Roll bar prototype finish

 Apart from an old geezer getting a posh hat, this weekend has been very busy. I'll split it into several posts because otherwise I might miss something.

First task was the roll bar. With the hoop bolted in place, I ran a second tube down the side of the car to get an idea of how to brace it. I wanted to minimise bends on this part to make sure the loads went into the chassis and not into the bends. 

I've attached the brace as high as I could before the bend starts on the hoop. It then comes down to halfway down the top bar, then parallel to the same bar all the way down to the floor pan. 

This picture shows the final result once it had been glued and taped up;

A couple of things to note. The bar bends upwards and inwards, but I actually managed to do both in one bend. That does mean I can just have it bent in one (and I know the angle now), but I can't get them to cut either end. I'll have to order them longer and cut them to suit. 

The other thing is the forces involved. With the plastic bar I can see how it would deform, and as expected it's the side bar bend. However what I can do is add another bracket so it's not just fixed to the bottom. 

So now I can get this ordered. It'll be four pieces. The roll bar hoop, two sides and the centre bar. I still need to prototype that length but it's not going to be difficult. I then need to figure out how to get the body over the top of it, I might do that before I have the real thing. 

Looks like I'll need about 5 metres of tube, and 4 bends. 44.45mm tube for 5 metres is £66, I don't know how much the bending is though. Hopefully because they're only small bends in a single line it won't be too difficult to produce. It would probably cost more to post than to bend!

But that's it for the roll bar mock up, the next time I'll be working on it will be to weld it up. 

(Edit) A couple of extra photos;

Bodywork brackets

 One of the things I've been working on is the bodywork brackets. The outriggers will stick out of the car around 4 inches or so, but I wanted to have them removable as well as load bearing.

I came up with this set up;

It consists of an outer sleeve that will be welded to the chassis, and an inner sleeve that will be welded to the rail. The left hand one is tack welded to the rail. When on the car, the rail will slot into the sleeve (centre), then an M8 bolt, washer and nut that will go through both (right). 

The 'cup' of the outer sleeve will provide support, with the length of the inner sleeve providing leverage. The bolt is in single shear which I wanted to avoid, but it does provide the clamping force needed to keep things tight. 

Roll bar prototype

 

The picture says it all really!! This was a fun task, making a prototype roll bar out of waste pipe. The CDS used for roll bars is either 44mm or 50mm for motorsport compliance. Not that I need compliance but it's nice to have a standard to work to. This waste pipe is 40mm, so basically 2mm out either side.

This is the main hoop with the correct bend radius. The distance between blue marks is the 140mm centre line radius that 'the tube bender' (AKA Race Spec Cages in Rugby) quotes on his ebay listing. 

This prototype has given me so much information. First is the expected height, I could see that from the top of the roll bar to the front of the car drew a line that was above my head height. Well, only slightly above my head height, I'll need to wear a helmet as well. The side angle is a decent look, it's not really clear on this picture but both sides are angled in a bit. 

The main thing it gives me is some guidance on how the side impact bars can come down and triangulate the roll bar. From the previous post I was aiming for this;

And I'm happy that it will work like that. I do need to get the body on though, I'm going to need to cut it for the roll bar but I may also need additional cuts for the side bars. I'm pretty much certain that I'll be removing the side pods inside the body though, I can't get them to match my chassis and I'd waste a lot of time trying to do so. I do need to figure out a shelf or something though, again from previous posts it's this look I'm after;

That reminds me, I do need to get some more photos from the kit car show for this particular layout. It also needs to be fixed to the body, so that'll be some angle brackets and more glue!

I'm digressing, this was a roll bar post. Next job, a bit more pipe and figure out how it can mount to the chassis without interfering with the body. 

Change of approach for the seats

 Along with a few other jobs (photos of my 'roll bar' to come next!), I've been looking at the seat mounting again. First job was to shrink the holes to M8. Using M14 bolts in the first place was just completely wrong, I'd decided on it based on the holes in the seat rails and not realised the Mazda screws are a 'top hat' design. Basically the head of the bolt is M14, the rest of it is much thinner. Anyway, some M8 penny washers welded in place seems to have done the trick. I won't change the frame, mainly because it's too awkward but also it's good to have a bit of tolerance.

