Steve
Posted a lot
Making progress in small, easy to handle chunks of awesome
Posts: 2,038
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Aug 18, 2010 22:25:58 GMT
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There appears to be alot of high-tech stuff goin on in this thread.........id better slope off back to my back-yard basic engineering ;D Some nice work dude, have read this thread a few times but all i seem to get from it is a headache due to the awesomness of it! Keep up the good work mate Steve  |
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stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,961
Club RR Member Number: 174
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Aug 18, 2010 22:26:09 GMT
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Could you not make the rear half of the roof from behind the doors removeable so you can plop the motor in and out.
Matt
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Aug 18, 2010 22:29:17 GMT
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Robin, your CAD skills are excellent! Sorry if you've already said, but what system do you use?
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Last Edit: Aug 18, 2010 22:36:05 GMT by Adam
1997 TVR Chimaera
2009 Westfield Megabusa
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RobinJI
Posted a lot
"Driven by the irony that only being shackled to the road could ever I be free"
Posts: 2,995
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Aug 18, 2010 22:33:33 GMT
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Could you not make the rear half of the roof from behind the doors removeable so you can plop the motor in and out. Matt I had considered making everything from the B pillars back removable, but I don't think I'd ever get the joint in the roof to look right, and I want to keep the external looks fairly traditional. Steve, cheers, but this is definitely back yard engineering! I'm literally doing it in the garden, in a shelter made from an old gazebo. haha. I've been researching it all quite a lot, as you'd expect/hope from someone studying motorsport engineering, but the actual building's being done with very basic tools and I'm learning most of it as I go. Edit: Adam, Cheers, I quite enjoy doing CAD work, so I tend to get a bit carried away with it. I'm using SolidWorks Student 2009. Just a copy the college gave us to use for our Engineering Drawing module. |
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Last Edit: Aug 18, 2010 22:36:42 GMT by RobinJI
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RobinJI
Posted a lot
"Driven by the irony that only being shackled to the road could ever I be free"
Posts: 2,995
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Aug 19, 2010 17:36:18 GMT
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More work! Rear subframe's getting there now:    I managed to cock up the positioning of the rear mounts though, so that'll need correcting  :  The rear valance was sat lower than the sills, which looked a bit odd, and would cause ground clearance issues, as well as not giving me the space for a decent diffuser, so I sectioned 4" out of the rear to bring it up to a nicer height:  Proportions look much better this way in my opinion, I'll be moving the rear lights up too, although I think there's only space for them to move about 2":  |
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Aug 21, 2010 23:22:18 GMT
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bloody awesome!
love my minis, be watching this
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power is nothing without control
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RobinJI
Posted a lot
"Driven by the irony that only being shackled to the road could ever I be free"
Posts: 2,995
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Aug 25, 2010 18:07:51 GMT
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I got the shock towers on the rear subframe today:  I also made a decent start on the framework to support the front ends bodywork, but I'll get some pictures of that another time. |
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mat91
Part of things
Posts: 399
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Aug 25, 2010 18:09:49 GMT
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this is pretty awesome keep at it fella
cant wait to start my project
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The stupid is everywhere |
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lukiej
Part of things
Posts: 33
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Aug 26, 2010 15:27:59 GMT
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Alrite Robin?
That engine towed my old car (Scamp) when Ben had it in the Passat!
Looking forward to seeing how it all works out and possible having a look sometime!
You got a rough idea of how long it's gunna take?
You gunna go for the Mini scene or stay retro? Would be a big hit at the shows I'm sure.
Is it gunna be red then? Or not thought about colour scheme yet?
Good luck mate.
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RobinJI
Posted a lot
"Driven by the irony that only being shackled to the road could ever I be free"
Posts: 2,995
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Aug 26, 2010 17:30:04 GMT
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Haha, yeah, that Passat had a long and hard life! Unfortunately bens old engine won't be finding it's way into the mini any more, Bens complete lack of any maintenance has caused it to be a bit of a write off. However the gearbox, manifolds, steering column, brakes ect.. should find there way onto it.
I'm hoping to have it ready for the IVA test sometime next summer, but how long it takes to get on the road from there on will be in the hands of VOSA. I'm planning to go to as many shows in it as I can; retro, mini, VW and motorsport, as there's a bit of all of them in the car, but ultimately it'll be a weekend and track car more than anything.
The current plan for colour is old english white, with a black roof, arch's and trim, but it may start it's life satin black/white until I know that nothing needs tweaking, as I don't want to go cutting up a nice shiny paint job because one little parts not up to the job.
