge |
the green cable ties are very fetching :D
engine mounts look nice :cool: i,ll get my coat :p cheers andy |
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Once the rest of the chassis looks like the engine mounts I will be right happy, thats a little way of yet me thinks. Cheers Ginge |
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that will be 1 very nice chassis indeed, keep at it mate , its a great build you have in progress :cool: Always enjoy reading your build updates.:) cheers andy |
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Normal solid colours are usualy gloss finish and don't require a clear. It won't do any harm, but for the money you may as well add extra paint coats instead. TT |
TT,
Thanks for that it makes perfect sense, I shall not bother with it on my gloss ORANGE anymore. Like you say, saves money. Cheers Ginge |
You should get those parts in an electolysis tank, you wont be disapointed
In the end i was hunting for rusty parts because the results really are that good, its very satisfying, i was in a rust removing frenzy for a few days :D |
Got any pic sof the equipment results Mark?
TT |
13 Apr
I have had just the best day in the garage today. Nothing outstanding achieved but the sun was out, the garage door open, kids playing and radio two on the radio. I have been kind of multi tasking. Started by de-greasing the passenger side upright properly then lowered it into a strong-ish solution of Deox-C. It is still going, there is defiantly more activity this time around. [IMG]  [/IMG]Then I fitted my nose cone. The only reason was to get the riv-nuts in before the chassis is painted. I am trying to get all the holes drilled and welding done before painting, I know I will have to drill the chassis at some point once it is painted but you have to try. I offered the nose cone up to the chassis and spent ages measuring and marking before drilling. I had to cut about 3mm of the lower valence, as it were, for the perfect fit. I was going to force it under the lower front chassis rail but decided against it. I managed to employ the help of Nicky to mark the holes on the top rail as I squeezed the sides of the nose cone into the correct position. There are more pictures on photo bucket. [IMG]  [/IMG]Next was the headlight mounting tubes. After asking a quick question about length (120mm) I set to pretty much a half hour job, flipped the chassis over and welded the underside aswell. [IMG]  [/IMG]Whilst removing some splatter and wire brushing some rust off I noticed two welds that had been missed so they got the good news! While all this was going on I started the painting process on the rear uprights they are primered in this picture but have the first coat of ORANGE on now. [IMG]  [/IMG]My new polo radiator is due tomorrow so radiator fixings are on the cards, hopefully it will turn up early. Cheers Ginge |
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There is also a couple of pics of a drum backplate and a front upright before and after Unfortunateley they are both already painted in the after pics as they are so clean when they have been treated they rust very quickly so i got them painted before i took any pics They both spent about 10hrs in a tank then a very quick wire brush, dry off with a blow torch and then spray painted. There is loads of pictures of results and equipment on google images. |
15 Apr
I didn’t get any time on the roadster yesterday really; we went shoe shopping then to the physio with number one son, My polo radiator turned up so I spent a little time pondering mounting it. To today then, it was full steam ahead on radiator bottom mounts, I came up with a fantastically over engineered plan. First I worked out the optimum position with the nose cone on and steering rack in place, then removed both of them. I made a card template which you can see in the following picture on the right, then transferred that to steel, on the left. Then bashed it about and welded it to the front frame, centre in the first picture. [IMG]  [/IMG]Next after carful measuring again (450mm centre to centre of the polo mounting spigots) I drilled a 12mm hole then fitted a grommet which the spigots on the bottom of the polo radiator slide into just nice. [IMG]  [/IMG]And with the radiator in place. [IMG]  [/IMG]I have made a start on the top mounting brackets but there is not nearly enough engineering involved yet, watch this space. At 3pm this afternoon I made my way over to ‘Enoch’s’ so he could drill and tap the thread for the grub screw to hold the mushroom insert in my front up-rights. What a job would have taken me about two hours he cracked it in 30mins. A good point Dave made was not to drill through the very side at the up-rights thinnest point as this is A. weak and B. only gives the grub screw a thread or two of purchase, so we off set the hole rearwards to a slightly meatier section. Makes perfect sense really. [IMG]  [/IMG]No working in the garage tomorrow, family day, I might fit some in around the GP at the weekend. Cheers Ginge |
17 Apr
I managed to get the top rad mounts finished. The first incarnation, in cardboard, was supper complicated. They would have looked good but a little over the top for something that is really just going to steady the rad. Second try is simply a strip of 2mm steel bent in two places to reach from the top of the front frame to the rad mounting points. I thought they might ‘twang’ or vibrate a little so welded some strips down each side. They are strong enough to lift the whole chassis up on, they will do. [IMG]  [/IMG][IMG]  [/IMG]You will notice I have primed the front end. Two hours of knocking of weld splatter, wire brushing welds and generally getting everything supper clean, then masked up to avoid over spray. Two coats of etch primer the two coats of primer, same as always. I decided not to do the top coat as I want to do, or get this done, in one go. 18 Apr By the time I had watched the GP, had lunch and got in the garage it was 1pm. First job was to get the last up right out of the Deox-C and give it a wire brushing. I am going to de-rust the rest using electrolysis. I was going to run down to Halfords for some more etch primer for the up rights but decided to move on to something more interesting. Floor first fit. I flipped the chassis upside-down then manhandled my 8’x4’ sheet of ally on to it, squared it up to one rear corner, measured to make sure I was about to drill bang in the middle of the rail, then took a 3.2mm drill bit and set to. Cleco in then on to the next corner making sure everything was square as I went. Two Cleco’s in and looking good. Time for some cutting. With loads and loads of measuring and marking I cut the sheet to size whilst it was attached to the chassis with cleco’s. I found if I slipped a piece of scrap tube between the chassis and the ally sheet this gave enough clearance for the cutting wheel to miss the chassis. [IMG]  [/IMG]The floor is now attached with 49 Cleco’s (I have lost one already) just need to drill 221 more holes! I am hoping to pick up some 3.2mm (1/8”) at Stoneleigh. I flipped the chassis over to get a look with the floor in and I’m chuffed. It is such a large part It makes loads of difference, makes me feel like I have got loads done and made a step forward. [IMG]  [/IMG]Of to Okehampton next week to lay some stone for the car park of the ten tours event. Cheers Ginge |
Some good progress there Ginge :cool:
Certainly done a propper job of those rad mounts. The floor does give the build a whole new dimension & a nice comfortable place to sit whilst sitting in the chassis making F1 sounds :D I have uploaded a couple of photos of the rad fan & seat runners to my Progress thread ;) Pitty you are not down as far as Bodmin moor .... Could have met up for a chinwag :) |
I must resist the urge to get the chassis out and the floor done...