So now it's on to the fixing. My first plan was to use self tappers into the wood. Now that was a really stupid idea!! Any impact at all would have left the seat torn from it's mountings, folded up like a deckchair! I need to fix it to the frame, either by welding directly or by mounting some plates on the frame and securing it to those. Thankfully the positioning of the rails is right up against the sides of the seat, so it wouldn't take much to weld some plate where the fixing holes go. 

It also means that I avoid a problem that I was seeing. The rail mountings have a slightly raised section where the locking mechanism is. Trying to mount that to the seats would have meant either channelling out a section of the wood or raising it up on yet more wood. I don't need to worry about either of those now as the plates will raise the seats slightly anyway.

And then it's on to the fixing. Now that I'm bolting metal to metal it becomes really simple, a captive nut (or bolt?) welded to the plate will provide the relevant anchor, a small recess in the wood will host the head. Actually, thinking about it I'll go for a captive bolt. Or can I... Hmm, I'd best check the clearance before I head out to the DIY store. Yep, it's a bank holiday so I'm going to a DIY store. Shelves to be put up and all that. 

(Later that day...)

Rather than start a brand new post I thought an extension to the existing one would be better. Back to seat belts. The rules are pretty straightforward and common sense, the main one is that the belt cannot be affected by the seat. They class it as a 'change of direction' and basically means that if the belt could apply force to the seat, the seat has to be able to take it.

The upper fixing also needs to be 450mm off the R reference point. That does mean I need to either lift the bracket, or simply work off the roll bar. I think a welded bracket on the cross bar is the easiest option there, it's how they do it in the book.

Time for an obligatory photo;

Yes, this is the passenger seat. I decided very early on that the seat belts would work better 'backwards'. That is the inertia reel and upper mounting would sit inboard rather than outboard, then the buckle sits on the outside.

This shows a few things. First, I need to remember to leave space for the inertia reel. I had forgotten this, but this doesn't cause an issue as I just need to remember to mount the seat on the runners so it can't go that far back. To be fair it doesn't take up that much space anyway, so I'm only losing maybe an inch of rearward travel. I've already figured out that having the seat that far back leaves me completely out of range of the pedals and the wheel!!

Second is the fixings. They need to be proper seat belt fixings that allow the belts to rotate. The standard belts do this by using a sleeve and a series of washers, I'll probably do the same. That'll be for both hip fixings and the shoulder fixings, the inertia reel needs to be fixed. And I mean fixed, these reels only work if they are vertical so they can't be allowed to move. 

Third is the buckle, I need to find out where I put the shorter buckles. I remember ordering them off Ebay, I remember receiving them, I remember having to strip one down to find out why it wasn't working. I just can't find them now!! I might go back through the blog and see where I last had them. 

Fourth is the sleeves. The inertia reel is currently clamped to the chassis rail, however I'll need to put a bolt through to secure it. This will mean drill, weld a sleeve, grind it flat, then bolts in place. Thinking about it only the inertia reel fixings need the sleeves for now, the two lap fixings are there by design and the shoulder fixing can't be done until I sort the roll bar.

So back to the seat fixings to the runners... there's still a few hours of today left so I'll get stuck in.

At least the colour will work nicely with the leatherette seat covers, but they do still need a good clean.

(Edit: It doesn't look like I posted anything about the seat buckles, they arrived September 2021 and the only thing more recent was the batch of ones from the last few weeks. Looks like I might have to find myself some new ones)

Roll bars

One of the things to be sorted is the roll bar. Due to the rear aspect of the car, there is no bracing available like on the original locost. It could be fabricated, but then I'd lose boot space, possibly part of the bodywork, and overall I'm not convinced the strength would be there. I also can't extend forwards into the seating area, because I want to keep it open. 

This leaves me with a piece of metal that is bolted in place with a handful of bolts, and I'm not convinced it would work. The leverage alone on the car would tear the bar off or even destroy the mounting plates, even thinking about it makes me cringe!

However I think I can bring extension bars down between the bodywork and the chassis. This roll bar from MK shows the sort of thing that could be possible;

The highlighted section looks like it would drop down from the rear overhead bar, it could then be mounted directly to the bottom of the chassis. As long as it mounted reasonably high enough it could be both decorative and functional, without losing much/any cabin space. I suspect I'll need to remove the parts of the bodywork that sweep down towards the body, but to be honest they don't fit very well, it's going to take a lot of work to get them in the right place, and I was 80% sure I'd just remove them anyway! 

