|
Post by perthwa on Jan 4, 2018 12:41:39 GMT
I do appreciate that advice as well; I guess my comment was that there are many small tasks that can hopefully done out of the specified sequence (aka - manual), and not require re-doing later.
I am in a holding pattern at the moment as I can not do a lot until I get a motor to sit in the frame and that is dependent on some CAD drawings that I have been promised as this will impact on DOT approval. Likewise, I can not realistically do the Radiator hoses, the brake lines, without some clarity on the uprights, both front and rear. Also dependent on the Aussie supplier.
I read the manual almost everyday and try to do jobs that are closer to the front of the manual than the back. Likewise I research the complete range of posts from other builders to make sure that I have covered most of the bases.
Nothing that I have added to the frame at this stage is permanently fixed. I intend to eventually, strip the frame bare, clean it, paint it, then do the floor, fire walls etc as per the instructions. I hope that clarifies my randomness. Regards, Bruce.
|
|
|
Post by perthwa on Jan 5, 2018 10:48:37 GMT
Day 18 5th Jan 2018 Happy life Happy Wife. I eventually spent two and a half hours fixing the reticulation sprinklers. We are on a corner block and there are 17 of the to check, service and get working. Back to the car!. I decided that the positioning of the handbrake rear bracket could be attached to the handbrake. There was a post I was reading where someone could not get the pre-welded bracket to meet with the cables.. I don't have any pre-welded bits. I set up the rear brakes on the bench top, clamped all the moveable bits to the bench and tested the system. I had actually cut out the original unit from the Donor. (It was too flimsy and odd shaped so it made sense to replicate it in a piece of inch angle iron.) Then I moved the cable adjuster nuts to a medium position, re-adjusted the distances and it all worked well. I loosened the cable adjuster to make sure that I could remove the cables with it all in place. Worked a treat. Measured the gap. Made a spacer and joined the whole lot together with my trusty Stick welder. I will wait for the purchase of the seats before I attach. Then I added a support bracket to the Gear shifter bracket. Test fitted, welded it all up. I still need to do something about the console attachment, but that can wait til I have made one. Checked out the glueing of my steering wheel components. seems good. Then I re-assembled on the car and all seems well. Horn should be functional as pad displaces in when pressed. 5 hours in the shed to day.
|
|
|
Post by perthwa on Jan 6, 2018 6:41:45 GMT
Day 19 6 Jan 2018 Look what happens when you actually clean the shed up. The car fits. No more watching TV at night. Yippee! View from the back. Also put all the shifter and handbrake brackets in place with clamps for now. Got distracted looking through some of the stored family stuff that hasn't moved for 25 odd years. Then I went looking for the handbrake switch which I had left hooked in to the harness... Then placed some boards on top of the frame and laid out the wiring harness. Connected up what I have in place, put speedo etc approximately where they will go taped the Donor lights in place just so I could connect the harness to something. Now I will read the manual and see what I really need to connect. Question: has anyone ever bothered with a heater? I seem to remember that there was one? or does the radiator mean that this will be the least of my worries. Just looking for a bit of remorse on the 5 - 10 C mornings when I might be out and about. Now 11pm. Just took a couple of snaps to show my wiring task. Lay out is per current Donor layout; after I finish removing all of the airbag stuff and air con etc. I will then start to think about the 'new layout'. With a break for lunch and dinner, installed a security light for the neighbours, all up this was 9am through to 11pm. Effectively I will claim about a 8 hour day on the car. There was a couple of hours prepping before getting the car into the shed after the space was cleared. Day 20 7th Jan 2018 5 hours of wiring harness and about 5 more on the computer. Doubts about brakes, ABS, sensors etc.. Depends on what post you read. Just want good solid reliable brakes... Hopefully, a few trades will be back on deck tomorrow so I can talk to a few experts. Ditto for my engineer importer. Need to move ahead with this build.
