No updates for a while while I was on holiday, I'm back now but have picked up a bug so no venturing into the garage for me. I did return to find that Speedy Cables had delivered the clutch and speedo cables I ordered. I've also found a source of aluminium honeycomb panels, also known as hexlite. I'm planning to add that to the boot panel to provide some additional crash protection. It's all adding to the weight but the car will be plenty fast enough and I like the piece of mind.
Finally felt up to getting back to work on the car and it feels like it's been an age and I'm not entirely sure where to start. In the end I chose to fit the cables (speedo and clutch). The speedo goes on without problems but the clutch just doesn't have quite enough throw. No amount of twiddling would give me enough movement to hook the release arm onto the cable. I can't say if that's down to my measurements, Speedy Cables or something to do with the new install. There is plenty of length in the cable though which is allowing me to route it around, rather than over the turbo, as it was originally. To give me the extra play in the cable I experimented with the old one. First I loosened the metal clamp at the pedal end of the cable and pulled that off the sheath. I was then able to cut some of the sheath off by making a series of cross cuts with a hacksaw. With the cable shortened I could then screw the end back over the sheath and clamp it back in place. This seemed to work very well so I carried it out on the new cable and with a little gentle pursuasion it fitted perfectly.
Onto some bodywork issues, namely the sides off the boot where it clears the rollbar supports, we had taken some chunks out of it when we initially fitted the body but it needed cleaning up. I masked out a line straight from and took cut along it with a lad saw and then neatened it up with some 180 grit. There's now a 5mm clearance on both sides of the roll bar which I think is about right.Before I can fit the bodwork I need to fit the suspension and steering rack so that I can make sure it's all central prior to rivetting the body in place. Since I had dry-fitted it all it should be just a case of bolting it together, however with the bodywork on the clearances are very tight.
The wishbones bolt on reasonably easily although getting the torque wrench around the engine is tricky, then the ARB goes on. I'd had a real problem getting the required 4.5" bolts which are needed to give enough thread for the locknuts but I now found that these fouled on the GRP shroud for the shocks, as a result I had to cut a couple of threads off. The next problem is to get the bolts in the GRP has to be yanked out of the way, something that required slightly more force than I really wanted to use.
With the wishbones in place I could put the headlamp supports in place. Westfield had kindly added the current style supports to the chassis but these need some additional fettling to the GRP to make the required clearance. Out come the files, wet and dry etc to extend the hole, originally intended for the front upper wishbone mount, by about 15 upwards. This is the same hole that I'd already extended for the ARB, so it's begining to take on a slightly convoluted shape, albeit a fairly neat one that will be hidden by the suspension.
The steering column was then fitted and I trimmed some of the GRP in the cockpit area under the scuttle and that was about it.
Went over some of the trimming I had done with some finishing compound and a new bit of rag, in doing so spotted a mark in the moulding around the rack, so had to clean that up with wet and dry before continuing with the compound.
Fitted the rack and uprights, roughly adjusting the toe as I went. Obviously with the suspension drooping with no weight on it it can't be accurate but I do at least know that it's equally aligned and is in the right sort of ballpark. I did the measurements with my laser spirit level something of a bargain at about 20 quid from Screwfix. I clamped the level onto the rear discs and by rotating them was able to mark a straight line along the ground, parallel to the centre line of the car.
I then clamp to the front discs and make another line parallel to the first directly beneath the laser. So I now have a perfect reference point, that with a bit of measurement can be used to very easily take toe measurements. In this case though I just wanted a parallel setup that was central on the line so it was a quick case of adjust, check, adjust...
Had a bit of a tidy up prior to some visitors over the weekend and fitted the lenses to the indicator pods. The rubber seals needed the forming marks cleaning off them but once done they look fine and it's all held together with a couple of self tappers.
Fitted the headlights in place to help me guage the fit of the bodywork. The connectors on them are the wrong sort for the loom and the cables are too short so I'm going to have to modify something and I suspect it'll be the headlight end.
Some time ago I'd measured up roughly for an intercooler and had found a cardboard box that was approximately the right size so I tried to see if that would fit into the space with the suspension on, it will, but only with the ARB moved out of the way to make space during fitting. This presents me with a slight problem in that the ARB is a real pain to remove and the mounts are hard up against the GRP, which I believe is going to cause problems later. I suspect I'm going to have to remove the bar, extend the GRP holes go clear the ARB, then refit it all again.