The next steps for this particular job, in parallel to the seat trimming and the outriggers welding and gluing, will be to fashion an example out of drainpipe. It's an old trick used to route exhausts but it should work to show this as well. The CDS used for roll cages is 44.45mm OD, whereas waste pipe is 40mm OD. As long as I maintain a 2mm gap where required I should be able to replicate a roll bar. So I need a couple lengths of pipe and a roll of gaffer tape!

Just as a quick note, the fixings needed to attach the tubes together are known as saddle clamps. Here is an example; https://www.tomcatwebshop.co.uk/set-of-six-45mm175-roll-cage-saddle-clamps-3012-6-571-p.asp

This is how they're used;

In this example that are at right angles, but I suspect for my roll bar they will need to be at an angle. It is possible to get a hinged joint but I need to make sure they're strong enough and do the job. 

(Update). Here's a quick scribble based on some pointers from the great people over at LCB;

Interesting observation

 I've just been going back over this blog, to where the bodywork was first trial fitted. On that occasion it was the front panel that I fitted and took pictures. Here's where it get interesting;

This is a pair of pictures, one taken 'back then' for the front, and the other showing the current body panel. The assumption has always been that there would be a gap between the two panels, based on the wheelbase suggested by the creator of the bodywork. However this suggests that while the bonnet comes up to just short of the steering wheel frame, the body actually extends a fair bit underneath. 

This means that instead of having to add bits, I might actually have to trim the bonnet down! This is fantastic if it's true, as it's so much easier to take things off than it is to put things on (ask any barber!). 

So my mission for this weekend (if weather and wife allows) is to get the bonnet out of the shed and get it on to the chassis again. Or it might be to get the body outriggers sorted, then at least I have a known predictable base for the body.

Update: It's actually clearer with the 'straight on' picture;

You can see the bottom edge finishes halfway up the rail, but the bodywork actually ends up further along. So it's definitely an overlap, which is good.

More bodywork notes

 Since the weather has been absolutely shocking here, it's forced me to do some more theory instead of practical. Here's a few notes.

For outriggers, the main bar will be bonded to the bodywork, in general the view is that it's more than strong enough as long as it's done according to the instructions. I could use rivets or screws as well, but the way the bodywork works I think they would be visible. 

The outriggers will need some sort of bolt mechanism for easy removal. I did think about this initially, but it does seem to be a good idea for lots of reasons. A quick discussion on LCB suggests 6mm bolts will be fine. The plan will be to weld the triangulated sections on to the chassis, then bolt the beam/bodywork on the end. I've still not decided on the best option, I suspect something in double shear will be the most sensible. 

Behind the seats there will be a filler panel. I did think about wood for this one, and it turns out the Tiger GTA also uses a wood panel. The only thing will be water absorption, so if I do go for wood it'll need a fair bit of sealing. But I also need it to be securely fixed to the chassis, so at the very least it'll need to be skinned with metal to provide a solid fixing. 

The boot is looking quite promising, this should also be skinned to make a usable area. More aluminium, rivets and bolts as required (I'll make the entire boot removable). 

For the sides, the initial thought was to 'sweep' up from the edges of the chassis up to the bodywork. But thinking about it, that makes things very claustrophobic. It would be better to go for a 'side pod' arrangement, basically a shelf from the chassis out to the bodywork. This is a great example from a Sylva Fury;

(I think I've taken photos of this car before, I remember feeling that the aluminium corner trim looks really nice). 

This should be fairly simple to do, although it will need more aluminium. The original panels were from the Metal Store, although I have no idea how expensive it might be now!! I might need to raid my existing stock for leftovers, which will inevitably mean steel rather than aluminium. 

The support for the bulkhead will need to be curved steel, something like an inch wide and maybe 2mm thick. This will be supported from underneath and welded to the car, then I'll figure out some other fixing to attach it to the bodywork. 

In the meantime, I have some runners and some leatherette to fix to my seats. 

Seats and bodywork

 Well, that was definitely the biggest gap there's been for working on the car. I guess that's what happens when you buy a second house and spend every bit of money and time getting it ready to be lived in!! Still, I got a nice office out of it and both kids got a room upgrade. 

Anyway, on to the car. I have been working on the seats on and off, but that'll be a separate post. This is going to be related to this;

This is the rear bodywork as it will sit on the car. It took a fair bit of fettling but to be honest I'm happy with how it sits. I have had trouble with the dimensions though. Setting things up with a centreline shows that the two sides are not in parallel. This could be how it's been stored (for MANY years) or it could just be the mould. Either way it took a lot of moving, positioning, clamping etc. 