|
|
|
Post by perthwa on Jan 9, 2018 11:55:36 GMT
Day 21 8th July 2018 Today was a calm down day. I hopped in the car and went looking at seats. Then I went to Southam Engineering. It was a good visit. I purchased a roll bar that he showed me. Then he told me he had a floor and some radiator pipes. We chatted about the uprights and I made copious notes. Then I came home happier and spent some time searching all of the Australian Design Rules ADR and the rules for Individual constructed vehicles about seats etc. 3 hours doing car things (and almost 10 hours on the computer) Day 22 9th Jan 2018 Today I bit the bullet... These are one of the narrowest, but also fit my but, seats that I can find. $399 each so still very cheap on the seat stakes! One issue is the rules for seats are vague in many ways. The headrest must be a minimum of 750mm from the standard reference point, BUT, I have also seen that this must be 800mm. I made up a standard reference circle of 20cm diameter, made the markings for the reference point and went back to the seat shop. I spent 25 minutes convincing myself that the seat just meets the 800mm parallel measurement as per the rules. It is 'bloody close' depending on how it is measure. I think i am good. Surprisingly, the shop manager had never seen anyone ever do the maths! I asked if people actually put these seats in and then go over the DOT pits? she said that most people just put then in the car!. Vehicle Standard (Australian Design Rule 3/03 – Seats and Seat Anchorages) 2006 At 51 cm wide there seems to be room for both across the cockpit space. When I placed the panels on the other day before I went shopping I measure 103 cm between the glass edges. It should be possible to push the seat closer to the side so that the top wing over hangs the body a bit. At least now I can get on with the other parallel build things. Seat mounting locations, then Seat Belt mounting. then back to fixing gearshift and handbrake. That is how all this started. Seat mounting: well at 105$ for the side mounting brackets each side and 170$ for the universal slider mounting bracket (each), you can guess the Tight Arse gene started to dominate the dopamine centre... I looked at the crap that they were selling for 170$ and I did mention to the store staff that as far as I can see, these sliders are not race compliant in many classes anyway. Back to the Donor. As far as I can see, the Donor sliders are very sturdy. They have the lap belt connector thing attached to the frame. Likewise, the pre-tensioner firing pin thing is also attached. This means that the structure has been made to the same standards as the attachment points for seat belts. I decided that the basic runner would be ideal. I have removed the seat. removed all of the body connector plates and the associated rivets and I ended up with two racks that are solid, double sided pin locking, and quite narrow. The holes are actually 28.5cm apart. The world standard for race seats is 29cm. I will be cutting out a 3mm piece of plate and using it to strengthen the vertical section of the frame slider. I will fill the hole and re-drill at 29cm centres. My plan is to flip the runners to opposite sides; this means that the internal adjusting bar will be activated in the same manner BUT will be operating on the outside of the slider frame. The seat will be suspended inside the runners rather than outside... This should account for the extra height of the seat already due to the larger section dimensions of the floor structure. I will add photos when I am convinced that it is ok. For savings of 370$ not having to buy two sets of seat support uprights and one set of slider runners it is worth a try. 4 Hours buying seats and hacking up the old runners. (about 8 more on the computer reading ADR!)
|
|
|
Post by perthwa on Jan 10, 2018 11:25:38 GMT
Day 22 10 Jan 2018 The welding on this side looks a bit dodgy but I have not completely finished cleaning up etc. I will do that after I attach the adjusters. Modified the Donor seat runners; added a side plate of 3mm steel, bolted and welded this to the runner frame. Then bolted these plates straight to the seats. Just need to modify how the adjusters work and get correct but longer bolts than were supplied. The seat has a very low height and is only 35 mm from the floor. This is exactly what I wanted as leg room would be a serious problem with the DOT person if I had gone with the correct seat side plates and the universal runners. Then I put it in the cockpit to make sure that it was still feasible. You can just see one of the runners in this snap. I will be happy if this is close to position as it will allow me to bolt to a plate welded to the crossmember. The first side took around 4 hours and the second about 2 hours as I decided to make a packer first then tack weld that and then add the long plate. I bolted the first one together before welding. The second side I welded first then drilled the holes. Much faster. Just have to make a decision about finishing the adjusters and then think about locating the passenger's seat. Sat in the seat in the car and very happy with the clearance between the legs and the steering wheel. Day 23 Jan 11 2018 Spent 5 hours completing the other set of runners for the passenger seat. I contemplated a fixed seat, then I looked at the passenger seat runners from the Donor. Decided that although they were different than the drivers side, because they were almost twice the height, I could hack them up and do the same as i had done yesterday for the driver's side. The frame is solid. The runners work fine and it will be more affordable. Decision made. I filled the low bits in the contoured frame with metal segments, welded them in place and added the 3mm plate to the seat side. I will drill all the holes and clean it all up tomorrow. The costs: 2 days of time, a few welding rods, 2 sets of seat runners from my Donor - zero $. The savings: $340 dollars for two universal runners and $210 for two sets of seat frames. Just need to make up two sets of supports to weld to the cross members to actually bolt the seats to. Now looking at 5 point harnesses so that I can install plates for the bolts. Then install seats, then back to handbrake and shifter.
