Time for a parts sell off

Up for sale is the body and the hard top of the MX5. So i'll post pictures here so i can post them on other websites.

Wishbones, pain, sheetin and scuttle

No i havent started the wishbones. I wish i had actually, i'm really excited to give them a go. Trouble i'm having at the moment is sourcing the chromoly tube. I've been to 5 different places and no one stocks or cannot get stocks of 25 x 3mm tube.

I have found a place in Sydney though. Going to cost me about $330 delivered for just the 25mm tubing. The rest can be sourced from the Newcastle area and it will be about $150 delivered.

BUT this weekend the frame is getting welded. I've inherited some 2 pac grey primer from a contact, which i'll use as the paint for the chassis. Not too sure if i'll bother giving it a top coat. Maybe when everything is done. I've got the sheet metal guys booked in for either next week or the week after to at least get the floor in and the side and seat back sheeting on.

I'm going to attempt to make the scuttle on Sunday i think. Try and make it using a template. I shall see how the time goes.

Wiring loom and steering culumn support

Another huge weekend of working on the build. Worked till 10 last night again, was up at 7 this morning. BUT the wiring loom is out without having to chop any wires. What a freaking nightmare to get out. It's freaking huge and eventually i'll need to start chopping wires and shortening them to make them all fit properly in the chassis. There is one part of the loom i havent removed yet, and that's the fuse and relay box and the wires to the battery/fuel pump etc which is in the boot. I'll take that out on Friday afternoon to make everything complete.

Next weekend is a definite to get the chassis welded!! Fantastic. My dad is currently putting some thoughts into the engine mounts and said he would make them up because he had a good idea on how to do them. Hopefully he does get around to it or it's another job for Friday afternoon. Also on the cards for Friday arvo will be to mount the seat properly. I'm going to turn up a boss with the correct size threaded hole so i can get it plug welded into 50 x 25mm RHS tube which will act as both the seat mounting points and a chassis brace  in the passenger compartment.

I'm going to attempt to make the wishbones. I'm thinking of making up a few jigs at work to help with the nitching of the chro-moly tube that i'll hopefully buy this week. Need to get about 5 meters of 25 x 3mm tube and 2 meters of 32 x 2.0. Hopefully it wont cost too much, but i can see it probably will. Along with this i'll have to buy some 3mm plate to make the bracing pieces.

List of jobs starting to pile up now.

• Fabricate engine mounts
• Finish last 6 tubes and plates to the chassis
• Weld steering wheel support struts in
• Weld support plate to steering wheel support
• Mount seats
• Weld chassis
• Sheet the chassis and floor
• Wishbone mounting brackets
• Wishbones
• Wiring (probably at least a weekend on this alone)
• Fabricate exhaust. I think if i get a pool noodle and some strong wire, i can create a mock up of the exhaust and get it made properly.
• find radiator to fit front of frame
• Fabricate fuel tank, or at least get someone at work to give it a go. Might try this one myself with assistance from the sheet metal guys at work.
• buy MK2 escort steering rack from somewhere

Thats just the things i hope to achieve in the next 4 weeks. I'm actually hoping that in 4-5 weeks the engine will be fired up. In fact, i actually want the car to be on its wheels and be able to be test driven just before the weekend before Christmas. The family is coming up for Christmas lunch and i'm hoping to show it off :))

OK so now a few pictures from todays effort . . . . . .

Wiring loom, what a mess.

Looking more and more like a car

View from the drivers seat

View from the passengers seat as it's going around a corner real fast.

Large steps with large components

The engine, transmission, diif and steering column all got removed and started to get installed in the chassis. I had to to this to ensure that everything fits properly. So far so good, i've found that the diff fits brilliantly and had to cut a hole in the build table to get the height and the clearance of the engine and sump. The sump hangs 40mm below the chassis. The planned ride height is 100mm so it has a good 60mm of clearance. The suspension shouldn't more anywhere near enough to drop the center of the chassis 60mm.

So no for pictures, it's a bit messy at the moment but thats what you get for progress.

Diff carrier assembly

More work done today as i have to go back to work tomorrow. Bugger. So again knuckled down and got as much of the rear sorted as i could. Unfortunately my calculations may have been a bit out as when i lifted the frame into place, it's moved if forward 15mm. Not too sure how it will go, so the MX5 is now up in the air and i've done a few rough measurements on the diff in situ. Hopefully it will be OK.

