Yesterday I thought 'right, tomorrow's sunday, full day working on the locost, I can get loads done'. Yeh right.
I got up bright and early this morning and attemtped to roll the car out of the garage for the first time since I put the engine in. Would it go down the step out of the garage? Nooope, the sumps to close to the ground. Luckily the coilovers on the front were as low as they would go, so I wound them right up and out it comes.
Then I decided to put the diff in so I could fab up the rear mount. I spent 30 minutes getting it in properly on the front mounts and tried to put the driveshafts in. But would they go..... noooo. The front mounts are wonky putting the diff half an inch to far to the left, meaning the left hand one would not go in. Out comes the ratchet winch to try and bend them back again, but could I find somewhere to attach it to? No! So I stand there for 20 minutes wondering how to cut them out without damaging the chassis itself before catching sight of the bottle jack. Game on! 3 minutes later and they're straighter than a Roman road! That was over an hour gone and I didn't even do the job I was meant to do.
Next... the steering column mounts which I'd known were in the wrong place for quite a while but wouldn't cause any bother until the scuttle needed to be fitted. Still... they were bugging me so off they came with the help of the trusty angle grinder. Then I needed to cut them down.... so I did. Now my uncle is a carpenter by trade, and has always taught me to 'check twice cut once', unfortunately, being annoyed with the time wasted previously, I marked and cut them an inch short
Luckily I had some spare steel left over so I made some new ones and welded them up.... great! The new argon gas my mum bought me (wondermum!) works wonders, no spitting or anything, just lovely smooth welds.
I clamped the mounts onto the chassis and tried to weld them on but all I got was a buzzing noise. Dammit... the welders exploding again
! I managed to repair it, the swan neck had come loose, and carried on welding but it still wasn't them same.
RIGHT, the steering column mounts are finally in the right place so I installed the steering column. But would the steering linkage reach? NOOOO. I had moved the mounts forward 2 inches and now the linkage was an inch two short. Again, luckily I still had some of the tube I used to extend it originally left, and the welder had stopped playing up, so I lengthened the linkage by 2 inches just to be on the safe side. On it goes, along with the steering column and I'm back were I started.... at 5:30pm.
A whole day with no significant progress... and another week at school with no access to the Locost!
Adam
I got up bright and early this morning and attemtped to roll the car out of the garage for the first time since I put the engine in. Would it go down the step out of the garage? Nooope, the sumps to close to the ground. Luckily the coilovers on the front were as low as they would go, so I wound them right up and out it comes.
Then I decided to put the diff in so I could fab up the rear mount. I spent 30 minutes getting it in properly on the front mounts and tried to put the driveshafts in. But would they go..... noooo. The front mounts are wonky putting the diff half an inch to far to the left, meaning the left hand one would not go in. Out comes the ratchet winch to try and bend them back again, but could I find somewhere to attach it to? No! So I stand there for 20 minutes wondering how to cut them out without damaging the chassis itself before catching sight of the bottle jack. Game on! 3 minutes later and they're straighter than a Roman road! That was over an hour gone and I didn't even do the job I was meant to do.
Next... the steering column mounts which I'd known were in the wrong place for quite a while but wouldn't cause any bother until the scuttle needed to be fitted. Still... they were bugging me so off they came with the help of the trusty angle grinder. Then I needed to cut them down.... so I did. Now my uncle is a carpenter by trade, and has always taught me to 'check twice cut once', unfortunately, being annoyed with the time wasted previously, I marked and cut them an inch short
Luckily I had some spare steel left over so I made some new ones and welded them up.... great! The new argon gas my mum bought me (wondermum!) works wonders, no spitting or anything, just lovely smooth welds.I clamped the mounts onto the chassis and tried to weld them on but all I got was a buzzing noise. Dammit... the welders exploding again
! I managed to repair it, the swan neck had come loose, and carried on welding but it still wasn't them same.RIGHT, the steering column mounts are finally in the right place so I installed the steering column. But would the steering linkage reach? NOOOO. I had moved the mounts forward 2 inches and now the linkage was an inch two short. Again, luckily I still had some of the tube I used to extend it originally left, and the welder had stopped playing up, so I lengthened the linkage by 2 inches just to be on the safe side. On it goes, along with the steering column and I'm back were I started.... at 5:30pm.
A whole day with no significant progress... and another week at school with no access to the Locost!
Adam
Actually mate,that was progress...if you'd not spent today doing what you've done you'd have waited probably till next weekend...only to have achieved what you have today. So...you've progressed nicely. Well done!
