Boot hinges and the kit car show

 I did get a few positives out of this weekend. The kit car show was great as always, by the time I'd got round all the cars and took lots of photos it was very definitely mid-afternoon! I went on the Saturday and the clouds kept things comfortably cool. I felt there were fewer cars but more people, so overall a great success. This was my car of the show though;

A GT40 in JPS livery, a perfect combination! I am a big fan of the JPS colours, while I don't think they would suit my current Healey shape I would still want to build/buy a car to host those iconic badges and stripes.

The biggest surprise was the cyclekarts, they looked like great fun and the creativity in some of the karts was just amazing;

On to more useful matters. This car gave me some great ideas for the rear trim;

In this case the trim round the cabin was the standard thick stuff, but just round the roll  bar was thinner flexible trim. This makes a lot of sense. One of the things I got from the show as some edge trim, but while it will work nicely for the larger corners there is no way it's bending round a roll bar cut out. Following this sort of two stage approach will work nicely, I just need to get some of the flexible trim.

On the subject of buying things, I got some hinges from the show and got them fitted on Sunday;

They look really nice and are one more step to getting the back completed. I still need to add rubber trim to the edge of the boot, as well as finding a handle. You can see on the left and right hand side the boot sits too low in the recess, once I add some rubber trim it'll lift the boot edges as well as seal the gap. Then it's on to the handle, whenever I manage to find one! 

Anyhow, back to the car show, here's a few more photos I took for ideas and inspiration. First off was a car that looked like something I'd seen in a scrapyard in Wolvers, a bit like a Nova but with gullwing doors rather than the lift off roof. It was nice to find out what the car was, but in some ways it's even more disappointing to know it's probably still in that scrapyard wasting away;

Next was a nice Tribute automotive 250, it's pretty much a rebodied MX5 but this one appealed to me because of the supercharger install. It's a possible upgrade for me, if I don't find a suitable six cylinder lump;

Next on the agenda is wheel arches, here's some examples from the Sebring family;

I also noticed the very common choice of minilite wheels, and I think my choice of MX5 daisies will be a nice comparison! Next is a random picture of a trimmed roll bar, as mentioned above it's the more flexible trim being used here. I'll either follow this approach or go for a 3D printed cap, I'm not sure yet.

Filler cap and boot handle ideas;

This looks like a rehomed MX5 dash given the position of the gauges, the chrome trims look interesting. I was going to use 3d printed trims but I might look at how much the chrome trims are. 

No specific inspiration here, apart from the colour scheme. That deep burgundy is gorgeous!

This car had similar aluminium panelling to what I'm planning, although it uses a thin black piping between the panels. It looks tidy but I think I'm going to stick with my own preference.

Now for a high point of the show, the Ron Champion car that started it all. I didn't get a chance to meet the man himself as he was at the show only on Sunday, but it was so good to see the original car in the flesh;

And now the low point;

One sole Nova... every year I've been to the kit car show (wherever it may be) I always seek out the Nova stand. In previous years at Stoneleigh there would be dozens of Nova's. This year, just one. I hope that this is just because I was early, or that there was another show, or something else was going on. But if this is the last road going Nova then it's such a sad day. 

Suspension build issues

 The weekend was a mixture of all sorts, unfortunately more bad than good but these things are sent to try us.

Following on from my dolly collapse I needed to get the car mobile again. The most logical approach was simply to put the wheels on. The one side suspension was built up already, I just had to get the other side done and put the wheels on. And then the first problem arrived...

Everything went together, and I'm really happy with there being no contact issues. There is a common problem of the steering rack contacting the lower arm when using a Mark 1 knuckle, mine was perfectly fine from lock to lock;

(there's a lot of pictures as I wanted to make sure I had it all logged).

As you can see from the final picture above, I appear to have lost a steering rack clamp. The exhaust mount clamp was ok for no, but it doesn't tighten up enough to be useable, and besides I need it to be rubber mounted and have a thicker clamp. Something to add to my snag list.

But as I dropped the car back on the ground, the wheels decided to become intimate with the body. There was just no clearance, and the bonnet would have lifted it I had not noticed the contact. The 'fix' can be seen in the above photos, I had to wind the spring seats all the way out. This sort-of solved the ride height, but to be honest it's still not as good as I might have liked;

1.5 inches clearance doesn't give much for suspension compression. Then again, with the springs wound to the fullest point they probably wouldn't move much anyway! And of course, this is without the other lump of ballast that needs to be added, IE the driver. 