The main task for this is to build the outriggers. There will be one each side and one at the back. The ones at the side will fit inside the body, and I need to fix the body to the bottom of them (more on that later). Here is a diagram showing a small steel section running in the right location;

As you can see there is a gap from the chassis to the outrigger. This is fine and actually desired, because I'm hoping to squeeze an exhaust in there!!

That will be either side, running the full length of the body. Using many clamps and braces I could see how it would be when it was fully installed, and it feels really stable. Well, at least in the Y and Z directions, the X direction at the top needs more work!!

The rear outrigger will be similar to the book;

This is just for measurement, there will be a decent amount of triangulation here. 

Along with this rear outrigger, I wanted to trial fit the tank;

This is where the book suggests it should go, right behind the diff. It looked 'ok' but I wasn't overly convinced. It seemed to intrude into the rear compartment, and the distance to the filler cap was excessive. I think it's only here on the Locost cars because it's the rear most 'thing' and they want to preserve the space above it for luggage. The Healey bodywork has a different setup so it doesn't need to be set so low.

In any case, there was a far more pressing matter;

The swirl pot actually ends up being the lowest point of the car!! you can see from the picture that even when I mount it as high as possible, the swirl pot is still in line with the bottom of the chassis, But because the Healey back end sweeps upwards, that means that if somehow I hit the ground then the swirl pot would be first to strike. 

Of course, I think I'd be in more trouble than simply losing a tank full of fuel (the wheel itself would need to come off and various other things break as well), but together with it not making best use of the boot I decided to move it;

Having it above the diff makes so much more sense. First the filler is a lot shorter. The tank itself is on some pretty substantial metal (it's the diff cage after all!!). The swirl pot is safely away from being vulnerable, the diff is easily accessible, and lastly the boot space is much better utilised. I doubt the proximity to the occupants will matter, after all one of the Toyota's has their tank running down the middle of the car!

So I have the measurements and the metal cut for the side and back outriggers, they'll get welded up soon (along with suitable triangulation). I now need to figure out how to fix the bodywork. My first thought was rivets, but they'll pull through the bodywork. Even using rivets with  washers will be challenging due to the thickness that they'll have to go through.

But then I thought back to my original plan which was Sikaflex/Tiger Seal. Bonding the body to the bottom of the braces would be easier, I just need to make sure it's strong enough. 

Well, that's it for now, this was a really productive day and it meant I could get a lot done. At some point I need to get the front out of the shed and do a similar bracing exercise, as well as understand the gap between the front and rear. I know from earlier discussions that the wheelbase of the original bodywork is shorter than the car I've built, which will mean an extra section in the middle. Oh, and while I'm talking about sizes, the wheels are very likely to stick out the sides of the body. I don't mind, I was torn between the narrow body Healey and the wider example from the likes of Sebring etc.

New seats

 On to the new seats. As mentioned before I'm making a frame, that will then be filled in with plywood and surfaced with foam before the leather goes back on. First thing, another delivery from the Metal Store;

I highly recommend the metal store, it's just convenient compared to local stockholders. The prices are a bit more, and you have to make sure to get it above the minimum postage limit, but that doesn't take much.

First thing is that I wanted to bend the corners. After many webpages and youtube videos, I decided that it wasn't going to just 'bend'. So I went back to my 'segment' approach. Basically cut slots on the inner side of the bend, bend the metal and weld it up.

This is after a cut, bend and tack;

This worked really well, although I had to go a bit deeper with the angle grinder as the first attempt couldn't bend round to 90 degrees.

After welding (and a fair bit of blow through!) and clean up I had this;

I then continued with the others, and of course they went much better the second time (and the third and fourth time);

So these are now ready to be welded up. 

Next part was the head rest. This is the hardest bit as it's a full 180 degree turn in a fairly small area. First, the wood template;

This takes the outline of the leather seat, note that it's not symmetrical. The Mazda seats actually lean into the centre, presumably to take into account the roof. I'll be doing the same with mine.

Next was to find the cut positions. Each cut is 12.5 degrees, so there's sixteen cuts to do. And because it's not a perfect semicircle, I had no chance of drawing it by hand. Therefore I scanned the above picture into the computer and overlaid it with segments at the relevant angles;

This gave a good match to the outline, and as you can see the sections are very different lengths. At the 2 o'clock position there's two cuts that are only 2mm apart, this is to get the correct curve.