I think you can see from the pictures how tight it is. They also give you an idea of how much I have had to modify the GRP in that area, in the first photo you can see the new hole for the headlight bracket and the upper wishbone mount, which was originally just a square hole just large enough for the bush to pass through! In the second picture you can see how the ARB mount bolt is hard up against the GRP around the shock at one end and right up under the lip at the front.
Fetched the bonnet out to check that everything was going together correctly only to discover that the turno actuator is still way too far over to clear the bonnet. After much swearing the solution looks to be to shift the engine back a bit more and over to the passenger side. To do this I need to do some more modifications to make the clutch release arm clear the passenger footwell. I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet, cut a hole out of the panelling and make up a concave cover over the arm from ali or GRP.a It's all a bit of a pain but it has to be done.
I've been doing some thinking about cooling recently and one of the things that has stuck in my mind is peoples comments about cooling on factory V8s. It appears that westfield fit an oil cooler into the back of the nosecone ducting which is something I considered and which seems pretty sensible at first glance. The comment from people is though, that the cooling is actually better when the oil cooler is removed and the hole in the ducting left open.
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You can see in the diagram to the left what should happen, airflow from the front flows through the radiator and into the ducting behind it. The airflow over the top of the car causes a suction effect where it meets the top of the duct and helps to suck the air out of the duct. This is the whole reason for having the rear section of the duct, the front section is really only there to ensure that the air doesn't flow around the sides of the radiator so we'll ignore it for now.
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Now that we understand what should happen lets think about what does happen. When you're at higher speeds, say 70mph+ as you would be on the track, a high pressure area builds up in front of the screen, we all know that this is a powerful force and this is why many people fit aeroscreens to reduce the drag. What is suprising is how far forward the high pressure area extends. Recent measurements have shown that it extends to the front of the bonnet - yes really! So rather than the air being sucked out of the ducting it's being held back in there by this high pressure area from the screen. Furthermore, due to the shape of the duct there will inevitably be another high pressure area in the bottom of the duct. |
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So by removing an area of panel from the ducting an escape route is provided for the pressure buildup that will occur. Furthermore there is a natural high pressure area at the base of the duct, so if the hole is located there it will help matters more. With a suitably shaped flap the natural suction at moderate speed will not be diminished but at high speeds the high pressure will escape into the engine bay. The plan now is to cut a 6"x12" rectangle out of the duct and glass it back in place. While I'm doing that I can fit the fan I've finally ordered, the kenlowe 13" blower. After consulting with kenlowe the sucker is basically the blower with the fan reversed and a shroud added on. In this installation the shroud isn't required so by flipping the fan around it will fit perfectly and I save a fiver at the same time. Full marks to kenlowe for helpfullness although some haggling was required to make it worth me buying direct from them rather than via a reseller. |
A long awaited return to the garage and the firs job was to sort out the GRP around the roll-bar, firstly to give it clearance over the ARB mounting blocks and secondly to give to give enough clearance for the wishbone bolts so that they can be removed once the bodywork is fastened down.
I covered the GRP in masking tape to give it some protection around the working area and then marked out the material to be removed. With the ARB in place you can't get a saw in there so before I could start cutting I needed to remove the ARB. I've mentioned before how little space there is for the bolts and how you have to yank the GRP out of the way to extract them. Once the body is rivetted in place this will no longer be possible so the solution was to cut out a 8cm long U shape out of the lip and file it down flush. It's still very tight and once the bolt is most of the way out the flat of the head has to be in the correct orientation but at least the extraction is now possible.
Big gulp and then I started extending the wishbone hole again. Once again the pad saw seemed to be the right tool for the job, although I've made a slight modification to it. One of the problems is that if you withdraw the saw slightly too far you pop out of the hole and before you know it you're stabbing your nice shiny GRP with the saw. I've wrapped a few turns of masking tape around the end, which gives just enough resistance to stop you going too far. It also means you've got a slightly less dangerous point on the end of it, just in case. I've also modified my technique so that you only ever saw using about 2" of the blade, it makes it much harder work but it's another thing which may help prevent damage to the precious body. After cutting the usual sequence of wet and dry finished it off.