(Edit: I've just had a response off LCB, the suggestion is that there needs to be enough clearance that nothing hits if the spring is removed and the car is on it's bump stop. In theory that sounds reasonable, in practice I reckon that would be catastrophic. But then I've had enough broken springs to know that it could happen, so I ought to at least check what would happen. That may force my hand into buying longer coilovers)

So that's problem one, it doesn't have a solution yet. The most expensive solution would be to get new dampers (about £100 each for the Gaz ones, G140/095B12-2 is the part number), the cheapest would be to cut the bodywork. Given that I need to add wider fenders, the latter may be the best option. The weird thing is that the lower arm is horizontal, which I thought was a good thing. The damper is currently 12.5 inches eye to eye, maybe 13" if I lifted the car off the ground. But it's not just the height now, it's the fact that if things get a bit light the dampers will reach their max travel, and most likely do so with a bit of a thump. 

On to problem two;

This might not look so bad on it's own, until I mention that the right hand wheel is actually straight! Massive toe out, and that's with the adjustment fully wound in. Basically the track rod extenders are too long. This isn't actually too bad. I've bought an appropriate die off Amazon that should be arriving today. What I'll do is cut the thread on the tie rod a couple of inches further, then I can also trim the end of the rod so the extenders go further in. So a bit of extra work but nothing too bad.

I did also have this;

That's a bit too much camber. This is easy to sort, just winding out the top ball joint to give me the angle I need.

Now the last issue (for the suspension at least!);

This is a fully fitted wheel with the brake disc behind. There doesn't appear to be much engagement between the studs and the nuts. Now, the nuts are actually quite long, there's a taper that goes below the wheel surface. Giving it a quick measurement shows about 12mm engagement on threads. Given that it's an M12 stud that 'should' be ok, but my gut is suggesting that the studs just aren't long enough. I measured the studs, they're about 45mm total length with about 33mm protruding from the hub. I'm tempted to just get some longer studs, maybe 50mm or 60mm. So again, not an insurmountable issue, but something I didn't need adding to the list. 

That broke it...

 Well, that was a fun morning! I suspected that the dollies I was moving my car on were right on the limit, particularly on the front. And today I found that limit, as one of the wheels broke off! Thankfully I managed to get it in the garage, but the car isn't going anywhere for a while. 

In the meantime, todays jobs were all 'behind the scenes' so to speak. So all the upper braces for the bodywork have had a layer of rubber added, now the body doesn't have that 'sag' when you lean on the outside edges. I've also riveted the two infill panels that live just under the body inside the car. And staying with riveting, the firewall panel is now fixed in place. I had been debating when to do this as there were a few things to be fixed to the panel, but I didn't see a significant advantage to keeping it loose. I'm sure I'll regret it for something!

I also did one portion of the edge trim, just to see how it looks. And I'm quite happy with it;

I need to continue the trim to the front and back, but first I need to convert the front panel to rivnuts. 

Back to the immobile car... the trolley came from Aldi for about a tenner, so in theory I could just buy another one... but as it's Aldi, they're not in stock. Not in Lidl either for their equivalent. The most logical option now is to just get the front wheels on and have them stay reasonably straight. I'd need to add the wishbones and suspension, as well as the steering from top to bottom. Most bolts don't need tightening up (well, apart from the wheel bolts themselves!). The challenge will be the overall width, putting the wheels on adds at least 8 inches. 

I suppose at least I'll find out the true ride height of the car!

Wing mirrors

 Another small job...

If I was being over critical I'd say they're a bit small, but hopefully they're ok for IVA. They look nice though. The base is smaller than the cutout that was on the body, so I'll need to add that to the 'holes to be smoothed' list. Ooh, fibreglass resin, I might be able to get some at a decent price at the show. 

(Edit 03/06/24). Well, I was obviously a bit too enthusiastic with this success!! While the mirrors are big enough to satisfy the 80 x 40mm IVA requirements, there is also a requirement for a centre mirror that I completely missed. It used to be that you only needed two mirrors, that has now changed so the only time you don't need a centre mirror is if it would be absolutely useless to have one. So for example a transit van.