I've not managed to get any hands on work done on it today, but I went and picked up some 5mm flat stock to make the suspension wishbone mounts and some 16 gauge sheet to do the other inner wing, as well as ordering 2 new scuttle ends, rear valance ends and an a-post to get rid of what rust's left in the shell, so I'll have plenty to get on with next week.
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RobinJI
Posted a lot
"Driven by the irony that only being shackled to the road could ever I be free"
Posts: 2,995
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Aug 30, 2010 14:55:49 GMT
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Just ordererd 8 radical clubsport/prosport rear suspension bush's and 4 5/8ths UNF rose joints, so once that lot arrives I'll have pretty much everything I need to make my rear wishbones.
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rtlkyuubi
Posted a lot
Low and Slow
Posts: 2,922
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Aug 30, 2010 21:32:33 GMT
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wow, your really steaming on with this! And it looks bloody good too!
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Nice work and good to see your planing it all out, bookmarked
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RobinJI
Posted a lot
"Driven by the irony that only being shackled to the road could ever I be free"
Posts: 2,995
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Sept 1, 2010 19:34:22 GMT
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Not had an overly productive last couple of days on the mini. I spent yesterday afternoon replacing a section of the nearside a-pillar to get rid of some rot. Then today making some more of the framework up front, and got the bottom radiator mounts done, and the front end chopped about to fit the rather large Passat radiator in behind it. Also I got some bits in the post today  : Brake bias bar:  Rose joints for the rear top arms:  Radical clubsport/prosport bush's for the inner mounts of the rear wishbones:  A start on the framework to support the front end and rad:  Which allowed me to tape on all the bodywork in possition :  |
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RobinJI
Posted a lot
"Driven by the irony that only being shackled to the road could ever I be free"
Posts: 2,995
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Sept 7, 2010 19:16:31 GMT
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I got a good afternoons work in on the mini today. Passenger side a-pillar's now completely solid and all there, I've started the de-seaming as well:  New scuttle corner. All the inner wing and bulkhead hiding behind this was cut out and replaced, but I didn't get any pictures at the time:  Now I've got solid metal to weld it to, the front end's frame work's tied into the rest of the shell. I don't see the point in keeping the front removable, as all that will be under there is the fuel tank and battery:  I also rigged up a slightly ghetto extractor fan to keep the dust down a little. Works quite well:  I'll make a start on the other side tomorrow. Needs the same work plus a little more. |
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Sept 7, 2010 21:26:10 GMT
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I love the extractor mate!
Great build.
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Wow, amazing work there, great skills in the ammo belt, specially with youth on your side too. Keep up the good attitude and learning and can-do ways and anything is possible with a little trial and error. Should be a great project, It should look pretty rad without being too obvious too, I like the style. How are you expecting it to handle, is it a heavy engine/box (i don't know  )? have you any plans to weigh down the front or similar? |
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 it doesn't matter if it's a Morris Marina or a Toyota Celica - it's what you do with it that counts |
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RobinJI
Posted a lot
"Driven by the irony that only being shackled to the road could ever I be free"
Posts: 2,995
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Thanks. Yeah, I'm hoping it wont be tooo obvious to look at. I mean, it's going to look heavily modified, but so do a lot of mini's, so hopefully it'll still be a bit of a sleeper from that point of view.
I'm kinda curious about the weight distribution myself to be honest. The engines not overly heavy, but it's not particularly light either. One big thing in my favour is the transaxle mounting the engine in front of the rear axle, rather than above it, which helps shift the weight of the engine forwards a fair bit. I'm trying to make the back end as light as possible. In fact at the moment I can pick up the back of the car by myself without too much hassle, and I'm not a big guy. Combined with overbuilding the front end a little, a 12 gallon tank, the battery and everything else that can be moved up front I'm hoping it wont be too far from 50%. I'm also trying anything I can with the suspension set up to compensate for any disbalance there is, a lower front than rear roll centre, softer rear suspension, more rear travel ect..
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Sept 8, 2010 10:06:03 GMT
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Damn I should have been keeping up to date with this thread! My fault for taking too much time out LOL... Nice work as usual Robin and it's looking meaner/more complete at every stage. I bet it was great to get those front panels offered up? This is going to be such an epic car |
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RobinJI
Posted a lot
"Driven by the irony that only being shackled to the road could ever I be free"
Posts: 2,995
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Sept 8, 2010 10:14:27 GMT
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Cheers, Bruce, yeah, mocking the front end up was very satisfying. Especially the splitter having made it from scratch myself.
Right, time to stop being a lazy student bum and go buy some more welding wire and slitting discs, then get on with it.
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)? have you any plans to weigh down the front or similar?
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