Matt's build thread

[Mking]

Originally Posted by RichardH

i have a chop saw you are welcome to borrow, its noisy though

That's really good of you. The only chance I get to work on it is when the kids are in bed so quiet is important at the moment but I might come back to you if I lose patience with the enforced gym sessions.

[Mking]

Originally Posted by dean211277

Good luck with your build.

We are about at the same stage as I have just finished marking out my build board, as you say takes a bit of time measuring and double checking but worth it in the end.
I bought a roofers square which really helped us build the table and I've used it in marking out to, I have checked it and it seems quite accurate!

Do you know what donor car you will be using?

Yes, my roofers square was invaluable. I didn't realise how much I needed one until I bought one. I am going to use an Mx5 donor, hopefully 1.8. I am doing it slightly our of sinc as I have limited space so building as much of the car as I can then will buy the donor and hopefully pretty much transplant bits from it into the Roadster. How is your build going?

[Mking]

Well folks it has been a while since I have posted on here but there has been progress, if slow. Since the last update I have had to have stints away from the project to finish off the wifes sewing shed, build a new chicken enclosure for the garden, do endless jobs around the house and go away with work. However, I have managed to steal a few precious hours in the garage here and there and tonight have finished cutting all the bottom chassis rails. The only ones I made a total ar5e of were br1 and 2 whose angles were way off and the gaps to the other rails were far bigger than even enthusiastic welding would fill. I found measuring the angles quite tough given the size of the tube. I ended up re doing them and just measuring the metal in situ. It seems to have worked well. On measuring the chassis now it all seems parallel and my very old and good quality set square shows the angles are all nice and square too. Now just to cut some wood to fix it all to the table then I can break out the welder.

On the subject of the table I found it had sagged slightly. Only a few mm's but enough to concern me. I have fitted extra wood so hopefully it is now totally rigid.

[Mking]

Crikey, I can't believe it has been August since I updated this. Those who are on the Facebook page will have seen I have made progress on the chassis. It's not been quick but not bad given its been fitted around childcare/work etc. I am now up to the rear suspension and rear end. I have ordered the 20mm steel today so can crack on once it arrives.

I have been trying to decide whether to make suspension brackets but after realising this seems to be a ball ache and getting them accurate adds difficulty, I am going to buy them instead. The wishbones are also causing me stress but I hope once I make the jigs and cut the pieces it will all come together.

I have just realised the angled tubes on my front frame are twisted slightly. I am going to cut the tubes out, fettle them, and weld them back in to save issues with the suspension mounts.

[SteveH1]

Hi Matt
The wishbones are not a big deal to make really just time consuming really
Plus the top one for the rear is too short not sure what length it should be though