So I need to find a decent looking centre mirror to add to the mix. Not only that, but the fixing for that centre mirror will likely interfere with my gauge fitting. :( Thankfully I had hit a roadblock with that one anyway (see other blog post...)

Instruments

 Another side task, mounting the instruments. As mentioned before I'm reusing the speedo, rev counter, oil pressure gauge and temperature gauge. These used to be in a nice self contained unit, but as always I want to make things a bit more awkward for myself!!

They do split up quite nicely, I just needed some way of mounting them on the dashboard. First step was to fix them to a back panel, similar to how they're done on the MX5. In may case I just wanted a flat panel, preferably plastic as I don't want wood anywhere and metal would be conductive. So I managed to find a chopping board that worked out quite nicely!!

I'll trim it down a bit, but at least this is the four gauges fixed together in the positions they are going to be on the car. Next step will be to cut corresponding holes in the dashboard, trim them with the 3D printed bezels that I had designed a few weeks back, then put some clear plastic in front. Then with the aid of some aluminium brackets, this panel will be mounted directly behind the openings, then wired up.

As a precursor experiment, I also 3D printed some round sleeves to go round the dials. I wanted to know the minimum thickness of plastic that would be rigid enough. I printed three sleeves between 1mm and 3mm wall thickness. 1mm is too flimsy, it'll just distort and fail. 3mm is really solid and possibly overkill for this. 2mm is good though, sufficiently rigid without being excessive. I'll build a suitable sleeve to go from the bezel to the gauge. 

I also need to mount some illumination for the gauges. At several points there are openings for filament bulbs to sit and light up the gauges. The MX5 cluster had them in the right places, I just need to replicate the process then power them along with the side lights. Or at least I think it's the side lights, it might be the headlights. Basically those dash lights will be the lights-on 'telltale' required by IVA. 

I also need to make some stand offs. To give the speedo enough room, the other dials are raised by 11mm. In most cases this is covered by the standard mounting hardware, but the rev counter doesn't have anything comparable so I need to make some small sleeves to go round the bolts. I suspect more 3D printed options will be fine. 

The other indicators (fog, hazard and main beam) will just be individual panel mounted lights, I'll see what's for sale at the kit car show for those. 

Oh yes, the kit car show, a little over two weeks now. I need to get my shopping list sorted. 

(Update). As with the wheel arches entry I've decided to continue adding to existing posts rather than jump back and forth, it might be easier to read. 

The board is now cut with everything in the correct position;

I also 3D printed the bezels that will sit behind the glass and body;

To box it in behind the dashboard I have some old aluminium that is big enough;

That will be cut and folded to box in the instruments. In the above picture you can see some X's on the board, that's the bulb positioning. The MX5 use this type of bulb;

But they twist into a panel and connect to the conductive sheet that is on the back of an MX5 dash. My panel is thicker and doesn't have the circuit behind it, so I've ordered some rubber equivalents that do the same job but just push fit into the panel. They also have flyleads which will make it easier. Hopefully with the dials boxed and bezelled I can add a decent amount of illumination and it won't leak through anywhere it's not supposed to. I might even add a few extras to make it a bit brighter. 

Next bit will be the glass face and the decorative edge on the bezel. Perspex for the former, 3D printing for the latter. Then Tigerseal/rivnut into place, and job done. 

(Edit 03/06/24). Well, things are never straightforward are they?! Silly me forgot that I'd braced the bodywork with a steel bar, just inside the edge of the dashboard. As the gauges and the brace can't occupy the same space, it means that I need to rethink the mounting. I still want it to be boxed in, but it now needs to be slightly lower. And because it's slightly lower, the two smaller gauges no longer fit. I'd have one poking out the bottom of the dash.

However, the dash illumination thingies have come;

I think they're going to be perfect. They're cheap and nasty, and have a really weird internal structure, but when the bulb is inserted they do exactly what I need them to do. I have ten leads total, but only six bulbs for now. I intend to fit them all to the back board, hopefully they will look decently bright. As they will be enclosed, the light will only come out through the gauges themselves. 

Back to the gauges. I have an extra board to mount things on, or I could go for two separate enclosures. I have all the material required, it would just be not as tidy as having them all as one. 

I've also remembered something else about the dashboard, the two switches I need. Again the kit car show failed to provide, only one vendor selling parts so I ended up not getting any switches. I'll have to see what I can find online. 

