[Project] The Rattlebox

[omega 82]

hi davenport top work have you thought of making parts for other people?

i would be really intrested in a "spit" and im sure other people on here would be to

Edited July 17, 2009 by omega

[davenport 51]

djinuk - MIG welding isn`t too hard to learn mate too many people make the mistake of poor preperation (cleaning off paint/rust/grease etc etc) and then wonder why the welds look ropey... practice is the key.. TIG welding (like ive done most of my work with) is a bit harder...

 

omega - if you (or anyone else) wish to PM me i`ll do my best to help out if i can fabrication wise the trouble is me making bespoke bits often works out more expensive than a mass produced item.. ebay catch tanks are stupidly cheap for example..

 

as for the spit.. i cant see a problem with making another... my main problem is finding time unfortunatly

Edited July 17, 2009 by davenport

[davenport 51]

right... despite a late start.. a trip to the paint shop and a stop off to see stu @ realistic motorsport i did a bit today..

 

the seat bars are now fully fitted.. and the tabs all welded up..

 

 

the side mounts still need moddin to drop them 40mm or so but the important bit was moving them away from the door bars..

 

remember the photo of my seat prssed against them?????

 

how about now!!

 

 

probably a good 30mm clearance now.. and the steering wheel (or at least the bracket) appears to be inline with the seat!!!!!

 

also.. the wierd K shaped plates i showed with the top mounts?? i`ll enlighten you a bit more as to there purpose...

 

 

they bolt up like so (all 4 holes lined up spot on.. miracle!!) and that little hole will be where the centre drill in the holesaw locates you can also see just how much further back they will be than standard.. woop.. PROPER castor and heavy steering awaits...

[davenport 51]

right... what have i done today...

 

 

 

main hoop gusset - DONE!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/slammed106/259.jpg

 

 

 

then i had to bite the bullet and do my topmounts...

 

 

 

i wont lie.. i`d been avoiding this 1 as cutting farckun gurt holes in the shell scares me.. never the less....

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/slammed106/261.jpg

 

 

 

at this point i s*it my pants and went to see "evo stu" had a natter... loked at a couple of 600+ bhp evo lumps.. then he started saying i should VTEC it... at that point i decided rather than argue (he`s a big lad!) i should leave....

 

 

 

now the holes are in the turrets i had to machine a lip all the way around the edge of the steel plates so the top sat flush with what was left of the turret...

 

 

 

i`d already thought about this and made a jig to go in the lathe that i bolted the bits to...

 

 

 

 

 

 

things were going well.. i even started to relax at this point!!...

 

 

 

tacked up...

 

 

 

 

 

 

welded in and cleaned up...

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/slammed106/264.jpg

 

 

 

how fruity!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

extra castor.... camber adjustable... unique!

[base-1 17]

Proper job!

[EdCherry 34 1 Cars]

Surprised you didn't have a jig to make sure the mounts were straight in the turrets! Looks amazing, and some great work going on in this thread.

 

Infact you could have incorporated the jig into a future permanent feature, or something to sell on, strut brace style?

Edited July 20, 2009 by EdCherry

[M@tt 77]

looks awesome!!

 

i take it you're using red-oxide as a primer on everything? do you use rattle cans or have a big tub of it and a spray gun?

 

also i'm assuming you have to take all the existing paint off first before applying?

 

outstanding job once again

[davenport 51]

looks awesome!!

 

i take it you're using red-oxide as a primer on everything? do you use rattle cans or have a big tub of it and a spray gun?

 

also i'm assuming you have to take all the existing paint off first before applying?

 

outstanding job once again

 

cheers for the comments.. i would have loved to use bakers double adjustable mounts but there just wasnt room...

 

the red ox is just to hold the rust off the bare metal until i finsih all the fabrication work but yeah eveywhere theres red primer has been took back to bare metal.. entire underside.. archs.. bay.. some of inside..

 

its only temporary as once done its off to be plastic media blasted then some phospate stuff applied before paint..

 

i just use rattle cans mate 450ml ones... i think the last 4 i bought were £9-60 or thereabouts...

[davenport 51]

right.. aint done much today.. not really in "the mood"

 

got all this cut out..

 

 

started making new brackets but.. i didn`t really have the right steel to hand and i didn`t have a 1 1/2inch holesaw to make the sides f the brackets where they sit against the dash bar so made some patterns and will make them up at work during the week...

 

[oz. 2]

I like the look of that. So youve completely removed the original mounting for the steering column and made a braket connected to the roll cage.

 

What other genius are you gonna bring to this car?

[davenport 51]

I like the look of that. So youve completely removed the original mounting for the steering column and made a braket connected to the roll cage.

 

What other genius are you gonna bring to this car?

 

 

yeah the pressed steel affair strapped on by peugeot was quite flexable and lets be honest its a ghasly looking chunk!!

 

did some more on the colomn brackets... still work to do but the hard bits done...

 

 

 

as for what else???? god knows... most cider fueled surfing sessions end up with me finding at least 1 thing i`d like to incorporate into the car...

[davenport 51]

been a quiet week or so due to "proper" work....

 

 

fitted up:

 

 

 

got a cap for the fuel cell:

 

 

 

new wheel and boss:

 

 

 

and a cover to prevent dirty fingers/dust gettin on the suede:

 

 

 

also managed to cut the hell out of my dash to get it to fit around the cage but the more i look at it the more i think something a little more "inventive" is needed....

