Western Aust. Sonic 7 Diary

[perthwa]

updated phots attempt two..


The bonnet catch.. Reused the Focus. so bonnet will open forward. Does require double catching mechanism and this works. Made a u shaped pin and seems to work well.



The bolted a metal support under the lip of the hood. and attached the mechanism... please note the activator is a crude piece of metal that just fitted.. I will clean it up. Double catch works well.


then I made up another bracket to fit behind the first row of the grill. This supports my U shaped catch. This image shows bonnet in place with catch partially locked.



Here is a top view looking at the bar I added behind the first louvre in the grill. You can also see the bracket in place for the rotisserie. This will nicely bolt to the aluminium angle that I glued to the side pods. Since then I have also added rivnuts the to face sides so that the grill is easier to attach. I will eventually weld the U shaped bolt to the cross beam as the Multi grips will get in the way of my radiator.



Here is the rivnuts for the grill panel


Then I attached the dashboard panel and rivnuted it to the frame.



and also under the bottom lip of the dashboard there are two more rinvuts. i.e. in the cabin...


This image shows the car (a loose term - I hear you say!) sitting on the stands and bricks just so I could test fit all of the body panels.


The additional stuff on the floor belongs to the new acquisition...

Engine stand also came with the locost...

This photo shows the left hand side engine mount in place. just had to add a bit of metal to one of the tabs and cut a little fibre glass...





This image shows the right hand side engine mount. It also shows the additional bracing that I added so I could insert threaded crush tubes for the roll cage support bracket. Welding yet to be cleaned up... The boards are just so I can roll around on the floor as I was doing rivnutting under the dash.. and also to stop some welding flash onto my seats as I was too lazy to remove them...



You can also see where I had to replace the diagonal engine bay bracing because it clashed with the pulley drive on the front of the engine. I re-designed it and hopefully it will get passed for structural integrity.

Engine mount was my own concoction, re-used a front wheel wishbone bush. The top section was some box channel and the holes fit the engine block bolts. So it is rubber bushed, cheap, recycled more of the donor car and clears the fibre class cover... mostly! I will probably box in the end plates... There are crush tubes welded in place.



This is the view from the other side of the roll bar. I should have washers on there but this was just test fit..




The seat brackets were also welded in a while ago. Here are the happy snaps to show that. Like most of my projects.. perhaps over kill. This is the same 50 by 25mm box that was used for frame. Nuts already welded inside... Seats bolt in place using original (8 of) rivet holes that were used to attach the Focus seat runners that I have recycled .





and last for now is the role bar attachment for the upper seat belt tab.


Here is a clearer photo of the upper seat belt bracket on the roll bar.

[perthwa]

Back in the shed... Slow progress lately.. been renovating some apartments for my recently widowed mother-in-law. 
Also juggling time between the Locost 7 making a very secure steering rack... done.
Put body panels on the Sonic a few months ago with the plan to attach them securely... That is still to happen.. Although I have attached with rivnuts and bolts the front grill to the side pods... and the rear panel to the side pods. now just playing around with front bonnet. 

Mark one version of my hood hinges were good but the pointy bit at the dashboard and foul the body as the hinge pivots up. Oddly enough, I went back to a you tube animation that I copied the design from and it fouled in the animation... But I never analysed it that closely.



Mark two version will probably be located somewhere near the hot air escape shoot in front of the dashboard.
The issue is getting to focal point of the rotation to be at the sharp point of the hood. I will make one up out of wood and see if the concept works.. I know why others have just forward pivoted the hood...  I will update soon.

[kiwicanfly]

Have you seen the ANZAC Hinge?

Works beautifully on a Rocket, should would on a Sonic with some tweaks.

[perthwa]

not sure about the Anzac Hinge but I saw a KIWI one...


am I missing something?

[kiwicanfly]

Yup thats the one.

I became the ANZAC when a chap in OZ started making them as he had a waterjet company.

TBH I think it is dead from him as he sold his Rocket and never sold any hinges.

I should really see if he wants to continue as I was quite proud of that wee beasty.

[perthwa]

ok. that explains a lot. This looks like a very nice outfit...

I just looked at the Mk 2 focus boot hinge again...The one i removed two years ago... and I am now working on version 3 , (albeit a thinking version) . The bent arm bit of the hinge will allow the pivot to be right at the apex of the pointy bit of the hood and that is the issue. It is the pivot of the pointy bit that either needs a complex up and out action or it must be at the actual pivot point... I am looking now at the later... It will mean that we will see just the very end of the pivot point but it will be between the bonnet and the dash cowling so not to visible.