Next weekends job is to remove the diff and put it into the chassis and check dimensions and clearance. Should only take an hour or so, and then i can attempt to get the engine and gearbox out, split them and start giving them a wash. Hopefully i can lift the engine and gearbox into the frame and also see how they fit. Big plans for 2 days.

The bloke who is going to come and weld the chassis will be coming on Wednesday to have a look at how big the job is. I'm reckoning that there will be at least 2 days of work due to the heat being put into the frame.

And now for pictures . . . . . . .

Almost done - just a few more supporting braces.

Bracing in. Waiting on the plates from the laser cutting bloke.

Beautiful

More progress - including diff carrier

So knuckled down again today to continue. Seeing as the welder is coming, Dad mentioned it would be a shame to not have it completely ready to go for him in case he could get more done. So i continued on.

Also my mate with the Recaro seats from the RVR came around with one to test fit it. They actually fit worse than the Mazda. So we made a few ammendments and cut out part of the transmission tunnel top brace, and one of the diagonals in the side of the chassis. IT FITS. Just need to do some modifications to the chassis to keep it's strength.

Clean work space for the welder to come on in and do his thing, that was until i got talked into doing more stuff.

Showing the only bit that when i look at it, i feel isnt right. It's not symetrical. Although it actually has to be this way. Hmmmmmm.

Before cutting to fit the seat in properly

After cutting the frame to fit the seat

Rear cradle going in.

Schmick looking. And complicated, but will work fantastically. Fingers crossed the diff mounting points are exactly 600mm apart.

Progress

It's been a while since i worked on the car. So here's an update as of this morning.

Only need to cut and weld in 3 more members for the main chassis to be ready to weld. In two weeks i've got a mate who is a ticketed welder coming to give me a hand turning my bird shit tack welds into works of art.

For now, heres me attempting to drive the chassis.

Donor car is MINE

Bought and took the possession of the MX5 today.

Cost update

Cost update time! Seeing as i went and bought more materials on Monday, i thought i'd keep on updating this one. As it's being built to the "Locost" ethos, i'm trying to keep things as cheap as i can, but keep the quality of the finished product as high as possible.

$1943 - from previously bought materials etc

$138 - Steel (25x25, 20x20 and 50x25mm RHS blue painted)
$39.80 - Material to make the build table extension.

Total so far for those who hate maths - $2120.80

So so so so freaking excited. Havent been this excited about a car since i originally bought the WRX. And that was 5 years ago. Maybe this project will be the re ignition of the passion for cars.

Day 4

Day 4 of the build and the final day of the 4 day building streak. Yet another productive day was had, and i'm stuffed. Will have to go back to work for a break. My back is sore from using the horizontal bandsaw as ours needs to have the speed of the cut controlled, otherwise the saw seizes.

So what was done today? Well i put the firewall cross member in as well as the entrance to the transmission tunnels. The front engine cross braces and the engine vertical brace went in as well. As per usual, every piece needs to be cut to the dimensions of the frame. While i'm 0.5 or 1mm out in some areas, it seems that if the pieces are cut exact to the book, it doesn't quite work.

Oh went to Metal Mates in Cessnock and bought extra material. Got another 3 lengths of 25x25mm. Then got a length of 50x25mm for the seat back rest, and 3 lengths of 20x20mm for the transmission tunnel and the rear of the car. A trip was also made to Bunnings to pick up some more MDF so i can extend the build table. Which needs another 800mm so i can build the rear differential carrier and suspension carrier.

This is how i ended the day. Looks awesome. Hopefully next weekend will lead me to have the transmission tunnel and seat back in place. I still havent gone for a 'drive' in it yet, i'll hold off till it's welded properly

The best looking bit of it at the moment. Well i think so as it was the hardest part.

Dodgy looking tack welds, but they hold and are pretty strong. Takes a hell of a lot of grinding to undo them. That's a good thing!!

Build continues

Well its the end of day three of the build and im feeling really excited about the whole thing. More so now i have the semblance of a chassis.

