GT40, about to make the leap!!

[jon1d]

Those were my best Sundays searching for bits. The tower of cars have long gone and most bits are on a shelf . Ebay now seems to be there price guide for parts. Where it use to be a quick haggle and you walked away smiling .

[ChrisP]

Don't start me on the old school scrapyards! Formative years for me, with my Dad when he raced Stock Cars, we virtually lived in them!

Back to the GT40. Martin brought the new rear wishbones up today and we have been fettling and fiddling all day!!!! The original issue was that my chassis wheelbase was too long for the Tornado body and we had come up with a cunning plan which involved redesigning and fabricating some new wishbones with rose joints to allow us to move the suspension forward and centre the rear wheels in the arches.

We eventually got there! It was quite a fiddle. As we all know, when you go off piste a bit there are always consequences!!!!! We struggled initially to get clearance on the chassis for the new wishbones and then to get the hub carrier to sit right in the alignment we wanted. But eventually we got it there. Camber and Toe all sorted. We did have to adjust the hub carrier a bit and I still need to remake the lower tie rod mounting on to the hub carrier but I will do that when I disassemble everything for painting. It all works, that's the main thing!


New wishbone installed, driveshaft seems Ok



And below, we have a wheel in the centre of the arch!! Sorted!



The other thing I have been fiddling with today (before Martin arrived) are the filler caps. Got these beauties from Tornado. They fit the body (or the body is designed for them)





I cut out some 2mm stainless with a plasma cutter to make the fixing plate and to weld in the filler pipe to go down to the tank. I want to keep the flexible bit as short as possible

[ChrisP]

Talking of my dad earlier reminded me of how I discovered how to accurately find the centre of a circle. I was about 13 or 14 and he sent me to school with strict instructions to ask my math teacher how to do it so we could accurately fabricate a bellhousing for the race car!! (We used to make wheels too but that's another story!) We were mating a Jaguar box to a Ford V8. I have never forgotten - '3 perpendicular bisectors' she said, 'although 2 will probably do it'. Still use that method and here is a pic of me doing just that for the filler pipe flanges!!!



Bless him. He taught me so much, a lot of which I have passed on to my lad. Probably the most important thing though was 'have a go'. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't but it's always fun to try and even better if it works. Some of the things we did still make me smile.

Just need to get the angle of the stainless filler pipe sorted and then I can cut out the elliptical hole and weld up the units. Plan is to run 50mm stainless down to the tank necks which are also in 50mm stainless. I will join with a short piece of flex (which I bought yesterday at Stoneleigh for £9). I want to avoid bends so I don't get any blow back. I will also weld on a tab I can connect an earth to.

[Bannon]

Well, you just taught me. In Thailand, 2004, the dive boat belonging to the dive school I was with was damaged whilst escaping the Boxing Day tsunami thanks to our heroic captain who saw the wave coming and steered the boat into and over the waves.
Consequently, a new prop was required and I found myself at a backstreet engineering shop somewher in Krabi province (much like our UK types), listening to the guys discussing the job in Thai language. I watched the engineer guy get busy with a pair of spring dividers, but I left somewhat mystified about what he had gleaned from these measurements.
I think I learned today, what the guy was doing. I tried it myself on paper - damn! It's so logical! Thanks Chris, for the lesson!

Talking of my dad earlier reminded me of how I discovered how to accurately find the centre of a circle. I was about 13 or 14 and he sent me to school with strict instructions to ask my math teacher how to do it so we could accurately fabricate a bellhousing for the race car!! (We used to make wheels too but that's another story!) We were mating a Jaguar box to a Ford V8. I have never forgotten - '3 perpendicular bisectors' she said, 'although 2 will probably do it'. Still use that method and here is a pic of me doing just that for the filler pipe flanges!!!



Bless him. He taught me so much, a lot of which I have passed on to my lad. Probably the most important thing though was 'have a go'. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't but it's always fun to try and even better if it works. Some of the things we did still make me smile.

Just need to get the angle of the stainless filler pipe sorted and then I can cut out the elliptical hole and weld up the units. Plan is to run 50mm stainless down to the tank necks which are also in 50mm stainless. I will join with a short piece of flex (which I bought yesterday at Stoneleigh for £9). I want to avoid bends so I don't get any blow back. I will also weld on a tab I can connect an earth to.

[ChrisP]

Been in the Peak District for a week so no progress on the car sadly! However, between fiddling with bees today, I have tried my new 'Easycoat' powdercoater that I bought at Stoneleigh. Absolutely amazing! So impressed with the finish. It's not perfect (due to me not the kit) but here are some pics of one of the new wishbones Martin made for me for the rear suspension. Top job!





I really am impressed. I've seen the kits before at shows and done the usual 'it won't work like that when you get it home' but while I was there looking a guy came up beside me and ordered some parts for his gun. I asked him how he got on with it and he told me it was the best thing he had ever bought and he had used one for 10 years! So I gave them £120 and brought one back! Now I will be powdercoating all the brackets I have made for this car (which are numerous!). About 20 mins in the wife's oven while she was out this afternoon did the job. Hopefully it wasn't beginners luck! Apparently it is possible to do long items with a heat gun, we will see.

Ragley Hall tomorrow in the cobra (weather hopefully holding) but it might be powdercoating Monday! I have some Gold powder to try at some point but plenty of black to do before cleaning the gun I think

[aaronjb]

I've eyed those kits before - but I think I'd be buried under the patio if I used the oven in the kitchen! :Lol:

[427jlc]

Did you make the wishbones from steel, stainless steel or chromoly steel??

[ChrisP]

Did you make the wishbones from steel, stainless steel or chromoly steel??

They are seamless steel tube, 1 inch outside diameter. I've used it for the tie rods too and for the front anti-roll bar. I bought a 6m length which turned out perfect!

[427jlc]

I don't want to undermine the great work you are doing but I've heard that under stress or extremes steel shears and snaps but chromoloy steel bends.

I'm not a metallurgist but just concerned, with the constant stresses on the suspension could it be avoided at this stage??

someone may come along and know better??

Lee

[ChrisP]

I don't want to undermine the great work you are doing but I've heard that under stress or extremes steel shears and snaps but chromoloy steel bends.

I'm not a metallurgist but just concerned, with the constant stresses on the suspension could it be avoided at this stage??

someone may come along and know better??

Lee

Well you never know!! No, I am happy it will be fine. Seamless tube is widely used and probably on a lot of kit car manufacturers cars too!