[project] Twincharged Widearched Convertible 405

[Guest davetibbs]

Thought I should start a thread so I can document progress on the 405 on somewhere other than Facebook! Here's a selection of pictures:

 

Stripping the interior

 

A photo from the engine rebuild - painted S16 Rocker Cover

 

This hopefully gives an insight into how the front doors are extended - this is with skin removed and extended.

 

Chassis Restrengthening (more under sills)

 

Roof removed

 

307 dashboard being test fitted

 

Toyota SC14 Supercharger

 

Supercharger being overhauled

 

Front Panel repainted

[Guest davetibbs]

Engine bay stripped and ready for paint

 

Engine bay primed

 

Engine bay painted

 

The BMW E46 Roof I've got

 

Sanding the front bumper - originally a Vertex style bumper for 200sx S14a

 

Toyota Rav-4 Bonnet - vent will be welded into 405 bonnet

 

Vent removed from Toyota Rav-4 bonnet

 

Rav4 bonnet ready to be welded into 405 bonnet

[estland1345402287 0]

That's a big project. Hoping to see more pictures in the future

[B1ack_Mi16 67]

Seem to be an insane project, really lots of work

[wesly 0]

you've got my attention here

[cammmy 1]

Info on SC14 re-build please! I have a 3.9 Rover V8 I'm going to put 2 SC14's on and then drop into a Triumph saloon. Was going to re-con the chargers first.

[Guest davetibbs]

Thanks for the replies - hopefully I'll have more photos for you very soon!

 

@cammy - the SC14 is turning out to be a bit of a pain to rebuild. The oil seals are easily available and can be replaced once the bearings are released (by putting the SC casing into an oven for a while so the epoxy resin that holds the bearings in melts) but whilst two of the bearings (at the gear end of each rotor) can be replaced for about £35 each, the other bearings (which are shot in mine!) are very difficult to source and apparently aren't made any more. I may have found a source in China to get them though, I'll keep you posted.

[cammmy 1]

Awesome! My brother is an engineer so he has excellent sources for bearings. All he has to do is measure them up and find some that are of a suitable size/rpm range.

 

Where are you sourcing the seals from?

[Guest davetibbs]

kbox.ca do a kit for the SC12 which fits the SC14 here.

 

If you have any luck finding bearings please let me know, I happen to know that these ones are a *very* odd size.

[cammmy 1]

Thanks for the link. I think I'll get a couple of sets.

 

Got to get the 405 done before I tear them down so will be a while before I look into bearings. I'll let you know if we have luck though.

[KRISKARRERA 2 1 Cars]

This is crazy. But I love it!

[Guest davetibbs]

More progress: this time on the bonnet. There appear to be issues with the 405 bonnet skin warping from the heat off being welded as it's so thin, funnily enough the Toyota bonnet doesn't suffer the same problems!

 

Here's my mate tack-welding the Rav-4 bonnet into the 405 bonnet:

 

Tacked into position

 

Join

 

Bonnet - with sections requiring further work highlighted:

[cammmy 1]

If the 405 bonnet is so thin, why is it soooooooooooooooooooooo heavy?

[Guest davetibbs]

If the 405 bonnet is so thin, why is it soooooooooooooooooooooo heavy?

 

Hehe, partly the strengthening behind the skin is a lot thicker, and also because it's so massive!

 

[cammmy 1]

I might design a new one out of chocolate. Seems to have done well enough in place of plastic for the interiors

[Guest davetibbs]

I might design a new one out of chocolate. Seems to have done well enough in place of plastic for the interiors

 

Yes, I've addressed that issue by fitting a 307 dash/doorcards - it's marginally better.

[cammmy 1]

LOL, someone asked me once why I says french interiors are made of chocolate. I replied "because they are brittle and melt in your hand"

[Guest davetibbs]

Just a quick update - working on the front bumper:

 

 

This shows how I've used the original mounts to ensure a good fit!

 

 

[Guest davetibbs]

Just a quick update - after trying (and failing!) to source a 4x4 front subframe, I've decided to adapt the 2wd one - lots of metal and box section went into this - not much more to do on it now.

 

 

Also started welding the strengthening back into the bonnet after it was cut away with the vent. I'm hoping to combine the strengthening of the 405 and Rav 4 bonnets to create something that's strong but also has support for the vent and places for the bolts on the bottom of the vent to go through.

 

[Guest davetibbs]

Thought it was time for a much-overdue update.

 

The welding of the two bonnet skins together simply didn't work. The heat was too much for the (thin!) 405 bonnet skin and it warped to an extent that it really wasn't recoverable. Plus re-welding the strengthening back just didn't work particularly well. So I cut the vent out and got another 405 bonnet, and tried a different method (which I think is a more accepted method generally) of bonding the vent to the bonnet and smoothing it in. This has gone much better, and the bonnet feels a lot more solid!

 

RAV-4 bonnet vent held in place with gaffer to drill holes

 

Holes drilled and hole cut (between not through) strengthening bars

 

RAV-4 bonnet bonded onto 405 bonnet - screws hold vent onto bonnet whilst sealant cures

 

Strengthening and mounting for RAV-4 bonnet and vent added

 

Blending RAV-4 bonnet in

 

Other progress is that I've sorted the BMW roof frame out, that's ready to be measured and fixing mounts fabricated. More photos to follow!

[Guest davetibbs]

More photos...

 

Bonnet primed:

 

Modifying front bumper:

[Guest davetibbs]

Bonnet + front panel fitted:

 

[calvinhorse 870]

This is bonkers! Lovely job on the bonnet.

Keep it up chap!

[cybernck 402 1 Cars]

Amazing work, keep the updates coming!

 

What body colour and wheels are you going to use?

[Guest davetibbs]

Sorry, haven't posted as many updates as I should do really. Will hopefully get some photos up in the next week or so. Colour, I'm going to go for a two-tone colour scheme, using the line that goes around the body as a divider, with brilliant white on the bottom, and candy blue on the top Wheels, not sure yet. Any suggestions? Probably no larger than a 17 although it'll be running on air ride