347 replies to this topic

[evil ewok]

small update, removable engine mounts are not complete. started on the fun task of the wiring loom now and need to sort out the rear lower stabilising bar.
with the new subframe mounts being the exact size of the engine mount itself, it seems to of eliminated pretty much all the movement in the mounts.

anyway heres some pics:








also fitted the new exhaust manifold studs and nuts. if i remember rightly i think they are aerospace style nuts (with slits at the top)


put the engine back in, manifold on and hooked up the engine loom to see which connectors are no longer required.


sorry about the pics, dont have a camera at uni and phone camera is rubbish

cheers

[evil ewok]

haven't really got much done on the project lately, to be honest ive lost the motivation with it at the moment.
chopped the seat mount C section rails back out as wasn't happy with them, chopped out the bottom dash rail as will be having one on the roll cage, so it was just excess weight, the head lining rail mount panels have been chopped out to save an extra 5 grammes and make it easier to integrate the cage into the shell and add some strength into the shell as the roofs been chopped out. also made up some spreader plates for roll cage mount bolts to go on the outside. made up some swaged plates for integrating cage to A pillars, roof etc.

also got hold of another vvc exhaust cam so now have a pair to try and get a little more power.

made up a mount for the gear lever and linkage to lift it 7" to where i wanted it in the cockpit, its still got a little bit of flex, but hopefully that will go once its all welded into the shell


cut out the angled side of the turbo box and built up the bulkhead box section again from part that my brother cut out for his turbo box.





fairly happy with how it turned out

then cut some nice holes in the bulkhead and welded some roll cage tube in them


put a 3mm plate over it on the inside which the main cage will be linked to, to strengthen the bulkhead, suspension and top subby mount points.

tube notcher arrived today to start making bars to add to the cage but may not get a chance to use until next visit home as may be heading back to uni tomorrow. hopefully my welder will be up to the job for the cage.....my main concern should probably be my abilities hahaha

there may be a couple of little bits i've forgotten but in that case they can't be too important.

cheers

[freemini]

Looks great mate love the work your putting in to it.

[evil ewok]

few little updates.

sand blasted my nissan pulsar plenum at uni, got some silicon hose for free from the technician and built it up.








also picked this up from Mark Smith, the miglia driver, at the beginning of the week



megasquirt is connected to the engine now and got it to fire up yesterday, but its rougher than a badgers arse. will only start with opening up the throttle, sounds like the ignition timing is way off and by the state of the plugs is very rich. although the the black plugs may be due to ignition timing if its not burning right.

alot of work ahead to get it running but may take a while as never worked on a fuel injection engine before, let alone mapping one so any help would be greatly appreciated haha

[evil ewok]

a few bits that have happened recently:

got some free new avon slicks, a set of hoosier slicks and 2 avon wets from uni. now i just need some 13" wheels to fit them on haha


back home for summer so done a few things.
got the subby back on and sat the front on. think i've decided for definite that i dont like the look of an extended front so going to make the install as compact as possible and shorten the +90


been working on the door bar design and think i've sorted it. been looking through a lot of miglia pics to get ideas. may not weld it and just leave the gaffa tape, sure it more than strong enough...

the fun part will be trying to remember the angles of notches and mirroring it on the other side

sat the bucket seats in and not sure if i'll be having a passenger seat now, its rather tight

that's with the passenger seat on the floor for clearance round the revolutions head piece

may just use a childs folding chair haha

got hold of a kubota mini excavator alternator and regulator off a mini miglia

need to sort out a new pulley to align with the engine but otherwise fits in well






also found out how to use the washing line...


waiting on a few bits of water jetting to arrive as well....

[evil ewok]

got cds delivered on friday so got some more cage cut, notched and gaffa taped in place

drivers door bars and dash bar in


rear cross


roof bars

[benjy_18]

cage is looking awesome! can i ask where your getting your CDS from and also which tube notcher you have?

keep going (Y)

Ben

[evil ewok]

cheers mate.

the cds came from Hub Le bas, was around £7.50/m for 1 1/2" and £6ish for 1 1/14", was the cheapest prices i found.

http://www.hublebas.co.uk/

i'm using this tube notcher:

http://www.frost.co....ng-notcher.html

for £66 i cant complain, only problem is drill batteries keep dying after a few cuts so constantly having to swap and use one whilst charging the second.

[benjy_18]

thats awesome, cheers for that buddy

looking forward to updates (Y)

Ben

[evil ewok]

pulled the cage back out to try and finish the shell. been stitch welding panel joints, setting seam sealer on fire, finding more rust and getting moaned at by the old man across the road for the continuous grinding noise......even though i'd only used a grinder for about an hour throughout the entire day :S

got a subframe off my brother to replace the beam axle. my dad took it to his works workshop, along with brackets and my £2.20 ebay grill and got it shot blasted...for free

been strengthening it up and now trying to work out where i can save weight?



gerald dale motorsport say they can save 1.5+ kg from a standard subby but i cant see how?

[evil ewok]

subframe is now painted so can fit it once hammerite is fully dry and i work out how to get the cones off the old trumpets haha



been filling holes in the shell today, found a bit more rust but not a problem.

welded in some 3mm plate on the box where the lower door bar will be welded


got this in the boot but not sure how to sort it?

its over a few layers so do i need to cut it out and weld in 4 layers of 1.5mm like it is originally or can i just weld in 1/2 layers of thicker metal?

cheers

[evil ewok]

he hasn't said anything or even looked over his fence the last couple of days so think im free from him for a bit, its just my old woman moaning now haha

subframe trunnions and brackets are all painted now with poly bushes pushed in


the replacement scuttle was a non genuine to wasn't a great fit. originally the difference was filled with fg and giller but wasn't happy so ripped it out, knocked the difference out as much as possible so it just needs a skim welded in a patch to fill the hole
the size of fg i pulled out compared to the hole...



just need to grind it down

right now i'm after some opinions from people who know about welding.
had a couple of goes welding offcuts off cds tube and want to know what you think about penetration etc if it would be good enough to do my cage?

this was with 0.6 wire



and this with 0.8 wire




its hard to see but there is a ring around where i've welded on the inside.

sorry about the rubbish pics

cheers

[MiniLandy]

Definately the 0.8 wire, nice welding.

Nice progress.

[evil ewok]

cheers for the comments

had a small accident today with the angle grinder....






with all the patches and holes it looked a bit crap so decided to cut it all out and start again. going to make myself a miglia style bulkhead box.

this is how the door bars currently join to the front leg


is this ok or do they need to all converge at the exact same point for the cage to distribute the forces properly?

[evil ewok]

went to the college where my brother works and used the metal folding machine to put the main fold into the new top to my bulkhead.
spent about 3 hours just doing the windscreen lip, its harder than it looks to make a lip on a curve. so much time spent shrinking the metal but quite happy with it as my first bit of metal work from flat sheet





joggled the bottom of the front edge so when i fit the back panel it will sit flush....hopefully.

need to get some more 16g sheet before i can do any more to the bulkhead