[Project] The Rattlebox

[davenport 51]

And so..... assembly begins...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quality control was present to keep an eye on things....

 

[davenport 51]

 

Probably the last update until after xmas, so to all the viewers, have a great time ladies and gents, peace+love!! And beer... lots of f***ing beer!!!

[East_Hud 7 1 Cars]

Looking great, gonna be a pretty special car!

[davenport 51]

Evening all.....

 

Just a quicky - been fixing the 307 and diagnosing a gearbox issue on my 172..

 

However!!!

 

 

I unpacked the box of plating and anodising i got done over at peterborough plating - fantastic quality!!:

 

 

 

 

This meant i could start assembling the front corners.. however the dolly i'd made for the bodyshop was going to foul the wishbones... so, i made a new narrow track 1 for the front and threw that on:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Which, after a bit of dicking around gave me:

 

 

 

 

 

Now... all i need to do is locate the fecking AP bolts and i can fit the discs up too!!!

[davenport 51]

Evening all....

 

The dash has been over to Ireland for some TLC at the hands of DieselDave.. (worth a follow on instagram)

 

I have to say its a f**king good job!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And after a bit of wrestling it was in place (still a couple of brackets to attach it to the cage) the dash section of harness was clipped in and it was starting to look like a car again...

 

 

 

 

[opticaltrigger 52]

Excellent.... In every way.

 

O.T.

Edited January 22, 2017 by opticaltrigger

[davenport 51]

So.. a casual 67hours at work this week meant not much time for the car.. but after a sunday morning double time stint i popped down the social club for some tinkering..

 

Pulled up a rug, mother made me a coffee and i set about the discs:

 

 

 

 

 

Resulting in:

 

 

 

 

I did also fit up the harness shoulder straps according to:

 

 

 

And started fitting the gearshift linkages thru the bulkhead - unfortunately a flat phone battery has limited pics for this update....

[davenport 51]

More fitting up done...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[allye 530 3 Cars]

Yay!

 

It must fly together after a full mock up?

[davenport 51]

Mmmmmm 'fly' is a bit misleading... if i had longer periods on the car, yeah, it would come together quickly... tbh.. in 3 or 4 full days it could be assembled..

 

But with only 2 or 3 hour sessions its taking time... bloody nice when everything just fits though!!!

Edited February 5, 2017 by davenport

[davenport 51]

Alright peeps...

 

So.. decided to give the steering rack a bit of a spruce up.. it was stripped/blasted/powdercoated and then just pop it all together..

 

Yeah... because its always that easy isnt it!?!

 

The needle bearing was a bit notchy (knackered) so i popped up to the suppliers only to be told they were unavailable.. a bit of head scratching and we decided the french were being typically awkward in using a custom bearing and to drop down on the OD to the nearest std size and i'd machine a sleeve to hold it in place:

 

 

 

 

 

Once that was all done I had a shiny rack:

 

 

So.. the pedalbox went in.. the rack went on and i started on the steering arms...

 

Aaaaaand another issue arose:

 

Ya see these little rod end spacers:

 

 

I found 3..

 

Guess how many i needed??

 

Yesssssss 4.. thats right!!!

 

So, after much swearing and cursing i decided to make 1... some bar was thriwn in the lathe and i fired up the Ateam music...

 

 

And just like Hannibal and the boys... i love it when a plan comes together!!:

 

 

Colomn was bolted up.. arms fitted.. we had steering!!

 

 

 

 

 

I did start getting pedals attatched but was running out of time and correct sized bolts..

 

[barneys66 122 1 Cars]

Heavenly.

[base-1 17]

Absolutely spot-on. Dead chuffed to see this coming together finally, well done mate

[davenport 51]

Alright folks??? Everybody good????

 

Got the rear suspension (and some other bits) blasted:

 

 

 

That lot got Zinc plated:

 

 

 

Rear beam assembled got powdercoated:

 

 

Made sure underneath was looking FRESH!!!!:

 

 

Rear trailing arms were treated to new seals/bearings and fitted up:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hung the doors on:

 

 

 

Stripped the wiper assembly down to its bare bits and gave it a blast/paint:

 

 

 

And that's about where i'm at... out of date loctite kinda cut today short but fingers crossed it'll be rolling next weekend...

[barneys66 122 1 Cars]

This is just insane !!

 

Do you mind me asking about plating / coating costs - do you use someone local..?

[davenport 51]

I always use Peterborough Plating for my plating/anodising as theyre quality is very good AND pretty quick...

 

That box of suspension stuff was 70£ plated and debrittled (basically baking it) the big batch previously with all the little bits AND the anodising was 90£

[davenport 51]

And.... there it sits...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[allye 530 3 Cars]

No. WAAYYYY!

 

Meanest looking 106 I've seen!

[davenport 51]

Well.... lets give these bits some TLC then...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The speedo deive has a nice billet bung already... and the matrix bypass pipework is all in... but you know... theres a LOT more potential i think.... lets see what i can conjure up

[davenport 51]

Alright folks... how are you all???

 

Right, been a bit busy recently... i could give you a list of excuses but basically... i dont have to explain myself to you lot :p :p

 

First up, started a new engine mount, but i'll show you more of that when i get the rest finished....

 

 

 

Dragged the gearbox outside for some TLC in the sun and various bits of the engine got plated/anodised/vapour blasted....

 

 

 

So we had them bits... and an empty engine bay....

 

 

 

 

I think you can tell the next stage.....

 

 

 

[mr_fish 0]

That rear suspension setup is really neat.

 

Love the attention to detail on the whole car. Gotta be get close for a first start.

[davenport 51]