|
|
|
Post by perthwa on Jan 13, 2018 7:59:56 GMT
Day 25 Jan 13 Saturday 2018
Slow day but fruitful! Little Athletics back on after Christmas break. I am set-up man at 5 am start putting out equipment. Help arrives at 6.30am competition starts 7.45am Home for breakfast 8am. 37 C today so not most pleasant working environment. p.s. have not had any rain during the build..
Consulted Kym Carter at his workshop today; Runs KITBITS and has 130 old Catterham, westfield, MEV builds to his name and almost 20 Cobra builds so I see him as a good resource.
He through a spanner in the works by telling me how frustrating the Duratech engine could be with its electronics and the whole control ECU thing... He reckons I might be able to get it running but it is something I didn't want to really here! Unfortunately his options for a shite electrics was an after market throttle body and OMEX controller... $$$. Apparently, the Ford Security is the major stumbling block. He also said that current emissions standards will be required and that the issue is getting 4 meters of exhaust stuff to function the same in a convoluted 1.5 metres of 'trombone' like set-up that I will need to run if the emissions are to be fulfilled. I love a challenge!
I asked questions about the body and he told me that he would be surprised if the Sonic body fitted the prototype body. This was the body that Southam Engineering constructed to meet torsion testing and to get compliance etc in Western Australia / Australia and apparently they then sent the design changes back to RTR for future Aussie compliance and construction. So NOW I know the history of my frame. He also said that there would be NO tabs for attaching anything and the engine mounts were never done and the engine bay would require changing etc... All of the things that I had deduced since picking up the bits 25 days ago.
He also told me that the build was the journey, the problem solving was the cathartic bit and the end product more of a letdown than the END goal. I was hopping that the build was just the hack work and that the driving was the end goal. He said that experience tells him that most people do 6000ks year 1, 3000ks year 2 and special occasions after that. I am adamant that regardless how practical this vehicle is that it will be my go to vehicle... Well, there is the challenge! 150 builds and wisdom and my 0.1 builds and zero wisdom...
I asked him about the uprights and I showed him one from the front that I took along to the meeting. He told me that he hadn't worked for Southham Engineering for 3 years but remembers writing on this particular Rally design uprights the letters 'US' as one of the bolt holes was never ever drilled correctly. The very part that I was holding up in front of him! It will need Helicoil insert to repair, but he also said that Helicoiling all of the Aluminium holes in the Rotor support would be a smart alternative due to loads. another challenge.
Also told me that Focus Callipers are just about non repairable if they start leaking. Luckily, my Donors look fine. Also mentions that getting the front drive bearings etc out without damage is a huge challenge for many builders. Mainly due to high yield force required. Also there were comments about the supply of ball joints that were not interference fit and how that presented a number of issues... Did I say that this meeting was fruitful? Told him I had mounted the battery in the front and he mentioned that losses in the cables may be an issue... I plan to use a good diameter cable to reduce this issue... He also told me that the Crank Angle sensor was very sensitive and give it some respect..
Nothing done physically on the car...
|
|
|
Post by kiwicanfly on Jan 13, 2018 9:01:17 GMT
I asked him about the uprights and I showed him one from the front that I took along to the meeting. He told me that he hadn't worked for Southham Engineering for 3 years but remembers writing on this particular Rally design uprights the letters 'US' as one of the bolt holes was never ever drilled correctly. The very part that I was holding up in front of him! It will need Helicoil insert to repair, Am I interpreting this correctly? Southam sold you uprights that had been declared unsafe?
|
|
|
Post by perthwa on Jan 13, 2018 14:07:42 GMT
One of the uprights supplied was identified by a worker as needing some correcting before being satisfactory to be used in an actual vehicle. I suspect that it was more like the owner did not know that the piece had one threaded hole that was not vertical and would not be serviceable as supplied even though the upright had been used to pass the torsion testing. Is that politically correct enough. I will leave it to that until after I have had a chance to chat to the supplier about the part. I do not think he was aware. this photo of another build shows a STRONGER upright. If only ever driving on road, apparently un-reinforced is ok.
