At Last!. I have started on my car ;-) PART 2

Thanks HB, Form following function and still looking good :)

Day 119. - Couldn't get any M10 x 110mm bolts locally so made do with 130mm and a rethread. A bit of a delay as the new, good quality, die I bought today snapped after about 2 minutes of cutting! Back to the shop tomorrow, which is one advantage of buying locally.
 
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Would M10 threaded stud suit you better OG this way you could cut it to your exact length. I happen to have some at home if you think it would be suitable for the job, might even have some in stainless ;)
 
Thanks T9, but it needs to be plain and a snug fit where it passes through the alluminium bushes in the dampers.

I have cut many threads over the last 40 odd years and this is the first die that has snapped on me.
 
Day 120 - Exchanged broken die for a larger one at no extra cost and completed thread cutting and lightening of front top damper bolts.
 
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Days 121-124 - Nothing done. Cleaning decking prior to treating.

Day 125 - Wrote program to drill brake discs on CNC mill. Tried it out on a piece of aluminium and it seems to work. Now need to find out how big I can make the holes and how many rows I can drill :)

Made sure holes overlap so that is all of the pad material passes over the holes so the pad and disc wear should be reasonably even.

Not a fan of cross drilling, but the weight saving is around 500gms over 4 discs, and all of this is unsprung rotational mass.

 
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How will what look?

Day 126 - Nothing

Day 127 - Spoke to Graham Hatherway re discs - He said don't drill as this is so last season :)

Plan now is to remove material from the disc edge in a wave shape. This removes more weight than drilling and all the weight is removed from the outer edge so has more effect than the same weight removed from further towards the centre.

Had a 2 hour discussion with my suspsension guru as he came over to check on progress. We have decided to replace the rear helper springs that are compressed flat at normal road road height with 450lb/in springs (a little work on spring seats is required to fit them but this is no problem).

These springs will allow an initial squat during standing start acceleraion before the main 600lb/in springs take over.



We also discussed some radical ideas to improve start line traction. It is great to talk to people from other racing disciplines as they come at the problem from different angles. If you copy the best in your chosen discipline then you may get close to them but you won't beat them.
 
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old-git said:
Day 29

Trundled down to Southampton to pick up my original GF doors from Nick at Carbon Weezel. We discussed a few issues with the CF doors he is making which we resolved and we agreed that the doors woudl be ready fo rme to pick up at the end of February.

Whilst there a certain doctor rang up to give them more grief. One of the reasons my doors are taking so long is this bugger keeps giving them more work with short deadlines. If I ever find out who he is..............
Click to expand...



How did I miss this post? :embarrest: :lol::lol::lol:
 
I don't know, but do you have any idea who he might be? Sounds like a right old PITA to me :)
 
Day 128 - Nothing done

Day 129. Been to see Graham this morning re modifying top rear wishbones in order to make them adjustable in situ. Also discussed disc lightening. He recommends I reduce front discs from 10mm to 8mm thick and the rears to 6mm. This will remove a total of 3kg!
 
8mm think front discs
how would they stand up if you were to use it on the road long term? would they not warp easily? i know if your just going to use it on the stirp then there only having to work hard once then have time to cool down before the next run.
 
They are 10mm as standard, so reducing to 8mm isn't compromising their stability too much.

If they did warp after some 'spirited' driving, they are around £10-15 each (plus the cost of the machine work) so no great hardship to replace.

I am not building the car to survive long term, so longevity of components isn't a priority.
 
old-git said:
Day 29

Trundled down to Southampton to pick up my original GF doors from Nick at Carbon Weezel. We discussed a few issues with the CF doors he is making which we resolved and we agreed that the doors woudl be ready fo rme to pick up at the end of February.

Whilst there a certain doctor rang up to give them more grief. One of the reasons my doors are taking so long is this bugger keeps giving them more work with short deadlines. If I ever find out who he is..............
Click to expand...

T9 man said:
How did I miss this post? :embarrest: :lol::lol::lol:
Click to expand...


old-git said:
I don't know, but do you have any idea who he might be? Sounds like a right old PITA to me :)
Click to expand...


Er no idea! :embarrest: Apparently he has got the boys started on another big project this morning - Who ever he is :lol:
 
Day 130.

In the middle of modifying a spring seat on the lathe when the power went off at 4.40pm! Whole of the village and surrounding area was blacked out until 3am.

Fortunately, we have a generator and a gas hob so no great problem, but it curtailed my fun for the evening.
 
I actually saw an immaculate Elan parked outside the misses' house the other day. Never seen one in real life before so just sayin'. They are tiny aren't they!
 
Yes :). Even next to an MX5 they are small. There is no extra padding, just exactly what is needed to make a quick, great handling car and nothing more.
 
They must be oodles of fun to drive, guess you have to know what you doing in one as powerfull as yours though.
 
Day 131

Reduced thickness of damper spring seats and spacers in order to fit higher poundage helper springs:



 
Day 132 - Brake discs drelivered to machine shop for thinning and wavy edging.

Day 133 - More machining on damper spring seats. 3 out of 4 done. Weight saving on each damper is 58gms with 48gms being unsprung. A total of 232gms, almost 1/4 kilo :)

Needed something soft to sit between the grub screw used to secure adjustable spring seat and the alluminium thread on the damper body. My neighbour has shotguns so he opened up a cartridge and the lead shot was a perfect fit!
 
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Day 134 - Nothing

Day 135 - In between supervising the erection of a new paddock fence and gates I managed to finish the mods to the damper spring holders.

I pulled out the carbon fibre bonnet in preparation for starting on the body, as soon as my doors are finished. Weighs 1.82kg. However, there is still a scoop to be fitted underneath and it needs painting so it will end up around 2kg.

 
What is it? If I squint there is a faint hint of Elan in the area in front of the bonnet :)
 
Day 136 and 137 - Nothing done. Family from USA over for a week so a little hectic to say the least!

Day 138 - Hoped for a call to say brake discs had been skimmed but no joy :-(

Managed to finish rod end spacers and assemble dampers.

 
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139 - nothing
140 - nothing
141 - nothing. However, had an excuse as building cover over stable doors.

 
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