jimi
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,233 
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Aug 20, 2021 20:48:19 GMT
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It's actually not that bad! You just keep your plug pin-outs / wiring diagram handy and diagnostics is easy peasy. Accurately tracing a wire by eye through the full length of a harness is next to impossible anyway unless you make every single wire a different colour, and that costs a fortune. If you're the type of person who heatshrinks the entire harness (i.e. motorsport af) then wire colour is irrelevant too. ^^^^^^ 👍👍 One colour wiring is very common in industry, most electrical switchgear/control panels I've worked on or built have been one colour wiring (other than earth wires) as long as you use a robust labeling system and keep accurate wiring diagrams it's not a problem.  |
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Last Edit: Aug 20, 2021 20:49:11 GMT by jimi
Black is not a colour ! .... Its the absence of colour
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Aug 21, 2021 21:55:49 GMT
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So we made it to the campsite on Friday night! First proper drive at 11pm haha Ignore the oil and fuel warning lights they just aren’t connected. Everything worked electrically… the blower cleared the screen on a wet evening. The wipers worked…. Temps were good! The gearing is slightly wrong however… I think I’ve been sold a 4.777:1 diff not a 4.1:1 and it’s reving at 5k doing 40mph in 6th gear!! I’ll look into this further in the coming months. Anyway it works and we are here! Saturday we went home to get my compomotive wheels but they all still leak like a sieve even after all our efforts yesterday. I’ll be going up he hill tomorrow on the original wellers. The rear end was really low compared to the front so I borrowed some C spanner’s and wound up the rear and fitted 1” shorter front springs. Test driving the car today it was getting hard to change gear with any positive action. When we got back I noticed the clutch was slow to return. I already bought a Barnetts clutch cover so we fitted that this evening after the tat auction.        |
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'91 BMW E30 318is
'91 BMW E31 850i
'96 BMW E38 750i
'68 Singer Chamois (Yamaha R1 Engine... )
'95 Mini 1.3i
'61 Lamborghini 2241r
'64 Lamborghini 1R
'57 Lamborghini DL25C
Plus a few others...
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Aug 23, 2021 22:48:40 GMT
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What a great weekend! So happy to have the car running! I won’t say finished as there still loads I need to do. The car needs stiffer rear springs and the shocks clicking up but the car performed alright considering it’s had zero set up. It might have 30mm toe out for all I know! The advice was to break it slowly… first run up the hill was slight conservative (although it probably wasn’t). We didn’t get the go pro in the car for the first run as the others were still stuck in the traffic jam for the show field! Here’s a video of my second run… epic is all I can say. Makes me so happy to see it running! Run 3 - Go pro said SD Full and didn’t even film me stage up. Doh. Run 4, last of the day - Well, I broke it but I don’t mind! Haha I managed to roll off the track backwards without causing much, if any of a delay to the day which I was pleased about. As for the driveshaft, I need to inspect further but I think I might have dressed the weld back too much. I think I will ream out the two halves and press in a dowel pin similar to before. This time V groove it out lots more and it’s been suggested I preheat the shaft in the oven as hot as it goes and then weld it up and then put it back in the oven and cool it slowly. All seems like it’s worth a try before spending lots of money on custom shafts. That said I will get some quotes.  It’s becoming a habit that I reverse off from a retro rides action haha.   Be rude not to round off the weekend with out a trip to the pub!  Thanks to everyone who made it possible. Getting the car finished by working late into the night. Filming the track running. Trailering the car all over the country… etc etc Now “it works” I feel the build stage has come to an end and the development and improvements can start. |
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'91 BMW E30 318is
'91 BMW E31 850i
'96 BMW E38 750i
'68 Singer Chamois (Yamaha R1 Engine... )
'95 Mini 1.3i
'61 Lamborghini 2241r
'64 Lamborghini 1R
'57 Lamborghini DL25C
Plus a few others...
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Aug 23, 2021 23:46:19 GMT
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Shame about the shaft, but it looks and sounds amazing. What about friction welding the shaft?
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jamesd1972
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,921
Club RR Member Number: 40
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Epic stiff, made all the right noises going up the hill. You did look absolutely knackered when we said hello but happy with it !
