[project] The Ultimate Track 205

[Cameron 16]

It'll have to be in multiple pieces to remove the car though! The platform is just a means of accurately measuring the suspension hardpoints, once that's done it's no longer of much use.

[dave richards 26 1 Cars]

might be of use to others doing restorations though if it could be made to bolt together after you have finished with it

[Cameron 16]

Well if anyone wants to buy it off me when I'm done with it I'll make an effort to remove the car without damaging it, otherwise it's gonna meet Mr A. Grinder.

[feb 47]

Great work and nice tidy garage!

[Cameron 16]

Thanks! It's taken me an awful lot of effort to keep my garage as minimalist as possible so I have space to work around the car - not exactly easy with the amount of tools and gubbins I have around!

 

The only thing it lacks is a good workbench, mainly because my current tool trolley has a flip-up top which would stop me from being able to store it underneath. I've remedied that situation today by ordering one of these bad boys:

 

[alexcrosse 124]

I wonder where you got the money for that.....

[Cameron 16]

 

Just need a buyer for those SBC arms and I can get a bench vice.

[alexcrosse 124]

in the last 3 days ive been able to afford 2 rolls and a cupa soup thanks to you!

[Cameron 16]

But you have a P.I.M.P. spec rear beam to show for your hunger, so swings and roundabouts!

[kyepan 291]

pm me, i may be able to get you a better price on spherical bearings

Edited January 25, 2012 by kyepan

[kyepan 291]

ps, have you essentially made a massive jig?

[24seven 104]

This could be interesting...

 

(subscribed)

[Cameron 16]

Yeah it is kind of a big jig in that it's used to position everything as accurately as possible. I've got my centreline and axle lines measured up and marked out now, and started to measure lots of dimensions that I need to get a decent design sorted.

 

The project has come full circle really, as I'm going to be making it a semi space frame rather than trying to keep the original mounting points. After measuring them it quickly became apparent that getting the ride height I want and packaging subframes would be difficult! It's a lot more work, but I'm feeling up to the challenge.

[Cameron 16]

Been having a talk with Custom Cages, and will be getting the CL3 off - this page - in T45 for a pretty reasonable price. This means I can then get a whole load of suitable T45 tubing and just go to town making the rest of the cage and the space frame.

 

I also had a chat with Elmdon Metals about welding up the T45 and how I can go about welding it to the LCS of the body, they've recommended S515/514 strip to join the two and A32 filler wire - just in case anyone is interested! I can get the wire for my MIG, which is nice, at a cost of £130 per 15kg reel, which isn't so nice!

[welshpug 1,657]

just think ho many T45 cages you could do with 15 kilos, group buy ?

 

guess you'll be tigging it then?

[Cameron 16]

Yeah if anyone wants to offset costs by paying me to weld in T45 cages for them they're more than welcome!

 

I'll buy a reel of MIG wire as I'd prefer to MIG the S515 sheet to the chassis, I've tried to TIG on car bodywork before and it's horrible! The cage itself will all be TIG welded though, I can use the same wire for both thankfully.

[Rippthrough 98]

It's all fillet welds, not butt, so A18 (DON'T use ER80 or equiv some online places will try to sell you, strength matches better but the weld chemistry is wrong for T45) will be fine in a MIG for T45, just oversize the fillets compared to the wall thickness to compensate, given the wall thicknesses are only ~2mm region, a 4mm fillet isn't exactly pushing the boundaries for weight...

[Cameron 16]

I'd read that if you MIG T45 you may have to heat treat it afterwards, is that true?

 

A18 is something I've seen recommended before, but the guy from Elmdon suggested A32, not sure what the reasoning was though! The intention was to TIG the cage together and just save the MIG for any areas that I need to weld to the bodyshell.

[Rippthrough 98]

Not if you get a good fit and weld it quickly, given the section is so thin, TIG can be worse because of the heat you put into it tbh.

Your gussets only need to be S515 between cage tubes too, anywhere to the shell may as well just be mild steel.

Edited January 27, 2012 by Rippthrough

[Cameron 16]

Wouldn't MIG welding it quickly put more stress into it though, as you have a shorter transition from hot to cold material? I guess that's the reasoning behind them recommending TIG for the job.. I don't know though, not a metallurgist.

 

I'd prefer to use my MIG as it's a very good machine, whereas my TIG is just a cheapo unit and doesn't have a foot pedal. Maybe I could rent a water cooled Lincoln or something for the job though, that would be a joy to use!

[Rippthrough 98]

Don't need a foot pedal for steel tube yer tart!

[Cameron 16]

Pfft you do if you're incredibly anal like me!

 

In all seriousness it is really nice welding steel with a pedal.

[Rippthrough 98]

Got one on the way atm, stop me blowing holes in ally, damned hard trying to do 1mm sheet with no pedal!

[Cameron 16]

Got one on the way atm, stop me blowing holes in ally, damned hard trying to do 1mm sheet with no pedal!

 

Yeah when I got taught to weld aluminium it was on 0.9mm sheet doing butt welds on a motorbike race can. Needless to say a lot of them were scrapped!

[Cameron 16]

GOODIES!

 

Went and picked up my new rollcab today, she's a real beauty! Had an amusing conversation with the guy at the warehouse too, when the shutter rolled up I saw the size of the box and the guy saw the size of my car, he said I'd probably be better off putting the car in the toolbox.

 

Anyway, got it in there, didn't have to adjust my seat or anything! The thing weighs 110kg but the car was very well behaved all the way home.

 

 

Then got to installing it in my garage and swapping all the tools over - looks ace!

 

 

I've been doing a lot of making good in the garage, too. Re-wired my plug sockets and all of the lights as the old wiring was a bit of a state and the plug sockets were all bashed up. Looks a lot neater in there now! All I need is to make myself a nice workbench over the tool cabinet, then install a bench vice and I'm good to go!