|
|
|
Post by perthwa on Jan 14, 2018 6:30:11 GMT
Day 26 Jan 14 2018 Son came for a visit... we decided that after yesterdays chat that I should get the engine in the frame and get it running. Got the hacksaw out and cut the frame. dropped the engine in the hole. The next couple of photos show the structural members that I had to remove to get it to at least fit in the frame. I have not done any measurements to see if it is too high or low or left or right etc. I am aware that the shaft is not fully inserted here. From the side it looks like this. And from the top it looks like this. The white bit between the frame and the intake runners is a piece of foam just to keep the runners off of the frame. Expecting a thunderstorm this afternoon.. so I have called it a day. Only 2 hours.
|
|
|
Post by perthwa on Jan 15, 2018 14:39:50 GMT
Day 27 - 15th Jan
Rain eventually came - the remains of a cyclone from 2000ks away. around 100mm spread across the day.
Made up some plastic pipe pretend bushes for the rear uprights, in the absence of the real ones, so that I could get a feel for where the engine positioning should be. Got the spirit level out and have levelled the car; not that I have any idea how the engine should really sit. I guess if i put in something to support the engine mounts on, then the engine should sit reasonably well.
I have mixed messages about how I determine the position as someone said to make sure the axles and uprights (aka suspension) was loaded before working out where the mounting should be, whilst others are of the opinion that just get the bottom arms level and centralise the drive shafts in the centre of the bearing housing holes.
At the moment my engine is actually touching the frame and the gearbox is supported by a block of wood. Either way I figure I may have to either re-route the bottom cross member a bit or at least take a section out for clearance. I will think about that tomorrow.
I also have a slight issue that the rear shock mounts do not coincide vertically with each other (i.e. the shock is not in a vertical plane) I am aware that it will obviously lean in toward the car but I was convinced that it needs to be moving up and down in perpendicular to the road. Likewise, the rubber boot from the drive shaft may also be a bit close to the shock. I will look through a few blog pictures to see how i compare.
3 hours doing little tasks in the shed and making some decisions... Have decided that I will extend the engine loom connector to the front of the vehicle. This will only be about 15 wires and as they are all standard thickness it will be a simple task of cutting and splicing in 3 metres of length. That should allow the rest of the harnesses to remain in approximate original locations. Then just need to run some cables as previously discussed and connect 15 earth wires.
now agonising over a MIG or a TIG or a Multi welder... and AC/DC or DC or ?
Rain appears to have stopped albeit after almost 12 hours continuous.
|
|
|
Post by perthwa on Jan 16, 2018 23:07:01 GMT
Day 28 - 16th Jan Started extending the engine electrical connector harness. I measured a reasonable pathway to where I plan to hold the fuse box and the power distribution box and it was 2.3 metres. I cut into the harness about 10 cm away from the connector and then carefully sliced in the extra length of wire for each of the 24 wires. doing my best to recycle some unused wires and also match the wire dimensions. Aware that the additional length may add some extra resistance but it should not be too much of an increase and I hope that most of the components are not too sensitive to a resistance increase. I soldered the new lengths in after dividing into two sections and then platting and then twisting the wire ends together; hopefully, there should be strong and permanent electrical contact. Was time consuming and have to now purchase some thicker wire to complete the last 8 wires. This job was done whilst sitting next to the engine bay and I was also contemplating the next stage in the engine mounting section of my task list. Have spent a large amount of time now reading all of the relevant posts... (3 hours cutting, slicing and soldering) running total 162 hours. not including 3 or 4 hours a day playing (aka researching) on the internet!
|
|
|
Post by perthwa on Jan 17, 2018 11:10:25 GMT
Day 29 - 17th Jan Took a drive to get some 10A wire to complete the moving of the engine compartment harness connector. Sliced in the last 8 wires. Now the harness fits the connector in the (Under bonnet) fuse and power distribution box. Now it is 2.3 metres longer and should be ok. Here is it connected to the box where the box used to be; i.e. under the hood. This is the other end where the engine now is. The NEW wires are not colour coded BUT i have left enough either end to make sure that they are all joined. I made sure I cut one and added the new bit soldered it and taped up the join before I cut the next wire. Happy that all is correctly done. Obviously, I will wrap this later and route it through the frame and add some clips as required. Battery extensions next and then connect up the earthing wires. Then I can test where I am at with respect to getting the Duratech to appreciate its new engine bay. i.e. can I get the security system to talk to me as this apparently is an issue. 2 hours today.
