[project] The Ultimate Track 205

[cybernck 402 1 Cars]

Hmm, maybe this would have been a good idea:

 

[Cameron 16]

Oh aren't we quick to criticise!

 

The gap to the roof is actually only 20mm, and the gap to the B-pillars is 0.f***all. The photos just have a strange perspective, come have a look if you don't believe me.

Edited April 3, 2012 by Cameron

[pug_life 0]

Good progress! My views on CCages changed after having to work with them at M-Sport on material defects and production.

I do dislike cages with bolt in sections... If your fitting a cage your best making it as integral as possible with bracing and gussets.

 

Keep up the hard work Cam!

[Cameron 16]

Danke!

 

And yeah I agree with the whole not bolting cages in thing.. definitely not what this build is about!

 

Had a good go at it today and got the transverse beams welded in so I could make up the front roll hoop footplates and get the rest of the basic cage in. There won't be any photos of how the cage fits to the A / B pillars as frankly I can't be arsed with the hassle it'll bring if I haven't used a hydraulic ram to get them in place; I'm confident with the fit and that's all that matters.

 

 

Transverse beams shown above go between the feet of the roll hoops to stiffen them up nicely, and meant I could get the front roll hoops in. Took a while to get the top part horizontal and the front part vertical, and all fitting as close as I wanted it to be, but I got there in the end and it looks pretty good. I left a 10mm gap to the inner wing / door panel as I need to be able to get my TIG torch in there to fully weld door bars etc in.

 

 

The front roll hoop footplates look like this:

 

 

Eagle-eyed people will notice there is a 50mm section of the sill rails sticking forwards from the transverse beam, the reasons for this will become apparent later in the build!

 

Even eagley-eyeder people will notice the difference in welding techniques.. I use a series of hot tacks to do anything joining to the original bodywork, as gunk on the hidden side of the metal always blows out or pollutes the weld if you try and keep a seam going; fresh metal is a different story so it can all be done in one long run.

 

Finally I went round and welded up all the footplates etc, I won't be welding the roll hoops in place until the rest of the space-frame is in.

 

 

So that's probably the last bit of metalwork for a little while, as I'll be focusing on finishing the new suspension design and making any changes to the space-frame that are needed. Once I've got that pretty much sorted I'll get a big order of tube in and progress should go pretty quick from there!

[Lan 24 1 Cars]

looking great so far, the fit on that cage is great and some fantastic welding there.. looking forward to more updates as always

 

 

nice to see the thread cleaned up too!

[Liquid_106 97 1 Cars]

Cameron - have to ask, but please don't think I'm having a dig, because I'm not

 

What was the reason to remove the 'seatbelt load-spreading plate' - did it foul where you intended to put the cage or is there another reason?

 

Nice welding

[Cameron 16]

Don't worry I won't assume people are having a go just for asking a question, fire away.

 

No reason other than it was a big thick plate and weighs a few hundred grammes, every little helps!

[Matt180 31]

do i spy some downhand welding there? Looking good though, cant wait to see some suspension going in!

[Cameron 16]

You've got good eyes!

 

I was taught to weld downhill rather than up by some very experienced welders, so I've never known any different! Apparently it's controversial amongst people making boilers and pipe joins, but I guess that's down to the thick plate making full peno a bit more tricky. Care to enlighten me on the difference / merits etc?

Edited April 11, 2012 by Cameron

[Matt180 31]

I come from a heavy engineering background (bridges, buildings, power stations etc) Downhand would not be accepted in any of these areas. Vertical down is not seen as a structural weld as penetration is very limited making the weld weak and prone to failure under load. I have only ever been able to use it as a sealing run or on non structural welding like tank structures, silo structures, skips etc.

 

The lack of penetration can be compensated for with technique especially as your only welding thin stuff. If i were you i would broken arc it vertical up and then downhand over it to finish it off.

[Cameron 16]

Yikes! It's only 1.5mm thick!

 

I'm sure I'll be ok for penetration (never had issues before) and I compensate with speed / heat and torch angle for welding downhill as I was taught to. I can understand the concern when you're welding up heavy gauge plate on large structures though!

[Matt180 31]

Im sure it will, i was just being picky

[Cameron 16]

I'll bear it in mind when I move on to building bridges.

[Matt180 31]

Haha. Will you be fitting gusset plates to tie the A and B pillars into the cage?

Edited April 11, 2012 by Matt180

[Cameron 16]

Sure will! And along the tops of the doors, though that will all come later.

[GeorgeXS 32]

Your fabrication skills are enviable as always cameron! looks awesome.

I see the sunroof hole still remains, i may have missed it but is it getting plated over, or something a little more fancy?

[Cameron 16]

Something a little more fancy.

[GeorgeXS 32]

Excellent news!!

[johnnyboy666 195 1 Cars]

carbon roof?

[Cameron 16]

[petert 586]

Fair dinkum Cameron. Why didn't you just buy a carbon Elise with a supercharged K20a Honda?

 

Here you go:

 

Edited April 13, 2012 by petert

[Cameron 16]

An Elise or an MX5 has crossed my mind, but it's not the same!

[Cameron 16]

So a small update.. I picked up a complete Duratec engine today for a very reasonable price, due to it having holed the sump and killed the bearings. This doesn't matter to me as I just need the bare bones to make a dummy engine that I can build the chassis around. The engine came in a few pieces as the guy was planning to sell the head and ditch the block, but I yoinked the lot.

 

 

Keen-eyed people will notice the 2 sets of scales in the bottom of the pic, which I used to weigh all of the bits and pieces. For anyone who's interested a Duratec engine minus flywheel weighs in at 92.6kg, I reckon a few kg's should come out of this by ditching some internal / external parts but even so it's a pretty good weight. It's quite a short engine too, which is nice, at just over 500mm high without a sump pan.. a dry sump will add ~50mm to this.

 

So I set about taking it apart, the No.3 bearing was totally ruined and had turned the rod blue from the heat - nice. It's all going in the bin though so I don't mind. Once the whole thing was in bits I put the bare block and head back together and job done.

 

 

I've taken some measurements of it already, so I can get on with sorting the front end of my chassis design.

[sambaileyw 2]

I'm getting excited to see this progress I'm quite interested in what program you are using to design with? Looks very comprehensive

[Cameron 16]

The software is called Catia, it's pretty much the industry standard for anyone who can afford it (like big car companies). Licenses are in the tens of thousands of £££'s so I'm glad I got a cheap copy at uni.