I must pull my finger out and get the other two cars done so I can hit the roadster.. TT |
Ginge (the master of over engineering ;) ) Those rad mounts will have less flex than the steering rack mounts. Well done.:D
Yes it's cheeky, but tongue in cheek cheeky. I too have a bent for Victorian engineering. |
Almost a month between up dates, not good.
I find my enthusiasm ebbs and flows a little, poor enthusiasm for de-greasing, de-rusting front uprights and great enthusiasm for getting the floor started poor enthusiasm for modifying my seat runners! Any way since the last up-date 10 3.2mm cobalt drill bits have turned up and I purchased a few items from the Stoneleigh show, namely and most awaited was a pair of seats, which the whole family has sat in. I had acquired some seat runners from the bin at work and was eager to find out if the runners fitted the seats. No is the simple answer, not in any direction. They need to be wider by about 40mm. This was the easy mod I just cut the lifting handle and now they can be as wide as you like, I just need to find a section of suitable tubing to fill the gap. Making them longer is a little more involved as I appreciate the runners need to maintain there strength. I have fabricated a sort of box section that replicates the existing seat runner out of 3mm steel plate and welded it on and drilled a hole for the mounting bolt. [IMG]  [/IMG]They are going to mount to two 25mm box section tubes that run across from the outside lower chassis rails to the transmission chassis rails, the box section will have 5mm steel plates welded into them so they sit flush with the top of the tube, this will mean no nuts or bolts protrude through the floor. Lots of work but I should end up with me desired result. Also purchased at Stoneleigh was a fan (mounting bracket required as the fins on the fan are way to close together to use the fixings that push through the radiator), some 5” head lights from CBS, thanks to Gus for putting me on to these, they are not in there catalogue and where not on display on there stand, £25 each (just need to finish the head light mounts now). I got 10m of 3mm thick soft rubber trim which should see me through the whole build and some tools. I have started to try and get an hour or two in the garage in the evening, the only problem is I can’t undertake anything to noisy as Sophie, my daughter of 5 years, sleeps almost directly above it. 15 May Had a fantastic full day in the garage. I managed to get my seat mounting frame fabricated a welded in. [IMG]  [/IMG][IMG]  [/IMG]It may not look like a day’s work but it took me from 9 to 5, the 25mm cross bars are notched out to take the 5mm plates so everything is flush and now there will be no bolts sticking through the floor. It is all welded up except the underside, just need to flip the chassis now get the last four welds done then continue with the 270 3.2mm holes! The great thing now is when I go out for a cigarette I can sit in the car! [IMG]  [/IMG]Cheers Ginge |
Nice update there ginge, I always enjoy reading about progress. Just a couple of questions.
Whats seats have you decided to go for? Also do the seat belt holes in the seat allow for the seatbelt to continue to where you have placed the top seatbelt mounts without the seatbelts having to go up through holes and then down to the seatbelt mount if you get what i mean? If you don't i can quite easily draw a picture. The only reason I ask is because I don't think IVA allows for the seatbelts to do it as it puts the stress from your body weight flying forward on the seatbelt holes instead of entirely on the seatbelt mounts. |
Tatey,
You are totally correct about the seatbelts routing through the holes in the seat. The seatbelt top mounts are in totally the wrong place and will need to be re-done, they need to be lowered by about 30mm and lined up with the holes in the seat, annoyingly my shoulders are higher than the holes in the seats, so the belts will have to go up and over my shoulders before going down. I was not really happy with the cross bar part of the roll bar, good job really, need to get some more 7/16 mounts and a length of tubing and set to on getting it right. The seats are the ones from the people who do the 2b and the zero, can’t remember their name right now! Cheers ginge |
Are you sure the cross bar needs to be lowered Ginge?
The way I understood it the seatbelt needs to do the following:  Also by any chance are you 6'4" or taller? EDIT: Here is a picture from Ash's archive which i think explains it:  |
Tatey,
OK get ready for the dodgiest drawing EVER, my belt mounts are set into the cross bar, the cross bar is a little higher than the holes in the seat by 30mm. [IMG]  [/IMG]I am 6’ 1” Cheers Ginge |
Little edit, my shoulders are as good as in line with the holes in the seats not higher, just need to lower the mounts and bring them in line, one is 110mm off to one side!
Cheers Ginge |
Ah it all makes sense now Ginge. I need to get my eye sight checked out :p.
Is it the angle that the picture has been taken, or is your head above the roll bar? I only ask as I'm 6'6" and my head is too tall for Ash's standard roll bar, especially if using a padded seat and a helmet. So if the worst did happen it would mean my head would be hitting the ground before the roll bar would as I would also be hanging out of the harness if the car rolled. |
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Cheers Ginge |
Yeah I've decided to scrap the roll bar and go for a fully welded in cage made by welderman from the locostbuilders forum.
Once I have the money together and the chassis finished he'll be making me one for £400, including designing it around my height and to my design with side impact protection. |
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