|
|
|
Post by perthwa on Jan 18, 2018 12:29:07 GMT
Day 30 - 18th Jan 2018 Ran the new cable up the side of the frame. shifted my support boards and now looking at where the fuse boxes are going to be placed. I am not sure if the one that was placed inside the cabin was due to a lack of room under the bonnet or whether it was just better placed there. I will assume that it was a bit more protected in the cabin so I may just pop it in the passenger footwell. Can anyone tell me how much moisture, rubbish etc gets inside the sonic bonnet with normal road use. I need to know how well to protect the fuse box; it does have the original plastic covers but should I add a bit more protection? Now I am placing the electrical bits near where they will be connected so I can place the earth connectors. very lazy 1 hour of doing something and another hour looking at the height of the engine as currently some of it is resting on the frame. There appears to be a need to section the crossmember by about 10mm but that will depend on whether I have got the engine at the correct height. I spent a bit of time trying to get the drive shafts horizontal and the splined shafts sitting in the middle of the uprights. The fact that I am missing the two top connecting rods to the uprights means that I am just really guessing. Time I sent the importer another email wrt the missing parts. Plenty to do whist waiting... back to the electrics.
|
|
|
Post by perthwa on Jan 20, 2018 11:26:25 GMT
Days 31 and 32 some limited progress. A couple of days contemplating the fitting of the engine and the body panels. The wiring was to blame; as I needed to see how much loom room I actually had and how much room for the water pipes. Easy to get distracted so I added the dash cowling, the grill and the bonnet. Then added the engine cover and the rear panel. Nothing bolted , just looking to see.
The engine must not be down enough as there is about a 3cm vertical gap between the side panels and parts of the engine cover... Pending proper fitment of engine so hopefully resolvable.
The side panels required a few more holes and a bit of fettling so body would be closer to allowing grill to fit neat. Close, but I think I will be adding some aluminium backing plates to the grill and side panels so I can add rivnuts so it is easier to remove etc. Then I can refit and add a couple of body tabs to allow fixing for a more permanent positioning.
Also made a decision that I will make a bonnet pivot mechanism that pivots forward. Have not researched much of what others have done, but I have seen a few bonnet brackets being used. My idea is to make the very front part of the bonnet appear to be square and not raked back along the line of the join between the bonnet and the side panel. I can then match that with a corresponding parallel section fixed to the side panel. This should allow me to run a bolt through from the bonnet into the side panel that will allow the bonnet to be fixed but pivot. I will post a picture of my mockup as soon as that is finished.
2 hours sitting and looking and contemplating; lucky my son came and encouraged me to grind away and make a few new holes in the side panels.
|
|
|
Post by perthwa on Jan 21, 2018 9:05:02 GMT
Day 33 Jan 21 2018 A quick 6 hours in the shed. Made up Aluminium plates to go inside the radiator grill to spread the load of the bolts; glued these in and will use them to bolt through to the side pods. Templated in cardboard and then made up two Aluminium pieces out of 3mm angle for the side pod inserts. Decided that this would give me a bit more strength to attach my bonnet rotating mechanism. Also glued these in place. Then I made up the first attempt of the bonnet attachment brackets. These are designed to give me a parallel section that I can match under the front lip of the bonnet. This will allow a bolt to pass through at the centre of a circle that will allow the bonnet to tip forward rotating about the bolt. Here is one side of the aluminium panel still drying on the grill section. Here is the Aluminium Angle that I glued in place to receive the bolts from the grill section and then support the rotating bonnet. Here is the very rough bracket out of 3 mm steel. This will be fixed to the Al angle that I just glued to the side pod. I will fill in the triangular section with metal and clean up the cuts etc when I get closer to mounting the bonnet.This is just an in-principle test that the concept should work. It just allows me to have a perpendicular section to mount the bonnet so that it can rotate forward without binding on the angular parts of the side pods... I chose the 3mm steel as I figure that the whole front end of the bonnet has the maximum air pressure applied to it so it should be reasonably sturdy. I wanted to make sure that the rotating bolt mechanism doesn't become the we link in the structure. This should not be visible from the front of the car apart from the bolt passing across the gap between the bonnet and the side pod. I do expect to have to trim just a little from the top of the grill to allow a smooth rotation.
|
|