Provided I can get it mounted to something on the fibre glass hood then it should be ok... I was just looking at some steel rod to run between the two sides to stiffen the hood a little and also support the two brackets.. Possible a bit of 1/8 rod curved in the shape of the hood, attached to the hinge with a couple of bolts and then fibreglassed in will do the trick... I will ponder this overnight ..

Happy snaps to follow tomorrow evening...

[perthwa]

Jan 16, 2019 14:51:23 GMT daydreamer said:

In my experience, all the panels are "keyed" from one location on the chassis. Get this right and it is a lot easier to line them up.

The key point to align the panels and chassis is the top of the rear bulkhead.  Once the rear bulkhead is fitted to the chassis, the "side pods engine cover support lips" must line up with the rear bulkhead folded top. The side pod once stretched over the chassis will need pulling up to reach this height and then fixing along the internal passenger cell to hold it in place.


To get to this point you have to "stretch" the side pod over the chassis, this is the step that causes most anguish. The side pods will likely need some trimming of the passenger cell vertical surface to fit into the passenger cell.  The height of the sidepod at the front of the passenger cell is set by making it level with the chassis and then the dash panel height can be aligned to the side pods. but before you set the height of the dash panel you have to alight the dash panel to the bonnet and the bonnet has to align to the front of the side pods.  

step 1
align side pods to chassis rear bulk head and fix with one fixing in each side pod at rear.

step 2 
fit front grill to side pods at front and rear panel at rear 4 temp fixings in each panel ( 2 each side )

step 3
support side pods from underneath so they are in place and pressed against chassis underside.

step 4
place bonnet in place, pulling side pods together to support bonnet.

step 5 
align dash panel to bonnet and set height so that side pods are level with chassis.  In the final fit the side pods are bolted to the dash panel. You will probably need to trim the dash panel to go around the chassis member supporting the steering wheel.  don't worry if , when your done the dash panel rain drain surface is short of the front bulkhead, extend with an alu panel, they are all like that.


The only real trick in this is mastering the technique of getting the side pods on and off the chassis.  They go on from the top and get stretched out till they "ping" around the bottom of the chassis.  When you first offer them up the part that goes into the passenger cell will probably extend too far forward and need to be trimmed.  When that part can be put into the passenger cell then the pod is ready to be pulled "out and down" to get it fitted under the chassis.  The front bonnet support lips and rain gullies may also need trimming to fit around the chassis where they interfere.


If you can understand this explanation then you can also probably explain the rules of cricket.  I'm happy to talk you through it in a skype call or similar.


Just actually read this post .  I appreciate the effort... 
I will apply the concept to resolve my body fitment issues.  The detail in the 'manual' are brief at best...
Regards,

[perthwa]

Worked on the bonnet hinges. Cut down the Focus hinge and trimmed the dash unit a bit.  This allowed me to place the hinge at the endpoint of the Sonic bonnet near the wind screen. 

Still need to attach this to the bonnet and I will join the two sides with some 1/8 inch rod or similar then I will fibreglass the rod and side plates to the bonnet.

looks a bit crappy at the moment but when side pods are fitted better the gaps will diminish. so here's hoping. 
I also now need to fix the bottom to a frame but that should be reasonably easy.



now i can... 

I will follow this up with a view from the front of the hood...

[perthwa]

Fuel tank; visited a friend who is building a Factory Five 818. He decided not to use the supplied fuel tank. So on his suggestion I took it home to see how close it was to fitting where my Wood Aided Design version was currently sitting. Ended up cutting about 25 cm off the length and voila!.



Now must get the tank re-sealed by some nice welding, maybe a professional.... Add a filler pipe. Cut out and fit the Focus fuel pump and all associated bits.



Then I have to cut up some Aluminium to make up a sealed box for the fumes!  Weld in the two new cross members that I added for support. Add half a dozen rivnuts. Design a top for the box for access that can bee screwed down with a gasket or something. 



I am probably going to cut the big hole to the right of the oval hole.  Pretty sure this is for a Subaru... but as I have a focus pump it will be cheaper to make a cover for the oval hole and or add a breather pipe as required...and make my own 14 cm round focus hole...




I added a piece of Aluminium for the fire wall. This will also form the back of my sealed box.


should be enough room... 






It is always interesting when you design something and then see how it might work.  I realised that if I made the fuel tank any larger then I could not easily access the seatbelt bolts, specifically to tighten them up.. So I opted for a bit smaller so I have some access.  Ditto for relatively easy removal of the tank without taking the entire interior apart.  Should hold about 43 litres.  

And yes I do realise it was designed for a US left hand drive car and now I have even more mass on the drivers side But I have just lost 8 kg and wanting 10 more to vaporise; So it wont make any difference... well sort of...

[buildityourself]

Interesting, I'd like to do an 818 in the future. What did you think of the kit and quality?