 

once again espens "shiny racing" 205 is a great design but i dont need to house the std dials as i have this to replace everything.....

 

 

(which should be fed off of this:)

 

 

 

still undecided so gonna carry on with the std dash until inspiration/alcohol comes up with something else........

[oz. 2]

What about only using half the dash? I assume you're going to keep the heater matrix (very useful) so why not cut it at the edge of that. It means you still have space to mount the kill switch etc.

 

Nice cat btw

[EdCherry 34 1 Cars]

Excuse me but you have a furry thing attacking your steering wheel.

 

Bollocks to use the original dash, why go to all that work and effort to use something like that. I think its time to crack out the fibreglass

[davenport 51]

well the dash bar passed straight through mounts for the heater matrix and blower assembly... with some delicate trimming i`ve managed to keep the important feed for the screen vents and still get the dash in place but its gonna need some custom brackets to mount the blower box now....

 

i`ll grab some pics of the trimmed dash next time i`m down the shop maybe its me being too fussy or expecting too much but at the minute it just doesn`t "look" right....

 

as for std heater i was planning on ditching it tbh... retro fitting a small electric blower and heated screen instead...

 

 

as for the cat (weasel = birds cat) its a nuisance!! luckily the other cat (rat = my cat ) keeps her in check!!

 

[davenport 51]

quick update...

 

been poncing around with the dash while i wait for my ally tank to get pressed up.....

 

right.. dash:

 

 

gut all this oooot:

 

 

and eventually with enough trimming it fits around the cage:

 

 

 

i think the centre piece that drops down still needs slimming down a little but thats the basics...

 

the large opening in the centre (where vents/stereo/heater controls/switches used to be) will be 1 large ally panel curved to match the dash which will be where all the switches will reside.. (possibly anodised black..)

 

at this point i decided the bit where it drops down in the centre was ugly.. so... it got cut orf...

 

 

then armed with an offcut of 2mm ally sheet from work and a couple of minutes on the rollers we had...

 

 

even the weasel approves...

 

 

 

now off to buy some toggle switches...

[base-1 17]

More stonking work!

[davenport 51]

aye its getting there...

 

following a top off from sandy (i dare say he`s on this site too??) i phoned a company called polevolt and spoke to neil talbot (cannot praise him enough!!) very helpful info and i now know what bits i need fit to the dash toggles/fusebox/relay box..

 

also made a slightly annoying discovery at the weekend... due to the cage being so damn close to the shell my 25 and 30mm flared holes were to big (they either sat proud on the A post or the cage leg)..

 

cock balls and banjos!!..

 

so found the smalles holesaw i had was 16mm and set too making ANOTHER tool for the flypress...

 

voila 16mm holes...

 

 

 

i`ve also got a 2000x1000x1.2mm sheet of cold rolled steel (15quid for anyone needing any) so can crack on and get some jobs ticked off...

[EdCherry 34 1 Cars]

Sandy is on here yes.

 

Assuming you phoned up polevolt and just spoke them through your requirements and they gave you recommendations? Was actually try to sort out what I need from them today but got confused, bloody electrics!

 

Whens the shell going for paint then?

[davenport 51]

Assuming you phoned up polevolt and just spoke them through your requirements and they gave you recommendations?

 

Whens the shell going for paint then?

 

yeah... i started going through his catalogue but ended up confusing myself so phoned up.. very rare to find a company willing to spend time helping and advising.. too many "experts" merely selling things nowadays imo.... i`m only going as far as fitting switchgear/fusebox/relaybox.. once the cars mock built it`ll go away to be wired by someone the sheer amount of wires on the ECU and on the digidash scares the crap outt me!!.. wizard/tim mason/simtek/viper whoever is the most helpful/best price

 

 

paint wont be for a while .. next year for sure.. i`d like to have it on its wheels for winter fully build it then strip, blast then paint shell and get bits powder coated/anodised/flocked nothing too radical planned.. miami blue again on the outside.. interior/inside doors white..

[EdCherry 34 1 Cars]

Nice, well on your recommendation alone I will give them a call.

 

Im not looking for anything special myself, switch gear and a few odds and sods, id love to go and build my own loom but its cost at the end of the day.

 

You sure you want to go for white on the inside? id go for something darker, not to dark but not white, shows up everything and will piss you off in the sun.

[davenport 51]

aye... gotta be white.. needs to match me rims hahahahahaha

 

i appreciate it`ll show the dirt and every dirty fingerprint but hey.... thats why god invented meguairs haha

[davenport 51]

been trying to pay more time on the house and "the missus" recently so aint done much.. but...

 

front gussets are pretty much sorted thanks to the smaller hole swager...

 

 

 

to say i`m pleased with them is a MAJOR understatement...

 

also got the ally panel mounted onto the dash via some diddy ally brackets which were quite frankly a f***ing ass to make.... looks cool though....

 

 

should look even better with the toggles all mounted up on there too....

[omega 82]

been trying to pay more time on the house and "the missus" recently so aint done much.. but...

 

front gussets are pretty much sorted thanks to the smaller hole swager...

 

 

 

to say i`m pleased with them is a MAJOR understatement...

 

also got the ally panel mounted onto the dash via some diddy ally brackets which were quite frankly a f***ing ass to make.... looks cool though....

 

 

should look even better with the toggles all mounted up on there too....

 

 

this car is so nice and then i noticed its like mine

 

 

 

held together with cable ties[top pic]

[davenport 51]

never underestimate the potential of the humble zip-tie!!!!!!