Once that had been designed and printed out, I could then follow the same process and cut the slots to make the curves;

Overall I'm happy with how they've come out. Some of the gaps are bigger than others but as long as I'm careful with the tacks then it'll work out fine. Obviously they're overlaid against each other above, in the car one will be flipped to get the balance.

This all took around three evenings, and I was really tired by the end of it, so I've not made any further progress. Having said that, it's only the seat-back sides that are required now, which are much shallower angles. I think I can achieve the sides with only one or two cuts, which is a whole lot easier.

Then it'll be drawing the outline on the plywood and cutting the pieces out. Once that's done and mounted I can then add foam. 

I do need to work out the seat runners. For IVA I want to put the seats quite low to avoid the seatbelt, so I'm having the seats fixed for the time being. But the bars in the chassis were for the MX5 adjustable runners, so more metal is needed. And more fixing. Not a big problem though.

To sit or not to sit

 I've still got a fair bit to do, but a big chunk that can be done next is the seats themselves. I've already got the fixing points for the runners, so I had it all planned to reuse the donor seats. A while back I dismantled a seat base and it came apart as a metal shell, a sponge block and the leather skin. This looked good, modifying the metal base and reducing the foam would work. Unfortunately, today changed that plan...

It turns out the seat back isn't as substantial as the base. It's basically an upright mattress, a series of horizontal springs coated in foam with the leather on top. So dismantling it just means I'd end up with a pile of springs and bits of foam that used to be a chair back.

As you can imagine I'm a bit frustrated. I now need to come up with another solution for the seats. However, this could be a good thing. Mainly because I can get things working better for IVA.

The plan now will be to make a metal frame that matches the existing leather skin, with either plywood or metal to fill the gaps. Then new foam to rebuild the seat, then reuse the leather. Sounds fairly simple. I've made a template for the seat back, I'll do the same for the base. Then maybe some thin ply to test fit everything, or even as a permanent solution if the metal frame is solid enough.

Time for more metal though. The stuff I have is too thick for a seat, both in terms of diameter and gauge. I don't want to use metal that can support a fibreglass body, just to hold up a bit of sponge! So I need to work out how much each seat will use, as well as future proofing anything else I might need. Measuring the seat I can see the back is 800 x 400. Assuming that it just needs a single loop on the outside, that's 

    800 + 800 + 400 + 400 (x2 seats) = 4800 mm

Metalstore have 1.2mm gauge x 3 metre x 19mm for £12.78 a length. Two of those should be fine for the seats.

I can also get the metal for the outriggers. With the back panel being 1.5m x 2.5m, I could assume that it basically needs a complete circle of metal for supports. That is 1.5 + 1.5 + 2.5 + 2.5 so an extra 8 metres.

All this is quite fortunate of course, because metalstore have a minimum £50 excl VAT order for free delivery. 5 lengths should do it, and that also works well with the seat metal. 

I could also do with some tube for fixing holes. Just some half inch will do here, 1.2mm again to weld easy. 

Handbrake cables and fitting

 Well, last weekend was a bust due to much higher priorities (more on that later), but hopefully today I'll be able to get started on the handbrake cables. 

The first thing I want to consider is how tight the curve can be on the rear cables. On my car I've mounted the calipers backwards, so instead of routing the cable directly forwards, mine have to loop round. I also have the 'option' of mounting the calipers upside down. While this does cause headaches for bleeding, it may also help the routing of the cables. Whichever way round the brake flexi will always go up, which is easy. The handbrake cable has a mounting bracket that changes the angle depending on orientiation.

I guess the first thing I need to do is try both ways up and see which one gives me the best cable routing without rubbing on the chassis. Then the next question is how tight those cables can bend. This picture suggests they can bend quite sharply;

This appears to be a complete U turn in the length of the lower wishbones, using the standard bracket to fix it on the diff bracket. This would probably be tighter than I need it, but it does mean I have a fair bit of flexibility in the mount. 

The first step is now done. I've replaced the angle fixing brackets that were on the cables with straight brackets, and welded corresponding brackets to the chassis just behind the diff. The cables will route from there to the transmission tunnel, where they will fix into a mounting plate. That's the next step, to create a mounting plate across the tunnel. The cables are intended to clip very similar to flexi pipes, so I've ordered a couple more spring clips. Hopefully I'll get to cutting the brackets once the first step has cooled down.