Keep the updates coming as you develop it over time - thanks for sharing the journey so far.
James
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Shafts.
bore them for a pin, deep V for weld, dress off weld. Then sleeve and weld sleeve ends.
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Aug 24, 2021 10:12:37 GMT
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I look forward to seeing this sometime in the future, this is a seriously impressive thread! So much skills and brain power involved, huge respect.
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bstardchild
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,971
Club RR Member Number: 71
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Aug 24, 2021 12:07:14 GMT
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Precis (For anyone new to this thread) So its been about 2 years since I started this build thread which means its about... what, 6 years since I bought the car? As we all know this thread was started with the intention of getting the car to the Gathering 2018. As much as I'd like to say the car was now finished.. it certainly is not. If I'm honest the car hasn't been touched other than to move it to my house back in 2019. Following the Retro Rides Weekender beer and BBQ chat and seeing the show back up and running... Plus the Gathering going ahead this year... I have an urge to get back into this project. I'm being more realistic with my expectations and time scales this time around however. The smash-athon that happened 2 years ago was a great achievement but was too ambitious. So... Track Application has been submitted. Its been 2 years and I'm still only trying to finish the car last minute... Deadlines are a must around here, this is how it goes! Hopefully we'll get it finished this year to a road worthy and reliable standard! I saw the application and thought brilliant 1. That's a dead cert for a space 2. I need to check on his progress (because it'll be a heck of a ride for then next few weeks  What a great weekend! The advice was to break it slowly… first run up the hill was slight conservative (although it probably wasn’t). Here’s a video of my second run… epic is all I can say. Makes me so happy to see it running! |
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Aug 24, 2021 13:41:20 GMT
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This is absolutely brilliant. Car looked awesome - sorry I didn't get a chance to come say hi.
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Aug 24, 2021 14:15:46 GMT
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Fantastic! Shame about the driveshaft, but I'm sure you'll get it sorted! Sounds great and in car footage was impressive!
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1968 Mini MkII, 1968 VW T1, 1967 VW T1, 1974 VW T1, 1974 VW T1 1303, 1975 Mini 1000 auto, 1979 Chevette, 1981 Cortina, 1978 Mini 1000 1981 Mini City, 1981 Mini van, 1974 Mini Clubman, 1982 Metro City, 1987 Escort, 1989 Lancia Y10, 1989 Cavalier, 1990 Sierra, 1990 Renault 19, 1993 Nova, 1990 Citroen BX, 1994 Ford Scorpio, 1990 Renault Clio, 2004 Citroen C3, 2006 Citroen C2, 2004 Citroen C4, 2013 Citroen DS5. 2017 DS3 130 Plenty of other scrappers!
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Aug 24, 2021 14:28:17 GMT
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Man that sounds good, and looks like a ton of fun! Major props for getting it driving in time.
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Aug 27, 2021 10:30:45 GMT
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One colour wiring is very common in industry, most electrical switchgear/control panels I've worked on or built have been one colour wiring (other than earth wires) as long as you use a robust labeling system and keep accurate wiring diagrams it's not a problem. Therein lies the problem as someone who quite happily buys other people's projects, 'robust labelling systems' and 'accurate wiring diagrams' are far from a given in fact, I don't think I've seen one on a car I've purchased yet! |
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jimi
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,233
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Aug 27, 2021 14:31:26 GMT
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Therein lies the problem as someone who quite happily buys other people's projects, 'robust labelling systems' and 'accurate wiring diagrams' are far from a given in fact, I don't think I've seen one on a car I've purchased yet! That's not the fault of the wiring system  multi-coloured wiring is no guarantee either. Over the years I've lost track of the number of times I've diagnosed/repaired wiring faults on cars where the wire departs one colour and arrives a different colour (sometimes changing colour several on times enroute)  Well done to the OP, The car looked and sounded immense, great job |
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Last Edit: Aug 27, 2021 14:33:07 GMT by jimi
Black is not a colour ! .... Its the absence of colour
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Aug 28, 2021 21:56:45 GMT
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Wow- I caught up on this thread the other night but our internet speed was being a sod. Now watched the video and its fantastic. Looks a very rapid little car indeed and sounds great. Congrats for all the efforts you put in to getting it to the gathering! Now you can chillout, take a break, fix the shaft and sort out other bits and you'll still (hopefully) have a bit of decent weather yet to go out and drive your creation. Please do keep the updates coming- its inspirational and mojo boosting for us all  Alex |
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Clement
Europe
ambitious but rubbish
Posts: 2,095
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Aug 29, 2021 12:53:40 GMT
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I've just binge-read this thread without knowing the outcome... I'm absolutely flabbergasted. From the start there was this vision of a car that looked immense, but that onboard video is conclusive proof that it's far from all show and no go. You don't hang about as a driver either!!