[perthwa]

I have only look briefly at his build.  The kit looks pretty good. I will ask a few questions and get back to you about the Factory Five.


Today I made up most of my fuel tank containment compartment.. Need a few rivnuts, a few internal supports to hold the fuel tank in place.  As per my post yesterday... the seat runner now does not go all the way back... still plenty of movement for most people.   Tomorrow i work on the endplates and the access compartments.  Some of that will depend on the rivnut locations to the rear bulkhead and what I do about the fuel pump etc.  At this stage I am planning on alll pipes etc running out the passenger end of the tank.

I will make up a chute for the filler pipe and the fuel, breather lines and attach that to my box. Hopefully the 5cm space above the fuel tank will be enough for all of the pipes etc...and electrical connectors... I did a rough measure.

Oh, I am yet to weld in the cross-members...

[perthwa]

Having a few issues with my store of photos... now trying it via a facebook build page... 


Seems to work.... The old site was my Father-in-Law's business page but we let the site lapse after his passing... Double Doh!

[perthwa]

Front Lifting Bonnet completed.




I used part of the original Ford Focus hinges, added a curved section of Aluminium to strengthen the Fibreglass and a little metal triangle that I welded to the hinge section. Then I joined all three sections together with some rivets. Now i have a double locking, (so hopefully DOT compliant) front lifting Sonic bonnet. Then I knocked up a retaining bar to hold it open. and two brackets to hold that in place. Just need to make a decision about replacing rivets with bolts. and I actually will add a couple more rivets when I can be bothered. This allowed me to use even more of the donor car; the hinges and the bonnet opening, locking mechanism.. I will not be using the key mechanism as I had to reverse the lock to get the mechanism to fit. so key bit was sacrificed.
The only issue was really the cutting of the dashboard facia panel in the edge where the windscreen glass will be going. but it is only a cm or so...


Side view - right hand side



Actual test to see it worked.


My triangle of 3mm steel attached (welded) to the hinge joint. Only two tacks this side but full length weld on the other side.  I slightly rolled the curved edge to increase strength but ended up cutting it off mostly as it fouled the cowling section...



The other side and you can see the 5 mm flat bar that I welded to the frame.  Also welded in two bolts to make fixing easier.


a close up of the hinge and the panels.



The same side but from cabin type view.. You can see how it just impacts the windscreen channel... but too bad.


 front view with all closed and locked in position. excuse the dust build up on the vent slats... and the gelcoat chips.
I actually added an extra 1mm washer behind the top two spacers that I used to widen the bonnet opening. so overall gap is about 5 mm each side.

Here is the hood stay! at the front end of the car.



And here is the rear catch. I have not actually completed this bit yet. 
Needs cleaning up and painting and attaching to the Aluminium under-bonnet plate.
 



dust is Aluminium from a couple of trims I had to make in-situ...

[perthwa]

Engine cover now tilts.



Used some Aluminium shelving structure to fix onto the piano hinge and the glued and rivets to join all the bits together.



Still yet to make up a support strut.



here it is shut..



Now shortage of rivets... The same number pretty much holds the hinge to the aluminium supports as well.

here is a side view. 



Gaps are reasonable.

I also glue the bonnet and re riveted that and added a fourth rivet because I could.  Happy with the end result.



Here is a view from the other side.



This gap will close up a bit when I add a roll bar attachment to each side.  A simple tab that bolts through to the Aluminium backing plate.
 More to come... Back to actually fitting and securing the rest of the bodywork...

[perthwa]

Hung some wing mirrors...Why not!

T'was in the shed looking for the rear boot release mechanism from the Focus.. found that and then also found the wing mirrors.  I had made up support brackets for them months ago and decided that I should test fit.  
Sat them on a table next to the car. Sat in drivers seat and had a good guess at where they should go. 

drilled some holes, trimmed a few wires and bolted them in.  I made up a 10 x 10 cm 3mm Aluminium plate for the underneath side. I also cut out some rubber material to use as a sandwich on either side of the Fibreglass. 



Then just joined all the bits and bolted them in. The fibreglass itch is just a bonus as to get to the hard to reach bolts it was a bit of a squeeze.  And yes I could have just waited till the panels were off... but then I would have to re-fit to see what I could see behind me...



The drivers side.


Driver's side from front... and yes there are a few too many colours happening here... will look smoother when nice and black.  The support bracket is covered in hammered finish grey... so it will look nicer when one colour.

here is a view with both sides in place.  


and the left side in place. 



And from the side so we can see the side light... needs a little clean up of the lens cover.

Tick. DOT approved mirrors in place. some wiring to go... and yes electric mirrors may work... why? because I promised myself to use as much Donor car bits as possible...