(Several days later...)

The rest of the handbrake wasn't too painful in the end. Apart from a full week of trying to order some handbrake cable (how can any seller think bungee cord is the same as handbrake cable?!!), I finally managed to figure out the other end. First, a trial fit;

This bracket was the first design, but the handbrake cables are existing too high and rubbing against the chassis. This had to be dropped an inch, to this;

This is the final fit, all welded up with the balance bar in place. This will work fine, so the next part is the front section. It needs to be adjustable, so I spent a while figuring out how to drill through a threaded rod to get this;

Along with a cable clamp at the end, and a nut on the thread, this is my adjustment mechanism;

But at this point it occurred to me that I need the bodywork in place to figure out where the handbrake can go. There's a few places for it to go but it needs to be usable. So for now this is the end of the handbrake. Given that it's two holes and two bolts to fix it in place it shouldn't be too much work.

Next job, seats...

Rear pipes done

The rear pipes were a bit easier. The only worrying bit was the first bit, if I had got that wrong I wouldn't have had enough to finish the job. Fortunately I just worked smoothly from front to back. This is the front part with the clutch cylinder and steering column in place.

The brackets down the transmission tunnel did their job, it made it easy to secure things in place.

And the rear pipes were really easy, very short and only the frame to avoid. They weren't even long enough to warrant fixing, but I added one to the left hand side just in case.

Talking of fixings, I think I need to add a couple more where the rear pipe goes vertical against the firewall. It can move up and down at the moment which won't go down well with the inspector. I just need to add ones on the bends to make sure.

Next job is the handbrake. The two rear cables come from the calipers and head towards the tunnel. I need to change the fixing brackets on both of those to bolt them to the chassis. They'll then come together into the balance bar which needs mounting in the tunnel. It'll need extending all the way down the tunnel to some sort of mechanism to turn it round into the handbrake. Sounds relatively simple as long as I do each section in turn.

 

Front pipes done

 Now I had an idea of what flares I need for the pipe, I could make a start. And it's gone really well if I say so myself...

The brackets worked really well, and once everything had been tightened the pipes are absolutely solid. I'm tempted to add some brackets between the pipes, and maybe wrap the pipes with tape where they sit inside the brackets. There's enough of a gap between the pipes and the chassis. Unfortunately the steering column had other ideas, so I had to do this;

This gives an inch or so all round the steering column. So it's on to the rears next. 

Just one last point before I head back into the garage. Everything I've done on the car has been done in segments, then I take the parts off and store them. This means that 'conflicts' such as the column above are very likely. Just off the top of my head I'm thinking the diff and the fuel tank will have fixings that need to occupy the same point in space and time.

If I had built everything on the chassis and left it there it would avoid conflicts, but the work would have been a great deal harder. I guess I've made the right call to do things in parts, I just need to manage the conflict as it arises. Oh no, I sound like middle management...

Brake pipes

Wow, this was a long time coming... so, on to brake pipes!!

This started well, the balance valve sits quite nicely alongside the master cylinder and is away from anything sensitive. Apart from the pipe bends being tighter than the flaring tool could handle, it was pretty easy to fit these two.

It was the next pipes that were confusing me. The ones above were double flared, a 'female' type pipe ending. But looking at my flexi pipes I could see that these were also female;

I initially thought that I'd gone wrong, so on to the trusted internet I went. There was lots of toing and froing, but eventually I found a 'bubble' flare;

This particular one was made using the AB tools flaring tool. By the way, I can heartily recommend their flaring tool, it does a great job and is very quick. 

So now it's onwards with the rest of the pipes. I'll be clipping them in at appropriate places, running them as required. The small pipes were a confidence boost, I think the longer runs should be a piece of cake. I just need to weld on some support tabs while I go, this isn't an issue as I've already done several long runs. 

I remember a story a while back about people who work on half-completed builds, they said that the chassis welding was often 'ok', but the pipes were done when the enthusiasm was there and so they are generally done to a very high standard. Wiring was the main thing that half-completed kits had trouble with. Fortunately I seem to have done things backwards, I got the wiring looms tidied up before I did the brake pipes! 

