Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,706
Club RR Member Number: 39
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Nov 18, 2023 23:31:45 GMT
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Nothing to exciting to report on today - Raked up leaves and welded the other upper rear reinforcement plate on the Gem - Whilst doing that I had another "FFS really" moment as the two shocker mounts are welded in slightly different positions. The difference meaning that on one side the MIG torch can get in to do a weld with reasonable ease and the other side with great difficulty....
Ran a sharp edge over the chassis tubes at the rear to remove more flaking powdercoat. Its actually quite good that there is so little chassis at the rear of the car as its less to try and clean and prep prior to paint.
Plenty more to do
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,706
Club RR Member Number: 39
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The clean up works continue. The odd way that the dash section is finished on these cars always bugged me - the angle dropping onto a horizontal which was capped off with some poorly cut 3mm strip end caps, typically only welded on 3 sides, and badly at that. Just looked bad. Out came the Sawzall and the grinders. Weight reduced by a couple of grams and looks improved. Although never going to be seen behind the dash ! As well as this plenty of rivet weld repairs got filed down along the way and the rounding off of bracket work continued. The side flush with the panel will have to be left as I am not removing the panel and welding it up and replacing it just to round those off....... yet Then more clean up operations Consideration is also being given to chopping the front to make it removeable.
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,706
Club RR Member Number: 39
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Nov 27, 2023 17:05:44 GMT
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Better expand on that comment - .... chopping the front of the bodywork to make it removeable - like Red Gem . Although I will be trying to make a better job of it than this ... Which is not the most aesthetic of solutions
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mk2cossie
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 77
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Nov 27, 2023 17:13:57 GMT
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That hinge arrangement is truly horrific
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mylittletony
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,347
Club RR Member Number: 84
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Nov 27, 2023 19:36:10 GMT
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Oooeerr, that's not nice
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79cord
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,608
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Nov 27, 2023 20:27:59 GMT
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I'm sure hinges are largely covered by No.Plate, but wouldn't want to hit a curb. Grille so obviously riveted to exposed opening flange not so nice either. Both work, but not beautiful.
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,706
Club RR Member Number: 39
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Dec 10, 2023 20:43:25 GMT
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Flowing on a bit from the flow bench thread. Due to one of ports breaking through into a pushrod tube it needs to be sleeved Drilling it out makes it look a fair bit worse.... Just needs to be reamed to size to suit the sleeve I have machined for it. I then turned my attention to the pedal arrangement. I also doubled up on the mount for the steering column - can be seen in the shot below but I forgot to take any during works photos Grabbed a bit of steel for marking out of the bias M/C arrangement. With it closing on double figures temp wise for the next week or so I will try to get some paint on the chassis, and remember to order a tube of sealer for the panels.
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Last Edit: Dec 10, 2023 20:44:49 GMT by Darkspeed
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,706
Club RR Member Number: 39
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Dec 17, 2023 20:32:01 GMT
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Got stuck into sorting the pedal box today, I had been doing a little between the usual Xmas prep but not quite committed to how I was going carry out the task. First off I reclaimed another bit of 1" box from Red Gem, that also got me setting up the welder as there were plenty of rivet holes in it to fill. After that little job I chopped up the old bit of pedal box to remove the pedals and brackets. The donor brake pedal had the bias bush offset, to miss a steering column, this would have worked on the Gem but as there was room I figured I would mount it central. Whilst I was moving the the bias bush I took the opportunity to increase the leverage ratio a little by dropping it 1/4" Dropped the brake in central Then it was time to sort out a mount for the masters. I decided against the sheet that I was originally going to go with and opted for some angle instead. Happy enough with that - Just need to make it a bit lighter and add a bit of reinforcement
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Last Edit: Dec 17, 2023 20:37:41 GMT by Darkspeed
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,706
Club RR Member Number: 39
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Dec 22, 2023 20:48:44 GMT
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Nearly finished - Completed the design Then made it a bit lighter Not welded the complete assembly in yet - I will get it cleaned up and a bit of paint on most of it first then it will get fully welded. Over the weekend I plan to drop a couple of tubes into the back of the chassis and then its sanding and painting.
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,706
Club RR Member Number: 39
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Dec 23, 2023 13:05:27 GMT
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And the weight penalty for having a bespoke pedal box that falls nicely to foot, has adjustable front rear bias, and cleans up the engine bay to allow the fitment of of double twin chokes. -1.3KG - I do need to add some paint and a few welds but pretty happy saving another KG. The biggest saving on the horizon is from the fuel tank. I am going to use some of the weight reduction from replacing that to add some steel into the back end.
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,706
Club RR Member Number: 39
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Dec 23, 2023 18:36:29 GMT
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Rather than wait for the credits from the fuel tank to arrive I spent some of the ones available from the pedal box instead. It has provided some much needed additional structure.
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,706
Club RR Member Number: 39
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Dec 23, 2023 18:53:03 GMT
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As a before and after I think it was worth the effort
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teaboy
Posted a lot
Make tea, not war.
Posts: 1,950
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Dec 23, 2023 19:42:05 GMT
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Much better, DS, the original was terrible.
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mk2cossie
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 77
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Dec 23, 2023 21:26:40 GMT
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Thats quite much better looking pedal box Darkspeed
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,706
Club RR Member Number: 39
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Dec 25, 2023 12:37:02 GMT
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Cheers guys, It's now that large steel plate that provides the lower column mount messing with my OCD - I bet that weighs nearly 1/2 a Kilo....... The thought was about how to cut it off and tidy up the welds without removing the bulkhead panel. But this quickly changed to - that panel is - and whilst I wanted to keep the removal of the alloy panels to only what's necessary I think that's one that needs to be replaced. Reshaped and drilled to remove about a third of its mass the plate could stay. I wonder how much charge is in the drill..... Plenty That's a bit better.
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Last Edit: Dec 25, 2023 12:40:50 GMT by Darkspeed
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,706
Club RR Member Number: 39
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Dec 27, 2023 21:30:24 GMT
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Clean up around the rivet holes ready for welding and mark out the bracket for cutting down. I have given up trying to figure out the process that was used to mark and drill the holes. I will have mine drilled in the centre of the tube, evenly spaced and just the one hole per rivet.... Welded up all the holes and trimmed the bracket to a more appropriate size for its duty. That saved a little over 250g and looks much better. Powerfile out to clean things up. And final work for that job was to cut a pattern for a replacement panel. Then it was out with various sanders to start the laborious job of sanding the chassis down ready for paint. Starting at the rear where although there are far less tubes to deal with they are the worst for corrosion so will take a bit of graft.
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,706
Club RR Member Number: 39
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Dec 28, 2023 13:39:30 GMT
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I figured that less steel means less rust to remove and less to rust in the future .... Almost completed the rust removal on that one side.
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mk2cossie
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 77
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Dec 28, 2023 23:12:54 GMT
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And it now has a crumple zone
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,706
Club RR Member Number: 39
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Dec 29, 2023 14:31:31 GMT
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And it now has a crumple zone It's only right to add safety features when increasing the power by 30-40%....
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,706
Club RR Member Number: 39
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Dec 29, 2023 20:22:29 GMT
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Today was weld in the pedal box day Access to these final welds was a bit of a PITA. Then it was on to more rust removal. Getting there, but also getting a bit too cold for paint.
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