Small car, high revs, sequential g/box, homebuilt: amen.
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Aug 30, 2021 17:09:30 GMT
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Great work getting it ready for the show! Shame about the driveshaft but hey at least it ran, and ran well - that's a lot more successful than most shakedowns! I'd recommend CPS Drivelink for some custom shafts - www.cpsdrivelink.co.uk/You can send them your current shafts (tacked back together) or give them the length and spline pattern info and they will make a set for you. I had a set made a few years ago and it was about £250, so very reasonable. Personally I wouldn't bother welding up shafts as the majority of DIY jobs I've seen have failed. Definitely wouldn't recommend MIG welding them, anyway. |
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We have a new assignment! Project track day is go... During Friday 12th evening beer chat, George aka Splitty456 invited me to join in on a track day at Donington on the 13th December. So wheels are in motion to get the Imp ready.... 4 weeks.. well 3 weeks now and counting. Today I brought back the Imp to my house. A few weeks after RRG21 I bought my own trailer and today was the first time I got to use it!   By time I'd driven home and unloaded etc it wasn't long until it was dark... was giving me flash backs of 2am finishes!  First job on the list is to get the broken drive shaft off and see what our options are. Last week I did my research into getting some driveshafts made but the lead times are about 3-4 weeks. This means it's simply not an option for the track day. I think I will still get some proper ones made still but we have to work with what we have for now. The inner pot simply levered out of the diff but the outer was a bit more tricky. I don't own a big socket for the hub nut so I simply took the shaft out of the CV while it was still on the car.  My initial suspicions were proven correct. It's pretty clear the shaft wasn't grooved out enough for initial welding. I then made it worse by grinding the welds back... I'm surprised these lasted as long as they did with basically only a central press fit peg and a 3mm thick welded band at about a 30mm diameter. In fairness this gives me confidence in a second attempt lasting more than a few laps. Inner half:  Outer half:  Wanting to do this myself I had a go at doing this on my little lathe. Obviously not ideal, kinda dangerous, not recommended. Obviously I'm only intending on drilling in the end so forces only going into the chuck... it should be fine. I dialled it in best I could.  Added an offcut of large pipe to give a bit of containment should it come out the chuck. Enough time for me to leg it I hope haha.  Center drilled and drilled up to 12.5mm.  Added a big chamfer to form the weld groove.    Turned a little dowel to suit both holes and then pressed it together.  I trued it up best I could and we'll weld it up tomorrow... let's hope it doesn't warp too much.  |
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'91 BMW E30 318is
'91 BMW E31 850i
'96 BMW E38 750i
'68 Singer Chamois (Yamaha R1 Engine... )
'95 Mini 1.3i
'61 Lamborghini 2241r
'64 Lamborghini 1R
'57 Lamborghini DL25C
Plus a few others...
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jamesd1972
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,921
Club RR Member Number: 40
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Nov 21, 2021 19:15:25 GMT
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Nice to see you back at it !
James
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75swb
Beta Tester
Posts: 1,052
Club RR Member Number: 181
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Nov 21, 2021 20:50:16 GMT
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If you haven't already got some, you should get some decent cameras and a separate mic ordered. I can only imagine how good this is going to look and sound on a track!
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multi-coloured wiring is no guarantee either. Over the years I've lost track of the number of times I've diagnosed/repaired wiring faults on cars where the wire departs one colour and arrives a different colour (sometimes changing colour several on times enroute) 
