Stu & Mikey's Sonic7 1.6 Build Thread

[buildityourself]

Some intitial kit progress this half term week. We started off by de-greasing and painting the chassis with undercoat. 





This was somewhat limited due to paint fumes, drying times, and morale as is a bit like painting the Forth road bridge.

link for reference. Forth Road Bridge Painting

To break up the coats of paint, on days without rain we did some other tasks in between.

We marked out and cut out the floor







Then found that it didn't really sit flat on the chassis due to the welds, so flattened back a bit, these freshly painted bits  for a better fit.



Later marked out and drilled the floor for pop rivets.











I understand that we should leave drilling the outer row of holes as the body is riveted on also with these holes.

So my question is how to we stop the floor caving in when up the right way and forget its not yet fully secured and climb in and out until the body is on?

[kiwicanfly]

Feb 16, 2018 21:29:57 GMT buildityourself said:

Then found that it didn't really sit flat on the chassis due to the welds, so flattened back a bit, these freshly painted bits  for a better fit.

Hate to say this but under, almost, no circumstances should you flatten welds for cosmetic reasons unless the weld itself is non structural. 

Feb 16, 2018 21:29:57 GMT buildityourself said:

So my question is how to we stop the floor caving in when up the right way and forget its not yet fully secured and climb in and out until the body is on?

You could put in a few holes and tap them m4, just enough to give enough support. Then when you rivet you're not having to drill rivets out. Alternatively, and even better, you could use clico's which are reusable rivets and are great for holding panels in place whilst you are tweaking to size.

[petes]

CT1 from a plumbers merchant Stu

[mawdo81]

Or add some walker boards or similar just placed over the chassis rails from above.

[buildityourself]

While deciding what to do about the flattened chassis welds, been focused on some other areas.

Managed to get a few of the extra parts required from a return trip to the scrap yard. Unfortunately the previous 77k mile Mondeo with the gear stick had been crushed :-(. Luckily they had another one with 100k on with the rare required gear stick.



This was dismantled for an overhaul.



The bracket is the most over engineered part I have seen (compared to the plastic focus one).

Decided to weigh it as it was heavy.



Almost 1KG, 2.2lb in old/usa figures. As this only cost me £10 I decided to see if I could add lightness to it.



Looks like swiss cheese now and only 140grams saved but its still rock solid. Given than the floor is 2mm alloy to support a person climbing in and out, I'm sure this could be fabricated in alloy to save about 50% if wanted.

Also got a pair of focus rear carriers to go with the new calipers as our focus only had drums :-(

These looked ok in the scrap yard but after removing the brake dust they were more rusted than first thought.



After 2 days dipping in the electrolysis they have come up really good.



After being inspired by snowbird1 I rescued the threaded part of the focus fuel tank. This is to try and mount to the new tank to allow the fuel level/sender to be able to be removed easily in case of future problems.



Also decided to drill out the captive threaded focus seat nuts. 




Do you think I can use these to create captive seat belt nuts ok for IVA? Im not sure if the bolts are large enough diameter for belts? Would they have to be welded in or would poprivets or bolts be ok? I want these as I won't have access to the nuts when fitting the belts.

Still having a few issues with paint adherence. The latest black will just scrap off with a finger nail. I think this is now due to the air temperature being too low as some later attempts when mild have been more acceptable. Still going to try another brand though.



Got the welds checked out by a local professional welding and fabrication company. While they said they were probably still ok, to be on the safe/cautious side we agreed it was best to redo them to be certain as they wont be visible to check. 



This was a very expensive lesson, but thanks to kiwicanfly for pointing out our error as now we can forget about it and move on knowing its all good now and the floor will still fit nicely too. This is one of the benefits of sharing experiences with the forum as amateurs can get feedback and support. 

Also half the focus cost has now be recovered in sold parts. (this might be negated by the shell removal charge though) :-(

[buildityourself]

Getting there coat by coat...



Its finally done...

[familyguy]

Mar 29, 2018 19:54:44 GMT buildityourself said:

Also half the focus cost has now be recovered in sold parts. (this might be negated by the shell removal charge though) :-(

Grind off any ID markings and get a scrap man to take it. You might need to chop it up a bit though.

[buildityourself]

Yep, ID's already removed. Whole shell arranged for collection, no chopping up required. :-)

[drbrian]

I learnt a lot while putting together my sonic, ping me at my email [e-mail] if you need any tips on saving time. I also have a pretty decent record of parts. I did not take a lot of pictures as I was busy getting married and working, so if you want any pictures of something let me know and I will post it for everyone. One thing that I did different than everyone was buy adjustable padded seats that make the car super comfortable.
Thanks
Brian

[buildityourself]

Quick update on progress.

Started dismantling the drive shafts ready for refurbishment.





First sign of the final colour on the brake caliper carriers.



Finally disposed of the donor Focus shell. Did n't get any money for it, but it didn't cost anything to get it picked up either.

[buildityourself]

Today we cut the front bulkhead panel ready to fit.



A bit blurred photo showing the holes touched up with primer.




Found a good use for the un-saleable Focus seat base, a comfy workshop seat.

[drbrian]

make the front bulk head removal by tapping holes in the frame you will need it later when you have to cut the steering column hole, buy this for the sterring column 720-1651. And this
what engine you have?
If you have the zetc 2.0 you will need a different shifter go to jegs and look up 890-841400 cables they made it so much easier to connect up the shifter. let me know

[buildityourself]

drbrian I'm not sure what you are referring to for the column support. Have you got a link with a pic? Using a 1.6 engine, so normal doesn't apply

[drbrian]

I did have a pic on my old phone that was stolen.
Use this to make a clean hold in the front bulkhead for the steering column.
www.jegs.com/i/Mr-Gasket/720/1651/10002/-1

PS how old are you? Are you the guy with the cap on in the pictures.

[buildityourself]

Update from the last few weeks and today. 

The garage was getting hard to work in as the worktop was covered in new or old parts or items ejected from the house! So a tidy up was required to help get the build started.



Cleaned up the grease and corrosion on the IB5 gearbox and painted with heat resistant paint.





Above was done by dad as too boring for "kevin the teenager" ;-).

We both tackled starting making the hardline brake pipes.

First we made a jig to straighten the coiled cunifer pipe.



Then used a tool to flare the ends of the pipe. Took a couple of goes to follow the instructions correctly!



Have decided to to go away from the build manual and route the clutch and rear brake pipes down separate sides of the car. This required more drilling and fixings but hopefully the reason will become clearer later.









Finished up the first driveshaft refurb and started on the other.