New plan for panel edges

 So after a few weeks of ridiculously low temperatures and 'other jobs', I finally got back in the garage. A quick tidy up, and I could have another go at panel trimming. It did not go well...

It's basically a lack of consistency. To get the same cut all the way along all the panels would need some kind of miracle. So I'm not going to attempt it. I'm going back to the original plan of using edging trim. 

I'm aiming for some padded trim, maybe thin neoprene or similar. It needs to go over the rivets, either using cutouts or thick enough to hide them.

Anyway, that's one job ticked off. Well, one job solved, not necessarily completed. Back to the brake pipes now. I have the new brackets drilled, I have them in the right position so I'll get them welded up. Then the solid pipes can start getting routed, and the handbrake cable can be worked on.

(Small update). OK, the tabs are now welded up, one of those jobs that I would put off over and over and just not get anywhere. I'm impressed with the welder that it just fired up and welded smoothly. Next step, brake pipe location. 

Some small jobs completed

It's been a little cold recently so my plans of getting an hour each day in the garage for either tinkering or exercise has turned into video game time for the most part. I've not got much done on the car but I have completed all the Uncharted games and about to finish the last Tomb Raider. Time well spent? No idea!!

Anyway, there has been a little bit of work done. First for the brake pipes, I've got a position for all the flexi pipes and now just need a bit of time and space in the garage to weld them in place. I also got the front handbrake cable to see how that will work. It's short, but that's expected. At least it contains the balance bar that is needed to connect it to the rear cables. I'll have a go at extending it then I can start on mounting the handbrake itself. 

The grub screws for the suspension arrived... and they're wrong. I should have realised the thread was too coarse to be regular M6 x 1.0. It's closer to 1.25. And of course, I can't get M6 x 1.25. A quick discussion on locostbuilders pointed out that an imperial screw would be better, so I've ordered the closest match. I'll try them when they arrive.

And lastly I finally managed to have a go at the panel trimming. The idea was to use a handheld router to cut a rounded edge in the aluminium. I managed to give it a go, and the results are pretty decent. I need to refine the process because I was using a wooden edge template. By the third cut it was no longer straight. I need to put together a metal former that I can bolt the panel to before I cut it. I want to practice as much as possible though, especially on the long runs. It looks really good over a couple of inches, and the join between panels is immaculate. But can I realistically maintain it over a couple of feet?

It did occur to me that it doesn't need to be on all panels or on all edges. In fact, it's probably only going to be the transmission tunnel edge. Even the side panels are either going on the outside or will have the fibreglass panel overlapping on the edge. 

(pictures to follow when I find my USB cable, it got 'tidied' along with the Christmas decorations...)

Brake pipe mounting part 1

 The flexi's have been positioned and I can now weld the tabs on (more on that later). Now I need to route the brake pipes. While I have the end points, I don't have the start points because the proportioning valve isn't mounted. Here is how it looks on the original car;

The valve needs to be on the other side though. Time to line things up and see how it goes...

Flexi brake lines

 Well, there goes another two months. I count myself lucky that I have a job during these times, but I also wouldn't have minded a bit of time to work on the car. I'd have had it done by now! Well, not registered, but definitely built.

Anyway, the flexi brake pipes arrived, and I immediately realised that the original brake pipe brackets were far too small. So I've had to cut them off and replace them with some more made up from 3mm steel. Still, it gives me an opportunity to route the pipes properly.

This is what I have on the outside and inside;

It seems quite a smooth line, with the connector routed nicely to the copper pipe. The outer works well with the steering left and right;

But checking this with other pictures suggest the pipes just go direct from the caliper to the chassis, with no support. That seems wrong to me, a loose pipe in mid air that has to have some flex in it? Not convinced.

I'll see what the locost builders reckon, and adjust as necessary. 

*** UPDATE ***

Turns out I was way off the mark! It shouldn't be fixed to the wishbone, the movement would cause chafing and therefore would be an IVA fail. So despite me thinking it's a bit 'odd', being held in free air is actually the right way to do it. I think I could get away with it if I used rubberised P clips to secure it, but it's adding a complication and possible failure point where there is just no need for it. 

Now the issue is that I measured the lines based on it going via the wishbones, and with that no longer being true I need to figure out how to route them while taking into account the extra length. They're about 5 centimetres longer than the 'standard' measurement, so 500mm rather than 450mm. I don't really mind them being longer, it's definitely better than being shorter! I just need to figure out where to place them.