Saturday and Sunday i built and tacked together the bottom frame. I even got a photo with me holding the completed bottom frame, which i'll put up when my dad emails me the picture.

Today i tackled the front frame. Which is a nightmare of a thing to build. Compound angle cuts, notching and bending tubing, making a jig and then crossing fingers when it all comes together. Guess what?? It worked. I would say first time around, but that would be a lie. I stuffed about 2 meters of material getting the compound angles etc correct. And trial and error on making jigs.

I also got motivated and went back after dinner this evening and it's now in the third dimension with the uprights and the top rails going on. Its amazing to see that being accurate pays dividends. With the top rails, they get fixed to the front frame and then rest along the top of one upright and but against the other upright. With these three points, there was only one upright which was out, and that was only by 1mm.

And as always, the trusty work dog is helping out.

Bottom rails before tacking. Also made a mistake on this, but it's now fixed. Was an easy fix too, sort of. At the front of the frame are the two parrallel members with the really sharp angle. I took the wrong dimension and had to remake these as i had cut them too short. It involved another hour and a half working at the milling machine to get those angles perfect.

Here you can see the blocks holding everthing in place. The two members i mentioned before are worng. If you look at the next picture the two new ones extend past the horizontal cross piece.

Ah the dreaded front frame. Looks simple from this angle, but it's bloody hard. I now know what not to do when it comes to fabricating one of these.

Front frame again. The two silver bits of metal clamped to the frame are there to ensure that it wasvertical and at the same height the whole way across. And it is!!

Building the thing finally. WOO!!

 Start of the frame. Wooden blocks are attatched to the build table to hold the frame in place. This has worked extremely well. I've had the frame off the board once already and it went straight back on.

Where the seats will be mounted.



Motorsport and frame welding

Ideally the car will be used for driving on the road, but a great passion of mine is to be able to go racing. The idea behind the WRX which went so horribly pear shaped, was to get it on the track and join in for some hillclimbing and supersprints. I've got queries about putting a rollcage on the car. It would be an intelligent move to incorperate a roll cage when i am building the frame, before the bodywork is put on.

So looking at putting a half cage in. According to the CAMS Manual of Motorsport, a half cage is the minimum required for open wheeler in "Speed" events like supersprints and hillclimbs. It will need to be made of chromoly, circular section dold drawn tube. The main hoop needs to be 44.45mm outside diameter and 2.5mm wall thickness. All other components will need to be 38mm outside diameter and 2.5mm wall thickness. The supporting pads of the cage will be welded to the main chassis and the rear support bars will be welded to an extra rear structure which will need to be designed into the chassis as it is being built. The pads themselves have a specification to comply with. Each mounting foot of the front, main and lateral roll bars must include a reinforcement plate, of a thickness of at least 3mm which must not be less than that of the tube onto which it is welded. Each mounting foot must be attached by at least three bolts on a steel reinforcement plate at least 3mm thick and of at least 12,000mm2 area which is welded to the bodyshell. Examples are shown in drawings 253-18 to 253-24. (For drawings 253-18 and 253-20, the reinforcement plate does not necessarily have to be welded to the bodyshell.)

Having a chat to a fella from work, i have been advised it would be advisable to tack weld the frame and cage using MIG but with 0.9 309 stainless steel wire. This will help with the final welding of the frame and the cage, as i would like to get the frame TIG welded by a ticketed structural welder.

Update on build board and frame

I was going through the old posts and thought i'd do an update on what is happning with the frame and build board. Well the board currently looks like this -

and to add a note of proudness - that's my Dad's 1918 Model T Ford under the cover. He's done the most amazing job. Rebuilt it from ground up apart from the main body. It was originally a utility (pick up) which i rebuilt the tray as my HSC major work. He decided to go with the tourer a few years after this, the upholstery he did himself, and learned it all from scratch. I'm very impressed!

Back to the board. I found some white house paint left over from somewhere, and gave it a few coats so that the lines to be marked on it stick out a bit better. I will be drilling and mounting small blocks of timber on the board on either side of each metal tube to keep the chassis from twisting as it is welded, and prevent it from being bumped inadvertantly out of alignment.

Update on frame - fingers crossed the new plans from Voodou motorsport in the UK will be relesaed in the next week. I'm dead keen to get everything underway this coming weeekend.