Borrowed a set of 14" Alloys...

In luck and have been able to borrow a set of Ford Sierra 14" alloys, the tyre profile is not correct but it gives me an idea and I can get rid of the table. 

When I get a dry day, going to empty the man cave and give it a good clean. Everything is covered in grinding soot.

 

 Got some solid disks for the rear for £7.26 each, a good friend will get his mate to turn them down from 12mm to 6mm so the motorbike callipers fit, for a few beers. Nothing free in this world.

 Will then get them drilled to look the dogs nuts......

 

 

 

Rear wishbones / coilovers done...

Between the shitty weather and a lot of chopping and changing I think the rear end is about there. Not as clear cut with a lot of sitting and looking, googling and measuring.

Looks primitive but using the 1.618 to 1 ratio it gives an idea where it will sit geometry wise. I am no mechanical engineer but personally a good set of eyes does help a lot with a lot of sitting toing and froing.

 

 

 

 

 Purchased racing 1/2" rose joints, set in the inserts in place and got them tack welded.

 Again no idea if I'm using the correct size joints but from scouring the web much more powerful similar setups are even smaller.

 

 

On to getting the wishbones set up on the table and tack welded.

 Again easy to replicate, stick to the same jig and both wishbones will be identical.

 

 

 

 

I hope you get the idea........

 

 

On to the top wishbones I had no choice in the construction but had to give a kink in the front arm to compensate for the coilover shock.

 After clamping, sitting down, looking and measuring, it's about ready to tack weld. You may have noticed the nylon string in use, yes you may laugh but its still used in the motorsports world for setting up a chassis.

Now the coilovers go in and they look the bees knees even if I do say so myself................

 

 

Checking the set up and as near to zero vertical for the upright.

Got the feeling the suspension is set a little bit too high, still undecided on what size wheels to use so will leave it as it is for now.

All I need is an engine but spring will be with us soon and in a few weeks off to Tenerife with the nearest and dearest and upon my return its the bathroom pull apart time......

 

Got some cheap coilovers...

Yes in luck this week, not wanting to spend my wealth on a set of coilover shocks at this stage I have been scouring the net for some cheap aftermarket. 

 

 

 

By a stroke of luck found a set on Ebay which was local so saved £12 on the delivery. 

Not the best but will do to set the car up for now, can always sell them on. 

 

 

 

 

Seeing that Wales are loosing at rugby to Scotland decided to put the heater on in the man cave and get going on the brackets. 

I have opted for the easy route and fit the coilover shocks outboard, this will make life much easier in the future.

 

 

 

 

Constructing a set of brackets took no time and will be ready for tack welding in the morning.

 

 

 

Look what arrived in the post this week, what will be the rear uprights of my build. Going to have a glass of red wine tonight so I can spend some money to get all the bits required to construct the rear wishbones next weekend, yes off for 4 days and the wife working....................

Do not worry, I bought two.

Rear uprights on the way

Being humming and ha-ing on what to do with the rear. Go for the traditional Sierra hubs which by now costs a small fortune or try something new. Well decided to go for Ford Fiesta MK8-9 front uprights, 2 for £52, should be with me by Wednesday. 

 

So got going on the rear of the build, took the chassis off the table checked the levels and clamped the baby down.

Took the chance to weld the front wishbone brackets and drilled holes to get a good weld on to the steel to add straight, not a very good picture but you get the idea.

 

 

 

 

 As the track was just over 1300mm, as mentioned before I had no option but to extend the chassis so the track / wheelbase ratio is 1.6:1 .

 

 

All good fun and making sense now.

 

 

 

 

 

Within a few hours things were looking good, yes 9 HRS in the man cave today and my legs are a bit square by now. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I will be honest, the steel is only tack welded, will need to clamp the whole rear down to finish the welding. The measurements are there and there about so will I not complain....

 

Looking forward to my delivery during the week so I can get on with the rear wishbones.

 

 

Front wishbones done....

Well its been a long week, a lot of measuring and thinking and googling to check this and that. The weather was not much help being cold and damp and the gas in my heater ran out Friday evening.

 

My first task was to mark up a small table for the jig to hold the steel for the top and bottom wishbones. 

 

 

 

 

Again going back to my Locost build days, simple but effective which will give me a set of matching wishbones.


 

Time is the secret here and not to get too excited with the hacksaw, measure twice cut once as they say.

 

Again only tack welded just in case my measuring is off....

Quick check if the castor angle is the recommend 5 deg, fitted washers between the poly bush and mounting bracket to give me 1 deg either way. 

 

 

A simple and cheap tool which makes life very easy, just make sure the table is still level.








Clamp and tack weld the mounting brackets so the measurements can be checked again and again, and its looking good.

Next its the steering rack, anti roll bar or as the Americans call it the sway bar and the coil over shocks. Not yet sure if going for inboard shocks with a push road system. Back to the thinking and googling  for me in the next week or so.

Got to think about getting a motorbike now........

 

Went the polyurethane bush route.

After thinking and re-thinking, measuring and calculating I have opted for the poly bush as the wishbone mounts. As the build is suppose to be on a budget and where I can, will construct or manufacture the bits myself and also my past experience it was the best choice.

 

Again not cheap as they use to be but found a reasonable priced seller on Ebay, these were the same used on my Locost build, a replacement poly bush for the Triumph Spitfire or Herald which takes a 3/8 UNF bolt.

 

 

So now the challenge is to build a jig to bend 22 suspension brackets the same, out of 40mm flat bar at 3mm thick. This is fun believe you me, keeps the brain ticking............

 

 The jig was constructed of old brackets from work, you need to grind the galvanising first or the weld will splatter and give off fumes.

The bracket in the picture was my first attempt which will the used to mark the rest. Take a masonry nail sharpen on the grinder, drill two holes to the height you require and you have a rudimentary but accurate scriber.

 

 

I will have to manufacture 8 brackets the same so I can start to cut and tack weld the front wishbones in the next few days.

 

Yes enjoyed the afternoon in the man cave, please be aware there was some tinkering of the jig along the way but only one wasted bracket. 

 

 

 

No intentions of posting anymore now until the front wishbones are done and the rear end extended which should look something like this...

 

 

But before I  do I will have to decide on which rear uprights and hubs to use as this will have an effect on the height of the box section which holds the rear wishbones and chain differential.

All good fun...

It's now getting techincal....

Well what can I say the front uprights have arrived and I am impressed. The bottom hole was to accommodate a Transit MK1 top ball joint but opted to drill the hole to take a 5/8 UNF studded rose joint as the top.

As I am not following a definitive set of drawings just a picture off the web I can't cut and shut a set of wishbones. Taking my experience from my Locost build and doing a bit of digging it came apparent the ratio between wheelbase and track  is 1.618 to 1. So the first job was to widen the table and try and work where the front wheels would be and use the above calculation.

 When I measured and re-measured, taking the steering into account it came apparent the chassis is a around 100mm short, its no problem as the back end is still to be finally welded.

The track will be 1340mm and wheelbase 2160mm

 It looks daft but once I get the geometry correct I can construct a set of front wishbones. Again I will use the same method as the Ron Champion book.

Got a bit bores today so decided to weld in the 5/8 inserts to take the studded rose joints, gave the MIG a good service as my welding was still not up to scratch. Purchased the relevant bits to go with the uprights form McGill Motorsport even cheaper than Ebay.

 

 

 

Took the tube and drilled 4 holes and left 2mm of the threaded bar protruding for a good weld.

 

 

The welding is getting there now, a bit of user and equipment issues I think.

 Still undecided on how to attach the wishbones to the chassis, either polyurethane bushes or rose joints.....