Lights and electrics

 

Doesn't it look pretty? Despite the hole cutting being extremely nerve-wracking, the headlights went on well. I've left the chrome finishing rings off for now, partly because I couldn't quite get them fitted and partly because I don't need them on at the moment. I need to get the headlights powered and then the alignment sorted. 

This picture also demonstrates how the grille will split into three, with the centre portion exposed and the two sides being rounded metal 'half of a lampshade'. 

So, on the subject of power... now that everything is in place, including cable bases, I need to get started on the wiring. The best place to start is probably the grounds. I'm thinking the following;

1. Headlamp earths joined together.
2. One ground to the left hand indicator/side, and a second to the right hand indicator/side. 
3. Same on the back, two separate earths for each side of the car. 

I can get all that terminated on each connection, then run back to a screw fixing. I had planned on getting the earths put through the multiplug connector, but I am wondering whether a chassis connection would be safer. 

(Later that night...) It did occur to me that yet again I'm forgetting the side indicators. I probably would have noticed them when I got started, but the earths need to start from there and work their way round to the front. And I also need to get some terminators for the screw fixing, I'm not convinced I've got anything to hand.

Wheel arches

 I've known for a while that I have to add wheel arches for this car to pass IVA and be usable on British roads. But it's taken a while to get to a point where I know what size arches are required. And by the looks of it, they need to be quite sizable;

This pic shows 100mm sticking out from under the arches. Given the tyres are only 185mm wide that's about half the wheel sticking out. It's clear from the photo too, the rule comes down to the centre tread block. 

Now, I'm not worried about suspension geometry or issues around track width, basically because the Haynes roadster chassis was built to spec. But I still need to make up arches.

This is the MK HSR;

The arches are basically huge, but I think I'll need to recreate them. This is a long term task though, I don't know how to make them, what to use, etc. Retasked water butts was one of my first ideas, then maybe aluminium arches. Both come with pros and cons. I did also think about ready made arches, for example of the old Mini. But having done the measurements it's clear that there are no off the shelf options. Well, there are JDM drift options, but they're more than I've paid for the car! 

(later edit)

I came across this Youtube video;

Where they build up some wide body arches using a wireframe. I thought wireframes were what IT people used, turns out they are a real thing. However it gives an excellent process for creating a base shape ready for fibreglass. Using wire shapes with layers of tape on top, they were able to create quite substantial profiles that are very close to the end product. I think I'll give it a go for the arches I need to create. 

I'm going to create them the same for left and right, possibly the same for front and back but I'm not sure yet. They need to meet IVA requirements which are;

1. The wheel guard must extend 30 degrees to the front.
2. The wheel guard must extend 50 degrees to the rear.
3. The wheel guard must cover the full breadth of the tyre between those dimensions.
4. The rear of the wheel guard must not terminate above a horizontal plane of 150mm. (I think this one is redundant on my car, as the 50 degree angle is below 150mm).
5. The distance between the lower edge of the wheel guards and the axis passing through the centre must not exceed 2 * tyre radius (again, a bit redundant, that would be a point higher than the car itself!).

Had item 4 been a thing, I could have tapered the guard but in reality it needs to be full wheel width for the whole distance. I also need to flatten the face so I'm not having to deal with any sharp edges. 

And just to have a different viewpoint, I found the other example of the HSR, the orange and black one;

Unlike the white one, I have no idea whether this was ever completed. These pictures are from a for sale ad back in 2012, and that's all I know of it. But it does give an alternative view of the wheel arches. As with the white one, the fronts reach all the way down to the floor line both ends, and the rears slightly taper inwards again very low to the floor. As mentioned before this wide arch approach never appealed to me, so I'm hoping I can get away with smaller arches. 

I'll start with an inner edge fixed to the car somehow, and an outer edge that matches the wheel curve. Once they're fixed in place I'll tape up between them, then aluminium tape to stop the fibreglass sticking (I'll need to make four of them after all), then sand and fit. I do need to figure out how much mat I need, i have a patch repair kit but I think I'm going to be quite short with only that. I do still have some fibreglass sheet so in theory I would only need some more resin. But it didn't seem that much cheaper on it's own so I might just buy another of the repair packs again, and get some free cloth!