The next thing I did was to construct a dummy intercooler out of scrap bits of wood. This allows me to calculate the maximum size I can use precisely and to ensure that it would be posssible to actually fit it in the confined space. One of the problems I found was that the maximum size that would fit and the max that could fit were quite different. The problem is that with the engine in the only way to get the intercooler in is from the front, after moving the ARB out of the way. The intercooler has to go in sideways and then spin round, I'd originally calculated that 280x300mm core would fit but after this excercise I've reduced the optimum down to 240x300. In theory a core as big as 250x330mm could fit but can't easily be fitted with the engine in. To some extent these measurements will be altered by the size and shape of the end tanks that are fitted but I need to talk to the manufacturer before I can confirm that.
Cut the hole in the passenger footwell to give clearance for the clutch release arm and made up a buck, over which to form a GRP cover. Working while leaning over the side of the body would very quickly introduce some scratches onto the GRP no matter how carefully you work. To try and prevent this I used some cardboard over the side of the bodywork taped in place.
The buck is made from some pieces of MDF glued together and mounted on some old laminated chipboard as a backing plate. The whole lot is clamped together and then coated in release agent. I only managed a couple of coats of the release agent so a few more will be required next time. I may not bother to make a mould from the buck, since that is a lot more work and with the panel being hidden under carpet the finish isn't important, provided I get the lay up of the GRP right.
Fan from Kenlowe arrived at work and rather confused me since they'd sent me a complete kit including thermocouple, thermostat, mounts etc which considering that they price-matched burton who I believe were just selling the bare fan was a bargain.
Now that I had the fan in front of me their instructions and reasons for suggesting I used the blower backwards rather than the suction fan became obvious. Unfortunately my understanding wasn't entirely correct as I had thought, incorrectly that they meant to spin the blades round on the spindle. Instead they meant to spin the entire unit around and mount it in the duct, rather than flush with the fan. This presented a problem in that I was expecting the fan to narrow the further into the ducting it went, with the fan backwards the full width of the fan shroud was protruding down into the ducting.
On the upside my measurements of the duct were perfect and had I been not misunderstood fitting would have taken no more than 20 minutes. Instead I had to chamfer the bottom edge of the shroud so the fan could sit lower in the duct. The pictures might make it look a little dramatic but all I've really done is to remove part of the trim around the edge that would usually protect the radiator from the blades. The actually fitting though is a job for another day
As far as my mould for the passenger tunnel goes the release agent had sealed and stiffened the fuzzy surface of the MDF so I used some dry sandpaper to smooth that down. I then painted on another half dozen coats of the release agent, using my little heaters to help dry it. By the end it was lovely and smooth and the coats were drying in about 5 minutes each!
I mixed up some black resin, using a 1.5% hardener mix - it will be interesting to see how this works. Slapped that on and layed on some chopped strand matting, using generous amounts of resin since I want a fairly wet lay that can be finished off smoothly. By the time I finished the lay about 20 minutes later I could feel the resin beginning to thicken under my brush which is exactly how it should be. Tomorrow I shall find out if I got it right!
Well the resin went off perfectly although I did learn a few lessons, first lest the release agent dry more thoroughly and secondly to seal the MDF before use. The agent was soaked up and wasn't fully dry in the middle so it gripped the GRP and I ended up destroying the buck as I removed it. The next lesson is that when fastening the buck together and to the base plate glue alone isn't enough, I really needed some screws to hold it in place. It's turned out beautifully though, the only problem appears to be I've rather over-estimated the size that I need so I'll probably end up doing version 2.0
Made up a set of fttings for the fan into the ducting after doing a bit more trimming to it. The mounts are made from 4mm threaded rod with a nut and washer either side of the fan mounting. This goes out through holes in the ducting where it is secured with some more nuts andxi washers. This system is a little fiddly but I used a similar system on the Tiger, where it worked very well.
I removed he fan and took my pad-saw to the duct as previously described. The cutout was complete along three sides but on the lowermost edge I used a dremmel to score it almost all the way through, this gives me a nice neat edge to glass over to complete the duct. I did the fibreglassing on the two sides and re-inforced the score but I suspect I'll need to tidy up the sides with another layer, applied from the inside of the duct.
Trimmed and re-glassed the fan ducting, reinforcing the areas where the mounting rods will pass through. A brief test using a small heater fan showed that the extra hole seems to be doing a fine job, more than fine in fact. The airflow looks to be perfectly split, so that 70% of the flow from the bottom passes through the vent while almost no flow from higher up goes through it. This should mean that the vent will help release the high pressure and give the fan more chance to do it's job at higher speeds.
Released the engine and gearbox mounting bolts prior to shuffling the engine tomorrow. Once that is done I'll be able to trim down the GRP cover appropriately.
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